New adventures!

This weekend was exciting for me, but might be a tad boring to read, so I'll keep it nice and short!

Yesterday morning went as usual... Get ready in the morning, head to the Zebu so I'm not in the way of the women cleaning my room, leave after a few hours hoping they're done, they're usually not, so Millie and I sit in the grass area in front of all the hostels and read and whatnot until we think they're done. Today we were in a hurry though! We didn't stay in the Zebu quite as long today because we had plans! I know right? Pshhhh my? Having plans? Who would have thought?! But yes I did! Paula and her family were picking up Ricardo (from Mexico), Edwin (from Peru), Lei (from China), Millie, and me and take us to the International Evangelical Church at 10 in the morning for a handy crafts market! The church (which is the one Tigist takes us to for church on Sundays) has this little market on the last weekend of every month, and everyone thought it would be a great thing for us to go to! It was very neat! Everything there was handmade and was all so beautiful! I wanted to buy everything there! They had fresh fruits and baked goods, scarves, all kinds of ceramics, puzzles, jewelry, you name it! They had it! Everyone was so friendly too! Oh, it was so great!

A nice action shot of me looking at
some ceramics

After we left the church market, Lei said she knew of this really good Chinese restaurant in Addis that she would love to take us to! It isn't an "Ethiopian Chinese" restaurant, which is why she likes it so much. She said that most Chinese restaurants in Ethiopia are only about 50% in tasting like how Chinese food actually in China tastes. The restaurant she took us to for lunch is about 80% tasting like real Chinese food in her opinion. I was amazed by that! But very fascinating! Since none of us really know thaaaaat much about Chinese food, she decided she would order for us. Oh. My. Goodness. The food she ordered tasted AMAZING!!!! A lot of them I have never had before, and some of their tastes were very peculiar, but I loved all of them! The fried dumplings, kung pou chicken (or however it's spelled), and tofu were probably my favorite dishes out of the almost 10 we probably ended up getting served! The fried dumplings were filled with pork I think and tasted very delicious. They were just plain with no sauce on them which is why I probably liked them. They were plain whereas everything else has interesting sauces on them! The kung pou chicken was completely different than I have ever had it! There were a lot of different nuts in it, the sauce was a little spicier than I'm used to having it, but I liked it as well. Lastly, the tofu was so delicious! This sauce was a little spicier than the kung pou chicken, but something about the flavor of it was so good! It was so rich and the tofu just melted right into your mouth! Also, to drink with all of this, we had a glass of hot tea! How great!

When I got home, I was so exhausted for some reason! Millie and I decided to just relax for the rest of the day since it was already after 4 in the afternoon! I even went to bed pretty early as well!

This morning was slow and easygoing as well because Millie and I didn't have anything to do until a barbecue at Andreas' house at 1. I tidied up my room a little bit after I got ready and them did some reading for a while. Late morning Millie came out and wanted to see if I wanted to try our recipe for our no-bake peanut butter thumbprint cookies with strawberry jelly! Of course I did! We needed some ingredients for them so we headed out to the supermarkets in Addis to go get them! Plus, we needed more mangoes and a few other fruits to eat... I can't get over how cheap the mangoes are here! We bought 5 kilos worth of them, which added up to be about 6 mangoes for each of us, and it only costed about 75 birr! This is a little less than 4 dollars FOR ALL OF THEM!!!! It just blows my mind... I love it! After we got our groceries, we set right to work on the cookies!

This was a fun endeavor because the recipe called for some coconuts, ground cinnamon, dates, and a few other things that we didn't have... We improvised! Also, we don't have any measuring utensils. Guesstimation at its finest! We had no idea how much of anything we were putting in, so we just poured until we thought the amount of each ingredient seemed like a good amount! The only ingredients we used to make our cookies were honey, peanut butter, oatmeal, corn flakes, and jelly! Talk about simple! Our ingredients available at the grocery stores are extremely limited! Plus I only have 2 burners and no oven, so baking cookies, bars, or anything would be totally out of the question! Our cookies ended up tasting extremely good though! We were so proud of ourselves! They reminded us of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches without the bread though, so we thought that was pretty funny!

Yumm!!!!

A nice close up view!
*Not enlarged to show texture* :)

Right as soon as we were finished making them, the women came into my room to clean! Millie and I hurried out of my room and into hers so we wouldn't be in their way! They got done so quickly, it was only 15 minutes or so! Then we got kicked out of Millie's room, so we went back to my clean room! While in my room again, we added the jelly to the cookies and put them on the plate that we were going to take them on for Andreas' barbecue. We had some extras, so I thought we should offer some to the women! I mean, they clean my room every single day. It was the least I could do... They looked so happy when I offered the cookies to them! I felt so good after that! :)

By that time, it wasn't long until Andreas' family was going to pick us up, so I changed my clothes, got what I would need, and we headed to the gates to meet them! 

