Many times people ask what Ethiopian culture is like and I often have found that I cannot simply put it into words. The culture here is so unique that it is better to be experienced rather than explained. However, in hopes of being able to share my love for this country with people that are not able to be here with me right now, I will attempt to share a small glimpse into the beauty of this place and its people. I have come to personally believe that nothing better symbolizes Ethiopian culture than the coffee ceremony.
Most people, even those from the US, have heard about Ethiopia’s reputation for good coffee but few know the full extent it’s importance. Ethiopians claim that coffee, or in Amharic buna, was first discovered in Ethiopia by a goatherd named Kaldi in the province of Kafa in southwest Ethiopia-this region of Kafa is where the Western name “coffee” comes from.
As you visit Ethiopia as a foreigner or guest you quickly realize the importance of buna. It is shared with friends, after meals, and always with guests. While the local coffee shop’s macchiatos are some of my favorite, nothing replaces being invited to an Ethiopian’s home for the full coffee ceremony. The whole process can take hours and it is something to be slowly enjoyed. It is a far beat away from our American idea of coffee, which involves driving through the closest Starbucks drive-through and having your grande soy hazelnut latte (my drink of choice) ready in minutes. The coffee ceremony begins with the raw coffee beans that are green to start with. The beans are roasted on an open fire in the home, giving off a wonderful smell.
After the beans are finished and roasted, they are ground my hand in a mortar and then scooped carefully into the traditional clay coffee pot called a jebena. The coffee is mixed with water and cooks in the jebena over the fire until it starts to steam signaling that it is ready for drinking. It is then poured into 12 small cups, representing the 12 apostles. While for most Americans one cup of this unfiltered coffee is enough, guests must receive three rounds of the coffee as each round has its own significance. The third and final cup of coffee is the one that symbolizes blessing and is know as bereka.
As a guest when you visit people’s houses, it is amazing how little they might have and yet they will still have all the necessary supplies to put on an impromptu coffee ceremony at a moment’s notice. I have had people who are living in extreme poverty send their kids out to buy sugar, a delicacy here, so that we maybe be able to enjoy it with out coffee at their home. The process is slow and unhurried. I think that at it’s core it represents the hospitality of Ethiopian culture as well as the heightened importance of relationships as compared to the importance of time.
Over the process of the coffee ceremony, time is spent together just enjoying each other’s company and presence. The first time that I ever went to one of these during my first trip to Ethiopia, I have to admit that it felt a little uncomfortable as the hours passed by. It is sadly no longer in our DNA as Americans to be able to just simply enjoy time spent together without any purpose other than building community and relationships. We are so task driven that the slowing down and enjoying the moment is not always comfortable. I think it is easy to walk away from an afternoon at someone’s house here and feel like you have accomplished absolutely nothing—and that is the beautiful part-nothing needed to be accomplished in the first place.
I had to get up early four mornings in a row a few weeks ago to attend a conference on Foster Care here in Addis. Due to the need to wake up so early, I didn’t have the normal time for my two cups of coffee from my French press. One morning, I decided to take my coffee with me in a travel mug and as I walked through the streets to the taxis holding my mug it dawned on me—the cultural differences and implications of coffee was clear. In the US coffee is something that we use merely as a way to help us get through the day—though sometimes, it is rarely a sign of community. While the unhurried nature of the Ethiopian coffee ceremony can be uncomfortable at first, it is something that I hope to gain a stronger appreciation for. I think we all can benefit from learning the lesson that we do not always need to produce or accomplish a task—sometimes the best way we can spend our time is to enjoy one another in sweet relationships. So slow down today with me and take the time to sip your coffee slowly with friends and family and enjoy.
mmmmmm…we miss REAL buna!
That is such an amazing illustration! I feel like this is something I encountered, to a smaller degree, growing up in a primarily Hispanic community and moving to Austin. In college I experienced a degree of culture shock, as everything here is hurried, verses the slower and more relationally driven culture I grew up in. Thank you for so beautifully depicting a small but extremely significant aspect of Ethiopian culture. I look forward to your next entry. Oh and I loved the pictures!
I don’t even know your name yet I’m touched by the two posts I’ve read on your blog. I would love to copy the text of this post to my adoption blog so that my son will have it later on in life. I would also be curious to know the symbolism behind the 3 rounds of coffee. I find this info fascinating as we experienced many coffee ceremonies while in Et this past summer.
And one thought on how our culture experiences coffee very differently… that would be “our” culture meaning us young pups. Our grandparents culture still do it the old school way (at least out here in the rural midwest) where they go to the coffee shop (or farm co-op) each morning and sit around for a few hours drinking coffee and discussing life. Oh, how we can learn so much from the older generation.
Thanks so much for sharing. You inspire me as I have a heartfelt desire to return to Et soon!
tamara b