April 10 - After we toured the church and the museum, the head priest and head nun invited us to stay for their daily meal. All Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia are fasting in preparation for Easter, or Fasika, as they call it. The clergy not only abstain from meat and dairy, but they only eat one meal a day at 3:00pm. We had the honor of being there just before 3:00, so we gladly stayed. They served us their traditional dish of injera and shiro (sauce/soup made from lentils or chickpeas served on top of a spongy pancake) as well as huge loaves of special fasting bread. They also served a very interesting malty/yeasty/beer-like beverage they make on site by fermenting sorghum grain in water for a few days. It wasn't too bad, but it's definitely an acquired taste.
The head priest cutting and distributing the injera.
The hard priest cutting the loaves of bread.
Typical monk's cell. In fact, 2-3 monks share one cell. The nuns' quarters are located in buildings next to the church.
Carrie sitting under an olive tree with our wonderful guide.
Three Ethiopians and one white guy. The man to my right is our guide, to his right is the caretaker of the compound and to his right is a young man who just wanted to make sure we had a good time. He followed us everywhere, and was quite a character.
One of the items on display in the museum. It is essentially a large hat worn by the priest during special occasions, and serves as an "umbrella" on sunny days.
View of the village below from the hilltop compound.
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