Getting settled

Life with three children is a big change and it is going to take a while before I can say I am a pro, but I think I am starting to get the hang of my new life. Currently my life with three children consists of:

Lots of messes

Tons of poop- Though Anwen is not really the cause of all the pooping I have never wanted her potty trained more.  And she is very resistant, I think she is trying to hold on to her babiness.  I can’t really blame her.

Barrels of laughs

A good amount of noise

Plenty of whining

Your standard amount of tantrums

Way more dishes

Less time with hubby:(

At least a basket more of laundry a week, but sometimes it is more depending on how much pooping is happening.

New routines

More sleep- I know!!  I did not expect this, but you can bet I’m gonna take it:)-  The amazing thing about this is that I have not had a decent night sleep in 6.5 years, and I certainly did not expect to start sleeping well just days after bring home #3.  The other amazing thing is that sleep is awesome and I am a totally different person now that I am sleeping regularly.

Less showering:(

More inside time- since leaving the house seems to be impossible at times.

Lots of time spent with my children, which is awesome!- Having three has caused me to have to really think about how things are going to work, and it has made me slow down.  I am enjoying this slower pace and I think the kids are as well.

Some of the challenges recently have been:

Homeschooling- Anwen has been feeling needy in this time of transition and so unless she is sleeping there tend to be a lot of disruptions while we are doing Ewan’s school work.  I think that I need to figure out some things that she can do so that she feels equally included in our school time.

Getting out of the house- Going anywhere takes us twice as long if we can manage to make it out the front door.  The trick is actually making it out the front door.  In some ways I think that it is good that I am being forced to slow down but there are times that I just want to get out and take a walk and I don’t want our walk to be less time then it takes to get our shoes on.

The poop- I am down right tired of changing poopy diapers, I am tired of changing clothes that are poopy from a diaper blowout and I am tired of having to hose my son down in the bath tub because he has poo all over him. I am also quite tired of feeling like I smell poo all the time, it is becoming this phantom smell that is haunting me.  The poop by the way is only because Esu has giardia, yes that was a little present he brought back with him from Ethiopia.  He is going on antibiotics tomorrow so hopefully this will start to clear up soon.

Overall we are doing well and things are getting easier every day.  Esu is amazing and Ewan and Anwen adore him as do Brian and I.  He is making great progress physically, almost crawling, sitting up on his own from a laying down position and he has master the pincer.  We have almost figured out how to give him formula without him spitting it all up, usually on Brian.  We are learning and each day is a new lesson, some lessons need repeating, some more often than we would like.

I am strong in his hands

Since coming home from Ethiopia God has really been working in my heart in a new and powerful way.  In the little time that I get to myself these days I am thinking about what God has done in my life, what he is currently doing and what he plans to do.  I am humbled by the road my life has taken, and all that God has shown me, is showing me and iteaching me about him and myself as his daughter.

This afternoon I was  listening to my favorite musician Bjork and a song I had not heard in a really long time came up and really touched my heart.  It is not only a reminder to me but a prayer as well!

Generous Palmstroke by Bjork

i am strong in his hands
i am beyond me
on my own i’m human
and i do faults

i do confess
i feel you trickeling
down my shoulders
from above

mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm

i turn myself in
i give myself up
volunteer
you own me : i’m yours

mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm

you have to trust it
i’m eternally yours
all that i gave them
i gave to you

mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm

so needy of comfort
but too raw to be embraced
undo this privacy
and put me in my place

mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm

generous palmstroke
the hugest of hugs
undo this privacy
embrace

e m b r a c e m e
e e e e m b r a c e
e m b r a c e m e
e e e e e e m…

mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm

i am strong in his hands
I am beyond me
on my own i’m human
and i do faults

she is strong in his hands
she is beyond her
on her own she is human
and she does faults

she is strong in his hands
she is strong in his hands
she is strong in his hands
she is strong in his hands

I have no idea if  Bjork is a christian, but I often find that God will speak to me through lyrics that are not written by a christian or necessarily about God.

Adventures in nursing my adopted son

I have had a lot of people ask me how nursing my son Esuyawkal is going, so I thought I would share how this adventure is going.

