Life in Ethiopia

Dear Friends and Family,

This morning I am sitting in Bob's office on the Wondo campus. Earlier we did laundry in buckets in their kitchen. I never thought I would want an old wash board and a better means to wring water from clothes. I have a good photo of Marcia doing this basic activity and one which we easily take for granted in the U.S. Life is pretty basic here. Clean water and sanitation is tough to come by and one, a foreigner, is always trying to remember to treat water before consuming. Bob and Nancy have a filtering system that must be provided by the Peace Corps. I saw them at other PC volunteer's residence. Their method is to boil water for three minutes and then run it through the filter.

Very few people own automobiles. Most travel on foot or buses or other basic means of transport. Donkeys and horses are common too. I've come to really appreciate ALL the amenities we have in the U.S. The carbon foot print here is minimal. Even consistent electric power is not common in outlying areas from Addis Ababa, the capital. When we were in Goba, the power is on at certain times and then off. At least it is set up on a scheduled basis. The Peace Corps volunteer let us know at what time the power would go off. Even then you weren't sure it would be on.

This afternoon we will drive into the town of Awassa to do some shopping and also take a boat ride on Lake Awassa. It was soooo nice to have a morning free to relax and not get into the car and travel down another jarring road. I even took a quick nap after breakfast before walking down to the campus to visit Bob at his office. I'm feeling a bit stronger now than I have for the last few days.

It is interesting that the bungalow where Bob and Nancy live have faucets that continually leak. He had one replaced with new but it still leaks. If I knew there was a "Home Depot" around, I would take it apart to fix but stores like that do not exist here. Bob will try to find a new faucet while in Awassa. Both he and Nancy have adjusted well to life in Ethiopia.

Last night we received an email from our contact in Kenya saying he will be at the airport on Saturday to take us to hotel in Nairobi and then start our safari on Sunday. He has been out on another safari and was unable to communicate with us since we left the U.S.

All is well otherwise.

More later.

Phil and Marcia