Impressions of Ethiopia

So I've just returned from 11 days in Africa. While there I tried to keep a record of my impressions ...

1. People walking. Everyone walks - and they walk all the time - in Ethiopia. It sorta seemed to me that the roads were more like sidewalks that they decided to let cars use too. It is no wonder they are such good marathoners. We had 10 year old kids running easily alongside our truck for long distances.
2. Animals. Animals were everywhere. Wandering freely. Roosters. Goats. Sheep. Cattle. Dogs. Cats. Donkeys. Horses. Monkeys in some of the cities.
3. All of this activity meant that there was lots of dust. It was the dry season, too, so there was lots of dust everywhere.
4. But for all this activity, the pace was slow. While we were there, we were always busy, but NEVER rushed. Ethiopians don't really get rushed.
5. One night we had been out late for a full day of visiting 5 churches and on the way home, in the dark, on a road in the wilderness, it started pouring down rain. (Actually, this was a blessing to the countryside, and most of the folks we visited would have seen the rain as evidence of our having been a blessing to them from God.) Anyway, so we come across a big spread of water covering the "road" and there's a car stuck in it, with water up to the bottom of the grill. Its battery died. Without even hesitating, our driver gets out and lends our van's battery to them, so they can drive out of the puddle, rev up their car and then switch the battery back to us. It took nearly an hour, while we were packed like sardines in this van, but the plan worked! Amazing.
6. Needless to say, the Ethiopians are also very hospitable. They are a warm-hearted people with quick, full smiles.
7. At the Red Cross guest house where we stayed, every morning by 6:30AM we were greeted with the sounds of three things, which lasted 60-90 minutes - roosters, men chanting their (Orthodox Christian) prayers over loud speakers, and the aerobics class on the first floor (with open windows) pumping out an exercise bass beat and the men chanting "Owu!" ("yes!")
8. Blue and white taxis - motorized tricycles, cars, vans.
9. "Afromatics." In the arithmetic of Afromatics, if you say you'll arrive somewhere between 3 and 4, that means that you're very likely to get there at 7. As a rule, Afromatics always involves adding 0.5 hours onto any time.
10. "Munee!" Anytime any young male saw us, pretty much the first or second thing they shouted was "Munee!" (money) This was usually closely followed by a plaintiff look, a hand to the mouth, and "Hungree!" If you gave them money, which we never did, but saw others doing, it was immediately handed over to an older guy hanging around on the margins, who was their boss.
11. Odd clothing matches. Men wearing suits and dress shoes in dirt floored, mud hut churches on a farm in the wilderness. Lots of western clothes being worn in very different settings.
12. Being there I felt much closer to biblical times and the logic of biblical narratives, especially the parables of Jesus. Sheep and goats and threshing floors are very real things there.

Overall, I felt totally at home. It never really felt foreign or strange. Only at one or two points did I feel like I was in the set of a movie. Which was cool. My heart broke for these people and their country. I absolutely enjoyed our two main hosts - Woudineh (Woody) and Shimeles. What awesome men of God! God is good. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have gone and I look forward to next time.

Those are my impressions and a few quick highlights. I'll share more in the days to come.