Historical Sites

This past weekend I got to see a few of the historic sites in the nearby southern region that make Ethiopia so distinctive and fascinating.

Our first stop was Adidi Maryam, a 900 year old rock-hewn church. The structure is carved entirely out of rock underground. It's humbling to consider the many generations who have passed through those ancient walls over the last 8 centuries. There are many, larger rock-hewn churches in the North for which Ethiopia is well-known. This particular structure is still in active use.

We also paid a visit to an ancient burial ground, with grave markers (known as stelae) found to be from the 13^th century. These stelae all had very visible carvings, all symbolic. The presence of a sword is believed to signify a valiant warrior, and the number of swords represent the number of people he killed. Some had a carving of a wooden headrest, a type of "rest in peace" memoriam; others had a rib bone carved to identify that a female was buried there. It's amazing that these carvings have remained so well preserved through the centuries.

Enjoy the pictures! Particularly the one of the straw-covered donkeys. I'd like to be present when they load the donkeys because I'm not sure how exactly they can get that much straw to stay on one animal.

Just your average busride…

 

Last week for the first time, I took the public bus from Butajira to Yetebon, the 8 kilometer trip on a bumpy dirt road.  The public buses only run on market day, every Friday.  Generally, we're blessed to have dependable transportation at Project Mercy, making the weekly trip on the back of an Isuzu truck.  All the teachers and hospital staff do their market shopping, while us "ferengis" (Scott and me) visit the internet café.

On this particular Friday, the Project Mercy transport was delayed and we were anxious to get back for a church program.  Our options were a gari, which is a horse cart, or the public bus.  I had observed these buses the past several months…usually a big mob of people loaded down with their market purchases, fighting for a space on the overcrowded minibuses.  It's not exactly an appealing scene, but still I wanted to experience "real life" in Yetebon. 

So Scott and I headed to the area where the buses line up, along with Bedru, a 12^th grade student from the school here.  Bedru helped us identify a bus going on the direction of Project Mercy.  We were fortunate to be the first people on the bus, therefore getting the "choice" seats in the front of the bus.  The first thing to catch my eye were the gaudy decorations in the front windshield…flower garland, photos of icons signature of the Ethiopian Orthodox church, and a curtain to block out the sun for the driver and his front passenger. 

It only took about 7 minutes for the bus to fill up.  Most were men. The fee is 3 birr (about 35 cents), making it cost-prohibitive for the women, who must use the little money they have to pay for food and goods for their family.  Men can be, and are, more superfluous with their money.  The women are the ones who really need the ride, loaded with market purchases on their back.  Rarely will you see an Ethiopian man carrying anything other than a walking stick and a bundle of chat, a narcotic plant that is a major cash crop in Ethiopia. The leaves are chewed to get a high.

I had seen these buses from the outside, and knew that they filled them well beyond capacity.  But being a part of the spectacle from the inside gave a whole different perspective.  Thankfully, the market purchases were stowed on the top of the bus.  So, no chickens or goats boarded with us, though there were a few stalks of sugarcane that threatened to take someone's eye out.  People kept packing in.  I got a quick count of the seats before the bus filled…there were 24.  I did not get a complete headcount, but in front of the first row of seats there were 10 people.  My estimation was that there were at least 50 people on that bus.  Once the aisle filled, the bus turned into a "double-decker" as at least one man perched himself on top of a seatback.

As if a ferengi doesn't stand out enough with their white skin…I looked around at a sea of neutral-colored clothes, while I was decked out in a red top and loud floral skirt.  I'm not exactly sure what made me notice this.  Then I pondered to myself why people here don't wear any color.  Maybe their clothes had been colorful at one time, but the wear and dusty roads they traverse turn them all to shades of brown.  Or maybe it's not worth having colorful clothes because it's only a matter of time before they become brown.  Anyway, market day is not the ideal time to go out dressed in one's finest. 

The bus driver was a gruff sort of character.  Bedru told us he was high on chat, but not to worry…chat is a stimulant, but it doesn't impair one's vision.  

The people sitting (or standing) near me were very friendly.  They tried out their English on me, saying "Yes I can" and "thank you", then smiling proudly.  They were high on chat, too.

This bus had a lot of character… and the horn spoke of the rough life it has led.  The best way I can describe the sound is an old lady's cackle who had smoked all her life.  I chuckled every time it let out a rough, shrill hoot.  The donkeys along the way weren't really phased by it…but then again, what are they phased by?   

It's remarkable that this generated so much to write about, considering it was only a 20 minute ride covering just 8 kilometers!  I'm not eager to repeat the experience, but I survived and now appreciate life here a little more. 

