Last night after we left Sodo and started heading to Awassa, it started raining very very hard. It was also starting to get dark. All of a sudden, the driver pulled over to the side of the road and said that he was done driving for the day. We were all confused and really surprised, since we hadn't gotten to Awassa yet - but the driver was very adamant that he was not driving one more minute. So there was a slight change in plans; we weren't going to spend the night in Awassa, but in the small village that he had stopped in. Which, anyone that has been to the countryside of Ethiopia knows that there is nothing like a Holiday Inn or even Econo Lodge. I would say that calling this place the "Bates Motel" would be flattering to what it actually was. But, what are you going to do? You're going to stay there - that's what.
Luckily, there was a cafe right there where we could have dinner. My stomach was starting to feel really upset, so I ordered something that I knew was safe - pasta. Good old reliable spaghetti, where even if they do cook it with 'the water,' they boil the heck out of it and kill anything bad. After dinner, we headed up to our rooms.Oh, our room. Mike and I were on the second floor, and there was a little porch where you could walk outside. The mosquitoes and flies were thick, so I kept the window and door closed, and prayed for safety! My favorite part of the room had to be the toilet paper decor on the night stand. I was just happy to see toilet paper, after it being sparse in Ethiopia! Mike sat down on the bed and saw a pair of flip flops sticking out from under the bed. The only thing I could think of was "there's a body under there....there's totally a body under there!" But I was tired, and didn't want to forgo a good nights sleep dealing with an unidentified body, so I shoved it out of my mind.
Our shoes were packed with mud, and I had no idea how to get it clean! The only bathroom linens we had was a hand towel. So much for a shower tomorrow! So I took the towel to clean my shoes in the sink, which by the way was a BAD idea. All I did was make a giant muddy mess!!! I had to take off my socks and finish cleaning my shoes with my socks, and I then just threw my socks away. It was quite the scene in the bathroom!! Luckily neither of us had to use the toilet, since there was a pipe in the ceiling that was pouring down right over the toilet.
The statue outside of the hotel gave me the creeps. Hello Ambien!!
In the morning, we all had egg sandwiches in the van on the way to Awassa. Nobody had taken a shower the night before, so we were all "at our best" the rest of the trip. Once we got to Awassa, we went to a nature reserve to see animals; birds, monkeys, and hippos!
When they said we were going to take a boat ride, I had something different in mind. Definitely not the tiny wooden boats filling with water; I was pretty sure that if the hippos didn't kill us, the boats would! We got really close to some hippos in the water, that started swimming towards us. It was really neat to see, but I was also glad when the boat ride was finished.
We stopped by a really fancy hotel when we pulled up to shore. They said it was $85 USD a night, which was amazing since a hotel like that in the US would probably be $300/night. It was good to caffeinate ourselves before heading on the rest of the trip.
We went to a beach (I can't think of the name of the beach off the top of my head), and had lunch at a really nice resort restaurant there. Guess what? Spaghetti! My stomach was starting to feel very upset now. I wasn't sure if it was from being in the van for two days, or something I ate. We went down to the beach and rested on the most comfortable beach chairs ever made. We also grabbed a few rocks for Jackson, our 6 year old that loves rocks. On our way back up the stairs to the van, we saw an Ethiopian couple walking down celebrating their wedding. There were people clapping and singing; it was really neat to see!
On the way out of the beach resort, there were lots of small children running along the side of the van trying to sell us chickens and hand carved statues made out of stone. We stopped, and got a few of them to take home for around 15 birr each. (1 birr = 7 US cents)
About an hour down the road, I realized it wasn't a matter of IF I was going to be sick, but rather WHERE I was going to be sick. I asked Hannah if there was a place to stop the van, but if you remember seeing my pictures from the Ethiopian countryside, it's kind of a laughable question. So I started concocting a plan on how I was going to be sick near someone's mud hut house with a million people and donkeys walking past me. And honestly, I didn't care who watched anymore - I just needed out of the van. Luckily, there was a small village town a few miles up the road where we stopped at a cafe. (Sorry for the TMI!) I ran inside the bathroom and had horrible nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Hannah got me a tonic water and I took some medicine when we got back into the van. I was thankful that someone we were traveling with carried toilet paper with her at all times, because she shoved some in my purse as soon as she knew I was sick. We finished up the trip to the Guest House, and I was so glad to be back "home" and see Birtukan! And a more Americanized bathroom! Birtukan walked up the stairs to our room at the House really quietly, and I picked her up - within 15 seconds, she was totally asleep in my arms. She's so sweet! We put Birdy to bed for the night. Mike went downstairs for dinner, and I locked myself in the bathroom for a few hours with a bottle of water and Cipro.
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