October 26, 2009

Melanie and I just arrived back from Lalibella. This is an ancient Christian city with rock-hewn churches dating from the 11th century. There are eleven churches in this group. One group represents the new Jerusalem, another represents the coming kingdom, and one represents Noah’s Ark.

Our great friend Cheru just opened a new hotel, Aman Hotel, and refused to let us pay for anything. The hotel was so nice and clean. I’m so proud of him and his wife, Yetenet. I first met Cheru when he was my tour guide on my first trip to Ethiopia in 2003. We kept laughing about how far we both had come since our first meeting that I thought would be my one and only time to enjoy Ethiopia for four days. Little did I know!

They now have two sweet children. Aman, his daughter, is five and I am sure that she had never walked in her life. She either skips or jumps wherever she floats. Their son is also a sweetie.

We were there for two nights. I am sure we climbed several mountains as we went up and down steps into, out of and around the entire village. Two of my personal highlights were a monastery that was built into a cave. I have never been in such a peaceful setting. I was almost ready to commit to becoming a nun so I could stay there forever until I remembered what I would have to give up.

My second favorite was a midnight celebration in one of the churches. The prayers were so ancient and the dance was so perfect. it lasted until 9:00 in the morning. We sat on a rock overlooking the church and the stars were so bright and the worship was so haunting. I wasn’t sure if I was still alive or in heaven. Melanie’s favorite was walking through a pitch dark tunnel “Hades” and coming out into the seventh heaven.

Of course, we also enjoyed home made honey wine, tej, and local dancing one night. We met up with two Trampled Rose volunteers, Nichole and Amber, who will be back to help us today.

Now I am busy working on an employee meeting for this afternoon. Our women had a bazaar by themselves this weekend. Our employees are so wonderful. Penny Kelly worked on employee training while she was here and it has made such a great difference in their understanding. Now we have other organizations asking for the same training because they have heard about how helpful and honest our employees are. We are taking an employee trip this week to Sodore. It is a natural spring and there are hundreds of monkeys there. It is so sad that most Ethiopians have not been able to see how beautiful their own country is.