Day 8 in Africa: A Day off

After a few days of traveling and several days of hauling gear, long, hot, bumpy van trips, mediocre food, okay sleep, mosquitos, sometimes feeling unsafe, often overwhelmed, constant emotional roller coasters, tears, laughter and lots of thinking…we took a day off.

Waking up this morning it was so satisfying to know we could, sort of, be tourists. No pressure, no responsibility, just time to relax and try to just enjoy the day. After a team breakfast, Justin from LIA said he had a day planned of some souvenir shopping, sightseeing and a native dinner experience.

Piling into the van without the gear was a welcome start to the day. Heading into the heart of Addis Abba my thoughts went to the slums where we had been in the last several days. It was hard for me to reconcile the “freedom” I had to go where I wanted, eat where I wanted and have the general freedom to do pretty much whatever I wanted.

Entering some souvenir areas I tried to enjoy the shopping for loved ones, but especially my kids. Watching the team hunt through the shops and look for special treasures was fun. Finding items I was interested in and having Dereje help talk through the pricing was quite an Amharic experience. Every time there was a break in the “action” my thoughts went back to the slum kids.

After the shopping, we headed to Trinity Cathedral – For more history go here. The interesting part of the church was seeing the tomb of Emperor Haile Selassie and for an extra payoff we saw what they claim is the Ark of the Covenant…had no idea it had been in Ethiopia this whole time!

From there we took a beautiful drive out to the outskirts of the city and up into the mountains. We stopped and walked a short way to a clearing that allowed us to see Addis from a distance. It was breathtaking and so incredibly peaceful. It was hard to believe that the Merkato Market slum was still there. But we knew it was.

After a nice afternoon of just taking pictures and hanging out in this incredible scene we headed back down for a traditional dinner. Sitting together watching traditional tribal dances and music we ate injera and tibs together and laughed about our day and high points of the trip. We knew we had two days of shooting left and I think we were all ready to get it finished and start the long journey home.

We were all excited to interview Samrawit, an impressive, smart and beautiful young lady that showed you the hope and potential for the future Ethiopia.

For past posts about our Africa trip, check out the following links: Journey to Africa, Day 1 & 2, Day 3, Day 4,  Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7.