I would first like to say that I am one of those women that has and is nursing her children longer than two years.  If this is something that you find disturbing or unnerving then you should stop reading right now.  If you decide to continue reading  I hope this information  is helpful to you, and if you feel like you would like to comment on this post remember that old saying- “If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all”

For months and months I have been planning to try and nurse Esuyawkal, in fact before I even got Esu’s referral I planned on trying to nurse our child.  When Brian and I first started our adoption process our daughter Anwen was only a year old, so the plan was to nurse her as long as she wanted to nurse and then pump until we were able to bring our baby home.  Well Anwen nursed right up until we left for Ethiopia so that was great because when we traveled I was still producing milk.

I took a Medela hand pump to Ethiopia with me and pumped between 2-3 times a day, unfortunately any milk that I pumped out had to be thrown away until we met Esu.  Once we met Esuyawkal any milk that I pump went into a bottle and was used in his formula.  I should say too that I was not producing very much milk, since I had only been making what Anwen needed and she did not nurse as often as an infant my supply was low. I had decided before we even traveled that I was not going to stress too much if Esu did not take to the breast while we were in Ethiopia.  I wanted things to stay as “normal” for him as they could so his adjustment to Brian and I would not be more overwhelming to him then it was already going to be.

I did try to nurse him a few times and he did not take to it, nursing is harder for babies and since the breast is so soft they often don’t know what to do or how to latch.  This is probably very different for a young baby, but at 12 months old and having not nursed for at least 10 month I think this was pretty typical.  I had planned for the transition to nursing to take time so I jsut kept on pumping.  The Monday after we arrived we met a woman who had traveled to Ethiopia early to nurse her young baby, she had brought nipple shields and an SNS to aid her in her nursing attempt should her baby not take to the breast.  She was very blessed that her baby did take to the breast right away and so she offered her supplies to me.  I was more than happy to have  a few more tools in my nursing tool belt!

When I used the nipple shield Esu seemed more interested then he had previously but still he was unable to latch.  At this point I decided to stop trying while we were in Ethiopia and try again once we were home and settled in a little.  We focused on keeping Esuyawkal’s routines normal so that he could focus on bonding with us.

Home again:

Once we arrived home my daughter to my surprise still had a desire to nurse so we set some ground rules and I allowed her to start nursing again.  This has worked out really well for many reasons, my milk supply is steadily increasing, my daughter is getting time with me that is special for her as well as comforting and it is also helping Anwen deal with the transition from being the baby to being an older sister.

I continued pumping and a about a week after we got home and Esu was more settled I tried the nipple shield again.  This time the nipple shield worked better, Esu tried to latch and actually sucked briefly.  Yeah for progress!!!  So the next step for me is to try the SNS so that Esu has a steady supply.  I will write more after I have given the SNS the good ole college try.

My hope is that if I keep at this nursing thing using a slow and steady pace Esu will take to it.  The worst case scenario is that Esu does not nurse but gets my milk in his bottle and I can live with that.

If you are interested in learning more about nursing your adopted child here are some links that might be helpful to you:

Ask Lenore

Medela

Breast feeding

Le Leche League

There are also many supplements out there that can help build your milk supply.  One of the supplements that I was recommended to take was Fenugreek.  I was told to take it and increase my dosage until my skin smelled like maple syrup.  I have yet to try this but if my milk supply does not continue to increase I will.  I have a friend that did try this supplement and had great success with it and saw her milk supply increase.

More as things develop:)

Overall impressions

My overall impression of Ethiopia was that I love it!!!!  The people of Ethiopia are amazing, the country is beautiful, the food is delicious and the spirit is joyous.

Having never traveled to anywhere  in Africa we did not know what to expect, and we were very pleasantly surprised upon arrival.  Addis Ababa is kind of crazy and the driving is a little scary but in an odd sort of way very organized.  Our drivers explanation of the driving was this “since we are all crazy driver we understand each other”, which I guess is why everyone pretty much gets along on the road.  Don’t get me wrong there is a lot of honking on the road but it is the friendly kind of honking, it is the “i’m just letting you know i’m here” kind of honking.  The other really cool thing about the driving in Addis and perhaps in Ethiopia in general is that there seems to be very little “road rage” and that was a welcomed change.

