You ain’t seen nothin’ yet…

Be not cynical. Never think that you know. Always be humble…

…because there are certain things – certain places – in the world that will put you in your place.

And then you realize, this is the first day of a rather lengthy sojourn.

Slightly jet lagged and mostly excited, my day began at around 5:30am this morning to the familiar drone of the minarets… the morning call to prayer. And as soon as I realized what I was hearing – it was somewhat far away – I could not help but to smile, staring at the ceiling of my dark hotel room in the heart of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

But, it doesn’t take long until the call to prayer and the incessant dogs barking is overtaken by the children hurrying to school. They typically start about 8am or so here.

I take photos of everything as we make our way to the first location of the day.

The people who have been here before keep telling me, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Our first stop for the day is a significant Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the resting place of the last emperor and the seat of the Bishop of Ethiopia.

This is not him.

Neither is this, but this priest did unlock the basilica for us.

And was as friendly as he could be – barring no English.

But to spare you simply a log of the day…  after all, you probably are here to see the photos anyway.

For the most part, a church is a church is a church and there are big ones and small ones and significant ones and plain ones…

…but, as I said, “be not cynical.”

You may start the day in “another” church.

But then you may take a 5 minute drive that shows you something completely new:

Like the floor of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange where the coffees of the region are bought and sold – one-on-one – the buyers directly from the producers. This is where your Ethiopian Harrar and Yergashef gets its start while its still sitting in the farmer’s warehouses.

Or, maybe you take another drive to a place very similar… but very very different.

…the enormous, sprawling market of Addis Ababa.

Everything is for sale, all in its respective place, deceivingly organized and actually quite well maintained with its own security and regulations.

And I could have spent days there…

Alas, there is much to see.

Unbelievably much to see.

But for now, I must sleep. My day starts twice as early tomorrow. And, never fret if my posts are delayed a few days. I’m going to be without internet access for  while… well, for that matter, I’ll likely be without a bed or running water.

We fly to Gondor – yes, I kid you not LOTR fans – to spend some time in the Simian Mountains.

It shall be more than beautiful. We’ll see how it goes above 10,000ft. As it is, climbing three flights of stairs at 8,000ft is not a task that goes unpunished. 🙂

Stay tuned, my friends, all my followers and those just joining. There will be good things to come.
-Noah D.