Bajaj

This is a view of riding in a bajaj (public transit).
It's like a three wheeled motor bike, and it's super wicked.
It's covered with a metal cage and canvas. It's very affordable (less than ten cents for a 4km ride)

Had my hair cut today by a barber who had never cut a white persons hair before. He did a pretty great job, but giggled the whole time he was doing it. He shaved my widows peak off before I even had a chance to say "Oh."

These are seeds of an unknown tree, working on the ID. :)

Have a fun and safe Apple Blossom.

PM

More mushrooms

I can't wait until rainy season is in full tilt. Then they will be everywhere. Dave and I are planning a trip somewhere soon. We're excited.

Poisonous Mushroom

It looks poisonous... but I ate it and I feel just fine.

Kidding

Still no photos

I'm going to try and find a LAN connection tomorrow, maybe, just MAYBE it will help me get some things posted. Everything else seems to be working. This is a photo of a morning glory like flower. It's quite purple

Ginger Cat

Photos, still not able to be loaded.
But this is a ginger cat.

Avocado Juice

Had my first taste of avocado juice today, and it is delicious. Served with a few slices of lime and stir a bit. Delicious. Still no photos. F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-N-G

Onion

This just was the most beautiful onion I have ever seen. It was so purple. This photo doesn't even do it justice.

Rain

The rain is coming over the mountains, in spurts, Sunny. Then torrential rain. Sunny. Torrential Rain. I don't understand, but I'm certainly not complaining. I wish I could share this beauty with everyone back home. It's so special.

Photo is of rain coming over the mountain, had to efff around with it because of my camera being silly. So it looks a little sharper than it should. Can't wait to explore those hills.

May 18th

Dave and I bought some shampoo today, as both of us mistakenly brought conditioner haha. Mine is called "Sun shine afro plus" it smells like pineapple. And made my hair very clean, still waiting on the afro though.

May 18th

First day of a workshop about the properties of biological material. The weather had been nice though, also working on a video for IT services here on campus. The photo is of a sketch I id, though it won't load... Darn.

It will be up later on.

What a day

Today we were invited to a coffee ceremony, where the judges and producers of Ethiopian Idol were being hosted. They asked us to talk to the producers about Canadian Idol, but little did we realize it would be on stage in front of about 500-600 people. Kind of nervewracking, especially because Dave and I aren't huge fans of Canadian Idol. Anyway, it was interesting and then later on Sirawdink found a frog for me. Which made me very very happy. This is him/her (the frog, not Sirawdink)

Ethiopian Idol

Spent today with Dave, and three members of the faculty watching auditions for Ethiopian idol. They have dance, and singing. It was so much fun, it was really funny and the dance was amazing. The singing lacked a bit, but it was because that it was A Capella and not with music. One of the hosts was the most famous actresses in Africa, she is exceptionally beautiful. I will post a photo soon.

Also, I saw a whole colony of praying mantis'!
So neat. It made my day.

Still no photos

Getting frustrated, power is on water is on. Not able to post photos. Today's photo is of a neat beetle I found climbing on a maize leaf. It's pretty stellar, but I doubt that it will be able to be posted.

Having such an amazing time here, weather is warm and sun is out. And sitting in "the office" with Dave, editing a few papers.
Solid.

May 13th - Still problems with photos

Still can't upload photos, but had an awesome day with a tour of the campus farm. A little bit frustrated w/ photos. Today's is of a honey bee drinking out of my cup of chai, and it's a pretty cool photo. Darn it. Darn it. Darn it.

Having a blast here.

PM

Photos not working

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.
This is a photo of the food that we normally eat, this is not kifto. But just a standard meal of injera, beef and some vegetables.
Photo will be up, once the server is working...

4L Shower

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.

I'm going to try to make my next shower three litres.

Posted is a photo of some of the tropical food we purchased for a little over 1 CAD. Fresh fruit is very affordable here, and very delicious.

Bird

Today I've got internet, and the power has been on and off. It's a little annoying, but very happy to have a little so that I am able to communicate with others back home. Got a bit of work done on our placement today, and got shown the ropes in a little more detail. A medical student doing a placement in Jimma took Dave and I out for a walk around Jimma, and it was really neat. Made things a lot less more intimidating, got chased by a few adorable little kids who's vocabulary consisted of "Hello" "How are you" and "F**K You". It was pretty funny, but had to keep walking.

Here's a shot of a neat bird I am trying to identify, no luck yet. If you know what it is, just let me know. I'd be grateful.

PM

Happy Mothers Day Mum

May 9th:
Had the first night in Ethiopia today, a rooster is crowing extremely loud outside. It's only 6:00 AM when I am writing this, but there are already all sorts of kids playing outside as well as dogs running about. We're travelling the seven and a half hours to Jimma town today, which should be beautiful. So excited for that.

