Melkam Enkutatash! Happy Ethiopian New Year! If you harken back to my post on the craziness of the Ethiopian time keeping system and calendar, you will remember that the New Year starts mid September (September 12 to be exact, this year), after a 6 day month called Pagumae. And it’s 2006.
So Pagumae is a 6 day month that happens as rainy season winds down to bring in the New Year. Since the other 12 months are always 30 days, this 13th month fluctuates between 5 and 6 days (depending on a leap year) to keep the system on track. So if you count the 2 sunny days we had during rainy season, it’s true – 13 months of sunshine. A tourism slogan’s dream.
The Ethiopian Orthodox calendar follows the orthodox christian (originally Coptic) calendar, so really orthodox Christians the world over will be celebrating New Years on Wednesday.
If you told me in 2006 that I would be living in 2006 in 2013 I would have been like…. does the Dolorian exist? Where we’re going we don’t need roads! Ironic, since there aren’t many here.
Anyways, Happy New Year and bring on the sunshine!
Wanderings and Wonderings 
Thank you Sarah So that means when your family comes out they are ALL 7 years younger? I shall have to tell your grandma that we should go there and take the age deduction!!! Thank you so much and happy New Year to you too!
Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) was Sept 5 (last Thursday)… so the Hebrew New year starts about the same time as the Ethiopian one!
The Israeli volunteers have been celebrating New Years all week!