Feb 17th

Nightmares and upset stomach. Bill is charging up the computer so he can get more pics from Emily and Terri. Posted on facebook wondering how things are going at home. today the kids are up early they had been sleeping in, Dr's. Kids. We had a ridiculously long drive. They picked us up and went to get Sarah a Bethany official and came back past our guest house again. This driver seems to "Take The Long Way Home". I sure wish we still had Abelselom as our driver. We have been on the bus 2 hours and still are not there. We are heading up to the top of the mountain to the original Addis. The palace and museum. We had to change buses because the first one couldn't make it up the slope. G had to go to the bathroom again when we stopped. Another hole in the floor. She said she just imagined she was at the Big Pasture, a place we own where we camp and have deer hunting, mushroom hunting and hot dog roasts.

Part way up the mountain we stopped so everyone could take pictures. If you know me you know I really don't do heights so I stayed in the bus, just me and the driver. Still not feeling the best, stomach. Remember Speed said I was going to dye in Ethiopia, well as I was sitting there I thought this could be it. They are all our there taking pictures, the brakes will fail and it's all over for me and the driver.

It's cooler here. Wish we were already up the mountain. It's elevation is about 4000 meters and Williamsfield is about 350 meters. So it was hard to catch your breath.

This was the original Addis where the king and queen lived. They ran out of fuel so they moved down the mountain to more of a plain area. The first king is considered a hero. He unified Ethiopia, in the 1890"s, established the 1st hotel, hospital and school. The map of Ethiopia was made when he ruled. His wife named the city Addis Ababa, New Flower. The first church of Ethiopia was there just a small round tin roofed building. There also is a temple. Only the Holy Men go in but during Lent people will travel up the mountain every day to pray. It looked kind of like the exercises we used to call burpies. They have to do how ever many the Holy Man says to do for their sin, I guess like Hale Mary's only physical. They had a prayer mat to do the exercise on.

We went into the museum there, no pictures. Photo's from the 1870's. The last King was killed in 1974 by the communists. There was a day time bed, not to sleep in but to use like a couch, it was made of leather like a table covered with cushions. They had the Sydney 2000 Olympic Metals. A Bishop's Umbrella. In this area there are 3 common crosses used all were displayed. Each ruler had different currency. Fity birr- Fifty Birr. Spelling funny. They fast for 2 months before Easter, they don't eat until after 3 pm and then no meat or milk.

High altitude, Hard To Breath. People were living there. Rocky and uneven ground. Wouldn't happen in US to many liability suits. The Palace has separate buildings for the bedrooms and guest house. 12 foot doors. Mud covered with walls 2 foot thick, wide window sills. Horns on the walls to hang meat to dry. Different entrances for the King, Queen, Princesses, Prime Minister, etc. Emperor Minilk and Empress Titu, had a balcony terrace. Oval shaped bedrooms with dressing room below. Very narrow stairwells. Small ditches running along the sidewalks to keep the water off the sidewalks.

The sheep here look like goats. Juniper trees are local, and Eucalyptus was brought from Australia. Sheep tail down, goat tail up. The hair is different and heads are different or so they say. I don't see it.

There was a tall wall of empty cement holes, say 4x4x8. They were grave sites.

People climb the mountain every day to collect fuel and then sell it for about 10 birr. The amount is more than most people could manage. Most are probably permanently bent over because of carrying it on their backs. If they are lucky they have donkeys. This is where Bill made his second enemy in Ethiopia. He took a picture of a donkey caring fuel and the owner thought he should pay for the photo. Bill said no and she took her stick after him, cursing him out in Amharic.

Of course coming down the mountain was much faster, almost too fast. It was hard to adjust.