Ethiopia

J and S and I have been traveling through Ethiopia since Saturday now and have been having a blast. First up was Lalibella - home of the stone carved churches. Churches, carved out of solid rock. Amazing. Now we are in Axum, home of the Axumite kingdom. Next up is Gondar. I'll tell more about them when I get some better internet access.

We have been shocked that Ethiopia has not come as far as Tanzania in getting access to ATM cards. Even in my podunk town of Korogwe I had an ATM for my bank plus a new bank was built with a VISA ATM - all while I was living there! That's progress my friends. It's as if Ethiopia does not WANT travelers to spend money in this country. So I've been scabbing off of J and S until we get back to Addis where I will be able to get to a VISA ATM. Not even the international airport had a VISA machine!!!! Also, it costs 30 bucks for a cell phone line; contrast that with Tanzania where it is just 1 buck! Also the internet is three times the cost of Tanzania. The weird thing is that Ethiopia seems to be just as poor as Tanzania.

As always, the kids are cute here. I'll show you pics when I get back home. Oh, and Ethiopian food. AWESOME!!! And the music is more pleasing to me than Bongo flava. People actually sing! (Bongo flava is like hip hop rap from America.) The coffee is strong and served with an incense to heighten the senses (and keep flies away).

I'm missing my students already. When I left Korogwe, two students stayed with me all day from 7 in the morning until I left at 2 in the afternoon. A third student came shortly before I got on the bus also.