DARN MONKEYS!!!

11/21/2007
After seeing another monkey in the road and two more flat tires later, we made it safely back to Addis Ababa with a total of 8 flat tires (and a distaste for monkeys in the road). I couldn't believe it.

None of us realized how many MOUNTAINS there are in Ethiopia. Once we ascended our first mountain pass, in awe of the grandeur of the view, it was nonstop steep, rocky, mountain roads after that...up and down and up and down adn up and down mountains. At the end of each day i would look at my skin and be excited by how tan I was. And every night before bed I would watch my tan run down the drain as the layer of dust that we accumulated every day driving the dusty roads washed off. I was surprised by how COLD it can be in Africa!! We stayed one night in Maychew, which we called "Ethiopian Seattle" because it was chilly. The next night we ended up in "Ethiopian Alaska" (Dese) which left me shivering in bed. All I can say is THANK YOU Sean for sweatpants!!! They've served me well. Due to our unexpected number of flat tires, we missed out entirely on the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. Instead, we were able to see the orphanage where our buddies Bire and Mohammad grew up.

Bire was born in a village in the northern part of Ethiopia. He doesn't remember meeting his dad and by the age of 5, his mom was unable to provide for him. Bire doesn't remember how it happened exactly, but somehow he was taken from his home and ended up at the orphanage that we visited. I was expecting one or two buildings, but this was an entire compound that once housed as many as 500 orphans at one time. It was a beautiful location, nestled off the road in a cluster of trees and gardens, surrounded by farmland and a river running through the valley. Though the orphanage closed down 8 years ago, it is operating now as an Agricultural research Center, so Bire was able to give us a tour. Beline's dream is to open her own orphanage one day, so Bire recounted the details that made his orphanage experience a positive and even fun one. He has many fond memories of this place, where there was lots of green space for the kids to run around, and lots of friends right nearby. It reminded me of a summer camp, and through his stories, had a very good feel to it. While he were walking, an old woman approached us and her face lit up as she recognized Bire. She had been the cook and cleaning lady at the orphanage when Bire was little; they hadn't seen each other in eight years. This place was home and family for Bire, and though he has mostly fond memories, he says he would give anything to have a mother.

Other highlights of our trip:
Axum: we explored underground tombs of Ethiopian Kings and Queens. By the St. Mary of Zion church, we saw the building which is said to house the Ark of the Covenant(the 10 commandments written on stone that God gave to Moses). No one except a few orthodox priests are allowed in the sacred place, visitors can only see the outside of the building. (we got a picture of the place, dad!) While the real Ark of the Covenant is said to be in that church, there are copies of the Ark of the Covenant in every Ethiopian Orthodox church in Ethiopia. On special holidays, the replicas are paraded around.

Gondar:we explored castles and the swimming pool of King Fasilidas, an Ethiopian King. Ethiopia is the only African nation that has never been colonized. The British and Italians occupied it for awhile, but never colonized it. Thus, there is much Ethiopian pride here.

Flat Tire #8: gave us opportunity to visit the oldest Muslim community in the world, aside from Mecca. We visited the mosque and played tickle monster with the little children, whose clothes were literally rags falling off their bodies, flies crawling all over their faces, even in the corners of their eyes, bloated bellies...poverty was very evident. One little boy in particular had clothes hanging on by a thread, so Beline and I gave him a tanktop, which became a dress on him! He was so happy, his sister marched him off to their house to show mom.

In the town of Wikro, we did see one rock-hewn church called Cherkos, part of which was a cave. It was built in the 4th century and is the oldest Orthodox church in Ethiopia.

WILD MONKEYS!! We stopped up in the mountains at a place called the Afar gap, where troops of wild monkeys run free. I've never seen that many monkeys in the wild...it was WILD!! There were hundreds of them and we had to hike up the mountain through fields of oregano to see them (I raced a couple of the local boys, though was soon out of breath from running). The boys hunted the monkeys and were wearing hats made of long monkey fur. They kept asking me if I wanted to buy oregano, so I asked them if they eat the monkeys and cook it with oregano. They said no, that they were Christians and that Christians don't eat monkeys. It might be in the Orthodox Bible, but I didn't remember anything about not eating monkeys in the Catholic Bible. The boys were fun to chat with, their English was very good.

Back in Addis...kevin flew out last night :(. Our trio is down to two and we miss him dearly! Wishing you a Happy THanksgiving tomorrow...what I wouldn't give for some PUMPKIN PIE!!! i'll probably be eating goat.
:) Hana T.