One long ass drive.
I had a bit too much beer last night and it did not sit well through the so-called "Spaghetti Road." Twists and turns and bumps and the hot sun...it is a miracle that nothing terrible happened.
In Car Six again, which was fun and full of good songs until...
The Licking Song came on again. We were getting out to see something when it started and Ceci finally just told Besel that, "We are interested in the topic, we are very enthusiastic about it, but as Americans we don't want to hear about it. We don't want to hear it again, ok?" Besel complied, and we didn't hear it again.
We did hear a weird dance mix pop song about the gangster Ma Baker.
She was the meanest cat
In old Chicago town
She was the meanest cat
She really mowed them down
She had no heart at all
No no no, heart at all
She was the meanest cat
Oh she was really tough
She left her husband flat
He wasn't tough enough
She took her boys along
'Cause they were mean and strong
Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker, she taught her four sons
Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker, to handle their guns
Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker, she never could cry
Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker, but she knew how to die
There was also a song about the buffalo soldiers.
We learned a lot about American history with Besel today.
The cars they are driving are later model Toyota Land Cruisers. Very nice, and a couple of the guys have said how much they like driving them. They have lots of safety features. Like they start beeping when a donkey gets too close. That happens a lot. There are donkeys, people, goats, sheep, cattle, children, dogs, everywhere. We drive through these mountains that look pretty deserted, until suddenly there is a giant pack of donkeys being driven along, or children carting water to and from who knows where, all walking along the road. Any stop seems to bring them out of the woodwork, which is a problem when it is a bathroom break.
"Hmmmm, this looks like a good bush to do my business behind, I'll just unzip and squat and - oh, hello, guy herding a single donkey right past me. Yes, hello gaggle of children who just stare and laugh. Yes, hello, family of five who just happened to arrive at this very moment. Yes, I will shake your hand if you give me half a sec."
But the donkeys. Turns out they are quite stubborn. Sometimes honking causing them to veer into the car, sometimes they stop mid trot and just stand there in the middle of the road. I started calling them "nature's roundabout." That gag evolved into "On a good day they are roundabouts, on a bad day, a speed bump." Which is quite gruesome. And we have seen dead donkeys and dead sheep, obviously hit by something.
We have seen some nasty looking accidents on the roads here. Our driver said that it is an Isuzu problem.There are these Isuzu truck here, they are hauling trucks, bigger than a pick up but smaller than a semi truck. We've seen loads stacked really high, like double the size they should be, people riding on top of them, crates stacked so that that trucks look like...well, like donkeys. Little on the bottoms, with giant stacks on them.
The scenery on these roads is very interesting. This area looks more like the Southwest - deep canyons, plateaus, cactus. It is pretty stunning.
We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant that had a butcher shop inside it. the specialty there was meat and onions sizzling in a little pot with charcoal inside it. It is one serving and they bring it steaming to the table. I had the vegetable soup and French fries. Trying to keep the stomach happy. I also had a couple of aspirin.
While we ate, the power went out, then the generator kicked in, then that went out, then the power came back on. That's kind of how things work here. Sometimes the power is off, sometimes there's no hot water, sometimes the phones don't work. You have to just roll with it.
After more driving - always there is more driving - we stopped at the town of Negash. This was the site of the earliest Muslim settlement in Africa. It is home to the Negash Amedin Mesgid mosque. The Emperor of Axum gave refuge to some Muslims in the time of Muhammad. It is this emperor (and convert to Islam) that is entombed here. Our guide said that due to this sheltering of Muslims, it is written in the Koran that Muslims can never take up arms against Ethiopia. Not that that has stopped them necessarily.
We also got to see our first rock-hewn church today. It is built completely out of rock, in fact, carved out of a hill. Just gorgeous.
I had a bit too much beer last night and it did not sit well through the so-called "Spaghetti Road." Twists and turns and bumps and the hot sun...it is a miracle that nothing terrible happened.
In Car Six again, which was fun and full of good songs until...
The Licking Song came on again. We were getting out to see something when it started and Ceci finally just told Besel that, "We are interested in the topic, we are very enthusiastic about it, but as Americans we don't want to hear about it. We don't want to hear it again, ok?" Besel complied, and we didn't hear it again.
We did hear a weird dance mix pop song about the gangster Ma Baker.
She was the meanest cat
In old Chicago town
She was the meanest cat
She really mowed them down
She had no heart at all
No no no, heart at all
She was the meanest cat
Oh she was really tough
She left her husband flat
He wasn't tough enough
She took her boys along
'Cause they were mean and strong
Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker, she taught her four sons
Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker, to handle their guns
Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker, she never could cry
Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker, but she knew how to die
There was also a song about the buffalo soldiers.
We learned a lot about American history with Besel today.
The cars they are driving are later model Toyota Land Cruisers. Very nice, and a couple of the guys have said how much they like driving them. They have lots of safety features. Like they start beeping when a donkey gets too close. That happens a lot. There are donkeys, people, goats, sheep, cattle, children, dogs, everywhere. We drive through these mountains that look pretty deserted, until suddenly there is a giant pack of donkeys being driven along, or children carting water to and from who knows where, all walking along the road. Any stop seems to bring them out of the woodwork, which is a problem when it is a bathroom break.
"Hmmmm, this looks like a good bush to do my business behind, I'll just unzip and squat and - oh, hello, guy herding a single donkey right past me. Yes, hello gaggle of children who just stare and laugh. Yes, hello, family of five who just happened to arrive at this very moment. Yes, I will shake your hand if you give me half a sec."
But the donkeys. Turns out they are quite stubborn. Sometimes honking causing them to veer into the car, sometimes they stop mid trot and just stand there in the middle of the road. I started calling them "nature's roundabout." That gag evolved into "On a good day they are roundabouts, on a bad day, a speed bump." Which is quite gruesome. And we have seen dead donkeys and dead sheep, obviously hit by something.
We have seen some nasty looking accidents on the roads here. Our driver said that it is an Isuzu problem.There are these Isuzu truck here, they are hauling trucks, bigger than a pick up but smaller than a semi truck. We've seen loads stacked really high, like double the size they should be, people riding on top of them, crates stacked so that that trucks look like...well, like donkeys. Little on the bottoms, with giant stacks on them.
The scenery on these roads is very interesting. This area looks more like the Southwest - deep canyons, plateaus, cactus. It is pretty stunning.
We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant that had a butcher shop inside it. the specialty there was meat and onions sizzling in a little pot with charcoal inside it. It is one serving and they bring it steaming to the table. I had the vegetable soup and French fries. Trying to keep the stomach happy. I also had a couple of aspirin.
While we ate, the power went out, then the generator kicked in, then that went out, then the power came back on. That's kind of how things work here. Sometimes the power is off, sometimes there's no hot water, sometimes the phones don't work. You have to just roll with it.
After more driving - always there is more driving - we stopped at the town of Negash. This was the site of the earliest Muslim settlement in Africa. It is home to the Negash Amedin Mesgid mosque. The Emperor of Axum gave refuge to some Muslims in the time of Muhammad. It is this emperor (and convert to Islam) that is entombed here. Our guide said that due to this sheltering of Muslims, it is written in the Koran that Muslims can never take up arms against Ethiopia. Not that that has stopped them necessarily.
We also got to see our first rock-hewn church today. It is built completely out of rock, in fact, carved out of a hill. Just gorgeous.
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