The food in Ethiopia is amazing and if you have a chance to travel to Ethiopia I highly recommend eating the traditional food, and if you cannot travel to Ethiopia I suggest visiting an Ethiopia restaurant if you get a chance.  One of the dishes that we had for the first time in Ethiopia was Bozena shiro, which to me tastes a little like chili but that might be because I use chick peas in my chili.  We really liked this dish and once we got home were sad to see that our favorite Ethiopian restaurant here in Chicago does not have it on the menu.  I will just have to learn how to make it:)

The country of Ethiopia is so beautiful and again and again I was surprised by the beauty I saw.  Here are some more photos of the country side that we took while in and around Lalibela.

A view from the airplane as we near Lalibela.

A view of a tukul village from the airplane.

On the road to Lalibela.

A view from our balcony at the Jerusalem Guest House.

A fantastic sunset that we viewed from our balcony.

So, you can see that the country is beautiful but so are its people!  We were always welcomed, we were well cared for, and we felt quite at home in this country 7500 miles away from Chicago.  The sense of community in Ethiopia is so strong, people rely on each other and the saying, “takes a village” really is true in Ethiopia.  Brian and I felt like our eyes were opened to something that American’s tend to be at a loss for, true community.  I think that the strong communities ties that people have is part of why I felt so at home on our visit.  I have longed for a sense of community, one that is really there when ever you need them and one that will also call on you when they need you.  I can say that I have community at my church and with my good friends but it still is nothing like what the people of Ethiopia have.  I can’t even count the number of conversations that we had on our trip with others about the individualism in America and how much we feel we are missing out in true community because of it.  Ethiopia and probably Africa in general really are blessed to have community as part of their societal foundation.

So there you have it, my thought, feelings, pictures and memories of our wonderful time in Ethiopia.

Selam!

Happy Birthday Esuyawkal!!!

Today is Esuyawkal’s

1st Birthday!!

Such a cutie pie!

I adore that smile:)

Esu knows how to ham it up!!

I would like to say what an answer to prayer it is that we are able to celebrate Esuyawkal’s birthday with him.  For months I prayed that Esuyawkal would be home by his first birthday and God made it happen!  It is so meaningful to us that we are able to celebrate Esuyawkal’s first year of life as a family.  We are planning a trip to the Field Museum and dinner at a local Ethiopian restaurant, and of course a little cake for the birthday boy.

Happy Birthday Esuyawkal!!  We Love You!

Down to Adama/Nazret

Adama also called Nazret is the town that Esuyawkal was born in, and that is why we decided to make the trip to this town that is about 1.5 hours south of Addis Ababa.

On this map you can see that Esu's home town is called Nazret.

The road to Adama/Nazret is paved the whole way and so the ride was pretty pleasant.  We did unfortunately come across several accidents that looked pretty severe.  Henoak the social worker that accompanied to Adama told us that there are a lot of accidents because the more a driver drives the more money they make, so they end up driving while exhausted and then cause an accident.  Other then car accidents we did see some beautiful sights driving down to Adama.

The Coke Cola house/store along the road to Adama.

These horse and cart taxi's were popular once we were a little ways outside of Addis. They are used along the unpaved roads to bring people to and from where they are going.

A view of Adama.

This was another type of taxi that we saw a lot of once out of Addis. Pretty cute little things:)

Once we were in Adama we headed straight for the hospital where we were meeting a few women that helped to care for Esu when he was very young. We found out after we arrived at the hospital that because of the negative news reports about adoption that recently been making the rounds we were not going to be able to see anything but the hospital.  I was really bummed, we had hoped to see the house that he was found at and see some of the town.  We also found out that the woman who Esu had been left with had moved away so we would not be able to meet her either.  We did find out a few snippets of information but for the most part we did not find ot much new news about Esu’s beginnings.  It was wonderful meeting the women that cared for Esu and seeing the place he stayed before going to AAI, and the ride through the country was nice as well.  Our hometown trip was not what I had hoped it would be but it was still a nice day.

The area of Adama Hospital were the office for abandoned child is, and where the babies stay while they are at the hospital.

This is Esu's intake photo, this is the earliest photo we have of him. He is around 2 months old in this photo and is being held by one of the caregivers at the hospital.

This is the bed that Esu slept in while he was at the hospital.

Another of Esu in his old bed.

Brian and I with some of the women that cared for Esu while he was at the Adama Hosptial. The woman in purple I think is the head of the department and she was the one that was able to help answer our questions.

