Early morning in Addis Ababa from hotel balcony. I learned today that in Ethiopia the family name is not passed down, just one of the names (first or middle) of the father. As a result there is much more diversity since nobody is labeled by their last name (i.e. Madden=Irish?). I thought this was interesting. Christianity is the largest religion with Islam second.

This is Sirak and Dr. Mohamed Yamba, a colleague from Cal. Sirak is an engineer who now lives in DC. His is serving as our guide this trip. He was a political prisoner in the late 1970's (and spend 5 FIVE years in prison)

Pittsburgh to Dulles to Rome to Addis Ababa. 20 air hours, but not bad at all. We were greeted by a great team from Wollo. Addis is a major city of 4 million people. The hospitality has been wonderful. Tomorrow morning we head by car for a 7 hour drive to Dessie and Wollo University.

American Health Care

Good Health Care? I am traveling to Ethiopia and the US State Department required me to get shots for Tetanus, Diptheria, Pertussis, Pnemoccocal, Menigitis, Hep A, Hep B, Polio, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Malaria, Dengue Fever. 9 shots total, one more when I get back.

Off to Dessie, Ethiopia September 18, 2010

The Comet is calling me to the road again, this time to Dessie, South Wollo, Ethiopia. Dessie is the home of Wollo University and I am getting the incredible opportunity to visit there, observe teaching, and hopefully help with the development of the school. The city is 400 miles north of the Addis Ababa, which is the capital. We land in Addis then travel by car to Dessie. I think this is going to be a very cool adventure, certainly to places I don't know anything about. I do know that Amharic is the official language, and that they are moving from winter into spring (the rainy season).

Wollo is one of 13 new universities built in Ethiopia since 1995 with the mission of addressing poverty through literacy. How cool is that.

Here we go again, following the comet. hahah