TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO

"The foot that is restless, will tread on a turd."

- Ethiopian proverb

This is neither a fancy nor overly lengthy post. None of the sidebars or bottom bars have changed since Sudan. And nope, there aren't any photos either. That is because I have yet to find a normal internet connection since Khartoum. Ethiopia is truly like the land that technology forgot, even here in Addis Ababa, for which we all held such high broadband hopes:-) It's really unbelievable even coming from a spoiled American girl like myself.

I have to say, though, that while it's frustrating, it's also totally freeing to be SO dis/unconnected for such a long period of time. Other than the random TV snip at a restaurant/bar and one outdated USA Today in Aswan, I am completely out of the loop on anything beyond the truck and where it takes me. And I like it.

Soooo . . . it's hard to believe that I've been gone for almost two months. The middle segment ends in just a couple days, on February 25. My Dad also flies home on that day, as done one of the drivers. Boo. The "bad apples" do, too, though, so I guess it's all karmic evenness. We pick up no new pax here, so there are just eight of us heading down to Nairobi (plus the two drivers, of course).

Ethiopia may be the most beautiful place on earth. Seriously. And it seems like a whole new spectrum every couple hours . . . mountains to rivers to farms to deserts to neon lights. Skies, trees and sunsets right out of a Crayon box!!! Rock-hewn churches!!!! Island monasteries that don't allow women!!!! Kids who scream "Hello Money" and "You, You, You, You, You, You" while chasing the truck for ages down steep & winding mountain roads!!! Marauding baboons & hyenas!!! (Nic, I so thought of you as I laid petrified in my tent listening to some unknown wild animal rustling outside my tent at 3AM in the Simien Mountains. What was it????? Why didn't I bring the friggin' She Wee since I was too scared to get out of go to the outhouse two yards away?!) Hippos! Hippos that look like rocks, thus causing me to shake on and lose a big bet!!!! Crazy bars filled with hookers and overpriced booze that makes the driver go crazy and fingerpoint! Coffee ceremonies!!!! Delicious food requiring no silverware or napkins!!!! Beer-bottle sized red Ethiopian wine that is quite addictive!!!! Perfect combination of church/art/culture/history overload with lots of time to kick back and relax. Despite the ongoing truck dramas (and still no name for poor truckie itself), I have taken a poll with myself and decided I'm loving it.

Did I mention that I am extremely tan? I didn't???? OK, then I will let you know that I am REALLY tan, even though Dragoman states that the true overlander is someone who doesn't care about superficial stuff like that. And I have lost a ton of weight even though I'm eating like a pig and drinking like a fish and not experiencing many CA's at all, really. (The fear of being the one to ring the "pee stop" buzzer is more powerful than Immodium!) I am festooned in local jewelry - a silver cross necklace, even though I am neither religious nor generally open to anything round my neck. A modest three bracelets on my wrists. A rather gaudy ankle bracelet, around my right ankle so no one mistakes me for a whore. An assortment of woven hats and scarves. All of which will go into a rarely-opened drawer as soon as I return home.

OK, right then. Off to lunch, then 3PM Pub Crawl, then fancy Italian dinner at 7PM . . . why not?!? Life is life, la la la la la la:-)

Miss you all. And, ELI, IF YOU READ THIS, I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO E-MAIL YOU BUT THEY KEEP BOUCHING BACK.