Only six months left!!!  It is hard to believe we have already been here twenty-one months, it has gone by really fast.  I am considering extending in a few places for different reasons.  But, the closer to the deadline the more I am leaning towards finishing my service and moving onto the next stage of my life, whatever that may be.  It is also hard to imagine all the things that are going on in the states.  People getting engaged, having babies, and of course getting really drunk on GOOD alcohol. 
Looking ahead I am trying to prioritize what I need to get done, what I want to get done, and what probably won’t get done.  I am still going to play with my bees, but with this little time left and them not doing as well as I would like, due to the lack of trees for food I think, I am not thinking that I will be able to do all the stuff I wanted to.  Still I have learned a LOT since working on them here and I still have plenty to continue learning.  I have been able recently to work more directly with farmers which is one of the things I always wanted.  They seem to be realizing the resource I can be to help them, I just wish it had happened sooner.  Still I have made all the mistakes that they are making now and I am happy to get in there with them and help them avoid making my mistakes. 
I haven’t started working with the schools this year.  I should have if I had wanted to but, I can’t decide.  In many aspects working with the school was one of the most rewarding things I did, and in others it was by far the most frustrating.  I am happy to say that I met some kids that really were awesome and I was happy to work with and I hope in one way or another I helped them, but trying to get the clubs started, getting kids to attend, getting translators and counterparts, is all very difficult and time consuming.  Not like I have any lack of time on my hands.  Finally camps, as many of you know I just directed a small community camp at my site, I think it went really well but of course could be improved upon.  But I am torn on if I want to try and do one more before the end of my service.  There are two big barriers I see being difficult to overcome.  First is translators, while I can get community members to fascilitate some of the sessions we would need someone there to help us for the sessions we lead, as well as the general instructions etc.  The person that helped us last time just went to university and is one of the students I was so happy to work with.  The second is finances, due to recent rule changes in the way PC Ethiopia does grants it is very hard for us to get small amounts of money, like what I need to pay for snacks, this rule change comes to the dismay of many of us as we are in fact being encouraged to do small community camps by PC but unable to get support.  If I can overcome these two big difficulties though I may very well try to do one more small camp. 
In recent personal news I FINALLY have a horse.  And by I, I mean we.  My site mate and I finally took the plunge to get the horse together.  That way when I leave he will have a home and I don’t have to worry about trying to get him to a good home.  I think technically he is actually a pony though, the horses in Ethiopia are really small.  He is about average for the area and still only 13 hands and 276kg (608lbs).  We named him Sargaent Shriver after the first director of PC.  Thankfully he is really patient, while I have ridden a horse a very few times, my site mate had never before he came here so there has been a bit of a learning curve.  But, we are learning, and enjoying having him.  I would be willing to bet he is happy to be with us seeing has he has put on over 25lbs in the week we have had him.  When we first bought him we were unable to buy a saddle since all the materials weren’t available at the market.  So for the first week we were riding bareback.  It was the first time in my life riding bareback and I am not sad at all to have a saddle now.  I also am not sure I will ever be able to have children after this…  I also did my first jump on a horse.  It was just a tiny ditch and not much to speak of, the somewhat impressive part was that I did it at a canter, riding bareback, and stayed seated even though I didn’t realize Sarge had decided to jump it till mid jump.  It did earn me the applause of the people watching which was pretty funny though.  I don’t know if you still read this Donna, but if you do thank you for letting me tag along with you riding, without the stuff I learned from you I probably wouldn’t have been able to even get this far. 
The next few months are going to be interesting, I am going to addis this week for a Gender and Development (GAD) committee meeting.  Then there is Halloween, then some good beekeeping time, then  the holidays really get started.  The new volunteers will be incoming, we will have our Close of Service conference, then we will be outbound.  I have to remember to breathe in November, because after that I won’t be able to.

