solegraphy :: like calligraphy, only better

Today I experienced Ethiopia. I have to admit, it was probably the most overwhelming and incredible moments of my entire life. The festival of Timkat, or a celebration of epiphany, is a national holiday of vibrant color and personalities. In Addis alone, 100,000 people gathered in a random sports field to witness the event. You know that you are completely out of your element when you turn around and take a picture like this:

In Ethiopia, the most revered holy relics are the Arc of the Covenant and the Tablets contained within. The original is said to be housed in the north of Ethiopia and, as a result, every church has a replica. On Timkat, all the churches take out their tablets and march them down to the river and back.

While we were waiting for the procession back from the river to begin, we watched a Ethiopian hermit passionately preaching to the surrounding crowds. While I was standing there, a Ethiopian couple walked by and took a picture of me – the crazy fereng desperately attempting to get a picture of the flailing hermit.

Zoe, the Art teacher, and I lost the rest of the group and were completely bewildered of where to go next. Being the only white people near by, we were incredibly conspicuous. One of our Ethiopian friends eventually persuaded the police to allow us into the heaving masses of priests and regalia that were barred from everyone else. Zoe and I were in complete and utter awe that we were two of only a handful of people out of 100,000 allowed to photograph everything up close.

Zoe had her video camera and, unfortunately, much of the background singing was marred by our gasps of amazement and cries of surprise. Oh yeah, and the uncontained giggles of giddyness at our unbelievable luck. I have never ever felt more of a sensory overload in my entire life. Traditional Ethiopian chants and songs were flowing over us in an incredible deluge of sound. Smiles and hugs from random women in full regalia. I wish I could even begin to describe the surrealness everything around me. Most of the time, we were frantically running from one amazing sight to another. I have about one hundred pictures from today alone. Most of the time that wasn’t spent being hit on by random Ethiopian men was spent deleting less-quality pictures to simply make room for more.

I can’t believe I ever considered anywhere else.