Their house is amazing! It was so neat and beautiful! They had paintings on every wall, their furniture was very nice, they had a living room that let a lot of natural light in, and just everything about it was so neat! It was a pretty good size as well! It even had an upstairs! As soon as we got there, Andreas' parents offered us something to drink and put out some snacks for us. Then, Andreas gave us a tour of the house. After that it was time to eat! We had grilled burgers and hot dogs, pasta salad with dried tomatoes, lettuce salad, and a few other things to eat. Everything tasted amazing! They are such great cooks and grillers! Everything was perfect! I didn't realize how much I missed American food until today while eating all of it. It kind of surprised me really... It was perfect. The American meal didn't last long though! As soon as we were all finished stuffing our bellies full of all the delicious dinner, Andreas' mom brought our dessert! Holy moly was that good! It was a type of cake that's served here in a lot of places. It's kind of like a crumbly crust with many layers, but the layers of crust are extremely thin. In between the layers on this one was a chocolate filling. On top was more chocolate glaze or something. I'm not sure but it tasted like heaven!!!! I'm so happy! One of the main places to get these cakes is called Kaldi's Coffee and there's one located right outside of the ILRI campus! Millie and I haven't gone there yet, but I definitely put it on my list of things to still do! Eat that and wash it down with a nice macchiato! Yumm! Sounds like a good plan to me! :) When we got done eating, we played some fooseball for a while, then Andreas took us for a walk around his campus/neighborhood just to show us around and see what it was like. It's really friendly and pretty. It kind of reminded me of the ILRI campus, but with more tall buildings for homes and less grass, but more cement for parking and driving to each house. I loved it!

The cake

A nice macchiato at a cafe in Andreas'
campus/neighborhood!

When we got back from the cafe, it was time to go. It was already late in the afternoon, and I had to get home so I could Skype with my family! It's been 2 weeks since I've last talked to them! It was definitely been a great weekend! Now to start my week off this week at a 5:30 take off to Zwai again!

Story I forgot to tell last week! So while we were planting in the first field in Addis, the woman who recognized me from Debre Zeit the day before said something to Andreas in Amharic, so of course I didn't understand. I knew she was talking about me though because as she was talking, she glanced over at me and nodded in my direction. Andreas smiled, and then told me what she said. She had told Andreas that she really likes me! :) That kind of shocked me, so my face had a puzzled look on it, but she just smiled at me and laughed. For the rest of the planting that day, we would communicate a little bit through smiles, gestures, and some good laughs. That comment also made my day, and probably my life as well. :)

Finished up planting and now writing my report!

My goodness! I have been so bad with blogging the past week! It's been so hectic and my WiFi has been terrible! I got it fixed now! I was always logging into ILRI-Guest because I couldn't ever log into ILRI-WiFi, and they somewhat shut down ILRI-Guest earlier this week and it'll be down for about another week. So today Dr. Jean had the WiFi worker come and set us up to use ILRI-WiFi! Woo! My internet is so much quicker now! :)

Yesterday was our last day of planting! It was in Addis though, so no road trip was needed thank goodness! Those 5:30 mornings earlier in the week were rough on me! Millie, Andreas, and I all got to work a little before 8:15 because when we plant, we start early. It drizzled a little yesterday morning, so the soil was nice and wet. Walking around the fields in my rubber boots with about 10 extra pounds of mud on them definitely is not my cup of tea... At least I got a good work out in all day doing that!

There are 2 large field located on ILRI and one small area with many small plots. The field we started in yesterday morning was located by the hostels. (I never knew that field existed until yesterday! How neat!) The workers mainly came from Debre Zeit, so some of the women recognized us from the day before. When they first saw us, they started laughing at us again and said they still felt bad for us because we were still muddy. They wondered if we even changed our clothes. I wore the same jeans that I did in Debre Zeit because I knew I was just going to get muddy again, and didn't want to dirty another pair of jeans. I thought it made sense... Apparently not though... haha...

