Konso
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
1
180
228
Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Konso,
Ethiopia
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Turmi, Ethiopia
Jinka is at the intersection of three roads and we circled the round-about this morning and headed to K'ey Afer which has a great market where the Banna tribe come to town. The Banna tribe is known for the boy bull jumpers. This is an initiation rite for boys entering adulthood. Apparently they line up some bulls and the boy jumps up on the back of the last one in line and runs up and down the line of bulls. We didn't actually get to see the bull jumping ceremony which includes women gladly volunteering to be whipped until they bleed. But the market was great and we did see women with scars on their backs. From K'ey Afer we continue on to Turmi and arrive in the afternoon and stay at the Buska Hotel for 40 birr. Again we have communal squat toilets, but this time a communal shower that works. He are so happy to get a bath after two days, you would have thought we were going to a Turkish spa
3-06
. Turmi is the center for the Hammer tribe, the men put colorful clay in their hair. The tradition we are told is they only can wear the clay in their hair if they have killed a dangerous animal or a man. We saw one old man in town with clay in his hair who looked liked like he had won the right, but he looked too mean to approach to take his photo, so we settle for a couple young guys who just like to get dolled up. February 1, 2008
Konso, Ethiopia
This morning before we left Turmi we meet some people from Save the Children Foundation at the Buska, which was interesting. From Turmi we traveled to Konso over rough roads. We are staying at what we'll call the Konso Hotel because we don't know the name of the place. It's another grody place at 40 birr/nite. There isn't much to see here but it is a cross road to other places so we just spend the night drinking beer and watching soccer with the boys until the lights go out.
Comments
Wow!
My husband and I are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. Because of that,I set up a Google Alert for the word 'Ethiopia.' I usually get around 30 e-mails per day with references to that word. I've come across a lot of blogs, especially about adoption. But coming across your blog has been so interesting. You go into so much depth about the places you're visiting, and I love seeing the photos and trying to imagine myself there with you. I found you because of Ethiopia, but your whole story is quite compelling. I only hope that one day when we are older, my husband and I will have the luxury of travelling the world the way you have. You are truly blessed to be able to see the world the way you are!