tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55904112012-02-16T09:57:22.767+03:00This is the journal of David Peterson, intrepid programmer/wanderer.David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.comBlogger671100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-55136328506451207502011-05-16T12:59:00.002+03:002011-05-16T13:01:29.473+03:00

I've checked off another continent since the last update, so here's the latest version of my 'visited countries' list. Only 88% of the world left to visit...visited 27 states (12%)Create your own visited map of The World

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-7777609321074839982009-03-19T10:38:00.002+03:002009-04-07T16:23:44.018+03:00

This final epistle is being written on the way to the airport in Buenos Aires so it may only get sent after we are safely back on Australian soil. Sixteen weeks seems like a long time, but it really has flown by. And we somehow managed to survive the experience without killing ourselves or each other - bonus!In our last week on the continent, we headed north-west from Buenos Aires, first to

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-51509955821003595262009-03-11T00:00:00.001+03:002009-04-07T16:26:23.032+03:00

We are down to one week and change left on The Trip. The last week was spent in Patagonia, in the southernmost part of South America.Getting there from Buenos Aieres is either a 50+ bus ride or a 2 hour plane ride. Given the time remaining to us, we took the latter option (we even got to earn frequent flyer points!).The first stop was El Calafate. Apparently, the calafate plant has a berry

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-35284842199673190122009-03-02T02:11:00.003+03:002009-03-20T05:55:34.940+03:00

(Note: due to an accidental button-push, this update is now in two parts.)The remainder of our stay in Salvador mainly consisted of various periods of trying and failing to stay awake until catching our flight to Rio de Janeiro later that morning.Rio was our third, and best carnaval experience. This may have been aided by the fact that we were able to hang out with some friends who could take us

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-31520201662038396442009-03-02T01:05:00.001+03:002009-04-07T16:30:05.022+03:00

Well, the end of our epic journey is rapidly approaching. In a little over two weeks, we will be back in Buenos Aires hopping aboard a flight back to Sydney. Time flies...Anyway, today's update has a short Spanish lesson.Word 1: Las playasDefinition: The beachesIn the last update, we were in Jericoacoara, awaiting the impending arrival of my brother Andrew (from Australia, via New Zealand, LA,

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-13207459019275192552009-02-13T19:12:00.001+03:002009-02-13T19:12:26.056+03:00

Well, it's been a while since the last update, and as some of you may have notice, it was actually sent 5 days late anyway. It was written on my iPhone, but we didn't get access to send it until after the jungle tour. In any case, there is a lot of ground to cover, so brace yourselves.I'll try to keep it brief.After São Paulo, we headed to the city of Manaus, capital of the Amazonias province.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-32086369792407357342009-02-04T16:44:00.001+03:002009-04-07T16:32:41.284+03:00

Since this edition is being written on my iPhone while waiting for our flight to Manaus, in the Amazonia region of Brazil, there are three immediate consequences:1. I can't check exactly where the last place we wrote from was,2. There won't be any pretty photos on this edition, and3. This one may be a lot shorter than usual.No promises however...I believe we were in Arequipa, Chile's second

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-19856595515100461702009-01-21T22:23:00.001+03:002009-01-21T22:23:08.522+03:00

Warning: This is a very long email, and may cause eyestrain or boredom in some people. For those with less stamina, skip to the end and enjoy the pretty pictures. For those of you keeping track, we are now officially at the halfway mark of the trip. In the last edition, we were stuck in La Paz after an unfortunate encounter with a local canine. We ended up being in La Paz for 5 days, and I got

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-26672527651964082122009-01-09T21:17:00.001+03:002009-01-09T21:17:11.529+03:00

It's been a whole 10 days since the last update, and I know you're all impatient for the next installation. Well, the wait is over.Currently, we have returned to La Paz for an unexpected medical intervention after an encounter with some local wildlife. More on that later, however. On New Years Day, our hosts Oscar and Eli had organised a basketball/soccer match with some of the locals from their

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-5870489908459161292008-12-31T21:28:00.001+03:002008-12-31T21:28:43.821+03:00

At the end of the first Back To The Future movie, Doc Brown says "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads.", and then lifts off in his car/time machine and travels to the year 2015. Bolivia appears to have adopted the same philosophy towards roads, except for the flying/time travel parts. Although, I'm sure at a few points we were airborne for a second or two. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-19222125593616961342008-12-25T22:19:00.001+03:002008-12-25T22:19:06.219+03:00