Even though our hometown trip was not all that we had hoped it would be I still recommend going to your child’s hometown.  There was another family that did a hometown trip to another part of Ethiopia on the same day as us and they had an amazing trip and found out some really awesome information and met some important people.  I would say that most people have wonderful hometown visits, I think that ours was just bad timing.

Out and about in Addis

Our first full day in Addis Ababa was Monday.  We had a few things on our “to do” list and decided that Monday would be the best day to do things like shopping and our Layla tour.  We knew that Esuyawkal would be comfortable going back to Wanna for a few hours, so he visited with his friends and the nannies while Brian and I did our shopping.

We hired Jemal an awesome AAI driver and he took us where ever we wanted to go.  Jemal also schooled us in how Ethiopian’s shop and so that is what we did.  We would go into a stall and find what we wanted ask the price and then bargain to get the price lower.  Once we were satisfied with the price we would walk out.  I know that sounds odd but you are supposed to go and get the best price from several sellers and then go back to the place with the lowest price.  It took a few tries before I did not feel like a heel.  It is an odd thing bargaining for a lower price, it is also exhausting.  We walked up and down Churchill street and bought traditional outfits, paintings, small trinkets, a cloth doll for Anwen and some baskets.  We got a lot of wonderful things to remind us of Ethiopia.

Once we were done with Churchill street we visited a coffee cafe called Tomoca, we bought a lot of coffee!  But not nearly as much as some of the other families, some people were leaving with entire suitcases full of coffee.  Tomoca was really cool, the place smelled of freshly roasted coffee beans and there was music playing in the background and people chatting over cups of buna.  I had wished we could have stayed for a cup of buna ourselves but we really wanted to get back to Esu so we left with our coffee and headed back to Wanna.

On Tuesday I had planned a trip to Sabahar which is a place where they raise silk worms and then weave beautiful scarves, shawls and other linens with the silk that is produced.  Brian was going to stay at the guest house with Esu so I invited Katie the 10-year-old daughter of a fellow adoptive parent to come along to Sabahar.  We made it a girls day and went to Sabahar, back to Churchill street and out to lunch.  I had a blast with Katie and I think she was glad to get away from the guest house.

These are the silk worms, they actually get bigger than this just before they make their chrysalis.

Once the worms are ready to make their chrysalis' the workers put them into these little boxes so the chyisalis' which are made from silk is easy to get at.

These are the finished chyisalis' sitting out in the sun. The women in the weaving house will then separate the silk and spin it.

One night a bunch of us ventured out to Caribo for dinner, it was nice to get out with the other families and we had a great time.  On Thursday night a group of us went to Yod Abyssinia to watch the traditional dancing and hear the traditional music.  It was awesome!!  I totally recommend this place to anyone that is visiting Addis.  The Interior of the building is amazing and the dancing and music are outstanding.  We ordered a traditional meal and had some Tej, everything was wonderful.

This is Yod Abyssinia! This is one of the singers and you can see the musicians behind him.

This is some of the interior of Yod Abyssinia. Everywhere you look there is something to feast your eyes on, a really great interior space.

A photo with Ketema a really awesome man who used to drive for AAI. He came highly recommended by Stillwater Julee and Ketema really was a gem!

The tour

Every parent that comes through Layla has the opportunity to get a tour of the facility, this was something that I had been looking forward to and was excited when we got our opportunity. One of the volunteers at Layla gave us our tour and did are great job.  We learned a lot and got to see the inner workings of Layla, Wanna and Opportunity House.

I have always felt proud of our agency and the work that they do in Ethiopia and for the orphans but after our tour I was overflowing with pride.  We heard lots of stories (from other families) of other agencies that are doing good work but AAI is just on a different level with the kind of care that the children get.  We visited Wanna, Layla, and Opportunity House, and at each place I was just in awe.  Children that have lost so much getting good, loving care from the adults around them.

The doorway through which you get to Wanna.

Drying laundry and a place for the toddlers to swing. This is within the Wanna part of the compound.

The trip through Layla and Opportunity House were really emotional for me, coming face to face with children that are still without families.  Beautiful, loving children that have every right to be loved but still do not have homes to go to yet.  I was moved to tears on more than one occasion and not the quiet tears either, the kind where I had to walk away and just sob for a little while.

