Had a Fabulous Post All Planned...

... and then I could barely keep my eyes open.  Seriously, it's 10:05pm and I am already under my mosquito net with the lights off.  Why am I so tired?  I will probably never know.  All I know is I want to sleep.  So sleep I shall.  Good night.  Maybe the fabulous post will come tomorrow...

More Holiday Photos

Because it was just so gorgeous, how can I not share more photos?

We got up pretty early the day after touring Middle Earth, and drove in our red van to see some more amazing sights.  The drive was beautiful - lots of quaint pastoralist scenes of folks doing their farming.  I think our driver thought we were nuts, because my friend is fluent in Amharic, and we've both lived in Africa for several years, so I think we were different than the typical tourists that they see in those parts.  Surprisingly enough, most of the tourists around were my parent's age, and wearing zip-off pants.  Neither my friend or I were wearing zip off pants, you can be sure of that!

 We drove for a few hours from Gondar in our trusty van, stopping to take some photos, and examine the teff growing in the fields.  Once we got to Debark, we stopped at the Simien Mountains National Park office to pick up our guide and our scout!  After the all important macchiato, we toured the little market, and picked up some bananas, toilet paper and even a couple of Snickers bars! Imagine, Snickers bars!

But it was really the garlic that was amazing.  Fresh garlic EVERYWHERE.  You can imagine the aroma.  I've never seen garlic like that before, and you can bet that had I been coming straight back home, I would have had a bunch of garlic to surprise the customs folks with :)  But, I didn't think any of my travel companions for the next 3 weeks would want my suitcase smelling like garlic... so, I took a photo instead of some garlic.

Mengistu, our guide, and Ato Berhane, a wizened old man with a wizened old rifle, piled into our van, and we started up the mountain.  You are not allowed to go anywhere in the park without a "scout", and he was a jovial old man, so it was fun to have him along, but it did feel a bit odd to have him sitting in the back seat of the van with his gun the whole time!  He was pretty happy to share our snacks with us, though, and was quite amused by our continuous stopping of the van to take more pictures...

We arrived at "home" to our Lodge just as the fog was rolling in!  But that's ok, because it was definitely lunch time!  While we ate our lunch, someone else carried our suitcases up the mountain to our room... which was just fine with me, because, well, at over 10,000 ft, just walking up the mountain was making me huff and puff!

After lunch, though, the fog rolled away, and we went for a little walk with Mengistu and Ato Berhane.  Good enough, we started out walking downhill :)  And I had to stop a lot to take pictures.

See how much fun I was having, hiking?  Seriously, it was amazing to be in the mountains, to wander through the hills, to breath the fresh air (that is, when I could catch my breath!) and just enjoy creation and its Creator.  I've really, really missed that living in Jb.

We borrowed Ato Berhane's blanket and pretended to be shepherds and scouts, much to his amusement.

Really, though, we were hunting for the endemic baboon, found no where else in the world!  I'm a bit wary of baboons - never having had any good experiences with them in East Africa.  But, I was assured that these ones were friendly, and not only that, but they are the world's only herbivore baboons.  They just sit on their butts all day, eating grass, and smiling for photos from the tourists.

The van came down the hill to pick us up... but we were like, "nah, we're still young, we can walk back up..."  After falling in a stream and worrying dear Ato Berhane... I have to admit that we were pretty happy to see the van waiting for us half-way up the mountain :) 

Some photos of the last few weeks

Zane was all packed and ready to go the night before.  Unfortunately, he couldn't find his passport in time, so he had to stay home :(

 

My friend and I flew from Addis Ababa to Gonder, in the Northern part of the country.  Amazing!  It really was sort of like being in Middle Earth.  I mean, I've seen more impressive castles in Europe, but the fact that these are African castles, and have such an interesting history of their own, it was really amazing to wander around and try to imagine what life was like back at the height of these empires.  The castles were pretty well preserved, and we took lots of pictures of the details of the various castles and ruins in the Royal Enclosure.  But I'll spare you too many photos...

 After touring the Royal Enclosure, we drove up to one of the famous churches - this one is famous for all the icons and paintings inside.  The ceiling paintings were the most impressive!  Row upon row of Ethiopian angels looking down at you.  You're supposed to try to count all the angels... but I just spent my time enjoying the scene and taking photos.  We learned a ton of the history, and learned a lot about the Orthodox Church, as well, but I'll spare you the details - if you're interested, you can look it up in Lonely Planet :)  We had a good guide, though, which made for an enjoyable day in Gondar.  After an avocado juice and a nice dinner overlooking the statue of Emporor Tewodros, we went early to bed in our very nice hotel, ready for a drive up the Simien Mountains the following day...

