Not only does she write.... |
Julienne:
Mom, I think you should be our guest blogger.
Sara:
Totally! You could cover our northern historical route with colorful
details, retrace our mental breadcrumbs, embellish the highlights, tip toe over
the low-lights, yet be true to your personal voice.
Nancy:
I would if I could figure out how to type on your dad's iPad.
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Don't Throw Mutha
from the Bajaj: A Playful Four-Act Story
by
Nancy (Mom) Oyler
Prologue
There
is an old Ethiopian tale about four animals (donkey, dog, goat, and camel)
taking a journey by taxi. At the end of trip the goat jumps out and
scampers off without paying the driver. The donkey pays his full fare, and the
dog pays and waits for his change. The driver is outraged that no one covers
the goat’s fare and drives off. The
camel, having traveled thousands of miles from the desert catches up to the
taxi just in time to be covered in a plume of dust.
Act I, Scene I
Not a good sign when a bajaj driver asks you to 'balance'. |
Setting:
A blue tricycle taxi, called a bajaj, stops along a windy road. Dog and
Donkey get out and start discussing.
Dog:
I just don’t think the driver is really a guide.
Donkey:
Dog, quit barking. We’ve been on this road for six hours and are yet to
arrive at the celebrated land of Tigray. Besides, we've already paid.
Dog:
Yes, but we paid for a driver and a guide. We can barely communicate, and he
doesn't know the name of every plant we've passed, let alone the interesting,
indigenous birds. I want part of our money back.
Goat:
Enough! So he might not be the best guide, but at least food is included. We're
not paying for that, right?
Scene II
Setting: The Quara
Hotel, Gondar, Ethiopia. A white haired woman sprawls on an unmade bed writing
on an iPad in a small room made smaller by piles of clothes and open backpack.
Over the sounds of a city wakening (horns blaring, diesel buses rumbling) can
be heard "When I'm 64" by The Beatles.
Journal entry: Here
today, Gondar tomorrow
Zanna & Sara wait for local gin for a Gonder sundowner. |
My
decision to get shot up, ingest four tablets of live typhoid vaccine, and
purchase a plane ticket taking me 16,000 miles from home to join daughter and
friends for three weeks touring northern Ethiopia was my way of saying
"Put me back in, Coach, I'm well rested and the fourth quarter's barely
begun." I'm now walking along the last of several switchbacks taking me to
the top of a hill overlooking the city of Gondar, one of the four Ethiopian
cities that constitute the Northern historical circuit. Julienne, Sara, and
Zanna have sprinted ahead to catch the sunset from the Goha Hotel.
The view (wheeze) from Goha (gasp) Hotel. |
I stop
yet again to carefully compose my photograph of the aqua-colored Ethiopian
Orthodox Church -- not so much for the aesthetics, but more to give me a chance
to catch my breath. Memories of an August spent in Cairo surface readily:
dust and donkeys, begging and bribes, men holding hands and women holding
babies as flies appear like freckles on their lips. Little has changed in the
intervening forty years except now I'm asked by eager-to-please Ethiopians
"How was your day, Muther?" and "Muther, me I hip you?"
I'm cheered by the endearing moniker, so respectful. I smile, shake
my head, and reply "ameseghinalehu" which means "thank you"
in Amharic, the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia.
S and Z head into the Royal Enclosure |
I
manage to summit the hill and find JSZ out on the terrace, having placed drink
orders of three shots of local gin, a bottle of tonic water, and for me a
bottle of Dashen, an Ethiopian beer brewed locally.
Today we took a
self-guided tour of Gondar's UNESCO World Heritage Site Fasil Ghebbi. This
“Royal Enclosure” is an impressive series of brown brick castles in Gondar, the
power center and capital of Ethiopia for 200 years, roughly from the time
Jamestown was settled until the end of the US civil war.
During the later
part of this period Emperor Tewodros II advanced Gondar independence by
centralizing government, establishing an arms factory, abolishing the slave
trade, and expropriating church land for peasant farmers. His appeal to
Britain for help in achieving these goals was rebuffed, and frustrated by this,
and what he considered the backwardness of his fellow socialists and the
intractability of the clergy, he committed suicide.
