tenay'stelleny!

totally writing this from ethiopia, which is thrilling beyond words! i'm actually ducked into the lobby of a 4-star hotel near our (very kind) friend's home where we're staying, sitting next to 2 chinese guys playing games on their laptops. it's pretty par for the course of being in an african capital city that you perch yourself on poofy armchairs and buy a tea so you can use the rare internet connection. (or in the case of niamey, ali and i would duck into the 4 star hotels to feel the reprieve of air conditioning in 130 degree weather... aaaah....)

anyway! have been here in addis ababa for less than 48 hours, so of course all is very new, but it's been wonderful so far. it's a gorgeous highlands city, with clean streets, cool weather, and green green hills... i feel totally sucked in and can't wait to properly live here later on for fieldwork. toni and i are already scouting neighborhoods and amharic schools...

have also already had some success in research-scouting, and i can't help but feel like the modern-day equivalent of the egyptian pharaohs sending envoys to "punt" (their name for ethiopia) for myrrh, or the ptolemies scoping out the interior to buy elephants for their armies. this whole process of arriving at a place as a foreigner and begging people for trade - for me it's information and personal histories and archives, but i can't help but feel sucked into the ancientness of ethiopia. of course every african nation has centuries of rich histories of change and development and trade and war, but ethiopia is unique in how much of it has been recorded in forms that still exist today, so we can really sketch out a rough image of what it has looked like for 5 thousand years. the ancient aksum empire was converted to Christianity in 400 AD by Syrian traders (oh how history has changed, no?) - there are churches 1000 years old carved totally into rock-faces, stelae and standing stones 2000 years old...

but that process of begging for trade never ceases to amaze me in the way people open their arms with kindness and warm hospitality. immediately upon arrival we had a friend greet us at the airport, a lovely bed to stay on, and more friends to make sure we're fed and taxied around. (fyi my first dinner in ethiopia was at a tex-mex restaurant some of toni's friends took us to, so i ate fajitas and frozen yogurt as if i were a 12 year old again home in villa park. haha!)

also, sorry we didn't bring a camera this time round so you could get some sense of it all... i sort of hate taking pictures in a place where you already stick out like a big white sore thumb, but maybe everyone will just come and visit so we can show you around in person? they have tex-mex! :)

love to you all,
jooj.