High on a Mountain Top
If you missed last weeks post
you should back up and read the last post before you start this one. This is
part two of last weeks adventure.
After our meal I waited
outside with Jacob while the Hubs tracked down a taxi for us. Just standing around in Addis as a Ferengie
is always awkward. Just standing anywhere with Jacob is nearly impossible.
Jacob doesn’t stay still, ever. I am waiting for the Hubs and Jake is
frantically attempting to run into the traffic andcrawl in the mud, basically
he is trying his best to force me to lose my patience and humiliate myself in
the middle of Addis. People are
beginning to openly stare at us as the other two kids arrive. After James and Brenden join me more
children, from I don’t know where, appear out of what seems like thin air. I
haven’t a clue where these children come from but they materialize whenever we
are out in public. These particular kids weren’t too bad because they weren’t
begging money off of me, however it was really weird that all of the sudden I
was surrounded by staring people. Jake made a break for it and tried to run
away and slipped in the mud covering his shoes in the brown grime of Addis.
Brenden, James and I stood our ground as we tried our best to keep the growing
crowd of street kids at bay and hold Jake to keep him from crawling through the
muck.
The hubs finally arrived with
the taxi and we climbed into the little car with practiced agility and headed
up the mountain. As you climb En Toto Mountain one of the first things that you
will notice are the stick women. The stick ladies carry bundles of sticks from
the woods on the mountainside down the mountain or up the mountain in some
cases. I am moderately sure that the bundle of sticks that you are imagining is
not big enough. These bundles are about ten feet long (they are like trees) and
must weigh about 150lbs minimum. In the rainy season the wood is wet which
makes it even heavier! We also saw many donkeys (which made Jacob ecstatic) and
other livestock wandering in the road.
We arrived at St. Mary’s
Cathedral and Palace of Menelik 2nd. As we spilled out of the taxi a guide for
the Palace and Cathedral met us as the rain began falling for the second time
that day. As we walked toward the church the sky opened up and the rain poured
down on us even harder. Luckily our guide had an umbrella and we made our way
to a shelter outside of the church. More than 10,000 people will sometimes
attend mass at this church, the shelters outside of the church are for the
members of the congregation who cannot fit inside the building. The
congregation can be so large that people will be in attendance across the
street! Hence the loud speakers!
At this point we have been
out and about for a LONG time. I still haven’t found a bathroom so I ask the
guide where the restroom is and he directs me to walk behind the museum to a
small building. James had to relieve himself as well so he accompanied me. We
cautiously made our way to the restroom. James really had to go so he swiftly
ran to the door and peeked inside, he quickly retreated mumbling that he’d
rather go outside. Oh if only I had that option at a time like this! I knew it
was going to be bad. James’ reaction to the “bathroom” was my second clue. The
first clue was the smell! I peered inside and what I saw… a hole in the floor
with a place for each of your feet. I’ve
seen bathrooms like this before in Europe but those bathrooms were clean, had
electricity and they flushed. This was just a hole in the ground! I had James
guard the door because if I shut the door I wouldn’t be able to see….anything!
It was awful, there was no toilet paper, nothing but a hole! BLAH! After that was over with we made our way back
to the family through the rain. When we got back the Hubs and Brenden said that
they had to go to the “restroom” I giggled silently to myself and waved
good-bye to them. Hey, misery loves company right. The only thing that the
Hub’s said when he got back was “I just did something involuntary…and messy”. I
didn’t ask any more questions.
While the Hub’s and Brenden
were having their own adventure in the “bathroom” James, Jake and I waited with
the guide. As I’ve mentioned earlier even the idea of sitting still makes boys
want to run wildly in circles. This means that James and Jake had to find a
means of entertainment and sitting quietly and talking is out of the
question. They settled on finding stones
and throwing the stones out into the rain and mud puddles. FINE, I’m not an
insane mom. I let me kids get dirty, its ok! Some how throwing stones morphed
into throwing boulders! Seriously, Jake was lifting and throwing stones half
his size into the torrent. Suddenly Jake shrieks, “I PEE, A PEE now mommy.” Uh,
really? Emotionally I cannot handle the public “bathroom” again! The guide
heard Jake and tells me that Jacob can just pee off of the stairs into the
storm. Really? He can just urinate right here at this historical and religious
sight? Well not wanting to get myself and the 2 year old soaking wet (not to
mention I’m pretty sure that I’d have to dunk him in disinfectant if he used
the public restroom) I decided that if it’s good enough for the guide it’s good
enough for me and certainly it was good enough for Jacob. I dropped his drawers
and had him aim into the tempest. He was so happy to unleash his inner nudest
that he tried to remove all of his clothing! I eventually convinced him to put
his pants back on and he went back to tossing boulders into the rain. I think
that this kid definitely has a future as an athlete in the Highland Games!