Greetings all, and although it is a day late for most of you, Happy Christmas! It is still Christmas day here, so it counts as far as I'm concerned. And while we're at it, since we may not have an Internet connection between now and then, we hope you have a Happy New Year too.   Since the post-volcano-conquoring update in Pucon, we've headed north. After a rainy last day in Pucon we caught the

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-67250452537766351742008-12-19T17:53:00.001+03:002008-12-19T17:53:27.620+03:00

This one will be a bit shorter than usual, since a) only one thing of real interest has happend since the last edition and b) we have some multimedia finally. Firstly, a brief update to get you in the picture.   On Tuesday we left Bariloche for our second country - Chile. The destination was Puerto Montt, a medium sized port city in the south of Chile. On the way, we encountered the Chilean

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-11366684180496622682008-12-16T06:15:00.001+03:002008-12-16T06:15:29.736+03:00

In the last update, we had just returned from conquering/retreating from the mighty Andes mountains, and were waiting for our Brazilian visas to get processed. While we waited in Mendoza, we basically did two things: 1) Wandered around town, and2) Figured out what we were going to do next.Given the vast amounts of planning we have put into this trip, item 2 has turned out to be a common pastime

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-4911315025799072982008-12-10T20:04:00.001+03:002008-12-10T20:04:31.452+03:00

No, this is not an Ashgrove Baptist grudge match. From Sunday to Tuesday, the two Daves hit the road and took on the mighty Andes mountains. Specifically, the highest mountain in South America, Aconcagua. We weren't foolish enough to try and get to the top (about 6,700m above sea level), but we did get up to the southern face of Aconcagua, to a height of around 4,125m.   We don't have any photos

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-52719118203807011822008-12-04T02:59:00.001+03:002009-04-07T16:35:12.711+03:00

The two Davids have had a dispute on an issue of critical importance and require your assistance. Please reply with your answer to the following question:If the actual time is 10:00 PM and the clock in your bus to Mendoza says it is 9:30 PM, is time on the clock 1/2 an hour early or 1/2 an hour late?Results will be posted in 48 hours (give or take).Gracias,Los Davides

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-86471514174501522992008-12-02T01:47:00.001+03:002009-04-07T16:34:16.488+03:00

Well, we've now been in Buenos Aires for three days, so here are a few of the highlights. Sorry, no photos today, but I'll try to keep it under a thousand words.Saturday: Landed, found our accommodation, attempted to contact a friend who lives here, had dinner at what turned out to be a vegitarian restaurant and shared a table with three women in their 50s who we entertained with broken

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-57717951441676653252008-11-30T01:47:00.001+03:002009-04-07T16:34:51.174+03:00

Just letting you all know we landed safely, not before flying upside down on the planet, as indicated by the in-flight map attached. Now we just have to figure out what to do next...

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-60104679938160421392008-11-28T07:20:00.000+03:002008-11-28T07:21:19.507+03:00

Just a short one at the beginning of the journey. Sydney awaits.The Daves(If you don't want any more of our updates, just let us know.)

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-88864006510299848292008-11-10T01:43:00.001+03:002008-11-10T01:45:38.492+03:00

visited 19 states (8.44%)Create your own visited map of The World.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-75900182898597301042008-11-10T01:28:00.002+03:002008-11-10T01:38:07.445+03:00

This post is kind of a warm-up for getting back into blogging for the trip through South America that will start at the end of November.I'm currently in San Francisco for a couple of days, after being brought over here by Atlassian for their first AtlasCamp. Today Rob (my boss) and I did a quick drive-by tour of Silicon Valley, passing the Googleplex, 1 Infinite Loop (Apple), Oracle and a few

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-26394515390743483932007-02-14T07:17:00.000+03:002007-02-14T07:19:38.500+03:00

Now that the trip of Japan/Europe has concluded, here's the final map of Places I've Been:create your own visited countries mapNow I must sleep.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-40040055409741867112007-01-30T13:52:00.000+03:002007-01-30T14:14:05.034+03:00

My travels have added a few locations to my list. I'm not counting locations I've transited through - my criteria is that I must have left the airport for at least an hour.create your own visited countries map.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-88679577620925748942007-01-23T18:43:00.000+03:002007-01-23T18:47:40.795+03:00

Well, the first leg of the journey is over. After a long flight punctuated only by occasional food and two Japanese movies which I was not inclined to watch, Andrew and I arrived in one piece with all luggage intact. My friend Simon's instructions for getting to our hotel were flawless and in short order we were checked in and online.So far we haven't seen much, although I enjoyed a nice beef+

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-30528128694480393122007-01-06T05:05:00.000+03:002007-01-06T05:13:22.728+03:00

