I awoke from a very strange dream.  A car had crashed.  Oddly, the car had a bear in it, and because of the crash the bear was able to escape.  The bear was still tied up with a chain, but the chain seemed to be miles long and so the bear was running around causing total chaos.  I was going to, somehow, help out with the bear situation, but couldn't because I had to run to the toilet.  I woke up, and in real life also had to run off to the toilet. 

Coffee Ceremony

Coffee Ceremony

People of Omorate

People of Omorate

People of Omorate

People of Omorate

People of Omorate

Two more times, I woke up during the night to rush off to the toilet with diarrhea.  As stomach problems go, it wasn't bad though.  There was no pain, and no fever.  I took the diarrhea simply as a sign that I was adjusting to the local food. 

The toilet though, was a bit scary.  I've grown accustomed to dirt pits.  Moths attracted to my headlamp were circling my head, and flying into my face.  But, I'm used to that too.  It was the cockroaches that scared me.  Five isn't many cockroaches for a village squat toilet, but these cockroaches were huge.  Each one was 3" long and they seemed to fill the tiny room.  I felt like I was invading their space.  Rather than scattering, they turned their heads towards me giving me an evil look "What the hell do you think you're doing in _my_ toilet."

In the morning, I read the directions for the water purification tablets, which I had inherited from another tourist on his way home.  The directions said to wait a full two hours before drinking the water - Ooops.  I'd been drinking the water after only 15 minutes.  Also, the directions recommend not using these tablets for trips to remote places - places don't get too much more remote than Omorate.  I'm doubling the dose from now on, in addition to waiting two hours.

I switched hotels today, and that toilet was only half the reason.  Next door is a hotel that is much more friendly and only 1/3 of the price.  I'm now paying $1.25 for a room.  For another $0.75, I get more good Ethiopian food than I can possibly eat. 

To welcome me to the hotel, there is a coffee ceremony.  In Ethiopia, only the women make the coffee, and it's quite a performance.  Cut grass is placed on the floor, and huge clouds of incense fill the room.  The coffee is made completely from scratch.  First fresh coffee beans are roasted on a metal plate.  Then the coffee is violently crushed into a powder with a metal or wooden rod.  Finally, the coffee is mixed in with boiling water in a clay coffee pot.  The whole process takes more than an hour.  Coffee in Ethiopia is almost a religion.  I love that.

In the afternoon, I took a walk around town with my camera.  The idea of taking pictures of the tribal people originally left a bad taste in my mouth.  People go on safaris to see the "Big 5":  lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, and buffalo.  The Omo valley isn't too different as most tourists go with a checklist - they must photograph the Mursi, and Hammer, etc.  I'd much rather be a participant than a spectator, and I don't want to treat these people like objects.

But as I start taking photos, I got a different feeling from it.  I don't give to beggars, but this was a way for me to give money to people in need through a fair exchange.  I paid each person the standard fee of 1 birr ($0.12) for posing.  One birr is a small amount of money for me, but still a large amount of money for them.  They were thrilled with the money, and I was happy to have the photos. 

I wanted to keep taking photos, more to give out money, than for the pictures.  But quickly I had to stop.  Everyone was desperate for money (even a dime).  The crowd around me grew too large and started getting unruly with everyone pulling on me demanding "take my photo, take my photo."  For my own safety and the safety of my camera, I ran away into a local restaurant and had, yet another, cup of tea.

While I was scribbling notes for this journal, a big fucking scorpion rushed under my door, made a lightning fast pass around my room, and then rushed backed back under the door.  Every hotel I've been in since Lodwar has had cats.  They're there to kill the scorpions and apparently it works, as this is the first scorpion I've seen.

Tomorrow, more exploration of Omorate.

The trip from Nairobi to Addis Ababa was interesting enough that I wrote it up as a daily log.  If you'd like to read it from the beginning click here:  [ Leaving Nairobi ]

Leave a comment!  I'm much more inspired to write when I know people are reading.