Jupiter International Hotel Addis Ababa

... the Border (Bonebraker Highway) of Ethiopia.

According to news up to date, the journey to Sudan to Karthoum contains following major danger/annoyances:

- Northern Section Ethiopia: People throwing rocks against travelers
- Cold and rain (is this SERIOUS???)
- Road between Gonder and Gedaref (a 40km section of gravel, haha)

Otherwise happy travel.

... goûter à la guest avec tout le staff et les amis rencontrés ici.

La nuit tombe et le vent se lève, la saison des pluies commence, il est temps de partir.

Lundi, c’est le départ de Suzanne. On est invité par le staff national histoire de se gaver encore une fois de shiro, de tibs et de viande crue. Petits cadeaux en passant.

Lundi soir, tout le monde est là, comme d’hab. Ça fait plaisir de revoir les uns et ...

... corne de l'Afrique. Cette plante excitante et ici légale se broute comme les chèvres jusqu'à ce que le suc fasse son effet. Bilan on se retrouve à mâcher de l'herbe et après quelques minutes on a dans la joue une mixture amère de végétation en bouillie que l'on est censé ingurgiter à coup de coca.

La pluie se dissipe enfin et nous allons voir l'homme qui chaque nuit à la sortie de la ville nourrit les hyènes venues à sa rencontre. On se retrouve à observer ces ...

The trip started out simple enough, except for a few minor glitches. First security screening in LA confiscated my peanut butter, even though I assured them that it was the nonexplosive kind. Then there was the big swine flu scare (remember swine flu?), which threatened to shut down flights everywhere, as much out of fear as actual danger, similar to gasoline prices last summer. At least the check-in line was short, not bad for a ...

... tu connais ? Attention, faut pas dire, il est fier, tu vas le vexer. Comment ça tous les gens embauchés sont de ta famille ou de ton clan et ne respectent pas les critères minimum de recrutement ? Attention, faut pas dire, c'est leur personnel, ne fais pas ton colon de blanc, tu vas les vexer. Comment ça ton log a 3 mois de retard sur les achats et on a des doutes sur les réelles conso de fuel ? Travailler avec un partenaire, ça veut dire accepter une moindre efficacit ...

We rolled into Addis today. A downhill convoy went well. the afternoon was leisurely as we waited for all the riders to gather for the convoy. I read and napped, both things I should do more of. Breakfast was one of the most unusual meals I've eaten all trip. Tej (honey wine) was an acceptable breakfast drink; sweet with a present, though not overwhelming, alcoholic taste. We ate cubes of raw goat with injera and berebere, followed by grilled ...

... weekly salary in Ethiopia, but it was definately worth it. After the visit to the church, we kept towards the centre of the city, The Piazza. In the meantime we passed through another local church, decorated in traditional Ethiopian decorations, made that church different from any other worship house I've ever seen, and I've seen hundreds. In the Piazza we asked Sessey to stop in a coffee shop to grab something to eat. It was already 9:00AM ...

... Africa, and about the appropriateness of the messages being sent by our methods.  When the ingrained instinct is to wait for help from the outside instead of mobilizing it from within, we have all taken steps backward.              As this historic election advances toward its conclusion, questions about an Obama presidency hang expectantly in the air.  Would an Obama presidency in fact salvage America's tarnished image in the global community ...

... the larger purpose and philosophy underlying the Peace Corps. But together in that tiny house, surrounded by the stillness of the Ethiopian night, reflecting upon our friend's justifications for leaving and trying to formulate our own justifications for staying, we laid all those other grand considerations aside to focus on what all too often gets lost in the shuffle: our personal reasons for coming here, the hopes and aspirations that caused us to sign up for this ...

... of the embassy, Mrs R felt a tug on her backpack; simultaneously Mr R glanced around to find someone with a hand in her bag.  Mr R took the law into his own hands offering some traditional Cumbrian hospitality (like wot they do on White'aven High St on a Friday night), whilst administering several expletives to our potential thief.  This scene was broken up by a couple of sodiers from the embassy's compound.  We explained what had happened ...