How would you like to travel back in time? How about 7 years? All you need to do is travel to Ethiopia. (And please, visit our programs there!) Ethiopia still uses the Julian calendar, which is about 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar most of the world uses. If you travel to Ethiopia today, the current year is 2011. But wait … there is more …
The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months: 12 months of 30 days and a short month of 5 or 6 days. Ethiopian New Year is celebrated on September 11th, except in leap years, when it is on September 12th. To make things more complicated, days in Ethiopia are split into two 12-hour halves: the day begins at 6 am (“time zero”) and ends at 6 am, whereas the night begins at 6 pm and ends at 6 am. For example, if my watch were to say it was 8 am, it would be 2 o’clock in the morning according to Ethiopian time. (Why? Because 8 am is two hours after 6 am, the “time zero” of the their first 12-hour period). Aren’t you happy you live here? You should be even happier because if you were enrolled in our monthly giving program (as I hope you will do after reading this message), you would only have to make 12 payments a year, instead of 13! But who is counting when your gift will make such a difference. Here are some reasons to enroll in our monthly giving program:
Gabriele P.S. A little riddle for you … If you are in Ethiopia and your watch says it’s 2 am, what would time would the locals say it was? The first three donors who will enroll in our monthly giving program and write me the correct answer will receive our A Chance In Life hat. (Entries from Ethiopia excluded … they would have a 7-year advantage …)
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