Idaho Farmer in Ethiopia

Harvest and visit to Goro Raya School

2011-05-02T07:31:00.003-06:00

I will give a brief recap of harvest. The harvest was disappointing due to lack of rain. Some of the first crop planted (1/3 of area) got most of the rain and was worth harvesting but the remainder was very short, too short to harvest and the last 1/3 of the crop never emerged. Very discouraging to say the least. We knew very little going into the area and hoped that the rain levels would be higher, but with a total of around 3.5 inches of rain over three months time was not sufficient to obtain success.

I went home with my family soon before harvest leaving adequate help to accomplish the job without me. It was better for my sanity to return home seeing so little fruit from our hard labors. The yields over the best of our crop may have averaged 10 bushels/acre or 6 quintals/ha, however averaging the complete crop brought down the average to less than 3 bushels/acre, or 2 quintals/ha. This has forced regrouping at many levels but Morrell Agro is determined to find success during the next rainy season which statistically yields more rain in February through May than September through Oct. Clearing continued and is now at over 3,200 hectares of cultivated ground and is our goal to plant for the next rainy season.

Now on the brighter side

We had the moving opportunity while my family was there to complete a service project initiated from our church primary from in Idaho. They put together packets of pencils, erasers and rulers to be handed out to children in Ethiopia. Close to our farm is a small village called Goro Raya that has a humble school with meager supplies.

My wife took my Daughter Morgan, her husband Andrew and two daughters along with Haile (farm manager), Ashreka (our maid) and Zakir (my junior assitant) to surprise the students with the supplies brought from Idaho.

Shelley showing a picture of our primary group from Idaho

Two of the the teachers showing the extent of their school supplies.

Shelley also brought a large map of the World and of Africa. Shelley pointed out where Idaho was and where they were lived in Ethiopia on the continent of Africa. It was apparent that they lacked geography skills since they had no maps at the school. She then handed over the maps to the school to pin on their wall.

Ashreka showing emotion of what she was witnessing. Many others of our group were emotional at the power of love and charity.

The school had nothing to give in return but much thanks and two papayas the the teacher gave in ceremonial manner to Zakir.

Here is a large piece of paper signed by all the students saying "Galatooma" (Thank you)

Please see a video of the experience that Morgan and Andrew put together:

All our family returned home together soon before Thanksgiving 2010 and only I have returned since. Things are evolving at the farm in Ethiopia to where I step aside as the project director and let others fill the void. I continue with Morrell Agro Industries as a consultant and advisor which will bring me back to Ethiopia a few times a year for about a month at a time. My wife Shelley will likely not return with me during these visits which has been very sad for our close friends in Ethiopia. She has been a good example and a mother figure to many of them and a strong support to me while there. I thank her for this and admire her strengths and abilities. I will continue to post as I can find the time now I divide my time between my farm in Idaho and consult in Ethiopia. Thanks for being patient as the posts have become infrequent.

A visit from our daughter & a trip to visit Zakir's family

2011-03-02T23:03:00.006-07:00

We had the pleasure to have Morgan, Andrew, and our two grand daughters come to Ethiopia. We Traveled up to Addis Ababa to greet them at the airport

We spent a couple of days there before traveling back to the farm by road to have them experience the countryside.

Waiting impatiently for our Charcoal Tibs at a restaurant along the way

Having a walk with grandma as our tire was being fixed

After a long 18 hr. drive we finally arrived at the farm.

Those at the farm were excited to see our family.

We were curious of how our grand daughters might react to the local people with their different features from those in small town Idaho, but as you can see they adapted very well

Morgan being given an anatomy lesson from Zakir

We promised Zakir that we would travel to Beltu to meet his family

Being greeted by Zakir's Mother and Father

It was special to receive a warm welcome from Zakir and his family

Zakir's Family

We were led inside to where Zakir sleeps at night and served some fresh fruit while we waited for his mother to give us a very honored meal of goat tibs that they slaughtered for this special occasion.

The walls were decorated with famous sayings

Zakir's family is Muslim and his father has two other wives who live apart from each other. This is very common in Ethiopia. He usually lives with his third wife in another village but did not want to miss the opportunity to visit with the "forenjis". I have learned that Zakir does not see his father often and Shelley and I have gained a lot of respect for his mother and of what she has accomplished in raising a fine young man and providing for her family much on her own.

Morgan and Andrew put together a great video of our trip to visit Zakir's family that you must watch.

This was very memorable for us and we get a little emotional every time we watch. We appreciate the opportunity to visit Zakir's family and especially to share the moment with our daughters' family. It was a very good day.

Some Highlights of November

2011-02-19T07:38:00.001-07:00

I am often asked why we have been so long in keeping up our blog that I feel I need to explain. I'm sure you out there agree that Shelley has done a very good job of posting through out our stay in Ethiopia and then one day I made an unfortunate comment to her that maybe she was posting too many pictures of flowers and other "girly things" and that it wasn't quite in the spirit of what I felt "Idaho Farmer in Ethiopia" was meant to be. So suddenly I found myself alone in keeping up the blog, very unfortunate for me and the fans of this Site. Please beg her to accept my apology and for you out there please bear with me as I attempt to slowly fill in many of the highlights of the past few months. Shelley has been such a good support for me through this venture and I so appreciate her. We have had many interesting things that we were part of that I will spread out over a few posts.

On Nov. 6th we had Alyssa and her sister return to the farm for a brief visit. As you may remember after the attack on Wes, Kate was left in Addis Ababa to take care of the five children that Was and Alyssa were attempting to adopt. Wes and Alyssa then flew back to the USA for further care and surgery. After the successful surgery and Wes' post surgery recuperation needing to be in Rexburg Alyssa flew back alone to rejoin Kate to tend to the children. This day they were able to jump on the our normal scheduled supply flight to the farm for a few hour visit before the plane returned back to Addis. Of course this meant a brief celebration with Goat Tibs for all! Yum!

From left to right: Nati, Alyssa Haws, Kiya (Alyssa's maid), Asefa, Kate Hill (Sister) , and Dennis Strong our project director

It was a good visit and we got caught up with things and revisited the eventful day when Wes got hit in the head with the ax by an angry local farmer. It was a miracle that it didn't turn out worse than it did. All of us were so happy to see them.

She explained of the hardships they have encountered since the incident and the trials of trying to adopt the 5 children who are still in Capital, Addis Abbaba.

Meanwhile the crop was maturing with little to no rain since planting

The brush and trees were drying up showing that the sub moisture was tapped out down deep too

We had approximately 3" of rain for the crop to survive on which was spread out in brief storms from July through the end of September and only trace amounts there after. This crop was planted though the month of September with harvest set to be in December.

The Ground

Clearing Continues

The Hectare/Acreage goal for Morrell Agro for the next planting season (March 2011) is 3,000 ha / 7,400 ac. and at this point in time we had a grand total of about 1,800 hectares of tillable acres prepared using a combination of hand labor with axes, loaders, and wagons with more hand labor. This has provided much appreciated opportunity for this poor economic area.

Coming up in the next blog is the the visit from our Daughter's family to Ethiopia

Yes we are alive and well!

2011-02-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

We are sorry that we have been poor at posting events. I will attempt to go back and fill you all in of what we did. While the crop was maturing we were busy putting some new equipment together that had arrived at the farm.

It was Clair and Bracken's time to go back to the USA so I had the pleasure of working with the mechanics to put this "bad boy" together. It was a good opportunity to test our skills and bond with each other. They did a great job. Now we had to wait for a "bad boy" tractor to come pull the thing as the ones here are still too small.

Shelley and I had the pleasure of visiting our maid Ashreka's family who lives about 3 hours away near Ginir. We had a hired driver and took Ashreka, Nahom, and Zakir and away we went.

Ashreka'a family lives on a farm that raises such things as avacados, mangos, sugar cane, papayas and fruit that I was unfamiliar with. There was no road to their home so we had to walk about 20 minutes to get there.

The trail turned to an interesting rain forest like surrounding. They obviously get more rain here than at the farm.

Here is Ashreka's family along with her little girl Karina that the family takes care of while she works. It was a good visit and they treated us to some of the fruit from their farm.

While we were at the town of Ginir we stopped at a restaurant and had some "charcoal beef tibs" which were actually pretty good. (cut up beef cooked with onions, garlic and peppers)

Nahom had to show off by ordering his in the traditional way in its "raw" form. Good for you Nahom, you are the man!

We went to the Ginir market to take a look.

They see more forenjis (white people) here in Ginir so the crowd was a little less overwhelming.

In the USA when many farmers get together the parking lot is full of pickup trucks, but here .......

Poor donkeys

We took the opportunity while we were at Ashreka's to tour a well known tourist attraction in Ethiopia called the Sof Omar Cave that was just about an hour or so away.

At the edge of the cave

Down inside the opening. It is a long cave of a few kilometers but we were not able to see all of it due to bridges being out. I'm sorry I don't have good pictures to show a river that runs through it but very interesting for what we saw.

When we returned home to the farm we introduced a little of our culture to Ethiopia to end out the month of October

It's Been a Little Dry

2010-10-24T02:19:00.002-06:00

We have planted the crop and now here comes the rainy season.... rainy season? This month of October has only yielded less than 3/4" of rain. Hardly enough to sustain a crop and it's beginning to show.

In many fields the wheat has gone into self preservation mode and is shooting out its head early and at a very short height in order to produce at least some seed to grow another day.

The timing of the last we planted into virgin ground proved to be poor with little moisture left in the soil to adequately sprout and sustain the crop.

The ground is just as brown as the day it was planted three weeks ago

The seed sprouted and found little moisture to keep growing and withered and died

Fortunately not all the fields are as bad

Below is Nahom working it for the camera as we were out inspecting the crop

What would we do without Nahom?

BTW - Happy birthday Nahom!

A sad thing about our project here is the necessity of displacing families from their small villages. They receive compensation to gather their things and move to an out lying area to build their new home.

This is now an abandoned village which housed about 30 people

Inside this hut is where a family of 5 or 6 would sleep with a few of their animals in the side room. They have a small fireplace inside where they cook and keep warm . This helps explain why the local people usually have a strong aroma of camp fire smell and there are so many children who come to the clinic with burns.

A corn crib to store corn

This village had to travel three hours by foot to get needed water

A small reminder of what was here

Now moving to the garden area and its crew

I'm trying to tell them about uncovering the bulb part of the onion to make it grow larger. It goes against their logic to uncover much of the onion so we will do it on some and experiment to see.

They are so anxious to pick the tomatoes that a vine ripened tomato is hard to come by, bummer..

The view back to the houses

Here's a small crew trying to plant Bermuda grass for our future lawn, one of the few grasses that grows natural here. Next best thing to laying down sod.

Shelley took off last week to Addis Ababa for needed time away from the farm and to get to know the capital and what it has to provide. She has also been able to spend time with Alyssa's sister Kate and the children Wes and Alyssa are trying to adopt. Kate has been a good sport in taking care of the responsibilities of these children since Wes' incedent. Wes' last surgery went well and Alyssa is looking at returning in the next two weeks to be with the children. What a change of events that family has had to endure. We wish them well.

Until next time,

Alan

Planting is over

2010-10-08T13:20:00.002-06:00

Much of the pressure is off now so I find myself with a little time to add to the blog. We are happy to report that the planting is over. We had a hard time getting the ground cleared fast enough in a short window of time so we were only able to seed about 1,500 hectares (3,705 acres). Not too bad considering we have only been able to utilize half the equipment we expected with only one disk and one drill.

Here are some views from the air as we were all flown out to have a weekend retreat mixed with business to Lake Langano, ET thanks to Paul

A good view of the camp. Can you believe all this was nothing but trees and brush last January

Vern was kind enough to hand over the controls for the last half of the flight, very nice.....

Some of the view along the way. These pictures don't do it justice

The pilot Vern Bell and me.

An interesting thing about Vern is that he was Ethiopian born who's parents were Christian missionaries. It's very impressive to hear a white guy speak fluently in their native tongue.

The view from our room

The lobby of Hotel Haile

The Next day was a Morrell Agro sponsored field day to help promote the wheat and barley varieties we are introducing into their country

It was complete with the ceremonial handing out caps and everything (except there were no door prizes)

We had a panel discussion on dry farming practices and varieties of grain

A trip out to the fields

A small field of Teff which is what injera is made from

Morrell employee, Mekonen giving his spill and playing a major role in the success of the event

Then came the big feed. One of the few things I recognized were potato chips at the bottom of the picture, Bon Appetite!

The next day we went to church at a small branch in Awassa. It was nice to attend an official church after being so far away for all these weeks.

Then we were soon off in land cruisers to Goba (about 4-5 hrs. away) where the next day we were to meet with some VIP's from John Deere

A view from a mountain pass along the way

This is a hotel that Chombe, the Ethiopian John Deere dealer, owns and the stage for the big meeting. On top of the VIP list was Dave Everitt, president of region 1 & 4. (Google him for further information) There were many others in his entourage from South Africa to Des Moines, IA This was quite the treat for local farmers to have such representatives from John Deere.

We unfortunately didn't get to have much time with them due to time constraints.

We were spared the miserable 6 hr. ride from Goba to the farm on rough roads by being able to fly from nearby Robe. Before that Clair and Bracken departed from us to travel to Addis to ready themselves to go back to the USA.

Things here at the farm are a bit more peaceful now. We are preparing to spray the grain which is growing rapidly. Soon after we are looking forward to the visit from our daughter Morgan and her husband Andrew and our two precious granddaughters.

We're Back! (on the internet)

2010-09-27T11:28:00.009-06:00

Yesterday it was so good to turn on my computer and have the Yahoo Web site come up. Wow, you don't know how long two weeks are until you have to go that long without internet service! It is even worse when you're living far away from home, and you can't commnicate even once a week.

On September 11, Ethiopia celebrated its New Year. The Ethiopian Ge'ez calendar is the principal calendar used in Ethiopia. It is based on the older Alexandrian or Coptic calendar, which derives from the Egyptian calendar, and like the Julian calendar, which we use, it adds a leap day every four years. A seven- to eight-year gap between the Ethiopian and our calendars results from alternate calculations in determining the date of the Annunciation of Jesus. The Ethiopian calendar has twelve months of 30 days each plus five or six epagomenal days, which comprise a thirteenth month. The Ethiopian months begin on the same days as those of the Coptic calendar, but their names are in Ge'ez. The current year according to the Ethiopian calendar is 2003, which began on September 11, 2010 AD of the Gregorian calendar. The New Year celebration, along with the end of Ramadan and Easter, is one of the most important holidays in Ethiopia and traditionally celebrated with family and friends. Thus, most of our workers were gone for the week around the New Year because of travel. We celebrated with few in numbers - just Alan and I, Bracken, Wally, Taz, Nate, Tony and July, Seid, Kea, and the security guards were here to celebrate. And we had goat - again. It was flavored with hot peppers and we drank coke - again, in celebration. Then we danced around the campfire - again. That seems to be our usual way to celebrate. It's fun, and I like that we can get together and have a good time.

This is me, Seid is second to the left, and some of the guards, and I think Omar, the guy who tends the chicken and cooks our goats is in there somewhere. Since Alan wouldn't dance with me, Seid asked me to dance and I danced in the middle of all these guys - which was great, however, I'm sure I added to that sterotype in their eyes, that white people can't dance. Sometimes I just have to prove I'm a dork.

On September 25, the plane came and brought some new people here to the farm, most notably, Dennis Strong who will stay here at the farm with us for the long haul, and Kimball Shill, who will direct the Morrell Agro Ethiopian operations in Addis Ababa. Sorry, maybe I can get pictures later. Heidi, Mark and Elyn flew out on the same plane and are returning home to Cedar City for one month. When the plane took off, I cried because Heidi was going and I wanted to jump on that plane with her and just leave this place. But I didn't. I wiped my eyes and smiled and waved good-bye with Nia and the plane took off and left me standing there with a heavy, heavy heart. I almost felt a meltdown coming, but I pushed it down and thought about the chocolate Hershey's Almond Kisses that Vern Bell (the Abyssinian Airline pilot) brought me from the USA. Oh my goodness and bless his heart! He had remembered from his previous visit that I miss and am craving chocolate and he was so kind to bring some down for me and Alan. A man who brings chocolate is a friend indeed!

This last week I have been focused on beautifying the yard of our four homes. There are some very nice plants that were purchased for landscaping and so I have been putting them to good use. I wish I knew the names of each of these plants , because we have so many of them. I'm hoping that some kind of grass can be seeded here so that we can cut down the mud problems as we go into the rainy season. If any of you know the names of these plants, please leave me a comment, as I'm unfamiliar with some of them.
This I know is an orange trumpet vine. I love it.

One of the guys here on the farm told me that this was a date palm in the picture below. Anyone know for sure?

Before he left, Wes told me that this plant in the picture above was a tree. It was about two feet high and kind of spindly back in July, but now it is almost 3 feet high and look how it has filled out. I don't know what kind of a tree it is.

Here's my flower garden today. I have geraniums, and little daisys and roses too. All lovely, however, I wish the roses will bloom before I leave in November. Below you can see the starts of the Bird of Paradise plants. They took a beating about two weeks ago, when I transplanted them, but I think they're going to do well now.

Below you can see the flower garden about 8 weeks ago, so you can see that it certainly has improved.

The traditional hut is 95% finished. I took pictures of the workers. They make the hut frame with some very straight long poles, then they start the roof with bamboo and bark strips and finish it with grass thatching.

This is the start of the traditional hut.Rocks laid in a circle with a fire pit in the middle.

It takes someone experienced to get the grass just right on the roof. This hut has taken at least 10 weeks from start to finish and should have only taken two to three, but that's the way everything is in Ethiopia we know from experience, though we are continually surprised at it.

The wheat planting is averaging 80 hectares a day, when it's not rainy. There are still tire problems, and that will continue as long as we are disking newly cleared ground. An additional six loaders were rented for ground clearing so that assignment can go faster. Taz and his crew are going like crazy trying to clear enough ground so that 2000 hectares can be planted before the peak of the rainy season. They have been averaging about 10 hectares a day so you can see it is a hard job for everyone. Considering we don't have enough equipment and what equipment we have is getting beat to death the fields are slowly getting planted. Some equipment is just going on a wing and a prayer.

All the grain planted this last month is up and growing well. Alan took this picture of the nice straight rows of drilled grain which have never been seen before in Ethiopia. Everyone here thinks they are especially beautiful and they are.

260 Hectare field (640 acres)

Below are some pictures of the tractor tires and stumps and sticks that are causing such havoc. These tiress have around 300 hours of use. For those of you who can't relate to that farmer lingo, these tires are only two months old. The two bottom tires show a big stick puncturing the tire. A good example of what's chewing them to pieces.

I have rats in my house and about every third night we have an in-house rodeo and beat the rats to death with the fly-swatter. One time Alan had one cornered (he thought) in the kitchen but it got away and came running right toward me. He yelled stop it!, but I am a chicken and screamed as I let the rat run right between my legs and into the bedroom. Yowzers!, I am as scared of rats as Bracken is of spiders. It finally ran back of Alan's nightstand and he squashed it like a bug by pushing on the nightstand while I stood on the bed. I hear rats every night under my bed and I'm beginning to think I'm lucky that they aren't crawling in bed with me. We also have frogs and birds that get in the house, not to mention the numerous and various flying insects, crickets, and monstrous spiders. One day I came out of my bedroom, because I heard some weird sounds out in my frontroom, and there were four or five big ugly birds in my kitchen because someone left my door wide open. I'm also scared of birds so I screamed and ran back into the bedroom and hoped they flew away - which they did. And two other times I have had birds fly into the house - right through the windows, which I have had to chase around with my broom until they find the windows and fly out. Yeah, it's just allkinds of fun here on the farm.

Below are pictures Alan took last night of yet another celebration. Today is the celebrating of Ethiopia having/finding the true cross that Jesus was crucified on. They claim to have it in their possession somewhere in Northern Ethiopia. So that was the cause of all this carrying on.

A bonfire - Taz and his guitar.

A chant of praises to earn money for Orthodox Christian uses (crazy!)

Below is Bracken running hand in hand with the teacher. I knew I'd get a picture one day, and now I have two.

Nate, Wally, and Taz getting the surround treatment and singing. It gets very loud when you're in the middle of the circles.

It's all really very fun, and I think we enjoy it as much as they do.

Hopefully, I will be able to post a little sooner than later next time and keep you informed about the happenings here at the farm in Beltu, Ethiopia.

Till next time.

No Internet

2010-09-23T13:51:00.002-06:00

I just got off the phone with my mom in Ethiopia. She says that they haven't had the internet going on two weeks now and don't expect it until Saturday, the 25th. Also on Saturday Paul Morrell, the guy starting and funding the farm, along with some other newly hired directors are coming to see how things are going over there. My mom says that the farm is still crazy as ever! Unfortunately, there was a death on the farm yesterday, a young mechanic of twenty had diabetes and failed to bring his insulin with him for work one day. Nobody knew he had diabetes and he started feeling sick and needed to go home to get his medicine. His blood sugar level dropped extremely low and they brought him to the clinic to see if they could treat him. He was given some glucose gel trying to get it up, and then an IV with glucose, but his blood levels stayed erratic. He was transported up to Beltu when he got in more stable condition and left there with the health workers there. The next morning it was reported on the farm that he had died. They had a "funeral", more like burial, for the young man today, many people attended. My mom was the only female there, apparently women don't attend funerals in Ethiopia because they are afraid of the burial tomb. Well my mom will have to explain more about that incident and the other adventures there on the farm when they get the internet back up and running on Saturday.
We, my husband, girls and I are planning on taking a trip over to Ethiopia the first part of Nov. We look forward to it and can't wait to see the life my parents have been living in Africa!

