Sorry for not writing often....things have been kind of busy...but in a good way. The big event that has happened is that I went on a five day trip to Northern Ethiopia. Generally, its known as the historical route since you pass through buildings build back back in the days. We didn't get to do the entire route due to our time limit...but we did so much. I was with three other girls...Meske(the adopted Ethiopian) Helen(the local Ethiopian) and Karis( the one foreigner looking chick in the group) and Me(the halfcaste):
The first day we flew from Addis to Bahir Dar. That morning was insane. We woke up at 5 am and our driver was waiting for us about 5:30 to take us to the airport. But of course...something had to go wrong. Our guard had left the compound to walk a neighbor to church( which is was sweet) but locked us inside the big massive gate....great! So we were stuck inside while our driver was outside. But the four of us devised a plan. We were going to move this massive water barrel to the gate climb it and jump over the 12ft wall, with sharp arrow headed fencing...As we were moving the barrell which was about a 1000 lbs, we ended up dropping it - releasing the storage water for the compound when the water goes out...oops...but it made it lighter to move...so we repeated it...of course the four of us are crying out laughter and desperation. So when we finally get it to the gate...I climb up...ready to scale the wall...and we here the gate click....the guard walked in...after all that chaos...we began our trip...
In Bahir Dar which is the Ethiopian version of a California boardwalk...we saw the massive Tisissat Falls ( the second biggest in Africa) and the lake monasteries which are about 1000 year old. At the falls we took a bunch of pictures and got misted by the pressure of the water. On the way up we stopped at the lady's place who was making coffee. It was hilarious. Here we were in front of a giant fall, and a lady was making coffee at the edge of the cliff...just chillin' looking for tourist to drink coffee. Its was hilarious. Other than that we just chilled on the lake, with the monkeys and sipped macchiatos at Obama Restraunt and Bar.
Then we took a mini bus to Gondor, which is the local mode of transportation...so of course the four of us were squished in the back seat...the two ethiopian looking, the one foriegner and the halfcast, sucking on lollipops catching the attention of everyone on the bus...because they have no idea how the four of us got together and are on a local bus...which generally no foreigners ride....it was just classic. We watched the country side fall behind us as we rose up into the mountains. its was just drop dead gorgeous. In gondor we pranced around as princesses in a 12th century castle. It was surreal...Of course we got shouted at because we climbed some ruins...but we didn't realize that we couldn't...That night we were so tired and we were just sitting in an internet cafe waiting for our hotel arrangements to be done...and three people...who weren't beggars asked us for stuff...we were so tired and they just cracked us up...the other locals in the cafe...thought it was hilarious too. For some reason- we just happen to attract all the wrong people.
The next day we went to Debrak...which is this po-dunk town 3 hours north of Gondor. The only reason we went there...was to hike in SIMEIN MOUNTAINs....which was absolutely gorgeous. We were walking on trails at the edge of 1000 ft cliffs...watching gelada baboons scale them as if they were just monkey bars...and sat at the edge of a drop eating kolo(the local snack) just admiring the view. It was phenomenal. THe drive was okay but an experience...since it was super dusty and the windows wouldn't shut...we were covered in dust...head to toe. again...hilarious.
The next leg of the trip was a fully day and half driving to Lalibella...again by local transportation...so we got a lot of stares... and we tried to communicate with the locals...shared food...kolo, sugar cane...and so on...Of course they all spoke amharic to me, trying to test if i was local...and I made up a story that my dad is Ethiopian and my mom was Indian. It made them so happy...one guy gave me a personal tour of the country side as we passed along on the bus...trying to re-acquaint me with my country of heritage...i did feel kind of guilty...whoops,...but it still was nice. It took us about a day and a half to travel from Gondor to Lalibella...which in American terms is less than 150 miles...
When we finally reached...we were jumping in joy. literally...haha. Lalibella...is just breath taking...there are churches carved into massive rocks about centuries ago and the same tradition and culture still prevails. The coolest thing was watching a church teacher (who dressed very traditionally in a white shawl and white head wrap w/ a cane) teach two young boys the giz language... the language of the Ethiopian orthodox church. It was a beautiful site...since they just plopped themselves down in a spot amongst rocks carved by history...
We also did more hiking...watched the sunset and made friends who showed us around in Lalibella. All in all ...it was beautiful
When we got back to addis...of course there was no water in the house...and life just went back to normal...
but all in all...the trip was hilarious, gorgeous and jaw dropping!
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