Marrakech medina

Posted on 4 Nov 2013 by lornaofarabia

I apologize for all the gushing prose, but I was completely smitten with Morocco…

Commercial streets in the walled medina of Marrakech bustle with activity. The old city is vibrant, cacophonous, and aromatic (when not downright smelly).  It’s fantastic and exotic and a little overwhelming.

The center of the action is Jemaa El-Fna, the main market square. Here you are surrounded by musicians, storytellers, snake charmers, lamp vendors, henna tattoo artists, fortune readers, and mint tea sellers.  There is no such thing as a pedestrian zone in Marrakech; in the daytime, taxis, Vespas, and horse-drawn carriages zip perilously around the stalls and shoppers. At night, cooked food sellers set up temporary restaurants arrayed with tempting displays of meat skewers, seafood, and colorful vegetable salads.

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When dodging the scooters and donkey carts gets to be too much, you can escape into the warren of arches and blind alleyways in the quieter neighborhoods – where you might get lost, but that’s part of the fun. There are no windows at street level, but sometimes an open door reveals a sumptuously tiled and painted interior. Marrakech oozes with oriental mystique.

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The geometric decorations in old and new buildings are eye-popping. Some of the most spectacular tile, wood, stone, and plaster work can be seen in the Bahia Palace. The house and gardens were built and decorated at the end of the 19th century by the sultan’s grand vizier.

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Dar Si Said is another lovely old house. It now houses the Museum of Moroccan Arts, which is interesting, but the intricately embellished upstairs rooms are the best part.

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Then there are the 16th century Saadian Tombs, which were hidden away and nearly forgotten until rediscovered through WWI aerial photos.

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Bargaining is the only way to buy a thing here. Other than restaurant food, nothing has a fixed price, and shopkeepers haggle enthusiastically. It’s like a game, and the object is for the thing to be purchased for an amount that makes everyone happy.

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Posted in Around Africa, Elsewhere, Food | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Marrakech Express

Posted on 31 Oct 2013 by lornaofarabia

Here’s a little tune that’s been running around my head for three weeks now. Just thought I’d share…

We went to Morocco last week for our October break. There we were so occupied with soaking up ambiance and eating tagine that I didn’t find time to post, so you are getting the news a bit late.

We flew into Casablanca and hopped on the first train to Marrakesh. Our Marrakesh Express lacked the ducks and pigs and chickens of CSN fame, but it sure did have plenty of Moroccans on it. It was the Sunday at the end of a holiday week and the train was packed with people heading back home.

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These signs were posted all over the train stations, advertising extra trains for the holiday (incidentally, there were no sheep on the train either).

It was a long and tiring journey, but we had a beautiful room in a lovely riad to look forward to at the end.  In the courtyard of the riad they fed us well on vegetable soup, fish tagine, and a sort of fruitcake and mint tea for dessert. To top it off, there was a Gnaoua music and dancing show after dinner. Sadly I left my camera in my room so I can’t share that, but I made up for it by taking a ton of pictures of the hotel:

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Tomorrow, pictures of Marrakech outside the hotel.

Posted in Around Africa, Elsewhere | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Rejoicing in Who-ville

Posted on 18 Oct 2013 by lornaofarabia

My friend Sukey in Arizona is a dedicated Whovian. About a week ago she sent me a link to this article in Britain’s Daily Mirror. In case you haven’t heard yet, 106 original Doctor Who episodes have surfaced in… of all places… Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!

Deep down, I’ve always known it’s a bad idea to ever throw anything away.

I hope Ethiopian Television is aware they are sitting on a gold mine. I also hope they are successful in negotiating a deal. Then maybe we can finally see those shows. Like I’ve said before…

angel phone box

Unless the angels get the phone box.

Though in this case it seems they’ve had it all along.

Posted in Ethiopia | Tagged | 2 Comments

Oktoberfest

Posted on 15 Oct 2013 by lornaofarabia

For the past month my son Nik has been bopping around Europe on a student Eurailpass. From the looks of his pictures on Facebook, I’d say he’s having a blast. One of his recent destinations was the Oktoberfest celebration in Munich. It looked like a fun time.

nik oktoberfest

photo stolen from Nik’s Facebook page

But I’m here to report that our Oktoberfest in Addis Ababa has everything the one in Munich has.

It has beer and pretzels (does this look familiar, Nik?):

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Frauleins in dirndls:

IMG_2059an oompah band:

IMG_2073people having fun:

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Andreas and our friend Bob

some of them in stupid souvenir hats:

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Me, Ana, and Vicky

bratwurst, potatoes and sauerkraut:

IMG_2081and foreigners doing silly dances:

IMG_2112I don’t know if they have waltzing ambassadors in Munich, but I thought it was a nice addition to the festivities.

IMG_2087For more details and photos of Oktoberfest in Addis, check out the blog of our friends Bob & Ana – it’s called Tibs Tummy and it’s always entertaining.

Posted in Addis Ababa, Expat experience, Food | Leave a comment

Lalibela – day 2

Posted on 13 Oct 2013 by lornaofarabia

The next morning we were up and out early to see the second cluster of churches. Although these were carved out at the same time as the churches in the other group, the stone here is a softer type and so it is more worn-looking.