Thanks for following,
Morgan (Alan and Shelley's daughter)

Planting 2000 hectares (That's 4960 acres folks)

2010-09-08T07:57:00.004-06:00

Alan says that a 5000 acre farm is a pretty large-sized farm, by most people's standards in the US. We have been planting nearly one week now, and 1000 acres are planted. Planting should be going faster than this, but because we have no bulk grain, just quintal sacks, it is as slow as a tortoise. Usually, the tractor and drill have to travel back into the farm compound to get loaded sack by sack because we have no way of transporting enough grain out to the field to load it there.

Alan and Haile checking the drill.

We have had the new John Deere tractors and drill for just over a month now, and they are doing fine, however the tires are wearing out fast. The land clearing has not gone as well as expected and stumps, sticks, and thorns have taken their toll on timely planting. You're probably wondering why sticks and stumps are so hard on our tires,; it's because this wood out here is the heaviest wood I've ever handled. It feels like it has iron in it. Not kidding, it doesn't break. The tractor tires, which were sturdy, strong, and so sharp looking last month, look like they've seen 10 years of heavy usage.

The tires are literally getting chewed to pieces. Alan has never seen anything like it. It is not unusual to get a flat tire on either the tractors, disk, or seed cart everyday, in fact one day Bracken had three flat tires, not his fault of course, just that he happened to be the one driving. It is causing issues with planting because the tractors have to come in to the compound and the fieldwork is delayed or shutdown. What to do? Track tractors are on their way, but won't be here for sometime. Even so, the tracks will get chewed up also, but no flat tires to change. Forestry tires are being considered, also foam urethane was considered to pump into the tires. Everyone is weighing in on this one because it is a major problem. The wear and tear on machinery and equipment on this farm is unbelievable. Items that were purchased a few months ago look like they are five years old.

We celebrated Alan's birthday last friday night (four days early) because so many people were leaving and wouldn't be with us on his birthday.

Earlier in the day, Ashreka and I made a carrot cake. We had to one and a half times the recipe because I was expecting a crowd.

Zakir and Ashreka were very curious about the frosting that I was making, but because they are both fasting they didn't taste it, but I could see that they wanted to very bad.

This fasting business is hard on all of us.

We had a big "campfire" down by the dorms and restaurant. I hired the restaurant, through my special events coordinator, Nahom, to cater the party. I supplied the cake (carrot of course, Alan's favorite). We invited everyone living here on the farm, about 50-60 people and about 8 government officials were there too. I was worried about having enough cake to go around.

We surrounded the campfire in chairs, stools, wood benches, whatever and had good music and fun. Here are pictures of just some of our guests.

Alan and I went into the two different restaurants, to check out the food, but it was too dark to take pictures with my little camera. Two goats were killed and cooked, basically the same, but one restaurant is the Christian restaurant and one is the Muslim restaurant and since our guests were of both faiths, we didn't want to offend anyone, we had to commission a goat from each.

The goats were made into tibs, basically little goat chunks cooked with onions in a ton of oil. It is a big greasy pot of meat. But I have to say, it smells really good, and it was really tasty that night. We had rolls and injera made by the restaurant and Coke for everyone, which Mark had to go buy in Beltu. "Going to Beltu" is like going to Rexburg, or Price if you're from Emery Co., which some of you are. It's the happenin' place for all of us here at the farm. We also had coffee as part of the coffee ceremony, in which we forenjees did not participate. They brought out the tibs, big platters for everyone and rolls and coke and everyone really chowed down.

Nahom, our social events coordinator, and the birthday boy enjoying their plate of tibs.

Then we brought the cake to the middle of the big circle and Alan explained with the help of Nahom as translator, our traditional birthday cake ceremony. Everyone laughed when he explained about having a candle for every year, the birthday wish, singing, and blowing out the candles. We only had six candles and we lit them and invited everyone to join in to singing "Happy Birthday" to Alan. Of course we Americans had to carry the tune and sing louder, but it was so fun to have such a large group singing to Alan and they all cheered really loud when he blew out all six candles.

I cut the cake into something like 60 pieces, to make sure everyone would get a piece. And it was like feeding the five thousand, everyone got a piece and there were pieces left over. It was a birthday miracle. Then we had dancing by Alan the birthday boy, Elyn, and Nahom who had coordinated the whole event. It was a great night, probably our best over here at the farm.

We could have danced all night, but didn't because we got tired and went home.

Overheard at Alan's birthday party:
UMMM, that's good goat!
Is this the Muslim goat or the Christian goat?
He's only six years old?
Do I have grease on my face?
Was this goat hand shucked?

Why is he dancing like that?

It is the best cake I've ever had, may I have some more please, Madam?
Wow, these forenjees know how to throw a party!

The next morning as I was looking out my kitchen window, I saw a horse drinking the bath wather of Nia and Ethan next door. The horse was so thirsty that he came and sucked the water right out from where they were bathing. (Here on the farm the little ones often take baths out on the front porches in big plastic tubs.) Nia liked the horse and was petting it as he had a good drink. And after he had refreshed himself with water, he sneaked back behind my house and had ate all my peas and red-leaf lettuce. If I could have caught him, I would have whipped him a good one. And to add insult to injury, he left a big poop in the garden. What a nasty stinky thief!

Here are some other pictures of Nia with a tortoise, that Wally brought to show us, and the deer that lives out with the goats and cows and chickens.

And here is Zakir with two chickens that he is taking to Beltu for Ramadan. His mother will make Duro Wat for the family. Duro Wat is a very traditional dish here and made on holy days and other times too. It's a spicy chicken stew.

A word of caution for those who can't look at gross things. Do not go any farther. If you are under 12 or your name is Bracken - this is not for you!PG-13.

On Friday last week, I was called to the clinic to attend to the arm of a child about 5 or 6. His arm had been broken about four or five weeks ago, a compound fracture. This is what I saw when I unwrapped his arm.

This is a picture of the little boy's arm - rotting away. We sent him to Ginir and I'm sure that the arm couldn't be saved. He was a cute little boy and his mother looked so sad and upset. The smell was horrific. It was very upsetting to all of us. Too many of these kinds of things happen here. We did get a thorn out of a man's eye this week. Cheers to the clinic for dealing with all these things.

Just to leave you on a good note, here are some pics of the garden.

The potato bed.

Carrots, carrots, and more carrots. The horse ate some of these. Nasty Stinky Horse!

Til next time.

Another Planting Underway

2010-09-01T01:10:00.002-06:00

Just to let everyone know, Wes was flown to Dubai and not to Tel Aviv for medical treatment. I don’t know which hospital he is in, but it was felt that Dubai would be a better choice and so that is where he is. Alyssa is there with him. They are in contact with Addis and the farm periodically. Click here to read Alyssa's update

Almost everything is ready for the second round of planting to begin. After the last week, things have settled down. There have been many meetings held with kabele leaders, village elders, and government officials. Wally Odd has been here on the farm and is planning on staying for awhile.

We have a few projects put on hold, while we are moving ahead with others. The traditional hut is progressing slowly.

The day to day living and working continues and we are now planning on 2000 hectares for this planting.

Taz, (short for Tazmanian Devil) the new construction director, came in like a whirlwind, last week and has taken on the task of getting the new land cleared and the stumps, sticks, and bushes gathered and burned.

He is also over the construction of Mark and Heidi's house, which is going along pretty fast.

The walls are up, the varnishing of the bricks is underway now. The windows and doors are in and I think they should have a finished house in about one month. Taz is a real character, I'm working on his language skills (swearing) when he comes to my house or is around me. I found out that he has/had a band and so he plays the guitar and loves to sing.

Yesterday afternoon, the drill was filled with grain in readiness for planting today. Everyone was excited to see how the auger worked as the seedcart was filling.

They still have to undo each quintal sack; grain does not come in bulk, only quintal sacks. I think this is because they are not used to getting huge amounts of grain delivered for seeding. So the transferring of grain into the seed cart is still more than a two man process. As you can see, it takes everyone!

We (forenjees) are constantly amazed at their (habeshas) amazement in the new technology that comes onto this farm. I took pictures, because they were all standing, looking at the auger bin and watching in fascination as the seed disappeared right before their eyes. The smiles of happiness were contagious, as they all realized there would be no more of that crazy method put together last April.

Eventually, we would like to get seed grain delived out here in bulk so that seed could be dumped from the truck directly into the drill auger. We might be dreaming. Maybe Morrell Agro. will be a pioneer in trucking seed, as well as new farming methods in Ethiopia. Right now, our farm is a mixture of Ethiopian farming practices and American farming practices. Alan is trying to surge ahead and bring this country into the 21st century, while the majority of farmers here are stuck back in the 19th century. You know, it is always a process. Bracken disks the ground for planting during the night, and then during the day he is breaking out new ground for planting later. Then Alan comes along during the day and plants with this big outfit, or rig, or seedcart and drill. All of the above.

One day this week, two of the office workers were sent out to collect information for inventory of equipment here on the farm. They came to Alan, so he could help them fill in all of their blanks. They wanted numbers, models, and brands. They were standing in front of the new John Deere 8320R tractor and he told them they could find all the information on the tractor. They asked him what the model number and he pointed to the it and said, "There it is, it's 8320R, Look!" "What is the brand?" they asked. "This is a John Deere!" "This is a John Deere?" they asked. Alan stood there wondering how anyone standing right in front of a John Deere tractor wouldn't recognize it for what it was. The words said "John Deere", there was a running deer on it and it was John Deere green. How could they have been living on this farm that long and not know what a John Deere tractor was? John Deeres are all around us; the tractors, the gators, the drills, all are John Deere. You must be really unobservant if you don't recognize a John Deere.

I don't know if I had posted this before, but we are in the middle of the period of fasting before Ramadan for the Muslims. I would say 90% of the people here on the farm are Muslims, so we are dealing with fasting. They fast from sunup to sundown and eat after sundown and before sunup and I think for some of them they eat all through the night. I know that some of them who live close by the farm compound are up all night long eating, singing, and praying. I know because they wake me up at night. They have been fasting since Aug. 9, and go to September 9, I believe. Then on Ramadan, they have a big celebration and they make a lot of food; goat, cakes, injera, ambasha (bread), lots of wot (stew) and more. They are looking forward to it, for sure. When they fast, they get so tired and draggy, we can hardly get any work out of them. They won't take any food or water, even if they're sick. Ashreka and Zakir got into a huge argument today over whether or not Ashreka broke her fast by accidentally tasting some salt. When I looked at her funny, she spit it out and said, "Oh, I forgot!" Zakir pounced on her and said, "You break your fast, it is over for you!" "No, no," she screamed back. "It was mistake!" "No, you break it, you are over!" The screaming went on for about two minutes. I finally had to come between them because Ashreka looked like she was going to climb over the table and strangle him. You know how irritating teenage boys are, who think they know everything? That's how Zakir is with Ashreka. I finally calmed them both down and told Ashreka and Zakir that it was a mistake and that she could continue fasting. Whoa, what is the big deal with accidentally breaking a fast? I'll have to look it up on google. I know it is important, but we almost had a homicide over it.

I made some tarts today, but I first sent Ashreka to go outside and work a little so I didn't have her wishing she could have a taste. They turned out pretty good, if I may say so. I saw some tarts like this on my daughters blog, and they looked really good. Hers had strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and something else, and mine are just like hers, but tropical with mango, pineapple, and bananas.

UUM UUM GOOD! They turned out great. I don't cook and bake like this everyday, just once in a while when I think I can tackle the all afternoon project. Nadi said they were delicious and he had two. But, he said he still likes cinnamon rolls better. What man doesn't? I heard or read once upon a time, that the smell that a man likes very best is baking cinnamon rolls. Not perfume on a woman, or the smell of roasting meat, it is cinnamon rolls! Nadi is just like Alan and every other man out here. One day when I was baking cinnamon rolls, my porch filled up with men just taking in the aroma. Both Ethiopian and Americans, they were just walking by my house, and suddenly they were attracted to my porch by the delicious baking smell. Soo funny.

This young man is one of the daily laborers who usually helps water the garden. He looks like he is about 12 or 13, and he loves to come and talk to me when I go out into the garden area. The other day, I found him out in back and was surprised to see him sporting this lovely woman's blouse.

I asked him to come round to the front of my house so I could take a picture of him in his lacy blouse. Unfortunately, he put on his cool jacket and wouldn’t take it off, so you don’t get the whole effect of the puffed and gathered sleeves, darn it. He looked so sweet, I just had to tell him how much I liked his blouse. I’m sure he didn’t have a clue that he was wearing a woman’s blouse. You see alot of boys and men wearing women's clothes here. They don't have a clue.
Here is a pictures of July and Ethan Richards, Nia’s mom and little brother, my next door neighbors.

And speaking of Nia, here she is in Alyssa’s flower bed, showing off the flowers. I don’t think the flowers can hold a candle to her smile.

This is Selam. I think he is going to be hired on here soon to work closely with Alan. He speaks very good English, comes from Addis and he just barely got set up on his own email account. He is very nice and friendly. He is holding Elyn, Heidi’s little boy.

Here’s another picture of Nia and Elyn on my porch. Cutie Patooties!

Here's a picture of one of my pet peeves - the laundry station. Yes, I still have laundry issues. I'm designing laundry stations to be constructed between the houses and over at the dorms. I have to get them designed just right. We will be sooooo happy when the laundry can be done out of the mud and dirt.

And for last, here's a picture of a little baby girl that they brought to the clinic for me to diagnose. I think this is an umbilical hernia - my best guess. What do you all think?

I sent the baby and parents to Ginir to the clinic there. I had to pay for the trip up and back for both of them because were so poor. Our's is a free clinic. It cost me about 200 birr - about $15.00. That's what I do sometimes - send them on the bus to Ginir when I can't figure it out or they need better help than what we can provide. BTW - does this child look like she's starving. No! Most the babies I see are fat little chunksters.

Well, that's all for today, until next time.

Update on Wes

2010-08-27T18:05:00.000-06:00

I (Morgan) have been recieving a lot of emails and messages through FB on the status of Wes Haws, the project manager that was hit in the head with an axe. I thought that I would post this message I recieved from Wes' mom this afternoon.

Wes has had a couple of very hard days, he is in a lot of pain and discomfort. They decreased his sedation and pain medication because his heart rate and oxygen levels were very unstable and going very low and thought it was because of the medication but now they are not sure that is the problem so after a lot of consultation with american doctors and his neurosurgeon there, they have decided to send him to a very good and modern hospital in Tel Aviv Israel where he will get much better care. They are concerned with the pain and discomfort that it is not good for the swelling to reduce and healing in his brain to be at it's best, he needs to be calm and resting and unstressed during this time. They (Wes and Alyssa) will be leaving on a medivac flight early Sunday morning for Israel. (about 11 p.m. saturday night our time) Alyssa's sister and Everett will come on a comercial flight later and their 5 children will be staying in Addis Abada with friends and going to school there for the time being. He will possibly, depending on his speed of recovery, have to be at the Israel facility a month or so. We will try to get another e-mail address there to be able to send him letters and well wishes while he is recovering.

Mark and JoAnne

Mom and Dad, hope you don't mind I posted this but many were concerned and I don't know if you guys are getting as much info as we happen to be. Our prayers are with Wes and Alyssa.

It was a very Bad Day!

2010-08-24T11:42:00.394-06:00

First, let me apologize to everyone for not having posted in alomost three weeks. I know everyone likes to know what is happening here on the other side of the world, but I have been a little sick and cranky and just plain feeling ornery. Morgan's probably thinking, "Good thing she's far away in Africa." I have had only one bad day, and it just happened to be Monday, the 23. Yesterday (23 of August) was the worst day here on the farm. I don't know how to describe what happened except from my point of view. About 11:30 in the morning I was standing out on my porch when Alan came running into the yard and quietly but urgently said, "Where's the satellite phone, I need it now, Wes has been shot!" I immediately shouted to him as he ran by, "Where's Alyssa, does she know?" and he said, "Yes, she's with him in the clinic." I ran over to find the first aid kit at Wes's house and told Nate and Kate. We grabbed the first-aid kit and toted it over as fast as we could. Alan was busy calling the office in Addis telling them what had happened and they quickly arranged a flight to get him back to Addis. Alan and others started interrogating everyone to find out who was with him when it happened. As far as we can tell, Wes was outside the farm with a land clearing crew opening up some new land. Some villagers were there and were trying to stop the land clearing because they "claimed" they had not had compensation and felt that we were trespassing. Barouk, a GPS guy, was ahead of Wes and the dozer trying to figure out where to strike a line. Some people from a nearby small farm were there, as well as some villagers and they warned Barouk and Kadir telling them to stop and go back to the farm. He told Wes that they were in danger and needed to leave, and that they were threatening to kill him. One man came and tried to throw a rock at the dozer or Wes, I'm not clear about that, and Wes grabbed the man's arm and made him lose the rock. That man ran to one of the guards and tried to get the gun from him. He said he was going to shoot Wes. Wes being unaffected took the GPS from Baruk and was looking at it when he he was struck on the head from behind. Not realizing exactly what happened after receiving a blow to the head he asked Baruk if he had been shot. In the commotion he didn't get a clear answer. Baruk and Kadir quickly got him to the land cruiser and they came into the farm with Baruk steering and Wes shifting since Baruk doesn't know how to drive. When they came roaring into the camp, Alan says the land cruiser was going as fast as it could in first or second gear and he went to see what was happening. Wes, with a shirt wrapped around his head , was helped out of the Land Cruiser by two guys and told Alan he had been shot as he was rushed into the clinic; and Alan could see the blood covering his shirt. That's when Alan came running over for the satellite phone. Alyssa and Abdul were there immediately and everyone jumped into action at the clinic and did very well to take care of him and see what part of him had been hurt. It then became clear form witnesses that he had received a blow to the head from an ax. Nate and Alyssa tried to staunch the blood flow, but we all know about head wounds - they bleed a lot. Alan was on the satellite phone talking with Marty telling him what had happened and informing him of Wes's condition. They soon realized that Wes would have to be flown out of here, if he were going to be saved. An emergency flight was arranged with Abyssinian Airlines, who got permission to fly through the no-fly zone covering a large area between the farm and Addis cutting down the flight time 20 minutes. When Nate could get a good look at the wound he could tell that his skull was fractured from the blow to the right back of his head. There was a three to four inch gash and there was a lot of bone fragments. His blood pressure and heartbeat were slowly dropping and they strongly urged that the plane get here as soon as possible. The plane arrived after a couple of hours and Wes was carefully taken in the back of a pickup truck over to the runway and loaded onto the plane. The plane was only here a total of about 15 minutes before it took off to Addis with Wes and Alyssa and family. Wally Odd, the executive vice-president of Morrell Agro came to the farm on the same plane that took Wes to Addis. He was going to come the next day anyway, so he just came a day early to manage the situation and put fears to rest. During the flight back to Addis, the US embassy was contacted to insure that there would be blood available for a transfusion if needed, which it was. At the airport in Addis they were met with an ambulance and doctors who took him directly to the Korean hospital where he underwent a CAT scan. They did think about sending him for surgery to Cairo or Nairobi, which have larger hospitals, but decided against that and kept him in Addis where he underwent brain surgery for 6 1/2 hours. If I heard right, it was a Pakistani doctor and a Norwegian doctor who performed the surgery. It was fortunate that Wes was kept here in Ethiopia; because something about swelling and pressure and other stuff which I don't totally understand and it would take too long to fly him to another country. We heard the next morning that his skull was indeed fractured and there was damage to a sinus on the right back of his head. He lost a lot of blood here on the farm as well as in surgery and there was some talk about flying Bracken up to Addis to donate because he and Wes have the same rare type of blood. As it turned out, they decided against that and Bracken is still here with us at the farm. We have been kept informed here on the farm of Wes's status and doctor decisions through our trusty satellite phones and we heard that he is sedated and will be in the hospital there for as long as he needs. There is an American doctor there who was helping in some advisory capacity - so apparently he is being well looked after. That's as good as you can ask for here - an international group.
Meanwhile, back on the farm, after much interrogating of the witnesses, we found out that he had not been shot but another young man, about 20 years old, ran up behind him and cleaved his head open with a ground clearing axe. When I say cleaved, I mean that the man really meant to kill Wes, but somehow the aim was not the best, thank goodness. The axe wielder took off running with the villagers chasing him and then some security guards after them. Wes and Alyssa did find out here that it wasn't a bullet wound but an axe wound before they left for Addis. The police from Beltu were fetched down to the farm in the afternoon and they promised they would find the perpetrator. They did arrest the young man's relatives, brothers and sisters, father, and were in the process of arresting the whole village when we found out what they were up to. Wally had to go up to Beltu and prevent anymore random arrestings. I guess they think that will placate everyone until they can find the axer. A policeman came here to the farm today asking Alan if he could get some fuel for his vehicle so he could go after the guy. They heard that the guy's mother took him to Jara to escape the police. So if we said "no" does that mean they won't try to go after him? Alan said yes, but he made the guy sign a paper saying how much we gave him. As I have said before, the police here are a joke. When they came down from Beltu yesterday, they had a Rambo type gun with a tripod mounted onto our Toyota pickup. Alan was impressed with the gun, but not so much with the police work. Our prayers are with Wes and his family - we're able to keep up to date on his condition which sounds positive.

I didn't take any pictures of all the commotion yesterday - and it really was commotion. The whole farm shut down,, even Bracken was hurried in from the field. Alan and Bracken later decided that they wouldn't be intimidated and so between them they decided that it would be a good time, with all the villagers running scared, to get some disking done, so Bracken went back to work (with a gun). Many of the people here on the farm were scared and took off running to their huts, if they lived nearby. Ashreka hid in my house when she saw all the police. She was very scared but she bravely undertook the washing of the bloody pans that had been used at the clinic. She just looked at me a little funny when I asked her to wash it and asked, "Ees Wes's blood?" 'Yes, it is," I said, and then she said "I wash."

