Vay-Cay

Hey there!  I wanted to give you some stories from my recent travels.  We decided not to go to Gonder, so our route covered the towns of Kombolcha, Lalibela, Bahir Dar and Debre Markos.  I am SO glad we drove.  We saw so many little towns along the way and so much scenery that would [...]

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Back

We got back to Addis today in one piece.  I am thankful!  Some of the roads we drove were seriously treacherous…bumpy mountainous roads along cliffs.  We saw numerous trucks flipped over and crushed along the way…along with at least one body (we aren’t sure whether dead or alive) on a stretcher.  So, thank the Lord [...]

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Travels

Hey!  We are about to go to dinner and so I only have a minute, but wanted to say hello from beautiful Bahir Dar.  We just pulled in a little over an hour ago.  Our hotel room is about 50 feet from the shores of Lake Tana…it is SO nice to be by a body [...]

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Merry Christmas!

I’m not sure what kind of internet access (or speed, more importantly) I’ll have during my travels, so I thought I’d send a little early Merry Christmas.  I hope that you all have wonderful celebrations in your respective places!  I was able to celebrate a little last night.  Becky, the missionary woman I know here, [...]

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Travel

I am leaving early Saturday morning for a week-long trip in Northern Ethiopia.  I am psyched.  A) it will be nice to see some scenery other than Addis and B) I think it will help to distract me from the fact it is Christmas and I’m not at home   I am travelling with [...]

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What I’ve learned After 3 Months

Here are some of the things I’ve learned from Ethiopia in the three months I have been here.
1. It is totally ok for men to hang pin-ups of other men.  Taxi drivers are the main culprits.  The English Premier League is HUGE here.  Ronaldo and David Beckham are the most popular faces.  They are everywhere, [...]

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pray

I heard of a horrible situation this morning.  Please keep it in your prayers!
Jaywalking is taken to a new level here in Addis.  People are stupid, frankly. I literally saw a woman get snipped by a car this morning as she was climbing over the median on what they call the Ring Road (kind of [...]

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They made it!

I remember a friend in college once saying “I need to go buy some new jeans because all of my other ones were accidentally sent to Africa.”  This statement reveals two things: 1) Americans like to organize drives to send clothing to Africa and 2) There is a certain type of clothing that is sent [...]

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New PO!

Hey folks.  I have found a new PO box to use.  Very exciting!  So, for those of you who would like to, you can reach me at:
Lauren Swanstrom, PO Box 10692, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Some of you have asked things I might be interested in having.  Honestly, magazines and photos of YOU are what I’d be [...]

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Ethiopia: The place where self-pity goes to die

I haven’t had running water for the past two days.  They are digging up our street and must have ruptured the water pipes.  Great.  So, that means I have been sleeping at my friend Elisabeth’s place for the past two nights (I’m very thankful for her!)  Not that you can’t survive without running water, but life [...]

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