My morning plans changed; the trip to
the churches in town would have to wait for the afternoon. In the
meantime, I did have a short experience which illustrated an
unfortunate truth: people will try to rapidly befriend you in order
to get something from you. Expect all contact to be purposeful, even
if it appears accidental.
The Grade 7
The condition of students in Lalibela
has been well illustrated to me.
On the first day I arrived, I met a
young man in Grade 7 who was splitting his time between school and
myriad low-paying jobs. He worked at the hotel and was well known to
the front desk and staff; he worked with the pay-per-hour terminals,
likely in exchange for regular internet access which is not easy to
find.
A manager in Addis once told me, "Never
trust anyone in Lalibela". If the young man was not known as
trustworthy to this relatively swanky hotel, I would not have agreed
to go to his home six minutes away and have a coffee. It was just as
well: I had already agreed to let him arrange my mule ride for
Tuesday and was therefore already trusting him with 300ETB.
The Grade 7's home was a large lock-box
of sorts, perhaps half the size of my hotel room. He rented from a
guest house for a monthly fee of about half what I paid him to
arrange the Tuesday excursion. Its walls were covered first in a
layer of yellow paper and decorated in permanent marker with random
quotes and pro-Obama slogans; posters depicting Britney Spears, Euro
football stars and hip-hop icons were stapled to the wall in places.
A couple of mattresses with bedding occupied most of the warped
floor, and these doubled as our seats. He brewed the local equivalent
of instant coffee in a metal pot on top of a camping oven and told me
about his life.
His family lived in the countryside,
farming. Like many farmers, they were doing it largely to subsist and
could not help him much with his education, so he was on his own. He
would carry bags for people at the hotel and also work the common job
of mobile shoe-shiner. His budget prioritized school and rent; it was
nice to be able to eat, but he would drop to one meal a day if he
could not successfully shine enough shoes. In school, he studied
several topics in English and Amharic; he stated intentions to become
an engineer.
I was fairly uneasy because I expected
there might be some form of pitch inherent to this. Here was a guy
shining my boots even though I brought no money and telling me a
long, involved story about the difficult and expensive life of an
Ethiopian student.
It turned out in the end that he was
already happy I picked him for the guide job, even though his English
was not particularly good. That by itself was going to go a long way
toward helping to pay an accumulation of back rent. I felt a bit
better knowing that I was getting a service in return. I don't mind
charity but my budget is truly constrained until I get home.
I also did a bit of research and found
that he was only charging half the guide price. If all goes well, I
think I will surprise him with a tip.
The Grade 9
Today provided a different kind of
experience. Due to a miscommunication, I had to move the day's
excursion to the afternoon from the morning. I decided I was already
dressed for an outing and could take pictures, so I went for a short
walk.
Accompanying me right out of the gate
and uninvited was a young man on a mission. He got right on to a
couple of how-are-you how-do-you-like-Lalibela type questions
followed by a mighty uncomfortable revisiting of the difficult and
expensive life of a student. I knew after a point that I was going to
reach the top of the hill, then walk back to the hotel, but I felt
rude not going to the book store that this guy wanted to show me. It
was visibly next to the main road and looked reputable.
The pitch was ultimately that he wanted
an English/Amharic dictionary and fact book which he showed me. The
shop owner confirmed this intention; it wasn't clear at first. I
sighed. How much was the book? Well, close to the price of a
three-course dinner at the hotel, or pocket change in Canada. Good on
him for not just asking me to give money, because people can use
money to buy anything irregardless of what they claim it's for, but a
book is fairly simple. If he intended to barter the book for
something, well, nothing I can do about that now. Sale made, price
slightly discounted; brisk walk back to the hotel begins.
Thank you so much, he said as he walked
me back to the hotel gate. Can we exchange e-mail addresses, perhaps?
I am so happy for Canada and my parents will be happy for Canada
too...
I noticed at this point that four
youths must have happened on the scene and realized it was possible
to get me to give away something free. Unfortunately for them, the
line had already been drawn, though their case was hampered by an
inability to effectively communicate exactly what they would do with
money if I gave them some.
I believe that I have enough to cover
exactly what I plan to do in this country. Though the mule excursion
is cheap and paid, admission to each individual church is pretty
close to the price of a guide in addition to what was already paid.
The cost of transport to and from Wolisso is not yet known to me. The
previous day, I calculated exchange rates and set aside cash for each
of the remaining accommodation fees; I made sure I would at least
have a bed each night and a breakfast each morning without
complications. I made sure that the cash would be apart from the
rest, so that even if I managed to lose what I did have, the prime
directive was secured.
I don't have enough to solve everyone's
immediate problems. I can't fault them for trying. As for the Grade 9
in the red shirt, he can count himself lucky. I resolved not to go
around in Lalibela again without a guide and a clear purpose to my
excursion.
The churches in town
The main complex of churches is close
to the city—the particular peak here divides old Lalibela village
from the new settlement. Close by and not to be forgotten is St.
George's Church with its well known cross shape, which might be the
best of the bunch.
A tour brought me through the churches,
up and down steps and slippery slopes, and at one point through a
pitch dark tunnel where all light is forbidden. The Lalibela visit is
why I brought zip-up boots: easy to remove and easy to secure when
on. You'll find yourself taking footwear off and putting it on all
visit long. A guide will take you through the complex; a hired shoe
watcher (and in my case, also a hat watcher) will look after whatever
you aren't allowed to wear into a church.
One entrance fee of 350ETB will get you
a pass to all the churches. There really isn't a great way for me to
describe them which has not been explored in other reviews, so I hope
my eventual photos will suffice. They were not particularly easy to
get because flash photography is frowned upon.
When I returned from my outing, I set
my camera down and washed up. Dust is everywhere in the dry season,
as could be reasonably expected; I don't think I will be here long
enough to get used to it, but it's not that bad. I just have to
understand, having only packed one change of shirt and trousers other
than what I wore on the airplane here, that any time I put on a clean
outfit it can't stay that way past one excursion.
I saw a hornbill on the roof near my
window. Once again, by the time I readied my camera, it had flown
away.
D. Madeley
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