Today, this blog has officially been re-christened as "David In Motion". Don't take this to mean that posts will be any more frequent, but at least it gives me somewhere to go with it.While I'm here though, the whole Ethiopia/Somalia war seems to have resolved itself rather more quickly than I had expected. Although "resolved" is probably too strong a word. Here's hoping it doesn't turn into

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1135661097132669382005-12-27T08:22:00.000+03:002006-07-14T05:09:48.026+03:00

Came across a site which lets you create a map of countries you've visited. Here's mine:create your own visited countries map

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1132142566670697422005-11-16T15:00:00.000+03:002005-11-16T15:02:46.683+03:00

After 32 years, Australia has finally made it back into the World Cup after a penalty shoot-out with Uruguay. Bring on Germany!

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1127235282187008802005-09-20T19:43:00.000+03:002005-09-20T19:54:42.193+03:00

After months of only hearing about the latest on the election, I was initially glad to read some different news about Ethiopia. Unfortunately, it's all bad. About 20 people being eaten by lions, flooding killing 6 and polio on the rise. Why is it that the only good news you hear is about Ethiopians kicking butt in distance running?Anyway, here's hoping they get the lions, water and disease under

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1126499275726749012005-09-12T07:27:00.000+03:002005-09-12T07:29:07.143+03:00

I'll be honest, I don't get all this talk about a "unity government". Perhaps it's just a matter of perspective, but doesn't a democracy need to have an opposition? Wouldn't having one big party defeat the whole purpose? And how would it change anything? The CUD and UEDF would still have exactly the same percentage of people in government.I'm no politician, but I think the CUD and UEDF need to

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1126493913329793512005-09-12T05:58:00.000+03:002005-09-12T07:30:51.406+03:00

Now that's what I call a bonfireOriginally uploaded by bitmeizer. I've just discovered Flickr and am planning on pushing my whole photo collection (most of which was taken in Ethiopia) up to it over the next little while. That's not going to happen with a 20Mb/month limit, so I'm going to have to upgrade to 'Pro', which isn't a big deal since it's currently so cheap. However, I'm having some

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1120659475456158322005-06-28T17:11:00.000+03:002005-07-06T17:17:55.456+03:00

A couple of days ago, I sent out an email that looked like this: Just a quick note as I am walking out the door. The day I arrived in Addis almost two years ago, my roof started leaking. This morning, my roof was leaking again. Different apartment, different room, but coincidence? I think not. Perhaps the Compound's way of saying goodbye. After two years at Bingham, I am about to start my journey

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1114548933440856912005-04-26T23:53:00.000+03:002005-04-27T00:09:41.296+03:00

Contrary to what was a common misconception when I was first coming to Ethiopia, we do actually get a fair bit of rain. And in the last week or so, we've been getting more than is usual for this time of year. Today, for example, we even got hail. It was bucketing down, and I was in our gym, which has a very large tin roof. My ears were still ringing for several minutes after it dissipated

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1114496124788410562005-04-26T09:15:00.000+03:002005-04-26T09:15:24.786+03:00

While finally returning a massive stone obelisk they stole in the 1930s, Italian scientists have discovered a series of ancient tombs under a carpark. The Italians were originally ordered to return the monument in the 1960s, but have procrastinated until now to actually do so, causing Ethiopians great frustration in the meantime. On the up-side, if they had returned it earlier, they probably

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1114446367900799882005-04-25T19:21:00.000+03:002005-04-25T19:26:07.900+03:00

Or so the saying goes. In an effort to prove (or disprove) the homily, I have started a new blog - circadianoesis - where I will endevour to daily record the new thing I learn for posterity. You never know, something interesting might get posted every now and then. Click here to witness my slow descent into madness.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1113674450054683152005-04-16T20:53:00.000+03:002005-04-16T21:00:50.056+03:00

1.8 million Ethiopians may die from HIV/AIDs in 2008 if current trends continue, according to a report released by (as far as I can tell) the Ethiopian government. That's a decent-sized city-worth (eg. my home town, Brisbane). How do you even start to fight that, let alone try to treat the even larger number of people who are infected? I have no idea.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1113673928152846842005-04-16T20:44:00.000+03:002005-04-16T20:52:08.153+03:00

Avoid getting food poisoning. I've had it happen at least three (probably four) times since I arrive, and usually it's not my fault (eating out in any country is always kind of risky). This time I made the mistake of having some left-over meatballs for lunch and not nuking them into oblivion in advance. It's hard to keep track of food in a house with four guys sometimes...

