There was a large famine in Ethiopia in the 1980s, especially in the more arid areas in the west towards Somalia, and as westerners who were exposed to the “Save the Children” commercials; our idea of what the Ethiopian countryside looks like is a bit skewed. It is SUB-Saharan. Many parts of the country are lush and green. There is a plethora of different grasses, bushes, and tress that cover the countryside, that’s right Jefe, a plethora. I have not seen much fauna except for birds. There are a lot of small colorful birds, vultures, hawks, and these black ravens with huge thick beaks whose calls sound like a loudly oink-ing pig. They were appropriately dubbed “pig-birds” by the other group, and they’re pretty butt-ugly. We did see 1 monkey at Jimma University of all places. ... read more

The Heathrow International terminal that I was in made Nordstrom’s look like a Marshall’s and it made Marshall’s look like the Goodwill Outlet I shopped at during college that sold clothes by the pound. Seriously, the shops were that nice. Anyways, I got on my Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Air is no Virgin Atlantic. I have no idea who the Ethiopian equivalent of Sir Richard Branson is, but he needs to get off his ass, buy Ethiopian Air, and pimp it out. I managed to sleep a decent amount so the flight was not too painful but the seats felt like someone put a cushion on a toilet seat, there was some serious dip. We landed, got off the plane, I was somehow first through customs, which consisted of portable fabricated walls that ... read more

Internet is slow dial-up here in Ethiopia, so this blog will serve as a means of communication rather than me sending emails. Feel free to send emails though, I will read them, but I may give a short response or a response in this blog. The first several posts are retroactive; the time stamps are not accurate. ... read more