7/29
I finally got my blog sent out so I guess it is time to write another one!  Twenty-two days left till I fly home!  I am still confused how this whole flight works.  I am first flying to the UAE from Addis which is about four hours in the wrong direction, then my flight heads to Miami.  That means I am flying a full eight hours round trip extra!  I mean, who comes up with these things?  Anyway, sadly my layover is too short for me to get to explore Doha, I am disappointed that I get to fly in without actually seeing the country at all.  But, since I won’t get to leave the airport I guess I will just have to gorge myself of FOOD!  Don’t get me wrong, I like Ethiopian food just fine.  But, there is NO diversity, just getting to eat foods that I don’t have everyday will be such a treat. 
Things are getting together for my camp.  I have people signed up to do training, and all but one of the slots are already filled.  I should have my grant money by now, and the supplies I need are all easy to come by.  Two weeks from now we will be training sixty kids (assuming I can get them all to show up) on gender equality, leadership, sexual health, and HIV.  It should be a lot of fun and hopefully the students will come ready to learn. 
Life is pretty much the same old every day.  I have been working on my bees and learning from my mistakes.  I am hoping that when I come to the states I might be able to meet some keepers and just get a little experience from them.  I feel pretty confident in what I am doing, but there are some things I would really like to do at least once with a professional.  It is a really fun hobby though and I can’t believe that it is so out of fashion in America.  It is so common here that people actually keep bees by their front doors.  That sounds fine and all until you realize that African bees are MEAN.  I was trying to plant some flowers for my bees the other day, I was digging about four meters or so from the hive (13ft) and they started bouncing off my head warning me to stop.  Then as I ran away I ran past the building where I keep my other bees and THEY started going after me too!  So considering that the bees here are so mean and they still keep them around their kids, why when Americans have access to bees that you can literally open the hive and touch the bees without them stinging do we not do it more? 
I am officially out of water.  My landlady has stopped helping me get water, I am not sure why, and I have had to get water from a friend.  Still, all my laundry is dirty, I haven’t had a shower in a week and a half, and my socks STINK!  I have had to buy bottled water to drink, and to water my chickens.  It is really not fun not being able to even wash my dishes.  I have got to figure this out and get someone I can trust to fetch me water.  On the bright side the power has been crazy good recently.  It has been on at least 90% of every day and sadly this has led to me watching more movies and reading fewer books.  Honestly I kinda wish it would go out so I would be forced back to books.  Still, you can’t get something nice like that without a sacrifice.  The internet cell network has been out for weeks.  I have not been able to check my email since I have been at site so yesterday I got permission to use the governments satellite internet just to check email.  Still, that isn’t open to everyone so I am very grateful they let me do it.
This week is all about preparation.  I am getting students signed up, having penis models built for condom Olympics, finishing up the schedule for camp, and finalizing details.  I also will have to go to Robe this week to send out the training materials, schedule, and information to the people helping with the camp.  That sounds like it will keep me busy, sadly that is all less than half a days work every day this week.  (I could probably finish it all in a day, but then what would I do for the rest of the week?)
Obama was here in Ethiopia this week.  I was a little miffed about it when I heard about it for reasons I can’t get into on this blog.  But, I was happy to see that he was far from out of the loop on issues here and that he seemed to be heavy handed with dealing with issues that are unbecoming of America’s allies. I was very proud of the way he handled some of the questions about certain human rights issues and was not afraid to back down.  Finally, I missed it, but was told that he also spoke proudly about Peace Corps volunteers and I hope that we can all live up to the high expectations laid on us.

7/10
It is hard to believe I only have eight and a half months left in my service!  I feel like time has flown and I have so much left I want to accomplish.  I don’t even want to think about when I am going to have to say goodbye to all my friends, both PC and Ethiopian.  Although I will admit to already having started planning my going away party!  It has been an interesting couple of months.  I am glad I get to spend a little time away from Addis after all the time I have spent there recently.  I am excited about some upcoming events I am in the process of getting together.  I am working on getting a small community camp planned to teach students about HIV, and gender issues.  My site mate and I are also trying to get a training together to teach HIV positive women how to create a bio-intensive gardens at their house to help feed them and their families.  Of course, as usual, we will have to keep our fingers crossed that things come together like we are hoping or we even get them to happen at all.