Wally will stay with us for a little while, until he needs to get back to Addis. He will work with the government to suggest and advise them on how to manage this hot situation out here. The farm has suddenly become a target for dishonest people who see an opportunity to get money. They come and claim they have land here and should be paid a compensation when they have never been here before. There are all kinds of rumors surrounding the incident. I don't know what to believe. I'm either crazy or brave, but I don't feel threatened here. I believe this was an isolated incident.

OK - so I'll tell you other news. The disking of the stubble fields was completed on the 19th of August. One day before they finished, Alan and I drove up to the Wenjisa place and we kicked Bracken out of the tractor and Alan took a turn with me taking pictures. It was pretty nice to get off the compound for a few hours. There were little children from the Wenjisa village who were out in the field chasing the tractor and disk up and down the field.

They would run and wave at us and we waved back every time to every child. There were two little guys who looked no older than my little grand daughter Leah who kept tripping and falling and losing their pants, but they didn't quit. Only one little girl had shoes and she kept losing them. Now I know why the Ethiopians are such good long distance runners. They train early. It was beautiful going along watching the camels in the distance and the stubble field slowly turned to a darker color. I took some pictures of the Kello-Bilt disk in the sunset and the field. I guess only a farmer or farmer's wife would think that farming equipment in the sunset is beautiful. They are now working disking the newly cleared ground that measure about 1000 hectares (2,500 acres) altogether. We hope to start the planting in early September when we have enough rain to sprout the seed.

The tractor drivers are being trained on the new John Deere 8320R. They are taking shifts so that all the tractor drivers can learn. BTW, here in Ethiopia, tractor driving is an occupation and they are required to go to tractor-driving school. To get into the school they have to be at least 16 years old and have completed the 6th grade. That explains the early incompetence of the tractor drivers It is taking Bracken and Alan a lot to retrain these guys. They're getting there. Speaking of tractors, one of my favorite people out here is Seid, the manager of the tractor drivers.

Oddly enough, when Alan was looking for Seid after Wes's incident, he was missing. We later found out that Seid had hopped on the plane and went up to Addis with Alyssa. What? How does a tractor driver make his way onto an emergency flight and not tell his boss he's leaving? Needless to say, Alan was a little surprised and will be talking to Seid when he comes back from Addis. I think I know what was going on, but I'm not going to say until I talk to Seid myself and ask him. He is a university graduate majoring in world history, so Alan and I get lots of lectures on Ethiopian political science and history. He can go on and on about Ethiopian subjects.

Another of my favorite people out here is Haile, the assistant farm manager - not to be confused with the junior assistant, Zakir. Haile is one of the handsomest guys I have ever seen. Have you seen "The Blind Side"? You know that part where the mom says about one of the coaches from a university," I find him to be extremely attractive." That's how I feel about Haile, it's no big deal, I just appreciate his manly comliness.

He is married and his wife and family live in Ginir, a town 3-4 hours from here. I made Alan take these pictures of Haile, so he started posing. I think he was halfway embarrassed because Alan was taking so many pictures. Haile could be a male model.

Another person that I'm getting to know and really like is my little next door neighbor Nia. She is soooo cute. I told her that her skin was beautiful and she said, "It's golden."

And her eyes are so beautiful and her hair is such a pretty color too. She has such a sweet little personality and we have cute converstions about her favorite color (pink), her books, her favorite food to eat, and her friend at home named William. She got a bad case of bed bug bites and she's just barely starting to recover. She has a purple fairy doll (missing wings) that she totes around and she likes to help me water my plants. She told her mother, July, that I was her new friend.

Here she is with her doll showing me that it can do all kinds of splits and straddles.
I have to tell a story about a farm meeting that involved a her purple fairy doll and the monkey. It was a farm supervisor meeting so Alan, Wes, Mark, and all the supervisors over the different departments were there, at least 10 or 11 guys . As they were sitting in Wes's house, Martk was conducting the meeting and he was sitting down talking about the project and all the time the monkey was climbing all over Mark being a pest, pulling on his beard, climbing on his shoulders and around his neck, and Mark just let it climb, which made Alan laugh. Then, one of them saw Nia's purple fairy doll on the coffee table and started messing with it's hair and petting it. Then he put it down, and the next one picked it up and started getting preoccupied with the doll. Then another and another until it had made the round of the whole group of supervisors. Alan was quietly amused by this behavior and imagining the same thing at home in the United States. Can you picture it, a group of farmer/construction type guys sitting around in a meeting caressing a Barbie doll and a monkey on the loose?

One night as I was sitting in my house alone, Bracken came in to check his emails and he saw a huge spider on the floor.

Bracken's favorite thing to say around me is "Holy Crap!" So that's what he said, because Bracken is afraid of spiders. According to Bracken, his fear of spiders stems from cat face spiders in the elevator and around his house up in Squirrel when he was young. Bracken was yelling, "Kill it, kill it!" but I wanted to take a picture of it first, which scared it and caused it to run under my couch. I was laughing at Bracken because he was such a scaredy cat. He lifted up the couch and I was going to hit it with my shoe. Bracken jokingly said, "Watch out , it's probably pregnant and a million babies will come out of that thing." You have to realize that Bracken was really nervous this whole time. I hit it with my shoe and it popped like a little ballon and sure enough, immediately hundreds of tiny little spiders came running out, spreading in all directions. Bracken almost screamed like a girl. He was swearing and telling me to get the bug spray, which I did and I sprayed and killed some, but I didn't get them all.

It was the ugliest, scariest spider I had ever seen until the next day when Alyssa showed me the spider she caught out in her flower bed.

I had the idea to show Bracken just to get his reaction, so we decided to play a trick on him. The spider was in a tupperware container and I told Alyssa to hand it to Bracken who had just driven up in one of the gators. She asked him to close his eyes and hold out his hands because she had an early birthday present for him. He was a little suspicious, but he did it. He was so excited when he opened his eyes because he thought he was getting tupperware for sandwiches and food.

When he looked closer and saw the spider he screamed again and threw the tupperware into the air and it landed in the back of the gator. We all laughed alot, but Bracken just got surly. It gives me a good feeling to see Bracken be a woos. Is that how you spell that? A day or two later Alan found another spider just like the one Alyssa found - just a little smaller. He had it by the leg with his pliers. He showed Bracken, and Bracken was really calm - too calm it seemed.

Then the spider moved and he jumped away, getting mad at Alan. He had thought the spider was dead. And that's how we entertain ourselves around here - showing Bracken spiders and watching him get upset at us..
And here's a picture of a very large grasshopper. It was huge - at least 4 inches long.

Two weeks ago, Alan and I went to Beltu with Ashreka to see a new baby, meet some of her family; and go to the market. This is a picture of the hill we drive up to get to Beltu at the top.

I knew from how Ashreka was acting that she was very excited to have orchestrated this get together. We stopped at her aunt's house first and took a picture of them outside in the road.

Then we went to her cousin's home to see the baby. I found out that this is also the place where Ashreka sleeps. We met several people outside - all Ashreka's relatives and were escorted into the house. The houses in Beltu are all made of dung, straw, and mud and surprisingly are very sturdy. They have tin roofs and are rectangular homes. They have no electricity and so most cooking is outside. We went in and sat on the floor on the mat where Ashreka sleeps. They had set out stuff for an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, even though Ashreka knows we don't drink coffee.

I think it was to show as a decoration more than anything. There were silk flowers and wallpaper and decorations on the wall and they were so excited for us to come and visit, we could tell they had really prepared. Everything was spotlessly clean.

We talked for a little while and then they brought out the baby - oh so petite and all sweetness and her head was beautifully buttered. They put butter or some kind of grease on the babies' heads to keep them from drying out. So she smelled very buttery. We took pictures with the little butter baby.

I love the one of Alan and Ashreka and the baby. It looks like Alan has a brand new little family doesn't it? It was funny because they handed Alan the baby and wanted me to take a picture of them and Ashreka was so excited she jumped right in to the picture. Then they served us some pasta. It really was so kind and they were so generous. The pasta came on a big tray with two spoons. Alan and I looked at each other wondering how we could eat spaghetti with spoons and so we just dug in with our fingers. They also gave us each a warm Coke. We wanted everyone to share with us, and pretty soon everyone was eating from the big tray of spaghetti winding it onto our fingers and stuffing it in our mouths.

Then we went to the Beltu Market. Market day is every Saturday. The people come from far and wide to sell and buy. There is a big cow and goat section and chickens everywhere. Then there is the main market which is mostly fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, sugar, etc., Most of these vendors are women who just throw down an old raggedy scrap of fabric or a piece of plastic and then they spread out their goods on more dirty plastic, or baskets or gourds. You have to be careful walking amongst them because they are so close and you don't want to tread on any fruits and veggies. One time I stepped on a lady's scarf and she turned around and gave me a real wallop. Then she saw who she had hit and she was mortified. Then there are other stall like places where you can buy dry goods like dishes, shoes, scarves, soap, baskets, etc. You know - just your average everyday Ethiopian market. I like to go up to Beltu to shop because I can find things for so cheap: limes are 20 for about 7 cents, mangos are each 21 cents, bananas are three for 14 cents, dried beans are 14 cents for one cup. The dry goods are more expensive, but I like the thrill of shoppingup there. There are two things that I don't like about the market: first, I don't like the constant pushing, poking and pinching they seem to think they should do to me, and second, I dislike that they jack-up the price when they see a forenjee coming. One lady tried to sell me 8 limes for 7 cents. I knew I was being taken, so Ashreka went to another vendor and got the 20 limes. Some things I don't know, but I do know the price of limes in Beltu.

Last week on Monday, I think, was a Christian holiday here in Ethiopia to celebrate the end of the rainy season and the beginning of better weather.. Young men and boys go from house to house chanting really loud, clapping and singing. They surround the master of the house and while chanting really loudly they compliment him and say really good things about him. They keep it up until he pulls out some money and gives it to the group. If you want, you can give bread instead on money. So on Monday night, such a loud chanting and laughing started up down by the apartments where the majority of the Ethiopian workers live, that I wanted to know what was going on. Nadi explained to me what was happening. They were surrounding each other and carrying on until they would contribute to a kitty they had going on. I got really curious, so I walked down and saw that they were all having such fun. Before I knew it, they had surrounded me and were chanting, but I had to tell them I had no money with me. I ran back to the house, and told Alan, who was having a meeting with Haile and Seid at our house, that he should go down and see what was happening. I tucked 100 birr (about $7.00) into his pocket and told him he might need it. He was slowly walking toward the apartments when the group saw him and they rushed to surround him. They carried on, singing, and clapping, and circling around him. The noise they were making was so loud he couldn't hear anything else.

He finally pulled out the money and gave it to them and they all shouted and really cheered hard for him. I had my camera and I took pictures and then I steered them up to my house to get Haile and Seid. What a rowdy bunch and what noise they made.

It was really fun - kind of like a Halloween thing going on. Then when they gather all the money they had all given, the tally was somewhere over $100.00. Because they were all Christians, they decided to donate it to the Christian church up in Beltu. I didn't know there was a church up in Beltu, so that was a surprise to me, but I was glad they had done it.
I want to show a picture of the bread I made last week. I make bread a couple of times a week and I have become so good at it, I just had to show you.

I'm not a slouch at baking, but the bread I make over here is truly amazing. I have been given the gift of making bread and I feel accomplished and Alan rejoices.

We are both well and we stay very busy. We're looking forward to getting the rest of the field work done and the grain planted within the next month. There are many people here that are becoming some very close friends. We hope that you're all well at home also. Til next time.

The Harvest is over (and other news)!

2010-08-06T06:41:00.005-06:00

The first week in August has come and gone and we have had another uberfun-filled week here on the farm. First, I just want to say “MY SON ZACK HAS BEEN ON HIS MISSION ELEVEN MONTHS! Only 13 months to go!

OK enough about him, back to my life. So many things have happened, I can’t remember everything. We did finish the grain harvest on Thursday the 5th of August and the farm/grain wrokers were so excited and happy that they decided to have a party and invite everyone on the whole farm.

In honor of the occasion, three goats were killed and made into tibs, and enough injera and umbasha and soda were provided for everyone on the farm to get so full and satisfied that they lost their inhibitions and even danced and clapped a little. And that was just the Americans.

I suspect the real party started after all the Americans left and the habeshas could be themselves. The tibs were pretty good, still tough and greasy, but flavorful. Alan and I had eaten previously, so I didn’t eat much – only a few bites. Everyone else really indulged. One really nice thing about living in this place, is that hardly anyone drinks alcohol. It is rare, and on these accasions they get enough enjoyment out of the good food and soda that it is enough celebration for them. Zakir and I often have conversations about drinking and smoking and how it is bad for the health.

Remember two weeks ago I said I was going to a wedding in Goorooraayaa. Well, I didn’t go and I’m glad I didn’t go. Alyssas went and said it was weird. The bride wasn’t in view and so Alyssa asked to see the bride. They brought out a girl who looked like she was maybe 14. All she did was stand there and look sad. Alyssa found out that her husband was an old man who already had two other wives. He was actually one of the village elders who came onto the farm last week and stirred things up. So they were celebrating this old guy's third wedding. Can you imagine? I’m glad I didn’t go! I totally disapprove. What he really needs is a good kick in the pants, and NO wives to take care of him!

I had Zakir and Ashreka kill a rooster a couple of days ago. Ashreka skinned, cleaned ,and cut it up. She does a very good job. Most of the work that she does, I can do myself; however when it comes to killing and cleaning meat and doing laundry, she is worth her weight in gold.

It was a small chicken – only a pound or two. I decided that stewing is my only option when dealing with meat here. It has to cook forever in water and then it is tender enough to eat. So I let it sit in my refrigerator for a day of relaxation and then cooked it for about four hours with an onion. My house smelled so good, everyone was gathering round for a sniff. I deboned the meat and then made chicken vegetable soup. I didn’t make noodles because I have nothing here with which to roll the dough. My rolling pin is in Djbouti along with everything else for my house. I made some bread pudding while the chicken was stewing and so we had a good dinner and dessert and even had enough bread pudding for breakfast the next day. I also made two loaves of bread that day.

One day this week I was called over to the clinic to help with a little girl from Goorooraayaa. When I saw her face from afar, I thought she was growing a big black beard. When I got close and took a good look, I saw that the black stuff was crusted on and oozing yellow puss. Hmmmm. In my limited medical experience I think I would call this a bad case of acne. JK, the girl was only a child.

When I got close to her she started howling and screaming “Ani demuu fee dha!" Which means "I want to go!” over and over again. I brought Alan’s trusty squirt bottle and squirted her on the side of her face, which caused her to scream even louder. I started laughing and all the health workers and her father also started to laugh. She probably thought I was going to kill her. She was one of the dirtiest little children I have ever seen. Really, she was just pure filth. I started wiping at the scum, and it came off pretty easily, but underneath were huge sores. Our nurse, Abdul, told me that the black stuff was a traditional medicine applied by someone down in the village. I think it is just chewed up chat. I asked if they knew what had happened, and the father said she had a rash and wouldn’t stop scratching it. He kept saying "She did it to herself." So we cleaned her off and her lower face was literally one open sore.

We applied Neosporin and bandaged her up. She also had some on her buttocks and one elbow. Everything was cleaned and she screamed through it all. At one point her father and two other men were holding her in place so we could take care of her.

When we were finished, she had screamed herself into such a state she was almost faint. The whole process took about 30 minutes. I gave her a lollipop and she wouldn’t eat it. She looked like she wanted to stick it in my eye. She was so surly; I've never had a child so mad at me. Sooo funny. We all laughed again, and I told her she must come back or she wouldn’t get better. I don’t think she will be willing to come back. Afterward, I looked up skin diseases in my books and on the internet. I found a picture of impetigo in my book and researched it. I think this could be impetigo. MedicineNet.com said it is caused by staphylococcus and or streptococcus bacteria and more common in children than in adults caused by dirt and filth getting into open sores. The internet also said to give antibiotics and if you can, to wash the area three or four times a day and let it dry in the open air. I am worried about that, because this child cannot be kept clean. Hmm what to do?

The next day, Abdul wanted me to come and take pictures of the child who had been kicked in the face by a donkey. He is looking so much better than when I first saw him.

And I also took pictures of a man’s chin that Abudul was stitching closed. I guess the man had a run-in with a cow horn.

I wanted to tell Abdul not to pull the skin so tight together, but just ease it together, but I didn’t. Now the man will have a pretty good scar on his chin for the rest of his life. Oh well, Abdul is doing a good job and needs lots of encouragement and high fives. Also at the clinic was a man who had a thorn in his eye for four days. Who walks around with a thorn in his eye for four days? He finally decided it was bad enough he would come to the clinic. I couldn’t see well enough, even with my trusty magnifying loop and we thought maybe the thorn had just pricked his eye, but Wes decided to take a look with the loop and he thought he saw something in there. With the loop, sharp tweezers, and flashlight he pulled out an ugly looking thorn. What a relief! Good thing the man came to us. Wes said it was in sideways – not straight in and that’s why the man couldn’t get it out.

Last week Ashreka came to me and told me she wanted to use my hair dryer. She has seen me using it and wanted to try it on her hair. I told her it would make her hair too fluffy, but we used it a little anyway. Then I got the bright idea to show her my hair straightener. I took a lock of her hair by her temple and straightened it. She was happily amazed that her hair was suddenly kind of straight and long. I kept on going and about three hours later she had semi-smooth long hair. All the sudden she turned into a princess and couldn’t stay away from the mirrors. For the rest of the day, she would run around showing all the women her long beautiful hair. Her hair is longer than mine when straightened. Alan came in and saw her hair and she was very embarrassed that he saw her without her scarf. Since then I have had several requests for me to straighten hair, but I say no, because now I know how long it takes.
Poor little Ashreka working working working all the day long. I should call her Cinderella.

Now here she is with her beautiful hair making me take several shots so that she could choose which one she liked best.

She liked this picture the best of all.

Alan has decided that he will take Zakir with him for most of the day and make him of use. Zakir previously took care of the monkey and other animals that Wes brought onto the farm, but when we came back in July, Zakir had been promoted to taking care of the mule. He also waters my garden (too much). Alan sees a lot of potential in this boy because he speaks fairly good english and is smart.

Zakir's parents had no money to send him to preparatory school after the 10th grade, so he could enter the university. College is a possibility, but only if someone will pay for him to go and pay for all expenses. After thinking about it for a while Alan decided that he would have Zakir work with him under his tutelage. He was wondering what title he could give Zakir – because they always want to know what their title is and how they fit into this farm. So Alan told him he would be his “junior assistant.”

Zakir came to me later that day and told me he was now Alan’s “general assistant.” I said, “You are not a general assistant.” He said “Yes, mom, I am the general assistant! Dad say this ees so.” “You are the junior assistant," I said, "there is a big difference between general and junior." After telling him what the difference was we laughed, but Alan and I are still laughing about the 16 year old general assistant.

Anyone reconogize all these shirts and pants Zakir is wearing? I scrounged them out of my Zack's high school leftover wardrobe.
Speaking of my garden, which I did, it is doing alright. I won’t say great, because some of it is getting too much water. I can’t keep them from watering my garden. But the zuchinni, butternut squash, peas, beans, tomatoes, yellow summer squash, cantaloupe, and watermelon are all doing well.

Beans above and peas below.

The lettuce and spinach not doing so well.

The spinach and lettuce are struggling. Have I told you about how each time I go out into my garden area I get about three or four people coming to look at it with me? The garden area should be private, not public, is my thinking. Everything here on the farm is just out in the open for everyone to see and enjoy. At least three or four times a day I long for my Idaho home with white picket fence and doors that lock and people who use phones to visit instead my open yard/door which seems to say, “come in and stay because I can’t get enough visitors into my house and yard.” With some people, it is a must situation because the apartment and dorms are not bathroom ready. Clair, Bracken, Heidi, Mark, and Nate all need access to showers and toilets and so they visit the houses with bathrooms several times a day. But everyday there are others who come to conduct business with Alan, or sick people who think I'm a good nurse, or come to admire themselves in my mirrorl-like windows, and even the monkey makes it into my house every day. I treasure the little bit of solitude I get here.

I made cream puffs the other day because I had so much milk and cream and eggs. I get the milk from the cow which is milked by Wes’s boys Mesafint and Mubarak, and the eggs come from the farm chickens gathered by Wes’s kids also. But the other day we had eggs from Addis. The difference between our farm eggs and Addis eggs is notable. Ashreka calls the big ones “forenjee eggs” and the little ones “ habesha eggs.”

So I made the pudding the day before and didn’t do the best job – I had to strain out the lumps, and then I made the most beautiful cream puffs ever.

And we all had one and I took the extras to Wes and his kids. After all they have been bringing me milk faithfully.

The other day, I think maybe Monday, another tractor and drill came. This drill was supposed to have arrived with the John Deere guys, but we heard that the truck had broken down. In reality, part of the drill had fallen off the truck and was badly damaged.

The older gentleman in the picture is Yusafa. He calls me "madam."

They had a time getting it back on the truck and bringing it on down here. They shouldn’t have brought the drill, because the police should been called to do an accident report when and where it happened. Regardless, the drill is here now and we had to get a policeman from Beltu to come and make a report. Alan said that the policeman was more interested in throwing things at the monkey than the damage to the drill and getting the report done.
As I was out taking pictures of the tractor and drill, I saw Bracken disking with the new tractor in the field just south of the airstrip. It was such a picture, because behind him in the undisked field were camels grazing in the golden straw and then the purple mountains in the distance. I tried to take a picture, but I couldn’t because my telephoto lens doesn’t work well. All I got was a fuzzy picture of the camels and the mountains - no tractor. Hardly worth my effort, but here it is.