We found Solomon, who works at ILRI and is somewhat in charge of the planting here in Addis. We asked him what we could do. He told us to do nothing and just watch. Millie and I looked at each other in amazement. We weren't going to just stand off to the side and watch the women plant! That would make them hate us and judge us even more than they already do! (Or at least that's how I feel...) We told Solomon that we wanted to help in whatever way we could, so he led us to the middle of the field where all the women were planting and told us to help them in covering up the rows after the seeds were placed in the ground. One of the women (who recognized us from the day before in Debre Zeit) looked at us, smiled (and I think held back a chuckle), and pointed to a row for each Millie and I to take to cover. Millie started first and bent down to use her hands to push the soil back into the row and cover up the seeds. The women that saw Millie doing this turn bright-eyed and were almost appalled it seemed! A few picked Millie up off the ground and showed her how to do it the "proper way." You don't bend down and use your hands. All you do is use your feet and almost kind of kick in. You just weave your feet in and out over the row to push the soil. Very different. I've never seen that before, but it works really well, doesn't hurt your back, and is a million times faster! I feel like I caught on pretty quick because as I was doing my first row, the woman who pointed me to the row to do said, "Very good!" to me. Score! That comment totally made my day (and probably my life.) I became so thrilled to hear one of the women say that to me. It was probably one of the best compliments I've ever received! I know it wasn't much, but for someone who's main language isn't English, and who barely knows any English whatsoever to say that to me. Wow... It really was great. I swear I had the biggest smile on my face after she said that to me, and I'm sure it was one of those ridiculous smiles that makes everyone else around you laugh because it's so large, it takes up your whole face! (Yes. It was that huge. I'm not exaggerating.)

Despite that compliment, I was still slower than the other women when it came to covering the rows up, so I didn't get to do that many. Also, there were so many workers, they really didn't even need my help. The process of planting here is so fascinating. Two people work together to pull a plow for the rows. The man pulls it while the woman follows behind using a mallet (or something similar to it) to push down on the plow to make sure it digs into the ground to make deep enough rows. The plows make only 3 rows at a time, so it takes quite a bit of time to complete and entire field! (For my family members: the first field is is divided into 3 different large blocks and each block is about 10 times the size of Grandpa and Grandma's big garden if not larger than that. The second field is even larger than that...) After the rows are made, someone lays down the correct seed packet that gets planted in each row. (This eventually became my job as my covering up the rows was always a few shuffles behind the other women.) It is extremely critical that the correct seeds get planted where they're supposed to be because in the corners of each block, there are isolation plots. There can't be the same genus' in the same field because otherwise they will cross-pollinate and that will change the data and end products of some plants. So after the rows are plowed, half of the women would take a row that needs to get planted, grab the packet of seeds, and start moving down the row very swiftly while dropping the seeds in the row! This amazed me. Half of the women were practically standing straight up and almost in a light jog while dropping the seeds with perfect accuracy! After those women got a decent lead, the rest of the women would take a row and start shuffling the soil back into each row with every step. This process continued all morning until we were done planting! We were done planting in Addis before lunchtime! I cannot get over how swiftly and efficiently planting goes here! Everyone knows what they need to do, and they all get it done well!

The small 2-person plow

Millie doing the "shuffle"

My lunch from Thursday!
The white stuff is cheese!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the herbarium working on our final lab reports and researching.

I also made soft-boiled eggs for breakfast this morning! Here's to you Dad for teaching me! :)

My delicious soft-boiled eggs this morning!

Today was so great! Dr. Jean said she only had one meeting today and it was at 9 this morning, and it shouldn't last long. She said that after her meeting, she would spend the rest of the morning with us discussing our projects, ideas we have, and our final lab reports. She also spent some time asking us what all we have learned the past couple days about planting. With that question, we never wanted to stop listing things off! There was so much! Just the whole process of it in general was almost completely new to me! I can't get over it! Before Dr. Jean came in to talk to us, I spent some time reviewing my notes, looking at the pollen I germinated and stained back on Monday to see if I saw anything new. I was unable to find any germinated pollen anywhere on either slide, but I did find a large amount of pollen that was stained, so that means that the pollen is still viable at least. I also went out into the greenhouse to observe my Onobrychis arenaria and Canavalia sp. that I just started researching about on Monday. Along with observing my plants, I also looked at the cuttings off the Canavalia sp. I had done on Monday as well just to see if there was any rooting that started. Unfortunately there wasn't, but I expected that because Canavalia sp. is slow to root. 

The cutting I made on Monday

My Canavalia sp. plant in the greenhouse

Lunch time!

My lunch today!

The whole afternoon I devoted the whole time to working on my final lab report. Dr. Jean showed us a copy of a previous intern that she had worked with through the BR Internship so that we somewhat had an idea of what she was looking for in ours, and it looks like I need to set to work full force right away! There's a lot needed to go into the report, but I feel I already have a fairly decent start on it, so I feel pretty comfortable with my standings right now. In it, I have to include some background knowledge about all of my plant species, why I chose to study each, any tests or procedures I performed, the results of my experiments, my different hypotheses I have on what the issues in their production is, and much, much more! I think I may even spend some of my weekends working on it just to make sure I get it done in time and have it just the way I want it!

