I've been silent for a week but not out of laziness. I've been in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, helping them start up a film industry. The kids' mom flew up from Atlanta to watch them.
Here is one of my favorite buildings in the bustling city of five million, a bar shaped like the space shutte.
Here is a typical street scene
Here's my favorite photo from the teff grain store of the "Former Women's Wood Carrying Collective."
And here's just outside:
Most of the rest of the city is more chaotic and urban. I was just there a week but am already looking forward to coming back.
What I wasn't so much looking forward to was what's happening right now. After flying for twenty-one hours yesterday with a medium case of diarrhea I had to prepare for the Birthday Marathon.
The kids' birthdays are later in the summer when their friends aren't around so today, my first day back, I'm taking five of Chet's friends to Dave & Busters (Chuck E. Cheese on steroids) in Times Square. And then tomorrow morning A and I are driving Ava, Chet and three of Ava's best friends out to Long Island for a weekend-long sleepover in my uncle's beach house. As you can imagine the kids are out of their minds with excitement. I'm loopy with tiredness and still uncertain about my digestive tract.
Wish me luck!
