View of the African land while driving south to Butajira.
We continued south of the capital city towards Butajira, the town where we will spend most of the trip. The views of the land were breathtaking as the skies were clear and the sun was beginning to go down.
There were animals roaming about next to the road and small huts where people lived. I wanted to take it all in but found myself falling asleep near the end of the two hour drive despite the bumpy road. A couple of times as I dozed off my head lurched forward when we went over big bumps and smacked the seat in front of me.
We’re staying in Rediet Hotel and it is much nicer than we anticipated based on the Ethiopian airport and streets of Addis. The rooms are cute with two twin beds and small balcony.
We are being careful to drink only bottled water and staying away from fresh salads to avoid getting sick. Four of the student-athletes made plans over dinner to go on a run before our 7:30 worksite departure tomorrow morning. I wish I could go with them but am not quite far enough along in my Achilles rehab to join. One of the hotel workers will be joining them for safety. We learned a few basic phrases. Hello is pronounced ‘seh-lahm’, goodbye is ‘chou’ and thank you is ‘ah-mah-say-guh-nah-loh’. I have no idea how any of that is spelt, only how it sounds.
It looks as though we will be disconnected from the internet until we return to Addis in nine days. I will continue to write posts until then and they will simply all be uploaded at once rather than day by day.
GO BEAVS!
Limited Internet access prevented Stephanie from posting these blogs while she was in Ethiopia. The trip was completed in late June 2012.
