We are studying Africa in our History curriculum and Ethiopia was featured recently! A few extra hours were spent this week reading, map searching, and documentary watching. When I told Makaria it was Ethiopia night, she squealed in excitement. When I told Makaria that Mommy was making all the food, she solemnly replied, "Oh, that's not good." Thank you for that.
The girls performed a traditional dance while watching youtube videos. It was like karoake, but with dance moves. I think we should have youtube teleprompt what we should say in difficult situations. Like how to confront a friend. That would be an awesome invention.
Charis' friend was spending the night. At one point, I heard her whisper to herself, "Well, I wasn't expecting this." Welcome to our home.
I made several Ethiopian dishes and served them on injera. My husband was excited that I found a non-fermented version of injera, which probably makes it non-injera. But for hubs, this made it edible.
There were menus, welcome signs, burning incense, drumming, and traditional Ethiopian music. Before we ate, we thanked Jesus for the food and spent a few minutes praying for the Ethiopian church. I love hearing our kids search the depths of God on behalf of these brothers and sisters there.
The girls were the hostesses and ushered the guests to their seats while serving drinks.
The older 3 made replicas of the famous Lalibella church.
Each one gave a brief presentation of the building process and the festivals surrounding this historic place of worship. These churches are dug into the ground into one solid piece of rock.
M-girl colored Africa and explained where Ethiopia was located.
Despite looking like he just lost a bar fight, K-man also explained his map and spent 1 minute or so waving the Ethiopian flag and marching.
My second oldest explained the demographics and economics of the country. Several times he pointed out Ethiopia's proximity to Djibouti. Emphasizing the pronunciation, "DID GYA BOOTY!"
My #3 danced and shared some more music with us.
For desert, sugar cookies made by this dude. He arranged them in the colors of the flag.
We had such a blast and I will say that the food was fantastic. My kids all requested we have Ethiopian food once a week. They all did such a spectacular job presenting their parts and learning about this fabulous country.
