Friday, January 4, 2013
Dear Aidan!
I hope you had a fantastic day today! What did you do? Did you play with your friends and all
the toys? Take good naps? I wish I could see you everyday and
watch you grow. Although I’m not
with you, I’m very grateful that Dad and I decided to take this trip. Today has been one of the best days
yet! I know tomorrow will be even
better!
As I write about today, I’m sitting out on our hotel’s
balcony. It’s overlooking the
valley below and the mountains in the distance. The sun just set.
There are children next-door playing games and singing/chanting
songs. Below, there is a large
family building a fire. There are
also a few sheep “Baaa”ing in the distance. It’s a perfect setting!
This morning, we woke up and much to our great surprise, we
had hot water with high water pressure!
I had the best shower I had had in about 4 days. I was grateful. We were ready by around 7AM and ordered
a quick breakfast of homemade bread from the hotel’s restaurant for a whopping
3 birr (15 cents). The bread here
is wonderful- it’s almost like French bread, but round- crunchy on the outside
and soft on the inside. We took a
shuttle to the airport. After
checking in, we had a second breakfast of eggs, bread and tea. Our flight was about 30 minutes late,
but when it landed, we quickly boarded the plane. We had a 30-minute flight from Axum to Lalibela, our last
stop on our journey.
Our plane landed on a gravel runway! Upon arrival, we were greeted by the
hotel we were staying at. On
January 7th, Ethiopia celebrates their Christmas- Genna. This is one of the biggest Christian
holidays and Lalibela is one of the best places to partake in this
celebration. We are so lucky we’re
here for this event! The airport
is about 25km from the city, and we had a beautiful drive through the
country! The town of Lalibela is
around 2,600 meters high around a mountain!
Our hotel is beautiful- it’s overlooking the valley
below. We have a nice, very soft
bed, a very clean bathroom and great food! I’m grateful we were able to find this hotel online as so
many hotels were booked because of the holiday! After we checked in, we met with our tour guide, Addis. We agreed on the itinerary for the next
3 days. We were so excited to set
off and see the amazing churches this city has to offer.
We began our day around noon and started walking towards the
rock-hewn churches. The churches
in this town do not stand tall above the earth like most churches. Instead, the citizens of Lalibellia dug
deep into the ground and carved the churches out of rock. As such, you only see the top of the
church at ground level when you’re walking. To get into the churches, you must either climb down stairs
or go through sloping alleyways carved through the stone.
These churches were carved about 800-900 years ago and they supposedly
took a total of 23 years to complete.
There are 11 churches in total that are carved into the rock and they
all have their own story and purpose.
King Lalibela, who was a priest and King of Lalibela, the capital of
Ethiopia, wanted to give his people their own Jerusalem. Well, the real legend states that he was poisoned by his brother and was in a
coma. During his coma, he went on
a journey to heaven or Jerusalem (the debate’s still out). While on his journey, God told him to
build the holy city of Jerusalem in Ethiopia. That way, Ethiopians would not longer have to pilgrimage to Jerusalem
for religious events. The names
around Lalibela take after names in Jerusalem! King Lalibela carved a River Jordan through the rock, and
there is a Tomb of Adam and a Calvary mountain!
The local legend states that initially, King Lalibellia
started to build his churches high on a nearby mountain, about 12,000 feet high. He wanted to carve his churches in rock
and thought that the mountaintop was the best. However, right after he started, God told him to “Stop!” and
wait for a sign for where to build the churches. Below, further down the mountain, King Lalibellia saw a ray
of light hitting the earth. The
earth was farmland owned by a local woman. Seeing this as his sign, King Lalibellia purchased the land
from the woman for 40 cows. He
didn’t believe thick rock lay below the farmland, but after the soil was removed,
rock was found.
Lalibela was initially called Roha, which was the capital of
Ethiopia. However, after King
Lalibela died, the city’s name was changed in honor of the king who created the
churches for the people of Ethiopia.
