Ethiopia

From Africa 2007

We made it! I've got temporary internet access at the Ethiopia office and wanted to get a quick blog post off.

We landed early and met with the country director and a bunch of other staffers pretty much stragiht away. My head is already exploding with ideas and reactions to what the marketing department has been up to - both good and bad. I love honest feedback (that's a hint for you to comment in the future).

The best part of the day though was a very cool coffee ceremony. I'm didn't catch all of the significance, but it was so cool. I wondered how much trouble I would get in if I tried to light a fire in the NY Headquarters.

The coffee was S T R O N G and I'm buzzing pretty hard right now.

We're staying at a hotel called Queen of Sheba, I hope my room looks like the Taj Mahal. The rest of this week involves a 5 hour drive due East from Addis to various IRC programs. It promises to be an amazing week. Can't wait to blog all about it.

UPDATE: I added the photo - the hotel has (slow, but free) wi-fi. We had dinner last night at the hotel - much of the food here is italian (pizza, pasta etc), but I had a burger. I'm sitting here watching the last few minutes of the Patriots game, and am shocked that they could lose, and that I'm watching NFL football live from Africa.