Bunna Ceremony Bloopers

A few weeks ago, my friend Igigiyew helped me to purchase all the necessary items to host my own bunna ceremony….jabena (clay coffee pot), sendle and holder (incense), genda (the white box), sinne set (cups and saucers), bunna, and the very ugly but necessary fake grass plastic mat. Since then she (as well as Tambarat and a host of their siblings) have been asking me on a daily basis as to when they will be invited over for bunna. I decided that I could not stall any longer and invited them over for Sunday afternoon. I then raced home to practice! Aselef, Souwnet, and Genet kindly guided me through my Saturday practice session and assured me that my bunna was WOFRAM (this laterally translates as “fat”, but in this context means strong coffee) and ANDEGNA (“first” or “best”).

Sunday I awoke anxious and nervous. Ethiopians take their bunna ceremonies very seriously and I didn’t want to mess it up. I started preparing (and pacing) 2 hours prior to the event. I popped the fandesha (popcorn), fanned the charcoal, arranged and re-arranged my bunna ceremony items, and waited…and waited…and waited a bit more. Ethiopians are anything but punctual.

Eventually, Igigiyew, Tambarat, Tedeseh, and my Canadian friend Tammy arrived and my first official bunna ceremony began. I must admit that Ethiopian women make this entire process look easy, but let me assure you that it is NOT! I found it impossible to fan the flame, prevent the bunna from boiling over, wash the cups, put the water back on to boil, all the while trying to remember who drank from which cup! Thankgoodness Tammy and Igigiyew were willing to step in and help because I needed all hands on deck! Tambarat found my incompetence to be quite hilarious and in broken English made his own joke. “How many farenjis does it take to make a cup of coffee? THREE…one to fan the fire, one to prevent the pot from boiling over, and one to serve!” Ahh, what a funny man!

In the end, I somehow managed to brew 3 rounds of wofram bunna and in turn received many accolades from my very patient and accommodating guests. I then introduced a new post-bunna ceremony tradition…a game of UNO. There is nothing more funny than hearing a 20-something Ethiopian guy yell “UNO” with an Amharic accent!




















Saturday practice session














Igigiyew lends a helping hand














Igigiyew, Tambarat, Me, and Tadeseh.















Me and Tammy