On the road

Dan shows up around 6:30. He is no more fond of the dog’s lullaby than he was of the carousel melody. We’re all a bit tired, but excited to be getting out into the rural areas. At 7:00 Daniel shows up. We pile into one Highlander with our REST peers following in another. We head straight towards the mountain that I could see from the hotel. Scott thinks we may be headed towards the “really beautiful drive. Just when he becomes certain that we are, we hang a left and drive past a cement plant. Curiously enough Dan has a private equity fund that invests is currently invested in garbage carting and cement. It’s all about the glamour with Dan.

A lengthy conversation ensues about how cement and concrete are made. This is actually more than an academic conversation because cement is the biggest expense in a hand dug well. Dan gives us a good overview of how they’re made, explains that due to shipping costs it’s a very local business, and, therefore, rationalizes why prices vary widely from one country to another. Scott and I take this all in except for one detail. Scott cannot for the life of him understand the difference between cement and concrete. Dan makes several efforts to straighten this out for Scott, but is ultimately flummoxed by the fact that it’s not that hard to understand so there’s not that many ways to explain it. I take a different tack. I tell Scott that cement is like Campari and concrete is like a Campari & Soda. This explanation has three benefits. First, it’s actually true. Second, it mocks Scott for failing to understand the concept of cement as an ingredient of concrete. And third, it re-mocks Scott for his drink order at dinner in Addis.
Armed with this knowledge and Dan’s supply of twenty Powerbars, we are on our way to visit two villages that have recently had charity:water wells built.

We're expecting about a three hour drive. This is our first foray into the countryside, so it's pretty interesting for Dan and me. It's also interesting for Scott because he hasn't been to Ethiopia during rainy season. I didn't really have a clear expectation of what I'd see, but I know that it doesn't match what we are seeing. It is lush and beautiful. We climb up the side of mountains, over a pass and down the other side. The roads are packed dirt, but they aren't nearly as bumpy as I would have expected. I remember being on the roads in India and having a sense that death was always imminent. I have no such sense here. There simply isn't the same population and vehicle density. There are many times that we don't see any other vehicles on the road.


At one point we come across two trucks stuck in some mud in the road. But one of them is able to backup and we're on our way without much delay.

One thing I notice is that although everything is green there don't appear to be many crops. We see some corn, but it mostly looks like grass. For now, I'm assuming that the grass is in fact a crop. We see some corn, but it doesn't look to good. We also see lots of cacti. As we drive through towns there are always young children - usually girls - selling cactus by the side of the road. We pass by a lot of goats frequently usually being walked by children. In the countryside, the homes are actually pretty attractive. They are all made of stone, which is very plentiful, and they have grass on the roof. They also tend to be round and frequently have a stone fence around them. It also seems to be common to have cacti growing within the fences. I assume that's to assure that noone pilfers the fruit. On the whole it's very scenic and we enjoy the ride.