Day 156 (10/27): Ethiopia & 100 years

Can you imagine being 100 years old?  I have never met anyone that old until now.  Joye, who is in my Delta Kappa Gamma group turned 100 years old this past week.  Delta Kappa Gamma is a group for women educators. I hope to be that alert and sharp if I ever make it to that age.

We got her roses, which is the organizations official symbol, to represent the decades that she was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.  She was thrilled!  The state officers also came to the meeting to help her celebrate.

Our speaker was Monica Wornette, who worked for many years in Africa as a health aide officer when Aids was first discovered. Her talk tonight was on Ethiopia and she brought back some really cool artifacts. The picture above shows her holding a picture that was painted showing tea/coffee time in Ethiopia.  Some of the strongest tea and coffee comes from Africa and you will never guess what they eat with their afternoon drink...popcorn!  The picture shows a lady with a bowl of popcorn and her tea cup and pitcher. What was interesting was what the artist used to paint the picture on.  It was not a canvas but on a piece of a tent that the artist had used for a shelter at one time.  They use what is around them.

So your quiz of the day is what is this box made out of?  I guessed wood and was told "nope" so take that guess off your list.  Answer will be revealed at the end of the post.





This is a pillow and it was all hand made.  Check out the stitching...truly incredible! It was tiny and very even. I just can't imagine spending that much time on something and giving it away.  They were so appreciative of the work that Monica was doing in their country.

This basket got a few gasps out of the ladies as they opened the lid and a snake popped out.  One woman about walked out as she was deftly frightened by snakes - dead, alive or even fake ones that pop out of a basket.

This was a hand carved harp with a drum at the base of it.  It was really fun to play with and beautiful to look at.  All these artifacts made me want to visit Ethiopia. I had always envisioned them as being impoverished and desolate but the items that Monica brought back really showed the beauty of a simple life.

This was a hand carved box that was just exquisite.  They are very religious and you could see signs of this devotion with crucifixes adorning the artwork. Inside the box were some hand carved stone beads. They were surprising smooth for being hand carved. The detail on the box was carried out even on the inside as you opened the lid and inside the rim in the interior of the box.  I don't know how they got their tools inside the box to whittle it from the inside...just amazing to think of the craftmanship and beauty.

Ok so what was the box at the top made out of...other guesses that were incorrect included stone and bone.  It is stained camel teeth.  I had to relook at it and think, "Wow camels have some humongous teeth!" because they looked huge on that box.