Gondar and Bahir Dar

We are finally done with our travels for the rest of the Semester. The next month will be solely devoted to our Independent Study Projects. Our last trip did not disappoint however. We arrive in Gondar around ten o'clock and had a little bit of time to relax before we headed out to see the castles. For any Lord of the Rings fans, the town is named Gondar not Gondor, which is a little disappointing, but we still looked for a white tree the whole time we were there. The castle complex was amazing, definitely living up to its name of "Africa's Camelot". The main castle in the complex is still remarkably intact, and we were able to go inside and walk around on the second floor. The man with the key to the roof was not there that day, so we didn't get to go up the towers. The next day we went to a few churches. The inside walls were completely covered in paintings; quite spectacular. We then went to Dashen Brewery, and got to see all of the inner workings of one of the biggest breweries in Ethiopia. The bottling line was probably the most impressive part. We finished off the day at a few traditional music clubs, and then a modern club. Gondar is known for its club scene, and our teachers weren't going to let us leave Gondar without a little dancing. The next day we traveled to Bahir Dar by car, and hiked to a castle in the hills overlooking Lake Tana. I then proceeded to nap the rest of the afternoon. The next day we spent on Lake Tana, boating to the various island monasteries. The churches once again contained spectacular paintings, and some old manuscripts as well. I also saw a monkey on one of the islands, but no hippos in the lake. This morning we spent hiking to the Blue Nile Falls, which are now dammed and not as spectacular as they once were. If I hadn't been told this however, I would have been thoroughly impressed. Even with half of the water dammed, they were still amazing, and the spray got us all wet. Overall the trip was everything I had hoped for, and I got to hang out on a lake for a day. I couldn't have asked for anything else.

Harar

Harar is a city that will take any of your preconceived notions about Islam, and Muslim countries in general, and shatter them. The streets are bright with color, the celebrations are full of life, and the parties go well into the night. Our first night in Harar was the beginning of the Shewal Id celebrations, a holiday unique to Harar. It is a continuation of the Id celebration (the end of Ramadan) but occurs 6 days after Id. This is because women are not expected to fast during their monthly cycle, and so must make up the time in these six days. However, as a matter of solidarity, the men also fast these 6 days, and then there is a giant party that lasts until the next day. We only stayed for part of the night, as we had woken up at 5:30 that morning. The next day we visited the president of Harar's house, and we hung out with him. It was a very surreal experience. Then, the real fun began. Around 7 o'clock we loaded the van and headed towards the outskirts of Harar where the feeding had already begun. We pulled up to a man surrounded by ten hyenas, stick in his mouth, and meat hanging off the end. The hyenas would slowly approach and gingerly take the meat off of the end of the stick. We all were allowed to feed the hyenas from the stick, just not with it in our mouth. I was slightly dissapointed. The man burned through two 5-gallon buckets of meat and then was done. The hyenas quickly searched the spot for excess meat, and then disbanded as they prepared to enter the city for the night. I would like to tell you that I fed vicious, bloodthirsty creatures, but honestly they were afraid of me, and very timid. It was still a very amazing experience that I would do again and again. Also, to go along with the uniqueness of Harar, they have been in the process of taming the hyenas every year by feeding them a porridge during one of the Islamic holidays. They are viewed as almost saintly figures to the people of Harar. I finally have tried to load pictures, and guess what, it actually worked. Here is the first of more to come.

Lalibela

We arrived in Lalibela and immediately we headed for the rock hewn churches. We saw the first group the first day, which included 4 of the churches. They were a little disappointing because they were surrounded by scaffolding, but the insides were amazing. The next day we took another incredibly uncomfortable landcruiser ride outside the city to two more churches. The first was not rock hewn, but was a built-up church inside a cave. I can't remember the name, but it meant "The Savior of the World". The back of the cave was a place that monks go to die, and I was about 3 feet from a couple of human skulls. It was a little creepy, but not as bad as the next day when we saw a dead nun that still had some skin on her bones. That meant she was very pure of heart supposedly, seeing as she had been dead a long time. The second church of the day was rock hewn church known as Bilbala Giorghis. It was infested with Sacred Bees which proceeded to sting Lauren on the face, meaning she was blessed. Or in pain, same thing basically. The final day we saw the rest of the rock-hewn churches including Beta Giorghis, the famous one you can find pictures of if you google Lalibela. It was even more spectacular in person. We also walked up a skinny stone path that was representative of reaching heaven, so pretty much I am set. Right before hand we fumbled through a cave that is known as purgatory and was pitch black. I thought I was going to hit my head the whole time. Lalibela was a very chilly town, in the mountains with great views. My Tilley hat has been getting a lot of use, and I haven't been sunburned since the one day we played soccer a long time ago. Also, I shaved my beard off about an hour ago for anyone who cares.

Aksum, Yeha, Debre Damo

The journey began in a Fokker 50, the first propeller plane I have
ever been on. The flight to Aksum was about an hour and a half, and
then we had the rest of the day to explore the city. We tried not to
see the major sites, just so we didn't ruin the surprise. There was a
hill/mountain behind our hotel that we climbed on the first day in
order to look at the whole city. The climb was exciting, and the view
was gorgeous. The next day we travelled to Yeha, the site of a temple
from 1000 BC. It was part of the oldest sub-saharan African
civilization. The temple was devoted to Almouqah, a south Arabian
God. From there we drove about 2 hours on the bumpiest roads I have
ever experienced to the bottom of a plateau. We then climbed as far
as we could to the base of the cliff face, and the guys got to climb a
rope/ be pulled up by another rope. Then we were on top of Debre
Damo, then oldest surviving church in Ethiopia. It was founded by one
of the Nine Saints of ethiopia, who was taken to the top by a heavenly
snake. Then we came back down, which was harder then the ascent. The next day we went on a tour of the city of Aksum, including the stella fields, and the Church of St. Mary of Zion, and the house of the Ark of the Covenant.

I was slightly dissapointed by the Ark, not quite as
exciting as I had expected. The stella however were amazing, much
taller than I thought would be possible. We finished our time in
Aksum the next morning by attending a sunrise service at the Church of St. Mary. We woke up at 4:30 and walked around the church for and
hour by candle light. It was magical to say the least. We then left
for Lalibela later that day.

Heading Out

Not much to report from Ethiopia. I have been taking classes for 6 hours a day, eating dinner and doing homework. Luckily that will change soon. On Wednesday we leave for Aksum, Debre Damo, and Lalibela, so don't expect an update for about a week. I will blog when I return.

Erecha

The Erecha celebrations are held in Debre Zeit every year surrounding a giant sycamore tree that overlooks a crater lake. The celebration is an ancient tradition based on a nature religion of the Oromo people. Grass and flowers are offered both to the lake and to the tree as a demonstration of fertility. The morning was very calm and sacred, with chanting and incense burning. By the afternoon however, basically all of Ethiopia seemed to be in one square mile of forest, creating the largest crowd I have ever experienced. The riot police showed up to try and calm down the celebrations but they really just ruined the mood. They looked a little bit like storm troopers. On the way to lunch we were all almost trampled by the hordes of people, and we were pushed right through the middle of a fight. It seemed that someone had tried to steal something, and got caught. We finished the day at a Mexican restaurant, where I had a quesadilla, fried ice cream, and some people's leftover chocolate cake.