(no subject)
eleanor and i went to ethiopia in april (some photos here). it was wonderful to see kevina and njoro and my niece, isla. and my other sister, adrienne, made the trip over from canada, too. both of us were screwed over by the icelandic volcanic ash cloud. jesus, what the hell was that about? that was surreal.
ellie didn't really enjoy herself on this trip. she's old enough now to miss things. she missed tim so much... it really ruined the trip for her. she wanted to go home. and poor little isla really stressed ellie out too. her little three year old neurotic self was seriously challenged. she didn't want isla anywhere near her or her things. it was hard to see her through all that stuff. i think it will be a few years before i travel alone with ellie again. and ok, i won't lie... it was tough in the toilet department too. ellie is now completely toilet trained... has been for a while... and there were some interesting toilets that i had to hover her over.
list of memories (so i don't forget...):
+ some amazing coffee
+ taking ellie to Vera's amusement park. it looked like it was set up in the 60s and never changed.
+ there is an overabundance of old volkswagon beetles being driven around addis. we would play this game where we would take photos of the ones we saw while driving around.
+ spent 3 nights at Kuriftu lodge in Debre Zeyit.
+ the electricity went out every day for several hours. kevina would light candles and ellie would run around with a flash light.
+ the countryside is lush and green.
+ beautiful mountains.
+ so many women climbing up and down the mountains with huge heavy bundles of sticks on their backs.
+ ellie puked on me in the pool one day. that was nice.
+ all the taxis are old little blue toyotas.
+ i stole all of kevina's african fabric.
ugh, already i know i'm missing loads of things. i haven't written anything down in ages. i just wanted to get back to writing! it's already july. this year is already half over. all i can remember so far is i was sick, i went into the hospital, i went to africa, now i'm back. that's the last 6 months.
i need to write more.