Two days ago I was invited to go up to Beltu with Ashreka on market day to visit her aunt and cousin. I think I understand that there is a new baby that I am going to see. I don’t know if I should be taking up something as a giflt or what. Maybe some birr would be the most helpful. I will either go up on the bus with Ashreka or something else. I think this will be another adventure. Alan says I might regret this because they will want to serve me something really scarey. I will say a silent prayer over any food I consume while there, and hope that I will be blessed for my good intentions. I know several of you have mentioned that you pray for us, maybe this would be a good time for another prayer. Seriously, thank you all so much for your support and interest, as well as your prayers. We certainly do need them.

We are doing well, and having good times as well as some hard times. Have a good week , until next time.

John Deere, Village Elders, and Excuse My Nakeditity!

2010-08-02T03:46:00.008-06:00

Some interesting and exciting things have happened on the farm lately. First, a baby was delivered by two very young and inexperienced Americans last week. There are a few women hereabouts close to delivering their babies. The news came to Alyssa that one of them was in labor the other evening around 11:00 p.m., I think. She sent her sister Kate who is 18, and Nate Petersen in the Land Cruiser to the village south of here to fetch the mama to the clinic so she could deliver the baby here at our clinic. Nate and Kate got to the village and got her loaded in the land cruiser along with half the village who they shooed out. They did let the husband and two older women come with her – they must be mothers or something. They didn’t quite make it back to the farm before she delivered a very cute baby boy in the back of the land cruiser. I kept thinking yesterday, what a very fun thing for Kate and Nate to both relate to friends and family. They delivered a baby in Africa. Also what a cool thing for the baby as he grows up. He will be known as the boy who was delivered by two young forenjees. I got to see the baby twice yesterday. He was very cute, but it looked like they had already greased his head up with something. Maybe Vaseline or grease. The two old ladies were hovering close by as I went into the clinic to see the baby. Mama was doing fine and she and the baby and the two old ladies made it back to their village yesterday evening. Sorry, I didn't take pictures of the new arrival, I'm sure the old women would have ripped the camera out of my hand and stomped on it.

OK – small interruption. I was just called to the clinic to see a little boy who was kicked in the face by a donkey last night. His right eye is swollen shut and leaking pus. All the right upper side of her face is black with bruising and crusting blood. I called Alyssa and Nate who will deal with this situation better than I can. Alyssa has cleaned the wound and could see that there was a large gash on the bridge of his nose which needed stitching. She bandaged it with butterfly bandages and sent him home. He needs to see a doctor.

Last Tuesday, just around 11:00 am we had chaos and bedlam on the farm. The village elders from Goorooraayaa somehow got into the farm compound and started yelling and screaming for the people who work here to leave and go outside the fence. If they wouldn’t go, they would beat them with sticks. They had guns and our workers were very scared and afraid. Most of them left with the village elders, but some of them hid and we put them nside our houses. I had a grip on Ashrecka and told her to go to my house. She wouldn’t because she was scared of the village elders. So I yelled at her to get into her tent. They came and got her and all the other maids and were screaming and threatening them. I tried to stop them from taking Ashreka, but one of the old men started shaking his stick at me and yelling, so I let her go. As I was going to find Alan, who was about ½ kilometer awaym I found Wubishet and four other mechanics. They were all hiding behind the land rover. I grabbed Wubishet and we quickly walked down to find Alan and tell them what was happening. When we got back with Alan, all the workers had been herded outside of our compound and were being taken to the west of our compound to the tarp village. We didn’t know what had happened for sure.

Our workers being taken away by the village elders

They were looking for specific people who they felt were taking advantage of their people from Goorooraayaa. The people had to stay outside the compound for about four hours. I went up to the west fence and yelled for Ashreka.

A picture of the village elders meeting withh our workers. This would be illegal in our country.
Some men noticed that I was yelling and they went and found Ashreka. She came over to the fence and I asked her what had happened. She didn’t know what was happening either. I gave her 1 birr (about 10 cents) so she could buy herself some lunch. Then all the village elders came into our compound and held a conference with Mark. We were hiding Nahom (our translator) and a few others from them, so Haile, Alan’s assistant was the main translator. I was told later that all the people herabout respect Haile very much. He has a cool head on his shoulders. The elders said that there were nine people in our employment who were extorting the people from Goorooraayaa. According to them, these employees would get jobs for the people from the village if they would give them half their pay. It could have been happening. We don’t know our Ethiopian employees all that well. The elders also didn’t want people who were not from Goorooraayaa to work for us. According to them, they were promised that we would hire most our employees from Goorooraayaa, but according to our company policy, we were only required to have 20% of our employees from Goorooraayaa. Right now over 30% of our employees are from there. During all of this, the police were brought from Beltu, and they didn’t really do anything. After several hours of discussion, the village elders left and some of our employees were let back in to the compound. Ashreka came back, only stayed for a little while before she had to catch the bus to Beltu. She knows she is one of six people working for us that is not from Goorooraayaa. I think she is feeling scared that the people are mad at her for having a job here and that we might fire her. I assured her before she left that she is OK to work for us and Alan and I would not let her go. If we had to we would hire her ourselves, and not through the company.

After the bus left for Beltu, Mohammed, a man who works as a go-between for us and the government, took off for Beltu on foot. Mohammed is from a village close by here, and he has a lot of clout. The people from Goorooraayaa saw him and started to chase him. I’m not sure if they wanted to hurt him or talk to him, but he saw them and started running from them. We saw from the compound what was happening and Wes hopped on a motorbike and took off to save Mohammed. One of our security guards was beating on him and Wes grabbed him from them. According to Haile, the people just wanted to talk to Mohammed and weren’t going to hurt him. Mohammed was brought back to the compound and was taken to Beltu in a tractor by Haile. It was late when they got there, so Haile decided to stay in Beltu for the night. At about 9:00 pm Haile was awakened by some of our security guards who wanted to get down to the farm so they could collect a per diem. He said they could take the tractor, but no one knew how to drive the tractor and they wanted him to give them permission to take the bus. Haile said he didn’t have the authority to give them the bus. After some heated discussion, they took Haile and threw him in jail because he wouldn’t let them have the bus. Then they hitched a ride from someone and came back to the farm where they told Wes they had thrown Haile in jail and to collect a per diem. Wes was amazed at the stupidity of our guards. He sent for Mark who is in charge of all this security guard mess, but Mark was sound asleep and no one could wake him. Wes took off for Beltu to get Haile out of jail and brought him back to the farm. In the morning Alan talked to Haile to see how he was and he is OK. Haile thinks there are many, many misunderstandings between us and the villagers and the security guards. for the two days after we didn't have any workers on the farm except the maids and the grain cutting crew. Everyone else could not come to work until there was a better understanding from the vilagers. Ashreka came back and finished doing the laundry that she had begun yesterday. Then because she was so worked up about her job I gave her a cinnamon roll and then she took a shower in our bathroom. Both are a treat for Ashreka. She loves to use our shower and afterward she cleans it so well and she smells so flowery and fragrant that I like to encourage her new showering habit. Then she put on lotion on her face and hands and arms and was happy for a little while.
One day this week, Bracken was down at the area where they are loading the grain into long white silo bags. Alan and I had left – me because I was getting sunburned and Alan because he needed to get his camera card so he could take pictures.

While we were gone, Bracken saw a man, stark naked, running through the field toward the barbed wire fence which we have around the compound part of the farm. Bracken said he came up to the fence and climbed over it – a tricky thing to do when you’re naked. An old woman , three teeth on the left side of her face, who was working with the grain crew ran over and started yelling and berating him. Bracken just watched all the craziness - he didn't say so, but I imagine Bracken was laughing his head off.. Soon the man ran over to the guard’s little tarp structure and found himself some tarp and wrapped himself up in it. The lady was still yelling. The guy left and came up to the main part of the farm. Funny though – I never saw a man dressed in an orange tarp yesterday, and I was outside the whole day. Alan was sure disappointed that he didn't get pictures of the whole fiasco.

The old lady who was shoveling grain with Alan and the crew and yelling at the naked man.

Below are Said and Bracken. Said is a Muslim and also he is a licensed tour guide. He has offered to take us to the Sof Ommar Caves. We hope to do this soon.

Wednesday morning as I was walking up and down the airstrip, I saw a man out bathing himself. Yes, naked and he didn’t seem to be too worried about me seeing him. I think that nakedidity (family joke) is not an issue around here. The old lady that was helping Alan in the grain saw me and motioned for me to come over and talk to her. We met each other and she asked me something. I think she wanted to know where I was walking and I replied in the only Oromifa I know, “Wakee dema jira.” I’m sure she didn’t understand what I said. I said she was a very hard worker and she smiled at me with all three of her teeth. We need to get to know each other, this good old lady and me. She’s probably around my age, but obviously looks much older.

I continued my walk and came back to the house and found that two of my zuchinni and some of my lettuce and pea seed have sprouted. Yay!

That evening, Alan took the old lady home to her village with 3 quintals of grain – more like 5 - that she was going to use for feed. When he told her he was going to take her home she was going to hop in the back of the land cruiser, but Alan made her get in the front with him. She was surprised and happy that she was getting to ride in the front, but she was too scared to drive with Alan alone, and she made Said come with her and Alan. In the back were about 10 young men. Alan didn’t know who they were, but thought maybe they were relations or friends of her and they needed a ride home. But when he dropped her off at her village he was surprised that most of them came back with him to the farm. I think they just like to have rides anywhere.

July 31 and August 1 were big grain cutting days. It has stayed dry for about five or six days now and so the harvest is continuing. Dat ees goot. Dat ees vedy, vedy goot. Yesterday afternoon after church, Haile was driving down out of the large field in a land cruiser pick-up. He doesn't know how it happened, but one of the 20 odd guys riding in the back was bumped out onto his shoulder. He began howling and thrashing around so Haile brought him in for us to check him over. Abdul and I had a hard time getting him to sit still so we could look at him. There was no blood, but he was very hot and large beads of sweat were popping out of his head. We though he might have a broken bone, so Abdul, Haile, Elvis, the patient, and about 10 other guys all loaded into the land cruiser to take him up to Beltu. Haile came back about 4 hours later and told us there was nothing wrong with the guy and that he just wanted a ride up to Beltu. I don't know what to think. am I so easily duped that I can't tell when someone is in shock? As Haile said before, these people will do anything for a ride in a maquina (car).

Thursday July 29, a contingency of six John Deere technicians came to the farm to put the new drills together and give training on the new 8320R tractor which came with them. Two of them are from here in Ethiopia, Udo Knapp lives in South Africa, Rolando Gamino, Issa Elkass and Bryan (last name?) are from the states. We were glad to see them come, but I don't know how happy they were to be here. We have little in the way of amenities and nothing when it comes to evening entertainment. It was good for them that they brought their own supply of beer, for it is hard to find when you're amongst so many mormoms and muslims. The drill was assembled, and everyone ooohed and ahhhhed over the new big tractor. The Ethiopians , have never seen anything like it.

Nahom and Haile in front of the tractor.

Udo Knapp, Brian, Issa Elkass, and Rolando Gamino the men from John Deere.

Issa and Rolando.

Alas, the seed carts which go in front of the drills were delayed in Addis, and the John Deere technicians have decided to fly up to Addis Tuesday Aug 3 and assemble them there and then secure them onto a truck and send them down to the farm. Thank You John Deere men for coming and putting up with our crazy accomodations. Thanks to Clair and Julie they didn't starve to death while they were here. What good sports you all are!

It was a bad hair day. But then here on the farm every day is a bad hair day and how do you like my Africa glasses? They are so if a leopard sees me he might think I'm friendly and not eat me.
Have a good day and saludos a todos.

A Farmer's Life (wife) is never Boring, Here's What's Happening!

2010-07-25T13:12:00.004-06:00

I wanted to show the Kello-bilt disc that arrived here on the farm a few weeks ago. Clair, with the help of many of the mechanics (I think there are about 10 now), have been working the last few days putting it together. Kello-bilt is a company in Canada that fabricates the Challenger disc line for Caterpillar. The frame is very heavy and no one has seen or put together anything like it here in Ethiopia. It drew a lot of attention as the parts came out of the container. They had to use a loader to lift the frame. Clair has to keep a tight rein on the instructions and the crew so that things get assembled correctly. Clair says the assembly is going well, however, a box of hydraulic fittings is missing and when Clair asked Ferdoweke, the storekeeper, where the missing fittings were, and he said, “It’s a long road from here to Djbouti.”

Alan quickly emailed Kello-Bilt so that new fittings can be sent as quickly as possible. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Even if the disc were assembled tomorrow, here on the farm we have no tractor large enough to pull it. We are still waiting on that.

The harvest has slowed because of rain. It is overcast and cool and not good grain harvesting weather. Even so, the owner of the combines we are renting, wanted to go out to the fields and start working one day this week. So instead of letting him go out with the combines, Bracken took him out in the Land Cruiser and the mud was sticking to the tires and they were spinning in the grain. Not a good sign for cutting. Bracken asked the owner if he thought it was dry enough, and he admitted that it was too wet. We haven't cut any grain since the second day we got here. According to the local people, this is the first time in about ten years that they have had this kind of rainy weather in July. Just our luck!

Alan is constantly amazed at the poor condition of the equipment. When he inspected the combines the first day we were back he found that whole sections of knives and guards were broken or missing. Little wonder that our yields are low and unimpressive.

He told the combine owner that at home in Idaho when one knife blade breaks he will stop the combine and change the blade for a new one. “Really, theese is so important?” was his question. Yes, it is important to have the cutter blades working when you want to cut grain. Well, we are all learning from each other.

I went out to the gardening area today. We have some kind of crazy nursery going on in back of my house. They mound up beautiful raised beds and then seed them. Then they build these little wood leg things and lash sticks between them and then cover them with straw to protect and shade the seeds as they germinate and become seedlings. This is the way they do it here I was told.

If you can tell from these pictures, the seedlings are growing in the shade of the grassy topped structures.
Underneath are carrots, onions, tomatoes, collard greens, lettuce, spinach, zuchinni, cabbage, and so many others I can’t remember.

Then there are the trees – acacia, eucalyptus, apple, orange, mango, papaya, avocado, banana, and numerous shade trees. Above is a row of banana trees just starting out. And below are mango and avacado trees.

They are even trying to grow raspberries. Below is a picture of the raspberries, strawberries, and apples.

And the potato area was very confusing to all us Idahoans, because they dug pits and then put the potatoes in them and covered them up. I don’t know if this is just a test or what but it is very different than how we see it done on the other side of the world.

Above is the potato field.

I have some flowers and flowering shrubs around the porch of my house. I don’t know the names of any of them yet, except two or three geraniums and one petunia. I wish I did know what was growing here, I usually do know what I have in my yard. This is a first for me. I can’t wait till they get bigger and less spindly-looking.

I can’t remember the name of our gardener/nursery man, but he is very nice and says he will prepare a bed for my own personal garden next week. He told me that now is not a good time to plant corn, August will be better. So, I guess I won’t get my corn until later. Below is a picture of me and the gardening crew.

Funny thing about the seasons here. Alan informed me that here in the southern part of Ethiopia we are having summer, but up north in Addis, they consider June, July, and August to be the winter months. I believe September and October are considered the winter months here where we are, for that is when it gets really rainy. Alan says he read that during the rainy seasons the storms travel inland from the Indian Ocean and because we’re so close, and Ethiopia is so mountainous perhaps that is why there is so much rain. I’m sure it will be nice and green here then, so that will be fun to see, if we don’t all drown first or get buried in mud.

I think I said last spring, that our maid Ashreka was married. She told me today that she is not married to her husband. I asked if she had a husband and she said yes, but she will not be married to him much longer (I know, I was confused too).

In her Muslim culture here, she can live apart from her husband for six months and then she is considered a single woman again. Then after three months more, she will be available to get married again. She told me she does not want to be married again, or to have more children. She has a two year-old daughter whom she leaves with her mother and father. The baby's name is Karina. Ashreka was married for two years and she is now 17. She says her husband, Johar, did not treat her right and would not give her any money, but spent the money on himself. That seems to be a world-wide complaint. In August she will travel to her village and talk to her parents, husband, and I think then her marriage be over. This is too much for a young girl of 17 to deal with. At home in the states, I have three nieces who are 17. Just think Tenny, Arden and Kelsie; life could be so much worse. For now all you three have to do is look forward to your senior year of high school. You have no idea how blessed you are. You could be living with me out in the boondocks as my maid. Any takers?
This is the to-do list Ashreka and I made for us that is posted on my refrigerator: Monday and Thursday wash clothes, Everyday sweep with broom all floors and porch, mop all floors and porch, make bed, wash dishes, clean shower, toilet, and bathroom sink, clean and wash stove and refrigerator, take garbage to chickens, go for walk with Shelley, read English books with Shelley. Draw pictures, have rest, and have fun. Just to show you that some of her chores are hard, this is what she has to deal with on my front porch almost every day. And that was after Bracken shoveled it.

Now here are some funny and cute pics.

Every once-in-awhile you see menwearing scarves or turbans or something. Look at how skinny the man's arm is in the forefront. Most the people are that skinny.

Heidi maid, Misra, enjoying my kitchen and my bedroom.

My bathroom - that's about as clean as it gets folks. Notice the shower curtain.

Ummm, breakfast - Cake doughnuts - these were the leftovers.

We have an extensive sports program. Besides the karate lessons in the morning there is volleyball (net above) and soccer.

This is the clinic, also where English classes take place in the evening.

Oh, how sad! The demise of the washing station. It had to be moved and it fell apart. The maids are back to wshing our clothes in the dirt and mud. I hate that.

"Crappy, crappy, crappy, internet crap!" - overheard wile Bracken was trying to talk to his family.
I hope your week goes well, I hope we get sunshine. I hope everyone stays safe and healthy. Till next time.

Back home in Ethiopia

2010-07-19T12:55:00.000-06:00

Well, we are back on the farm and so far life can't get anymore exciting. The day we got here, we had one of those tremendous downpours that keeps On giving and giving. I had the water coming in through the window jams? Because nothing is sealed tight here. Everything comes in freely - rain, bugs, spiders, dust, Small children, etc. We were also informed that two of the maids had been let go because of a theft problem. When I got here, there were many items missing from our house that were supposedly under lock and key. My pots, cups, cleaning sponges, some food items. Alan and I had taken a picture of a the things we left behind so that we would have a record of what was left behind. We should have had a motion detector camera that would have caught the thieves in the act. Oh well, i'll just have to replace things. The next day, Sunday, we had a small electrical fire between our ceiling panels and our roof;bad wiring. Alan climbed up and doused the fire with water, but we had a little smoke in the house. That evening we had a light shower problem, it wouldn't turn off. You can't turn things too tight here, because it breaks the inner workings of the faucet. So our shower was quickly daring all the water from the water tank. Alan went out and snipped the wires to the water pump and then four of them proceeded to fix the faucet. Between our two housing disasters we had lunch, church, and dinner.
The wheat is dry enough and is being harvested. Mark was wondering how dangerous it would be if a body were to get caught in a combine - as in could a body go through and if it would hurt the combine. Alan didn't think a body would get too far, but Bracken was quick to remember that last year Alan sucked up a big rock and really damaged the auger in one of our combines. Finally after much discussion, we asked Mark why he would be worried about somebody getting sucked into a combine. Mark reminded us that last April during planting season, the upset and frustrated farmers would stand in front of the tractors until they would have to stop. He is hoping that the farmers won't try that trick with the combines. The crop is not yielding what Alan is used to getting. We have army worms and the rust fungus to thank for that and too little rain. I believe one drill is being put together, and I will haves to post a pictures of that soon.
Life is never boring here on the farm; frustrating, confusing, crazy, funny, very Ethiopian of course, and we are never bored. There is too much to see and do, too many people to meet and love. Too much to worry about and never enough daylight to get it all done. Remember we have just 12 hours of daylight all year round.
Have a good day, and the next time I post, I promise to post pictures.

Shelley

Fields of Gold

2010-07-04T08:26:00.000-06:00

The crop has progressed rapidly and we find ourselves preparing for harvest.

This is a picture taken a short time ago of our wheat at the farm at Beltu, Ethiopia

The wheat kernels look good so far.

Shelley and I are soon to return to Ethiopia where we will be harvesting our first crop. We have had the crop attacked by army worms and a fungus called rust, and it has taken a toll but we should still get a decent crop of seed wheat.

As the crop in Ethiopia has been maturing I have been busy dividing my time between Morrell Agro Industries and my personal family farm here in Idaho, trying to hand over the responsiblities to my brother and son in-law as Shelley and I take on the this adventure in Ethiopia for the next couple of years. I didn't realize how many responsibilities I had accumulated over the years that needs to be handed off and its hard to let go, even though it is is for a short term.

Our spring in Idaho has been cold and wet. We have not been able to plant our grain easily between storms. In fact we weren't able to finish planting until June 14 which is very late for us. Despite the late planting our Idaho crop looks good so far.

It has been a challenge trying to help manage duties in Ethiopia while waiting for their national elections to run its course over the last two months. Fortunately the elections were peaceful this go round.

Wes and Alyssa chose to stay in Ethiopia along with their son and five other children they are trying to adopt. They helped being the eyes and ears of the farm as his main responsibilities are to be the project director and complete much of the infrastructure on the farm. I have recieved pictures and comments from our good helpers on the farm Natnael (Nati), Nahom, and Haile. They have done a good job managing tasks of spraying the grain for pests and other necessary task that come up.

Bracken, his brother Dex and I took the five Dodge pickup trucks from Idaho down to the port of Houston, TX last week which will be shipped over to Ethiopa.

Two 5500 Dodge Rams pulling gooseneck trailers which carried two 2500 pickups and one 2500 pulling an enclosed tool trailer. We traveled about 1,800 miles to get there and we enjoyed the drive and secenry along the way. These pickups should turn some heads when they get there because they don't have pickups like these.

Shelley and I will be posting a little more often after we return to Ethiopia so we can keep all informed of our experiences.

