Day 12: Debre Zeit

Hello everyone!

This morning, I woke up excited for the day. Today was our visit to Debre Zeit. Hannah and I went to breakfast around 8:30. I had toast with apricot jelly and some sort of muffin. Not sure what kind it was, but it was pretty good. At 9, we met Dr. Olivier and shortly after Mikhel drove up to take us. We also picked up a Phd student who worked on campus as well. All five us were packed into a small Toyota for about an hour 20-30ish minutes.

We arrived in Debre Zeit (recently renamed to Bishoftu) and it was pretty similar to Addis Ababa except for a few things. Animals were everywhere. Goats, cattle, donkey's, and even ponies pulling 'carriages' acting as a taxi. It was a little overwhelming but for those people, it's just their everyday life. There was also less super big buildings but there were still a few. Traffic is still just as crazy though!

We walked across the road with two guys who worked with the chickens. They took us to the chicken house where the baby chicks were at. We had to wear white lab-looking coats and we had to dip our shoes in a water bath before we could go in. It was a very cool and modern looking chicken house. The first pen had the baby chicks from the highly crossed lines of chickens and all the other pens (there were about 30) had either a local breed of chicken (I think they said Horro) or there were types of white chicks and types of black chicks. Hannah received the information about her project. She would weigh the special breed every Monday, record growth rates, any physical changes, and mortality of the chicks. We then walked over to the building that housed the incubator. Before we could go in we had to put plastic covers over the bottoms of our boots. The incubator was massive! It could hold 150,000 eggs at a time. In the next room, there was what the workers called the 'hatchery'. It was also quite big. After touring the chicken facilities we washed our hands thoroughly and gave back our coats.

We made our way over to the cattle. Currently at Debre Zeit there are Holstein Friesan and Boran cattle. Unfortunately the people for data collection with these cattle were not around so I was not able to find out my project information. We will go back to Debre Zeit on Monday, so I am hoping to find out then when I get to begin my project. If I am unable to work there, another place was suggested that I could at. It is not far from Addis. Although, I know Olivier would rather I work at Debre Zeit so we would not have to use two vehicles for transportation.

We departed with the chicken workers and waited for Mikhel to pick us up and take us for lunch. Dr. Olivier had a place in mind but couldn't think of the name. So, Mikhel took us to where he thought Olivier was talking about. It was not the right place! So we piled back into the truck and took off to the Hotel called 'The Pyramid'. It was absolutely gorgeous! It was right on the lake with a large outdoor restaurant connected. We found a table and after we ordered, Hannah and I walked out to see the lake and scenery. It was so awesome! Hannah and I both ordered pasta with beef. It was pretty good! Dr. Olivier ordered injera and he insisted that we both try it. I have to say, it was very good and not what I was expecting! Neither Hannah or I could finish our pasta. I always feel bad leaving my food but I just can't eat it all. Olivier kindly paid for all of us and we made our way back to the truck.

On the way home, I began to get very sleepy and I may have fallen asleep. We made it back to ILRI and thanked Mikhel and Dr. Olivier. We went our separate ways. Hannah and I both went back to our rooms and took naps.

While I am disappointed that I do not know what my project is yet, I just cannot believe that I am here. I am the first in my family to travel abroad and of all places I landed in Ethiopia. It's just crazy to me but I am also so, so very thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Pictures

(To and From Debre Zeit)

  

(At Debre Zeit & The Pyramid)