It was nice to hear from you finally. For a moment, I thought you got lost in the bushes out there or something. I really enjoyed the Meskle story, the way you described the details are so real. Are you a writer or something? It was very good.

<<It is not uncommon for you to see little children kissing pictures of a white long haired
<<man with a crown of thorns around his head. Truly sad.

Yeah I know, but what you should understand though, people over there don’t see the pictures like the way you see it. They are just happy that it is a picture of God, and they are trying to get his blessings when they kiss it. You even saw how people rushed to get those ashes right. Myself until I came here, never even though about it that way and saw the pictures in terms of race. Churches in there are looking beyond the pictures, they are looking at what they represent. And the traditional pictures you mentioned are not wildly available anymore because of the economical conditions. The old artists simply do not exist and the new painters (if there are any) just follow what they see around them. Most the pictures come from outside though. That was not the case before.

<<What I haven’t been able to find out too much about are the Southern people, besides
<<the fact that they are generally looked down upon by members of both religions here.

Well most people in Addis do not know much about them; you probably would have to go there to find out the whole story. The southern people did not immigrated like people in the north and the Amhara regions. They are very secluded and still live there lives they way did long time ago. Of course that is not the whole story, the is the discrimination issues’ and the central government did do much to those regions and the people except clamming the land they live in to be its own. Well I hope you will keep on sharing your experience and good luck