A Summary of the Farm Operation So Far

2010-05-30T23:34:00.009-06:00

It started with a large tract of ground leased to us, Morrell Agro Industries (MAI), from the Ethiopian government. There was nothing but brush and a few trees in January 2010. We tried to get dozers to come and clear the ground but ,after much waiting, only three showed up and two broke down immediately. It was then decided to hire two thousand local laborers to manually chop down and pile brush with nothing more than axes, machetes, and grubbing hoes.

It proved successful. Within a month and a half they had cleared about 5,000 acres. The piles of brush were soon burned.

and with purchased and hired local equipment we started to plow ground in preparation for planting.

We had placed an order for larger equipment that we were familiar with from the U.S. in December, but none of it had arrived.

John Deere model 1895 44' air drill (somewhere over the ocean)

Morrell Agro's plan is to plant a U.S. proven variety of drought tolerant hard-red wheat, which had been introduced in Ethiopia about a year ago. The intial amount was small so it was grown initialy by ET government owned farm for our purposes. After they cleaned and bagged the seed it was delivered to the farm.

These are 1 quintal sacks, 100 kg. (220lbs each)

Since there were no conventional type drills in Ethiopia we had to plant using a common method used by the larger farms in ET. This method is mix the seed with fertilizer and broadcast it on the ground with a fertilizer spreader, and then lightly covering it with a disk harrow.

Broadcast Spreader

Offset Disk Harrow

Covering the Seed

Normally this method is a recipe for disaster if moisture is scarce, but the soil is heavy enough, and moisture was adequate, so the crop germinated fairly well in the loose soil.

One week after planting (Wow! Warm weather makes a difference)

In the end of our first phase of development we now have 5,000 acres of ground cleared and 3,000 acres plowed and planted into wheat. We started planting wheat April 5 and finished April 21.

The area received a good amount of rain after planting and the condition of the crop looked good through the tillering stage of growth.

One month after planting.

We had a fair amount of brush attempting to grow again, as well as sporadic weeds. Our sprayer, that we had ordered back in December, had yet to arrive so we were forced to purchase 50 backpack sprayers and guys went to work spraying 2,4D amine by hand, which by the way is the only broadleaf chemical available in ET.

As the crop approached the heading stage it was discovered that we had an infestation of Army Worms working on the grain.

Army Worm damage

The back pack sprayers were sent out again spraying insecticide. Some areas showed some major damage but most only had a little, for now anyway.

For the most part the crop looks good and the harvest will likely start arround August 1.

8 weeks

Reflecting back it has been quite an effort. To think what we started with just a short time ago it is amazing we got what we did accomplished. It has been very much a group effort, thanks to all.

Shelley and I are still in the U.S. awaiting ny fallout of the Ethiopian elections. For safety reasons this keeps us out of the country. Trying to mange things from a distance has been difficult. Wes and Alyssa have chosen to stay in ET with their children and are doing what they can to manage the farm. We have a good Ethiopian staff on the farm as well that makes it happen.

We plan on rejoining the crew on farm by the first or second week in July. We have been busy planning and ordering equipment for the future. Here are some pictures of some of the equipment we are attempting to send to ET.

John Deere 9770STS w/630 grain head

JD 9530T

I'm thinking this "Bad Boy" should leave an impression on the local people.

I need to thank Shelley for updating the blog while I have been busy. What an experience this has been for both of us.

Wheats Up!

2010-05-02T23:08:00.001-06:00

Since I went over to Ethiopia, it seems like I have hijacked this blog; first, because Alan is so busy that if it were up to him to keep the posts up, they would be two to three months behind reality; and second, because I love to write the posts and tell everything from my point of view. I know, I'm completely selfish. But, because I have done this, I realized that I'm not getting much of the farming/men stuff onto the posts, so this little one is more about the farm and the men on the farm. You will ENJOY!

This is a picture of the wheat just south of the airstrip. It was the first field that was planted and was seeded using a broadcast spreader. In the next picture you can see the height of the wheat in comparison to Alan's pliers. In some places the grain is not up as high, because it got covered with more soil and will take longer to sprout. But you can see that it is up and growing. These pictures were taken about two to three weeks ago.

Alan finds many uses for pliers, he is usually never without them. He is lost if he can't find his pliers. Kind of reminds me of a song my sister Elizabeth made up about a farmer and his pliers, wires, and pigs. Don't ask.

These are some of the tractors on the farm. We have John Deeres, Case, and Belarus tractors. If you remember, back in mid March, another restaurant went up on the farm because our tractor drivers would not eat at the other restaurant. After thinking about it, for awhile, I have realized that this may be because our tractor drivers are mostly Christian and they refuse to eat at a restaurant run by Muslims. They can get along with each other, usually, but they have different requirements in their religious dietary laws.

The muslims won't eat anything killed by a Christian and vice a versa. It has something to do with how the animal was killed. If you offer any of them a piece of meat, they will ask before they eat it, who killed it. Our maids would not eat any of the Walmart jerky we offered them, until I assured them the cow was killed by a Muslim. Yeah, I know, I lied; but there could have been a Muslim working at a jerky factory. Anyway, I digress.

This is the size of the disk harrows that were used to disk before and after the wheat was spread in the fields. Alan found a larger blue disk at Nazaret Equipment, and had to have it. It came about a week before we left for the US and it was an amazing peice of equipment compared to what we had been using. Clair and the mechanics worked and got this one ready to go. Can you imagine using something like this in Idaho? We're happy for what we can get on the farm.

I wanted to show some pictures of a manly Ethiopian custom that is very prevalent here on the farm. As I have said before, the Ethiopians are very friendly and don't seem to put up barriers like we Americans do. The men and boys here hold hands as they walk together. At first I found it hilarious, but then as I got used to it, I found it to be good. They have no fear at all, of showing friendliness toward each other by reaching out and holding hands. The first one is of two workers just walking together, the second one is of Nahom, our interpreter, and Fiza, who taught me my numbers in Oromifa, and the third one is of Nahom and Mark. Nahom will hold

anyone's hand, except mine. Men do not hold the hands of their wives or any woman.

At first, the American men were startled and mostly creeped out by this PDA, but then they just got used to one of the guys grabbing their hand as they walked along. The Americans still find it disconcerting, but they are learning to not be disgusted by it, and will tolerate it for a minute or so. Alan says they don't try to hold hands as much with him as they do with Bracken. Something about that guy. I did try to get pictures of Bracken holding hands with Haile or Nahom, but he was quick to disengage before I could snap the picture. I am determined to get one, so that I can blackmail him into giving me all his per diem.

This is as good a shot as I could get so far of Bracken getting getting chummy with the locals.

The next ones are of Alan and his two sidekicks Amin and Baruk. Amin got in big trouble a couple of weeks ago because he deleted (accidentally) three days of GPS mapped fields from the GPS system. Oooops! Alan just about had a freakin' meltdown right there in front of everybody. I think if he had been able to yell in Oromifa he would have. Amin was supposed to do some GPS work on a field and then return it to Alan so that they could put it on the computer, but when Alan got the GPS, all the previous unrecorded information had been deleted. He made Amin and Baruk go out and redo it all. I said to Alan, they'll never make that mistake again. Three Days of work down the drain! You know, you have to feel bad for these guys who aren't familiar with all the electronic equipment that we expect them to use. They hope they're doing it right and then they push one little button and it's "Gone with the Wind," never to be retrieved again. So, here they are after a few days of remapping with the GPS, anxiously getting the info. onto the computer before Alan left for the US.

This last little picture is of the shoeshine boys who have shown some real entrepreneurial spirit by starting their own little business. They will clean and shine your shoes for 2 birr, which is approximatly 25 cents. They came and Alan asked how much to sew up the splitting seams in his boots, and they said, " 2 birr". Alan asked if they would do it for 4 birr. They gave him a real puzzled look and then did it. I went in the house and got them each a sucker for a treat. Then Alan paid them a little more than the 4 birr. More like $5. They really did a good job and mended his boots very well. When he gave them the money they took off laughing and yelling with the suckers in their mouths. I'm sure they thought we were the suckers.

Till next time.

We're Home at Last!

2010-04-27T21:45:00.003-06:00

The following six posts were put on today. If you want to read them in order, go down to April 11- April 17 and read up. Sorry I was so interrupted in my blogging by a broken satellite modem, and the volcano in Iceland. I did keep writing on my computer so that I could post as soon as I got home. We flew into Denver on Sunday afternoon and I actually cried when I walked into the restroom at the airport because it was so clean and I dared to use it. It's always confusing to go to another country and figure out how to flush their toilets, but here in America I know how to FLUSH! We flew into IF Sunday night and were met by Morgan and Leah. Alan has left for Mesa Arizona to visit with his mom and dad. He's very relieved that he can go and be there with them for a few days. He'll be back on Saturday.

April 23, 2010

We think we’re flying out of here tonight. Our travel agency is working on our flight plan to take us to Frankfurt overnight arriving there on Saturday morning. We’ll stay Saturday in Frankfurt and then fly out of there on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 and arrive in Denver on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Then fly to IF and get there late at night. I hope this happens!

I went out today by myself (amazing) and wandered around the area here close at the guest houses. I went over to Passion burger to eat lunch. It’s about the most American food that you can get here in Ethiopia. They have good French fries, but the burgers and sandwiches taste just a little different. I think they might have extra spices in them. The beef burgers are just a thin little meatloaf like thing that they put on a roll and then add tomato, onion, and lettuce. No pickles here. No mustard either. I took some pictures of the Ethiopian Orthodox church just across the street from the guest houses, the one that starts the chanting business about 5:00 am every morning continuing for several hours. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Church was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa, Cyril VI. It should not be confused with the Ethiopian Catholic Church, which split from it in 1930. One of the few pre-colonial Christian churches of Sub-Saharan Africa, it has a membership of about 40 million people (45 million claimed by the Patriarch), mainly in Ethiopia, and is thus the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches.

It is a beautiful church and I wandered around the block to get some better pictures. Just around the corner, but on the same block I found the area to be run down and trashy. The church is beautiful on the side that faces the nice rich area and then run down and trashy on the other side. There were people sleeping on the street there. There are so many beggars here in Addis – well everywhere in Ethiopia really. Alan is usually compassionate and will give most people a little something. I’m usually not carrying money, so I don’t. I did buy two DVD’s off the street today for around $2.00 each. I bought Planet Earth and then some other African movie, and Alan bought Avatar and the Blind Side. I know, some of you people are going to have a problem with me doing this, but I wanted to do it just once and see if the quality is bad or good. As forejees in Ethiopia, we know that we’re getting overcharged left and right for goods. Our foreigness is something we can’t hide and the cost of things automatically goes up when we are the purchasers, so it makes me feel good when I get something for less than it should normally cost. I feel like I have triumphed in the market place. One day Nadi and I were looking for bananas. We stopped at a road side stand and I asked first how much for the bananas/kilo. Then Nadi asked and they told him. When we compared prices, he was quoted something like 40 birr less per kilo than I was. It makes me mad that I can’t get the normal, average, everyday price for things because I am a forenjee. So that’s why I’m not going to lose any sleep over purchasing something I know darn well was bootlegged and I’m getting it for almost nothing.

I hope we’re out of here tonight!

We just got word we are approved to leave at 10:30 on Lufthaansa to Frankfurt! Oh my word, I’m so relieved!

My Philosophy of American vs. Ethiopian Work Ethics, Spa Day, and that Darn Volcano

2010-04-27T21:22:00.002-06:00

April 20, 2010

Alan was busy all day today, trying to get things organized and put together before we leave for the US. Nadi stayed out in Nazaret again last night, but he will be back tomorrow with the van and will start for Beltu either tomorrow or the next day. Alan had planned to go out looking for an air compressor that he wants to have purchased for Beltu. He got to the place, but couldn’t buy it, because the company rule is that you have to have a request to buy it. Then you go back and get a quote from the business and put it in a sealed envelope, then you have to go get two more quotes in sealed envelopes, then you have to bring the three quotes back to the office and put them in front of the purchasing officer, then he opens the quotes and tells you which one he thinks is best. Then, if you’re lucky you can go back and purchase the air compressor, and hope that it has not been purchased by someone else while you were running around. The problems at the office are many and it is really making Alan crazy. Let’s just say that Ethiopians don’t get uptight or worried about too much. They’re pretty content to just take their time about everything and they don’t understand why we Americans have time schedules and want things to be efficient. It’s a constant battle.

Today I met with Chombe’s wife who took me to the Hilton spa for a spa treatment. They had wanted to get together with Alan and I last night, but we couldn’t. So Chombe volunteered his wife to come get me and go spa together. Actually she ended up leaving me at the spa, after she showed me around. I had access to a steam bath, a hot shower, a sauna room, a massage, and a tea room, oh, and ice cold water with fresh limes. I admit, I really enjoyed it. However, because I don’t speak the language, I didn’t understand that I needed a swimsuit to enjoy all the amenities, so I couldn’t go into the Jacuzzi, because the only suit I had was my birthday suit. Darn it, I was looking forward to the Jacuzzi. But I did get a massage – a habesha massage. That means all over, legs, feet, toes, arms, chest, buttocks, back, neck, fingers, and forehead. It took about an hour and I enjoyed it! Particularly, because she didn’t actually massage my chest, just all around my chest area, if you get what I mean. She put on some relaxing zen-like music, lowered the lights, and went to work. It was pretty fun, and I’m sure they get lots of forenjees there who need to be pampered after roughing it out in the bush. I was totally convinced afterward that we need to send some maids up here to learn to massage and then bring them back to the farm so that I can have a massage every week.

Chombe’s wife came back at 4:00 and took me to the guest house where I got packed and ready to go to the airport. Alan came, got ready and at 9:30 Joe came and took us to the airport. All day long Alan had been checking the internet to see if our flight was scheduled or had been canceled. All indications said we were going. When we got there, we were told by an employee that the Frankfurt flight would bypass Frankfurt and go to Brussels. They only gave us a few minutes to make up our mind what would be best to do. Alan called Christopherson travel, not Char, but some other person, who advised us to stay in the country and work with Ethiopian airlines to get us out. We decided to stay put and try to get out on a later flight, but now in retrospect, we should have left and taken our chances in getting from Brussels to Frankfurt for our flight home to Denver and IF. I’m kicking myself for not pushing Alan harder to get out of here and I’m mad that I’m not on that flight to Brussels. Craaaapy Volcano!!!! I feel a meltdown coming!

April 21, 2010

I should have been home today, but I’m still here in Addis, and not in the best of moods. We have gone over to Ethiopian Airlines office and told them to schedule us for getting to Frankfurt as soon as possible. They have put us on the list of people to call in case they can finally land in Frankfurt. We know that Frankfurt has opened up to let flights in and out, but they are overcrowded and are only letting in flights from their most important customers. Ethiopian Airlines doesn’t rate so high on the list is my opinion, and so they don’t get to fly into that busy airport. This is only what I think.

Today a worker, Adam, was at the office when I was there. He came over and sat down by me and told me how much he likes Alan. He said Alan is very serious and likes to work. Yes, I knew that. He said Alan works works, works, and wants everyone around him to work hard too. Hmmmm, imagine that. He definitely wanted me to know that he likes Alan and thinks highly of him.
OK enough about working – we’re not going home today or tomorrow! I'm depressed.

Monday in Addis - Bracken is leaving no matter how many countries he has to go through!

2010-04-27T21:15:00.001-06:00

Today the weather is mostly cloudy and I expect it to rain. Alan has been in meetings all day today with financial officers and purchasing departments. He is getting frustrated at how this operation gets bogged down, because of our miscommunications mostly. Everything is so green and beautiful here in Addis and the temperatures are very mild. Even though it is gray outside, it is still warm enough for me. However, I do see that a lot of the local people here get very cold if it is cloudy and rainy. They're not used to dealing with harsh weather conditions.

Today I went out with Tedi, a driver for the company and Nadi, a finance clerk and teacher who works with us on the farm in Beltu. We went out to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables to send back to the farm with Nadi when he goes. I first went to Bambi and then to Friendship which are more American type grocery stores. After that, we went and found some souvenirs to take home with us. I shopped for Bracken, because he says he has no idea what to buy for his little girls. I just think Bracken does not like to shop. As we wove in and out of traffic I felt that several times we were going to collide with another car or mow down a pedestrian. Amazingly we got to the stores and back without any mishap. I had to just sit in the back and try not to gasp or scream as we tore down the streets and darted in front of other drivers. The driver told me there is no electricity for the lights to operate. I asked him if this was common, and he said “yes, they never work.” Too funny! You honestly don’t stop at any intersection, you just go through honking.

Last night when we got here I had a hot shower! I’ve not had one in over a month. We all felt happy to go to bed clean. When I awakened in the morning I felt like I had been unconscious for 10 hours.

Bracken’s flight was canceled out of Addis to Frankfurt due to the valcano eruption in Iceland, so he has been sending emails to our travel agency haranguing them for any itinerary he can get to go home. Finally at about 7:30 p.m.here, he got an itinerary. He leaves Addis at 9:35 headed for Khartoum Sudan, then to Cairo Egypt, then to Rome Italy, then to Madrid Spain, then to Atlanta Georgia and then finally on to SLC, Utah. He was very excited, but then realized how difficult it was going to be to make all of his flights and he got somewhat worried. He decided to pack one carry-on just because he knew with so many flights, that his luggage would be lost for sure. He got ready in about 20 minutes, and he took off tonight for Sudan. Bye for now to Bracken. I hope he makes it OK. We are hoping all will be well for our flight tomorrow to Frankfurt.

The Craziest Adventure I've Ever Had!

2010-04-27T20:58:00.000-06:00

April 18, 2010

We started out early this morning from the farm and headed south to Ginir but only went about 3 or 4 kilometers before we had to turn back because of the bad road conditions. So went back to the farm and then decided that we could take an alternative route that went North up to Beltu and then southwest to Sheik Husein and then back down to Ginir over to Robe Shashamene and then upto Addis. We knew there was a more direct route from Sheik Husein to Addis which would cut off about 4-5 hours but we heard that it was perilous and there would be no place to get help if we needed it. We decided that when we got to Sheik Husein we would ask the local people about it, and if they said it was passable, then we would take that route in order to shorten our trip and make it to Addis is one day. The driver did not want to take the direct route, but we settled between us Americans that we would make it happen if we could. So we set out once again from the farm. I saw hut after hut, camel after camel, donkey after donkey, and one little dirty urchin after another, everything that I’m used to after living here for a month. We made the ride in a filthy van that had a driver and his assistant who looked like he was about 14. The assistant’s job was to hang out the window periodically and look to see how the tires were holding up. I felt sorry for him and as the day went along, I gave him cookies, chocolate, watermelon gum, and pepsi. The driver stole my orange soda pop and so I was mad and gave his assistant treats and him nothing. The driver would only go about 30 kilometers/hour and so we knew it was going to be a long arduous journey.

Beehives in a tree.

There are very few paved roads here in Ethiopia. The road we traveled was a dirt road sometimes graded, but usually not. It reminded me of roads out on the desert in Emery County or the reclamation road that crosses over to Wyoming only worse.
We bounced along for about two hours when we came to a truck at the side of the road. To our surprise it was one of our loader drivers on his way back to the farm from Ginir with a loader tire. The truck he was traveling in had a flat tire and so they had stayed on the side of the road over night. He told us that during the night, two lions had come and walked around the area and scared him. He did not want to stay overnight there again and wanted us to turn around and take him to Beltu. We said no because we had to make it to Addis tonight to catch flights to America. So we left him there with the lions nearby and we went on to Sheik Hussein. This town is a pilgrimage town for the Muslims here in Ethiopia. I believe it is important because 100s of years ago this Sheik Husein man was instrumental in converting many of the southern tribes of people to Islam. So they honored him by building an all white mosque in his little town where he lived.

Many people during the months of May and September make the journey to Sheik Husein and I don’t know what they do there once they get there. Probably they face Mecca and pray. After driving there, I don’t know why anyone would want to make the trip. It is absolutely NOT worth the torture. I got some pics of the mosque, and it was interesting in a very muslim Ethiopian kind of way. The town itself was made of rocks. Really, the houses, fences, roads were all rocks, and I know why; because I have never seen a rockier place in my life. I thought Utah was rocky, but it is not close to Sheik Husein and the surrounding area. The area was dry and arid with lots of cactus like plants covering the terrain.

We talked to the people in Sheik Husein and asked them if the route north to Addis Ababa was a good route and if there were bridges across the rivers at the bottom of the canyons. We were assured that it was a very good route, but it would be very steep and scary for the driver who was already getting to be a pain because of his tortoise like pace. We picked up a man there who said he would guide us, if we would take him to another village on the way. At this point Bracken took over driving and we headed out of Sheik Husein. I don’t have the desire to go back to that flea bitten town.

We soon came to the first of the deep canyons that we had to travel. Our little road wound down the sides of the canyons farther and father. I took some pictures, but I know they won’t do it justice. It was probably 45 minutes down to the bottom where there was a large dirty river churning through some farmland and immense green canopy-like trees covering the banks. It wasn’t like a rain forest, but it was very green considering what we had left up on top. We soon came to the first of the bridges and then we were climbing up the canyon back to the top. The views were spectacular and the road was narrow, rocky, and without any guardrails. If you lost your brakes going down you would be toast. However, there were copious amounts of huge boulders in the road, that had obviously fallen from the cliffs overhead into the road that could be used to stop a truck from plummeting over the side of the cliff, but a smashed grill and radiator would be the very least of the damage.

So we went up and down two more times adding on three more hours and finally came out on top into a very dry area with many people herding cattle on the road. I had to ask myself, where in the heck are these people going? It just didn’t look like they could be headed anywhere except off into the rocks and dirt. And they did not look too friendly. I realized, because they were a little different looking that these were Somali people. They wore different clothes, have a different language and were not used at all to a vehicle traveling through their dusty land. They really stared at us. I enjoyed looking out the window and trying to get some good pictures of the endless trail of women and children driving the cattle along the sides of the road.