Evening: The drive was amazing. It took about six hours, the road was in immaculate condition. Along the way, there were some of the most beautiful trees that I have ever seen. They looked so ancient, and they were so big. We saw two types of monkeys, and a huge variety of birds. There were yellow birds, blue birds, red birds... high in the mountains there were many types of raptor birds. One had a wingspan that must have been at least six or seven meters. Some sort of eagle, I would expect. Looking for a guide so that we will be able to tentatively identify some wildlife.

Upon arriving to the university, I was amazingly shocked. The grounds were beautifully kept with beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees everywhere. Tropical birds in the trees, monkeys swinging around. It's the most beautiful oasis possible. The whole drive was lush and green, but not even close to the same scale as the campus here at JUCAVM. There were trees that included avocado, papaya and some really neat conifers that had basically rings of needly branches, so perfectly balanced that it appears to be a trunk with green disks spaced out along the length of the trunk.

The people here are amazing, we met the project coordinator and had some time to walk around campus and become a little more familiar. We met some nice young faculty, who invited us to a night of traditional food, dancing and traditional Ethiopian music. It was so much fun, such lively happy people. Everyone here is so kind, they have the most lovely way of making one feel welcome. And perfect smiles, everyone seems to have perfect smiles.

Along the drive which one was straight road, that became windy over time we realized two things. 1. That people walk everywhere! Scarcely along the 350 + km would we travel 100 m without seeing someone. People were everywhere. 2. There is an amazing amount of animal agriculture here in Ethiopia. Fact. In Ethiopia, cattle population: 44,000,000. Sheep population 23,000,000. Goat population 23,000,000, this was told to us by Dr. Tess Astatkie of NSAC. It's unbelievable! They were everywhere.

Another thing that struck me, is the diversity of everything. From the insects to the plants, to the trees. Biodiversity is everywhere in Jimma. Today I saw a locust, that was about six inches long. It was so cool. Also saw some beautiful butterflies, some katydids and some neat beetles. I look forward to documenting it a bit through my stay here.

We had our first experience with the rainy season as well. David and I noticed the sky was getting dark, and all of a sudden it began to pour. It was like a hurricaine. The drops of water were giant, and intense and it just really threw me for a loop. I know I will be wearing my boots quite a bit. The thunder and lightening were loud, and the rain was louder. It's going to make sleeping very nice, as it usually occurs during the night.

Tomorrow is the first day on the job,
Hopefully i can get things posted soon. We have experienced power failures, which is making things a little tough to communicate with home. Happy Mother's Day Mum!

May 8th

On the second day of travel we flew over the Nubian desert as well as the southern coast of Greenland. The mountains were beautiful and jagged and appeared from huge plains of snow in Greenland. We flew over just as dawn was breaking, it was breathtaking. The desert in Sudan was beautiful too, it was 41 degrees celsius when we touched down in Karthoum. Ethiopia is nice around 21 degrees celsius when we touched down, The air is really fresh because we're so high above sea level here in Addis Ababa. We were met at the airport by two familiar faces Dr. Nancy Pitts, and Dr. Tess Astatkie from NSAC, which was really nice. We had some delicious Ethiopian food last night, tibs and injera. Tibs are small pieces of beef cooked with red onion, garlic and pepper. Injera is a traditional flatbread which is sort of like a very thin pancake. It comes rolled up, and to eat you pull a piece of injera off with your right hand and sort of "pinch" the food into a bite sized portion. Also: Happy 57th Birthday Dad :) Today's photo is of a mountain in Southern Greenland.

May 7th

Today was my first day of travel. We took a plane from Halifax to Toronto, then from Toronto to Amsterdam, the plane was a Boeing-747. It was absolutely huge, it held 415 people and was completely full. We rerouted an extra forty minutes or so, to avoid the volcanic ash from Iceland. I had a few wonderful views of the Annapolis Valley which is what today's picture is. This was taken on the way to Toronto.

Last Canada Post

Hi,

Todays photo is of my rock collection and my favourite salt shaker in the whole world. A few things that I group in with home, and Canada.

This is my last post before I head out to Ethiopia, however I do have a blog going when I am in Ethiopia if you are interested in learning more about that. That can be accessed here.

It's been a lot of work to pack, but have been getting through it all. Dad's case ended so he was able to come and say goodbye, which is super great. I just have a few more little things to do before departure. So pleased about that.

Once again, this might not be updated as frequently while away. But there will be a photo taken each day. Thanks for your patience, have a great summer wherever it might take you.

PM

This one is a bit old,

I had two really good ones the other day, and I thought the weather was more important. This one is of my brother Ian finding the worlds ugliest (and most interesting) table on the beach. Half table, half lobster trap. I'm pretty stressed out, still packing and such. It's going to be a bit of a hassle. But SO excited nonetheless.

