Goat = Delicious

May 11th


Dave and I ended up sleeping in way too late today, just by accident. I don't know how we slept through the dozens of girls in our residence screaming, yelling and blaring music between 5 AM - 9 AM, and you thought it was loud at your residence... not like this. It's funny, we were stuck in the all girls residence and no guys are allowed in ever... except for the two white guys sharing the communal bathroom and shower. Sort of funny.

Dave and I were interviewed for a video decreeing Jimma University as contestant for a "Green Environment" title. It was pretty on the spot, we were both dressed very casually, expecting to edit a few papers. Which we did, and then spent the next few hours helping put a video together. Well, more of watching. Dave did the narration for the video which was pretty cool.

Bought a whole slew of tropical fruit today, some great (mangoes and pineapple) and some not so great (unidentified green fruit, with white flesh and black seeds). Consumed my tenth different mammal today, which was... GOAT! It was delicious, it may have been the best meat I have ever eaten. It was served over burning coals in a ceramic dish. Then with chili powder to dip it in, and the spiciest mustard I have ever tasted... maybe spiciest thing. I am becoming desensitized to spice, by the time I leave I expect I will be chomping down on red chiles like the locals do. The mustard was comparable to yellow wasabi.

Power has been on and off all day, water hasn't worked period... had to shower with a bucket. But it was okay. It's amazing how much water you can save. I used four one liter scoops of water. My biggest goal when I get back to Canada is to decrease water consumption. It is just ridiculous what we use.

May 12th

Had an interesting day, Dave and I were both feeling sick from some Ethiopian cuisine we had last night. We ordered "kitfo" which is minced beef that is hardly cooked. We asked for it to be cooked in Amharic, but it wasn't cooked to accommodate our "delicate canadian stomachs". As a result, we both had a nice series of cramps. Quite uncomfortable. We have also been experiencing altitude sickness which really just makes us sleepy a lot. We should become a little more accustomed to the altitude shortly.

Today I realized that I have now eaten 10 different land mammals:
1. Cow
2. Sheep
3. Pig
4. Goat
5. Moose
6. Deer
7. Caribou
8. Elk
9. Bear
10. Rabbit

Not to shabby for someone who used to be a vegetarian.



And some Ethiopian wildlife to round the whole thing off. It's funny, people think I am absolutely crazy here when I stop talking mid sentence to look at a mite or a moth on the plant next to me. It's incredible.