I'm Home!

I'm sitting in my favourite chair, under my favourite fan (though it's only on "1" speed at the moment, since it's pretty cool this evening), and listening to my favourite BBC radio station.  I don't even have to share my chair with Zane, because he's currently curled up inside my suitcase, which is sitting on the floor, under the fan, drying out.

Yes, I said "drying out".  I had a grand entrance into Jb today.  First, I was a bit shakey, because wow, we had a bit of a rough landing!  Ethiopian Airlines has a great safety record, and I have flown on them a TON in the past years... but today, wow, a bit rough.  You could hear everyone let out a bit of a sigh of relief when our plane came to stop on the runway, so I wasn't the only one who was feeling like it had been a bit of a rough landing...

Anyway, after the landing, everyone exited the plane.  Of course, there are none of those nice walk-way things that bring you directly into the airport.  Here, the flight crew opens the door of the plane, which turns into a handy-dandy little stair case, which you walk down, onto the runway, and find your way across the runway to the terminal.  Today, when I got off the plane, I looked across the runway and could literally see the rain coming.  The far end of the runway was soaked, and you could see the rain quickly moving our way.  Unfortunately, a plane carrying some VIP just arrived in front of us, and as soon as I saw the rain and was about the make a run for it to the terminal, we were all stopped in our tracks by the security detail for this VIP.  And we all had to stand there, watching the rain come, with a rather large, well, security contingent between us and the terminal.  Nothing to be done but stand there and get soaked.  The very second the VIP passed and we were allowed to go, we all made a mad dash for the door!  I think this is one of the only times I've ever seen anyone running in this town!

Of course, then by the time our luggage made it to the terminal, it was completely soaked through, as well.  As soon as I got home, I unpacked, and hung all my dirty laundry all over the house, making sure that it dried a little before throwing it in the dirty clothes hamper!  What a nice welcome home, eh?  At least Zane was sitting on the porch, awaiting my arrival.  He sure was happy to see me, and promptly plopped himself in my wet suitcase, and has only moved from the wet suitcase long enough to scarf down some pumpkin for supper!

But, it's good to be home, to be in my own space, to get back to "normal", after a wonderful trip to Ethiopia.

Simple Needs

I like to think I'm pretty low maintenance.  For example, at the moment, I am sitting in a beautiful little house in Western Ethiopia, sipping a cup of tea, and finally being able to get online!  And I'm happy.  Really, it all comes down to communication for me - if I can get online, I'm happy.  If I can't get online... well...  That doesn't make me high maintenance, does it?  I hope that I'm not too difficult for my hosts to take care of!

Our teacher training workshop started today.  So far, so good!  I couldn't believe it, but almost all of the participants were at the workshop hall, even before we were this morning!  They have all come... and hopefully they will all stay, though we have heard that there might be a religious holiday at the end of this week... which means that they might all go back to their villages to celebrate the holiday... and then apparently, they sometimes don't come back :(

Anyway, things have started out well, so far.  There are 4 guys in the workshop that I have met before, on various trips to this country, and so it's been really nice to see them again!  They all gave me a warm welcome.  It's also really great to be in this place, too, as there are so many people who speak Arabic here!  I seem to have endeared myself to them with my little bit of Arabic - in fact, they even gave me a round of applause as I introduced myself today.  Who would have thought all my experience with Arabic would help me here?!  I have also been trying to pick up some Amharic over the past week, so I have a few more phrases and words on the tip of my tongue.  However, my time in Axum brought back some of the Tigrinya language that I know... so really, it's all just a big muddle in my head.  All three Semitic languages, and I keep forgetting which word belongs to which language! 

Speaking of Axum, though, it was really an amazing place.  I didn't really think that it would be all that great - I was thinking that it was probably just a bunch of tall rocks standing around to look at.  But I was wrong - there is so much more there.  Including the little chapel where they say they keep the actual real Ark of the Covenant!  Another highlight was an ancient stone - sort of like a Rosetta stone with various languages on it, including Greek, Sabean and Ge'ez.  And it just sits there in a little shack, for anyone to look at and touch.  It's all crazy old stuff, just sitting around in fields to look at and touch.  Really fascinating history in that area, and it was great to see it and hear all the stories.

At some point I will get fast enough internet to post a few photos of it all... enshallah.

A few highlights..

