Lalibela

So, our trip to Lalibela- It was great!  Last week was SUCH a busy week- Jen and her fiance Mark were here, stayed with us at the beginning of their trip (had to move to HQ because our next door church was threatening their sanity- so loud at night!).  For some reason our nice quiet evenings got eaten up and Brian and I were both feeling the stress of it.  So we were jumping from a busy week to a busy weekend- and the third weekend out of town in a row!- but in the end it ended up being very relaxing- much more than I would have guessed.  The guards loved flying- they just stared out the plane window the whole time, and loved the idea of us being above the clouds.

Since they are Orthodox Christians the old Orthodox churches in Lalibela are very significant for them.  We are charged 350 birr entrance fee (that is a little over $20) but they can all visit for free!  I am so glad they didn't have to pay- they went on the tour one day, and we stayed at the hotel because we have been through the churches (that is when I joined Brian on the 8th grade trip right after Vicky's wedding).  So we had this very nice veranda area at our hotel to just have a coffee and lounge and relax together.  The boys were great- they went back every day to the churches, back through the tunnels/etc. (these are rock-hewn churches) and they all took empty water bottles to bring back "holy water"- very important to them!  Anyways, they were so energetic and really took advantage of being there.

One evening Brian gave a little talk- told each of the guys what he especially appreciated about them- Brian was so choked up!  I had a few things of appreciation I wanted to say myself, but mostly I just sat back and was impressed- Brian has a really good thing going- he has treated these guys very well- been maybe more flexible or generous than my nature would be, but that has created amazing relationships with them and they KNOW he is a man of integrity, and they think the absolute world of him.  I was proud of him!  Later one guard told us, "It was because of you I got sick.  I couldn't sleep at all that night."  He meant because he was emotionally overwhelmed by what Brian said.  It is not neccesarily their culture to give verbal appreciation like that, but I think they all really really liked it!

We flew home Sunday, rushed home, put on our fancy clothes, and went to a wedding- Danny and Betty are two project managers from the HIV project, and we missed the ceremony because our flight was late but the reception was cool.

Well, I better go put on the croque mosieurs for dinner now that Brian's home.