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The churches have bells now, but in ancient times they used a rock to announce the service. Danel demonstrates.

All of the churches were originally connected through a complex system of underground tunnels.  Many of these have collapsed but Danel led us through a couple of them. It is pitch black in the tunnels. The experience of walking through is meant to represent purgatory so no lights are allowed.

The light at the end of the tunnel
Looking back down into a tunnel

After seeing the second group of churches we walked through a nunnery, a row of cells in tukuls along a narrow dirt alley near the churches.

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Then we headed down the cobblestone hill to the Saturday market.

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After the market we marched back up the hill again to the Seven Olives restaurant.

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Very refreshing.

There are many more monasteries and rock churches in the region but most are remote trekking destinations with no roads. There are a couple within day-trip distance of Lalibela, and we hired a van to take us to one of them – the Monastery of Yemrehanna Kristos.

To say that the road up the hill is rough and rocky would be a massive understatement. The trip, more than 2 hours in each direction along an unpaved and occasionally precipitous mountain road, left several of us with bruises and bumps from hitting our heads and arms on the inside of the vehicle. Alekka had taken this same route with her class in the spring, and she tried to engage us with a singalong. Alas, the cranky adults were not in a singing mood.

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Truth be told, I enjoyed the ride. The scenery was gorgeous and I sat by an open window; the main thing I was worried about was hitting a pothole and dropping the camera.

The monastery is in a basalt cave. It is a couple of hundred years older than the rock-hewn Lalibela churches. This one is built in the Axumite style, which means it is layers of alternating wood and rock. The rock layers are faced with flat pieces of stone. The inside is decorated with designs in wood, brightly painted (not so bright a thousand years later, but you get the idea.)

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Looking at an old guidebook I learn that in 2002 the trip was 6 hours each direction on foot and by mule from Lalibela, so I suppose we should all be grateful. And in the end everyone agreed it was worth it, even if getting there wasn’t quite half the fun.

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Back at the hotel, my errant suitcase had finally arrived – just in time to fly home the next morning.

Posted in Around Ethiopia | Tagged | 1 Comment

Lalibela – day 1

Posted on 11 Oct 2013 by lornaofarabia

We recently had a Friday off in honor of Meskal, one of the three biggest holidays (along with Christmas and Timket) on the Ethiopian religious calendar.

Bright yellow Meskal flowers always figure in the holiday decorations.
Ethiopian drums, ready for the student musical show.

We spent the holiday with four other teachers on an excursion to the northern city of Lalibela.

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Our travel companions. Andreas and I didn’t want our wrinkles to wreck the picture.

Twenty years ago the only way to get to Lalibela was on a mule. Now there is a gravel road, but on a three-day weekend, the only practical way to get there is to fly into the new airport.

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Everyone/everything arrived safely except my suitcase. Our friend Thia kindly lent me a pair of socks. Thanks, Thia!

The plane made a quick stop in Gonder, one of Ethiopia’s old capitals, but we’ll have to wait for another long weekend to visit the castles there. We had 12 ancient rock-hewn churches to see.

The town of Lalibela stretches along a steep cobblestone road lined with shops and vendors.

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After checking into our hotel we met our guide Danel, who our friend Eva had hired in advance.

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Danel is a deacon in the Ethiopian church.

A driver took us all up to the top of the town where the churches are. The buildings are clustered into two groups divided by the river Jordan (many features here are named after places in the Holy Land) with one more church – Bet Giyorgis, or St. George – set slightly apart.

Lalibela’s churches were built during the reign of King Lalibela at the end of the 1100s. According to Ethiopian history, all the work was done in 24 years. What is incredible about these buildings is that they were not built up or constructed, but instead were chiseled out of solid rock. The workers started chipping away at the top, carving around the emerging buildings until they were freestanding and surrounded by an empty moat.

Then they set to work hollowing out the insides, carving decorative elements into the pillars, windows, and doorways as they went.

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Church legends say that angels assisted with the excavation, and I’m almost inclined to believe it.

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Some Lalibela angels on light fixture in our hotel room.

We started with the northwest cluster, which includes Bet Medhane Alem, the largest monolithic church in the world.

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The pillars on the outside are also part of the single rock.

Because it was the Meskal holiday (which celebrates the Queen Helena finding the true cross, the one used in the crucifixion), we were able to see parts of the Ethiopian mass outside the churches.

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Some more photos from the morning:

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All that tramping around the dusty church complex made us hungry. We had a long, late lunch at the Seven Olives restaurant in the town.

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We finished the day with a walk to Bet Giyorgis, the church of St. George that stands apart from the others. The legend says that this church wasn’t a part of the original plan, but that when St. George got word that he wasn’t being honored at Lalibela, he showed up personally to make sure he got the finest church built in his name.  It certainly is an impressive one, carved in the shape of a cross.

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We had thought we’d go out to dinner but in the end we were all too exhausted. The whole group hung out in our hotel room drinking room service beer until Alekka kicked all the teachers out.

