A tidbit of perhaps useless trivia from your friend in Africa. Thought you might be interested.
Want to experience Y2K again? Come to Ethiopia...at least to celebrate your birthdays! Where you can maybe really be 29, 39, 49, 59 , 69 or 79 again.
In Christ,
Steve Womack
Africa Area /SIL
Communications Coordinator
From Lonely Planet “Ethiopia & Eritrea”
Another great Ethiopian idiosyncrasy that confounds many travelers is the calendar. Based on the Julian system, it is roughly 7 ½ years ‘behind’ the Western Gregorian calendar. The year 2006-07 is thus ‘1999’ in the Ethiopian calendar, where ‘1999’ begins in September 2006. Just to confuse you thoroughly, the Ethiopian fiscal year begins on 8 July, and the Ethiopian New Year is rung in on 11 September. The Julian calendar is named after Julius Caeser, and developed as a result of a dispute over the exact date of Christ’s birth. The Julian calendar is made up of 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of five or six days. Hence the Ethiopian Tourism Council challenge to “Visit Ethiopia and be seven years younger”!
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