She made it. 

I’m sorry for the delayed post on this. I’ve been up in Michigan with my friend Vinny over the weekend. We had a great time, and Vinny … well, Vinny is just one of the best people alive.

I was in Chicago on business earlier in the week — there Wednesday night and Thursday night. While I was in bed on Thursday night, maybe 2 a.m. Chicago time/10 a.m. Ethiopia time, Allyson called to let me know that she had made it to Addis Ababa and had gotten the most sleep she’d managed since her departure. She was excited because she was about to go out and buy a cell phone because they actually have cell phone coverage in Shashemene.

An hour and a half later, she woke me up again (and please, don’t think this makes me mad, because anytime your wife is away for two months in the third world, you’re always happy to hear her voice), and very happily told me she had her own cell phone number. “I’ll be able to call you anytime I want,” she said. She told me to go back to sleep and told me she’d talk to me later in the day. 

Around lunchtime in Chicago, I was at O’Hare, waiting for Vinny to arrive from Atlanta so we could drive over to Gull Lake in Michigan, and Allyson called again to say she had made it, finally, to Shashemene. The call dropped after about 90 seconds. I tried to ring her back and could only get a message saying, “Your call did not go through. Please try again.” Ally didn’t call back, and I learned why when she called the next day. It’s a pay-as-you-go phone, and evidently, she has to buy new SIM cards to add minutes. The biggest denomination SIM card she can find right now is US$5. That’s enough for plenty of minutes if you’re calling folks in Ethiopia, I guess, but when you’re calling the U.S., it’s about two minutes. She’s going to look for higher-denomination cards, but hasn’t found them yet.

Saturday was her first day in the field, and it affected her pretty deeply. Seeing malnourished children begging is tough to handle, and it was pretty upsetting to her. She’ll acclimate, as she did last time, I’m sure. But right now, it’s hard for her. So please post a few comments. Let her know she has our love and support. Soon, I expect, she’ll have figured out a way to check the Internet in Shashemene, and she’ll be able to look at what you’ve told her. 

More to come …