August

Aaaaand now for another post of an epic journey that lives among the ranks of Shakleton and the Endurance....

During the end of July Joel and I embarked on a trip. First we drove from the fine state of Wyoming to Colorado. We stayed with Joel's relatives and he went biking with Sam and Dan while I cleaned out the car. Then we went to Ricky's wedding. I think that it was the first outdoor wedding that I had ever been to where it rained, but it was still a blast. :)
Then we went from Littleton, CO to Wallowa Lake, OR. Driving we experienced a rainstorm while it was 101 degrees out. Neat-o! After spending a couple days at the lake we drove to good ol' Hood River, OR. Home sweet home. We had such a great time in Hood River. More than a couple of our friends from WY were in Hood River at the time so we went cliff jumping with Troy and his girlfriend, windsurfing with the Daltons, and floated the river with my brother and sister. The last night in town we went to Amanda and Tom's wedding. It was gorgeous and I am very happy for my life long friend! :)
After the 110 degree heat in OR (which cancelled all the bike races Joel had planned on) Joel dropped me off at the airport and he headed back to Wyoming.
I got on the plane and headed to Ethiopia. Woooo!
I had some free tickets from Southwest air, and got some flight credits on US air, so I had pieced together my own travel.... hmm... rethinking that one....
I went from Portland OR, to Phoenix, AZ to Washington DC, then to London, where I had a 24 hour lay over so I got a hostel and stayed there. I'd already seen the BIG London sights -- Big Ben, The Eye, The Bridge, Westminster, etc, so I headed for the Imperial War Museum. Entrance is donation based and it had a lot of awesome things to see. I would recommend checking it out.
After a few panicked e-mails and phone calls in the Heathrow airport about confused schedules, I boarded my plane for Addis and hoped someone would be there to pick me up on the other side. Fortunately it all worked out and I was reunited with Emily... on a different continent! yeah!
We immediately went and got messages and then I felt like falling asleep. The jet-lag lasted for a few days and it was rough. Emily has some wonderful friends there though and they made me some coffee and popcorn and life was good.
During the time that I was there we went a explored Addis, saw some animals in a national park, delivered blankets, food, books, etc to and orphanage and families, and pondered our perspective futures. I think that the second day I was there we didn't even leave the apartment.
It's hard to write about this trip because I feel like I'm still thinking about it. I can give you facts, what we ate (injera and wot and pasta and ox and fish and oranges!) and where we went (everywhere!) and what we saw (warthogs, dancers, traffic, lightning, kids!) but I don't feel like that is really the trip. How do you try and describe what another culture is? Or what a taste of it is like?
I don't feel like it does it justice to say, 'there was this... and there was that...' and, 'we saw this... and we saw that...' To understand what I mean, go there yourself. Buy some 1 burr bread, sleep with some fleas, shake a dozen kids hands every time you walk out the door, make food with Emerly and take a bath in a tub in the living room. You will love it and hopefully you will understand that there is more to life and an experience than words can offer.
:)Lisa