Wildlife

We've seen a lot of African wildlife in recent weeks. Over a week ago, a large herd of camels passed through Yetebon. They were with a nomadic group of people from about 50 kilometers east of us, moving west in search of water. It was so surreal to be standing amongst a herd of the enormous creatures.

Then a week later, my good friends from ECHO days, Tom and Betsy, came to visit for a week before heading to Kenya to do graduate research. We took a road trip to Awassa, 300 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, where we saw lots of birds, a monitor lizard, and monkeys stole our breakfast!

On our way home, we stopped at a lake to scout out some hippos. Only saw one or 2 shy ones in the water, but still a uniquely African experience, being out in a row boat on a lake only about 40 feet from a hippo!

Only a month left in Ethiopia!! And then the dreaded farewells…Still lots of work to be done, though.

Fasika

Fasika is the Amharic word for Easter, and was just celebrated this past weekend. I had been told early in my stay that Easter was a bigger deal than Christmas here. That proved true…Christmas was recognized and celebrated, but not with the extravagance that we put into it in the west. Primarily for the Orthodox believers, Fasika is not only a huge deal because of the true meaning of the holiday – Christ's resurrection – but it also brings an end to their Lenten fast of no animal products. Therefore, the tradition is to buy an animal (the type depends on one's income level) and eat it on Easter. For the wealthier folks, several families may go together and buy a cow…average cost here is 4000 birr (app $400). The middle class will get a sheep, ranging from 600-800 birr; and the lower income bracket will at least get a chicken and make "doro wat." Chicken prices were inflated to 50 birr for the Fasika weekend…usually they're around 30 birr. Animals lined the streets of Addis Ababa…I am pretty sure the domestic animal population in the country drops by about 20% after Fasika! While I would certainly much rather have a chocolate Easter bunny, eating meat is a big deal here. For the majority of the population, it's reserved for only special occasions.

Our Easter consisted of church in the morning (about 3 hours long), lunch with the housekids (lamb stew, complete with pieces of tongue!), giving the kids candy that had been sent from friends in the US (thanks Mom and Kathy!), back to church for a drama performed by the youth (another 3 hours in church), and then to some teachers' house for doro wat and a coffee ceremony.

The last photo is of the "ferengis" currently living at Project Mercy: me, Dr. Roy and Nancy - couple from Indiana working on the dairy project; Dr. Roy is a retired veterinarian, and Scott - English teacher from Sanibel Island, FL.