solegraphy :: like calligraphy, only better

Yesterday I went to Debre Zeit, a village set by a lake an hour up north. SIM has a beautiful resort neatly placed in a garden of greenery.

There was a youth conference, so we could not stay long to swim. We shouldered our packs and headed out of the gated walls to venture to the cinder cone a mile away.

Yes. I said cinder cone. Volcano. To play soccer inside.

As soon as we left the guarded compound, village children swarmed around us shouting “You! You!” to get our attention. We kicked our soccer ball back and forth between us and them while periodically stopping to admire the scenery. Addis Ababa is a very dirty city with much bustle and activity and we were reveling in the peace of the plains around us.

The little whitish-pink dots in the watering hole are flamingos. We watched them fly low and fast across the water in a massive herd of panic. Unfortunately, that was a close as we were able to go. I would have liked to chase them.

On the way to the cinder cone, we stopped by a massive old tree standing majestically against the starkness of the horizon, children still following behind. They giggled and ran, trailing behind the strange ferengis who had stirred up the regularity of their day.

Donkeys were dappled, shadowed from the harsh sun by its gracious branches and we hauled ourselves up into leafy heights. I was a wuss and didn’t make it as high as some others. The branches were larger around than I could reach and I did not feel confident in my ability to cling to it with only the strength of my fingernails. Despite my lack of adventurousness, I still drank in the amazing views.

With the blistering heat, the childrens’ smiles, and the donkeys braying beneath us, I felt as if I were in something out of National Geographic.

And perhaps I was, simple and unknowing of the hugeness around me.

Next time, more stories of my unathleticism as I share about the grueling 45 degree climb up cinder gravel slope, playing soccer against the village children, and then sliding all the way back down the cone on my rear end to the bottom.

I seriously need to exercise more.