My Ethiopian Journey–Simien Mt. Natl. Park

July 28, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

No way was I prepared for these mountains. Do you think of numerous peaks over 13,000 feet when you think of Ethiopia? Probably not. There are even a few over 14,000 feet. The whole area is often referred to as the Roof of Africa.

There is only one road into the park. To get in, a tourist must stop at the park office, sign in, passport number, address, etc. Plus, you will be assigned a guard and a guide. Our guard in the photo above carried an assault rifle. No, it is not to protect people, it is to protect their rare animals from people, from poachers. Wonder why he is wearing all these clothes? It is cold at 12,000 feet even if you are near the Equator.

The drop offs are terrifying, thousands of feet, the vistas endless. Even though I have lived and been all over the Rocky Mountains and been to the Himalayas in both Kashmir and Nepal, I have never seen anything like these mountains for beauty, green, and endless vistas.

My friends near the cliff are much braver than I. In the foreground stands our guide, Michael, who spoke excellent English and was super funny. He had us laughing all the time. People live and farm in these mountains–if you look closely in the middle of the photo, you can see fields. However, the government is slowly relocating people in order to make the park a refuge for rare wildlife.

The above photos were all taken on a hike early one morning. Everything was wet because it was either raining or misty or we were in the clouds.

Because I kept slipping and sliding, I decided not to walk along the cliff with my friends and the guard, who spoke the same Ethiopian language as my friend. Michael and I took off across a meadow and suddenly here we were in the middle of all these gelada baboons, who paid no attention to us at all. They were very afraid, however, of a predatory bird that decided to fly over. How do I know? They suddenly started “talking” to each other in frightened voices. Experts now think these primates actually have a language and do talk to each other. Gelada are the last primates that are herbivores. They eat grass. All other herbivorous primates are extinct. Gelada live only in the high mountains of Ethiopia and no where else on earth, a reason for a guard. At night they climb down the cliffs into caves to protect themselves from hyenas and leopards.

If you look very carefully in the middle of this photo, you can see several duiker which are considered so common it seems no one thought to stop to really take a look so I took the photo as we drove along.

Here we are above the timberline where some very unusual plants thrive.

And some exceedingly rare animals whose camouflage makes them almost invisible until they move. At this point we are about 14,000 feet just under one of the highest peaks in Africa. Look carefully in the middle and you will see walia ibex. People come from all over the world to see these endangered animals that live only in this park. Sometimes the fog rolls in and no one sees anything. We were lucky; we saw more than twenty of them. And then the fog rolled in.

These giant lobelia thrive above timber line. Some were considerably taller than I am.

If you grow red hot pokers in your flower beds and think they are semi-arid flowers, think again. Here they are growing wild.

You can see red hot pokers in the middle of this photo by the stream. These mountain streams run down to and often across the road, making the road a muddy mess. Without 4-wheel drive and an expert driver we would have gone nowhere. In fact, at one point we did have to stop because two stuck trucks blocked the road, one of which had a flat tire.

The highest waterfall in Ethiopia is hard to hike to unless you are not at all afraid of heights. My friends did hike there. Look a bit to the right of the groove through which the water actually falls. You will see a sort of flat area. It is only a few feet wide with a drop-off on each side. Yes, that is where you hike. When I saw this view, I was rather glad I decided to wait, look for birds, and chat with the driver.

The fire pit at the highest bar in Africa is a very popular place on a cold night. Even though we had beautiful rooms, with no heat at 12,000 feet it is not exactly warm. Even the guides and guards were bundled up. The only people who seemed toasty were Scandinavian tourists with their heavy wool sweaters. The hotel staff gave us hot water bottles to put in bed with us at night. Actually, it works. Nevertheless, when you get up in the morning, it is really cold.

The guards and guides live near the park. We dropped off the guard here and watched him walk toward his house down where the trees are. We dropped off the guide near his house in the town when we left the park.

Ethiopian Journey–Ancient Churches of Lalibela

July 18, 2016July 18, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / 2 Comments

In the 12th century the king of Ethiopia decided to build a New Jerusalem. Eleven churches were carved out of solid rock on the mountain top in the village of Lalibela. A UNESCO World Heritage site, these churches remain intact and in use.

They were all carved from the rock top of the mountain down into the earth so that they remain invisible unless the person is only a few feet away. This protected them from the vision of potential invaders, usually Muslims from what is now Sudan. The above is probably the most photographed of these churches and stands separate from the others.

My friend is standing near where the stairs lead down to the bottom where visitors and worshippers can enter the church. Visiting all these churches in one day is not an activity for the faint of heart or for one terrified of heights.

