Bahir Dar

Bahir Dar

The flight from Addis to Bahir Dar took about 30 minutes.  It takes two days by bus!  The city is the capital of the Amhara region of Ethiopia.  The Amhara have traditionally been warriors and farmers.

Driving into the city we see folks returning home from the Saturday market.  Some are in carts drawn by oxen or burros, most are walking, but a few ride in “ctk-ctks.”  These are little three wheeled taxis- like a motor scooter with a cab.  The men carry dulas- sticks about a meter long.  The dula can be used to carry a heavy load, or to lean on during the never ending church services.  Most often it is carried across the shoulders as the man walks along.  He wears short pants and has a gabi (toga) wrapped around his upper torso.  They wear sandals or are barefooted.  The women wear traditional dresses, scarves and wraps.  They tie heavy loads on their backs or carry babies, or both.

Tilihun, our guide, suggests a walk through the market section of town before dinner.  As dusk settles we see children everywhere on the street jumping up and down and laughing and screaming.  Finally we see the flying insects that have arrived with darkness.  The kids are trying to catch them.  We finish the evening with some Lake Tana tilapia on a restaurant balcony overlooking the lake.

Morning arrives and we have no electricity and no hot water and no one is the least bit surprised or upset.  We took off for our boat trip on Lake Tana.  Lake Tana covers 3500 sq km and is the largest lake in Ethiopia, the third largest in Africa. Tana is the source of the Blue Nile River.  There are 37 islands in the lake and 20 monasteries, some dating to the 16^th or 17^th centuries.

We spent our Sunday morning at Ura-Kidanemhret.  The church is literally covered with old paintings.  As we walked through the round hut like structure Tilihun tells us the stories held in the paintings.  Many we know, the annunciation, the birth of Christ, the flight to Egypt, miracles, Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the crucification and the Trinity.  There are stories from the Old Testament as well.  Mixed in are pictures of the Saints of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

We learned quickly that in an Orthodox Church everything means something.  Every design, every carving, every ornament has a meaning.  The church is divided into three sections because of the Trinity.  The cross on top is surrounded by 7 ostrich eggs.  Seven for the days of creation, the number of heavens and something I forgot.  The ostrich egg is a symbol of faith because it is strong and difficult to break.

So many people in Ethiopia are illiterate.  They cannot read or write.  But they can worship and their faith is strong- because everything means something.  The pictures, the structures, the movements teach them the stories of our faith, a faith that is strong and very hard to crack.