http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Ethiopia , Oromia Region en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:12:54 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:12:54 +0000 Firstly apologies for the rather poor ratio of pictures to words in this entry but this leg of the journey has been spent either on the road or in large African cities which from our experience are neither the most photogenic places nor the safest to carry cameras round. In any case this can hopefully make up for any jealously that our photos of Zanzibar may have causedIt was high time we sta http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Moyale/blog-376148.html So as many of you know my first entry did not make a successful appearance on my original blog I canrsquot even type in the address because the Ethiopian government blocked it in every form. But the internets being as they are I located a different site that serves the same purpose. Hooray for internet Hooray for blogs Here is my first entry that I typed on my computer after the first http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-360363.html We finished our 4th week today. I just want to say that everyone in the Peace Corps gets the same mood swings I was getting. No worries. Next week is going to be a big one for all of us. On Tuesday we have our Language Proficiency Tests and on Saturday we will recieve our locations. It is kind of ridiculous about how secretive they are being about our sites. We had a slew of speakers come http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-359608.html Today was the first day since my last post that both the phone lines and the power were working at the same time. Ethiopia has made me realize how much I hate Dialup. So all of the Volunteers brought gifts for a Dirty Santa game. The limit was 10 Birr or 1 dollar. I bought a chinese power converter that only works in Chinait's useless here and a DVD of The Cowboy Way a horrible movie with http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-358530.html Sorry everyone I spent all my money on some local beer and haven't been able to afford the internet. The Peace Corps Staff took all of us to a place called Lake Wenchi today. It was so beautiful. It is a giant crater lake. I would say about a kilometer across. The best part was the hour and half walk down the mountain side to the lake. I can't wait to be able to load some pictures on here fo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-357122.html I felt really bad for my host father yesterday. He took me and my neighborwho is also a Peace Corps Volunteer to a local park and waterfall. It really was amazing just being able to sit and relax and tune out everything that is on my mind right then and soak up the scenery. Anyways the trip almost broke my host father's wallet. First off the bus ride was 2 birr for locals 5 for foreigns. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-354464.html Well it is 2pm on Saturday. We got out early today because we were tested today. I did pretty good. The language is actually really fun. It is all formula like spanish so there are rules to follow in every situation. Amharic is like a giant puzzle. I have a 45 minute walk down the main road so today I left an hour early so I could play soccer with some of the kids in town. Everyone is super http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-353860.html Hello EveryoneI am trying to remember what I have told you and what I haven't. Oh so the group I am with is 40 volunteers. They are pretty much split down the middle as far as gender. They are from all over the US. There is one guy from Franklin TN so that is pretty neat. After this we will be dispersed throughout the country. AHHH Let's talk about culture. Ethiopia is a very conservat http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-353294.html One of the many nice things about living in Addis Ababa is how easy it is to get out to the surrounding countryside which is especially easy when invited to go camping for the weekend by someone with access to a car.Two hours after leaving home having circumnavigated Addis on the ring road and driven out through Sebeta we were driving up a rough track into Menagesha Forest. The first bit of th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-350259.html The sun shone ants bit and the lone hyena out in the daylight skulked in undergrowth.The first stop on the Wildlife Society trip to Weliso was the lsquoNational Fishery and Other Aquatic Life Research Centrersquo at Sebeta. Apparently the halfempty pool covered with green algae is where Emperor Haile Selassie used to come to bathe. The fishery tanks didnrsquot seem particularly cared f http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-327065.html As I am preparing to leave Ethiopia here are some of my last photos.... http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Tufa/blog-310749.html When UNHCR informed us that the tickets they had reserved for us for Thursdayrsquos flight to Jijiga had not been paid in a timely fashion and therefore had been cancelled and that the next available flight was Saturday morninghellipsome of us looked at each other and decided to hit the road and run away from Addis. Mary Katersquos Ethiopian friend suggested Lake Langano and I heard that th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-300562.html Another new country only three more left now and maybe only six weeks if all goes to plan.So after being deposited by the armed guards at the border we had lunch in a local cafe where we got many stares whilst we ate the traditional mixed bean dish and pilau rice it was very yummy though. We then drove to immigration where we were stamped out of Kenya with relative ease and then crossed noma http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-297900.html The bureaucracy at the College is quite amazing I had to undergo lsquointernal clearancersquo before theywould write the clearance letters that I need for when I leave Ethiopia. This involves 32 different people each signing seven times to say that I have nothing belonging to the College and am free to leave. Most of the 32 have had nothing to do with my work here Luckily one of the o http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Robe/blog-290684.html Heres some of my latest photos...enjoy http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Tufa/blog-284615.html Apart from the cactus and the people washing their clothes in the river the landscape as I walked along the River Shaya could have been somewhere in Northumberland. The recent rains were holding off so I had decided that as we had a day off work for Patriotsrsquo Day I would go for a walk. I left Robe at 8am and headed towards Hora Boka. It is amazing how quickly the mud dries after on http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Robe/blog-273383.html Monday 31st March Friday 11th April 2008 I wasnrsquot sure that anyone I knew was going to use the opportunity of me being in Ethiopia to visit this wonderful country. Finally after 18 months my first visitors arrived my Mum and Dad I went to Addis to meet them at Bole International Airport and was just beginning to wonder if I should try and get into the arrivals area to look for them http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Bale/blog-269681.html This is a very strange entry we are not in Ethiopia but we want to be. The season is almost over and soon we will have wound up the season. But as we enter the planning stage our travel buddy and escort Justyn Lane is now preparing his vehicle in Malawi. But regretably Amanda his faithful girlfriend has decided against the trip of a lifetime the exploration of the Omo Valley and Northern Kenya http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Moyale/blog-263332.html Selka is a very small town 45km east of Robe off the road to Sof Omar. I was supposed to have gone there on Tuesday afternoon in preparation to run a workshop this morning but no electricity in Robe meant that the College driver who was to take me and leave me there could not fill the vehicle with fuel. Instead we agreed that he would pick me up at 6.30 this morning. He arrived dead on time http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Bale/blog-260217.html Most of the time I feel a little bit like a fraud as a volunteer in Ethiopia as my quality of life is so much better here than in the UK. I am often asked how Ethiopia and the UK compare economically my stock answer is that it is difficult to compare because of course wages are much higher but so are costs in the UK. There is no air pollution just the dust of Robe to contend with in the d http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Robe/blog-255968.html