Melkam Meskal!

(Happy Meskal)

Saturday was the holiday of Meskal. The celebration takes place two weeks after the New Year. This is about the finding of the cross. They found the cross you know. So they are happy and celebrate. There is more explanations and meanings but I have hard time getting them right. Anyways, the place of celebration for this day is Meskal Square. We spent the afternoon there. Meskal square is a huge central square. One side has some kind of arena where you can sit. The circulation has been cut all day (there is usually more than 8 lines of cars, so it is impressive to see it empty!). Then on the other side of the arena is installed some kind of VIP area, where the big priest in chief is sitting on a nice silky chair. He gets the view on the dancing; we get the view on the priest. A bit of a shame! From the arena, you don’t see the dancing but only those big groups of church followers going around in nice red, gold, green, white dresses. They sing but you can’t really hear. They dance but you can’t really see. So we spent lots of our time just observing the people around us and it was great. The crowd was surprisingly well ordered, sitting in perfect rows and respecting every single rule set by the hundreds of policy/army guys hanging around. We have been eating a lot, because of all those people walking through the rows to sell biscuits, candies, tissues, little cross, bracelets or anything else! Very interesting. Then they was also candles distributed for free, which distribution constituted a very interesting show. One guy comes with plenty of candles, share them with the closest guy from the army and both of them split in the crowd and send candles in the air. The only moment of “little social mess” of the day. Everyone runs to catch a candle and just go back to its seat (grass) to be bored again. Not me who says it, but an ehtiopian sitting next to me: “(him) how do you like the programme? (me) It is good, Conjo!. (him) I think myself that it is very boring”. It was a bit, because you don’t see anything! And we were lucky because we were sitting in very good place.
Anyways, the important and beautiful thing that happened came with the night. Once the chanting/dancing of all the churches had come to an end, The night came. Everyone light its free candle. When I say everyone, it means (we have had big discussion on this, but not agreement so I’ll stay vague) between thousands people and hundred thousand people. Imagine these arenas filled with people, everyone holding a candle. People singing and shouting so loud when the main fire (a huge plant hill in the middle of the square) was lighten. Hoo and I forgot the fireworks! Fireworks + three meters fire in the middle of Meskal + thousands of candles lighten + religious celebration + being in Ethiopia = mind blowing! It was very very great.
Then we went to the restaurant, and met on the way home one of my street friend (see every morning and night on my way home, barely speaks English but really likes me and likes to introduce me “his good friend Alichia”, to his own friend). Anyway, I met him dancing around a fire with his friend. That’s what you do on Meskal: make a fire, eat and sing. So we did. While burning the garbage around to maintain the fire strong, the group of young men was happily clapping their hands, singing religious saints related songs and looking very happy. They welcomed us so nicely and told us to join.
When the garbage were empty and the fire put down, we went back home before going out celebrating in a trendy habesha cocktail bar were we got invited by this Ethiopian guy we met at the Hilton swimming pool, who works at Saint George Beer (Most famous Ethiopian beer) and really enjoyed paying our big bill. Anyway, he was the funniest of the bar (speaks perfectly French after spending all his education is the lycee ethio-francais, he is half Indian from Punjab half Ethiopian and is totally in love with the 19th district in Paris), anyway a cool guy. We followed him to Memo’s, this club of Addis that is the most fun club I have been to and that always make us stay there until very late, dancing and being stupid. So that is what we did and it was an excellent evening that gave me sore muscles the next morning…forcing me to read all day lying in the grass of our garden after an amazing picnic breakfast.
Yes, my friends, life is hard!