This is the first church we visited. It still mystifies many as to how such incredibly intricate structures could me carved by hand out of solid stone. Even these columns are carved out of the rock. The “official” Ethiopian Orthodox Christian story relates how angels helped the builders.

This and most of the other churches are connected by “waterways” where in the rainy season a sophisticated system of drainage keeps all of them from flooding and makes it possible for visitors and worshippers to walk along from church to church.

Everything in the Christian churches in Ethiopia symbolizes something related back to Jerusalem and the Bible. Even though the guide explained it all in detail, keeping up with all the symbolism proved a daunting task. Notice the swastikas. They are ancient symbols of the eternal circle of life and death. Hitler turned them backwards and into a totally different meaning. There are also many different styles of crosses there, two of which can be seen in the windows of this church.

This is a fertility pool. In the past a priest got in the water–it is very deep–with a woman who could not conceive and bless her in the water. At one point when it began to fill too much, they cleaned out the bottom and found many treasures buried there, apparently dumped into the pool to protect them from enemy invaders.

The inside of the churches are intricately carved and sometimes painted.

Two types of basalt exist on this mountain, soft and hard. Churches carved out of the soft basalt have begun to deteriorate and as a consequence are covered. As can be seen here, people still come to these churches to pray and attend services.

Our guide lead us from church to church through these narrow passageways which are, as previously mentioned, used to drain water away from them in the rainy season. If Ethiopia had a national color, it would be white. It is not only worn to go to church and for religious purposes but in daily life as well. It mystifies me as to how they keep whites so very white.

The slit dug in the rock is part of the system of drainage. The grass in the foreground grows out of a pool of holy water. While we were there, a boy filled a plastic bottle with the water and left.

St. George and the dragon are everywhere, not only in churches but also on beer. He is the patron saint of the country, symbolizing the triumph of Christianity over paganism as symbolized by the dragon.

The carving in many of the churches reveal a sophisticated knowledge of how to work in stone. It is difficult to believe that this was carved by hand downward into solid basalt centuries ago.

The road to Lalibela is rather daunting, climbing higher and higher with no guard rails, nothing. As you can see from this photo, patchwork quilt fields cover even the mountainsides.

To learn more about Lalibela, see detailed information and explanations of their River Jordan and other religious symbolism, go to my blog posts from August 2014.

Ethiopian Journey–From Addis Ababa to Debre Birhan

July 8, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Addis is the second highest capital in the world. Only La Paz, Bolivia, is higher. To a large extent, altitude determines climate in Ethiopia. Addis and the surrounding area, much of which is high altitude farmland, receives a lot of rain this time of year and looks totally unlike what a lot of people think of when they hear the word Ethiopia–not desert but rather miles and miles of green.

We had not driven far from Addis when we crossed a river, an area of which is considered healing. Many people had come for priests to bless them and to experience the healing power of the water.

I saw only three tractors in ten days of criss crossing farmland. Why so few? One reason is rocks. Many of the fields remain rather full of rocks in spite of many having been removed.

Therefore, they farm the “old fashioned” way; horses or cattle pulling plows with a human behind.

Houses in the villages in the farming areas demonstrate old ways alongside new.

Winnowing the way we did in the USA a century ago.

Much of the farmland is a picturesque patchwork quilt of browns and greens.

Before dropping down to lower country, we drove by Menelik’s Window. The drop off here is steep and far. I did not go near it–I had not yet become used to the endless drop-offs or even realized that I would need to do so. This is one of four places in Ethiopian where you can see gelada baboons. They are extinct elsewhere. Menelik was an Ethiopian emperor. This “window” allows one to look from the high country for miles and miles to the landscape beyond.

The large tufts of grass provide food for the gelada which are grass eating herbivores, the last of the grass eating primates. All others are extinct. This same grass is used by the locals for roofing material so boys stay in these areas all day chasing off the baboons.

To keep themselves busy they weave woolen baskets and hats to sell which they display in the grass.

This ten year old boy happily donned the hat he had made. I bought it for my grandson who was the same age when I took the trip.

Except for the different vegetation, driving down the mountain looked a lot like driving through Colorado.

Down from the mountain the landscape appears quite different and considerably drier. We drove through several smaller towns on our way to Debre Birhan where we stayed the first night.

Driving in Ethiopia requires navigating around animals. Everyone drives their cattle, camels, horses, all livestock down the road whenever possible. The roads are generally very good. Many, built by the Italians, have stood the test of decades.