There was an interesting event yesterday, some people were caught stealing from a house in one of the rural kabeles.  They were brought to the police station awaiting…whatever is going to happen to them (no one seemed to know what that would be).  But what really amazed me is that the accused were put on display in the police station compound.  It seemed to me that the whole town came out to see them and I was amazed when all of my coworkers went streaming out of the compound.  I know peoples photos are available after arrests in America, but this was the court of public opinion to the extreme.  I don’t know if they were innocent or guilty, but people sure have made up their minds.  Not only that, but the rumors going around town were flabber ghasting.  I was told by my best Ethiopian friend that the accused has used magic to keep the house owners asleep while they stole from them.  Another person told me they blew marijuana in their faces to keep them from waking up.  Just what people would believe was incredible.  I don’t know what people would do if they were innocent, but I sure hope they aren’t because they are guilty in the eyes of the community. 
On a sadder note, one of my best friend’s, in Gasera, sister just died.  I noticed he wasn’t acting right, but wasn’t sure what was wrong.  Then yesterday I was with some friends and he explained and invited us to come to the mourning.  I have been making sure to avoid any chance of having to go to a mourning since I got here, but of course, as he is a good friend, I felt I had too.  As much as I feel bad saying it, I was thankful to have missed the part where the family and friends wail and cry over the loss.  But I was glad to be there for my friend.  It was interesting seeing the differences and similarities between the cultures.  What I was invited to would most resemble a wake in America, but, the main difference being that here it lasts for about a week.  I arrived and, of course, there were the usual comments about the foreigner coming, then food, snacks, and coffee were served.  That was followed by just general conversation and I was surprised a fair amount of joking and laughing.  I was expecting a more somber mood, but at that point it had turned into just being there with the family for support, but an otherwise normal day.  I felt honored that even though he was going through all of the grief of losing a sister, that my friend still came to my defense when people were calling me a “forenji” and he told them not to call me that and that I was a “habesha” (Ethiopian). 
In Ethiopia we are constantly bombarded with the loss and tragedy, and poverty.  It can be hardening when every month you hear about your coworkers family, or neighbor’s child, or friends sister dying.  The constant and multiple homeless people asking for money on the bus, and the homeless children can be overwhelming.  But, I think the worst part is the senselessness of it.  If I remember correctly, the average life span of people in rural areas is around fifty.  I was talking to my site mate yesterday about the horrible problem with blindness in this country.  You constantly see people who have lost their sight over a simple infection.  It is amazing that people still go blind from something so simple.  A tube of the ointment that would cure their infection costs about the price of a cup of coffee here.  That is twenty-five US cents!  I don’t know why my friend’s sister died, but I can’t help but wonder if it was something simple, and easily treatable.  One of the things that has really been brought home to me this last year is the privilege we have in America.  I was brought up in a home where I never wanted.  I had everything I ever needed and most of what I wanted.  On top of that we have so many freedoms and we neglect most of them.  We have the freedom to vote for who we want but many of us never even register to vote much less actually cast a vote.  We have the right to a fair trial in court, the right to say and write what we want, and now the right to marry the person we love.  In many countries all over the world people don’t have some, or even any of these rights and we don’t give it a second thought.  If nothing else, I hope this is the thing that I keep with me for the rest of my life and remember never to take for granted again.

6/18
Well, I am back at site and re-settled in.  Of course, that will last only two weeks before I am back to Addis.  Still, I have enjoyed all the reasons to go to Addis recently and have accomplished a lot.  The last trip was a planning meeting for GAD (gender and development).  I am interested to see who our new volunteers will be.  As G12 finishes their IST (In Service Training) it is almost time for G13 to arrive.  It will be cool to see all their new, tired, jet lagged, overworked (already), and culture shocked faces.  I can’t say I am the best influence on them, but few of the newbies I meet forget who I am! 
