Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I have been in Addis now for 2 days. My first day went nowhere but down. My hotel was just awful -- and I have stayed in some awful hotels but not at $50/night. Thinking I had few options I went out to see the town and was basically overwhelmed by the beggars; it is very tough to see such young children, homeless and scrounging for money or food. Once you get past the young children, you can expect to be worked over by the college-age kids who shower you with conversational niceties, before asking for money. I now have enough experience with them to truly appreciate their ability to segue into the part about asking for money; it's impressive and I am taking notes so you better hold tight to your dollars when I return. Actually it is pain, but one can't hold grudge. They're doing the best they can and there seems to be a pervassive impression that all Europeans and Americans have endless amounts of money (which relatively speaking, I suppose we do). From here, it's just a matter of figuring out how to creatively separate the traveler from his cash. It seems to me that the best benefit of being Western is the opportunity to improve one's lot. Without some hope that things can get better tomorrow, today can be pretty damn bleak.

But for me, I found a much better hotel (and it is cheaper), and I ran into my friend Ben Okumu, who also is at Columbia and works on the MVP (responsible for statistical analysis and data modeling). I also found a great (cheap) Ethiopian resturant so my belly convinced me that things are not so bad afterall (how is it that an intolerable hotel costs $50 and an all-you-can-eat delicious buffet costs about $1.25?).

Ben has just returned from Koraro and convinced that I have to make it there, so I will try. I was told there isn't enough time, but I think I am going to have to make the time to see the fabled stone-hewn churches. I hope to get there somehow.

The work here is going well. The data manager that I am working with is already well-versed in MS Access and so after only a half a day's instruction he was off creating the templates and database tables for the first survey on Malaria.
I would like to include some pictures but with the speed of my Internet connection that probably will not happen.

Will post again soon. I am 4.5 weeks into 6 weeks of traveling and still no illness. I think it's time to move to tap water. ;-) CYA.