Every Wednesday is Spirit Day at camp. This is an opportunity for students to show their regional culture by dressing up in traditional clothing. It is a great day where students learn about each other's home and gain more insight to the tradition of Ethiopia. This year we had almost everyone dress up for the special day. It also coincided with the holiday "Buhe," which we celebrated with a big campfire after homework time. Students enjoyed singing and dancing in front of the fire, celebrating the holiday.
Past Spirit Days have included Twins Day and Backwards Day. YSEL students have enthusiastically participated in all the Spirit Days. One more remains--Crazy Hat Day. I can't wait to see what creative toppers this group of students come up with. Stay tuned for next Wednesday!Thoughts about Culture Day
Today is Culture day and to be honest I am really excited
because this camp has been all about English and America. Don’t get me wrong I
love both. It’s just that I miss my culture; the coffee ceremony, the popcorn,
the cultural dance everything it’s who I am and it isn’t easy saying good bye
to that for a whole month. It’s not like we wear cultural clothes or have a
ceremony every day, but it’s nice to know that I have the option of doing that
whenever I want to. I can’t define culture my culture defines me. Does that
make any sense? Well that’s how I perceive it.
I think culture is
really important in this camp because it helps us learn about Ethiopia as a
whole. It introduces us to the diversity of people who live in this
country. It also lets us know the
importance of tolerance and unity. Our culture is what unites this camp into a
little Ethiopia.
Rodas Dubie, Addis Ababa
ReplyDeleteEthiopia the natural resource for culture, tradition and coffee. Ethiopia is widely considered the birthplace of coffee. Many experts say that Ethiopia is the only place that (Ethiopian coffee) grew natively and the apocryphal story of Kaldi is told over and over.