Along the road we saw many of these “apples”. My friend told us how they played with them as a child. However, the adults all warned the children not to touch their eyes when they did–it will make you blind. They are called Apples of Sodom–so many things in Ethiopia have symbolic meaning.

These fruit could be seen all along the road and even on the road. After driving through this drier area we rose above a huge valley with miles and miles of grass.

A semi-nomadic group brings their immense herds of cattle here in the rainy season to graze. When we drove further on above the valley, I saw the first tractor working a field as big as this grazing land.

Ethiopian Journey, Dubai

July 3, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

If you have a long enough layover in Dubai, they put you up in their Emirates hotel and feed you in the cafeteria free. The hotel is nice, the food excellent–quite a nice perk. From the hotel it is easy to walk to several places as well as take a van tour around the city. We did both.

The view from my room. The pool has a swim up bar but it is not open during Ramadan which was occurring two years ago when we were there. Alcohol is available in some restaurants and bars but you must imbibe inside.

One of the first places we visited on the tour was this mosque, designed to look like the famous mosque in Istanbul. The following photos are of typical houses near the mosque.

Then we arrived at the beachfront of the Persian Gulf. The water is warm, like lukewarm soup. In the background two of the most expensive hotels in the world tower above the water.

The street goes along the waterfront with luxury hotels on the left. Many of these areas are fill–manmade peninsulas.

You can visit the sister hotel in the Bahamas.

Because of the fill, the fake peninsulas, it is easy to get a bit disoriented. Plus during the summer there is so much haze, it is rather difficult to determine directions.

The tallest building in the world.

After visiting several smaller shopping areas, we arrived here, the famous Dubai mall. This is the largest aquarium in a mall in the world. Here you see people from everywhere in the world dressed in every way imaginable.

A children’s store across from the aquarium contained this lollipop tree with giant lollipops.

In spite of high heat–it was 108 when we arrived–no wind and high humidity (yes, because on the Gulf, even though it is desert, the humidity is stifling), many people were outside awaiting the fountain show.

One part of the skyline reflected in the lake. The fountain show, synchronized with music, is worth the wait even in the heat.

On to the gold and silver souk.

Gold and silver are sold by weight. You can also buy gold in shops at the airport; however, nothing quite has heavy and exotic as some of this.

We did actually shop in the food shops and bought nuts covered in various spices to take along for snacks.

Ethiopian Journey–The Beginning

July 1, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Two years ago today, two friends and I flew from here to Dallas to Dubai. The final destination: Ethiopia, where I spent nearly three weeks with them and my friends’s family plus a road trip through the north. Ethiopia was nothing like what one sees in the news, in famine photographs, nothing like the image most people in the USA have of it. My main goal when I returned home was to show people photos and inform them what it really looks like, how incredibly beautiful it is there. This mission continues two years hence. For the next several weeks I plan to relive this journey and share it on my blog here.

It is a short trip from Amarillo to Dallas via air. In order to carry the baggage allowed on Emirate Airlines, we first flew via Southwest to Love Field, then took a taxi to Dallas International. If you plan to fly long distances, I highly recommend Emirates Airlines. Compared with all the others I have experienced even coach class is wonderful: bigger seat room, more than a hundred movies to watch, good food, an area where you can help yourself to fruit and snacks, unlimited wine and beer, and an international group of flight attendants.

From Dallas to Dubai is fifteen hours of flying.

People wonder why they fly over Greenland, Iceland, northern Europe to get to Dubai. Do not look at a flat map. Get a globe and trace the route. It is the shortest way to go. Dubai is not like many think here. No, I did not see endless lines of Lamborghinis and Ferraris. In fact, I do not recall seeing any at all. Tomorrow, photos of Dubai before heading on to Addis.

Barbie Doll

May 8, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

This poem praises my mother. It is page 17 of my memoir in poems, “On the Rim of Wonder”. It seems appropriate to republish it here for Mother’s Day.

Barbara Lewis Duke, pretty, petite, blue-eyed, and blond, my mother,

one fearless, controlling woman. Long after Mom’s death, Dad said,

“Barbara was afraid of absolutely no one and nothing.” They married

late: 34 and 38. He adored her unconditionally. She filled my life

with horses, music, love, cornfields, hay rides, books, ambition. Whatever

she felt she had missed, I was going to possess: books, piano lessons, a

college education. Her father, who died long before I was born, loved fancy,

fast horses. So did she. During my preschool, croupy years, she quieted my

hysterical night coughing with stories of run away horses pulling her

in a wagon. With less than 100 pounds and lots of determination, she

stopped them, a tiny Barbie Doll flying across the Missouri River Bottom,

strong, willful, free.

