Field Visit 1

I am going to be in the field with CARE for the week. I just arrived in South Ghodnar, an area North of Addis Ababa, where CARE has a field office. It took about 12 hours by car (4x4) to get here, and although the trip was long with no break for about 8 hours between breakfast and lunch, it was beautiful. Every time I started to feel cranky about the fact that I was stuck in the middle seat I would take a look outside and notice people walking down the road with no shoes on. It shut my brain up fast! There are people everywhere, it seems, in Ethiopia. Only 45 minutes out of the city, the area becomes very rural, and we passed mud huts with no electricity. The flow of people, however, didn't seize. People herding cows and sheep. People carrying goods to/from markets. People (mostly children) selling produce and crafts. If there was any question about this country's high population and fertility rates (there wasn't), this trip erased it for me!

The scenery was beautiful. This "great" rainy season has been beneficial to the rural area, even if it means Paul and I have to swim the road our house is on! Everything is green and lush, and besides for the hail storm that we drove through, sunny. We passed three beautiful waterfalls as well as drove over the blue nile.

I will be here till Wednesday, when I will be going to the city of Bahir Dar for a few days. I will surely have more to tell soon. Additionally, I plan to have pictures and will find a way to post them to my blog soon.

Additionally, I know there has been a request for pictures of Puddles, I have them and will post those soon too!