(I want to sincerely apologize to everyone who was trying to follow our blog last week! Our internet access in Addis Ababa was, sadly, nearly non-existent. Even the places that called themselves ‘internet cafes’ were no help at all. We struggled trying to connect to wireless access points all week, but finally gave up. I hope that you enjoy the remainder of the posts, even though we have already returned home safely! Thanks for reading!)
I woke up early today, about 4:30. I’m sure it was the sound of dogs barking, prayer chanting from the mosques, and lots of traffic on the wet road outside our window. Des popped up, jumped into clothes, grabbed his Time magazine, and headed for the terrace for his buna (coffee) and reading time. I picked out some clothes to wear, took my shower/bath, shaved, brushed my teeth, and headed up to the terrace to have breakfast with the others.
We arranged to meet everyone back in the lobby at 10 again. This time we set out walking toward the churches up on the hillsides that we had seen over and over from our walks and rides by that area. It was a fairly taxing walk, especially for me, the old guy....mostly uphill....and in this altitude, it can really put a load on one’s lungs.
We finally reached the Holy Trinity Cathedral, and were greeted by a couple of suited men, none of whom spoke English. Through a few words and some sign language, they managed to shuffle us toward the gatekeeper’s shelter, where we paid a nominal amount to enter. We were given some brochures that were written in English, and the one gentleman led us to the church. Again, through some Amharic words, and mime, our friend indicated we needed to remove our shoes just inside the door. As we removed our shoes, he disappeared down one of the aisles and promptly returned with the loveliest woman in native dress, with her beautiful scarf draped over her head and around her shoulders. She very humbly greeted us in very clear English, and said that she would be our guide. She looked to be in her 60s, a lighter-skinned Ethiopian woman, and she just exuded a warmth and friendliness that I know put us all at ease. She explained the separation of men and women in their church; she told us about how each church has three distinct areas, and in the inner area of each is a replica of the ark of the covenant; she walked us through the larch sanctuary and explained each of the beautiful stained glass windows; we learned about ‘prayer sticks,’ on which men lean while standing and praying for hours, and which are also used for prayer ‘dancing’; and she led us to the throne-like seats on either side of the front where Haile Selassie and his empress would sit during services there. Also in a very prominent place in the front of the sanctuary were the tombs of both Selassie and his wife.
We then put on our shoes and we were led out and across the courtyard to the Selassie Museum, where another gentleman led us around a large room full of artifacts, handwritten parchment manuscripts, gold and silver processional crosses, chalices, incense burners, crowns, and robes, all significant to the church, and many of which were donated by Selassie himself. The one thing that stood out here for me was a depiction of the Last Supper, completely rendered in mother of pearl. Sadly, we were not allowed to photograph anywhere inside this museum.
Next, our guide led us out of this church compound, through a military zone, up a very steep hill to a second church called Menilek II, named after an earlier emperor. After removing our shoes, we were actually led directly through a small service, and down a steep, mysterious stairwell to a dark musty room below the sanctuary. This room was almost completely filled with four tombs. On one side of the room were the tombs of Menilek II, his wife, and one of his daughters. On the other side of the room was a lone tomb over which hung a post-mortem photo of Selassie’s daughter. We were told that very few people get to see this room. We donated some money in a small box and signed our names in a large and very old-looking ‘guest’ book, and went back upstairs. As we put on our shoes to leave, I took time to watch people as they entered the church, often first falling on their faces, then kissing the door jambs. It is humbling to see such faith displayed so emphatically.
As we left Menilek II and headed back down the hill, we passed two very large tortoises in the walkway. People on their way up and down the hill just simply walked around them. While walking, we were often greeted with waves and hellos by small children being led along by their mothers. The children are so naively friendly, and we were always charmed by them. A couple of us stopped to talk to one little boy, and we asked his mother if we could take his picture. We then showed both him and his mother the pictures we’d taken, and his bigger sister suddenly stepped out from behind her mother. She looked to be about 4 or 5. We asked her if she would like to have her picture taken, and took a few of her and shared them with this little family. Those were special moments for us.We were running a bit late, so we caught a couple of taxis back to our hotel, where we had a nice lunch out on the terrace.
At about 2:15, the van came to pick us up and deliver us to the Mecato, supposedly the largest marketplace in the world. We had prepared by emptying wallets, pockets, leaving behind bags, cameras, etc., so as not to entice thieves or pick-pockets. The trip to the marketplace was mind-boggling! Cars and people and animals everywhere, and it was very hard to get through the traffic. Our driver, however, deftly passed through somehow and even found a place on the corner to park and let us out! So, here we are, a bunch of naive, mostly young, mostly white people pouring out of the van in the midst of this organized chaos, and I am sure we stuck out like 14 big sore thumbs. I have to say, however, that we felt a bit better prepared, since we had been briefed about the marketplace. We managed to get into some of the different buildings, still only a small fraction of the market, in general, and we bartered and haggled with sales people at at their booths, and we felt very proud of having walked out with what we knew to be bargains! We got lots of Ethiopian handcrafts, textiles, musical instruments, and such to take home for family and friends, and as souvenirs for ourselves. We also made mental notes about what we may want to return to buy, perhaps with even more buying savvy, later in the week. It was very very interesting, and even FUN! We piled back into the van, all with bags of treasures in hand, and all bragging about what great deals we got!
We returned to the hotel late in the afternoon, where, once again, I tried for nearly two hours, unsuccessfully to get on the internet and upload the blogs. I was not happy, to say the least, but it was certainly out of my control....probably out of the control of even the government, who supposedly ‘controls’ it! Nevertheless, I got drowsy while sitting there, and decided that perhaps a nap was in order. I was still pretty exhausted from all the traveling, and from the walking, and I had also developed a fairly large blister under one of my toes, so I decided, like one or two others, to rest at the hotel that evening while everyone went to dinner. It was a good decision.
