Bill Clinton peed here

Salam! Erica and I are enjoying time in Lalibella, a very holy city in Northern Ethiopia. We're up high in the mountains (~2700 meters) among cliffs and crags and very large rocks. King Lalibella was brought here by a dream and, according to oral tradition, built 11 churches in 22 years. These are not just any churches however. The builders carved down into the volcanic rock and then into the remaining monolith to make cathedrals that rival European counterparts in terms of columns, paintings, arches, tunnels and stairs. Our guide, a very modern Ethiopian guide in his mid twenties, informed us that the churches were built with the help of angels.

We're staying at a more upscale hotel here - meaning hot water, clean sheets and an extravagant $40 per night. When we were inspecting the room, our host informed us that it was the same room Bill Clinton used when visiting Lalibella with Chelsea last year. He didn't stay overnight, which is good since the room has two twin beds... but I was told that he did use the facilities.

As part of our hotel price negotiations, our host, Massaye, invited us to a new years celebration with his friends out in the courtyard of the hotel last night. Grass was strewn about (an important step for any sort of ceremony here), mutton was cooked over the fire, a man played the traditional one-stringed Ethiopian instrument that I can never remember the name of, several of the guests danced (a combo of head and neck moves making them resemble chickens charging at each other), and we had a fantastic time. One of the guests has a brother finishing his MBA at the UW and another girl we met is about to start her senior year at UW in the undergraduate public health major. Small world! We drank a few too many of the local beers and stumbled into bed at the wee hour of 10:15. Tonight we go to a local tej bar with our guide Birhan to try the honey wine.