May 28, 2009

We slept in a bit and had a leisurely breakfast at our hotel and then set off to see the other churches by 9 am. I think this set of churches was even more impressive than the ones we saw yesterday. Instead of being carved into the ground, these ones are carved into the side of hills, often into caves. We also had some good conversations with Brian our guide about politics and religion. His good friend was studying at the university in Addis four years ago and he dared to speak out against the corruption of the government. He was murdered by the government shortly thereafter.

It’s rather unusual for a family with children to visit Lalibela and so we attracted a lot of attention from the youths in town. We’d be walking down the road and a guy would walk up to us and say “I hear your family is from Canada....” Then they would tell us their sad stories and ask to shine our shoes or come to their booth to look at their souvenirs. The kids bought a few small things, partially out of a desire to help them. Life really is difficult for these kids and they are doing the best they can to make something of their lives. Their English was excellent and some of them were obviously very intelligent and hard working. Many of them had great dreams of someday going to university. Our kids suddenly realized how much “the accident of birth” determines opportunity and even destiny.

We went to a very beautiful restaurant at the Mountianview Hotel perched high up on one of the mountains and enjoyed the panoramic view of the sunset