The Haunting of the Mexican Border

February 9, 2016February 9, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

If you have any interest whatsoever as to how times have changed along the border, the culture of the people of Sonora and Chihuahua, this is a must read. I need to go visit my friends who live there.

Dawn Wink: Dewdrops

The Haunting of the Mexican Border

I had no idea the blessing I was about to receive when I was asked to review The Haunting of the Mexican Border: A Woman’s Journey by Kathryn Ferguson for Story Circle Book Reviews. I said yes, since how could I possible resist that title? I spent the next few weeks savoring the experiences, ideas, and prose of this book. This is not a book that I read fast. I found myself re-reading sentences for the sheer beauty of the prose and scenes for the powerful experiences conveyed.

Mostly, I was taken with the melding of past and present, as my own experiences growing up on a ranch along the San Pedro River, a vein for Mexican migrants coming to the US, sent me reeling between the intimate familiarity of the rhythms of migration in this region…

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Old Barns and Blogging 101

March 13, 2015 / Juliana Lightle / 1 Comment

Previously I mentioned that I decided to try WordPress’ class to see if I could discover something new, broaden my horizons, play, explore. In completing assignment for day eight, I found a blog with a photo of an old barn. Old buildings fascinate me, lead to daydreaming. Who lived or worked there, how old is it, why did they abandon, move on? Several miles down the road from where I live stands an unusually large, faded, red brick barn. On the edge an even taller, circular silo stands. Part of the roof is falling in, a few trees shade the east side. I used to drive by this barn every day, twice a day. Still when I drive by, I think what a unique restaurant or house it would make. Meanwhile, slowly it deteriorates; I feel sad.

While writing this and looking at the photo mentioned above, I remembered the old carriage house where I grew up. It stands, the only building remaining where my father was born and lived until he reached the age of ten. I still own the farm; the young man who farms it cannot bear to tear the building down. When I was there 2 1/2 years ago, it housed a piece of farm equipment. I remember large elm trees and the hollyhocks growing next to it, making hollyhock dolls as a child. Who will remember when it is gone?

Who Is the Best Writer: A Matter of Taste and Viewpoint

December 29, 2014December 29, 2014 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Until I was asked to be a judge for a memoir competition, I did not spend a lot of time thinking about this topic. For years my general awareness about writing preferences included the knowledge that the writers I prefer and usually read rarely hit the best seller list and generally are not white, main stream USA. What do I read: Native American (American Indian), Indian as in the country of India, and Latin American writers, and writers from the Middle East, especially Iran. My favorite writer is Leslie Marmon Silko. My favorite book of hers is Storyteller. My favorite story, “Yellow Woman”, is in that book as well as numerous literary anthologies. I estimate I have read that story at least fifty times, maybe more. Why? In spite of asking myself that question, I remain somewhat clueless. Because of my current teaching assignment which includes British literature from Beowulf to now, I try my best to read a bunch of British literature. For instance, I just read I, Claudius by Robert Graves. Of course, it has nothing to do with Britain; perhaps it does not count. Next on my list is The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. This book won the Man Booker Prize in 2006. Although she writes in English, she obviously is not British unless you consider being in a former British colony counts as British.

Back to my contest assignment: Two of the books I was assigned to read nearly put me to sleep. One did not; in fact I liked it a lot–enough to mark pages with passages I plan to use when I need writing inspiration/ideas later. When I read a bunch of reviews recently, it came as quite a shock to find one of those put-me-to-sleep books favorably reviewed. Could I really have been that far off base? I consider the possibility that even though I have read some excellent memoirs, I find many of them impossible to read. Why? From my viewpoint, many memoirs whine, lament, and carry on about the past in a way I find highly objectionable. Who wants to read hundreds of pages about how someone overcame addiction or some hideous disease or a divorce? Apparently, a lot of people. Even though I consider The Glass Castle an excellent book, I even had a difficult time plugging through the last 50 pages of that one. Some of Storyteller is a memoir–a combination of poetry, vignettes, photos, but it also includes several enlightening short stories. While writing now and reflecting, I can only think of one other memoir type book, I actually recommend to people, Jimmy Santiago Baca’s A Place to Stand. While stopping by the library this morning, I did pick up Willie Nelson’s latest, Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die. It even has a foreword by Kinky Friedman, who in my opinion would make a much better governor than any one we have experienced in Texas lately or will have for the foreseeable future. With a title like that, about Willie, and Kinky thrown in, surely it won’t be too boring.