Life is a path between sadness and happiness. During our time on earth, there will be various sad, happy, and serious educational experiences. In this article, I would like to tell my longtime friends about a life experience that happened to me on the top of a mountain on the outskirts of the city where I live. Life’s opportunities pass us by, creating unforgettable and amazing memories. Sometimes we find that the opposite of what we expected to happen brings no joy and makes no sense.
I live in a beautiful town called Bahirdar, nestled on the shores of Lake Tana, one of the largest lakes in Ethiopia. Lake Tana has many amazing things in it. It has many islands, and there are monasteries of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church on the islands. Going to these monasteries by boat and visiting them is something that gives joy and happiness to the soul. Most of the islands are completely surrounded by the lake. There are very ancient and historical monasteries where people live. The people living in these monasteries are fast and efficient, maybe because they often eat fish. The total area of Lake Tana is 3600 square kilometers. After 11:00, the tide increases in Lake Tana. It is also unpleasant and scary for sailors. It is an hour. It is as scary as a storm to a sailor. It is as scary as a disease for a healthy person.
Fruits are grown on the islands, and there are many different and popular fish species. It is common for the people of the city to sit and relax on the shores of the lake. Most of the islands are mountains. If you look closely, they look like a king’s palace surrounded by a lake. It is a miraculous event to see water flowing over water or a river flowing over a lake. The Nile River, which is known for its length, has given the city its glory. We say that he joked with him for one day, but he was gone forever.
The people living on the islands bring their produce to the city and sell it. In particular, mango is preferred. Boats and ships are lined up in the harbor for people who want to take a cruise on Lake Tana and visit the monasteries. The climate of the city is warm, and the cool breeze from the lake relieves us from the heat. The fact that our city is so hot while there is Tana Lake is a puzzling phenomenon and a situation that requires research. The climate leads us from suffering from the heat to enjoying the spirit. In the monasteries on the islands, the most ancient relics and the bones of the kings are preserved in honor. They are placed in a museum with amazing splendor. It is a common thing to visit these monasteries from different countries around the world. Monks live in the monasteries on the islands. Thinking about it now, I say I am lucky. The location of the city is plain and surrounded by mountains. Tana Lake is accompanied by the mountains, including the great beauty of the Nile River. When you look at it, it looks like a palace built by a king who was worried many times and spent a lot of money.
The plain location of the city has led to the construction of wide asphalt roads in it. In addition, the tall palm trees are the beauty of the city. These palm trees were planted in our city from Eritrea, and I think we owe a lot of respect to the person who brought them and planted them. When they are installed, they look like soldiers who are ready to greet a glorious king with a red carpet and a beautiful procession. In addition to their beauty, they are a shade from the hot airport for city dwellers. As it is the capital of the region, it is the destination of many government offices and different institutions.
I live in a condominium community, and I grew up and studied at a school near the neighborhood. When we returned from school, we used to play football with the children of my neighborhood. Especially in the winter months, they are very loved and missed. It was a long time to play, even in the rain.
As usual, we see different places in the city with the neighborhood kids. We spend our winter vacation going to the mountain, which is not far from our village. It shows the beautiful view of the city, which is laid out as a playground. In addition, it shows the residential area that is located beyond the part of the city where the Nile River passes. Behind the mountain, there is gravel for road construction, which is used by various people. The mountain is surrounded by various trees of medium height. It looks like an arc, while there is an asphalt road in the front, and a little further back, there is a Muslim cemetery. Next, there is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which also contains a cemetery.