It's planting season!!!!

 I am so sorry I haven't posted since Sunday! This week has been crazy! Monday I didn't have any WiFi connection at all. Not even during work, so that made my day fun... Not... Yesterday we went to Zwai to gather the forages for planting in Debre Zeit and didn't get home until really late at night. Today was spent planting in Debre Zeit! Busy busy!

Monday:

We started our week off with our usual Monday Morning Meeting, and it went a lot quicker because we had a lot of people missing. Ricardo, Edwin, and a few others were spending the day in Zwai and Debre Zeit so Ricardo could have everything ready for planting on Wednesday. Esther was sick, and a few other workers were absent because they decided to take leave that day. The day still went on and I think everyone got done what they needed!

When Millie and I stopped in Dr. Jean's office that morning, she told me I have a new flower that will be a part of my project! Woo! Someone traveled to the field in Soto, another one of ILRI's fields, last week to look at the field and crops growing there, and took samples of another flower there that flowers, but doesn't produce seed. It's another Canavalia sp., but no one knows the species of this one either, but know it's not the same species as the one I was already studying. Super! The samples were placed in the fridge right away last week, so Dr. Jean said there was a possibility that the pollen hasn't dried out yet. Before it does dry out, I need to test it right away to see if it is viable and will germinate. My morning was busy! Right after our Monday Morning Meeting ended, I hurried back to the herbarium and set to work! First, I had to figure out if there was even any pollen there, so I spent the next couple hours examining and dissecting a handful of the samples and recording my observations. I found 2 matured flowers that contained pollen, so I set those aside for germination later. For the other flowers and buds that didn't contain pollen, I just recorded my observations of them.

Some background knowledge of my new Canavalia sp.: Its accession number is 12761, so it’s not the same species as my other Canavalia that I’m studying because the accession number for that species is 1251. Also, you can tell right away it’s not the same species because the flowers are a completely different purple darker purple, whereas 1251’s petal color is lavender.

Canavalia sp. is also grown in the greenhouses, but that plant hasn’t ever even produced any flowers. There are for sure two factors contributing to this. The first one is the environment. Canavalia sp. prefers to grow and produce in hot, steamy weather conditions. This is not the typical weather in Ethiopia, especially not during the rainy season. The other factor contributing is that it is growing in a pot. This doesn’t give the roots the desired amount of space to grow. It needs roots to grow very deep into the soil, and the pot it is growing in isn’t very deep.

On June 23, 2014, I took some cuttings of it and placed them into glass jars. I only used two jars, but put many cuttings in each. The process to take cuttings is fairly simple. First, I filled the glass jars with water about three-quarters of the way full. Then I located some good-sized stems where I could take my cuttings from. You have to take a certain amount of the stems in order for it to root. I took a section of the stem that contained two sections of leaves, and then I made my cut. I tried to go as close to the bottom of the plant to make my cut. That way I could have many cuttings per stem. It was slightly difficult because Canavalia sp.is a vine, so all of the stems were intertwined with one another. It took about 30 minutes to collect all of the cuttings desired. I placed them all in the glass jars full of water. Then I left them sitting in the greenhouse to root. All I need to do is make sure that the jars stay full of water. This is what helps the roots grow and the stems to stay alive. The time it takes for it to root can take anywhere from one week to one month or so. Canavalia sp. is a slow plant to root, so it will probably be closer to a month until is roots. After it roots, each one will then be planted into a small pot to start growing, and the more and more it grows, the larger the pot it will be planted in. After they grow to a decent size, Dr. Jean said that she wants to plant some of them in Zwai to see how they grow there.

I recorded some observations while examining the flowers under the microscope. The main purpose of observing them under the microscope was to see if there was any pollen. That is the first thing to look at if a plant isn’t seeding. I only observed four flowers this time. Mostly all of the flowers that were picked as samples were fairly matured. There were only four flowers that either didn’t have any petals showing, or they were just rising above the sepals. I looked at three fairly matured flowers and one that was just beginning to mature. None of the petals were completely opened up yet to reveal the stamen and carpel, so I had to remove all the petals while dissecting in order to observe them. The three fairly matured flowers weren’t completely opened up, but it didn’t take a lot of effort to open them. It wouldn’t have been much longer until they opened up. The smaller one I dissected just barely had its petals rising above the sepals. The petals were above the sepals by 0.4 centimeters. There were completely closed, so it took a little work to remove the sepals and petals so I was able to observe the anthers. One the three matured flowers, all ten of the anthers contained pollen, as well as a small amount of pollen on the stigma and traces of it going down the outside of the style. On the flower just beginning to mature, there was only one anther that contained pollen. The other anthers were a pale yellow. Other than that one anther, there was no sign of pollen.

