It is hard for me to believe that someone of such great integrity like the late Reverend Billy Graham would support someone of so little integrity like Donald Trump. That just doesn't compute for me.

Chips Mayai. Basically a French fry omelette and a common local dish. So a travel tip: if you are looking for something reliable, fast, and not a stomach risk. I would say order chips mayai. Nearly every restaurant will have it, price will be good, and you can be on your way in a reasonable time.
I mean I don't think anyone is going to see a plate of chips mayai going by and say, "I'll have what they're having.", but it's a case of the safe bet over culinary adventure.

One of the brand new groups we surveyed this week have decided that their group name is Yes We Can. Hearing that actually brought a tear to my eye, realizing the hope that this group has and the optimism about what they can achieve. Also it is encouraging that the words of a world leader can still inspire in a time when hatred and hostility seem to be the currency of leadership.

Farmers voting in a participatory exercise (focus group) on sources of income. Trying to measure income is elusive, kind of a holy grail of this work. This exercise you see here is a new thing for us and it seems to be a promising balance between amount of work and getting reliable information. Still a lot of field testing to do to prove the concept though...

It is always such a great feeling to get off the plane, have a shower and just lie down. After hours and hours in a sort of non lieing down stasis.

A view of the quality mosquito net in my room

Four reasons not to raise the speed limit (in Ontario):
1. Going slower saves lives--the World Health Organization says that if a car hits a pedestrian at 40 kmh, the chance of their survival is 80% but if the car hits someone at 60 kmh the chance of survival drops to 20%.

2. Going slower saves money--performance varies by car, but as a general rule, for every 1 kmh above 90 kmh, fuel efficiency drops by about 1 %. So if you are driving 120 or 130, you are burning about a third more fuel than if you were going 90 kmh.

3. Going slower is better for your car--driving at high speeds puts more stress on the engine, more wear on tires, brakes, which means more repairs, and a shorter lifespan for the car. Ultimately saves money (see #2 above).

4. Going slower is better for the environment--related to #2 and #3, if you are burning less fuel you are producing less pollution and carbon. If your car lasts longer you keep more plastic, electronics and batteries out of landfills and create less demand for mining resources. Driving slower is one practical thing we can do that actually has a significant positive impact on the planet at a personal level.

So the Montreal Olympics in 1976 were originally estimated to cost 250 million dollars and ended up costing 1.something billion dollars. I mean does it really matter whether I say 1.2 or 1.7? I'm guessing that if you really looked into it, no one probably actually knows how much it really cost. My point is that that was an overly ambitious, poorly thought out project that appealed to the imagination of many. So if someone says a that a 2000 mile wall will cost 5.7 billion dollars, how much will it really end up costing when all the receipts are tallied? The tallying alone will probably cost hundreds if millions. 

Minus 16 Celsius. I caved in and took a ride to the airport instead of the bus, which would have required me to stand at a bus stop. Meanwhile in Bahir Dar the temperatures are dipping into the low teens at night. Which is chilly by local standards.