As some of you already know I was just in Addis also to help train G12.  I helped facilitate a meeting explaining what GAD is about, and why they should join.  I also helped with a soaps and salve making session.  Then of course there was my favorite, BEEKEEPING!  I helped one of the bee researchers train about the generals of beekeeping and all the uses of it   Then I helped show them how to build a beehive, as well as purifying wax, processing honey, and how to make beeveils from local material.  Not to brag, but I was pretty happy with myself when one of the researchers complimented me.  At first it was translated to me as him having said I was “gobez” or smart.  Well, what he actually said was that you are so knowledgeable you must “eat with the bees.”  I also got to sting a couple people.  Some of them weren’t sure if they were allergic so I captured a bee with some pliers and had them sting the volunteers.  It was funny seeing how people reacted. For some reason, no one seemed to believe me that African bees sting is worse then the bees in America, well, at least, not till after they got stung.  But the training went really well, I think most of the volunteers were very entertained by it, and I think some of them are already applying the training and getting stuff in motion.
Getting back to site was a mess, I won’t go into details because it still upsets me, but I will just say that it made me even more set in working with the Gender and Development Committee to promote gender equality in Ethiopia. 
Then on the bus from Robe to Gasera the bus was way above capacity so I had to stand the whole two hours back home.  It was fine, except the lady next to me sitting down had her young baby.  The baby liked seeing it’s first white person and kept grabbing my hand, but his head was in the aisle and I couldn’t help but bump it sometimes since the road is really rough.  She kept fussing at me, but since there was a person in front of me, and many behind me, and I was already leaning against the chair on the opposite side I couldn’t move at all and she didn’t get the fact that if she just turned the baby around that his feet would be the thing sticking out and it wouldn’t matter if I bumped those (or even if she held the baby a different way he wouldn’t be in the aisle at all).  And speaking of the person behind me, he was sitting on a car part in the aisle behind me and kept falling asleep, which I would have loved to do too, except that since I was standing his head kept falling right onto the middle of my butt.  So, the whole ride I had to deal with an overcrowded, overheated bus, with people fussing at me and falling asleep in very uncomfortable places.
Well, I am supposed to help give a beekeeping training here at site and it is conveniently just across the street from my house.  So until next time.
Trey
P.S. (6/19) So no one turned up for the training where I was expected so I walked halfway through town to the office and asked where they were.  They called the training and found out it was at the gorge.  I managed to get a ride there but we didn’t find anyone so we asked if anyone had seen them.  We were then told they were inside the gorge.  Peering over the edge we found out they were a ten minute walk down the side of the gorge.  Regardless, it was an interesting, if very brief, training.  I am hoping that the people will work with me from the start and that maybe we can actually get them doing some modern techniques.

6/4-
On my way to Addis again.  I swear I am there more than at site.  It seems like only last week I  was there for mid-service conference.   Now, I am heading in for a GAD meeting and to help do a beekeeping training training for G12, one of the other groups of volunteers.  Since it takes two days for me to get to Addis I decided I would do my overnight in Butajira, my training site and where my host family lives.  I got to spend all  morning with my family.  They were very excited to see me and  greeted me with hugs and kisses on the cheek. As soon as I arrived they were cooking scrambled eggs and tea for me.  When I finished they roasted, ground, and cooked coffee for me.  After that I had Qolo (think granola made of barely and chick peas) and a beer.  It was nice to just sit on the front porch again and chat with my host family.  It seems like forever since I saw them last, I guess it has been a year, and I did get scolded for not calling and visiting enough.  For lunch it was my host mom’s home cooked bayanet and another beer then my host dad walked me all the way to the bus station, nearly a two kilometer walk.  It was great getting to see everyone again and I have to make sure to visit again before I leave.

5/25
We survived the election!  But, seriously the Ethiopian national election was yesterday.  PC was on high alert just to be on the safe side.  We were recommended to stay at our own house during the voting to make sure everyone was in a place PC could reach us.  Of course, with the cell network down for the last week I am not sure how they really thought they could reach me at all…  I was not worried about the election since my town is relatively small, and peaceful.  But, I did stay at my house, not because PC recommended it, but because the power was on ALL DAY!  It was the first time in at least six months.  To be honest, I only moved from my bed to go to the bathroom; for the rest of time I was watching the series “Grimm,” I even cooked and ate from my bed.  I finished about a season and a half yesterday, my site mate came to my house to make sure I wasn’t sick since he hadn’t seen me, I then told him how I had to change my lunch plans because I was too lazy to put on real clothes and go the twenty steps out my front door to buy some bread.  All in all I consider it a very successful day!