It was time to germinate! As I said before, pollen dries out within 24 hours, but since the flowers were placed in the refrigerator as soon as possible, there was a chance the pollen would still work. I used the sucrose solution that was made on June 10, 2014 to germinate the pollen. I placed one drop of the sucrose solution on the right side of the slide, then used the forceps to knock the pollen off the anthers and into the solution. I repeated this on the left side of the slide. I then used a different flower containing pollen and repeated this process. This way I would have more data to look at. I didn't check to see if the pollen had germinated yet because I used the staining solution after that so that the germinated pollen would stain. This will help me see the germinated pollen easier as well as see if the pollen is viable or not. There is a chance it might not show anything because it was over 24 hours since it was picked. 

I don't remember if I said anything about the staining process, so here goes! The purpose of staining pollen is to see whether or not it's viable. If it is, the staining solution will color it (in this case, a dark blue) and the rest of the pollen will be a much lighter color. Since we already had the solution made last week, the process of actually staining pollen is a breeze! (Well... kind of... never mind... not so much...) Since I already germinated the pollen and had it sit on the incubator for the 4 hours, it was time to stain! On top of one side of the sucrose, I put 2 drops of stain. Then, I had to hold the slide over a flame until the solution came to a boil. Next, I have to have it sit for 10-15 minutes to stain the pollen and cool off. Lastly, I put a cover slip on top and I'm ready to look at it under the microscope! Observing it, I didn't see any germinated pollen, but Dr. Jean said that she'll have a look at it with me on Thursday after all our field work is done.

Safety first! Lab coat? Check!
Gloves? Check!

Getting some stain in the pipette

Dropping staining solution on
the slides

Lighting the match for the flame to boil my samples

Boiling my sample

Boiling my sample

Our dinner!

That was my Monday for the most part! Besides the fact that I didn't post anything about my day because I didn't have any WiFi connection!

Tuesday: 

Today started bright and early! 5:30 in the morning to be exact! We were traveling to Zwai today to collect all of Ricardo's plants for his thesis project, and it's a 3 hour drive to get there.

We needed an early start to beat traffic and get a lot done, so that's why we left at 5:30! The sites I saw were amazing on our way there and back! It's a whole different look than Addis. I really loved it! We also dropped in altitude by about 500 meters or so, so that was good for a change!

When we finally got to the field in Zwai, it was a little after 8:30. We got shown around the field for a little bit, I was told where my Canavalia sp. is located so I could gather some samples to test the pollen, and then were instructed to go wander around for a little while! I went to gather my Canavalia sp. samples right away so that I wouldn't be rushed later in the day to collect them! The plant looked way different that I imagined! I didn't know it was planted in one of the plots! I thought it was being grown off to the side of the field!

The flower

After gathering my samples, Millie, Andreas, and I decided to listen to directions and wander around for a while since none of us have ever been here before! We were told there was a lake nearby and to look at it, so we headed out in that direction! Right away, Millie and I were mesmerized by the view! So of course we snapped some pictures!

When we were both done drooling at the mountains, (not literally drooling I promise) it was time to go exploring! Millie was fascinated with a bird she saw and wanted to take a picture of it, but it flew off into some woods. She followed it, so we all followed her. We then saw a bridge and road on the other side of the fence and wanted to go there, but didn't know where that road started, so we found an opening in the fence, and I was the first to climb through! The "opening" was more of a small hole about a foot in diameter. Since I am the smallest of the 3 of us and the most daring, I went first to go through. It wasn't the most fun. While going through, I got stabbed many times by thorns, sticks, and who knows what else! But I made it! Two men were riding a motorcycle and were watching me the entire time I was doing this, and as soon as I made it onto the road they said, "You are very strange, but in a special way!" I'm not really sure how to take that, so I took it as a compliment! Millie and Andreas eventually made it through and onto the road as well, so it was time for exploring! The road is highly populated with cabs, people (mainly children) herding goats, mules, and cattle, walkers, and motorcycles. There was never a calm moment!

About a 6-year-old herding cattle

Motorcycle!

Cab! It's so tiny!

Herd of cattle

Herd of cattle and mule

After some time of exploring and wandering, we figured we should get back and do some actual back-breaking work! When we returned, we were told to sort out the bags that each accession will go into after it's dug up. Ricardo is planting 145 different accessions, so that was a lot of bags to sort and put in number order! Wait... That wasn't back-breaking labor... Here it comes! When the bags were all ordered, other workers then took them to the correct plot number where the accessions were going to be dug up and put in the bags. Our job was to then carry all the bags from the field to near the car where we would then sort them again! Some bags were pretty light, while others weighed a ton! 145 bags later... we had them all near the car and it was time to organize them so that planting them tomorrow will go smoothly!We put the bags in rows of 20 because that was all we could bundle together. 