I woke up early today, about 4:30. I’m sure it was the sound of dogs barking, prayer chanting from the mosques, and lots of traffic on the wet road outside our window. Des popped up, jumped into clothes, grabbed his Time magazine, and headed for the terrace for his buna (coffee) and reading time. I picked out some clothes to wear, took my shower/bath, shaved, brushed my teeth, and headed up to the terrace to have breakfast with the others.
We arranged to meet everyone back in the lobby at 10 again. This time we set out walking toward the churches up on the hillsides that we had seen over and over from our walks and rides by that area. It was a fairly taxing walk, especially for me, the old guy....mostly uphill....and in this altitude, it can really put a load on one’s lungs.We finally reached the Holy Trinity Cathedral, and were greeted by a couple of suited men, none of whom spoke English. Through a few words and some sign language, they managed to shuffle us toward the gatekeeper’s shelter, where we paid a nominal amount to enter. We were given some brochures that were written in English, and the one gentleman led us to the church. Again, through some Amharic words, and mime, our friend indicated we needed to remove our shoes just inside the door. As we removed our shoes, he disappeared down one of the aisles and promptly returned with the loveliest woman in native dress, with her beautiful scarf draped over her head and around her shoulders. She very humbly greeted us in very clear English, and said that she would be our guide. She looked to be in her 60s, a lighter-skinned Ethiopian woman, and she just exuded a warmth and friendliness that I know put us all at ease. She explained the separation of men and women in their church; she told us about how each church has three distinct areas, and in the inner area of each is a replica of the ark of the covenant; she walked us through the larch sanctuary and explained each of the beautiful stained glass windows; we learned about ‘prayer sticks,’ on which men lean while standing and praying for hours, and which are also used for prayer ‘dancing’; and she led us to the throne-like seats on either side of the front where Haile Selassie and his empress would sit during services there. Also in a very prominent place in the front of the sanctuary were the tombs of both Selassie and his wife.
We then put on our shoes and we were led out and across the courtyard to the Selassie Museum, where another gentleman led us around a large room full of artifacts, handwritten parchment manuscripts, gold and silver processional crosses, chalices, incense burners, crowns, and robes, all significant to the church, and many of which were donated by Selassie himself. The one thing that stood out here for me was a depiction of the Last Supper, completely rendered in mother of pearl. Sadly, we were not allowed to photograph anywhere inside this museum.
Next, our guide led us out of this church compound, through a military zone, up a very steep hill to a second church called Menilek II, named after an earlier emperor. After removing our shoes, we were actually led directly through a small service, and down a steep, mysterious stairwell to a dark musty room below the sanctuary. This room was almost completely filled with four tombs. On one side of the room were the tombs of Menilek II, his wife, and one of his daughters. On the other side of the room was a lone tomb over which hung a post-mortem photo of Selassie’s daughter. We were told that very few people get to see this room. We donated some money in a small box and signed our names in a large and very old-looking ‘guest’ book, and went back upstairs. As we put on our shoes to leave, I took time to watch people as they entered the church, often first falling on their faces, then kissing the door jambs. It is humbling to see such faith displayed so emphatically.
As we left Menilek II and headed back down the hill, we passed two very large tortoises in the walkway. People on their way up and down the hill just simply walked around them. While walking, we were often greeted with waves and hellos by small children being led along by their mothers. The children are so naively friendly, and we were always charmed by them. A couple of us stopped to talk to one little boy, and we asked his mother if we could take his picture. We then showed both him and his mother the pictures we’d taken, and his bigger sister suddenly stepped out from behind her mother. She looked to be about 4 or 5. We asked her if she would like to have her picture taken, and took a few of her and shared them with this little family. Those were special moments for us.We were running a bit late, so we caught a couple of taxis back to our hotel, where we had a nice lunch out on the terrace.
At about 2:15, the van came to pick us up and deliver us to the Mecato, supposedly the largest marketplace in the world. We had prepared by emptying wallets, pockets, leaving behind bags, cameras, etc., so as not to entice thieves or pick-pockets. The trip to the marketplace was mind-boggling! Cars and people and animals everywhere, and it was very hard to get through the traffic. Our driver, however, deftly passed through somehow and even found a place on the corner to park and let us out! So, here we are, a bunch of naive, mostly young, mostly white people pouring out of the van in the midst of this organized chaos, and I am sure we stuck out like 14 big sore thumbs. I have to say, however, that we felt a bit better prepared, since we had been briefed about the marketplace. We managed to get into some of the different buildings, still only a small fraction of the market, in general, and we bartered and haggled with sales people at at their booths, and we felt very proud of having walked out with what we knew to be bargains! We got lots of Ethiopian handcrafts, textiles, musical instruments, and such to take home for family and friends, and as souvenirs for ourselves. We also made mental notes about what we may want to return to buy, perhaps with even more buying savvy, later in the week. It was very very interesting, and even FUN! We piled back into the van, all with bags of treasures in hand, and all bragging about what great deals we got!
We returned to the hotel late in the afternoon, where, once again, I tried for nearly two hours, unsuccessfully to get on the internet and upload the blogs. I was not happy, to say the least, but it was certainly out of my control....probably out of the control of even the government, who supposedly ‘controls’ it! Nevertheless, I got drowsy while sitting there, and decided that perhaps a nap was in order. I was still pretty exhausted from all the traveling, and from the walking, and I had also developed a fairly large blister under one of my toes, so I decided, like one or two others, to rest at the hotel that evening while everyone went to dinner. It was a good decision.
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