Axum and Adwa

Last week Abraham and I took a trip up north to Adwa to visit the five elementary schools that he is trying to help support, and after we finished our work, we went to Axum for a couple of days. The area has particularly suffered from the wars and famines that Ethiopia has endured over the past 150 years and is close to the troubled border zone between Ethiopia and Eritrea, so it is pretty behind in terms of development, economy, infrastructure, etc. That said, I really loved being there and want to go back sometime (this seems like a good time for a side note to say that they may have a month or so long summer school for kids who want to work on their English. Volunteer teachers…and when I say teachers, I mean people who can speak English…would be most welcome). It was such a nice change to spend a few days away from the sometimes overwhelming capital, and I found I was more comfortable and relaxed than I am sometimes in Addis. I felt like we were really productive, and I got to do a little sight-seeing too.

A few snapshots of the trip:

Axum is known for its historical Christian sites. For example, many people believe that the Ark of the Covenant is in Axum. Naturally I wanted to get as close to that as possible, but there is only one guy who is allowed in to see the ark. When he dies, someone else is chosen. So then I made it my goal to talk to the guy about the ark…but that didn't happen either. But I still have to say that I feel pretty good about my first attempt at the ark. I stood across a ditch from THE building that supposedly holds THE ark, and I snapped a picture of THE guy who takes food to THE guy who guards the ark (because he can't ever leave). Take that, Indiana Jones.

One of the best things about going up north was driving through the countryside. It was so simple and beautiful. As we were driving through one teensy village, Abraham asked me if I saw a stick coming out of the ground with a can hanging on the top. I did. He asked if I knew what it meant. I did not. He told me that it was a signal that the woman who lives there brews beer and is selling it. So we decided to stop in and buy a round for everyone. Not that I'm claiming to be any kind of beer connoisseur, but it was a pretty nasty brew. I didn't drink most of it (and neither did Abraham), but it was a really funny experience to sit around with the woman and the six or so other villagers who were just shooting the breeze in her one-room house/brewery/bar.

I think I mentioned at some point that Ethiopia is famous for its coffee, and I have to agree, the macchiato you can get for like 75 cents here puts Starbucks to shame. We decided to try a Habesha coffee house near our hotel in Axum (long story short, Habesha basically means traditional Ethiopian). The coffee was good–they make it strong and thick, like motor oil—but even better was the in-house entertainment. There was a couple that travels around bars and restaurants singing songs for money. Since Abraham and I were the only patrons at the time, they felt free to concentrate on us. I didn't really understand what was going on, but apparently they were trying to personalize the song, which was difficult since they didn't know who we were. The woman mostly clapped while the man pulled up a chair right at our table and sang about how Abs is old and I have pretty hair. And for this we paid them 10 birr each (about a dollar).