Lalibela, Ethiopia

We were sort of welcomed by this ancient priest.
I say sort of because they all seemed like they didn't
really want us there.  They did, however, because
they like tourist money in this town.

This was so interesting because there were 11 ancient churches all built by chiseling down the face
of the rock mountain.  There were 40,000 people that worked on the churches (slaves, prisoners,
and regular people) throughout the process.  In addition, they are convinced that angels came at
night and continued working while they slept.

This is an Ethiopian Orthodox Religious Ceremony that is done before the service that will take 
place inside the church.  Only men participate in this service and there is much singing, chanting, 
and drum playing.

Interesting symbols carved into the wall (these churches were built in the twelfth century.)
Symbols are from Greece, Ethiopia, and Turkey if I remember right.

We climbed the most intimidating passage-ways for a Grandma and Grandpa.
There were no hand rails ever and only uneven stone steps at best.  And to
make matters worse, Grandpa forgot his tennis shoes, so he really had a tough
time trying not to fall in his fancy Italian jobs.  I think Grandpa is thinking,
"I really don't want to break something and go to a local clinic."

An example of Ethiopian Art that filled the walls of the churches.
Notice the trade mark of the big, brown eyes.

Here we are taking a breath before venturing down the side of a rock wall!  We took this picture
just in case we didn't make it.  Then you would all know that we really were having a great time.

He wouldn't smile but he sure wasn't shy about posing for the camera.

These are school uniforms in Lalibela.  And the boys wore long pastel blue cotton pants with a
matching jacket.  Very colorful.  I wonder how they play soccer at recess, or if they have recess?

Check this out!  This is the bed for one of the nuns.  It is carved out of the stone wall.  And they
put a plastic-type tarp over it for a "mattress?"  

This is St. Georges church.  We are standing in front of the top of the building.  It goes way down
and luckily we did not attempt the journey down.  We saw a lady at the airport who did. She slipped
and fell backwards and ended up in the local clinic.  She said that was an adventure in itself.