You missed a great celebration in Oakland. The Eritrean Orthodox Church celebrated the beginning of the month of Hatar
today. The celebration began at 3AM and continued for twelve hours of
dancing, singing and some prayer. It ended with a lavish Eritrean meal
and honey wine (maybe honey beer).
The church has 200 active
members and that is what would normally fit in the space. Today all
the friends and family of members came from the entire Bay Area and
numbered 7-800. 
It was crowded and the overflow was in a tent adjacent
to the church. Yes, there are many beautiful people.
The language had a Semitic glottal ayan. The esthetics seem very ancient and the applause mixes with the Middle Eastern ululation. The man in the black hat on the right is the Bishop of the church who travels with 10 associates and lives in D.C.