Look at those straight rows:)

So many bags!

Finally we were done bundling, and it was time to load up the truck! We probably should have thought how much space those bags were going to take because that was a struggle trying to squish all the bags in the bed of the truck... Just loading them all up took a good few hours! It took about 20 men to load it up! We got all the bags loaded by a little after 4 pm, and it was time to head to Debre Zeit to drop them off! We went a little way, and we all decided it would be extremely late when we got home if we drove to Debre Zeit, unloaded all the bags, put them in the shed, then headed home again. Instead, we just drove straight home and would unload the bags in the morning right before we started planting them! We got home so late! It was almost 8 pm when we arrived home, so Millie and I both said goodnight to each other and headed to our rooms! I was so exhausted from our day, there was no way I could write up a blog! Also, my internet was still acting kind of funky still, so I didn't feel like staying up forever just trying to write a blog. I made a quick supper, got ready for bed, and fell asleep instantly! Tomorrow would be even more exhausting I knew, so I needed all the energy I could get!

Today (Wednesday):

Woohoo!!! Another 5:30 departure morning! I didn't want to get out of bed this morning... I didn't get my usual amount of sleep last night, and I was still worn out from yesterday, so I just laid in my bed for a little while... We left right at 5:30 this morning again! (All of us have been so punctual!) It's only an hour and a half drive to Debre Zeit, so that wasn't too bad. We got there around 7, and were supposed to start planting, but it was pouring outside, and we didn't want to work in the rain and dig mud holes, so we decided to wait it out a bit. We finally headed out into the field a little before 8 even though it was still raining. It wasn't raining too hard, so we decided to tough it out. We also didn't want to be there all day planting! In a little while, the rain stopped, so things started to dry up! Millie, Andreas, and I had our first job to line up all the bags in their proper spot to get planted. That took a while because there's 145 accessions (or different bags with plants in them) to line up, and each row is over a foot apart! Talk about a hike just to place a bag in its spot! Finally we were done with that, but by then we were soaked from the rain and wet bags AND muddy from the bags sitting in the mud! Woo! It wasn't even 9 in the morning and I already look like I've done hard work! 

Anyway! So after we were done placing the bags, we started to help plant! That was super muddy! My hands were covered in mud for the rest of the day from that! I only planted for a half hour or so, then switched jobs. I don't know if it was because I wasn't doing a good enough job or they just didn't want me to help plant, but my next job was to take a bag, have a woman take handfuls of the plant inside of it, place it in a hole for others to plant, lead her to the 2nd block, take handfuls of the plant inside of it, place it in a hole for others to plant, lead her to the 3rd block, take handfuls of the plant inside of it, place it in a hole for others to plant, make sure there aren't any plants left inside the bag, and start the whole process over with a new bag! If this confused you, let me explain. Block 1 is where we originally lined up all the bags. After planting each accession in block 1, we then carry the bag to its next assigned spot in block 2. After it's planted there, we carry the bag to its assigned spot in block 3. It could be #41 in block one, #242 in block 2, and #417 in block 3. Ricardo made the plan of the field and where each accession is to be planted, so I just followed the numbers on the bag and carried it to the correct spot! We finished the entire field before lunchtime! It was probably record timing! We were all starved, muddy, and ready to wash up! 

The field before we started

Beautiful!

I love the view!

Weird story: There was a mistake with some of the accessions. Some of them were planted in the wrong rows, thus causing problems. We had to fix that, so a few of us stayed back to help Ricardo. Millie, Andreas, and about 3 other women stayed to help. While Ricardo was walking up and down the rows figuring out where the problem was, the women started talking to each other and pointing at Millie and me. We didn't know what they were saying, but they later got our attention and pointed the their skirts. We were like, "Ohhhhh no I don't have any skirts. I wear jeans." They just started laughing more, and we didn't know why... Ricardo found the problem and told us where to plant again, so we started doing that and they started talking and laughing again. Then, one of the women said something to Andreas in Amharic, and he translated it to us. They said they felt bad for us. I asked them, "Why?" He then translated that to them and they responded again saying because Millie and I are all muddy. Umm... yeah of course I'm muddy... I was planting, carrying bags, and a lot of other stuff in a field when it was raining. I don't understand why they felt bad... It's just mud... Who knows! Later, when we were done planting, one of them said a comment about Millie and my watches. We showed our to them and they laughed again. One of them said their friend (who was standing right next to her) wanted it as a gift, so Millie said that was okay and started taking hers off. They freaked out and said they didn't want it. We were both so confused... They just asked for it, but when offered, they freaked out and said they didn't anymore. I have no idea. It was really strange but interesting. Great day! 

