Day 3: Lalibela Coffee Ceremony

After the monastery, we returned to "downtown" Lalibela and stopped by the Nu Eneyat Traditional Coffee Ceremony house, run by Wubit Alemnew, pictured here. Coffee is very important in Ethiopia, in fact it is believed that the Ethiopians were the first to discover coffee and its pep-giving qualities. Wonde told us that in villages, coffee ceremonies are held daily in the homes of community leaders, and that most disputes between residents are settled by the elders over coffee. You don't go to a coffee ceremony for a quick cup, it's a leisurely process during which the hostess roasts green coffee beans over a charcoal fire, grinds the roasted beans with a mortar and pestle, and boils the grounds in water. Each guest is served three espresso-sized cups of strong coffee (with sugar, if desired).

Wubit also runs a small souvenir shop at the coffee house, and we learned the next day she also is proprietess of a tiny grocery store in the center of town. If you're ever in Lalibela, stop by her coffee house near the Yemereha hotel.

When the coffee is roasted to its desired darkness, guests are invited to inhale the fragrant smoke. Mmmm.

We also met Wubit's adorable kids, 4-year-old Bethelem and 6-year-old Yohannes. Here, Bethelem serves popcorn, a traditional coffee ceremony accompaniment.

We also sampled tej (honey wine), arrack (a potent clear liquor), and injera (spongy bread) with stewed lentils. Among family and friends, usually people feed each other with their hands -- tearing off a bit of injera, using it to scoop up a bite of whatever else is on offer, and delivering it to a neighbor's mouth.

After coffee, Ellie became fast friends with the kids by offering piggyback rides. Bethelem and Yohannes will remember that tall "farenji" lady for a long time, I think.

Day 3: Monastery of Nakuta La'ab

Our original Lalibela itinerary called for us to visit the church of Asheton Maryam, which involves a steep trail and a mule ride. We decided against this in the end, both so we'd have time to visit the school and because we were a little nervous about riding on mules. Wonde, our guide, suggested the nearby Monastery of Nakuta La'ab instead, which was definitely worth a visit.

If I recall correctly, Nakuta La'ab was the successor to King Lalibela in the Zagwe dynasty which ruled from Lalibela (then called Roha). In the above photo you can see the setting of the monastery.

The monastery is partly open to the air. It's basically built inside a cave.

Nakuta La'ab is known for its holy water which drips from the cave ceiling. These basins were once stones that have been gradually hollowed out by centuries of drip, drip, drip. Wonde told us that this water is supposed to be effective for curing infertility.

The priest showed us some of the monastery's treasures, including crosses, crowns...

... and beautiful illustrated manuscripts. I cringe a little at the non-temperature-regulated storage conditions, but it is amazing to see these priceless books up close.

As we climbed back up to meet our driver, Ellie made friends with a little goat who scampered up the slope beside us.

Day 3: Kechenmesk Primary School, Lalibela

Back in Brooklyn, Ellie is a high school math teacher, and she was interested in seeing what Ethiopian schools are like. So after lunch, on our way to visit a monastery, Wonde brought us by a local primary school.

When we arrived, we were greeted by dozens of youngsters. Almost 1,000 children attend the school, but most are there just a half-day -- there are two daily shifts. After a few moments of chaos the teachers ordered the kids back into the classrooms and they obediently followed.

Just in case you were wondering how popular Barack Obama is in Ethiopia, here's one of a few Obama-themed notebooks we spotted at the school.

The school's recess yard -- as we were leaving they were setting up a volleyball net.

These 8th graders were attending a biology review session conducted in English.

These little ones sang us a song in English -- as you can see from the vocabulary words on the wall, English language education starts at a young age.

We thanked the assistant principal for our tour and gave him some notebooks and crayons for his students.

Day 3: More Rock-Hewn Churches in Lalibela

The next morning, we saw the other grouping of five rock-hewn churches. As we arrived we saw people gathering for a funeral.

The churches are filled with paintings, some in a Western style and some in an Ethiopian style. Wonde told us about some of the saints in the paintings and explained some of the iconography. For example, if someone is painted in profile (or as he said it "half face one eye") it's because that person was an enemy of the Church.

This is just a cool photo.

We saw many services taking place outside. I mentioned to our guide that the services at my church usually last about an hour. "How will your prayers even have time to reach God in one hour?!" he asked.

Note plastic jugs for holy water.

In most of the churches the processional crosses were put away for Lent, but this priest showed us his.

The priest also let Ellie try out his horsehair flyswatter!

Day 2: Rock-Hewn Churches in Lalibela

If you go to Lalibela, you will see its famous rock-hewn churches. There are eleven: two groupings of 5 each and 1 separate. Be prepared to climb up and down some slippery, steep passageways...

You'll hire someone who'll follow you around between churches and will help you take your shoes off and put them back on at each church entrance.

The churches were built in the 13th century, during the reign of King Lalibela. They are one of the original UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Inside, the churches are dim, and you find priests reading scriptures in the ancient Ge'ez language, surrounded by fellow priests and deacons. Worshipers sit against walls and in corners. Because we were there during Holy Week, we always saw services going on -- our guide, who had served as a church deacon when he was younger, said that Holy Week services were about 12 hours long (!!!).

The best-known of the Lalibela churches is Bet Giorgis (St. George's Church). It was dug out of the rock in the shape of a cross. Legend has it that after the other 10 churches were completed, St. George himself appeared to King Lalibela and said "Hey, what about me?" So they built the best one for him.

Day 2: Arriving in Lalibela

This is the hotel we stayed in in Lalibela, the Yemereha. The rooms were quite comfortable and the staff was extremely friendly.

This is the Yemereha's dining room. The food was pretty basic, but fresh, and its coffee must be commended. At each meal a handwritten menu for that meal was brought around laying out two options for each course. There was also a large TV in the corner where we could watch everything from CNN to Vin Diesel movies and week-old editions of "Entertainment Tonight." We met some interesting fellow guests, including a British couple -- the husband is a surgeon who'd come to Ethiopia to train doctors, and his wife had joined him to see the country. We also met part of a group of Spaniards who were spending several weeks traveling across Ethiopia by bike!

I (Elizabeth) was really surprised at how small "downtown" Lalibela was. There are a few clusters of small shops like these. Still, the town seemed constantly busy with students heading to school, people carrying loads of firewood on donkeys or on their own backs, shoppers, sellers, and more.

You didn't have to go far to see bleak but beautiful landscapes like this. In the valleys you saw farmers who seemed to be preparing for the rainy season to arrive -- many of the streams were dry or nearly so. Wherever we went, we swerved along mountain roads, our driver honking his horn at children, rifle-toting men, herds of goats...

The airport, about 30 minutes from the town, was quite small -- so small that when we left a couple of days later we received handwritten boarding passes.

Day 1: Travel

Our travel time was over 14 hours -- Dulles to Addis Ababa via Rome. The arrivals area was jam-packed because most of the people on our plane had their whole families there to meet them! We found our guide, Wonde, in the crowd and pushed through to find our driver outside. We went straight to the Ghion Hotel, ate and went to bed, because we had a morning flight the next day. Before we went to sleep, I managed to blow a fuse trying to plug in a charger and plunged not only our room but our entire hallway into darkness! -- Elizabeth