The rains

The dry season is a tough time of year in Africa...the parched Ethiopian ground has not seen rain since October 7th.  In some areas, the dust is measured as we measure snow in Pennsylvania.  This past week, we had a nice rain shower that settled all of that dust and brought a refreshing scent to the atmosphere. This does not signal the beginning of the rainy season, but it is common to have an occasional shower from February to March.  The real rainy season begins in June. 
However, as I experienced in Burkina, while the rains are always most welcome and celebrated, they do have an unpleasant consequence...bugs!  This time they aren't termites...in fact, I asked someone if there were any insects that they eat here, and they looked at me like I had 2 heads.  Clearly, Ethiopians are not into eating 6-legged creatures.  The critters that intrusively arrived after this rain resembled flying ants.  They don't bite or sting, and they don't even fly around your eyes like gnats.  They just swarm around your head and get caught in your hair...well, at least "ferengi" hair.  So it's just an annoyance more than anything.  And to be honest, it's worth that annoyance to have the earth refreshed with moisture. 

Stop and Smell the Roses

My friend, Lindsay, and I got to tour a rose greenhouse over the weekend.

Roses are becoming a huge industry in Ethiopia. Greenhouses are popping up all over the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Ethiopia has an ideal climate for growing them and decent infrastructure to be able to export them to Europe. It was incredible to walk through a sea of rosebushes…30 acres under plastic.


This particular greenhouse ships 4,000 stems / week to Holland.


They employ 500 local workers to cut, clean and package the roses for shipment. Most of the employees are women, which is intentional because the women carry the bulk of the responsibility to provide for their family. Sadly, all too often the men come and go and can't be relied on to supply finances.

Lindsay said it was the romantic in me coming out, but I couldn't help but think of the happiness each bundle of flowers would bring to its purchaser. I felt cheerful just to be surrounded by a plethora of perfect roses in a warehouse, with a little twinge of sadness for those that didn't make the cut, no pun intended. At the end of our visit, the owner gave each of us a bunch of roses. The particular variety I chose is called "Vampire" – a white rose with red tips – and I'm enjoying the brightness they bring to my room as I sit at my desk and write this.


I had to attach a photo of the tractor they use to haul the cut roses from greenhouse to packing house and cold storage for my dad and brother's benefit.

The Orthodox Church

This past weekend, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrated Epiphany. Inside every Orthodox church there are a set of tabots, which are replicas of the tablets found in the ark of the covenant. The Ark of the Covenant holds special meaning in Ethiopia because it is believed that the original ark rests in a small town in northern Ethiopia called Aksum, where it has been for 3,000 years! It is guarded by virgin monks who are forbidden from leaving the chapel grounds until they die once they've been anointed! This is a responsibility that is taken VERY seriously! No one other than these monks is permitted to see the original Ark.

The tabot replicas serve to consecrate the church building, and are kept in the holy of holies, where only senior priests are permitted. On the day of Epiphany, every January 19th, the replica tabots from each church are paraded through the streets.

This is the only day of the year that they leave the inner sanctum of the church. It's a very joyful march, which I witnessed from the Project Mercy compound this past weekend. Everyone was singing, with both men and women wrapped in white nutelas, or scarves. The priests are under the fancy, colorful umbrellas, adorned in very ornate robes and head coverings. The main priest carried the tabots in his hands as the crowd surrounded them in their pilgrimage about 5 kilometers from somewhere in a field to their church up in the mountain. In one of the pictures, you can see that they had quite a distance to go when they passed by the Project Mercy compound.

One of these days, I hope to visit northern Ethiopia and see more of the rich history that this land possesses.

More Trees

We received another delivery of trees from ECHO this past weekend. This shipment contained 175 temperate fruit trees: apples, peaches, plums, figs, persimmons, etc. I owe a big THANK YOU to students from the Taylor University J-term class who are here teaching English and experiencing Ethiopian life for 2 weeks. They generously gave up their Sunday afternoon to help me get all these bare-rooted trees labeled and into soil. I think they had fun doing it, too. A verse was even added to their ongoing theme song in my honor!

The trees from our first shipment are really starting to take off now that the evenings are warming up and we're past the winter solstice. Today Mohammad, the farm manager, and I planted 2 passionfruit vines in the ground.

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

~ John 15: 1-5

Ethiopian Christmas

As you all were throwing out the tree and packing up the decorations, I was celebrating round 2 of the recognition of Christ's birth. This time around was more eventful, with everyone in a communal joyful spirit. Christmas still isn't a huge deal like it is in the western world, but we had a nice celebration here on Monday.

Much of Friday and Saturday was spent in the kitchen, baking 7 different recipes of cookies for the kids' Christmas party. Sunday I, along with 2 others, spent 6 hours preparing and wrapping 85 gifts for all of the housekids.

And Monday all the work was well worth it…the kids did have a special day. But the true meaning of the holiday remained central. We were reminded how there was no room for Christ when he came to this earth. Is there room for him today? Someone here received a card that read: "They say it's my birthday, but I'm not even invited." I appreciated celebrating the holiday in a place where Christ was invited.


The kindergarten had a special Christmas program that we were invited to attend. In fact, Scott and I were the only ones in the audience, so we felt like honored guests. Picture this: 230 5 and 6 year-olds holding lit candles for over 45 minutes! Yes, these kids accomplished that feat – with no burns or tears…just a lot of melted wax on the floor. The thought running through my mind was, could kids in the States handle such a task?