We asked about the name, “Lalibela,” today. “Lali” in Amharic means “honey” and “bela” means to
eat. It is said that when King
Lalibela was a baby, his mother found him surrounded by bees. She was terrified that the bees would
sting her baby son. But when she
looked closer, she found that her son was fine and was actually eating the
honey from the bees! And so, his
earned the name, “Honey Eater.” To
this day, Lalibela is famous for its bees and honey, which your Dad loves to
eat! It’s thicker than the honey
we’re used to, and it’s not refined or pasteurized. Some of it actually has specks of honeycomb in it, but it
sure is fresh!
How were the churches made? Western scholars estimate that in order to build these
churches, 40,000 people would have been needed and the construction would have
spanned more than 23-year years.
The people in the 12th and 13th Centuries only
used hammers, chisels and curved sharp objects for filing stone to create the
churches! However, Ethiopians
believe differently. When asked,
any Ethiopian Christian will say that the churches were built by angels. They say that building the churches at
such speed, and with such craftsmanship and precision, would have been impossible
to have been done by humans alone.
God sent his angels to help create the churches, and they added their
angelic perfection to them all!
The first set of churches we saw were the northwestern
churches. The first church was
HUGE: Bet Medhane Alem. This
church is the largest rock-hewn church in the world, as it is over 33 meters
long and 11 meters high! The top
of the church is covered in designs.
However, due to rainwater and damage, UNESCO constructed a large
covering over the church to protect it for years to come! The design of this church may have been
a replica of the original St. Mary’s Church of Zion in Axum, where the Arc of
the Covenant is rumored to be located.
The outside of the church is supported by 34 large columns, many of
which are still standing today.
Inside the church, there are 3 empty graves carved into the stone. These are made to resemble the graves
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In
these graves lies a piece of wood.
People in the church will touch the wood believing that it will save
them. There are 3 doors, 1 on each
side of the church: 1 for men, 1 for women and 1 for the priests. Inside the church, each group sits
separately in rows marked by arches in the ceiling. The priests’ row has the highest ceiling.
A very large, 7kg gold Lalibela cross (the cross King
Lalibela had) was found in one of the pillars in the church. This is one of the most holy objects in
Ethiopia. Once weekly, it is taken
out of a vault for locals to see.
Foreigners are no longer allowed to see the cross. Why? In 1997, the cross was stolen and purchased by a Belgium tourist
for about $25,000.00. The cross
has since been returned. Who would
ever return that cross? Locals say
that the Belgium man tried melting the cross into pure gold. But as the cross came from God, the
cross wouldn’t melt like normal gold.
Realizing this, the cross was returned to Ethiopia, even furthering the
belief that it is special gold!
The second church we saw was for the Virgin Mary, or St.
Mary (“Sainty Mary” in local pronunciation) as she is known in Ethiopia. Bet Maryam is one of the most popular
churches and is believed to be one of the first churches carved. It is attached to Bet Medhane and
access is through a small tunnel carved through the stone. Outside this church is a 10m deep
pool. This is the fertility
well. Women who couldn’t bear
children would “swim” in this well.
But since they couldn’t swim 850 years ago, the husbands would tie their
wives to a rope and dunk them 3 times!
This was meant to cure women of infertility. Dad asked if men ever went in the well for their fertility issues, and we were told,
“No!”
On the outside of the church are carvings that represent
Jesus and the 2 criminals he was crucified with. The criminal to his right went to Hell as he was a sinner
and the criminal to his left went to heaven as he asked forgiveness for his
sins. These are depicted in the
carvings by up and down arrows. On
the other side is a carving of St. George, the patron saint of Ethiopia,
fighting a dragon. Inside the
church, there are beautiful carvings and paintings on the walls. The walls were wrapped with cotton, and
then painted. Many of these
paintings are falling apart, but they’re still beautiful to see! The paintings and carvings include
plants and animals. Inside the church
is a column wrapped in white cloth.
It is said that this column is wrapped in cloth because the column
itself was made by God. The
location of the column is the exact location where the ray of light hit that
informed King Lalibela where to build his churches. Local legend is fact in Ethiopia!
Next to this church lie 4 other churches that are much
smaller: Bet Meskel, Bet Danaghel, Bet Golgotha, and Bet Mikael and Selassie
Chapel. These churches are all
connected through alleyways and carvings.