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Posted in Around Ethiopia, Ethiopia | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

O honorable one

Posted on 24 Sep 2013 by lornaofarabia

I’m feeling a little guilty about broadcasting my daughter’s vehicular mishap all over the Internet. She’s a great kid. So I am going to post something nice about her.

A couple of weeks ago, our school held an induction ceremony for new members of the ICS Honor Society. Alekka was one of three new members this term.

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That’s her in the black suit, watching a friend sign the register.

It’s not easy to get in. To be eligible for nomination, students have to be on both academic and effort honor rolls for three consecutive terms, and they have to actively participate in community service and leadership.  Then they have to pass the character test (teachers have the opportunity to blackball any nominee who doesn’t measure up).

The Honor Society is a community service organization. They put on a fundraising events for charity, assist at school functions, and help orient new students.

Needless to say, Alekka’s dad and I are very proud.

More about the ceremony on the ICS website here.

Posted in Addis Ababa, International Community School | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Driven to distraction

Posted on 21 Sep 2013 by lornaofarabia

It’s a tradition in America to take your DMV driver’s test on your 16th birthday, but none of my four older children was keen enough on automobiles to take part in that time-honored ritual. The oldest one still doesn’t have a driver’s license.  Alekka turned 16 in March here in Addis Ababa, so for her it wasn’t even an option.

However, Alekka is more interested in driving than any of her siblings were. Perhaps this is because mastering this skill would both help her keep up with her Medford friends and at the same time allow her to stand out among her international friends, who won’t get their licenses until they are at least 18.

The United States is one of a handful of places in the world where you can drive legally at such a tender age. Even Australia, which in many ways seems so much like the U.S., has more stringent and protracted limitations on teen driving.  An Australian colleague reports that the restricted provisional license that an Australian teenager can earn at age 16 is in effect for 3 long years, whereas in Oregon a new 16-year-old driver can have full road privileges after only 12 months.

While Andreas and I were galavanting around Scotland’s Western Isles, Alekka spent this past summer at our old house in Medford with her big sister Alice. Alice did an awesome job in loco parentis (with only a slight emphasis on the loco). She took Alekka around to all her appointments with dentists and optometrists. She got her a bus card and took her shopping for school clothes and makeup and a prom dress (if you know our down-to-earth “I may need an urban homesteading intervention before I get a goat” Alice, you know these last tasks took exceptional effort. She says she just looked at it as sociological fieldwork.)

But best of all, Alice took her little sister to the DMV for her learner’s permit – and then taught her to drive. This was another challenge for both of them, as evidenced by Alice’s Facebook status: “signs of adulthood #439: beer o’clock becomes after-teenage-ward’s-driving-lesson o’clock.”

Alice reported that it really went fairly smoothly until one afternoon in the last week of summer, when Alekka got unnerved by traffic on Crater Lake Avenue. Pulling into a parking lot in search of refuge she hit the gas instead of the brake. Classic. Fortunately the damage was only to the bumper, rather than herself, Alice, innocent bystanders, or the pole in the parking lot (why does a parking lot need poles, anyway?)

Just a little dent in the left front fender.

Just a little dent in the left front fender.

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Could be worse

Posted on 10 Sep 2013 by lornaofarabia

Did I say something about trading up?  For the past three days our neighborhood has had no electricity. For reasons I will explain in another post, that means we also do not have running water.  This morning we used up the last of the cooking gas, and there is a shortage so I don’t know when we can get more. We are in a sorry condition.

And it’s the rainy season.

This is us.

Posted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Home life | 5 Comments

There’s no place like home

Posted on 8 Sep 2013 by lornaofarabia

Finally the blog has caught up with us in real time… we actually arrived home in Addis Ababa on August 5. For the next month I spent all my spare minutes sorting through the hundreds of photos I’d taken on our summer trip, uploading and attaching them to the narratives I wrote while we were away.  I am quite relieved to be done.

On our last day in London, Alice put Alekka on a plane in San Francisco and we met up with her the next morning at Heathrow airport. From there we all flew home to Addis, where we were greeted at our new house by our wonderful housekeeper Etsegenet and our new crew of faithful guards. Seriously, it was like Downton Abbey, only without all the drama.

When we’d left for the summer, our things were already packed but we entrusted Etsegenet with engineering the move. We couldn’t do it ourselves because our new house wasn’t going to be ready until the end of June. We had told her not to bother unpacking, we’d do it all when we got back.

The amazing Etsegenet did it anyway, putting everything exactly as it had been in in our old place. It’s hard to express how wonderful it was to just walk right into our new home with the beds made, the candles on the table, and the clothes in the closets.

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She even knew exactly where to put my Snape and Nancy Pearl the librarian action figures.

Our Varnero apartment where we lived last year was stylish and light, but the new house really feels like home. We’ve got wood floors, some funky old tile, a fireplace, and a yard where we can put a vegetable garden. Plus we can walk to school. The kitchen arrangement is not the greatest but we’ve got some ideas for improving it. All in all, it’s a trade up. We’re going to like it here.

Posted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Expat experience, Home life | Leave a comment