On the Road to Gondar
Friday, January 17, 2020
This morning we left Bahir
Dar to travel by road to Gondar through the rural Ethiopian mountainous
countryside. Everywhere we go now will
be above 6000 feet. The Chinese-built
road is in good condition, but the travel is complicated by goat herds, cows, people
in clusters and ox-drawn carts on the road.
Speed is not possible.
One of our goals was to
find a local school. We had brought
school supplies with us for the purpose of bringing gifts. Our guide told us that although education is
compulsory, the availability of schools and of teachers is quite limited and
classrooms are 60-70 children per teacher with very limited supplies. About an hour and a half into our drive we
found a school close to the road and stopped.
We were a sensation, to say the least.
The classrooms emptied, the children were quite orderly, our guide
presented the gifts, and there was a great level of excitement.
The children then sang and
clapped for us, with a couple of the boys doing a shoulder-shaking kind of
dance typical in Amhara-speaking areas.
We saw fertile fields with
plowing powered by animals:
As we got into the
mountains the scenery became more and more dramatic. Here’s a rock which is sometimes used for
climbing. Maybe on our next trip with
Leah?
Gondar was the capital of
Ethiopia beginning in 1632, and is known for its 17th century
castles and palaces. After lunch we
began touring at the UNESCO World Heritage site Failedes Palace.
The royal lineage here
dates its origins back to Solomon, and to the 10th century BCE. There’s a long story about the Jews, the
Catholics, the attempts to introduce Protestantism, the Portuguese, the
Spanish, and more. It’s long and
complicated. In any case, the palace of
king Failedes has Stars of David as decorations, as representations of
continuity with the line of Solomon:
With Timkat approaching,
there is a buzz everywhere and people are dressed in their holiday finery:
Among the many UNESCO
World Heritage sites is the last remaining church (of 44); we were told it is
the only one spared from destruction by the Dervishes in the 1880s (this
requires some research). It is the
Church of Debre Birhan Selassie:
The decorations from the
1610s are remarkable, including a ceiling of angels looking down on you:
Finally, we went to the
king’s baths, about 2 km. from the palace, which will play a major role when Timkat
is celebrated here. We’ll be in
Lalibella for the holiday:
We went to dinner at a
local restaurant where the staff performed after serving. The music consisted of one one-string
instrument, drums, and single-note horns.
The dancing showed us what the boys at the school were doing:
Tomorrow we visit Simien
Mountain National Park, another UNESCO World Heritage site.
Fascinating! I've never seen dancing like that (from the boys at the school, or the adults at the restaurant). During the children's clapping song (I meant to mention), there seemed to be one child (faintly recorded) who was singing more complex stuff to which all the children were responding with simpler refrains. In the restaurant entertainment, I don't notice anything musically complex--just single notes and alternations of two pitches. But that shoulder twitching is quite accomplished! I'd like to learn a lot more about the place of religion in Ethiopia, and attempts by various outside forces to get the Ethiopians to align their religious practices (or their own historical telling of their origins) with recognized Western norms and entities. The whole claim that there were "lost Jews" in Ethiopia, for example, is apparently based on a misunderstanding by Europeans of what was originally a breakaway sect of Christians within Ethiopia, who decided to focus on the Old Testament only. (At least, that's the version that I've read in the writings of the ethnomusicologist Kay Kaufman Shelemay, notably her memoir: A Song of Longing. https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/58xkp6zr9780252017988.html Which deals in part with the Ethiopian revolution of the 1980s or so--I don't know enough about this.)
ReplyDeleteThis area seems like a world unto itself, so different from the earlier areas. Amazing artwork and castles, something not generally expected in Africa, except perhaps further north. Very interesting stories! How is the local food, any interesting local specialties?
ReplyDeleteIMO that ceiling of angels is slightly more creepy than Elf on a Shelf.
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