"Tine and Mum are home"

Tine and Mum got home from Domincan today, and Tine got cornrows. Had a really nice dinner with my friends down the road, and it was absolutely delicious. Still a little stressed about Ethiopia, have a lot to do. But still very excited

and then the sky BURST into flames

Ridiculous. Simply ridiculous.
Coming in from a walk on a calm evening, the winds picked up and then clouds started flying ridiculously fast. Then the weirdest light happened. Reds and oranges, but so intense. SO INTENSE. So sudden. This is a raw image, nothing changed these are the colours out on the river. Breath taking.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This Friday I am leaving for Ethiopia, for any regular readers who know that this blog has been updated daily with a photo, this may not continue to be the case due to connection difficulties in Ethiopia. I ask for your patience and understanding during this point, as it could mean days or even weeks without new photos. I will still be taking a photo each day, and writing about it. However it will not be posted every day (naturally).

Here's a little about the trip, just a letter I have been sending out to friends and family.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hi Everyone,

I’m just posting this to let people know about my trip to Ethiopia. On May 7th, 2010 I will be on my way to Jimma, Ethiopia. I am going on a three and a half month work term for a project entitled Post Harvest Management to Improve Livelihoods (PHIML), sponsored Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) and McGill University.

Post Harvest management is a critical practice within agriculture. Post harvest management is basically the way that people take care of agricultural products after they have been harvested. Ethiopia, is a nation that is highly dependent on agriculture. Approximately ninety percent of Ethiopia’s GDP comes from Agriculture, however Ethiopia continues to lose a huge amount of crops due to problems with post harvest management. These losses may come from; rodents, microorganisms, moisture, fungus or other factors.

McGill and NSAC have partnered with CIDA and an Ethiopian University (Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine JUCAVM) to start a project, developing a program at the university to increase the resources regarding post harvest management. As students from across Ethiopia, and other parts of Africa study at the school they can bring back what they have learned to other communities and reduce the amount of harvest losses by implementing the knowledge from the program through community based education. The projects goal is to create programs for post harvest management at the undergraduate and graduate level at JUCAVM.

I am one of two students from NSAC that will be working in Ethiopia this summer, as well as various members of the faculty that will be in and out throughout the summer. My roles as an intern aren’t completely clear to me yet, but they will become so as I begin my placement upon arrival. However, it is fair to say that this is the opportunity of a lifetime and I am beyond ecstatic to have been selected for such a great first step; a first chance to experience international development, an interesting and new way to learn about the importance agriculture in both a local and international context, and finally finding out a little more about what I want with my life.

I leave Canada on May 7th, 2010 and will return the 20th of August, 2010. I’ll be gone around 100 days. It is a possibility due to unforeseen circumstances that communication between me, and my friends and family back home in Canada may be infrequent and sporadic. I am hoping to compile a list of friends and family email addresses. So that I might be able to send out a mass email when I do have news, a few minutes to write and access to internet.

I will be living in dormitory style residence, and it is unclear at this point whether or not I will have a roommate. It is highly likely that I will be sharing a room with my friend David, who is the second student intern going. I will be sleeping, and eating at JUCAVM.

One of the tasks that we are asked to do while away, is keep up a blog. Where internet connection is limited and unpredictable, this may prove to be difficult. However, I hope that our blog will be up and running soon after arrival. I plan to send out the URL of that, so if interested people are able to check it out.

I also took on a project for 2010 which was to document the year in photos, one at a time. This is hopefully going to continue in Ethiopia. However, once again because of internet connections and problems this might not be the case. I will still be taking a photo each day, and I will continue my resolution of a photo each day. I can promise this.

If you’re interested in hearing about my trip, as it progresses. Just drop me an email to manningp@nsac.ca, this should be a fairly reliable server that doesn’t take too long to load. It will serve as my main connection to communicate with others. I will add you to the list, and my wishes are to send out periodic bulletins of how the summer is progressing, what I have been seeing, what I have been doing, who I have been meeting.

I would like to thank everyone for their support and understanding for me as I take on this new adventure. I wish everyone a happy and healthy summer.


Sälam,

Paul

Year two, now has a nice new schedule

Woke up at seven this morning for some strange reason. And tried to do something useful, so I did up my schedule for next year. I think this is as organized as I have ever been. Man am I ever excited for some interesting classes!

Erythronium americanum

Feeling a lot better today. Dad and E convinced me to go for a walk, then I came home and slept/read a little. Found a neat flower on the walk today called Erythronium americanum which is commonly known as a trout lily. It is a pretty cool flower, I identified it using a neat little web tool which is really easy to use: Wildflower ID

Oh, and I am also posting a photo of a red-backed salamander I took, because I just think they're the neatest things ever.