This will be our last blog from Addis before we head back to the US tonight. It will be a long journey home with an 8 hour lay-over in Frankfurt, a late night departure from Addis and 2 connections to make… what a way for Marc to spend his birthday! Speaking of which, HAPPY BIRTHDAY in advance to those we know born on Feb 15th – Isaac (Happy 31st), Yinghao (Happy 29th), Ella (Happy 1st), Jonah (Happy 8th) & Marc (Happy 29th)!

We learned when we went to St Matthew's on Sunday that an American woman we met at our first hash run and who told us about the church, Lauren Swanstrom was in an accident while on the road from Addis to Jimma (the minibus she was in swerved to avoid a child running across the road and ended up in a ditch). She suffered a broken ankle and fractured spine, but is fortunately not paralyzed, and has been MedVac-ed to Tel-Aviv, Israel where she is undergoing surgery. She was in Addis teaching English at a private English language institution for adults, but was mostly motivated to come to Addis because of her interest in helping prevent Fistula, volunteering for a Midwifery organization in Addis. We are obviously worried about Lauren and sad that her stay in Addis had to end in such a manner, but we are also grateful that her injuries were not more severe and that she has been able to keep in good spirits despite this ordeal. Please keep Lauren in your thoughts as she recovers and has to figure out how to settle her things in Addis.

We had been only discussing with Yohannes over dinner on Friday about traffic and traveling in Ethiopia and he had mentioned that Ethiopia has the world's highest percentage of traffic accidents per capita. Our own experiences within Addis haven't been too bad (a couple of minor scares, but we have yet to witness any major accidents), but on roads outside of Addis there have indeed been some crazy drivers on the road. Many of the roads that lead out of Addis are either un- or poorly-paved, and are at the most 2 lanes in each direction without median barrier. This means that drivers often move onto the lane of on-coming traffic while trying to overtake others, moving at very high speeds with very little time to do the overtaking – a very risky maneuver.

We've also had a number of interesting meal experiences in Addis the last few days. On Sunday we went to a nearby place for lunch and learned that the restaurant's idea of mini Kebabs was essentially yebeg tibs (little bits of sheep meat) cooked with hot peppers and onions then stuck onto toothpicks! It was a real sight to be served a plate full of toothpicks that bore no resemblance to what we generally consider kebabs – it didn't taste great either.

On Tuesday night, we met up with Harsh (one of the World Bank technical experts Marc works with) at a cultural restaurant called Yod Abyssinia for dinner. It was a bit of an adventure getting there, as one of the minibuses we took to get there couldn't start without it being pushed (somehow this managed to be done despite it being packed with 15 people!), and the tires were so worn the bus would skid a little every time the driver stepped on the brakes. It was also amusing with the strategies the driver and assistant would have to avoid being fined by the police for having more passengers onboard than legally allowed (12 is the max). Once, Marc was on a minibus where the assistant ordered everyone who was in an illegal set to duck, and then proceeded to hit the floor himself as the minibus passed a roundabout where the police patrolled – the passengers all obliged since being caught would mean delays in their travels and general unhappiness.

At Yod, we were surprised to learn that almost all the tables had been reserved ahead of time, but were fortunate to be able to be squeezed in a table right in front of the stage since there was only going to be 3 of us. We ordered kitfo lublub (barely cooked seasoned ground beef) a vegetarian fasting benyenetu, and a bottle of tej (honey wine) to share. The kitfo was wonderful and there was a lovely variety vegetarian wats to try – oh how we will miss this food! The tej was very different from what we have had before in Ethiopian restaurants in the US. We are not sure if that is because there are many different types, or that the US ones have been adapted for American tastes. The tej we had at Yod was a little citrusy, and looked almost like orange juice. It was quite strong and was served in glass bottles that were honestly a little difficult to drink from.

The whole time we were enjoying our meal and drinks we were entertained by singing and dancing that were suppose to represent the various tribes of Ethiopia. The dance movements were really rather incredible, with fast distinct shoulder and neck movements. The most impressive dance was when two of the female dancers did some crazy head-neck twisting and banging maneuver (a shot clip), which was a little scary to watch. How they manage to do it and not break their neck is beyond us. What a great night! We returned back to the guesthouse tired but very happy.

Otherwise, we have been spending our last two days rounding up things in Addis with our work and picking up little gifts for folks back in the US. Ciao Addis!