Now I'm all caught up on my blogs, and am off to bed! We're planting in Addis tomorrow and I have to be to work around 8 in the morning to help plant! I can't wait! Time to get all muddy again! Woo! I love the field work though:) It's great to be out of the office and lab once in a while and see how planting here goes. Well goodnight and I hope this wasn't too painful to read! Sorry!

Such a busy, but great weekend!

Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday! I got home so late, I was too tired to type one up! So here goes my Saturday and Sunday!

Saturday was extremely relaxed for the most part of the day. In the morning, I get ready and meet up with Millie to head to the Zebu for a couple of hours so the women can come clean our rooms. While in the Zebu, I managed to send a few emails, organize all of the pictures I've taken so far, and read! Perfect Saturday morning? I think yes! After we could return to the rooms, I didn't a little more reading, played some games of cards, and went for a little walk. (I needed some physical activity for the day.)

For a good couple hours it rained! Well, I guess it more sprinkled/lightly rained. That still counts as something! The more it rains, the sooner planting the fields will be! We're already behind on planting, so we're taking all the rain we can get! During the rain, I sat outside for a little bit under the roof of my building and read. I love sitting outside while it's raining. It's so peaceful and so nice! After a while though, it started getting a little chilly, so I went back inside my room, but still left all my windows and door open so I could hear the rain! (Weird I know... Oh well!)

Around 4 in the afternoon, Tigist called me and said she was heading into the ILRI campus and was wondering if Millie and I would like to meet her for some tea in the Zebu. We wouldn't object, and I think I might have accepted the offer a little too quickly and enthusiastically... I love having tea with Tigist! After I hung up the phone with Tigist I got my room key and headed to Millie's door (which is literally 2 steps away) to go tell her the plan. Her door was closed, her windows were open, some lights were on, and her book was laying on her bed opened up, so I though she was home. When I knocked and no one answered I headed to her window and shouted her name. Still no response. I walked around our hostel thinking maybe she was sitting out back reading. Nope. I had no idea where she was, so I started to walk farther out from our hostels thinking maybe she went for a walk. Before I got too far, I see her in her bright red sweatshirt and purple shorts! She went for a run! In the rain! I just laughed as she approached. Then I told her how Tigist invited us to tea, so she hurried and changed her clothes and we headed to the Zebu!

Tonight was the big night! I was finally going to go to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant and eat the indigenous food, watch traditional dancing, listen to traditional music, and see the instruments! How cool! I've been looking forward to this night since Wednesday when Millie and I got invited to come!Millie, Edwin, Ricardo, Lei, and I were all supposed to meet at the Zebu at 7:15 where Paula, her husband, and daughter would pick us up at. (Lei is the worker from China who arrived here last week. I talked about her, but couldn't remember her name. She brought all the delicious candy that was so strange but so delicious!) As we all met up, Paula called Ricardo and told us all to meet us at the front gate so that it would be quicker, so we all started heading there! Lei said she didn't feel too good and wouldn't go with us anymore, so she headed back to her hostel. We fit all 7 of us then into the vehicle and headed to the restaurant!

There were so many cars parked back there! It was a good thing we called ahead of time and reserved a spot! Inside was even more crowded than what I expected. There was barely any space to walk around! The music was already playing some, but no dancers yet. We were led to our table, ordered our drinks, and the music and dancing all started! It was so fascinating! The traditional way of dancing is to use your shoulders to dance, which is really difficult to just use your shoulders. I don't know... I'm not very good at it at least. Tonight was a night of many new experiences. First, I went to Yod Abyssinia, the traditional Ethiopian restaurant. Second, I saw traditional dancing and listened to the singing and instruments. Third, I experienced an Ethiopian proposal! It was the sweetest yet funniest thing ever! The performers were picking out a few individuals to come onto the stage and try dancing, and they picked them. After a bit of them dancing, they sat them in chairs and pretended they were getting married. Close to the end, they had them stand up because they "just got married" when the man got down on one knee and held out a ring to his now fiancee! It was so sweet and she was entirely shocked! It was so neat! Anyway! Fourth, I tried kitfo! For all of you that don't know. This is a HUGE Ethiopian delight. Everyone here eats it, and almost everyone I've met here has asked me if I've tried it. I can finally say yet! Kitfo is ground up raw meat. It has a very VERY different taste than cooked meat! There were two different types of the kitfo. One wasn't cooked at all, and the other one was slightly cooked. You could notice a slight difference in the taste, but not too much. For our dinner at Yod Abyssinia we had raw beef. I can't believe I'm saying it, but I actually really really enjoyed it. It was delicious. I even liked the taste of it! It was so different, I was a little skeptical about trying it at first, but then I did and liked it! I can't eat it plain like how most people eat it. They just use a spoon and scoop it right into their mouth! That's a little much for me though. I used my injera to eat it with. Another thing I loved was the cheese and cabbage! (I think it was cabbage...  I don't really remember anymore...) The taste of the cheese was so rich, it was scrumptious! Another food item we had was then cooked beef and chicken. The seasoning was somewhat spicy, but still very tasty! There was so much food! We were served 2 platters of injera and wat, meat. cheese, cabbage, and so many other things! It was so much food, 8 of us couldn't eat it all! (We met 2 more of Paula and her husband's friends at Yod Abyssinia. One of the friends is the Ethiopian soccer coach! How cool!!!! Many people asked to take a picture with him while we were there. It was very cool.)

