The End

Back in Concord.

Barry Out

The Great Ethiopian Run

This morning I got up and donned my brand new yellow t-shirt, black shorts, and ethiopian flag headband and armbands. I was fully prepared for the 10k+ of walking I had ahead of me. Running/jogging may have been possible, if we would have decided early on, but there were way too many people in the way at the point that we started. I am still not sure who won, but Haile Gebre Sellassie had competition this year from the Kenyans, but I was assured that he would never let a non-Ethiopian win the race. It was described as the biggest road race ever in Africa,which was pretty cool to be a part of. I was suprised by how quickly 10k went by, it was not as difficult as i imagined. But then again, I was walking it. 3 weeks left until I am back in the States. I will try and blog one last time about my ISP once it is done.

More Pictures from Addis

Pictures from Addis

Back in Addis

I have been back in Addis for 2 weeks now, finishing up with my classes, taking exams, and finishing work that I had procrastinated. Monday begins my Independent Study Project time, and I am really looking forward to doing my own research, and not just in the library. Even though I probably will be hanging out in the library for quite a while. My project is on the animals of Ethiopian Religions, and may actually be the way that I link Zoology and Religious Studies. Who would've guessed that that would be possible? I just got back from taking pictures and talking to my advisor about ISP. I realized that I had lots of pics of travelling, but almost none of Addis, so I am trying to correct that problem, especially considering I spent most of my time here. I am finally done with my work and have the weekend off, so I plan to spend tomorrow wondering the city and taking pictures. It should be a good day. Just a little anecdote to finish this off: On the way back from the SIT office today I was walking at my usual fast pace, and then I found myself at the back end of a giant herd of sheep. It was either walk slow, or walk in the street and dodge cars. I chose the latter. Luckily I had my camera with me, because it was quite an absurd scene. That is all to report, I hope everyone is doing well back in the States.

Gondar and Bahir Dar

We are finally done with our travels for the rest of the Semester. The next month will be solely devoted to our Independent Study Projects. Our last trip did not disappoint however. We arrive in Gondar around ten o'clock and had a little bit of time to relax before we headed out to see the castles. For any Lord of the Rings fans, the town is named Gondar not Gondor, which is a little disappointing, but we still looked for a white tree the whole time we were there. The castle complex was amazing, definitely living up to its name of "Africa's Camelot". The main castle in the complex is still remarkably intact, and we were able to go inside and walk around on the second floor. The man with the key to the roof was not there that day, so we didn't get to go up the towers. The next day we went to a few churches. The inside walls were completely covered in paintings; quite spectacular. We then went to Dashen Brewery, and got to see all of the inner workings of one of the biggest breweries in Ethiopia. The bottling line was probably the most impressive part. We finished off the day at a few traditional music clubs, and then a modern club. Gondar is known for its club scene, and our teachers weren't going to let us leave Gondar without a little dancing. The next day we traveled to Bahir Dar by car, and hiked to a castle in the hills overlooking Lake Tana. I then proceeded to nap the rest of the afternoon. The next day we spent on Lake Tana, boating to the various island monasteries. The churches once again contained spectacular paintings, and some old manuscripts as well. I also saw a monkey on one of the islands, but no hippos in the lake. This morning we spent hiking to the Blue Nile Falls, which are now dammed and not as spectacular as they once were. If I hadn't been told this however, I would have been thoroughly impressed. Even with half of the water dammed, they were still amazing, and the spray got us all wet. Overall the trip was everything I had hoped for, and I got to hang out on a lake for a day. I couldn't have asked for anything else.

Harar

Harar is a city that will take any of your preconceived notions about Islam, and Muslim countries in general, and shatter them. The streets are bright with color, the celebrations are full of life, and the parties go well into the night. Our first night in Harar was the beginning of the Shewal Id celebrations, a holiday unique to Harar. It is a continuation of the Id celebration (the end of Ramadan) but occurs 6 days after Id. This is because women are not expected to fast during their monthly cycle, and so must make up the time in these six days. However, as a matter of solidarity, the men also fast these 6 days, and then there is a giant party that lasts until the next day. We only stayed for part of the night, as we had woken up at 5:30 that morning. The next day we visited the president of Harar's house, and we hung out with him. It was a very surreal experience. Then, the real fun began. Around 7 o'clock we loaded the van and headed towards the outskirts of Harar where the feeding had already begun. We pulled up to a man surrounded by ten hyenas, stick in his mouth, and meat hanging off the end. The hyenas would slowly approach and gingerly take the meat off of the end of the stick. We all were allowed to feed the hyenas from the stick, just not with it in our mouth. I was slightly dissapointed. The man burned through two 5-gallon buckets of meat and then was done. The hyenas quickly searched the spot for excess meat, and then disbanded as they prepared to enter the city for the night. I would like to tell you that I fed vicious, bloodthirsty creatures, but honestly they were afraid of me, and very timid. It was still a very amazing experience that I would do again and again. Also, to go along with the uniqueness of Harar, they have been in the process of taming the hyenas every year by feeding them a porridge during one of the Islamic holidays. They are viewed as almost saintly figures to the people of Harar. I finally have tried to load pictures, and guess what, it actually worked. Here is the first of more to come.