The ancient African country of Ethiopia, with an area of 1.23 million square kilometers and a population of nearly 50 million, has many distinctive customs.
In soliciting tourism, Ethiopia has a unique and charming advertising slogan: "The sun shines here for 13 months." It turns out that the Ethiopian calendar is different from the current Gregorian calendar: the year is divided into 13 months. The first 12 months are 30 days per month, and the remaining months are grouped together, with 5 days in a flat year and 6 days in a leap year, making it the "13th month". This "13th month" is a happy time for Ethiopian farmers, because the rainy season is coming to an end and the harvest is about to begin. But for city employees and workers, the "13th month" is always the "month of compulsory labor", and there is never any pay - because all units are calculated according to the Gregorian calendar.
Ethiopian folk timekeeping methods are also quite unique. It starts the day with the rising of the sun. What we usually say here is 6 o'clock in the morning is considered 0 o'clock in Ethiopia; similarly, our 12 o'clock at noon is 6 o'clock there, and our 6 o'clock in the evening is 12 o'clock in the daytime there. So, if a local friend invites you to "dinner at 1pm", you must ask: "Is it European time or local time?" It must be local time, you are invited to dinner. If you barge in during lunch, people will be caught off guard and embarrassed by each other. However, this method of timekeeping is now basically not used in official circles, but is still prevalent in the private sector.
All the addresses of institutions, stores and houses are marked by famous buildings, scenic spots or well-known unique features of the landscape. Some are not so easy to find, such as "Asmara Road", which is about two kilometers long, where exactly is it? There is no choice but to go to the "sentry" before the official go, remember in detail the markings along the route, if necessary, ask each other or yourself to draw a "route map". Especially when you receive an invitation from a new friend, this "procedure" should not be missing.
Because there is no door number, there is also no delivery person at the Ethiopian post office. Newspapers are bought by newsboys hawking on the street, while letters are collected from mailboxes. There are more than 4,000 mailboxes in Addis Ababa, which are basically rented by institutions, organizations, senior employees or governors; there are also hundreds of mailboxes in the post offices of the provincial capitals, which are also rented by the above-mentioned organizations, individuals or businessmen and other rich people. Therefore, in Ethiopia, unless you personally rent a mailbox at the post office and the person you want to contact also has a mailbox, there is "no freedom of communication". In fact, the vast majority of Ethiopians have not sent or received a letter through the post office for generations, and the concept of "mail" is largely absent from their minds. The only way to communicate with loved ones is to meet them directly.
In Ethiopia, raw beef is one of the most interesting dishes. During traditional festivals or weddings and funerals, rich people slaughter cattle and prepare raw meat feasts; beef stores or some ethnic restaurants also serve raw fresh beef during festivals, and even more so at some large feasts with ethnic characteristics.
There are two ways to eat raw beef: one is grinded into minced meat, mixed with spices, put on a plate, and eat it with a flour pancake (locally called "Ingira"), which is called a meal; the other way to eat, is to cut the raw beef into palm-sized square pile, eat with the meat pile in the left hand, the right hand with a sharp knife, put a plate of chili pepper in front of you, cut off a piece, put it in a roll of chili pepper and throw it into the mouth. This is almost as a staple food, a large amount of people can eat up to 1, 5 kg at a time.
But not any beef can be eaten raw. Beef for raw consumption must be freshly slaughtered, preferably before the body temperature is dissipated. Beef hanging in the butcher's store, though fresh, is not suitable for raw consumption because it has cooled. Not all parts of beef can be eaten raw either. The meat that can be eaten raw is mainly the "loin" and the most tender part of the meat around it. It is said that only about 1/5 of a cow can be eaten raw, and it is mainly lean meat. Occasionally, fat is eaten, but only by those who are highly skilled in eating raw meat.
In Ethiopia, it's a novelty and fun to go to a country meadow to watch cattle being slaughtered. The master slaughterer is extremely skilled in bleeding and skinning the cattle, picking the bones and unloading the meat, while cutting off a piece of beef and feeding it to his own mouth, or handing it to the adults, children and guests who are watching. In the slaughter site, so there is a small raw meat picnic feast. Onlookers salivate at the sight of them eating with gusto. When you get lucky, you'll see a scene where one of the onlookers can't help but come out and take a piece of beef from the owner's hand and chew it.
(Yulin/text)