After a while we came to a place with a little more fertile ground and we saw some small fields and some gardens next to the huts. I saw squash plants, yams, something that looked like radishes and some corn. And all of the people have to haul water from the local watering hole. There is no such thing as a well out there. I saw watering holes by the side of the road and women and children dunking there containers in the murky dirty water to haul it home again. I believe that these women have to spend most of their time hauling water and firewood to sustain their families. Then we came to an area where they were building a lot of cell towers. Ethiopia has contracted with some Chinese company to build cell towers all over the country. Not very many of them work. There is even a phone tower being built in Beltu, but it isn’t finished either. The land started looking a little greener and more fertile as we traveled northwest.

Alan talking on the phone to Marty. Good grief, when he gets a signal he has to talk.

This is Nadi or Natnael Haile. He is hired as a financial bookkeeping type of employee. He also is teaching the kids science and math. He is a computer science major and his story is really cool. I love this boy. Such a wonderful person. He laughs at us because we can't pronounce certain words lik "tibs" correctly, but we laugh at hime because he can't say "thistle."

The driver's assistant saw that one of the tires was getting low so we had to stop and change it here in a very beautiful spot. So picturesque.

This was what I was looking at as the tire was being changed. I said it was picturesque! Beautiful land, beautiful colors, beautiful people, beautiful little wood-carrying donkeys. Soooooo cool.

We stopped in a very raucous looking town, because the assistant had spied one of the tires was getting low. We found a tire changing business and Nadi and the driver ran to get some lunch. There was no way I was going to get any good food in that town, but we did buy some very dry hard bread, and a box of nasty Ethiopian cookies to munch on. This town, out of all the towns I’ve traveled through here in this country absolutely shocked me. So many chat chewers, naughty boys, and filthy children; more than usual. Bracken said it was much nicer than Ginir. If that is the case, I never want to go to Ginir.

Looking up the main road of the town

Looking in the opposite direction.

Looking down a side road off the main road.

Bracken can always entertain the locals. Here he is with a crowd of rowdy boys in a chat-chewing town.

As we were departing I saw a naked man walking down the road. I yelled, “Hey, hey, hey, there’s a naked man over there! I need to get a picture!” But Alan laughed and just kept driving. He explained that he had seen some too while here and that it is OK. There are some tribes here that do not wear clothing, and so they just go naked. Everyone understands that it is OK and they don’t get worked up about it. Only white forenjee women get worked up about a naked man strolling through town frequenting the local businesses. I just really thought it would have been cool if I had got a picture of him.

Next we came into an area that had lots of fields of coffee beans, chat, and corn. It was a very busy area and almost every field was being worked by women weeding and men plowing with oxen and a wooden plow. I got some pictures of all this agricultural display. It was pretty cool. Alan kept saying that we needed to cross some mountains that were to our left in order to get up to Addis. Remember, there are no road signs or maps of this area out here. For that fact, there are no road signs in Addis Ababa which is the capital. You just have to know they way to get there. We stopped when we came to a T in the road which led off to the left. We stopped and asked the locals and they said we should take that road to get to Addis and I thought they said about 56 kilometers to the paved road. Hello! They must have said 256 kilometers and I just didn’t pick up on the first part. At the T in the road, Alan took his turn driving and I swear we drove and drove and drove with me thinking we were going to get on the paved road any minute. This was the most interesting part of the drive, but because I was a nervous wreck from thinking we had taken the wrong road, I couldn’t enjoy it. I was convinced that Alan and Bracken were taking us off into western Ethiopia and I kept asking, “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Alan and Bracken weren’t worried at all and just kept talking and laughing and bumping along in our crazy van.

Every once in awhile, Bracken or Nadi would look back at me and ask if I was alright and I just kept praying that we were not headed off into some no man’s land. The area was amazing because we were in some beautiful highlands which were green and wet looking. Even as we would climb up and around the mountains we would look down and there would be clouds below us and off to the side. Half naked children would run down to the road to shout at us as we went by, jumping up and down and waving their hands, screaming and laughing. You know how in the states there are dogs that chase cars down the roads; here the cars get chased by naked dirty children. It’s funny to see little children without pants running toward you because their little bare bottoms are just out there for all to see. I think they go without pants because they’re easier to potty train. It was the longest part of the ride for me. We saw men farming on the sides of mountains growing their meager amounts of coffee and whatever else. The people looked like they were just worn out, but they did have a beautiful view. I wonder if it comforts them to know that they can wake up every morning and see that amazing view from their dung caked hut. Somehow I doubt it.

This is the best map I could make work to show you our route. We started at the farm 90 kilometers just north east of Ginir which is in the bottom right hand corner of this map. We headed north east toward Shek Husen on the dotted line. Then we followed the red line mostly north and came out at the place near Awash, then headed south west toward Nazeret, then northwest toward Debre Zeit and Addis. I know it doesn't look very far, but it took us a good 14 -16 hours.
It started getting dark as we were winding our way down out of the highlands, and we could see off in the distance some lights of a community, which is an extraordinary sight here in Ethiopia.into a city called Mechara or something like that. And then we came to Awash which was where we finally got onto the paved road that comes from the northeast area of Somalia and Djbouti. The roads are not nearly as good as you would expect them to be because they are rutted and crowded with large trucks coming and going to the ports. There are no highway weight limits here, hence you get badly rutted roads from the heavy overloaded trucks driving in the heat. Alan says that the road is possibly worse in the daylight, because people are walking on the sides of the road with animals, carts, children, etc., and you have to slow down to a crawl.

The driver wanted to drive at this point but he was terrible. He would not go faster than about 30 kilometers/ hour and he would almost pull off the side of the road when a truck passed us going the opposite direction. . Our driver decided to announce at this time that he would not drive us to Addis. He told us that he could not drive in the dark, because his van was not insured to drive after 6:00 p.m. or darkness. Holy cow! We had been driving a couple of hours in the dark. He said he would only drive as far as Nazaret, which is about 150 kilometers from Addis. Nadi had to translate all of this to us and I could tell he felt bad telling us what our crazy driver said. We had a while to get to Nazaret still, and so Alan said, “Stop this van now! We’re not going any farther until we get some things straight.” Alan was really ticked and he told him that we weren’t going to go any farther in his van unless Bracken drove. He told him that he was a terrible driver and that we didn’t trust him to get us to Nazaret. The driver was ticked off and told us that he and his van would not go past Nazaret because it was broken. So Bracken drove, while Alan made arrangements to get us from Nazret to Addis. Alan called Marty from the office and told him our predicament; Marty recommended that we call Joe for help, and Joe recommended Ashabur to us to get some help. Ashabur to the rescue! (BTW Ashabur is the branch president of a one of the branches here in Ethiopia) Ashabur arranged with a friend of his to meet us in Nazaret with a van and then to convey us to Addis. By the time we met Ashabur and his friend in Nazret, we were exhausted from our trip. In Nazret we left our van driver, his assistant, and Nadi. Nadi is from Nazret and was going to see his mom and dad whome he hadn’t seen for over a year. He was very happy and so were they. His mom jumped in the van and kissed us all because she was so happy to see Nadi.
It was about 9:30 and we still had to get to Addis. The ride was uneventful because I couldn’t see anything because of darkness. I just want to say now at this time that I really dislike Ethiopian music. When I was in Argentina, I developed a dislike for Argentinian music. It’s just a thing that happens to me. As we were traveling, the new van driver turned up the volume on his radio and Alan, Bracken and I endured blaring, beating music that eventually gave me a terrific headache. And now I dislike Ethiopian music. We dropped Ashabur off in Debra Ziet and continued on to Addis and got here about 10:30 – 11:00 p.m. We were so relieved to have made it safely. It is the most adventurous ride I’ve ever undertaken. Half the time I didn’t know what was happening, so if we were in danger or peril, I didn’t know about it. I just tried to sit back and take it all in. We were taken to one of the guest houses – very nice – and I had a hot shower, Bracken made ramen noodles, and Alan just sat back looking stunned and exhausted. We had run the gamut of terrain and emotions and lived to tell about it.

April 11 - April 17, 2010 and Saying Goodbye

2010-04-27T18:57:00.003-06:00

Sunday April 11, 2010

Today Alyssa’s children came by van from Shashamene. They have been traveling since Friday, I believe. Also with them, came Thicary, a nurse from the Village of Hope. He has come to assess our needs and do a little first aid training with us. He will be very surprised by all of the patients we have lined up for him.

Thicary our nurse for two weeks

A little girl who had a badly burned leg, a little boy with a swollen abdomen and limbs, a baby who had ulcers all over her body, and a little baby who had a scabby encrusted head and was balding from it.

Alyssas’ children are Mesafint, Mumbarek, Dambitu, Tofik and Gutama. I’m sure they were excited to be here. They seem very nice and I hope they will enjoy getting to know the farm and the people here. Thursday is Mesafint’s birthday, and he’s turning 15!

We had church today. Clair gave a talk and I led the gospel discussion and was helped by Mufasint, who seemed to have an answer for everything. We discussed the children of Israel leaving Egypt, the parting of the red sea, etc. Everyone was tired and we surely need to get a better rest on Sunday. There is too much working on the Sabbath day.

Monday April 12, 2010 and My Second Meltdown, a Parade, and a Motorbike Ride

Today is sweet Lily’s first birthday. Happy Birthday sweetie, we love and miss you so much. Today they finally fixed the stove in this house so it would work. I had been waiting for over two weeks. It was so nice to be able to cook something – anything. Our food choices are not wide or deep. We have to eat a lot of starchy foods; potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, etc. And meat is not plentiful. There is very little in the way of fresh produce. I got so ticked off on Monday morning when I still had no stove, that I had to start threatening. To cool off, I went for a walk north toward the village of Goro RaaYaa. It’s about three miles away, and I was determined to get there and look at the school. As I was walking up the road, I started collecting some company. First, just two children, a boy and a girl, started following me. I heard them talking and laughing now and then. As I continued walking, I could tell more and more people were following me. I would look back to see how many I had gathered and I had about ten and then a little farther on I probably had 20. I knew they were all curious about why the white "forenji" came to walk up their road. I wondered if they were too afraid to walk by me so I stopped to admire some cactus and a corn field hoping that they would all continue walking, but no. They all came to a stop with me and watched me look at the cactus and corn. I turned around and smiled at them and continued walking. Finally after about one mileI couldn’t stand it anymore, and I turned around and faced them and said, “Are you following me?” There was surprise on all their faces and the two children ran off into the cactus. I asked them again if they were following me, and still no reply. Then one of them got courageous and asked, “How old are you?” I said, “Fifty two, How old are you?” “What ees your name?” asked the same man. I said, “Shelley, What ees your name?” Suddenly I got several responses. It seems like they know this one phrase. So, I talked to them a little about how beautiful the cactus was and how the man who farmed the corn should be congratulated for raising such a nice crop of corn - they had no idea what I was talking about. They were so interested in looking at me, they could have cared less what was coming out of my mouth. So I carried on a little more small talk as they watched and then I just turned around and walked back the way I had come. They were very surprised that I turned and walked the other way and just stood there watching me leave. I hope they soon get used to the few Americans that are here, and I don’t have to have a parade when I walk up to Goro RaaYaa. When I came back to the farm, two farm guards came hurrying up to me and motioned that I should not be out on the road. They wanted me to go back to the house, but I tried to tell them I wasn’t finished walking and I was going to walk some more. I could tell they wanted me to go to the house, but I kept saying no. Suddenly a little phrase that Ashreka taught me came to my mind. I blurted out, “ Walkie dema jira,” and I pointed very determinedly down the road to the south. Then the guards smiled and motioned for me to go walking. Lucky I knew how to say, “I am going walking” in Oromifa. When I finally did finish my walk, which was not for another two hours, Alan and Haile joined me and we got rained on. They had come upon me as they were driving from the fields and they got out and walked home with me leaving Bracken to drive the pickup land cruiser home.

This afternoon as the stove was getting hooked up, Alan wanted to check GPS hectare information and had to ride one of the motorbikes out to the east fields where they have been clearing and plowing, and I went with him. It’s probably about three miles out. On the way we saw camels, cows, turtles, goats, filthy children and a village I had never seen. Children came running out and then there came women running out. Alan said, “Oh, that looks like one of your patients, and sure enough, one woman was carrying a little girl with a bandaged knee.

I immediately recognized the woman running toward us and told Alan to stop. She wanted us to look at the little girl who had just been down to the farm earlier that day having her leg doctored by Thicary. Soon we were surrounded by women and children who wanted to look at us and talk. Too bad Alan is such a bad conversationalist. I, on the other hand, can talk to the village women about anything. And they also don’t understand anything I say, but I can still talk a lot. We smiled and talked and then we waved good-bye and drove on. We soon came upon some of our workers (about 8 of them), far out in a field changing a tractor tire. The men in charge were the mechanics, Wubishet and a man whom Clair calls Elvis, I don’t know why.

Wubishet is the one in Clair's coveralls. Clair gave them to him and he thinks he's all that now.
Elvis speaks pretty good English and has offered Clair one of his daughters for a wife if he will take her to America. The tire got changed and then they had to push the tractor to get it started. They couldn’t get it going fast enough, so they all left, leaving the tractor driver, Alan and me. Alan checked some more information, and then we tried to leave but we couldn’t, because the motorbike wouldn’t start. Alan tried and tried. I got tired of watching so I decided to walk back the way we came so I could go back to the village. When the children saw me coming up through the field, they started shouting to each other and I was soon surrounded by women and children. I really enjoy seeing these mothers and their children. This time they were much friendlier, maybe because I was without Alan. Alan too intimidating? Who knew? I sat down on a broken tree trunk because I needed a rest after walking uphill about ½ mile. They soon started to chatter and kept asking me questions. I gathered after much chatter, that they thought Alan was making me walk back to the farm by myself. They decided I needed a ride home. We could hear the roar of one of the loaders from the farm coming along the road and the oldest lady in the village, who looks like a crone because she has only two teeth and one eye, went out in the road and flagged it down. She's in the picture below and you can sort of tell how old she is. Very spirited however.

The loader driver was going to go by her, but she wouldn’t let him pass. She made him drive down to where I was perched on my tree trunk and talk to me. He jumped down from the loader and politely asked, “may I help you?” I was happy that he spoke pretty good English and I told him I was only waiting for Alan to come and pick me up. I told him to tell them that I wanted to come and see their village and children again. He turned to the women and children and explained that I was waiting for Alan here at their village and I was happy to be there. That got a lot of smiles, and chatter. As I looked around at the good mothers and their offspring, I was suddenly filled with a very strong love for these people here in this part of Ethiopia. Many of them are so beautiful it almost takes my breath away. For the most part, the children are healthy, but very very dirty. I realize that it takes a lot of courage and faith on the part of the parents to come to the farm and ask for help from someone so strange and different. Much must be done to teach these mothers and children better hygiene. Hygiene starts with a reliable source of clean water. Something these people here in this are do not have.

Thursday April 15, 2010

Today I arose and made breakfast, oatmeal again, but yesterday I made French toast with the bread I made on Tuesday Yummy!. Thicary has been seeing all the sick and afflicted since Sunday evening. Many people have come here for us to help and now we have a qualified nurse here for two weeks to see them and teach them some better ways of coping with their health issues. Thicary says that most of the problems that he is seeing are due to bad hygiene. I believe it. He has been very upset about the water or, I should say lack of clean water, here and in the surrounding areas. He visited Gora RaaYaa on Monday and then went up to the village on the hill and reported that neither village has an acceptable drinking source. This is a big problem for this area. Both villages have dug a pond where the water can run when it rains. Of course, the ponds get used by animals and humans alike. He says they are drinking and defecating in the same water. Is it any wonder that these people have so many health problems? The wonder is that any of them are still alive. There are so many problems related to the lack of good clean water.

On the subject of water; some time in the past, the LDS church was contacted and agreed to drill a well in the area of Shashamene. The church drilled the well and put in some water lines and pumps for people living in outlying areas not close by the well. It was agreed that after the well was dug, the church would turn over the well and all pumps to the government who would then take responsibility for the well. Soon the government built fences around the pumps, locked them up, and will not let the people freely use the water. Instead the people have to pay for the water that comes out of the well. So much for trying to do good deeds. This government is keeping the people from receiving what was a gift for their villages.

Linda, Alyssa, the children and I rode down to Goro RaaYaa to go to the school and visit the teachers and children there. As we came into the school yard, the children gathered from all corners to stare and giggle. I explained to Mesafint that these children are very scared of me. The children all stood in front of their school and the teachers came out and greeted us warmly. Especially the third grade teacher. He was very friendly and spoke some good English. This school has 178 students and about 130 of those are boys. Girls are getting left behind. I told him that we wanted to come and visit the children of this village and their teachers. We asked how many grades and how many children.

Once again we gathered lots of people around who are so curious about us. Out in the school yard, surrounded by the children Linda read a story, which was translated into Oromi by the teacher for the children. Then we asked if we could visit a classroom and watch the teachers. I was so impressed by the respect the children showed at the school for their school and their teachers. They were well disciplined and quiet during teaching, maybe our presence had something to do with that, but I don’t think so. Two of the rooms were built by an NGO, and two rooms were built by the villager themselves. By US standards none of the rooms were acceptable, but here in Ehiopia, the children are just lucky that there is any kind of roofed structure they can meet in. Their work books are kept in plastic bags and each is covered in a plastic bag. Very few of the children had writing materials. There were three to four children at a desk, and no desks at all in the grades three and four which were meeting in a small manger like structure. At least, I thought it was a manger, until I peered inside and found that there were children sitting and listening to a lesson. I asked if I could go in and take pictures and I was given permission. When I went outside I found a gathering of men from the village. Quite an elderly gentleman had come to see what all the noise was about and he found Everett and me, so obviously out of place in his village school yard. I wondered if he would not talk to me, most men do not like to talk to me because I don’t wear a scarf. However, one man was daring and started to chat and ask me some questions. We had a nice conversation about why we were at the school, where I was from, what was my job, and who was my husband , and who was Everett. They really liked Everett. I told them I lived at the farm, I was going to America in a few days, I would come back, and I would visit the school again. I told them Alan was the farm director and that I had gone to a university and could be a teacher. The man asked what was the name of the university I went to, and I said Utah State University. “Ahhh, that university Utah ees very good university, yes, I know.” I got a kick out of that. I asked if I might take a picture of the men outside the school and they were glad to pose for me.

That was a really good thing, to go to GoroRaaYaa and visit that school. I’m thinking humanitarian school kits! When we got back into the van to go to the farm, Mesafint, who had been wondering why the children were so scared of me said, “Shelley, maybe the children are scared of you because they think you are a vampire.” What? Do I look like a Vampire? Apparently Mesafint thinks so.

Saturday April 17, 2010

Today the little plane was supposed to come to pick us up and take us to Addis. No plane. I’m so irritated and no one has a good excuse as to why the plane didn’t come. We heard that it was raining in Addis so the plane wouldn’t fly, and we heard that it was too late to fly down here and back up to Addis. And several other excuses. This has hit us hard, and we’re all feeling really upset. I had everything packed and ready to go and then they told us the news. I left and went walking because I was so mad and then I came back to the house and made some French fries with Heidi. I kept peeling and cutting and she kept frying them up. So that’s what we made for dinner. I had said good bye to everyone, and now we’re going to do it all over again. The little plane can fly down on Monday, but if it rains it won’t come. I really want to get out of here and Bracken’s flight out of Addis is on Monday night and so he doesn’t trust that the little plane will come on Monday. Bracken is for driving up to Addis, though everyone says it will take two days with a stop in either Robe or Shashamene. I can tell alan would rather wait for the plane on Monday. I think Bracken and I have just out voted him.

Wes has offered to send us out of here on the van (van and driver brought Wes and Alyssa’s children Sunday), tomorrow morning at 4:00 am. I guess that’s what we’ll do. I went down to the tents to my pretty girls and tell them I was leaving so they wouldn’t be sad when they found I had gone already. They get a little offended if I don’t do things their way sometimes. It was so cute when I said good-bye. They all hugged me and Ysriba started to cry and wouldn’t let go. She just kept saying “I luf you Shelley, I luf you Shelley.” She even came up to the house by herself in the dark to sit with me one more time and tell us goodbye. She said “I luf you Shelley and Alin. I luf Alin and Shelley.” She’s such a sweetie. So we’re leaving and Bracken and Nadi are going with us in the morning.

Saying Goodbye to the Maids and Zakir

Zakir, Birka, me, Ysriba and Ashreka kneeling. Zakir and Birka are siblings. Zaakir only has one change of clothing. I'm taking some clothes for him next trip. Probably something of Zacks. He is 19 years old and sends all of his money home to his parents. Zakir takes care of all the animals here.

Birka and me. Birka is 17 and bossy. She is darn cute and is a pretty good maid. She is from Beltu. Birka speaks pretty good English and finished 10th grade. I met her mother one day and she was the first lady I met here in Ethiopia that was heavy.

Ashreka and me. Ashreka's marents married her to a man when whe was just 15. She is now 17. She left her husband and I think she has a baby, but she won't admit it to me. The other maids tell me that she does. She said her husband wouldn't work and chewed chat all day, so she left him. I don't know how that works in this Muslim area. She is one of the hardest working girls here. She is good at butchering chickens.

This is Keay. She comes from Ginir. She is Wubishet's sister and has gone to university for two or three years. She is a soccer coach, but has come to be our maid for a while. She is much more knowledgeable about things than the other maids and speaks pretty good English. She is a very good worker too. She is good at skinning chickens.

This is Ysriba. She is the sweetest of all the maids and she is the best laundry washer too. She loves to pet me, as you can see. She is 19 and comes from Beltu I think. She has a lazy eye, but she would be a great catch, cause she is so sweet and knows how to take care of laundry well. Ysriba also knows how to butcher chickens.

This is our shy little Misra. She mainly works for Heidi and Mark, but will come and do things at my house too. She is a sweetheart.