The Hubs returned as the rain
let up and we headed to the Palace of Menelik 2nd. The palace was not what I think of when I
think of a palace. It was large with white walls and a grass roof. The building
was made of limestone and was cold to the touch. There were wood floors on the
inside and we were able to see several rooms including the banquet hall and
some storerooms. We learned that the
king’s meat was actually stored in a separate room from everyone else’s!
We marched back to the church
but were unable to go inside because the church is only open for mass. We were
able to walk all around the outside and that was very nice. I learned that
Ethiopian Orthodox churches have 8 sides that correspond to 8 angels. I also
learned that the church has three levels, which are symbolic of the
trinity. Pretty neat stuff, make sure
that you take a look at the pictures.
After we saw the church and
palace the guide told us that there was a 700-year-old rock church about a
20-minute walk up the road. We could not say no to that, so we headed in the
direction of the church. We realized that if we walked we might not make it to
the church before it closed. We needed a ride! There were no taxis in sight!
The guide acquired the services of a truck turned bus and we climbed in. I am
very sure that riding in this type of vehicle is against embassy regulation and
we are not supposed to be using the services of this type of transportation. We
really had no choice though and we were not in the city so we felt that it was
worth the risk. The drive was scary. The
driver nearly hit a stick woman a donkey and half a dozen sheep not to mention
that Jacob and I went flying every time he made a turn. We did make it to the
church in one piece and gratefully we stumbled out of the truck.
The rock church was carved
out of a single rock. Three holes, each one representing a member of the God
Head, were chiseled out of the stone. It
was not beautiful in the conventional way but it was still wonderful to be able
to visit something so ancient. At the
same sight was the Cathedral of Saint Raphael. This church was beautiful from
the outside but just like St Mary’s it was not open except for mass, so we were
unable to go inside. We decided to walk back to St Mary’s and try to get a taxi
down the mountain from there. As we headed down the road toward Addis a few
children walked with us. Two girls who were at St Raphael’s strolled along side
our little group. As we marched on it seemed as though every ¼ mile or so our
guide had to send kids away. I felt like the Pied Piper! The kids just followed
us! We had a band of them with us! At a
beautiful vista we stopped at a little table where a woman was selling coffee
and paintings and other little trinkets. We sat for a while and took in the
beautiful view. Our entourage of little Ethiopians stopped as well. They played
in the road as we took a little break. James and Brenden even played with them
for a while. The kids were pushing paint can lids around with wire sticks to
see how long they could keep them up. James and Brenden weren’t any good but
they had fun anyway.
We made it back to St Mary’s
and began to search for a taxi but found none! We ended up procuring the same
truck that took us up the mountain to take us down. Again the ride was
terrifying! He dropped us off in the dress district and we began walking. It
started raining again, hard. We needed
to get home! We found a taxi and asked how much to Meskel Flower and he told us
250birr! I told him “No”. He offered 200, I told him 150 and we started to walk.
He caught up to us and said that 150 was ok. As we climbed in the driver handed a bundle of
Chat to someone. Chat is a plant that people here chew to get high. It has
similar side affects as marijuana. Ok so this driver is totally chewing and
selling chat and my kids and husband and I are driving with him in terrible
traffic in a rain storm! OMG keep it together! I was freaked out the whole
drive back. We did make it to the house and paid the “sky high” taxi driver his
150birr! The story should end there but the we had one other really cool thing of note that happened the next morning that I just had to include in this post.
The next day Brenden and the
Hubs went back to the Embassy because John Kerry was in Addis for the African
Union Summit and was making a speech at the American Embassy and all embassy
families were strongly encouraged to attend. I was WAY to tired to put myself
through another outing so I stayed behind with the two younger boys. John Kerry
actually spoke with Brenden for a long while.
All in all a pretty eventful weekend!
Until next time friends and
family!
Survival Tips for Visiting Public Restrooms
- Use the bathroom before you leave so that you don't have to use public bathrooms.
- Bring toilet paper.
- Bring hand sanitizer.
- Remember that it can always get worse!
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| Palace of Menelik 2nd |
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| St Mary's |
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| St Raphael |
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| Gate at St Raphael |
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