Well, we made it. This morning (at least it was morning where were at the time) saw the sun rising over the desert of Egypt for the last few hours of our twelve-hour flight into Addis Ababa. We’re eight hours ahead of San Antonio here, so there’s quite a bit of adjustment, but in the end everybody decided to just stay up and tough it out for the rest of the day, to get ourselves on Ethiopian time as fast as possible. Fortunately, Ethiopia coffee is the strongest in the world. After lunch and a couple of espressos, we spent the afternoon touring the national museum, as well as a larger museum at the university that’s housed in Emperor Haile Selassie’s old mansion. We enjoyed meeting many of the local people, who are wonderfully friendly and hospitable, and obviously very proud of their country and its heritage. After an hour of shopping in one of the local markets (and another harrowing ride in town, where traffic rules are nonexistent) we all got cleaned up for dinner. The Oromia Development Association, which is working with us in some of the nearby villages, treated us to an authentic Ethiopian dinner, right down to eating raw beef with our fingers from a communal plate. A band played upbeat music on traditional instruments while dancers with no sense of fatigue at all delighted us with their energetic moves. (Some local beer was instrumental in getting a few of us lumpy Lutherans up to try it too; video will be online soon unless we can raise enough bribe money to stop Lane from posting it.) At this point we’ve each had less than an hour of sleep in the last 30+ hours, and are riding on enthusiasm and caffeine. But after a long-awaited night’s rest, we’ll be ready tomorrow to get in the field. Once again, let me express my gratitude, and that of the rest of our little group for the wonderful opportunity APLC’s generosity has afforded us, to represent you in this good work. Warmest regards, Larry Cline

Well, we made it. This morning (at least it was morning where were at the time) saw the sun rising over the desert of Egypt for the last few hours of our twelve-hour flight into Addis Ababa. We’re eight hours ahead of San Antonio here, so there’s quite a bit of adjustment, but in the end everybody decided to just stay up and tough it out for the rest of the day, to get ourselves on Ethiopian time as fast as possible. Fortunately, Ethiopia coffee is the strongest in the world. After lunch and a couple of espressos, we spent the afternoon touring the national museum, as well as a larger museum at the university that’s housed in Emperor Haile Selassie’s old mansion. We enjoyed meeting many of the local people, who are wonderfully friendly and hospitable, and obviously very proud of their country and its heritage. After an hour of shopping in one of the local markets (and another harrowing ride in town, where traffic rules are nonexistent) we all got cleaned up for dinner. The Oromia Development Association, which is working with us in some of the nearby villages, treated us to an authentic Ethiopian dinner, right down to eating raw beef with our fingers from a communal plate. A band played upbeat music on traditional instruments while dancers with no sense of fatigue at all delighted us with their energetic moves. (Some local beer was instrumental in getting a few of us lumpy Lutherans up to try it too; video will be online soon unless we can raise enough bribe money to stop Lane from posting it.) At this point we’ve each had less than an hour of sleep in the last 30+ hours, and are riding on enthusiasm and caffeine. But after a long-awaited night’s rest, we’ll be ready tomorrow to get in the field. Once again, let me express my gratitude, and that of the rest of our little group for the wonderful opportunity APLC’s generosity has afforded us, to represent you in this good work. Warmest regards, Larry Cline