The horn of plenty

There is a cumulative sense of pride in Ethiopia for the country, the surroundings, and the open arms with which they welcome foreigners. On the way to work each morning about 8:15AM, the people are weeding the lawns in front of the Prime Minister's mansion. All over town they are sweeping the gutters in the road where they meet the sidewalks. They are mopping the slippery sidewalks to make them more safe for one another. The side roads are just as immaculate as the main thoroughfares. Speaking of immaculate, if they can afford to dress well, the people here look like they are on their way to a formal event. The men and women take care of themselves and always look picture-perfect. By that time of morning most of the shops are open. The keepers are wiping the windows, and mopping the water/mud around their front doors. They are drying the furniture in the un-protected seating areas in their cafés and restaurants. When an elder needs room or a wee bit of a hand, teenagers and able-bodied young people far under their double-digit years assist as much as they can. People smile, they laugh, they have a distinctive joie-de-vivre one does not see much in many circles in North America. They outwardly show affection towards one another, and 3 or 4 light kisses on the cheek are commonplace. There just seems to be this sense of "looking out for eachother". They cut eachother off in traffic; no accident -- no problem. The bus is full and I am 1 stop away from where I am going -- take my seat I'll walk. This place is a dream ... On the Ileana busy-level I was red today. She missed my BLOG posts as I must have been too busy. I found out the best time to upload photos to Facebook is 6-7AM here; Addis's internet community is not awake yet and North America/South America is already or soon-to-be sawing logs. I accumulated the list of DBA's I will be training, and was asked to scope out a Linux box to accomodate training. I saw the existing financial systems whose second version I will be auditing. Dinner tonight ... Sol de Canada, complete with the "Canada Eh!" tee on one of the servers; Ambo (sparkling water) and a club sandwich with fries with a tip was 30 birr. I could not finish the sandwich and it will be breakfast in the AM. Tagel, my "direct report" at MoFED, says he has a guitar I can use. He claimed he would bring it in tomorrow. If it is indeed what I would think a western guitar is, I told him I would give him lessons. Steven B., are you jealous? Sean M., should I teach him C, F, and G or Stairway to Heaven?