There are also churches carved an entire level above other
churches! We climbed through
elevated tunnels and down staircases!
King Lalibela is believed to have his tomb in Bet Golgotha. Visiting his tomb is said to ensure
your place in heaven! The model of
the Tomb of Adam is located outside of Bet Golgotha as well!
In between visiting these churches, we ate a local lunch
with our guide. We sat outside and
enjoyed traditional fasting food: vegan food. In 3 days, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians will be able to eat
animal products- until then, they “fast.”
In fact, many of the Christians that attend church fast all day, only
eating at night! Our meal was
delicious and we enjoyed the injera! The bill for 3 people, 2 cokes and 1 beer was only 54
birr…$3.00! Of course, Dad and I
left a very large tip!
After lunch, we visited the Lalibela museum. Here, we saw many historic pieces from
King Lalibela and his descendents, including their crowns. Lalibela was Ethiopia’s capital for almost
300 years, and had 11 kings, 3 of which were also priests (“priest-tis” as
pronounced here). We saw many old
bibles written in Ge’ez, as well as holy crosses. We also saw many objects that belonged to King Haile.
The last church we visited for the day was the Church of St.
George, or Bet Giyorgis. Remember,
he’s the patron saint of Ethiopia!
This was the last, and most perfect church that was built in
Lalibela! Without a doubt, it is
the most beautiful church your Dad and I have ever seen! Legend has it that when King Lalibela
was almost done with his churches,
St. George arrived unexpectedly to visit on a white horse. Although he loved the churches, he was
annoyed that none of the churches had been named in honor of him. In an effort to apologize, King
Lalibela began to make the most beautiful church of all in honor of St. George. On the trenched alleyway leading down
to the church, there are 3-4 inch wide indents in the wall. It is said that these are the hoof
prints of St. George’s horse, which always remain to remind the city of St.
George! Dad and I actually climbed
out of the alleyway on these “hoofprints!”
The Church of St. George is beautiful! It is in the shape of a cross, and as
it was carved with drainage systems, it does not need to be covered. It is about 15 meters high and has 3
sections. Each section is designed
to represent a part of Noah’s ark: the bottom deck with closed windows for the
large animals, the middle deck without windows for the small animals, and the
upper deck for Noah’s family with large windows. The church is also wider at the bottom than it is at the
top, which provides stability!
Outside the church in the walls are caves with many dead bodies- some of
which are over 500 years old!
They’re almost mummified, but remain there as the followers’ final
resting place. Inside the church
is a very large box with 2 large wooden screws on the top keeping it
closed. It is said that because
this was King Lalibela’s last church, he decided to leave his box of tools inside the church, where they
remain today!
Around all of the churches are holes carved in the
rock. These were for monks and
nuns 800 years ago and are where they lived. Today, in preparation for Genna, these small holes are
occupied by pilgrims who are choosing to live in them for the religious
celebration! It is estimated that
close to 60,000 people pilgrimage to Lalibelia for Genna every year. Many stay with family, others in
hotels. However, the majority live
on the roads and in the areas around the church. They bring food and water. Some bring blankets and other items to sleep on. Most sleep on the ground or on plastic
tarps. There is an entire market
called the Christmas Market set up for the pilgrims on the hillside. The market sells everything from animals
such as goats and donkeys, to clothes and food. ALL the pilgrim women wear white dresses with large white
scarves covering their heads and shoulders. ALL the pilgrim men wear large white scarves draped over
their shoulders. Most do not wear
shoes, and many do not have shoes!
It is truly a site to see!
After seeing our last church for the day, Dad and I went
back to the hotel. We bought a few
souvenirs for our family, and a cute Ethiopia hat for you! We ordered dinner in the room and
enjoyed the sunset on the balcony!
Dad is studying Thai right now and I just finished this letter!
Sweet dreams little one! I love you more and more everyday! Watching your videos and looking at your pictures makes me
smile while remembering just how perfect and dang cute you are! I can’t wait to hold you again- only 3
more days!
All my love!
Love,
Mom
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