Both Feet Planted Firmly on the Ground

Well, we're back now from our historical circuit of Northern Ethiopia. As most of you know, we've been exploring a little of M's homeland, starting northwest in Bahir Dar and working our way east through Gondar, ending in Lalibela. The entire tour was spectacular, but the highlight had to be the remarkable rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. These churches are not carved into the rock, but rather, have been freed entirely from it. Having seen the pyramids of Egypt up close and personal, I guarantee you will find the Lalibela churches equally astonishing.

However, before you pack your bags, a couple of Barb tips to ease your journey:

(1) Being the only African state to avoid colonization is a source of pride to Ethiopians. But, independence comes at a cost, namely, no wealthy Europeans to build the infrastructure. Now, having explored other parts of East Africa, and being generally high maintenance, I was not shy about requesting that we be booked in the best accomodation available in each city. Nonetheless, I'm here to tell you that it is possible to spend 4 hours scaling 2500 feet of rock, on a sightseeing mission, alternating between hiking and mule, under the mid-day sun, and still determine upon arrival back at the hotel that person cleaniless would best be maximized by NOT stepping into the shower.

(2) Another source of Ethiopian pride is the national airline, Ethiopian air. Their safety record is fine, but the aircraft interiors do not always receive timely upgrades and repairs. So, expect seats to be in permanent recline, table trays to pop down at unpredictable intervals, and don't expect seat cushions to stay fixed to the seat. The Northern route is mountainess, so expect some fairly extreme turbulence, which adds to the unpredictability and anticipation regarding the location of the above-referenced interior components. Your (small) plane will also careen back and forth on the runway when it lands before coming to a shaky stop. Since your route through the Northern circuit is a milkrun between cities, the excitement will be multiplied by 3, each way, as you ping pong between each city. Survival tactics I recommend include: keep food consumption to a minimum (this is assisted by the unpredictability of the feeding schedule, notwithstanding that the flight schedule itself never varies). Take heart in the fact that every Ethiopian on the plane is either Muslim or Christian and someone's prayers are bound to be answered. Lastly, keep the ipod volume on maximum as this helps drown out the silent screams reverberating in your head.

On a more serious note, in about 12 hours I will take permanent custody of my beloved Makeda. I had the privilege of meeting her beautiful birthmom, Fozia, in Nazret, before I left on the tour, and we will be meeting again tomorrow at the orphanage so she can say good-bye and I can get some pics of her and M together. In the meantime, we have the crib set up in the hotel room and the ipod is loaded with every possible Baby Bach sonata that she ever could have listened to at the orphanage. I seem to have mastered the intricacies of the Baby Bjorn and every baby supply known to man is neatly stacked on the second bed in my hotel room in anticipation of the 10% chance she'll actually need it (I thought I needed 10 onesies for 3 days becuz???). So now, for the rest of the evening, it's all about the wine.

ciao for now,

xox Barb

p.s. Leslie your camera rocks.

p.p.s. whoever left the voicemail on my cell phone apparently I can't access it from down here. Hope it wasn't important. Please tell me my dogs are ok. No wait, I don't want to know. Yes I do. No I don't.

Next stop, HOME!