The adventure today would bring, we did not know. Thankfully, we woke up and were painting this morning, as the rest the day would have us immersed in one unexpected experience after another, each more enriching than the next, and one view after another, each more breathtaking than the next. It was just one of those magical days but everything from morning to putting my head on the pillow was just perfect.

A hike to a waterfall at the bottom of a valley, following the sound of rushing water. Each step down is a slice of magic, the climb back up worth every breathless step. We are above 8,000 feet up, and the air is thin and crisp. The photos can not do this place justice, as we are finding is true of most of this area. So mountainous and green, so lush and tropical.

Just when we feel we all may be on beauty overload, we hop in the truck for our bump, bump, bumping next adventure. Nifas Bir, a tiny divide between two deep and lush valleys. I’m told I can see Kenya and the Sudan from here, but all I see are extreme, luscious and ever-enchanting landscapes.

The mountains seem to roll on forever, little strips of hazy blue the farther away they get. Somewhere out there is Kenya, the Sudan, the whole continent of Africa.

I don’t really care, though; I’m right here, right now, among my team, the lovely people of Ethiopia and a landscape that would be worth the long journey here all on its own. I am happy here in the highlands of Ethiopia, and that is enough.

 

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On the road home from Nifas Bir, we decide to stop in the town square, which is bustling. Bring along a Polaroid and the party is on!

What a thrill watching people see their own image. By some of the reactions we got, some might have been seeing the first photo of themselves. Laughter, glee — and almost a mob scene. Never did I feel afraid, but my bodyguards (other Odyssey team members)  might have. Everyone wanted a photo of themselves, of course. I obliged as much as I could. Certainly, it broke the ice, and made for some connecting. My Odyssey teammates got a ton of great photos of the magic.

Warriors, kids, village elders, moms, sisters, friends — everyone took part, and the joy was all mine. Many times, when a “forengie”(Amharic for foreigner) shows up at a rural market, there is a bit of a standoff, each side of the cultural divide scoping out the other, uncertain, not remembering we are all more alike than different. But when you show up with something to offer, it is different: You are not just a observer, a taker of photos, but now a giver of images. And as artists, this is what we do: We put images out into the world for ourselves and others. And a big cheers to that!

It is market day in both Maji and Tum. But people walk from far and wide to participate, so it doesn’t get rolling until about 3 p.m. That left us a full day in Maji looking out at the vistas and creating our own art, trying our best to give you, the viewer, the depths of the experience that we were having.

But the adventure really started in the market in Maji, where the market drives people from all over the region including the Surma tribespeople. They come to share their wares. At first our foreign presence was met with skeptical looks. Our team member Caroline, as well as our Ethiopian painters, are fluent in the Amharic language, so we made a few friends, but once the Polaroid came out, the whole village was our friend.

There was lots of laughter, lots of grabbing at my shirt asking for one photo, and me doing my best to oblige. It was such a joy watching people look at the first photo they may have seen of themselves, and all the while, the market spun around us in the ways that Ethiopian markets do.

Being the adventurous team that we are we, decided we could also take on the Tum market. And so we did, with as much excitement as we had the Maji market. The instant camera let us connect to the people in a way that just visiting a market doesn’t. We have the ability to offer them something. Oftentimes, as a traveler, you feel you were just taking photos and making photos for yourself. But with the instant film we could hand them something as a thank you in return, and this made all the difference.

The smiles, the laughter, the looks on people’s faces. None of it will soon be forgotten, and will forever hold a special place in my heart!