On Saturday we went to the market just to get some supplies and eat prickly-pear fruit.  I still have the spines(hair-like prickers) from the fruit in my hand, and I am pretty sure one in my lip. From now on I am letting the Habesha peel my fruit for me.  When we finished we went for coffee and we were hanging out in front of Aster’s coffee house.  The electronics store next door was playing music and “I’m Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO came on.  Ali, the store keeper, skipped it as he does all forenji music until I went over and fussed at him.  He quickly turned it back and I started singing dancing in front of the coffee house.  About that time one of the large buses loaded down with well over a hundred people drove slowly by. The redats (door men) cheered me on, and the passengers could all be seen with their faces pressed to the windows to watch the white boy dancing.  How is that for spreading understanding of Americans to Ethiopia!
Last fun story for now: I was at MSC (mid service training) in the “Teaching HIV at camps” session.   It was time for Jeopardy and we had to decide who would go first.  In true PC fashion it was decided that the last person to have crapped their pants would be first to go.  Everyone began to try and figure out if they were first, it was settled that someone who had a few months ago would be first to go when I raised my hand.  I said that I was pretty certain I would be first having had a problem about two weeks prior.  I won, and our team went on to dominate! 
Random thought, you learn to love the rain after you do laundry.  At least, those of us who are lazy do.  Doing laundry by hand is the worst.  Ask my mom, I used to hate doing laundry because I don’t like to fold clothes.  Well now, doing laundry entails wetting, soaping, scrubbing, rinse scrubbing, rinsing, and THEN folding.  So you can image how I now feel about laundry.  Since my laundry lady stopped doing laundry (I am not sure if she was fired, or decided she doesn’t like doing it, or what) I have been doing my own.  No surprise, I am lazy about it, and often skip the second rinse.  That means, that quite often my laundry goes on the line to dry with a little ,or a lot, of soap still on it.  But, that is where the rain comes in.  The Ethiopian second rinse is a well known/loved part of the Ethiopian weather by PCVs. 
Crapping in a hole… when people think of travelling to foreign countries they often dread the hole.  I don’t know if it is because we think it is unsanitary, even though our rears never have to touch something that was touched by a thousand other peoples butt cheeks that day; or if we think it will be uncomfortable, you do have to figure out the right position so your legs don’t go to sleep but after that it is so much more…linear for things to make their way out.  But I really have come to enjoy them.  Don’t get me wrong, a nice porcelain throne can make a day once in a while.  But I really do like the way a shinta bet works.  Now, to be fair there are BAD shinta bets.  Whether it is lack of cleanliness, or the ever dreaded splash back!!!  Imagine squatting over a hole in the ground, doing your business above a lake of filth below, then all of a sudden you hear a splash and feel the drips of a million bowel movements ever so (not)gently hit your buttocks.  The thoughts that go through your mind are hardly repeatable in a blog.  But, horror stories aside I think I am going to miss the squat toilet. 
Hopefully I have entertained, and disgusted a few of you.  The rest, well this is just how my brain is functioning today. I should soon be back to the more orderly, and fulfilling blog posts shortly.  Until next time.

5/17
G10 is now one year into service.  It is hard to image even what I was doing one year ago.  How scary it was coming to site.  Trying to figure out what the heck I was doing in the middle of rural Ethiopia, or what I was going to do with myself for two whole years here.  Now, some days I can honestly say I still ask the same questions.  But, some days I can’t help but wonder about how I am in Africa, living, and working among new friends and people I could never have imagined a year ago.  I’m reading a book now called “One Hand Does Not Catch A Buffalo.”  It is a book that was created as one in a series about the development of Peace Corps and to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.  Reading it is reinforcing the amazing history I have found myself a part of. 
