and on the 7th day

and on the second day, god created Ethiopia. it was a dry, barren land where one could cross the main streets without running and screaming or waiting endlessly, even in the capital. it was cold at night, high up on a plateau, and so god created a one day flu and gave it to me. it wasn't so good, with the puking and the toilet-sitting and unable-to-sit-up-in-bed-to-drink-water-ing. but it only lasted a day and the local food, the injera, hey! it was good. and cheap. like three dollars for two of us to eat massive quantities and have hallelujah-worthy macciatos to boot. so yeah, it was good. evening morning second day.

and on the third day, we got sick of Addis so braved the road north on "the historical route" to Bahar Dar. we saw some monasteries, on a lake, and met lots of children who wanted us to give them pens. or one birr. and many people who wanted to sell us boat trips for an amount equivilent to the average local monthly salary. so god created touts and beggars. there was now something so that meant that lots of people realized they had nothing. that wasn't so good. explaining how winning the green card lottery would not insure happiness is also not so good, not so easy. evening morning third day.

and on the fourth day, god created castles. in Gondar, where the street kids swarmed like ticks on a deer, there were castles and churches and mosques and god! boy do they like god here. clambering around ruined castles of past kings, getting snuck up to the top of the biggest one at sunset by a friendly guard, trying to find some food to eat because the injera, not digging it so much any more. and the other options? pasta or pasta. without vegetables. but it's cool. we're tough. we'll take the bus to axum (two days, via shire). evening morning fourth day.

and on the fifth day, god created rocks. in axum. big stelae carved by the ancients, the largest single stone oblelisks created by man! (they're big rocks). and tombs, carved in stone for ancient kings! (they're big rocks). and the queen of sheba! she lived here! this was her palace (not really, that's just what they say)! (it's also a bunch of big rocks). and the food, it doesn't rock. no no no. there isn't much of it and what there is? it tastes like baby food served on an old bath mat. injera is good once a month, but twice a day? *shudder* and hey, axum? that's where they keep the freakin' ark of the freakin' covenant! really! (or so they claim with some justification) just, uh, you can't SEE it or anything. no one can. it's hidden. away. in a church. but it's here. really. we swear. we also swear we cannot possibly handle another two day bus ride so we fly to Lalibela. evening morning fifth day.

and on the sixth day, goddamn! god created these totally weird, mind-blowingly fantastic churchs CARVED DIRECTLY INTO THE GROUND. big massive things, with arches and windows and moats and all shaped like giant crosses and stuff. and they're all carved out of stone. one big piece of stone called the ground. and yeah, it was good. the street kids here not so bad. the food, pretty crappy. the churches, awesome, especially when we catch the saint day celebration and they chant and dance and bang drums wearing traditional dress around an ancient stone church in Lalibela, Ethiopia. and we actually meet some other travelers, nice Berliners who have also been in East Africa for about three months and HEY! they feel exactly as we do! it isn't just us! travel is harder here. and we feel human and social and it was good. evening morning sixth day.

and on the seventh day, we rested. we flew back to Addis, skipping another two day bus ride, and ate real food, with real vegetables and dreamed of Cairo. where we're flying on the 18th. out of, it seems, Africa, because although Egypt is still in Africa, it's more the Middle East so this seems our last stop on our African trip. and it was good. because we've seen marvelous things, and done marvelous things and learned quite a bit but we're also seriously tired. it's true. travel in Africa is harder. we're looking forward to finding other travelers to talk to. to finding some more significant moments of comfort. to more concentrated fun. to having a community and finding work and not being constantly asked for money, jobs, pens, anything at all even the shirt off my back. for reals.

our current scheme is to travel Egypt, consider if we want to live/work in Cairo, and if not hit Petra and Jerusalem before heading more or less directly to Ljubliana, Slovenia. for reasons of vast complexity (it sounds good) we think we might want to live and work there for a bit. and the truck still hasn't sold so we ain't got no bread.

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in other, much crappier news, our beloved dog Kaya is now gnawing on the great big rawhide chew toy in the sky. unbeknownst to us, she had lymphoma which presented shortly after we left her in the gentle hands of Robert. although he and our awesome vet Mike did all they could do and more, they correctly decided that it would be best for her not to suffer needlessly and she was put to sleep around Christmas. i think it's safe to say that it must have been fucking awful for them all and it was a terrible shock to us. baring the odd dog-fight, the beast hadn't been sick a day in her frisky life. we miss her something awful and hope you'll join us in howling at the moon a little in her honor. if you know Robert and Mike, give them a big hug from us.

happy new year.