I'm having such an amazing vacation! From Gondar, we were driven in a rather nice van  up towards the Simien Mountains. The drive itself was quite stunning, beautiful fields of teff, wheat, barley, oats and lots of horses, cows and sheep everywhere. The colours, and the plain "pastoralism" of the scenes were fascinating. The bright yellow Meskel flowers were in full bloom, and it was so beautiful.  We had a very comfortable van to drive in,  and a friendly driver, Tamret, who had good taste in music. I gotta get. Y hands on some Teddy Afro music! Not only that, but he was a good driver - not something to take for granted around here. He was cautious enough, and you could tell he was looking ahead and anticipating what was coming, but still confident enough to know what the van could do. And this was all very comforting once we goth to some of the crazy roads in the mountains!

We drive for a few hours, then eventually got to a town called Debark, where we picked up a "scout" and a guide for the mountains. The scouts are a requirement, and the guide was part of our package deal.  The scout was this wizened older man, toting an old Kalashnikov rifle and a plastic bag with a bottle of water and a blanket.  Our guide was a you get guy, all smiles and full of useful information. The highlight of this little town was the fresh garlic int he market! Never seen (or smelled!) anything quite like it!

Once we left Debark, we started climbing up the road into the mountains proper. The road was amazing, the views were stunning, and Tamret was getting a kick out of me wanting to stop to take photos all the time!

We made it to the lodge In time to have a late lunch, then went for a walk around the edge of the escarpment with our guide and our scout. The dear scout was such a gentleman, and was quite concerned that we kept our footing and didn't fall off any cliffs!  This old wizened man has been a scout for years, and you can tell that he's been climbing up and down those mountain trial since he was a toddler! Me, on the other hand, was having a hard time catching my breath at over 10,000 feet! Good thing I've been Zumba-ing! It was so nice to walk through the forest and enjoy the beautiful views, and just be hiking in nature once again!  So refreshing to the soul.

We also found big troops of gelada baboons, which aren't nearly as ugly or scary as the normal east african baboons that I'm used to. These baboons just sit on their butts all day, eating grass! They were great to watch. And our guide, of course, knew all about the plants and trees and stuff.  So we got lots of good info, too... Which, of course, I've forgotten most of already. I'll blame that on the altitude!

I had a lovely evening, sitting around the fire, sipping tea and chatting with other Guests and guides and drivers.  The best part was that when you leave the main lodge to go to your tukel, they give you a hot water bottle to sleep with. And seriously, you need a hot water bottle to keep warm! It was COLD up there! A feather duvet, wooly socks, a big fuzzy blanket and a hot water bottle, though, made for a beautifully cozy sleep. There was no way I'd be equipped to do a back packing trek through these mountains like a lot of people do.

The following day, we drove down the road to Chennek camp, taking lots of photos along the way, and took a hike to hunt for the walia ibex.  We didn't have to walk too far, when we found a group of the rare creatures, which are found only in this park. We also spent some time just munching on homemade granola bars (which my friend had made!) and enjoying the views.  At the camp, we were able to eat some shiro and injera, to fortify ourselves for the next hike to a waterfall.

It worked out that for quite a long way, Sheri was walking up front with the guide, chatting away in Amharic, and I was A bit behind with the scout, who was also chatting away in amharic! He was trying to teach me - so I mimicked quite a lot of what he said, to his satisfaction, but I haven't a clue what any of it meant. The dear old guy didn't speak hardly a word of English! But he was very sweet!

The road was stunning - just a rocky path winding and clinging to the side of the mountains, with some pretty steep switch backs along the way! Like I said, I was glad that the driver seemed to be very able, and very careful, as well as very experienced on that road. We had a really nice time all together with out little party.  It felt a bit odd to be going everywhere with "our" scout, guide and driver (for just the two of us travellers!) but we couldn't have done this sort of trip any other way, without our own vehicle. Park rules require that you take a scout, and the guide... Well. He came with the tour package that we booked, and really, we would have had no idea where to go or what to do. It's a national park, but nothing like Banff where you have signs and maps and brochures to tell you where to go!

We stayed a second night in the lodge, and then got up bright and early to return to Gondar yesterday. We had a local lunch of what has now become my favourite Ethiopian food - tagabino with injera. So, so, so good. But they only make it in some parts of the country. Tamret was very kind after lunch and was willing to take us to the market to buy some scarves. Gondar is in the heart of Amhara culture, and the white scarves you can find there are cheaper and more beautiful than elsewhere. So we bought a few :) I think tamretnwas officially done his duties with us, but he was doing us a favour, because Sherri charmed him with her perfect Amharic :) I just do a lot of nodding and smiling and trying to look pretty, while she does all the talking!

