As you arrive in Ethiopia for any reason, you do not have to leave a chance for confusion. By taking note of the following 10 unique and helpful attributes, you do a considerable favor to yourself.
1. Calendar Year
Ethiopian Calendar is 7/8 years behind the Gregorian calendar depending on which month you are counting, hence the joke you are 7/8 years younger if you travel to Ethiopia. There is also a 7-10 days shift in days. 19 August 2020 GC corresponds to 12 August 2012 EC and 11 September 2020 GC correspond to 01 September 2013 EC.
2. Ethiopian New Year
Ethiopian New Year rests on 11 September GC. Not on January 1st. Ethiopians were one of the first suspects in 9/11 Terrorist attack in the US until it was discovered that they were home celebrating their Ethiopian New Year back then.

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3. Calendar Months
Ethiopian year comprises of 13 months – 12 months of 30 days each and one month of 5 days, or 6 days every four year. In fact, 13 Months of Sun Shine was the country’s tourism motto for a long time until replaced with Land of Origins.
4. Calendar Date
A day in Ethiopia has 24 hours with continuous 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime.

5. Clock Time
Ethiopian time starts at 6:01 am GC (12:01 in the Ethiopian morning), not at mid night except for foreigner given Addis Ababa is a deplomatic city. While you have an appointment with your driver or other service providers, make sure you are on the same page. 2:00 could mean two o’clock in the morning or eight in the afternoon depending which clock time you are referring. The ordinary folks usually refer Ethiopian time.

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6. Personal Naming
An Ethiopian person’s name is Sequential/Ascending i.e. first name, father name, grandfather name and so on. If Afro Experience Tour is a person’s name who is talking to you now, then Afro is the first name of the person you are talking to, not his father’s name. His father’s name would be Experience, and his grandfather’s name will be Tour. Ethiopian women reserve their father’s name when married. They do not take their husbands name as practiced in the western culture.
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7. Normative Behavior
Ethiopians are mostly peaceful, reserved, mannered and hospitable people. They appreciate disciplined and counterparts who have an equal respect for fellow human beings. They will extend any help should you ask any assistance nicely including feeding you free of charge. Although they will serve you as a guest no matter what, they do not appreciate arrogant, disrespectful and noisy people.

8. Standard Holidays
Except Islamic holidays, other Ethiopian religious and cultural holidays do not usually fall with Western holidays. There is usually a shift in days if not weeks. For example, Ethiopians celebrate Christmas, Epiphany and Easter after some time delay from the western holidays. With a conscious planning, you could celebrate both holidays in the same year. Although Ethiopian cuisine is mostly of its own, it is widely common to serve specially cooked foods in holidays such as Doro Wot

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9. Weather Condition
Mostly sunny with average 18-25 Degree Celsius temperature with a significant variation from place to place. The rainy season extends from End of June- end of August. If you are fond of avoiding any hiccups along your way, September to May are the best seasons to visit Ethiopia with many cultural and religious festivals you may not find anywhere else in between. The rainy season (July- August) turns Ethiopia in to a complete greenery and it would be worthy to visit if you happen to have some tolerance for some seasonal discomfort along the way, mostly for remote destinations.

10. Language and religious perspectives
If you are coming from outside, most Ethiopians expect English as a straightforward means of communication with you. You could also find few other foreign languages such as French, Germans, Spanish, and Chinese in the tourist sites and bigger hotels. Ethiopians prefer to communicate with local languages including in Amharic, Oromipha, Tigrigna and many other languages among themselves.
Ethiopia is believed to be one of the few countries where there is a stronger religious linages having a fair mix of Christianity and Islam teachigns since the down of both religions. The latest census shows 60 percent as Christians and 40 percent as Muslims out of the more than 110 million Ethiopians, which is a huge number for both religions.
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Does this blog post add some knowledge value as you finish reading it? We hope so. We are here to make your travel experience easier and memorable providing you seemingly silly but with profound implications in your travel.
Now, it is your turn to help others: your colleagues, friends, families, acquaintances or wider connections by simply sharing the same information you learn to your social media networks
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