On the eve of Meskel we went up to a hill near the church at around 6:00 pm. There were two priests, a monk and Endale (my translator’s father) were building a bonfire our of tree branches. The bonfire was about 3 meters tall. At first there were only six of us, all men except for Nigist. More and more people began slowly showing up, most carrying a branch with them. Then a small ceremony began to bless the bonfire. In the end there were around thirty men. The ceremony lasted about thirty minutes and then the fire was lit. People began to walk around the fire while singing and dancing. This lasted for another thirty minutes until the fire died out and people walked home with candle torches.

When we arrived at home the father takes fire from the torch and lights a piece of wood. With this he lights a piece of wood carried by each of his male children, they then create their own bonfire in their yard.

Blessing the fire

The priests

The next day I had an interview with a woman about Zay food culture. We talked about cultural foods and when they were served. Most of the foods are served during visits related to weddings. The drinks were quite nice as well and I had the opportunity to sample some of them.

In the afternoon we went to the other side of the island to visit a small village. Someone had died from that part of the village a few months ago and Nigist needed her respects to the family. I joined her but did not go to the house, her brother and I went to the lake and visit with other friends.

Tef terraces on the island

Looking at the village of Mesno

I woke up in the morning to the sound of children running and playing. After I woke up and ate breakfast Nigist’s mother asked if she could braid her hair for her. Nigist said she would and I would go on a walk around the lake with her brother.

Nigist’s sisters and cousin

Nigist

Left: Oldest daughter, mother, and youngest daughter

When I arrived at the beach to begin my walk I came across a man who had just finished building his papyrus boat. He made a point to show me how it would work in the water.

Walking around the lake we came across Nigist’s other two brothers (her family has 10 children) who were keeping the cattle.

The next morning we were invited to climb the mountain on Debre Tsion to an old abandoned village called Wayzero where Nigist’s father was born and where an old church is. There was a crew there filming a documentary about the Zay people and I spoke to the producer a little. It took an hour and a half to reach the village. When we arrived at the top we could see in all directions. In Wayzero we found our way to the old church, now it is nothing more than the foundation.

View from the top looking at Tsedecha

When we came back to Nigist’s village we found her family making corn bread. First it is pounded, then ground to make a dough.

The crew filming the documentary wanted to film the Meskel ceremony again, as the had missed the original one. Many people came and dressed very nice for this. The bishop even came from Asela.

Photos of the second ceremony

The morning after the ceremony we took a boat back to Zway. We missed the original boat as it had too many people but luckily the bishop let us go with him in his contract boat back to Zway.