Life in The Rabbit Hole
15 Nov 05
The Wizard of Oz is written in just such a way that the adult reader is immediately convinced that Dorothy has merely had a dream. When I was a child I was convinced that the adults in Dorothy's life, and perhaps in my own, were unable to see the truth of her journey. What were they missing? Lucy's adventures in the rabbit hole are somewhat similar, except that the storyline is left a bit more ambiguous about her waking status. We know she's sleepy and disoriented, but it is unclear if she wakes into the real world or into the dream. Dorothy finds herself in a world where things exist that shouldn't - there are monkey's that fly and horses literally of a different color. Lucy finds herself not in a world where things exist that shouldn't, but in a world where things exist that couldn't.
Yesterday I once again got off the bus from Addis to Jimma. Throughout the ride I slipped in and out of reality and dream. I woke at one point with my finger stuck into the back of the man standing in front of me. I don't know how long it was there, or why my dream world invoked me to poke my finger forward, but what I find amazing about the event is that no one in the "real" world thought it was odd. The man never turned around despite that my finger was stuck in his back for at least several seconds, and the man sitting next to me didn't seem to find this situation all that interesting. I'm living in Lucy's world, not Dorothy's. In Lucy's world people turn when you don't poke them, not the other way around.
The trip was every bit as enjoyable as last time around, prompting me to push for our extra vehicle to be fixed. We have a Mitsubishi Pajero sitting idle in Shebe, and since the funds don't exist to fix it, it has unofficially become mine. I'll have it fixed up hopefully in time for the next trip to Addis.
Why was I back in Addis again anyway? Last post I mentioned the escalation of violence in Addis. Despite that no violence ever reached Jimma, the mission team decided it wasn't a good idea to leave me "down country." Mostly I think this has to do with my status as a volunteer, and the extra precautions taken because of it. In the event of a full scale evacuation, the team wanted me close by so that we could leave together (and not leave a volunteer behind). Ironically, however, this took me from a rural town a days drive from Addis - and hence the violence - to the violence itself. Life in the rabbit hole...
In any case, I didn't complain too much. Sunday the 6th of Nov I jumped on a twin engine prop plane and headed for Addis strapped into my single isle fold down jumpseat. When I arrived in Addis the missionary family I stay with met me at the airport and we headed to Babo Guiya for a weeks 'vacation'. The week was very enjoyable, though vacation is bracketed because Dan and I ended up working most of it. Despite our inclusion of laptops into most of the daily activities, we did take plenty of time to swim and canoe the lake, play games with friends we met at the resort, and climb a mountain complete with horses to get to its base.
We woke up around 6am on a Thursday and met some locals we had scheduled to bring horses. Luckily they had two western saddles; we had originally planned on me riding on a blanket. Dan was convinced we would be back in time for lunch, so we only took a piece of fruit and a liter of water each. By the time we reached the base of the mountain it was nearly 11am, and it took another half hour to find someone to take care of the horses. We originally started up the mountain road on the horses but quickly realized they wouldn't be able to make it up, and there would be nowhere to keep them safe from theft in the forest. We road them back down and negotiated a fee with a local to keep them while we scrambled up the face. By the time we arrived back at the horses we were exhausted, thirsty, and hungry. When we rode the horses into the resort at around 6pm to eat dinner I had the wind and sun burnt face, exhausted feeling you can only get on the side of a mountain.
Now I'm back in Jimma (thanks to the fantastic bus system) and working on the Send-A-Cow proposal. I haven't slept a decent night since returning to Jimma, due to the dog barking constantly through the night. I have come close to beating the dog to death several times but restrain myself. I am someone who loves dogs but at this point I really am ready for this dog to die.
As always mention my affections to your sister, until next we can meet.
Michael
The Wizard of Oz is written in just such a way that the adult reader is immediately convinced that Dorothy has merely had a dream. When I was a child I was convinced that the adults in Dorothy's life, and perhaps in my own, were unable to see the truth of her journey. What were they missing? Lucy's adventures in the rabbit hole are somewhat similar, except that the storyline is left a bit more ambiguous about her waking status. We know she's sleepy and disoriented, but it is unclear if she wakes into the real world or into the dream. Dorothy finds herself in a world where things exist that shouldn't - there are monkey's that fly and horses literally of a different color. Lucy finds herself not in a world where things exist that shouldn't, but in a world where things exist that couldn't.
Yesterday I once again got off the bus from Addis to Jimma. Throughout the ride I slipped in and out of reality and dream. I woke at one point with my finger stuck into the back of the man standing in front of me. I don't know how long it was there, or why my dream world invoked me to poke my finger forward, but what I find amazing about the event is that no one in the "real" world thought it was odd. The man never turned around despite that my finger was stuck in his back for at least several seconds, and the man sitting next to me didn't seem to find this situation all that interesting. I'm living in Lucy's world, not Dorothy's. In Lucy's world people turn when you don't poke them, not the other way around.
The trip was every bit as enjoyable as last time around, prompting me to push for our extra vehicle to be fixed. We have a Mitsubishi Pajero sitting idle in Shebe, and since the funds don't exist to fix it, it has unofficially become mine. I'll have it fixed up hopefully in time for the next trip to Addis.
Why was I back in Addis again anyway? Last post I mentioned the escalation of violence in Addis. Despite that no violence ever reached Jimma, the mission team decided it wasn't a good idea to leave me "down country." Mostly I think this has to do with my status as a volunteer, and the extra precautions taken because of it. In the event of a full scale evacuation, the team wanted me close by so that we could leave together (and not leave a volunteer behind). Ironically, however, this took me from a rural town a days drive from Addis - and hence the violence - to the violence itself. Life in the rabbit hole...
In any case, I didn't complain too much. Sunday the 6th of Nov I jumped on a twin engine prop plane and headed for Addis strapped into my single isle fold down jumpseat. When I arrived in Addis the missionary family I stay with met me at the airport and we headed to Babo Guiya for a weeks 'vacation'. The week was very enjoyable, though vacation is bracketed because Dan and I ended up working most of it. Despite our inclusion of laptops into most of the daily activities, we did take plenty of time to swim and canoe the lake, play games with friends we met at the resort, and climb a mountain complete with horses to get to its base.
We woke up around 6am on a Thursday and met some locals we had scheduled to bring horses. Luckily they had two western saddles; we had originally planned on me riding on a blanket. Dan was convinced we would be back in time for lunch, so we only took a piece of fruit and a liter of water each. By the time we reached the base of the mountain it was nearly 11am, and it took another half hour to find someone to take care of the horses. We originally started up the mountain road on the horses but quickly realized they wouldn't be able to make it up, and there would be nowhere to keep them safe from theft in the forest. We road them back down and negotiated a fee with a local to keep them while we scrambled up the face. By the time we arrived back at the horses we were exhausted, thirsty, and hungry. When we rode the horses into the resort at around 6pm to eat dinner I had the wind and sun burnt face, exhausted feeling you can only get on the side of a mountain.
Now I'm back in Jimma (thanks to the fantastic bus system) and working on the Send-A-Cow proposal. I haven't slept a decent night since returning to Jimma, due to the dog barking constantly through the night. I have come close to beating the dog to death several times but restrain myself. I am someone who loves dogs but at this point I really am ready for this dog to die.
As always mention my affections to your sister, until next we can meet.
Michael
posted by Michael Rodgers at 2:55 AM
2 Comments:
sun burned face....anything like your sun burned back this summer?? everytime i see that picture it makes me cringe and laugh at the same time
i agree that you must find your own "sabrinas"...and i will...but traveling an unknown path that was once an unknown path to my best friend, that just can't be beat.
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