selamno! (hey)

Hey everyone, sorry for the lapse in blogs…

We have both been busy and preoccupied, Katie is really stressed with work deadlines and internet problems plus her wallet was lost or stolen last week (fun times).

Sadly I’ve retired from the Ethio-furniture biz so as to one day return to the U.S. with all of my fingers and most of my sanity.

I leave for London via Dubai on August 15.  I am visiting my dad step-mom and sister there, all of whom are on their way to Addis from N.Y.C..  Once in Ethiopia we are going on yet another family tour of the north as well as Lake Langano.

-L&K

ciao langano

at lunch

On the final morning of the lake Langano we woke to a wet morning, it had been steadily raining all night (we were wondering about the how flooded the road out would be).

We had a nice beakfast, packed up settled our hefty bill and took off.  We forded one massive mud puddle and thought that was the biggest until we came to the next one that had literally become a pond by that point (we were all a little freaked out, the Suzuki Vitara had virtually the ground clearance of a Toyota Corolla).  I had the vehicle in 4wheel low and the traction control on, we wound up and charged water with the windsheld wipers on and all the windows up.  We were moving pretty well, fishtailing a little and then all of a sudden we started to bog down and almost completely stopped, by some miracle of Japanese ingenuity we keep moving and made it out, I was totally astounded and relieved.  Next time we’ll take a Toyota Land Cruiser or something.

-L&K

Day 5: Simien Mountains II

This morning we set out on our second Simien excursion…to the Chenek campsite to search for the endemic Ibex. We drove two hours through the chilly mountain mist to the site, glimpsing more heart-stopping views through the clouds along the way. Unfortunately all of the Ibex were hiding out somewhere else, but we did get to hang out with another bunch of Baboons who were busy with their morning grooming sessions and breakfast.

We then headed out of the mountains back to Gondar, where we said goodbye to our driver Amde who was making the 2-day overland trip back to Addis while we flew on to Lalibela. (We had been planning to drive to Lalibela, but the thought of a quick 1-hour flight instead of another 10-hour trip on a bumpy dirt road inspired the change of plan.)

back from the north!

Apologies for the lag in blog entries. We just returned from a nine-day trip in northern Ethiopia! We’ll recap each day of the trip in seperate blog entries. Enjoy!

italian ballet

This past Saturday we went with Stan, Antje and Lilly to see an all Italian ballet dance performance, at the Ethiopian National Theater.  It was the first time Italian ballet had been brought to Addis since the 1960’s.  The performance was lovely and a refreshing departure form the usual chaos of the city.  The theater was interesting as well, it seemed like a stylish relic of the Salassie era, the outside of which was overgrown and dilapidated but the interior was dated but beautiful.

It is finally cool and rainy here which is very important because people are literally starving in parts of the country due to lack of rain and hence lack of crops.

Yes we’ll post photos soon, sorry its a real process…

-l&k

bowling madness

On Sunday evening we went out bowling for the first time in Addis with a bunch of friends. It was a pretty surreal experience but we had a great time. The ceilings were bowed and the lanes weren’t 100 percent level so it was definitely interesting and a little tricky.  Also the pins are which are set by hand are old and rickety and occasionally (one or two) will fall before the ball even reaches them.

We are looking forward to a visit from Katie’s dad and brother, they arrive on Thursday night. We are departing Addis on Saturday morning by Toyota Land Cruiser (the vehicle of choice in Ethiopia) on an 8 day whirlwind tour of the historical circuit in the North of Ethiopia. Wish us luck.

-l&k

real rains

So the rains have finally begun here in Addis. The storms are really dramatic forming beautiful cloud and sunlight combinations, with heavy rain, rivers forming in the streets and even a bit of hail yesterday. The rain has been good for the air quality, pulling some of the smog out of the air along with keeping the eternal dust at bay.

Having a car during the rains is really handy for door to door service, however Bluebell the bug is currently in the shop getting seat belts and a fuel-gauge installed. We are looking forward to her speedy return.

-Ciao K&L

abuja, the plastic city

Several people have asked why I’m spending a week in Abuja, Nigeria. I’m here for the conference, “Investing in Young People’s Health and Development: Research that Improves Policies and Programs.” I gave an oral presentation today on “Using Knowledge Management to Improve Reproductive Health Services for Young People.” The three-day conference ended today and I’m spending the rest of the week meeting with and interviewing various reproductive health programmers around Abuja. Over 500 people from around the world attended the conference, which was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

It has been an interesting experience so far… I’ve met some fascinating people doing some fascinating work. I haven’t seen much of Abuja yet, but from what I gather it isn’t like the rest of Nigeria at all. In fact, one of my colleagues calls it the “plastic city.” I’ll report more when I’ve ventured out on the town…

-Katie

easter in addis

Tomorrow Katie leaves for a week-long conference in Abuja, Nigeria, with her Kevlar body armor.   -Kidding-  Its not quite like Lagos in Abuja, thankfully.  But she is still not that thrilled about going.

I’m supposed to pick up our new low-frills dark blue super-beetle tomorrow from the Ethio-Italian mechanic, Mr. Maffi, we are excited!

Last night we went out with some new friends to The Jewel of India. The food was amazing….maybe the best we’ve had yet, it was a lot of fun.

This Sunday is Ethiopian Easter, which marks the end of the “fasting” season. (Fasting in Ethiopia means not eating animal products.) It is celebrated with a big feast. Katie will miss out on the festivities since she’ll be in Nigeria, but I’m going to Easter dinner at a Canadian friend’s house.

-Luke and Katie

entoto mountain

On Sunday (after enjoying some delicious banana pancakes at a cafe around the corner from our house), we set out for Entoto Mountain. Over an hour and 4 mini bus rides later, we arrived at Entoto. The air was refreshingly clean and cool, and there was a great veiw of Addis below.  We hired a guide who took us on a walk through an eucalyptus-tree forest to two churches. One was built in the late 1880’s, and one was a much older rock-hewn structure carved entirely out of stone!