Coffee is constantly running through this!

An alcoholic drink made with honey!

I thought the ceiling was really cool...

Look how many people!

We have to wash our hands before we eat!

Setting up all the food

One of the trays of food...

The other tray of food...

Both tray! Holy moly that's a lot
of food to gobble down!

More outfits the dancers wore

Some of the outfits the dancers wore

The couple that just got engaged!

Me standing in front of the entrance

It was around 11 when we left Yod Abyssinia. Wayyyyyyyy past my bedtime that's for sure! But I had a great time there so it was okay! Paula's husband went to their house real quick to drop off their daughter with a babysitter or neighbor to watch her for a little bit. I guess our night wasn't over! We headed to a hotel that has a bar on the top floor. (It's the same hotel I went to last Sunday to take pictures of my view of Addis.) Everyone except Millie and I had a drink while we all watched some of the World Cup. It was Ghana against Germany. Everyone was cheering for Ghana of course! When we got there, it was 2-1 with Ghana winning and about a half hour left of the game. Fifteen minutes after that Germany scored a goal, tying it 2-2! A little less than 20 minutes left of the game (including overtime)! Who's going to win?! No one. It remained tied the rest of the game. That was the final score. A little before 1 in the morning, they decided it was time so leave, so we all got up and headed out! (Sorry Mom and Dad. I stayed out past my curfew...) By the time Millie and I got back to our hostels, it was a little after 1! Time for bed! No blogging, no emailing, no nothing! I got ready for bed as quick as I could and hopped in and fell asleep right away because I had church in a coupe of hours!

My alarm went off way too early. I was still so tired, but had to start getting ready for church or else I would be late! Tigist was picking Millie and I up at 8 AM at the corner of the Holy Trinity Center. It's just a short walk from campus. We walk right by it when we go grocery shopping, so it was a good spot to meet at. It was more convenient for Tigist because then that way she wouldn't have to go through the gates of the ILRI campus and drive through the campus to our hostels. We met her on the corner so she could stop, we'd hop in, and we'd be on our merry way! I still can't get over how much the church service moves me. I don't know why, but the songs and the lecture really get to me. They're all so emotional and touching. It's amazing. It's a totally new experience. So many people tear up during the services. It really is amazing. After the service, Tigist, Millie, and I go to a bible study. It lasts about an hour and for the last part of it we divide into smaller groups and discuss the main idea of the bible study and then we have some questions that were written on the board. It's a totally open discussion and everyone is free to talk. Both the first time we went and this time this morning, whenever we moved to the next question, everyone always looked towards me to answer first! I honestly think it's because I'm the minority so they're probably interested in what I have to say. They all know I'm not from here, so maybe my opinion is different from all of theirs.

After that, Tigist took us out for lunch. We ate at a place called In-N-Out! They serve burgers, wings, and drumsticks here! We ordered 2 servings of drumsticks and shared them and the fries. Again. The food was so delicious! Millie said that there are these restaurants along the northern coast of the United States, so I know where I'm going! :) I also ordered Mirinda for my drink. It's just and orange soda, but with a super cool fancy name!

The sign for the restaurant

The restaurant itself

Our drumsticks and fries! Yummmm!!!

My Mirinda!

The rest of the day is just relaxing now. It was a long and busy weekend, so I think Millie and I both deserve to relax for the rest of our day! We both said we'll probably end up going to bed at 7 or 8 tonight to try to catch up on some sleep! I definitely need to because we have a whole new week coming! That's going to be a busy week too! Dr. Jean are having Millie, Andreas, and I go to Zwai in Debre Zayit to help with planting! Wednesday I also have to gather some samples of my Canavalia sp. so that I can do some staining on Thursday to see if the pollen is viable or not! Busy busy! I can't wait though!