http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kimbj/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Kimbj en-us Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:06:47 +0000 Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:06:47 +0000 Just some observations...Traveling on the other side of the world shows you how things can be so different then what we are use too and also shows you how many things are exactly the same.These are just a few observations that I found interesting. Bottleshellip glass returnable bottles that some of us remember from our youth. You actually need a bottle opener to open them. They are totall http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-414791.html Black LionThe largest hospital in all of Ethiopia is Black Lion. I again was granted unlimited access to video and photograph the conditions of this public facility. Black Lion is the last referral hospital in Ethiopia if your illness requires more care then what they can offer the next place you will go is Nairobi Kenya and from there to South Africa. This hospital sees approximately 37000 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-413351.html The Rural AreasTraveling to the rural area was literally a step back in time. It is a simple difficult and fulfilling life people lead. Women men and children spends their days pretty much the same everyday. They get up and go early to gathering water for the day to tend to their farm animals and families. The earlier you get to the watering hole the less muddy it is from everyone else who http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/blog-412701.html Here are some photos I took while I was in the rural areas of Ethiopia. Click on them to make them larger for the full affect. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/blog-412148.html Where do I begin There is so much to tell I donrsquot know where to start. We arrived in Bahir Dar and almost immediately went to Feledge Hiwot Regional Hospital where the CEO of the hospital along with a doctor from Spain who is working on the sewage project and my friend Charlie who is assigned here from the Clinton Foundation met us with open arms. Nolawi my filmmaker with camera in t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-411918.html Charlie and Deehellip The best way I can describe my first face to face meeting with Charlie was a white man in a sea of Ethiopian faces who spots me with my bags in tow at the hospital and runs up and hugs me like a long lost favorite uncle would. His smile was warm and his hug was deep. I know in that instant he was a man I was proud to know. He couldnrsquot have helped more in my visit http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-411891.html I love the Bahir Dar area. I love it. But it is so sad because it's citizens deserve more. The city by the lake is a mixed blend of new and old with condos and huts within the same area of town. Just walking the streets you get a sense of all these time periods colliding into one. There is so much I could write and I have volumes of photo's of the rural areas the hospitals and Bahir Dar. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-411768.html Up very early or late I couldn't sleep with the upcoming trip tomorrow actually today. This is very windy night and I lay in bed wondering about the little subdivision next door to the hotel and what it must be like inside a press metal house with strong winds that roar like lions half the night. I am sure they are use to it but I know in my own strong house my kids coming running and jump rig http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-410304.html I must write this quickly since I am to be downstairs to head to the airport 4am. First today was a happy day at the hotel American couples just arrived back from meeting their children for the first time which they are adopting. Many happy expected parents walked the lobby with joy on their faces. Most of these couples I talked to were adopting older children between 4 and 6. Those are the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-410259.html Today is June 11 here 2001hellip yes that is right 2001. The Ethiopia calendar has 13 months and all the months have 30 days except a short month that has 5 or 6hellip Yes confusing.Tonight I went to dinner with my very good friend here that helped me start on this quest to save the world. So I blame him for all these pie eyed ideas I have. Anyway he ldquotriedrdquo to explain the E http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-409943.html This morning about 5am the call to prayer echo's across the city. I had forgotten the familar call that rings out in the morning sky. The country is mostly Eastern Christian Orthodox which I think of an intense version of Christian and Islamic. I heard here once there is no such thing as not being religious. It is ingrained in the culture from the calls to prayer with loud speakers across t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-409719.html Welcome to Addis Ababa... When you first come to Ethiopia and get your first breath of Addis your nose and your eyes remember right away that you are back. The smell of injera a spice used in all Ethiopian cooking mixed with car exhaust and pollution assault your nose as soon as you walk out doors. It is a smell you get quickly use to and after a short while and you don't smell it anymore. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-409401.html GOODS and more Goodshellip Toyota parts pipes for plumbing TVrsquos flat screens and not food toys blenders clothes rugs towels medicine bed spreads etc etchellip. Imagine living in a place where in order to get a lot of those things you have to leave your country and bring them back home. Africans that can afford to travel bring back HUGE boxes of everything. They fill their http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-409394.html Traveling over here it struck me how much easier it would be for me to help here if it was just a hour plane ride that you could do on a long weekend or a monthly trip. You could work a while and just go home and come back another day.... I say that realizing that is probably not true. We have things right outside our neighborhoods that we drive pass everyday and do nothing about. And we can't http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-408990.html Going to Ethiopia this time around feels so much heavier then before. Now I have to actually put my words into action. I have to follow through on the things I have been working towards which is not an easy feat. I am excited to see old friends again and meet the new ones that I have been in constant contact with over the last year. I have been uplifted by the love and support of my family and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-405737.html Back in the stateshellipI am back What an interesting transition that has been. While I was off on my trip many things happened. There was a death in the family. My father had a pretty serious stroke which no one told me about. My middle child had a freak accident. We were certainly blessed it was not worse. All this to say that leaving your reality for a month things still happen http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-13481.html I just wanted to say I woke up this morning to shear joy I read all your comments and received many Bday wishes which I LOVED. More important were the many comments from those of you that see my journey as something you would like to give some of your time and energy too I am so proud that with only my eyes and a few thoughts put down I have been able to whisper in a few people's ears http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-12038.html The picture I took of those boys to me was the best way to describe some of what I have seen.Along with the beauty the culture and the pride of Africa you have to look into the eyes of children like these boys and see the pain too. I think they are wise beyond their years. I see great courage and strength despite their circumstances. I see the love they have for one another and the pride to sta http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/Livingstone/blog-11685.html Today we finally got out of the city to see how the majority of Zimbabweans live. There are many things to explain about life here. Going to Ethiopia and Zimbabwe is like night and day. The main reason is Ethiopia was the only country in all of Africa that wasnrsquot colonized by another country. The lay out of the country supports this. What I mean is there really is not a civil plan. T http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zimbabwe/Harare/blog-11519.html June 11This morning we took a flight from Addis to Bahir Dar in the northern part of Ethiopia. I have to say today was the day that the fact that I lost my bags affected me the most. I wished for my bag of clothes and personal items first and got them. Now coming here I would have traded my clothes for the bag with supplies. How selfish am I that I wantedrdquo my stuffrdquo first for fresh http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-10842.html