11. Strange Day in Ethiopia

The internet here still refuses to pull up the blog which is kind of frustrating because without seeing it, it's hard to imagine that other people can see what you have written and it always ends up getting far too personal.  so i will try to get less and less personal but still update enough for people to know what i'm up to.

 

Today did not end up at all how I planned...7 or 8 ethiopians spent the night at the apartment where i am staying last night and they convinced me to go with them the next day to some hot springs/swimming pool that was a couple hours south.  they said we would leave at 8, stay for a couple hours and be back by 2 or 3.  well, i just got back at about 9:15 and spent 8 or 9 hours in the back seat of a 20-year old toyota corolla with two random guys.  thankfully, i was in the empty car, the other corolla had 4 guys in the back seat.  it was quite the endurance test.  i measured my leg room and it equalled my fist...that was pretty comfy. 

 

Over all it was good, just a long drive to swim for a few minutes.  Especially considering none of the 8 Ethiopians we took could swim even a little.  they didnt leave the kiddie pool the entire time.  Apparently this is a common scenario in Ethiopia and that had a giant kiddie pool with 30 or 40 people packed in it while the Olympic-sized main pool never had more than 6...with a max of 2 ever letting go of the side at the same time.  It was kind of funny to look at this huge empty pool, and then to look closer and realize there were actually 50 people in it.

 

Anyways, I am still trying to figure out my plans...Someone offered to take me up North with them on Sunday and that may be an option.  The other thing I'm still thinking about is Zanzibar.  Of course, I'm pretty much always thinking about Zanzibar so that doesnt mean too much.

 

- j(w)s