Addis Ababa

A select few photos (too slow to upload more.)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122292&id=558597593&l=1ba2cc08d5

I am in an internet cafe in Addis Ababa, the only internet cafe I
could find that has power today, in the back of a shoe store using a
generator. There are big power problems in Ethiopia because the
hydroelectric dams are not working to capacity due to a late rainy
season. The last week and a half getting to Addis is a bit of a blur.
We crossed over from Uganda back into Kenya and made our way North,
along what we were told would be some of the worst roads between
Capetown and Cairo. I think that information might be out of date,
sure the roads are bad, and might not even be classified as real roads
in places, but they are very passable and not truck destroying as we
had worried. The scenery along the way through North Kenya is
incredible. It is a very remote region and sparsely populated and for
good reason. A big chunk of the area looks like Mars, and not a little
bit like Mars, a lot like Mars. They could have easily faked the Mars
rover landings there. It is a volcanic region covered with red dust
and rocks. Absolutely incredible scenery and the camping we did there
is my favorite of this trip. The only serious issue with passing
through the area is that there are bandits around, and for some of the
ride we had to have two armed guards we hired at a police station
accompany us. They were very friendly and told us that only one truck
in the last month had been captured, and everyone on it shot.

It felt good to arrive in Addis, tired, dusty and in serious need of a
shower. Ethiopia, because of the lack of foreign influences (the
Italians only occupied it for a very short time) is a very very
different country. The calendar is different, the way they tell time
is different, the language is different, the alphabet is different,
the religions are different and the people are very proud of these
differences. It makes for a great country to visit and so far I am
really enjoying it.

Yesterday I went to the national museum and saw the remains of Lucy.
One of the earliest hominid fossil skeletons discovered, 3.18 million
years old. Incredible, but kept in a very run down museum which had
all sorts of additional exhibits from the Axum empire, with almost
zero explanation. After that things got interesting. I was wandering
around the city when three guys stopped me and asked me to help them
with a question they had, what did Moses send after they got bored of
mana. I told them I thought it was fish, but that I am an Atheist and
I didn't really know. They were shocked that I was an Atheist and this
caused huge consternation and a long on the street discussion, which
then led to lunch with them and then they took me to their favorite
chat den. Chat is a leaf which is chewed by many people here. It is
sold in bundles of stems and leaves in little plastic bags. You break
the leaves off, stuff them in your mouth and chew and suck the juices
from the leaf. It is a stimulant and the effect is a little like
having 50 coffees in a row. It is not socially acceptable to chew in
public though so they took me to a back alley den through multiple
dark doorways into a series of small connecting rooms. I would have
left if I felt at all worried, but it felt relatively safe, so I
stayed. In each room you could fit maybe 12 people knee to knee and
they sat around chewing, discussing politics, football and anything
else under the sun. The guy sitting next to me was a PhD in chemistry
and on the back of his hand drew out the chemical analysis of chat and
it's effects on the body. Along with the chat they served coke to cut
the bitter taste and peanuts to soften the effect on your throat.
Nobody minded that I was there and I think I learned more about
current Ethiopia in that time than in all the reading I had done.
After a while though I realized that I was *completely* wired and I
needed to leave. I was vibrating from the effects and unable to sit
still for more than a few seconds. That lasted until well into the
night.

Today I am taking it easy, going to visit the largest market in Africa
and just wandering around the city. Tomorrow we go to try get our
visas for Sudan and, if all goes well, we should be leaving to go
North then or the day after, but as always in Africa, it will happen
when it happens.