Gelada baboons in the Simien Mountains |
Also,
we learned that tomorrow a guide by the name of "Dude" would be
taking us into the foothills of the Simien Mountains in search of the famous
Gelada baboons. Another round is ordered. Mother is pleased.
Act II, Scene I
Setting: The bajaj is
stopped on the side of the road near a trail leading to the Gheralta
Mountains. Dog, Donkey, Goat, and Camel return from the trail, as the
driver changes the air filter under the taxi.
Goat
rushes ahead of the pack. “Step aside, driver. Dog slipped and cut her foot
pad, and I must get to my emergency kit. Antiseptic, gauze, I’ve got it
all.” “I’m fine,” whimpers Dog, “some clean water and a Dora the Explorer
band aid should fix me right up.”
Mountain top + chisel = church |
Camel
slumps down on her front knees. “I almost died up there! I was so close
to falling off that 60 degree sloped escarpment that I mentally wrote you out
of my will,” she says to Donkey.
The
bajaj driver shakes his head muttering, “’Just a short hike up the mountain,
they say. Just wait here. We’ll be right back. We want to see this famous
church. It’ll only take a minute.’ How many churches do they HAVE to
see?!?”
Scene II
Setting: The Africa
Hotel, Axum, Ethiopia. Noticeably more drab than yesterday’s hotel, the white
sheets of the unmade bed are tinged gray. Hot water is a distant memory.
Journal Entry: Where
are we going? I don't know, I need to Axum.
Ethiopia
Airlines is the jewel in the commerce crown of this agrarian nation where tef
(the grain used to make injera) is the main crop for local consumption, the
Chinese are building roads to improve access to untouched mineral deposits, and
camel trains still transport blocks of salt excavated from the Danakil
Depression. So how does Ethiopian Airlines earn its spot? Easy- it
will fly you to each city on the northern historical route, safely and on time
(or before, if all the confirmed passengers are seated), serving sandwiches,
beverages and goodwill for a mere $200.
When
we touched down in Axum from Gondar, we headed directly to the Africa Hotel,
unloaded packs, and went in search of stelae, giant engraved obelisks. I
scored an umbrella of mixed colors at the market along the way - the perfect
sunshade for a well-appointed Mother. We explored the Axumite tombs with
a cursory glance at the indentation rumored to be the final resting place of
King Kaleb. Then we were quickly on to inspecting the stelae, imagining
the 10 meter obelisks carved out of single slabs of rock, hauled by elephants
to be erected and displayed in commemoration of the Axumite kings of
400BC-600AD. But the real drama of Axum resides in the temple where the Ark of
the Covenant is rumored to live.
Act III, Scene I
Lalibela's St. George church honors Ethiopia's patron. |
Setting: Lalibela, a
dusty town filled with steep cobblestone streets and ravines. No bajajs to be
found.
Goat,
with impeccable balance, scampers up a rock mound. At the top she discovers
that out of the rock was carved a magnificent church in the shape of a cross. A
priest approaches, asking to verify the receipt of payment for the four
tourist. Goat bounds away, snapping pictures as she descends into the opening.
Donkey
pulls the requested document out of her pocket. Sighting the townspeople freely
climbing up and over the rock-hewn church as if it were a commuter’s
thoroughfare, Donkey is annoyed at the nuisance of being asked at the fifth
church for proof of payment. "You have a very busy job here, mister,"
haws Donkey. "Look at all of those people passing by who need to show you
their receipts."
Ethiopian cherupi |
Dog
is distracted. As she enters the church area, several strong smelling children
call out to her. "Hello. Hello. HELLO! Where are you from, Dog? Do you
want to come to my house for a coffee ceremony?" Still feeling slighted
from over paying the taxi, Dog has a bone to pick.
Camel,
pulling up the rear, finally enters the church. Having spent her career on the
salt caravans, and as old habits are hard to break, Camel still carries around
enough supplies as if she were leaving the house for weeks. Armed with a water
bottle, sketching pad, a pouch of drawing implements, umbrella, religious
head-covering, snacks, bug spray, the 10 wilderness essentials, and camera,
Camel plods down the winding trench into the church.
Scene II
Setting: The Mountain View
Hotel, Lalibela, Ethiopia. The roof top terrace. Half-finished
bottle of Dashen beer and a plate with a smudge of ketchup and a couple of
crispy fries next to the iPad.
