Thursday, July 3^rd, 2008

1^st day of Ethiopia & airport trip to

We’re in Africa! I, on the outside, may be more excited than the rest of the team about [finally] being here. But when it gets down to it, we all are. Sure, I could say it’s because of the combo 3-hour flight from Bucharest, Romania to London, England; 4-hour layover in Heathrow airport in London; 10-hour flight from London to Addis Ababa with a non-exit stop in Amman, Jordan; going through customs/visas/passports/etc. in Ethiopia before we can finally leave; arriving at the Red Cross Guesthouse (our homestead for the next few days here in Addis) @ 4:30 in the morning; or having to meet @ 11:00 to start another leg of our journey, hardcore. But ultimately, we’re glad to be here because this trip only gets more amazing. And it’s Africa.

Cool things of today:

– visiting the University of Addis Ababa – the premiere college in Ethiopia – and its museum with a lot of memoirs of Ethiopia’s history, culture, art, etc.

– visiting the Holy Trinity Ethiopia Orthodox Cathedral church, with a guided tour of its history and beauty

– eating authentic Ethiopian food… twice, for lunch and for dinner; the second was a sweet-awesome restaurant that had live music and live dancing; it was a great African experience (as far as I know)

– Jennifer Wilmore’s 23^rd birthday: much singing, presents-giving, etc. was involved

The intensity behind it all continues. Continues to strengthen. I know we’re all having our own thoughts about things. We just got here, are seeing a lot of things, and it’s only going to get… more intense. Malarone (the anti-malarial meds), jet lag (kind of), changes in appetite (again), and virtually everything in this trip is making everyone sick/tired. After the Plague hit everyone as we were leaving Bucharest, things haven’t gotten back to… “perfect.” But in reality, it is perfect. After all, it’s Africa. After all, it’s Life. After all… it’s God.

Groovy,

jacob kendall