This morning, we got on another plane, joining the throngs of tourists, and came to Lalibela. It was almost a bit surreal to be standing in some of those churches, seeing them with. Y own eyes, because I have wanted to see them for so long! I've seen so many pictures of them, and have been quite fascinated by them for several years now... And here I am! I took rather a lot of pictures (which are all on my camera, and I have no way to get them from the camera to the iGadget ;( ) the history,a nd the culture... So rich.  Our guide here is an Orthodox man himself, so it was really fascinating to watch him kiss the doors and do his bowing and crossing each time we entered into a new church. It's also good to get the story and explanations of the churches from someone who believes it.

He was also quite funny in that he didn't like big tour groups, and we were constantly trying to stay anead of (or behind) a couple of larger groups - Chinese, Italians, and Germans seemed to be the main nationalities of tourists today. Some times I think the tourists are more interesting to watch than the actual sights!  One of the tips we had gotten from friends in addis was to use bug spray before entering the churches. They said that fleas often live in the carpets, and since you have to take your shoes off to enter each church, the fleas are some times a problem. Apparent,y others had heard that too, as they were wearing long knee socks, with trousers tucked in, and we're seen spraying their feet before entering the churches! I just wore my chacos, with bare feet, and sprayed before I left the hotel! So far, so good in terms of no flea bites. After running around I bare feet all day, though, a good foot wash is going to feel good before bed!

The churches really were amazing, though. It's not really quite what I expected - they ere all a bit closer together than I thought, and st George's church was smaller than I thought. But it was all still amazing the way they built those places, and all the symbolism and tradition that just drip from the stone.

Tonight, we are staying at yet another beautiful hotel. We watched the sunset for our private balcony, and. Ow I'm sitting int he lobby, sipping tea and enjoying a bit of CNN on the telly. There were so many tourists everywhere today at the churches, but thre don't seem to be many staying at this same hotel.  Sherri booked a package deal through a travel agent in addis, so I don't really know what all the other options for hotel etc are. But I know that so far, things have been beautiful. Having a package deal is definitely the way to go - they even confirm our flights for us, and make sure we have everything that we need. No haggling for taxi fares or guide prices... It's all taken care of by the agents.  Definitely a relaxing way to travel, and I wouldn't recommend to do this sort of trip any other way.

Tomorrow we fly into Axum, and the following day, it's back to Addis already.  Saturday, I fly to a small Town in western Ethiopia to help with a teacher training workshop! So at the very least, I'm seeing a good chunk of this country this month!

Middle Earth?!

Several months ago, I was talking with a friend who lives in Addis.  She has never been to the North of the country yet, and neither had I.  So , we decided to plan a little holiday together.  And this week, this holiday is actually happening! I wasn't sure it was going to happen ... Already,my flight out of Jb was cancelled yesterday, thought thankfully the was a later flight, and there was space on it for me! So I got to Addis after only one false start yesterday.

Then, we were scheduled to leave the house at 5:30am to catch our flight to Gondar this morning.   We're to have the full day in Gondar today, enjoying the palaces of a mideival kingdom, as well as some of the churches and the Kings swimming pool.

Instead, once we checked in for our early morning flight... We learned that it, too, was cancelled! But we were already at the airport, and set for a later flight.  So what could we do,  it while away the hours (6 of them, all told!) in the airport.  Of course, it was about 5 1/2 hours into the air that I finally discovered that there was Internet in the airport!

We finally made it to Gndar, around 2pm, and the tour guide was there to pick us up. We decided to book the whole trip through a travel agency, because they take care of everything - and we both wanted a holiday, not a stressful haggling fest at every turn!

And so far, so good.  Even though we were 6 hours late in arriving, we still managed to see the highlights of Gondar.  What an amazing thing it was to stand there, gazing up at the castle walls that I have seen so often In pictures... Taking my own pictures of them! This place is so steeped in history, and it's amazing to have the opportunity to be a tourist here for a few days and to see it all first hand.

Tomorrow, we are off to the Simien Mountains for a few day, to look for baboons and ibex!  I'm just hoping I can make it up the trail... Gondar is built on the mountain side, and it's been hard enou climbing thought the streets of Gondar, which are nearly 9000 ft high!

However, the driver is careful, the tour guide was friendly and informative (but not overly friendly!), and I have learned a lot a out this country, the Orthodox church and tradition, and even Ethiopian art and Insruments today!

It really does seem about as far away from my normal life as Middle Earth!

A New Tradition?

So, turkey and all the fixin's ended up being a few bits of very, very overcooked turkey, plus sukumaweki (Kenyan greens), rice and ugali (stodgy "porridge" made from maize flour).  We weren't sure if this was going to be the start of a new Thanksgiving tradition or not...  I was quite disappointed with the food, until they brought out some more meat to put on the grill.  So I had a little piece of steak (which I could actually chew through!) and a little piece of grilled chicken.  That wasn't so bad... but, it certainly wasn't mashed potatoes and gravy.

