Yesterday was good and boring. I woke up around 6, had my breakfast of 6 eggs and then off to work.
One of my favorite things are these donkey riders. Carts and donkeys are used frequently for transporting large quantities of goods around the city. But when there’s nothing on the carts, the guys (sometimes seeming to be quite young, like around 14 or 15) get up and ride it this way.
I spent the day working on a literature review of manganese in drinking water. I had to do quite a few of these throughout college, but all the surfing is getting in the way of my memories of how to go about one of these. So I was starting a little bit from square one and doing some research and structured learning reminded me of how much I enjoy the academic world. Anyways, this is going to be my project for the next month, along with other things of course, but I think this will be my main “thing”.
Yesterday I had a long chat with a buddy about the war happening in Iran. He was saying that never in the past have Ethiopians here in Hawassa concerned themselves with the American president or happenings. He of course knew the names of Biden and Obama and others, but he said that everyday people here are keeping tabs on the war and what my president is up to and talking about. He says life has become so much more expensive because of the fuel shortage.
Right as work was winding down, a heavy, heavy rain came along and kept me a little late. I hadn’t thought about this until yesterday, which is surprising with all the rain and flood problems I had in Arusha, but I take for granted the simple infrastructure of drainage systems back home. It’s not like Portland never had its fair share of excess rain, I just never worry about it because we have gutters and sewers to deal with all that. I guess I in San Diego for the past three or so years, so I don’t have to consider it as much there, but adequate rain water systems are something I am very happy to have.
Today I’m leaving to go out to the project sites until Thursday. Im not sure what we’ll be doing out there, but I’m very excited to get out into the field and away from the office for a bit (even though it hasn’t even been a week). Unfortunately I won’t get to see every site around Hawassa because of the fuel shortage, but I think I’ll be visiting at least two or three out of the five.