For those of you who really don’t know what Peace Corps is, or what we REALLY do I want to explain a little.  For that I am going to add a little history first.  The PC was proposed several times before it was actually adopted.  When it was put before President Nixon, it was rejected as just another way for people to “dodge” the draft.  Then Kennedy, as a presidential candidate, on October 14, 1960 asked students at the University of Michigan at 2 a.m. how many would be prepared to give years of their lives working in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.  The day after his election the new President asked Sargent Shriver to form a presidential task force to report how the Peace Corps should be organized, and to make it happen.  Within one month the report was presented to the president on the morning of Friday, February 24, 1961 with the promise that “If you decide to go ahead, we can be in business by Monday morning.”  From that, the PC was conceived with the goals of “contributing to the development of critical countries and regions; promoting international cooperation and goodwill towards this country; and contributing to the education of America and to more intelligent American participation in the world.”  To this day the Peace Corps still works towards these same, slightly reworded, ideas. 
In February, 2014, I joined the ranks of Peace Corps volunteers to train for Peace Corps service.  At the inception of PC volunteers had to do training such as Tarzan style rope swings into nets, and morning runs, things like language training, home stay, and yes, even drinking the local home-made alcohols remain to this day an integral part of training,  Many other things have been removed from the training program.  The main theme of every PC post in the world is integration.  Some volunteers may never have what they consider a “successful” project.  But, making household gardens, or teaching English is not what PC is about.  Sure, those may play a role in what we do, but goal two and three are all about understanding.  If we can help our community understand American culture, and bring back our host countries culture to America then we have succeeded in our service. 
All of that is great, but it doesn’t really tell you what Peace Corps Volunteers really do!  We promote world peace, we spread culture, we help train people to better their lives and the lives of their countrymen.  But, what does that mean.  Well if you ask any PCV what they thought they were coming to do when they joined PC, nine times out of ten they will say “I wanted to change the world.”  Then if you ask Returned Peace Corps Volunteers what they did they will say I am the one that changed.  We who join PC are the idealists.  The people who want to go out and teach a community, and see their whole communities lives change.  Then when you get into your host community and see how things really work you start to understand that probably isn’t going to happen.  But, what really changes?  Other than yourself, it is the people you interact with day to day.  Maybe you teach a women to make a tippy tap to wash their hands before they feed their baby and help prevent the baby from catching a water borne illness.  Or perhaps you teach a man living with HIV how to make a bio-intensive garden so he can feed himself.  Or maybe you tutor a student and help them do better on their exams so they can get into university.  There are plenty of examples of volunteers helping to build wells to help water their entire village, but by far the the average volunteer feels their service is a success from the small actions that affect one or two people.  And, by affecting that one you better their lives.  From there that one person tells one or two people, who in turn tells one or two more.  And that one small action can change the whole community.  That is what PC really is.  The small actions, that can go on to change the world. 
So if you are thinking about joining Peace Corps what is the advice I would give you?   First of all I would say do it!  Understand that when they say it is the “toughest job you will ever love” they aren’t kidding.  PC service will try you in every way possible.  You will have the worst days of your life, and the best.  I would also say come with the idea of “changing the world.”  Maybe you will realize that you probably aren’t going to change the world.  But it is like one of my favorite quotes “what is an ocean but a multitude of drops.”  So while you might not change the world; you will be part of a history of PCVs who are changing the world and making it a better place.

2/5
Back from my first real vacation in Ethiopia.  I have visited Hawassa for a day or two to refresh.  But I just went to Harar for several days and was a real tourist for the first time.  Harar is one of the oldest cities in Ethiopia, and it is a Muslim Holy city.  It is a walled city, with the old city having museums, and buildings built around the time the city was started.  Harar is also known for it’s color.  The people often wear brightly colored cloths, and almost all the buildings are painted in pastels, and other bright colors.  It was truly an amazing place to visit.  But, before I start on about the city, I should tell about getting OUT of Addis, and on the road.