So, on Monday, I needed to make mashed 'taters, gravy and I even cracked open a can of corn that I had in the cupboard.  I asked my neighbor to go down the street and pick up a few pieces of grilled chicken from the restaurant... and voila, Thanksgiving meal with (some of) the trimmings!  I had just had my heart set on mashed potatoes and gravy, and my gravy wasn't too bad - a chicken bouillon cube, margarine and a bit of flour can work miracles!

This evening, I'm starting to pack for a big trip - on Friday I leave for Ethiopia!  I'll be gone a few weeks - 5 days of holidays with a friend first.  I've wanted to go to the North of Ethiopia, to see Lalibela and Gonder and the Simien Mountains for SO long, and have never gotten there.  So last time I was in Ethiopia, I was talking with a friend of mine who lives there (she works for the same organization that I do), and she's never been up there either.  And a plan was born.  For the days before a teacher training workshop, I'll be seeped in the beauty and history of Northern Ethiopia!  I'm so excited to see it all!  I just hope that all goes well and that my friend and I enjoy each other's company, too.  It's always an unknown, travelling with a new person... but I think we'll be fine.  The teacher training workshop is also in a different part of the country than I've ever been to, as well.  So in the next 3 weeks, I'll have seen more of Ethiopia than I have since I first started visiting the country in 2006!

My cat senses that something is going on... he's been sitting on my lap all evening, which makes it hard to get up and do much packing.  He gets a bit funny whenever my suitcase comes out, 'cause he knows his whole little world will be turned upside down :(  And that reminds me, I have to find someone who will be willing to feed the poor fuzzball over the next few weeks!

It might be a while 'till I post again, but hopefully I'll have some good photos and some good stories (but not TOO many good stories!) to share later.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am giving Thanks for a lovely, restful morning.  What a joy it is to not even have a shower or get dressed all morning.  It is already 1:30pm and I still haven't even managed to shower or put on "real" clothes (but don't worry - I'm wearing a very proper "mumu"!). 

This afternoon, I have opportunity to go and munch on turkey with all the fixins' with my fellow Canuks here in Jbs.  It's a yearly tradition, and thankfully, I have a couple of friends that I can accompany to this supper.  Otherwise, I don't know any other Canadians in town!  And somehow, I am a bit shy to walk into a room, all by myself, and plop myself down with someone for dinner.  You'd think I'd be over that sort of shy-ness by now, but, alas, no.  So I am thankful for friends to accompany :) But am really looking forward to meeting some new folks, with the safety of a friend to sit next to, in case no one else wants to talk to me!

But it is also just a good time to think about what I am thankful for, as cliche as it is.  I do have SO many blessings.  And around here, it's easy to forget all those things, as it's easy to just see how challenging things are here.  Instead, though, I am still asking myself, "Why me?"  I mean, if I had been born as a woman in THIS country, there's no way I'd have the opportunities that I have had in my short little life.  There's no way I'd have a chance to choose to do the work that I do every day.  There's no way that I'd have a house like I have, and the time and resources to spend a morning on a soft chair, under a fan, listening to a sermon on the internet, or reading a book.  There's no way I'd have a chance to use the resources that I have to know who God is, and to even get a tiny glimpse of his glory and how he is at work in this world. 

So, yes, things can be challenging.  And it is not so much to be away from my family on holidays and not have the chance to be with them more often.  But, there are so many other good things to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and enjoy cultivating your gratitude today!

And now, I better go jump in the shower (which will be nice and warm by now!), or else my new "friends" really won't want to sit next to me at supper tonight!

Why Me?

I read a blog post today called, "The Flip Side of Why Me?"  Twas so good.  Because it's too easy to focus on the negative things here and ask "Why Me?" about all the challenges of life.  And let's not deny it - there are challenges to life.  But how much better, how much more God-glorifying is it to ask, "why me?" when thinking about all the amazing wonderous things that he has done for me and blessed me with.  And actually, I have often thought about this, when I look at my friends here.  Why was I born where I was born, with the opportunities that I was born with?  A 15 year old girl in this country is twice as likely to die in childbirth than she is to finish Grade 8.  Why was I not born into that?  Why do I sit here, healthy, with my laptop, under my fan, with the generator buzzing, a glass of cold clean water next to me... when literally 20 feet from my door, people don't have this option?    When you look at life in those terms, it's hard to complain about the things that we complain about, isn't it?