It really is hard to say goodbye to all these people. I have talked to Wes and Alyssa and they will have all the maids stay even though we won't be there for them to help. I was glad to hear that, for I have grown attached to them.

Darn That Volcano!!!

2010-04-23T09:34:00.000-06:00

This is Morgan by the way. I am currently skyping with my dad and he is telling me that nothing is set in stone and as of right now they are to become Ethiopian citizens and live there the rest of their lives.... Just kidding. They are just having a lot of trouble getting the Ethiopian Airlines to cooperate as well as their travel agent. As of right now things are very unsure so we will have to wait and see.
Morgan

April 18, 2010 - We are coming home!

2010-04-19T11:39:00.004-06:00

Hello Everyone!

It's so nice to get up here to Addis where there is a somwhat reliable internet service. The last week we didn't have any communication from outside Beltu area and it was frustrating. You don't realize how much you rely on the internet until it isn't available to you anymore. Someone, in the dark, walking through our yard probably tripped over the cord pulling the internet modem off its place. When they discovered the modem on the ground, it was not working anymore. But now I'm here in Addis where I can read your emails and send some of my own.

The volcano erruption in Iceland has really made us worry about getting home. Bracken is supposed to fly tonight at 11:50, but his flight is cancelled as of now, and he doesn't even know when he'll even be leaving. I can't check anyone's blog, because I think that up here in Addis they are blocked. Darn, I love to see the blogs. Fortunately we have been able to talk to Morgan and Grandma and Grandpa Baum on the satellite phone this week, so that is good. Today the weather is mostly cloudy and I expect it to rain. Alan has been in meetings all day today with financial officers and purchasing departments. He is getting frustrated at how this operation gets bogged down, because of our miscommunications mostly. Everything is so green and beautiful here in Addis and the temperatures are very mild. Even though it is gray outside, it is still warm enough for me. However, I do see that a lot of the local people here get very cold if it is cloudy and rainy. They're not used to dealing with harsh weather conditions.

Today I went out with Tedi, a driver for the company and Nadi, a finance clerk and teacher who works with us on the farm in Beltu. Nadi traveled from Beltu to Addis with us yesterday. We went out to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables to send back to the farm with Nadi when he goes. I first went to Bambi and then to Friendship which are more American type grocery stores. After that, we went and found some souvenirs to take home with us. As we wove in and out of traffic I felt that several times we were going to collide with another car or mow down a pedestrian. Amazingly we got to the stores and back without any mishap. I had to just sit in the back and try not to gasp or scream as we tore down the streets and darted in front of other drivers. The driver told me there is no electricity for the lights to operate. I asked him if this was common, and he said “yes, they never work.” Too funny! You honestly don’t stop at any intersection, you just go through honking.

Last night when we got here I had a hot shower! I’ve not had one in over a month. We all felt happy to go to bed clean. When I awakened in the morning I felt like I had been unconscious for 10 hours. When I get home to the states, I will blog and tell details about the last 10 days. And I should be able to get a lot of pictures too. We’re excited to see friends and family, and really good food. We were counting on going out to eat after our arrival, but then we realized we don’t fly into IF until 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. Just wanted to let everyone know we are well and happy. Thanks for sending emails to us. We love them!

The Planting has Begun!!!! April 5 - 7, 2010

2010-04-07T11:40:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Yesterday was really stressful for Alan, and probably he stressed several others out at the same time (Amin, Bracken and Nahom). Planting is not going the way we expected. We obviously are not using anything close to drills. The most modern way here is to use a broadcast spreader. The wheat seed, Di 'Ammonium Phosphate or DAP, and Urea all come in quintal sacks. A quintal is a measurement of 100 kilos. The seed, DAP and Urea are all transported by tractor and wagon out to the field.

A group of men open the sacks and mix them into the scoop of a loader, which then dumps the mixture into the broadcast spreader. The seed and fertilizer are mixed at a ratio of 1.5 quintal seed, 1.5 quintal urea, and 1 quintal DAP. The broadcast spreader is a large bin on wheels. For those of you who aren't farmers, it works like one of those handheld things you use to fertilize your lawn. As the tractor pulls the broadcast spreader down the field, seed, and fertilizer are spread across a swath of about 25 - 30 feet. At home, when you drill the seed into the soil, you can see exactly where you've been. Here, as the tractors move down the field, there are three men standing at each end, and in the middle with big flags to show them exactly where to head because the seeds are spread on top of the soil and they're hard to see from inside the tractors. Then tractors with disc harrows follow behind and disc the seed into the soil.

It's a pretty slow, ineffective way of planting, but its way better than the alternative, which is to hire a bunch of workers and have them sow it by hand and then cover the seed with using hoes. Crazy! So, even under these conditions they were able to plant about 200 acres yesterday. Alan wore himself ragged running back and forth between the seed stacks and the field planting. Remember, we have no vehicles here to drive back and forth from the seed stacks to the fields. You have to catch a ride on the tractor wagon or hoof it. If we can get the GPS working well, they will be able to work when it is dark and work longer hours. It hasn't rained for the past few days, and everyone is working fast to get as much planted as they can before the rainy season. So far we've been blessed. Today they started out in the field at 8:00 am and were going strong at noon. Alan and Bracken were both in a much better mood. They are having to come up with all kinds of solutions to the problems of not having the tractors and air drills here for this planting season. We've all had to take a step back in time and figure out how to do without our superduper American technology and equipment.
As I was out watching the planting begin a man came up who wanted to sell a chameleon. I didn't want to buy it but I did take some pictures. There have been several chameleons brought to the farm. So far they have all died when they get here.

Tonight a man brought a baby baboon to the farm to see if Wes would buy it. Wes likes to see the exotic animals up close and personal. The little baboon was tied into a basket and then the basket was in a sack that was all tied up. He was really scared when they got him out and became a little frantic at one point. The baboon was vetoed as a house pet for obvious reasons. He was as smelly as a pig pen and he was just a baby.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Today I stayed inside most of the day because I got a bad sunburn yesterday from walking out to the fields twice. Once to go see what was happening and the second time to bring my camera along to take pictures of all the exciting action. I burned my calves and arms badly - we're all of the opinion that the suns rays are much more intense and that we need to be more careful of our skin. Alan, Bracken, and Val are getting very dark, while some of us get red or stay white.te. Another reason I got sunburned was because I decided I had to tackle the laundry issues. Last week I found several of my socks ground into the dirt underneath the clothesline and one got even as far away as the restaurant. I almost couldn't recognize them as socks. Also I have underwear issues. I feel that I shall have to always wash Alan's and my socks and underwear myself instead of having the maids do it. So I stood out in the sun and handwashed our clothing until it was as clean as I could get it. The maids take offense when I do this. I think there could be two reasons for this. One: they think I don't trust them to get my clothes clean, or two: they feel their job is threatened because I don't need them to wash my clothes. Whatever, there are just some things in which I'd rather have control. I had a shower this morning using one of my trusty buckets and my pitcher. I dump water on my head, lather up, rinse, condition, rinse again and again, and then I'm done. It's really cold and so I take a big breath and go for it. I find halfway through that every muscle in my body is clenched and I have to remind myself to breathe. I don't take that many showers anymore. I've gone natural. This is the usual showering method over here. We sometimes get running water, but usually not.

Tonight I made sweet and sour goat. Anytime I say goat anymore, I crack myself up. It actually turned out pretty good and Clair and Alan really liked it. We are having to deal with goat meat over here, so you do what you can to make it different and tasty each time you serve it. We had some vinegar saved for the sour part, but this afternoon when I needed to get the vinegar, I found instead that the bottle had been emptied and used to store milk by one of the maids. She had bought the milk earlier and thought that the vinegar was not good so she tossed it. Darn it! They just don't get that you need vinegar to make good sweet and sour goat. She was going to turn that milk sour I'm sure and then drink the clabber with burburi Stirred into it I've actually seen this done. GROSS!

Tonight I found a little note that Birka had written in the back of my notebook. This is what it says:
My name is Birka Mamina. I came from Beltu town. But now I live in Westown. This house is Shelley house. It is very handsome house. I love this house and I love Shelley more than all. I like banana bread.

Another maid wrote: I like orange. My name is Misra Yequb.

I love my maids. I'm glad that they are here to keep my mind on all the funny, sweet, cute things they do everyday. They love me because I give them suckers and lotion for their hands and faces.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Started the day by going on a walk with Alyssa and Linda. There was a large cranelike bird in the field, so Alyssa got some pictures. I'm curious to see them up close. It looked about waist high. Came back by way of the restaurant and asked them if they had any eggs. They said maybe on Friday. I had the maids wash the remaining glazing putty off the outsides of my windows. I did all the insides of the windows and they did the outside. It was very hot and they needed suckers and water to continue. A man came along after lunch with a chicken and wanted me to buy it. I wasn't sure how much to pay for the chicken, so I asked Ashreka and she said maybe birr 30. So I said how about 20, and he said birr 25. Sold! For approximately $ 2.00. Good bartering on my part, I think. Ashreka wanted to butcher the chicken for dinner, so that's what happened. She got some guy to kill it and then she and Keay kind of skinned the bird and cut it up and washed it out really good. They did a good job and I got pictures.

Just as we were finishing with the chicken, a mother, a grandmother and two children showed up to see the doctor. One of the children was a little girl with a badly burned leg, and the other was a boy of about 10 who had swollen arms, legs, and a distended abdomen. It looked so painful and he was running a temperature of over 100. We couldn't do anything for the little boy, but made a call to Addis to report the symptoms. We cleaned, and bandaged the little girl's burns.

There are not enough doctors here in Ethiopia. We don't know of a doctor between here and Shashamene. That's not good. We're going through the first-aid kits like crazy, and they are supposed to be for the farm and those people who work here, but the need in the community is so desperate that we do our best and give them whatever we can. We finally got the little girl taken care of and gave her and her brother a sucker. Candy helps with the little ones, I think. I have to remember to bring lots of suckers over next time I come.

The farming is going well; we are continuing with the same method. The loading and transporting of the grain and fertilizer to the fields, then mixing, then dumping, then spreading, then disking. Alan is reporting to me every night, and he thinks it went OK yesterday, and I could tell at noon that everything was alright today also. I just asked Alan about how many hectares we have planted in three days and he said 400. Pretty good considering what our methods are. Everyone is working really hard. We're living the dream, as Bracken says.

A serious thing to report; Sheik Alli, the head of security over the farm was seriously injured yesterday in a car accident. Apparently he, his driver, and a few others were headed to Ginir from Robe and they had some kind of accident which caused the land cruiser in which they were traveling to roll over about four times. Kind of a freak accident.e driver and Sheik Alli was transported to Addis Ababa and has a broken back. He is paralyzed from the waist down. He is an important man in this region for he is a religious leader as well as some kind of policeman, I think. I'm not totally clear on that. He is supposed to be helping to keep the peace dwon here in this region. So we really feel bad about his accident, not only for him, but because the land cruiser was one of the vehicles we had been using on the farm. So, crazy, huh?

It's good to get your emails. Keep them coming, they cheer and help us through many tough days. Bye for now.

April 4, 2010 Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T10:11:00.000-06:00

April 4, 2010

Work is not progressing here on the farm like we are used to in the US. However, this is the start-up year and we have to accept that most everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and everything will take twice as long as it should normally take. Communication and differences in work habits are problems. The Americans are here to do a job the American way, and the local (Ethiopians) are constantly telling Alan or whoever, that he can’t do it, or that it won’t work the way he wants to do it. They don’t understand our American ways any better than we understand theirs. For instance, when the Ethiopian tractor drivers plowed the fields, they used small plows and Alan wanted them to carefully plow all the soil. Instead, because the drivers were getting paid by the hectare, instead of the hour, they rushed through the job and didn’t plow right next to the row they had already plowed. They plowed so that the turned soil would fall over and cover a strip of unplowed soil. I don’t know if they thought Alan would be fooled or if that is the acceptable farming method here. Either way, it is not acceptable to Alan. As he checked each day, he would kick through the soil and uncover the hard soil. He told them that the weeds were growing under the plowed soil and they said no, the weeds were dead. He would kick up the loose soil from the hard unplowed ground, revealing the growing weeds, showing them the problems. Simply put; weeds take water and nutrients to grow too, and they will cut into the yields of grain. They tell him that it doesn’t matter, the grain will grow. But anyone who knows Alan, knows that he will not be happy with the weedy fields and seeds spread over hard compacted soil. I think our American farming methods are conflicting with how it has always been done here in this country.

Last night, Saturday, Bracken arrived back from Ginir. He left Thursday and he did end up in Ginir for the holiday and on Market day. He said it was crazy! He was the leader of the whole expedition and he did very well, even bringing back mangoes, papyas, oranges, bananas, and potatoes, a cheese grater, a whole lot of drinking water, besides the three trucks loaded with fertilizer, disc harrows, and broadcast spreaders. I was very glad to know that he hadn’t been swallowed whole by a river. Bracken took three tractors with him when he left so that they could bring back disc harrows, the broadcast spreaders, and get the fertilizer trucks through the muddy roads. The fertilizer and broadcast spreaders were in Ginir and then he had to find some disc harrows and then get everything back to here safely. He met Wubishet’s ( a mechanic) mother, who wanted him to come for dinner, but he couldn’t, and he stayed overnight at Yusef’s home. Yusef’s company does most of the hiring of the workers here at the farm. Bracken was busy hiring disc harrows and getting a fuel truck and driver and he had to spend time at the bank there in Ginir. We have now switched fuel trucks and driver because our last one was a jerk. He would go for fuel to Ginir and stay, leaving the farm without fuel for a couple of days. Bracken found someone new who we hope will be honest and do the job he’s paid to do. This guy even owns his own truck. Bracken saw a troop (is that what you call it) of baboons at the river. He got some pictures he will be glad to share at a fireside when he gets home. JK about the fireside.

Today, Sunday, the workers are still not all here, because it is an official holiday here. Even though most of the people who work at the farm are Muslim, they still think they should not have to work, because it is a Christian holiday. They are unloading the fertilizer trucks so that the trucks can make it back to Ginir before more rain makes the river impassable.

When I came to the farm, I did not come through Shashamene, Robe, or Ginir because I flew down from Addis Ababa. Chances are that I will have to drive back from here, because the rain makes our airstrip here impossible to land on. In a way, I think it would be exciting and adventurous. Alan hates the drive because the roads are so terrible and the cities are ramshackled, crowded places. He’s been there and done that. I’m trying to be positive about the possibility of the drive which goes up through the Bale Mountain national park. On one hand, I want to see some more of this amazing country, and then on the other hand, I don’t want to spend a night in any of the motels on the way, because of the bad bed bug bites that can occur when occupying them. I see Val and his terrible bout with the bites, and I don’t know if I can handle the trip.

I have just had a maid come in to the house complaining of cramps. I gave her some ibuprofen and then she wanted to know if I was going to get beautiful today. Linda and Alyssa have put on some makeup and the pressure is on Ashreka to beautify me. She wanted me to look beautiful as Alyssa. No chance, those days are far behind me. I showed her my makeup bag and she went crazy. She put every lipstick on and around her mouth. She started to look like a clown she was getting it all over. She would look at herself in the mirror and giggle because it did not look the same on her as it did me. She wanted me to put on my eyebrows, and then when she used the pencil we couldn’t even see it. She started putting powder all over her face and then she laughed when she had all the white streaks on her. I put mascara on her and she kept blinking and jerking away. I put some blush on her which I couldn’t see, but she definitely saw a difference and then started putting it all over her face. When I said she was done, she hugged me and said, “I love you Shelley, I am beautiful, Shelley. Thank you Thank you thank you. What a funny girl. She is so cute. I love her too.

Last night we got to hear the first Saturday session of general conference. It was so nice to hear the organ playing and then the sounds of the Tabernacle choir coming into the house. I didn’t stay up (11:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. our time), for the second session. We hope to hear the first Sunday session at 7:00 p.m. tonight, our time. I’m thinking of all of you there in the US, knowing that most of you are having a delicious Easter celebration dinner with ham, potatoes, salads, deviled eggs, desserts, and lots of easter candy, etc. , and I will be here with our small group trying to be OK with another goat dish. Actually we will be having mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, a cabbage slaw salad, papya, and yes, leg of goat! We are excited and I think Alyssa has come up with some kind of coconut pie to serve for dessert. I saw her crushing cookies last night for the crust, I believe. Either she is making the pie for all of us, or she and Wes had a lot of cookie crumbs in their bed last night. I will just say that Alyssa truly amazes me. She is dealing with this whole thing in a remarkable way, as is her mother, Linda. They are very creative and inventive when it comes to food. They make every meal a good meal, using such ordinary items. I need some of that to rub off on me.

On this Easter Sunday our thoughts and prayers are with all of you, our friends and family, at home in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, California, and Illinois. We love you dearly and miss you so much. We want mom in Arizona to know how much we love her and wish we were there to see her and talk to her in person. Skyping is good, but not as good as being there. We are proud of our dear missionary Zack and hope at this Easter time he may feel the blessings of the atonement in his life. We pray that Jack and Les are doing well in their missionary endeavors as well. Be thankful for the bounties and blessings that you enjoy each day and recognize that God is aware of you and he will comfort you and give you peace in your hearts at this blessed Easter time.

Water Problems and Goat Butchering April 1, 2010

2010-04-01T13:26:00.001-06:00

April 1, 2010

We have had a difficult time here on the farm this last week. Most of our problems are due to H2O, or water. Either too much or too little. It was dry last week, and then this week we have had too much rain. When it rains, it pours here, and it rains always at the same time which is early morning. By 10:00 am, the sun is usually out and the puddles disappear. However, this soil really soaks up the water and makes a slimy greasy mess. After we walk around in it for about five minutes, we’re all about two inches taller, and we all look like we’re wearing clown shoes. It doesn’t seem to bother those people who live here or the Americans who have been here for awhile, but I’m constantly trying to get the muck off my shoes, and I know the people are probably laughing at me thinking, “silly white woman, why is she bothering?” And I ask myself that too, “What’s the big deal about clean shoes, I’m the only one that’s worried about it.” The rain also stops the farming from progressing. Those of you from Ashton and our other farming followers know that you can’t get too much done when you have just measured about 2 inches of moisture in the last 24 hours. The winds start first at about 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning and then we know the rain is soon to follow. The rain lasts until around 7:00 am. Our houses are not the kind that are really weather proof. I have cracks in the corners that I can see daylight through, and the windows let in ginormous amounts of rain, so when we wake up in the morning we sometimes are standing in good amount of water. This morning, there was a huge puddle in my living room. I was once again irritated when I saw it and I waited for the maids to come and clean it up. When I told Birka that she needed to mop up the puddle, she laughed and ran over to it and used it to wade in and wash her feet. I got a kick out of watching her; Birka is teaching me how to make lemonade out of lemons.

Another problem with all the rain, is that it literally shuts down our way of getting out of here. The roads are like pools of water in some places, and they’re very difficult to maneuver. In some places where there were small streams of water, they are now rivers and we haven’t been able to navigate our way through them. For the last few days we have not been able to get our normal amounts of water for running the farm because of all the rain. All these many people here depend on the water truck with its large tank to bring water for cooking, washing, making cement, laundering, etc. When the truck can’t make it through the muddy and flooded conditions, we’r e all concerned. Mark brought a couple of small tank loads of water in yesterday and that got us by, but we really needed more. They went out looking for water this afternoon with the water truck, a loader and I think a tractor to pull them through the worst parts. What a production.

Another problem that we have been having is getting anything ordered from Addis. One truck of fertilizer is here, and another is stuck in Ginir. Bracken, along with about eight workers went to Ginir to get the fertilizer and a PTO. Bracken sent Hailii in a tractor and I think two other tractors with drivers and two more in each tractor also went. Bracken took the Land Cruiser and will stay the night there and he hoped to return on Friday. He was also supposed to stop at a town along the way and ask the government authorities there if it would be OK if the farm could use some area close by where we could store containers coming and going from Addis. There is a river between here and Ginir that is bad (no bridge)and those truckdrivers don’t want to cross the river with their containers. I don’t blame them. It could be treacherous. I think that maybe we will have to go get the containers and bring them across the river and then to the farm. I think that’s the plan. I thought it would be fun to go to Ginir, but Alan and Bracken both said it wasn’t a great place. I asked if it was as bad as Hanksville in Utah, you know out in the middle of nowhere with very little in the way of amenities. Alan said it was like Hanksville only with 2000,000 people. Ginir is one of the places where Val got bit by bed bugs. I hope Bracken doesn’t get bit. Needless to say, Bracken was not thrilled with his assignment today.

Tomorrow is good Friday which is a holiday here in Ethiopia. Saturday is the day the Muslim population have off for their weekend day, and then Easter Sunday is also another holiday. Many of the workers planned to get off the farm and go somewhere for the weekend, so it will be a quiet weekend for the Americans. Bracken hopes to make it home so he doesn’t get caught in Ginir during the holiday time.
Now, I must tell you my goat story. On Tuesday, I wanted to have some goat meat and after some investigation I was told that we could buy a goat from the restaurant, you know the tarp and stick place. Wes, went and bought the goat, and arranged to have it slaughtered also. He then gave them a garbage container to put the goat in after the demise of the goat. We got the goat delivered in large pieces, four legs, a back bone, two rib pieces, the pelvis area and one or two other pieces I couldn’t identify. No one was too excited about butchering the goat, so I cut up a little bit for dinner that night and put the rest in plastic bags in the freezer. I worried about it all night for fear it might have ecoli. The next afternoon, I went to work and cut up the unidentifiable pieces and the two back legs. I wanted to keep the legs in large pieces for our Easter Sunday dinner. However, I still don’t think they’ll be tender. I kept thinking to myself, “Im cutting up this stupid goat on Alyssa’s kitchen table, and I’m actually getting pretty good at it.” I had to keep saying to myself, “goats are related to lambs, and lambs are good to butcher and eat.” It was the only way I could keep on going. I can’t say that I like goat meat, I find it tough and not very tasty, but just ask me if I can butcher a goat and I can say “Yes, like any good Ethiopian, maybe not as good as an Ethiopian, but I can do it!”

