My colleague's granddaughter is christened

My colleague's granddaughter was christened into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church this week. Apparently, the ceremony takes place quite early in the morning, about 6 am. You don't make prior arrangements, you must simply arrive at the church around 5:30, in the morning, and speak to the priests. They then have the ceremony will all the babies and the families that arrive. I wasn't invited to the ceremony, as it was only immediate family, but attended the family lunch in the afternoon.

We went to the family house. There was grass spread on the floor. This is done to exorcise evil spirits and is common practise during religious holidays and special times such as a christening. 

In the corner, was the set up for a coffee ceremony. A stool for sitting, stacks of coffee cups, and a small fire with hot coals for roasting the beans and cooking on the fire. After lunch, the ceremony was carried out.

The woman roasted the beans in a small copper pan over hot coals. Once they were browned, she crushed them slightly and then put them in a pot if water and slowly brought it to the boil. When the coffee was ready, she poured it out to small cups.

(Note: The photo on the right is not from my colleague's house. I didn't take an photos of the actual ceremony. I borrowed this from the website, howstuffworks.com. I wanted to illustrate the bean roasting.)

Here is the picture of the guest of honour, Ada. By the way, she has amazing temperament. Lots of people and activities and remained absolutely calm.