Lalibela, Ethiopia: St. Gabriel’s Day
Lalibela, Ethiopia 2013
After attending mass, my guide and I visited the stone churches of Lalibela. These Christians are doing the same but they are making a pilgrimage, praying at each church on this special day: St. Gabriel’s Day. I prayed, too, but I was also thinking of photography.
My guide kept insisting that he carry one of my cameras. I never want to hand my camera over to anyone because as soon as I want it they are far away and by the time they bring it back the photo op is long gone. But, heck! there were hills to climb and tunnels to thread (no light anywhere, but luckily I had my flashlight) and stairs, both up and down , not to mention the ubiquitous unevenness of the landscape. So, I handed my camera over. And what did he do? He morphed into the Ethiopian version of Sebastio Salgado. He was shooting everything and everyone including me. At first I was annoyed, but when I saw the look on his face, I realized that he was having the time of his life. He was happy! How often can you make an adult happy? But then again, it was St. Gabriel’s Day.
So, who took this picture, you or the guide? J.
Three guesses, Jerry.
Get Blog Really enjoying it.
I was in Addis Ababa in ’71 when Haile Selassie was still The Emperor and The Lion of Judah.
Hi, John.
I’m glad you found my blog and especially glad you like it. Interesting that you were in Addis Ababa when Haile Selassie was Emperor. I’m thinking that you were in our government or military. Or else you are a very adventurous person.
Addis has changed a lot since those days, but the rest of Ethiopia probably would look the same to you. The old Italian buildings are still standing in downtown Addis and are in use. They look in good shape. You may remember them. There are many newly constructed high-rise buildings, but if you asked me I would say that Addis is predominately shanties.
I didn’t take too many photos in Addis, but I’ll put one on tomorrow just for you.
Thanks for reading!
Rosemary
Thank you Rosemary,
I was in Addis in transit for 2 days between Paris (where I was in an American Jr. Yr.[College] Abroad program sponsored by Sweet Briar College and our eventual destination, Kenya.
with my father who was an insurance broker and tangentially covered several businesses in Addis, mostly exporters of raw spice. We were in Addis and I truly enjoyed it; I remember most vividly the open-air Market, said to be the largest in Africa, From AA we went to Mombassa (under the revered former Mao Maoist Pres. Jomo Kenyatta) then to Abadare Game Forests, for a Safari at the ARK, a self-contained game observatory, like Treetops.
Hi, John.
It sounds as if you were a lucky boy!
I wish I could have seen Addis in 1971 as you did. I bet the people didn’t wear baseball caps back then! The Mercato in Addis is still the largest market in Africa. I can’t say I really saw it except to be driven through. It would have been ok to wander around though…just leave valuables and money back in the hotel as a young Finnish woman told me.
Best,Rosemary