Journal Entry: Traveling with JSZ is
easy but not always relaxed. Setting aside J's drive, S's relentless
inquisitiveness, and Z's stony wake-up demeanor, this trio exudes
consideration, efficiency and respect. They are lovely and smart, kind and
helpful, politically astute and passionate.
They are crisp 100 birr notes,
rare in circulation and valuable. Like new bills, they stand upright when
placed on their sides, bundled together they form a thick cardboard strength.
Hold them up to the light to see their authenticity. Their words are
clearly printed and carry authority. In contrast I’m the beloved 1 birr note:
smudged, ragged, well circulated, often limp, but oh so loved (mostly by each child we see along the dusty road).
4th century paintings on rock walls of churches |
Tomorrow
we fly to Addis, then on to Bahir Dar. Zanna departs from Addis, and we’ll miss
her in our last stop. We reminisced over the trip last night. We’re now
able to laugh about our rugged and treacherous rides to the Gheralta plateau
with our driver KB. “The longest African massage,”Julienne quips, still sore
from bouncing in the back of the mini-bus.
Highlights included staying at the
beautiful Gheralta Lodge, wearing white woven scarves into sacred Ethiopian
Orthodox Churches, seeing a camel caravan, viewing the Lalibela rock-hewn
churches. Now we can laugh about haggling with the guides, the near death
experience while passing on a blind corner in a dust storm with a 1000 foot
drop off below, the fleeting bouts of late-night illness. To a person we rave
about the traditional food and the genuine hospitality expressed by most of the
Ethiopians we meet. We’ll all miss the companionship and camaraderie of our
journey.
Act IV, Scene I
Setting: A dusty bajaj
rattles to a stop at its final destination, Mam's Guesthouse. A weary Donkey
emerges from the taxi and hands the driver a 50 birr note.
"There,"
Donkey brays, "I've paid my fare."
I paid already. |
"Ishii,"
responds the driver, "But what about the goat?"
“Goat
left two days ago for New York, if you wanted her to pay, you should have asked
then." Donkey trots off.
Dog,
reaching in her pocket, pulls out a 100 birr note. "Here, I need 50
back." The outraged bajaj driver, stiffed by Goat, speeds off leaving Dog
with only a film of red dust.
And
this tale explains why when traveling through Ethiopia today, you might
encounter a goat crossing the road who runs when he sees any taxi. He
didn't pay. A donkey will stand his ground in the middle of the road.
He paid. A dog will run at the taxi's wheels, barking that he wants
his change.
Scene II
Lake Tana with Mary Elizabeth and Aki and a hippo |
Setting: A covered skiff
with a 30hp outboard motor leaves the dock with Julienne, Sara, Nancy and their
new friends Mary Elizabeth and Aki for an early morning cruise on Lake Tana.
The lake near Bahir Dar is calm and the boat captain promises visits to
five monasteries, the mouth of the Blue Nile, and the possibility of hippo and
endemic bird viewing.
Journal Entry: All of us look
forward to a relaxed day on the lake. This is Mary Elizabeth's first trip to
Africa. They've carved a month out of their work schedules in DC to visit
Aki’s home and family in Addis and have taken a nearly identical travel route
as ours. We share stories of crumbling rock staircases, our favorite churches
(St. George in Lalibela, of course) and compare accommodations. We've
taken advantage of their easy company and Aki's command of Amharic by meeting
up since a brief encounter in Gondar.
While
our boat skips along the waves of Lake Tana, I joke, "we mustn't tell
Zanna about this part of the trip. She would feel so jealous.”
Aki
replies, "Yes, Zanna would love the water. She must be cold in New York.”
Epilogue
"But
what about the camel?" you ask. There is no camel in the traditional tale,
but in this playful four-act story we see an angry taxi driver skid to a stop a
block beyond Mam's Guesthouse.
"Get
out, Camel!" shouts the driver. "The story is over. Pay up and be
gone." "Please,
no!" pleads the old camel still scrunched in the back. I don't want to
return to the salt mines. Please don't throw Muther Camel from the
bajaj!" But he does.
Meanwhile,
a tan but shivering Zanna stands on the curb at JFK. It's dark, and a
wintery mix has begun to fall. She struggles to hail a cab but, alas, no
Ethiopian driver will stop.
A very happy Donkey, Goat, Dog and Camel. |