In quest of an exotic honeymoon

She feels that the books she read about love and marriage have impacted her view on the subject. “I don’t know why, but I worry about having a memorable honeymoon than an actual wedding,” she says. Bethel is not alone in insisting on having an exceptional honeymoon; many young girls seem to feel strongly about it. “These days, many young women seem to pay more attention to the  honeymoon than the wedding they have attended,” Kokobe Yilma, 24, says. The two elegant young women work together at a local consultancy office as an accountant and secretary respectively. Since they spend much of their time working together, their dream about the ultimate wedding also converges.

Traditional wedding in Ethiopia is a bit different from the rest of the world; so is the time considered as a honeymoon. However, what kind of honeymoon people have and where they go to spend their lovely time is uniform across the various cultures and traditions in the country. In the rural villages, newlyweds stay in the house newly built by the groom’s family which takes care of them twenty-four hours. They are also expected to stay in the comfort of their homes at all times and not go out. In most cultures the bride and groom will be fed milk, butter and beef in addition to the extraordinarily care given to the bride by the groom’s mother or close relatives. The house where the two will be staying, usually a windowless place, is called “ye chagula bet” – which translates as a room for the honeymooners. Read more