Saturday, March 27, 2010

2010-03-27T13:58:00.003-06:00

March 27, 2010

Today is Saturday, and I have been here one week. Alyssa and Linda are not coming until Sunday. I’m really disappointed. I am sleeping fairly well, but when I wake up I am so stiff I can hardly sit up. The beds do not have box springs, so the mattresses just lay on boards set up across the bed frame. There are no pillow top mattresses here, darn it. My pillow was so hard, that I had to undo the seams and pull out some of the stuffing inside. You don’t want to know what was inside. I sewed it back up and now I can sleep better. It was just too stiff and too full. Yesterday on Friday, I cleaned in our house that is being built. We moved our bed and bedroom furniture into the bedroom so Alan and I slept there last night.

A few things I have to write about that are just plain different than at home. One: Picking your nose in public, is OK. These people here pick their noses. You can be talking to someone and they will just start picking their nose. I don’t know if that’s common elsewhere in Ethiopia, or we just have lower standards out here on the farm. Two: Our workers don’t have personal boundaries and don’t think you should have any either. They will come right up to you and stand next too you and sometimes lean on you. OK, I do know some girls at home that love to squeeze up next to me, but these girls love to put their hands on me. They will stand in front of me and the next thing I know, I’m getting groped. This happens a lot. Yesterday, Birka, stood in front of me and started feeling up and down my chest, hips, and waist. She got her hands on my breasts and squeezed me a little, and then squeezed the fat pockets around my hips. Then as she squeezed my fat she said, “Shelley, whot is dees?” It all happened so fast, I couldn’t stop her. I just stood there and then I laughed and said, “Dees is mai Faat, Leev it alone.” Three: They spit, hock, and make other terrible sounds that make me cringe. It is very normal for them. Four: There doesn’t seem to be any sharing. As Clair said, “If you give them something to hold or share, don’t expect to get it back, it’s theirs.” They love to drink out of my water bottle, and I have a big problem with that.” I’m just concerned about health and sanitation. Five: They don’t get our humor. This is not a problem, except for Alan. Alan thinks it’s funny to tease them, and they don’t think he’s funny, they think he’s not very bright. For example: yesterday there was a large group of workers with Alan and Wubishet, a mechanic ,took off toward the outhouse. Alan hollered at him, ”Wubishet, where are you going?” thinking it would embarrass Wubishet. All the workers looked at Alan and said, “He’s going to the toilet! where you think?” Alan still thought it was pretty funny, just because they all thought he was clueless.

Yesterday afternoon, Alan and I looked over the house. The tiling job was, by American standards, a mess. The grout work was bad. We pulled up several tiles and put them in again. We regrouted most of the hallway. I was frustrated at their standard of work. Then I had to remember, most of these people that we have doing these things, have never done these jobs before. They are learning now how to tile and grout and cook American food, and sweep and mop and do laundry. This is all new to them. They are as good as I would be if I had to go and make a stick house with sticks, mud, manure, and water and cook injera three times a day. I don’t think my house would stand up to their inspection and I don’t think they would want to eat my injera. As an American in Ethiopia, I have to learn how to relax and be less judgmental. We are visitors in their land and we’re not going to change their culture. Hopefully, we can teach them some new tricks and introduce some of what’s good about Americans to them. I knew coming into this that I was not going to change the way they eat, clean, and live. It is up to them, if they want to change. I have seen more this week than I would ever have believed, and today I saw more than I did all week, if that makes sense. Alan and I went to Beltu, which is a city about 14 kilometers north of here. It is situated at a higher altitude and honestly a few hundred feet up makes a lot of difference. It was so green up at Beltu. Beltu has about 3,000 people with no electricity and no running water. The well is situated down the road, off the hill and is a little hands pump. Everyone has to walk down the hill to pump their water. I knew Beltu was going to be crazy, because everyone had warned me that the Americans get mobbed when they go there, so I was prepared with my camera to get pics. We went to buy potatoes, eggs, carrots, water, buckets, and soda pop. When we drove into the village, there were many children who started to shout "Forenjees, forenjees!" and they chased us through the city. The city was probably no more than five by five Ashton city blocks, and all those people live there. We drove to the main area of the city which has a bus stop and a restaurant. We had Nahom our translator, Danny a driver from Addis, Birka my maid, Wubishet a mechanic, and one other guy with us. We dropped off Birka, Wubishet, and the other guy, and kept Danny and Nahom with us. By the way, the girls who work for us as maids are from Beltu, and are from a tribe around here. The John Deere tractor drivers are from somewhere else a different tribe and don’t like to associate with the tribes from around here. Nahom and Danny are from Addis and both speak English and they went with us to the restaurant. We were getting mobbed when we got out of the Land Cruiser and went into the restaurant yard. The children were yelling and screaming and they came into the yard, but the owner shooed them away. We sat down outside at a small table and chairs and Nahom ordered for us. We had the Goat Variety plate, which means goat, very spicey beans, potatoes, and rice all served on a large pizza plate of injera. No forks, just tear off the injera and use it to eat all the other stuff. At first,I was a little nervous eating out of the same dish as everyone, but then I thought I can do this, I will do this and prove to these guys that I am not a weenie. The injera was not really very sour, and so it went down easily, the potatoes were great and so was the rice. The beans were a little spicey, but no more than what Mexican food is at home. The goat was pretty tastey, and it was not tibbs, but just a couple of pieces of goat leg. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. The owner brought us some coca-cola, and I just slurped it down. I I think of it as medicinal. After we ate we had to go buy soda pop and buckets. Everywhere we stopped we were mobbed, not just children, but adults came too to stare at me. I got pinched and got my hair pulled, but it was all out of curiosity. I have to remember, that these people have never had this experience before, and I am like an alien that has suddenly landed in their village. When we left, I drove. It was a little confusing to get back, but now I think I could, if I had to, get to Beltu on my own. Not that I ever would go on my own, but I would, if I had to.

The burn baby and the other little girls have not been here for two days. I hope they are al right. I don’t know where they are.

I just read my emails from home and friends. It is so good to hear from all of you. Please keep writing to me, and those of you who haven’t , well, it would be great to hear from you. I just skyped Sara and and Andrew. It is so good to see you and talk to you. Tomorrow is Sunday and I’m looking forward to church, seeing Alyssa and her mom, and cooler temperatures

Thursday, March 25, 2010

2010-03-27T13:57:00.003-06:00

Thursday, March 25, 2010

I thought the plane was coming on Friday from Addis and I was truly disappointed when I found I was mistaken and it will come on Saturday. I need some female company and not with the maids. I like them and think they are cute, but I need someone who can relate to what I’m going through. We are supposed to be moving into the other house tomorrow. Good thing because this one is too small for all of us. Val said everything would be ready except the bathroom. That means I have to go next door for my bathroom breaks. Hopefully they will get it plumbed soon. I’m a little concerned about the kitchen sink in my house. I don’t see any pipes sticking up out of the floor for draining. Hmmm, I hope this doesn’t mean I don’t get a kitchen sink. Alan and I would like to get a garden area ready at the back of our house. Anyone who knows us knows that gardening is therapy for both of us. It is too dry to plant now. It has only rained once since my arrival. Today Alan is taking me for a ride. I don’t know if we’re going in a tractor or the Land Cruiser, at this point it doesn’t matter to me. At home I used to laugh when Alan wanted me to go for a ride with him in a tractor, now I really want to go in anything. We’re going to see the water point (springs) and something else. I need to also go to the east a little ways and see one of the round houses up close. So far I haven’t dared go too far without company and maybe when Alyssa and her mom come we will be able to venture out together.

Clair Jackson brought over a box of plastic beads and he gave it to me. I got it out this morning. It has several types of alphabet beads and then some colored beads . I decided to make necklaces for the girls who are maids and they were very thrilled. Thank you Donetta! When I gave Birka her necklace she threw her arms around me and said “Hi lof yew Shelley!” When Ysriba saw Birka’s necklace she clapped her hands and jumped up and down and said something I think meant “I want one too.” Anyway, they all got a necklace, and then they had to go show them off. I had one man who came up to me a little later and demanded one for himself. I said “NO, only for pretty girls.” He said “Men are pretty, me pretty.” I laughed and said “No only for girls.” Then Zakir the boy who tends the monkey, wanted one for the monkey. I said only for the girls.” They are love anything that is a beautiful or colorful or just new and exciting. The beaded necklaces were a big hit.

I didn’t get to go on my ride to the water point. The land cruiser came from Addis and is was full of all kinds of things that Alan had to check. There were a few household goods, but mostly food for Mark and farming things. Alan ordered three 20 meter chains with hooks, and instead of getting them he got a three meter chain with no hooks. Communication is so difficult here. He’s getting so frustrated he just might blow.

We did go and look at the house that is abandoned. We took pictures of us standing by it. I didn’t really want to go in it. They stand up sturdy sticks in the mud in a circle and then weave other sticks in and out till it makes a pretty sturdy wall. Then they mix dirt, dung and water together and plaster it into the wall. The walls are smooth on the outside. The roofs are thatched and then have a cute little wispy thing up on the top. The doors are about four feet high so you have to crouch to get inside. There was even a little basket like thing at the back of the house I don’t know what for.

Viewer Discretion is Advised (Burned little baby, Wildlife etc.)

2010-03-25T08:12:00.001-06:00

Feel free to comment.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

2010-03-24T14:38:00.002-06:00

Today is Wednesday, March 24, 2010 7:30 a.m.

For the first time here I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night. Wow, something must be wrong. I have not been sick yet, and I hope I don’t get there. Bracken says when he starts to feel like he might be getting sick he takes a Sipro and then 12 hours later he takes another one. I think that’s a good idea for me too. Last night Alan was really stressed out. The machinery and items that need to be here are just not getting ordered correctly and he is doing without a lot of things. They have been waiting for an air compressor for weeks now. They finally sent one, but Alan says it is a piece of junk and is already falling apart. It is not the kind he wanted. Also they don’t dare store any fuel in the large underground tanks, because they don’t have any fuel pumps to go on top of them to pump the fuel out. Once they get the fuel in, there is no way of getting it out. If Alan could go to Addis for a few days he might find what he is looking for. Everything gets lost in translation.

It’s evening now and the day has gone pretty well. The baby and her mom came and we opened up her bandage, and it really looked so much better to me. Her palm and her little finger are still very open and bleeding, however, I smelled her hand and arm and couldn’t smell anything bad, I checked her for a fever, and there was very little yellow puss and sloughing skin. Again we watered her, brushed off all the bad skin, Neosporin, antistick bandages applied, gauze and tape. I know that the prayers and fasting in her behalf are helping her to heal. I know it and have felt the power of prayer in her behalf. She is the cutest little thing, I love seeing her come everyday, even though she starts to cry when she sees me. The mother walks about one – 2 miles to get here everyday. They took a picture of the little girl,her mom and me. The other little girl will come tomorrow for us to look at her cut on her back. I hope it is healing. I’ve had a few others come up to the porch and want me to medicate them. I can’t do much.
Today for dinner I had the girls prepare an exotic bird. We took pictures of the maids holding the bird, they were so excited to have me take their picture with it. Then they went out and killed it, and skinned it and brought it to me to fix. These are the toughest old birds and I decided to cook it with barbecue sauce. It didn’t help the toughness but the guys sure sucked the sauce off those tough birdy parts. I’m trying to find some humor in this craziness. And I also made tomatoey rice, which I didn’t like so much, but they all ate it. I saw a group of camels today and went and took some more pictures. It was fun. It was a good day here in Ethiopia, hope yours was good too.

Tuesday, March 23 2010

2010-03-24T14:34:00.004-06:00

Some of the pictures are in a previous post but have been correctly titled because I (Morgan) didn't know what they were of. :)

March 23, 2010

Yesterday started the same as every other day – with the braying of the donkey. We also had a rain shower about 4:30 – 6:00 am. I thought it would shut things down, as it does in Idaho, but this soil is different and the tractor drivers were ready get out in the field the same as usual. The mother with the little burned baby girl came early, at 9:00 and we got her taken care a little more efficiently than the day before. I was relieved that it was all over and went inside the house to wash and have a drink of water when I heard Val calling me back outside. Apparently, news of our doctoring abilities has spread across the area and we were brought another little girl about 8 or 9 to repair. You have to remember that these people never bathe so it’s kind of in my nature to not want to get close to them. They are uber filthy and their clothes appear to be in a state of decay because they have never been off them. The mother of this cute dirty child lifted up her daughter’s dress and of course there was no underwear. I don’t believe people here wear undies. So the little child standing on our porch was exposed to the fifty or so people who work right here close and she didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Val and I were startled, but we soon recovered our composure and we looked to see what was the big deal. The problem was that she had been sliced open across her back just above her buttocks. The wound was gaping open and looked to be about 2” – 3” across and 1” deep. It was dirty and had debris in it. We both just looked at each other and I could tell Val was as upset as I was. Someone had done this on purpose. It wasn’t a stab wound, like she fell on it. It was done to her. Of course, any little disturbance at the house draws a real crowd, and anyone who can comes over to watch the show. We decided that we had to clean it first. Alan’s spray bottle came in handy. I sterilized it and then we sprayed the wound clean. Val stretched the wound open and wiped and I sprayed the dirt and what looked like leaf pieces out. I guess the leaf pieces were chat and they put them in thinking it would help somehow. Wes told us later that this is a common practice. We then flooded the wound with saline solution. I held around her tummy and legs with her mom and Val squirted away. Her little buttocks flexed up tight, but she made it through it and was a valiant little trooper. By this time we had a real crowd and we had to stop and shoo the large crowd away. Then, because neither Val or myself took suturing 101 incollege, we elected to use tape. We put some Neosporin around the edges and I did my own version of four butterfly bandages and taped them across her wound while Val held it shut. We then covered it in gauze and taped it down tight onto her washed clean back. Then we gave her a large blue gum ball as a treat for being good. When we popped it in her mouth she just looked at us with her big teary eyes and didn’t smile or anything. We told her “chew” and she did, but not very happily. I’m sure she thought we were giving her something bad. I wonder if she will have it in her mouth for days on end. So she is supposed to come back to Shelley and Val clinic today, but we have not seen her yet.

After all that I needed to get away from everyone so I came into my room and just sat on the bed. Soon, one of my silly maids, Ashareka, came into the bedroom with me. Note: I have to tell the maids that when the door is closed they may not come in. Also, I must tell them to not plastic wrapping down the toilet, as it is not a garbage, as they might think. So the maid went to the window and ran her hand up and down the curtains and looked out the window. Then she turned to me and said, “Is veeery beuuutiiifuuul howse.” Yes, I said, it is very beautiful. Just for a second I wanted to laugh like a hyena. I had a little conversation with her and then I went outside to go for a walk up down and up the airstrip. She asked if I would like her to come with me, but I said she had to stay and take care of Wes. She said, “OOOOKaaaaay.” She’s cute, and silly, and sweet. As I was walking down the airstrip, I looked up and, thank heaven I had thought to bring my camera, for walking toward me was a man with a camel. I was kind of excited, but I didn’t want him to get mad at me for taking a picture, so I acted like I was looking at something else and then I clicked and got the two of them. As I was on my way back up to the other end, along came a whole herd of camels with several camel herders.

I loved it and got several shots. Whenever the local people spy any of the “forenjees” out and about with a camera in hand, they are suddenly posing left and right, trying to get us to take their pictures. On my way back I snapped a few of some local men and boys. I also got one of two of them with their arms around each other.

Funny thing about Ethiopia; the men love to walk and hold hands. Alan has had men come up to him and take him by the hand and want him to go with them He doesn’t think it’s that funny, but one of these days I’m going to catch him holding hands with another man and I’m going to get a picture of it. Sooo funny. It’s very common to see two men/ boys walking hand in hand off through the brush.

Last night we had mashed potatoes and fried spam and onions. I had the maids cook the potatoes and I did the spam and onions. The girls were very curious about the spam, and wanted to watch me cook it. I told them they were not to eat it because it was pork. I think they would have eaten it, but I wouldn’t let them. I had to explain to them that it was not in their religion. I guess I hadn’t mentioned it, but most everyone here except the Americans and one of our interpreters is Muslim. I don’t think they know much about their religion, because I never see anyone praying and the girls don’t seem to have a problem with most things. However, last week , one woman got the rest of them to go on a laundry strike with her. She said Muslim women should not wash men’s underwear or socks. So Wes told her to leave, and the rest of the girls went back to washing men’s socks and underwear. Funny thing about the laundry – they use too much soap so that they can’t ever rinse all of it out. Consequently, we all have a white film on all our clothing. It is driving Alan nuts. Alan has laundry issues. I have laundry issues too, but I can’t go on anymore about the laundry.

Yesterday I saw a new bit of construction that had easily gone up overnight. It was a brush and tarp structure. I asked Alan what it was and he told me it was a new restaurant.

We already have another of these structures at the farm/camp, but apparently one is not enough. The reason is that we have two different tribes working here. Sometimes there are fights between the two sides. If you are a member of one tribe, you cannot eat at a restaurant run by the other side. So, another restaurant had to be built.

It just cracks me up that we call them restaurants so readily. They are just tarp and brushey stick things. Bracken and Mark like to frequent the restaurants for the goat tibbs. Clair and I can’t handle the tibbs, but everyone else seems to be OK with them. Sunday night Alan and I walked down to the other restaurant, for the new one was not yet built, and we ordered some goat tibbs for the men in the house. I know it was Sunday. Don’t get on my case. While we waited for our order of goat tibbs and injera for six, they brought out some chairs and made us be seated. We sat and they stood and watched us watch them. They are not uncomfortable with staring. They love to stare. I think they give tribal staring lessons. As we were sitting, suddenly a woman came and asked if she could look into my eyes. At least that’s what I thought she wanted. After a little confusion and pantomiming, we realized she wanted me to look into her eyes. I guess my doctoring skills had spread through the camp like wildfire down to the restaurant. Since I didn’t have my glasses on and it was pitch black, and she was kind of grossing me out with the hovering eye flies, I had to tell her I couldn’t see well in the dark. What a let down! I made an appointment with her for the next day, but she didn’t come. What I could see was that her eye was very red, and I guess she got something in it and couldn’t get it out. These people have no mirrors, so they can’t help themselves that way.

As I’m sitting here writing this, Ashareka, has once again come into the bedroom. Note to me: I really have to talk to the maids about coming into the closed bedrooms. She is now sitting by my side on the bed and has picked up my scriptures and is reading them to me. I think she wants to impress me with her English reading skills. She is reading John 15. I’m sure she doesn’t know what book it is. Oh well, if she wants to read the bible to me, I think it’s OK, but next time I will get her to read the Book of Mormon. I have one in Ahmaric and English.

The mom with the little burn baby girl came at about 12:00 noon and again we cleaned the wound, debriding? Neosporin, nonadhesive bandages cut in strips to go between each little finger, big one on the palm and down the side of her arm, then wrap with gauze and tape at top and bottom. That’s our method. Julie just called from Addis to find out how the baby is. I gave her a detailed report and will send her pictures tomorrow so that she can evaluate the baby’s condition. The baby has not been fevered, a little lethargic, but kicking and screaming, mad when she sees me coming anymore. She knows it’s going to hurt when I show up. She’ll never trust a blonde woman with glasses again.

March 23, 2010 - Shelley

2010-03-23T21:31:00.002-06:00

Just to let you know approximately where I am, if you look on a map of Ethiopia and find the capital of Addis Ababa and go south to the city of Shashamene, then go to the right or east to the town of Robe and keep going east from there to a place called Ginir, then you can't see a road from Ginir, but there is a road and it goes northeast about 90 kilometers and that is approximately where we are. The days are in the 70s and above and the nights are also in the 70s and above. Right now it is 77 and 9:30 p.m. Too warm to sleep. The country that I flew over to get here from Addis is beautiful, but out here not so much. More wht you would think of as "African." Drier, brushy, lots of short stubby trees, and those funny little huts all over. These people are soooo poor. They do know they're poor, but they don't know how poor. Our house is still being built and meanwhile we are living in the first house that was built here. I'm OK with it, however there is no running water, even though I have a sink, shower, toilet, and plumbing. The problem is our well. The well drillers didn't think they needed to go down as far as they do and so they didn't bring the right drill. While drilling with their short drill it got stuck and so they just left. This was about two weeks ago and we haven't seen them since. They left their rig here and are supposed to be coming back to get it out and with a larger drill, but they have such funny attitudes about working here, that it may be a long while before we ever see them again. Meanwhile we are getting our water and goats from a village called Beltu. These people love goat meat, and so do some of the Americans. I wasn't too impressed with my first experience. It was greasy, boney, and gristly. Don't think I'l lbe ordering anymore goat tibbs very soon. I am in charge of anywhere from three to five maids daily. Let me just say that it is like having five Laurels working for me. They are silly, they argue, they sing, and laugh, some are good workers, and one is really lazy. Some are popular and some aren't. I do have two favorites who are sisters named Ashekira and Ysriba. They are both good workers and are fond of me. They like to pet my arms and shoulders and if I let them, they try to get their hands in my hair. I've been having lots of experiences with the people here. Some very good and others very bad and sad. There is an article about Ethiopia in the March 2010 National Geographic. I'm not in that area that it talks about, but I'm seeing things that are not so different.

I miss home and everyone. I miss the US and Idaho. And I really miss good food. The food here is almost nonexistent unless you can stomach goat everyday and injera. I try to make good meals, but it is really difficult. Hope you're all well and safe. We are, but sometimes it is really strange with all the tribal conflict here. Yes, there are tribes and they do not get along. But really, we're fine.