Category: Ethiopia 2016

Ethiopia 2016 / London

April 30, 2016

Ethiopia to London – I am ‘Home’!

April 30 I arrived in my lovely and wonderful London at 07:00. My ‘London home’ feeling. The immigration man was typically English witty. ‘STAMP’! Fundon, I am home. London…Baby, I am so glad to be here. Everything about you is exciting. Getting on the Tube is exciting. Using my British bank card with no foreign fees is exciting. Blending in as a typical white person is exciting. White women are exciting. Falling love 15 times in the 2...

Education / Ethiopia 2016

April 29, 2016

Genocide and Poverty in Ethiopia: Addis Ababa

April 29 I woke up at 11:00. I did not want to get up then, but sleeping is no excuse for wasting the only day I have in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I talked to the guy at the front desk of Global Hotel and asked him how to get around the city. He told me outrageous taxi prices. I asked him if there is a local convi-taxi. He said there was. I told him, “I have been in Africa for...

Ethiopia 2016 / South Africa

April 28, 2016

Capetown to Addis Ababa

April 28 It took me forever to get my things together this morning. But, that was sort of a convenience as I was waiting on wet clothes to continue drying. The idea of arriving in London two days later and unzipping my backpack to pull out soggy clothes seems pretty unpleasant. Dani and I hung out for the day and went to a shopping mall in search of a haircut for me. I am very specific on this… I want...

Meeting a Silverback Gorilla Family, Rwanda February 7, 2016 Today was a special day where I went to spend an hour with a silverback gorilla family in the mountains of Rwanda. It was…
Tinku Festival in Bolivia – Part 2, The Fights May 4, 2014 Breakfast was at 8:30am, and I was the last to arrive. I was still feeling effects of the chicha, the local corn-moonshine we had…
Inside of a Cocaine Lab – San Agustín, Colombia July 26, 2014 I wish I could say that we were inside of a pristine shiny and sterile cocaine lab that I had pictured in my mind…
“The Bloodhound Gang are Wankers!” January 10, 2017 Anyone ever heard of a band called Electric Eel Shock? There is a reason why you haven’t. The reason why you haven’t heard of…
Shin Kicking World Championship in Cotswold June 3, 2016 Convincing a 20 year old to get out of bed at 10:30 is no easy feat… It turns out that playing Slayer really loud…
Ayahuasca and Mental Inception – Rio de Janeiro Forest March 15, 2014 We were up early to meet a group of three other gringos at Central station at 10am. We were early. We were tired. We…
Bangkok, Thailand – Sex Show August 3, 2008 Bangkok, Thailand -Sex Show t was early August and my German girlfriend and I had just left Australia on a cheap flight to squeaky…
Making Music in a Senior Citizen’s Center January 30, 2015 My father was hanging out with me in the basement, and then he began getting his band equipment together to haul upstairs to load…
The Recipe for a Fascinating Day March 18, 2013 Want the recipe for a fascinating day? This one serves three: Step One – Get Ingredients and Heat up the Oven It started when…
Sailing the Pacific Ocean from Guam to Japan May 1, 2012 I was up at 7:00am, showered, packed and caught a bus from my hotel to Hyun Jin’s place where she fed me breakfast. She…

“It was super hot in the venue. My shirt was soaked as I was leaking into it. The crowd opened up so it was possible to get closer to the stage. She was just in front of me, dancing. Suddenly she turned around to me, kind of put her arms around me and said, “I need water...” I needed it too and thought it was just a statement and all of a sudden she started going down. She had fainted. I caught her on her way down. I did not realize what was happening and I am not sure I realized what was happening until it was over, but luckily my instinctual mode kicked in. Luckily she was only 42 kgs, because I put my arms around her and picked her up again. I started heading to the door carrying her, and when I looked at her face, she was totally out. She was light, but dead weight is heavy. I got her out of the bar where the air was cooler. There was a crowd looking at me, some white guy, carrying a Filipino woman. I found a chair, set her down in it, and as I did she came to. A bouncer had been following us. I said, “Water!” to him that he relayed to a bartender who got a bottle for me. I handed it to her. She drank it and it seemed to totally revive her. It was at about that point when I consciously realized what had actually happened. I have never seen someone faint before... Once she was fine, I wanted her to stand on the chair and shout out to everyone that she was okay. I was the only white guy at the festival and I was concerned that everyone who watched me carry a limp Filipino girl out of the venue though I was some kind of foreigner who gets Asian girls wasted and then takes them home with him... I was not. Well, not this time anyhow...”

— Manila, Philippines