Pepe the beef

Today we went to a village and went to check up on some technology projects. We went and saw the new adobe stoves and latrines and talked to the people about what they thought. The women loved their new stoves! They could bake enchira (their flat bread that is good but has a sour taste because of vinegar and they let it ferment, but you get used to it) all day standing which is much better then on the ground and it has a pipe to bring the smoke outside the hut and takes less fuel and also heats water and makes wat (the stew they eat with the enchira) at the same time. It really has improved their life style and it was good to see how happy they were. They kept shaking our hands and saying ishi ishi (ok ok) and Galatomi (thank you).

Then we went and saw the house that Meiso is looking to rent for us while Sarah and I are here. It is perfect! It has running water and a shower and a sink and a toilet that flushes...we were in heaven just thinking about it! There is alo a cow we named Pepe. We have been calling the cows beef because when I first got here all the guys were teasing me about eating fon and I said I'd try it...until they told me it was raw beef cut into chunks. And Sarah has a hard time distinguishing between the goats and sheep here...trust me I still struggle, they look the same and are different from what we think of as goats and sheep. So we now say beef and geeps (trust me Ethiopia and strange singing can do strange things to you).

The only thing I'm really struggling with is the noise that keeps me up at night. Sarah and I get up at 5am because of the cars, which honk whenever they see someone or a donkey cart, or the hiennas. But the worst is the loud speaker. In Ethiopia they are allowed to pray on load speaker, but it is more like chanting, and they can do it whenever they want. It usually starts at 5am, but this morning is started at 3am and pretty much went on all day. And is it loud!!!

We are meeting with a mother group to morrow to hand out micro loans so it should be good!