O.C.C.D.

Obsessive Compulsive Carving Disorder.

Here in Lailibela, Ethiopia the past time not only includes the infamous Ethiopian shoulder dancing, but a shit load of stone carving as well.

Similar to the massive amounts of man (and women) power utilized (or exploited depending on how you look at it) to build a lot of the famous sites around the world, the rock hewn churches of Lailibela were built with the dedication of many. A bit insane when you think they carved these churches out of a single piece of stone, but impressive none the less.

A classic sight I witnessed while walking the streets of this religious powerhouse was when I noticed local lady stopping one of the priests and asking for a blessing. Apparetly this a rather common request and something the priest seemed to managed with ease. Upon finishing his work the priest took no more than 4 steps, unzipped and took a piss in the ditch. I am not a very religious guy, but I'm assuming that is not customary in the states???

Similar to the Pyramids of Giza, you are definetly left in a stupior as you look out over the 11 churches of Lailibela and wonder not only the obvious, how did they manage to construct these suckers? But also what sort of disorder were these people suffering from that made them do all this carving?