I was in Addis for a GAD meeting, where we met our new members, and discussed planning for the upcomeing AGE summit.  The day we were to leave Addis we got up and left the hotel around six AM.  The bus station we had to get to is far outside of town, and taxis charge a lot to get there, so we decided to take the busses to get there.  But, there was one problem, we weren’t sure which buses to take.  So on the corner of the road we asked a lady, and she happened to be going that way.  She told us to wait with her and she would help us get on the bus.  Well we were thinking we were waiting on a line-taxi (15 passenger vans that run specific short routes in town), but after maybe twenty minutes of waiting, we realized it must be a large city bus.  None of us had ever ridden those busses, but the lady seemed to know what she was doing so we decided to give it a try.  When the bus finally arrived we got on only to realize that they are SLOW.  I mean, the distance that would have taken three or four minutes in a line taxi took ten.  Then it is time to get off the bus…and we realize we have NO idea where we are.  But, our friend from earlier finds us and tells us we have to get on another bus.  So we get to our next stop, and we know we are in the general area of the bus station, but are still lost.  We once again get told we have to find another bus.   By this time we are over an hour past when we wanted to leave.  So we try to get a taxi, but they are all full, the line taxis are also all full, and we aren’t sure how we are going to make it to the station.  Then a bus pulls up and ask where we are going.  There is only a couple kids, the driver, and door man on the bus.  He tells us they will take us to the station, but charge us ten birr each (we could have line taxied all the way from the hotel for less), but we agree.  After a few stops we realize that only kids are getting on the bus and they are all in school uniforms.  It was a school bus, and we were the only adults, much less Americans on the bus.  The kids were from a private school so their English was pretty good, we ended up talking to them, and taking pictures.  It was actually pretty fun after a rough start to the morning.  The rest of the day we were on busses to get to Harrar.  We finally get there, go to a hotel and rent a room.  We managed to get local prices, instead of the foreigner mark up so we stayed in a sweet!
Ok, so now to Harar.  It is truly a beautiful city.  The culture is very unique, and the things to do are nearly limetless.  We started the first day off going to the museum de Rembeau (sp), he was a french man that came to Ethiopia and lived in Harar for many years.  We saw his art and poetry, as well as some of the history in pictures of the town.  Then we wondered the town for a while just seeing the old city.  After a while we met up with another part of our group, they had met a college kid who wanted to show us around town so he could practice his English.  He first took us to the meat market.  We arrived and a bunch of kids ran out immediatly and started holding out pieces of meat in their hands.  But, to our surprise they weren’t doing it for us to eat, but for the hawks on all the surrounding roof tops.  As soon as they would open their hands a group of hawks would swoop down, and the first one there would grab the meat from their open hands.  After that the began putting it on top of their heads.  Soon, the brought us over and had us feed them.  It was amazing to see these amazing animals with huge talons swoop down, and with barely a graze to our hands grab this piece of meat.
After the show, it was time for the group to try camel meat.  I, as a vegetarian, of course did not try it.  But, I was told that it was amazing to eat.  Then we headed off for the Harar beer factory.  Of course being in Harar, Harar beer is everywhere.  But, it was cool to drink some straight from the source.  Finally we closed out the night with dancing at a local club.
The next day we took it easy and just explored the city some more, then went to the pool for a while.
Then it was time for the wild day.  We got up early and took a taxi out of the city to Babille Elephant sanctuary.  After picking up an armed guard we drove a short way to a nearly dry river bead.  After finding our way across we walked through a chat field, through some scrub land, and all of a sudden the guard told us to stop.  Just off the path maybe fifty meters was an elephant.  From there we went off onto a little foot path till we found an area with a better view.  The guide had us each climb a tree to get a look.  Then we continued on closer.  We ended up so close the elephant got anxious and finally turned around and went off to the other two of its group.  It was very cool seeing how quickly and easily these massive animals followed foot paths so narrow that at points we had to turn sideways.  After tracking them for a while they managed to give us the slip.  On the way back we watched some monkeys and went off the beaten path a little.
That night it was time to feed the hyenas.  There are two men in Harar that have managed to get them calm enough they can be fed from sticks in your mouth.  So after he called them over, we took turns feeding the hyenas.  Then it was my turn, and he told me that the one coming up was the nicer one, and I should hug it.  So of course as it comes to grab the food I wrapped it in a big bear hug.  He quickly got tired of it, but it was interesting hugging an animal with one of the highest jaw pressures in the animal kingdom.  After that it was time to close out the night with some pizza.
The ride home was long, and we went through Awash (a mostly desert area) and the whole bus full of people were on the verge of heat stroke.  But, it was totally worth the long, arduous, trip to get to see that city.  So far, my favorite place in Ethiopia.