Jacrosse house crawl

Last weekend we had a house crawl. A new house every hour. In this photo is a bug that drove from one house to another. It's a dark photo. There are two men on top. The one on the left is carrying a tray with Jell-O shots on it. Ha ha 

US Marine Ball

Last night, I went to the US Marine Ball. It was my first time attending anything like that. It reminded me a little of a prom.

I rented a dress from a Bridal Shop, a lovely green gown.

Gentlemen! 

I also did three heads of hair, including mine, and I think they all turned out pretty well.

Probably the most interesting part of the entire evening, for me, was that there were two speeches made. One was by the head of the Marines at the Embassy in Addis, and the other was by an Ambassador. Both stressed support of sexual preference. I thought that was extremely positive, and unexpected. Well done, Guys.

Entoto

Went to Entoto this weekend. We attempted to hike and it didn't happen but we saw nice churches. 

This one is built into

The cave.

Then we had sights of Addis on the way down. 

But the most impressive sight was all the women walking down from the forest weighted down with all the eucalyptus which will be used for firewood. 

My taxi driver said, 'Ethiopian women are strong'. Yes, they're strong, but many don't really choose to haul this heavy load down the hill. It's what they have to do. 

BBQ in Addis

Pretty much the same as anywhere else. We had Pimms, grilled sausages, potato salad, and Doritos. 

Mark ready to start it up. 

Not quite sure if that BBQ is going to really work! 

And of course, the Men Folk needed to stand around staring at the coals to make sure they were burning down evenly. 

Did I mention there was Pimms? 

The Chinese treadmill of Death

Look closely at this console. This may look like an ordinary treadmill console, bar the Chinese characters, but make no mistake. This is a death machine.

It started innocently enough. A colleague invited me to use the small gym in his apartment complex. I put on my running gear, charged my iPod, and got ready to exercise. Little did I know what was waiting for me. 

The treadmill, henceforth known as The Chinese treadmill of Death, looked straightforward. I selected the random programme at level 1. I then imputed a speed of 8.2 kms / 5 miles per hour. A nice starting speed. The random setting, at level 1, was meant to generate the feeling of running up and down hills while decreasing and increasing speeds. It wasn't long before it was apparent something was amiss. It was jerky. The belt would speed up, slow down and then almost wobble a bit from side to side. Determined to get a workout, I tried to navigate the minor hiccups and continue on. However, it wasn't long before it took a sinister turn. 

All of a sudden, the treadmill jumps from 8.4 kms to 14kms!! That is 8.7 miles per hour. Now, I don't know about you but that's a pretty significant jump. I found myself sprinting and then needing to hit the emergency stop. 

Ever generous, even with technology, I feel there must have been some mistake. 'Perhaps, I hit something?' I reset the machine, and begin trotting along again. Quickly, the wobble starts and then it jumps into INSANE setting again. This time it shoots up to 16.4 km and the treadmill elevation rises to 4.5. To clarify, that's 10 miles per hour with an elevation of 4.5 out of 10. Who the hell considers that level 1? The Chinese?! No, I am afraid not even them. 

So I hit the Emergency stop once more, and just to teach it a lesson - and a little out of fearing for my life - I unplug it at the wall. 'No more potential death for you today, my friend!'

A few photos from the Ethiopia and Nigeria game

Just a few photos. 

Hiking in Menagesha Forest

Sunday was a hiking day! A group of us drove out of Addis to the Menagesha Forest. It located about 50 kms outside of Addis and it is a great spot of forest to hike around. It is lush and green with a lot of moss on the branches. 


I saw a Colobus Monkey, but didn't manage to snap a photo. The monkey, as you can see from this photo, is black and white with a fluffy tail. As it jumped away from me, it resembles a skunk in a tree! 


We hiked into the forest, made our way to the waterfall,

and settled down for lunch. After lunch, we gathered up our things and hiked back down. 


Here are some photos of the crew!

A good day out.