This is the courtyard within Layla, the grounds are beautiful and when the kids are not in school this area is alive with activity.

One of the cooks working hard in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Opportunity House was really awesome, it is the house for the children with special needs and it is also a place for parents from the neighborhood to bring their special needs children for child care during the day.  This is a great service to the parents that have special needs children and have to work during the day.  The kids at OH are so sweet and loving and the caregivers there are amazing.

Someone said before we left that it was hard to be sad at Wanna because almost all of the babies have homes.  I found this to be true for myself, I would look around the rooms of babies and think to myself, these kids have homes, these children are being loved from afar by the parents that are waiting for them.  My hope is that someday I feel that way when I visit Layla or OH.  My prayer is that someday there is a waiting list for the older children and the children with special needs.

For months before we left for Ethiopia I had been in prayer that God would show us our next child, I pray that he did!  But only He knows for sure at this point.

Into my arms

Sunday morning when I woke up I could hardly believe that in a matter of hours Esuyawkal would be in my arms.  I was excited to say the least about getting on the flight to Addis and getting over to Wanna.  When we got to the airport we were told that our flight would be delayed about 4 hours, that was not what I wanted to hear:(  We went back to Lalibela for lunch at the Roha hotel which was really a lovely place and chatted with some other travelers that were also waiting for the flight to Addis.  When we arrived back a the airport we were glad to hear that the flight was coming in and soon we would be off to Addis.

Just an hour on this plane and we will be back in Addis:)

I could not wait to be on the ground in Addis and just hoped that our driver from AAI had not left due to our delayed flight.  Thankfully Abraham was there waiting for us and we were very happy to see him.  We drove through the crazy streets of Addis directly to the guest house were Ivy was waiting.  We scrambled to get our stuff up into our room and then Ivy took us over to Wanna to meet our boy!

I was not even completely out of the car before I was starting to feel overwhelmed with emotion. I was tearing up walking through the compound I had seem a thousand times in photos, I was moments away from finally holding my baby.  We walked to up to the building and took our shoes off and Ivy lead the way into the room that Esu had lived in.  When I walked in
I scanned the room and found him on his belly playing on the floor, overwhelmed I stopped to to take a breath and bent down to pick him up for the first time.  He was happy, and looking at me with his big eyes, smiling and looking just as I expected him to.  I held him close and kissed him and hugged him and cried over him and felt joy that we together at last.

Just after I picked Esuyawkal up for the first time.

Me crying all over my boy and holding him tight, he is not getting away from me:)

Kisses for Esu!!

Esu meets Daddy!

Our time at Wanna that day was a mix of emotions, we were over joyed to have Esu in our arms but also felt a sense of sorrow that the nannies that had cared for him and loved him had to watch him leave.  The nannies at AAI are amazing!!  They love our children and they care for them in a wonderful way.  So many nannies came up to me and asked for a photo with Esu, it was heart warming to know that while we were waiting, Esu was being loved by the women at Wanna!

We spent some time at Wanna taking pictures and meeting people and them went back to the Ritmo to settle in and relax with our boy.  We gave him a bath which he loved and then joined the other families in the living room.

Baby loves the bath, what a relief!

Our big boy, Esuyawkal was the last big baby to leave Wanna. I am sure the nannies will be on the prowl for another baby to fatten up:)

Tired from a long emotional day we all went to bed early.  For the first time since arriving in Ethiopia I slept well, hearing Esu breathing created a peace that washed over me and a calm that I had not realized I was missing.

Lalibela

Before I dive into our side trip to Lalibela I would first like to say that our flight over to Ethiopia was really good!!  We traveled on Ethiopia Air and had a great experience.  The atmosphere on the international leg of our trip was celebratory and light, the people were great,very laid back and the flight was smooth.

Ok, onto Lalibela!!  Our flight into Ethiopia landed in Addis late on Thursday night, our flight to Lalibela left Addis early on Friday morning.  We wanted to get a good night sleep so we booked a room at the Ritmo Guest house but when we got there found out that there had been a misunderstanding and we did not have a room.  We were taken back to the airport were we did not sleep very well and had a very long wait for our flight to Lalibela.  This little glitch about our room for Thursday night was literally the only thing that happened on our trip that was unpleasant.  We were very blessed to have a pretty normal, uncomplicated trip.

