Half way point.

                                           Beans and beignet at our local market...delicious!!!

                                         Dried fish at our local market...not so delicious

  

Some of my best friends.

Rainy season is wearing on. It rains almost every day now. Some days one storm after another rolls in and I find myself chilled to the bone in this mud brick house. All my clothes are damp and smell musty. C’est la vie. It is now time to begin harvesting my corn and peanuts.  The mamas came over and helped me.  They built a little fire in the small shed behind my house and toasted up some corn…..it’s good!

I’ve been to Mid-Service in Yaounde which entails many (poop, pee, blood) tests and physical. I was given a clean bill of health and had my teeth cleaned….sorta. So now half way thru already. Spent 4th of July there with some fellow vols….much fun. Then came home to Batie to learn that my counterpart here (a really wonderful man) was killed the day before in a gruesome moto accident in which he was crushed by a huge beer truck. The whole village has been in a state of shock and depression. He was the chief of my little village and much loved by all, including me. It has been really heartbreaking. He has left behind two wives (one of whom I have grown close to) and many children...so sad.

I finally got my grant request in.  Yes, we are still doing the chicken business on the insistence of the mama’s who are convinced they can make it work.  We’ll learn how to cut back on costs as we go….that’s the plan anyway.  The good part is that by the time the grant goes through (I hope) and we fatten up the chicks, it will be the beginning of the high season for funerals and fetes which puts the chickens in greater demand and so a good time to make money for us….a running start as they say. Meanwhile, they (my mamas, not the chickens) come over every week for bookkeeping, marketing, action planning etc lessons. They are excellent students!

I’ll be leaving for a two week vacation in Ethiopia in just a couple of weeks. We will be flying into Addis Ababa for a couple of days, then on to Bahar Dar (Lake Tana Monastaries built in 14 and 15th centuries and Blue Nile falls in nearby little village of Tis Isat), Gondar ( midievil castles and lots of history here..also where PC friend lives), and Lalibela/Tigray (ancient churches carved into rock walls, mountainous area, lots of hiking up...both ways). It’s rainy season there too...soooo…..there’s that. I’ll try to get some good pix but I have a tendency to get caught up in the moment and forget the pictures part.

I’ve gotten quite chubby of late and am trying to lose weight before the vacay where I will surely put it all back on.  The food is said to be wonderful in Ethiopia! Yummy!

Well, that’s about it.  Life has not been all that exciting here….Ethiopia should spice it up a bit. Oh yes, I watched “Life of Pi” recently. (Got it off of a friend’s hard drive). I thought it was such a beautiful and touching movie, wonderful photography and beautiful music. It’s the only time I can say that I loved the movie more than the book. See it. Love.