We're Back! (on the internet)

 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.