Mekuria Mergia

We are on our way to the washing station in Guji with Mekuria and Elias in a four-wheel-drive car. The natural environment here is different from that of Yirgachefe. We alternated through gently rising green hills and dusty red dirt off-roads. Houses with colorfully painted walls, people washing clothes in the river, and cows grazing on grass. I listened to the conversations going on inside the car as I looked out at the scenery. It was the weekend and the Cup of Excellence competition open for entries on Monday so they were passionately talking about it all the time. They kept talking continuously as the car continued to rattle along. They were speaking in the Ethiopian language so I was trying to imagine what they were saying in my...