NEW/UPDATED July 8, 2010

Hey,
We're on the road again today. We made it to Dese last night in time for supper, and I survived being sick. I ate some noodles and drank papaya juice, so kept it pretty bland. I felt so much better today after a good night of sleep! The people around me aren't so lucky, though. Several are feeling icky today. I'm still sticking with a bland diet today, and that seems to be a good idea since we're still driving in the mountains.

These mountain roads are really pretty nice, but very twisty. We've gotten a good look at some rural life on our drive. The "big towns" we've gone through are still very rural. We've seen people plowing their fields with oxen, sowing seed, and herding animals. It is amazing to watch a tiny child of only 4-5 years old herding big cows, leading camels, or chasing goats around. We've seen a lot of people walking to get water, or getting water from wells, too. The majority of the economy is subsistence farming, which I can totally believe after seeing this part of the country. The fields are so rocky, though, that it makes it hard to grow anything. The rocks are huge! We came upon a bus that was broken down, and instead of the orange cones we use to alert cars to go around, they used some of the big-ish rocks from a nearby field! Saw the same thing with road construction when they didn't want people to go down a certain area - used rocks to block off the road.

Today we're on the way to Lalibela to see the rock-hewn churches. I'm excited to see something I've read so much about. The highlight of today (so far) is the market we came upon in a field on the road right outside Dese. They were selling animals, spices, salt (not the kind that we get out of the shaker! Real rocks! There were people selling fruits, veggies, shoes, grains, clay pots, injera pans...all kinds of things. The people were curious about us, of course, but kind and friendly. It was crowded, but not the crush of humanity like at the Mercato. I believe we'll get to go to the market in Lalibela, too, so I'm looking forward to that.

Hope all is well at home. I'll email again as I have time. :)

Alica