Our flight to Lalibela landed around 9 am in the morning and the driver from The New Jerusalem hotel in Lalibela met us at the airport.  He took us back to our hotel where we crashed in our room for about three hours.  After a long nap we dragged ourselves out of bed and down to the restaurant that the hotel has and had a wonderful lunch and talked with a guide from the hotel about seeing some of the churches in town. Our guides name was Gashaw and he is a licensed guide that works for the New Jerusalem hotel, he was absolutely awesome!!  He told us about the different churches in town and outside of Lalibela, which allowed us to make our plans for the time that we were in Lalibela.  This is what out itinerary looked like for the almost 2 days we were in Lalibela:

Friday after 2pm: Toured half of the churches within Lalibela.  Back to hotel in evening for dinner and an early bedtime.

This is the most famous of the churches, St. Georges church, AKA, Bete Giyorgis

Another view of St. Georges, this church truly is amazing, I can see why Ethiopian believe that the angels helped to build these churches:)

Saturday:

-7 am meet Gashaw and take mules up the mountain to Ashton Mariam.  This trip took about 5 hours and was really amazing!  The country side in northern Ethiopia is beautiful and we had a great time.  The mules were a little bumpy to ride and our bums were quite sore afterwards but it was well worth it:)

Brian and I on our mules, the mule owners/pullers are also local priests.

A view of a tukul village from about half way up the mountain.

Some local children watching over their flocks, the animals are below the children on the side of the mountain. The amazing thing is that we saw children as young as 4 or 5 shepherding animals, I guess this is a common job for children.

A view from close to the top of the mountain. The view from Ashton Mariam is what makes the mule ride sooo worth it, the country side is just gorgeous!

-1 pm We had lunch at the Seven Olives and enjoyed the garden and grounds.  The Seven Olives also has an internet cafe which we sent e-mail from.  It cost us 1 Birr per minutes on the computer, that works out to less than .10 per minute.

- 2:30pm Gashaw took us over to the Saturday market which is attended by hundreds of people every week from all of the countryside.  It was amazing watching the people coming down the mountain with goods to sell and then see them leaving the market with the goods they bought.  The market was a real highlight of the trip because it was an amazing glimpse into the lives of the people of Lalibela and surrounding areas.

A woman coming down the mountain to sell her sticks at the market.

A view of the market about mid-day. The market is most busy during the morning hours because many people are traveling a good distance and need to leave early to make it home before dark.

Women selling spices at the market.

-3:30pm We toured the rest of the churches that are within Lalibela.  After our time at the churches we went back to the hotel for dinner and then Gashaw invited us to his home for a coffee ceremony and also gave us more dinner.  His wife and his child were lovely and we felt very welcomed in their home.  After coffee Gashaw took us to a place in town to see traditional dancing and to partake in traditional Tej (honey wine).  We had  blast and even danced a little with the town dancers,  thank goodness we only have photographs of that insanity.  I can’t even imagine how embarrassed I would be if we had been filmed trying to keep up with the fast moving dancers.  In fact there were several times when we commented on how we thought we might hurt ourselves if we tried to dance in the traditional way.  By the time we left the dancing we were bushed and ready for sleep, we were going to be meeting Gashaw early on Sunday morning to go and see a church built into a cliff that was on the way to the airport.

Of all of the churches we saw the one that made the biggest impression on me was the last church we visited, the one built into the cliff.  I think that this church left an impression because we visited on the sabbath and so there were people from all around coming to worship, receive holy communion and to partake of the holy water that drips from the ceiling of the cave.  It was a moving experience being among the men, women and children that were there worshiping God and.  I felt very blessed to be able to observe the worship, prayer, chanting and music being played.  It was quite a sight watching the locals dressed in their white church clothes sitting along the ledge of the church waiting for communion to be served.  It was also really amazing to me that all of the churches in and around Lalibela are still being used to this day.

A view of the cliff church outside of Lalibela. You can see the procession of church goers in white making their way to the service.

Some women waiting outside of the church for holy communion.

My trip to Ethiopia was for my son but the time we spent in Lalibela before we met Esuyawkal was a real gem.  I would go back in a heartbeat and I would totally stay for longer and just enjoy everyday life in this holy, little town in the mountains of Ethiopia.

Lalibela get 5 stars from me!!!!