Stella Stones

Tuesday:

Our directive for today was once again simple. Meet “Charlie” in the lobby of the hotel at 7Am so we can depart for Hawassa, a 170 mile trip for some cultural immersion. This we did and were pleased to find both “Charlie” and a driver we were familiar with, Jared. This my friends was the most educational 170 mile drive I have ever been on. I’m not yet fully capable of describing every observation, but to sum it up…national geographic and the nightly news can hardly describe the beauty, poverty, famine, and simplicity of this country! There was only one moment in our 170 mile drive through the desert, where I could not see a person walking in one direction or the other along the road. Yes, the rural Ethiopian people are constantly moving and do you know where they are going? To the water. It consumes their day, every day. Some are carrying yellow pails for water, others have them strapped on to a donkey, while others are simply driving their entire cow or goat herd to the water. Young boys the age of Macabe with a switch and a donkey. It’s beautiful, scary, convicting, sad. You want to help…but where do you start? Since we’ve been here I’ve seen UN, WorldVision, UsAID, Latter day Saints, japan, and other humanitarian vehicles and projects. All I can say is, this is real folks! I mean real, real.

Along our trip we stopped at one of 27 underground orthodox churches. These date back to the 15^th century (I think) and are amazing! We also stopped at an Ethiopian Heritage site received a casual tour of an ancient Ethiopian warrior burial ground. This dates back to 12^th Century. There are headstones of sort called Stella stones that tell the complete history of the warrior. Many of these were just discovered (well probably not just discovered, as the locals likely knew where they were) and excavated in 1988. It’s a little weird because you are in one of the most remote places ever, you park your van in a field of brush where you can see the hilly topography for miles, and out of nowhere emerges a gentleman who offers to give you an official tour for a small fee (he has a handsfree phone accessory dangling from his tattered and beaten shirt). He was official, with an official gov’t receipt, but nothing about this seemed official. To our right was one of many traditional Ethiopian huts with a lady roasting coffee beans. “You guys are good luck!” “Charlie” exclaimed. She’s roasting coffee for us! After our tour we sat outside the hut and shared a cup of coffee.

Let’s see, oh yes, about 2:30PM we completed our 170 mile drive and arrived at our lodging for the night. A couple things I learned from experience. There is Cellular phone service covering the entire route of the trip, as “Charlie” typed on his Iphone the whole way and it was not uncommon to see a local shepherd walking behind his flock of goats with homemade switch in one hand and a cell phone in the other. Also, “Charlie” insisted I sit in the front seat of the van while he sat in the back. I really wanted to sit in the back with Whitney so we could be together and so I could hear “Charlie” better, as windows were open. So after one of our stops I moved to the back. It was then that “Charlie”’s intentions became apparent. In small villages, officials can waive down passing by cars and force them to give rides. However, there is an exception to this and that is, that official tour companies who are carrying tourists are exempt from this rule. While officials may not be able to differentiate the tour companies without stopping them, if there is a 250 lb white dude sitting in the front of a van, they see you coming from a long ways and don’t stop you. After I moved to the back, we were stopped at just about every town. We joked, and for 20 birr, I agreed to move back to the front seat. J

So we made it to our hotel at 2:30 PM, had some time to freshen up and then left for a local orphanage in Awassa. We spend some time with a wonderful Christian man who along with a small staff cares for 48 young children. We stayed with this man and met every child in the orphanage. We once again, delivered blanket, board books, and other fun stuff for the children. Oh yes, did I mention that they like candy? My pockets were stuffed with Smarties and all day we were giving them to children. They need much more than smarties, but candy seems to draw a smile everytime. We left the orphanage at 7PM. Dinner in the city, where we were joined by the orphanage director again. Great conversation until about 9PM when we decided to leave. Curious thing about dinner, as we sat and ate, the restaurant lost power. Guess what..it’s dark in Africa when the power goes out, but nobody flinches. There was hardly a pause in conversation as we talked in the dark. In about 10 minutes candles started to appear on the tables. This would have been a serious show stopper at home. It was hardly a bump in the road here.

Back to the hotel, it is raining. Again “Charlie” exclaims, “Rain in the dry season?!? You guys are good luck! You can come back often!” Is it seriously only Tuesday? Tomorrow “Charlie” promises to let me ride hippos and sell me at the market. Is this fun or scary? I’ll let you know tomorrow.