Heading south today

I'm glad I was able to do this data dump; the connection here in the Jupiter seems to be working fairly smoothly, and I've got new albums posted. I have no idea if you can access all of the folders I've uploaded by clicking on the slideshow, so if not, here's a link.

Lois, I've fulfilled half your requests so far. Though I've seen the translation many different ways, including Harar, Harrar, and Harer, you can find the correct spelling in one of those albums. In Amharic, there are three characters you put together to sound out the word. The region is different, that one comes with an extra sound, a ghe sound, and so they spell the region either Hararge, Hararghe, Harerge, or Harerghe. I've seen a few roasters use the ghe addition, to signify their use of coffee from the region, as opposed to the city, but I'm going with the mill - as long as MA Ogsadey spells it Harar on his bag, I'm cool sticking with Harar.

And the group is complaining about the dust, how it's in their hair, their clothes, everything. Me, I've got a long way to go before I complain about dust again. Bob and I were on a Nicaragua trip that kicked my ass from a dust perspective. I lost my voice for four days, and my bag was spouting dust for a YEAR after getting home from that trip. So yeah, eastern Ethiopia is dusty, but I've had it worse.

Today we're splitting from the big group (hooray) and going south to Yirgalem. We'll be visiting farms and washing stations and mills in Sidamo and Yirgacheffe. I'll continue to take lots of pictures (Forrest's 8 gig card has been very nice to have) but I am not counting on any sort of internet service for another three or four days, so I hope this little blast of news can hold you.