I am in �the field� � in this case, a small hotel on the edge of a small city in the mountains. It is cool here, and mercifully, the loudspeakers blaring Ethiopian music have just stopped; I presume the power went out. To get here I flew to one city, met my counterpart, and then drove through the mountains for 500 km, along curvy switchbacks with 200m drops on one side and sheer rock face on the other. From time to time we passed giant boulders in the middle of the road and I tried not to think too hard about how they got there. Hair-raising, but beautiful scenery, greens and browns and greys.

At one point, I fell into a deep sleep. I awoke with a start when the driver braked suddenly because we went around a corner and found ourselves in the middle of about 70 camels, just getting herded along the highway. Craziest traffic jam I ever found myself in. I was too sleepy and bewildered to take a picture.

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At the health office my co-worker yanked my brand new (finally got one) i-pod out of a usb port mid-charge and it froze. I had to bite my lip to keep from snapping, �I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH IT�. As we returned to the city I was uncharacteristically stressed about the loss. We have been driving around for a week now, along beautiful, isolated, terrible roads, and it's maybe starting to wear on me. And because I blamed myself for trying to use an i-pod in lieu of the memory stick I bought for just this purpose... such a classic way that i break expensive things. Mad about the expense, and I looked outside and saw a family wearily walking up a rocky 70 degree slope to who knows where up the mountain, presumably going home, moving impossibly slowly. Okay, perspective.

2:45 a.m. - 2010-04-24