One Sunday, with my older and younger neighborhood friends and brothers, we went to the church behind the mountain to pray and be blessed. It is something we are used to when going to a church that is far away from the village. The mountain is about 1 kilometer from our village. In the morning, we were accompanied by the happy sun, and we continued talking. The mountain is located near the exit of the city. When there is a large pool of water formed by winter rains, it remains a dry field in the summer and fills up again in the winter. There is an asphalt road in the middle. Anyone who sees this phenomenon should be amazed. While we were passing by the side of the mountain, I said that we could see the area of our house from the top of this mountain. This was my speech that made all of us, who were planning to return home after church, go up the mountain. I am sure of what I said because I saw it when we went up the mountain before. They also expressed their opinion. I continued to argue, saying that it would be seen. In the middle of our conversation, an idea was brought up that, when we return from the church, why don’t we go up the mountain and check whether the house is visible or not?
After going back to the church, we started walking towards the mountain. The mountain is not very straight but has a sloping shape. On the left side of the mountain, there is another mountain, and we went to this mountain with a dear friend to deliver a church invitation letter. At that time, when we returned to deliver the letter to the church, I saw a crocodile-like animal on the descent of the mountain. We called him and asked him to take us across, and he told us to ride a bicycle. To go back to my story, the children of our village were all talking and thinking that I would be the winner of the argument. We reached the exit of our favorite mountain. The answer I can give is that one reason is to show my friends and my brother who argued with me that what I said is true, and the second reason is that arguing with my brother until I doubt that I have seen him in the past made him not rest until he gets the answer. It’s the same thing that we humans always think about. At first, we ignore and pay less attention to the things that are easy for us. In the end, when we are hurt, defeated, and humiliated by the things we despise, the only profit we gain is sadness and regret. Those around us have made it easy for us because of their love for us. There are many people who have lost many of our friends who played a big role in our lives because of our small view and underestimation. This mountain was just like that when you first climbed it. It is a mountain that is easy and tireless, and a person who is not prudent can climb it. It is the next part that tests and demands strength. We talked about it and related it to the effort to climb to the top of the mountain. My friends, everything that is easy at first does not have an easy end. What do you think the people in my country say? But in the middle, we encountered something that tested our legs, made our breathing difficult, and pulled our waists. When we were reaching the end, a glove, which we had never seen before on the mountain and which was new to the place, was stained with red liquid and fell down. Let’s give birth to a cow. We walked past it, and after walking a little, we looked at the second glove. I was in front, and I was confused. It was something different, and we were all new. If you see something strange and unusual in the place you always go, what can you do? Scream? Run? Or lose yourself?
After we went a little further from the place where we saw the second glove, we saw a hole dug in the near distance at the place where we were climbing the mountain. When we see a place with a hole, we think of many things. And the rest of us think that it is a burial pit prepared for a dead person to be buried in. In contrast to these ideas, there are people who imagine the pit as containing something terrifying for no reason. Even when I see a pit, the first thing that comes to mind is that it contains a snake or some kind of beast. Flies swarmed the cave. A new phenomenon that we had never seen before on the mountain was a cliff dug on top of that, and if that wasn’t enough, I saw a log next to it, and then flies swarmed it. As anyone can imagine, I thought it was a grave prepared for the burial of a dead person. I shouted, “Dead man.” After saying these words, I turned around and saw that everyone had started running quickly to get down the mountain. When I saw this, a feeling of fear invaded my body; my eyes widened, my heart rate increased, and I started to get scared. I thought she had gone. There was something because we went up to the mountain and found an answer to what we argued about, and we thought that we would spend a peaceful time and come back. It is the first such occasion, so I was very shocked. We all quickly came down from the mountain and started running to our homes.
When I saw the well without any confirmation, I realized that I was actually very scared. We all returned to our neighborhood, singing a spiritual song out of fear. He was lying down, moaning, and saying, “Corpse, corpse.” He thinks that we had a really hard time. After a while, when he told us that there was a dead person in that area, he made us think that it was indeed a dead person. After this happened, we stopped going to that mountain many times. After many years, a big cross was placed on the mountain, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was built. It became the glory and guardian of the city and changed history. Now, dear ones, if you come and see the mountain, you will understand that it is a place of blessing and happiness, not fear. .
