My Commute

I woke up Wednesday morning ready to start my day, looking forward to going Gundra Shala on Outreach. We had to cancel going to this site the previous week due to a lack of vaccines so I was eager to begin the day.   This was the first time going to Gundra Shala for me and I had no idea what was in store for me.  As with other outreach sites, we would drive until the road ended and then hike in.  So far all the sites have been about a 30-45 minute hike, but nothing too tough and overall pretty enjoyable.  We are located in a beautiful part of the country, so walking in these areas is quite a treat.    

As we were about to leave Lalmba I noticed that I hadn't filled up my water bottle. I didn't want to make the other folks wait so I decided to skip it this time. This would soon prove to be a bad mistake.  Just as we got in the car someone pointed out that this was a far site and that we wouldn't back back until 4 pm.  I realized I would probably be hungry by the end of the day as I didn't bring a lunch but figured that if the rest of the staff go without food then I should too.  Oh, what was I thinking??

The car ride was about thirty minutes to a different town where our hike would begin.  As someone who enjoys walking I didn't think too much about a two hour walk to get to the health post where the vaccines would be given. Little did I know that this was no light hike.  It would prove to be some of the hardest, most grueling hours of my life. Unlike in the US where roads are paved and trails maintained, Ethiopia hasn't been so lucky with their infrastructure.  I would say a good half of the road was covered in mud up to your ankles, which made you walk either very carefully from rock to rock or on the edge of the road hanging on to to tree branches to keep yourself steady.   The path was constantly going up and down to the point that it made the highest midwestern hill seem like a joke.  I have heard about heartbreak hill in the Boston Marathon (I think that's where it is anyway) and can I tell you...this hike was made up of at least five heartbreak hills.  We would get to the top of one hill only to walk down to find another steep climb ahead of us.  We also had the fun of  crossing several rivers with nothing more then a few logs to use as a bridge  Two such crossing weren't bad, but at one I thought for sure I was going to fall in and make a fool of myself.  Luckily for me, Ethiopians are extremely helpful and giving people.  Several people helped me across and miraculously I made it over in one piece.  We did eventually make it to the health post to give the vaccinations, but after 2 hours we had to turn around and do this all over again.  Something to keep in mind here is that I didn't have a single drop of water or a morsel of food to eat the entire time.  Unlike in other parts of the developing world where bodegas and little stores are pretty common even the poorest areas, this is not the case here.  I had no options to buy a drink and asking for water at a random house would be chancing getting sick as they don't treat their water. In my head I really did contemplate just drinking the water and taking the chance of being miserably (aka, explosive diarrhea) sick in the not too distant future.  For those of you who knew me in high school, you may remember the amoebas and giardea indecent during Amigos...which is probably why  opted to just  suck it up and go without drinking.  Even though I love to joke that it was a great diet, I think I'd rather not experience that again.

Okay, enough of that detour...  Best of all, about midway back to the car it began to POUR!! The rain here is pretty brutal and this was no exception. Luckily I had planned for this and had my super duper gortex rain jacket.  Ironically, I was so hot and thirsty that I didn't use it as the rain felt so good and I was finally able to cool off.  At this point I felt like I finally had a little insight into life in Ethiopian life.  You walk far to get anywhere and it rains a lot, so you just have to push through it.   Once the rain began I was relieved to stop sweating and felt some relief from the heat.  On the brighter side for the whole experience, I only fell twice throughout the day, and neither time was into the river!
  

When we finally returned to Chiri Health Center my legs ached like no other. In all honesty I have never been so tired in my life, it made all the half marathons and triathlons I have done seem like a walk in the park.  There were times during the hike in and out that I found myself day dreaming about drinking a Gatorade or coke, and what price I would be willing to pay for one.  Honestly, on the way there the going price was $20 and the way back topped off at $50-- which says a lot to those that know how cheap I am.  Whats more-- I was hiking with nothing other then myself.  People do this all the time to get to market, carrying everything from chickens to huge ceramic injera plates to logs of wood.  It is official, I am a wimp!  To think that I used to dread taking the bus in the morning or having to walk home from the train after work.  Looking back, that commute was a cinch! As I write this I can only laugh at myself and what a woos I was.  People walk like this every day to get to school, market, the health clinc...and often carrying heavy bags.  It really is like that old story about "having to walk five miles, barefoot to get to school...."  I can tell you one thing, I definitely learned from this experience and will never leave without water, no matter where I go!