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1113285569947794062005-04-12T08:59:00.000+03:002005-04-12T10:40:15.990+03:00

Not really Ethiopia-related, but according to Defense Tech, the Pentagon has been working on flying saucers! The one on Flight of the Navigator still looked way cooler though.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1113148297576262452005-04-10T18:51:00.000+03:002005-04-10T22:48:22.256+03:00

According to Xinhuanet (a Chinese news site), the Ethiopian Federal Police defused two C4-based bombs in a public bus on Friday. And then another one went off at a chicken store, of all things. At 6AM. Apparently it cracked a wall. Thankfully I don't buy my chicken there (Bole is just too far away), and I definitely don't catch busses (not those type, anyway). If this is true, I guess the

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1112766629801480922005-04-06T08:50:00.000+03:002005-04-06T08:55:30.746+03:00

The poor of Ethiopia need Ebay! According to Meles Zenawi, a good Internet connection is the "weapon that they need to fight poverty at the earliest possible time". Brilliant! This ranks up there with the government's current primary and secondary school education method - wide-screen plasma TVs emitting pre-packaged lessons (in English) to every public school in Ethiopia. Their teachers now just

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1111242551903905982005-03-19T17:32:00.000+03:002005-03-19T17:29:11.910+03:00

Yay! Term 2 is over. Only one to go. It seems somewhat surreal that I will be leaving here in about 3 months. Time flies...On the last two days of school we had the 'Memory Verse Prize', which is a reward for all the kids who memorise and recite all their memory verses for the term. This term it was a day walking through a local National Park. Thursday was grades 5-9 and Friday was grades K-4.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1110799794010651992005-03-14T14:26:00.000+03:002005-03-14T14:35:08.436+03:00

After a long period of neglect, I have finally uploaded (and post-dated) my newsletters since last April. Some of them are quite long, so you could be in for a bit of a sit-down-session if you read them all. Also, you can now subscribe to this blog with your favourite RSS or Atom reader. Exciting!In more recent news, we are in our last week of term here at Bingham. This holiday I am planning on

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1110797023508726692005-02-28T22:35:00.000+03:002005-03-14T13:43:43.530+03:00

Checking my records, my last epistle was sent on November 29. That makes me about two months overdue for another one, which isn't too bad, considering my track record. In any case, in the interests of actually sending it out, this edition will be a (relatively) brief overview of the highlights. December For the first several days of December I and five other intrepid explorers took a

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1110796519136066022004-11-29T00:02:00.000+03:002005-03-14T13:35:19.143+03:00

Another year, another Great Ethiopian Run. We had quite a few from Bingham running this year. Last year, my preparation consisted of one lap around Bingham Academy (about 1km). This year I septupled that (7km over a few days), but that was over a month ago. To compound that, I contracted some sort of virus a couple of days before. Thankfully, it didn't get too bad, and lots of water and an

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1110796203973307162004-09-09T16:00:00.000+03:002005-03-14T13:32:02.630+03:00

Well, it's almost exactly one week since I got back to Bingham, so it's probably time I sent you all an email letting you know I arrived safely. Here's a quick summary of highlites for each day since I left. Monday, August 30, 2004 Got all my stuff packed. The suitcase weighed about 27kg, which is 7kg over the official limit, but I had that much last time and they didn't even blink, so I figured

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1093649263102770652004-08-28T02:27:00.000+03:002004-08-28T02:29:45.533+03:00

My new home this year.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1110795950658837842004-08-26T18:05:00.000+03:002005-03-14T13:25:50.660+03:00

After a generally relaxing and energy-recharging two months back in Australia, I am now about to depart again for another school year at Bingham. Thank you to all those who have helped to support me in many ways this past year, and I'll try to get you all an email every now and then to let you all know I'm still alive. For those who are interested in such information, I'll be leaving Brisbane

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1110795813412563762004-06-30T13:22:00.000+03:002005-03-14T13:23:33.416+03:00

Hi all, Just a quick final update before I head out the door. My apartment is looking rather empty at the moment. I will be departing Addis at 3AM Wednesday (tomorrow, as I write this), and getting back to Brisbane on Thursday evening. I'm looking forward to spending lots of quality time in Johannesburg Airport. Yay. For now, this is David Peterson, Addis Ababa correspondent, signing out.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1110795603218654752004-05-31T13:06:00.000+03:002005-03-14T13:20:03.300+03:00

Well, it's been over a month since the last email, so it's about time I got around to putting together another update. In fact, it is just over 9 months since I first set foot in Addis Ababa - I arrived here on August the 19th, 2003. What you should see to the right is representative of a typical morning here at this time of year. We are now in spring/summer, and the rainy season hasn't hit

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1081697430191855582004-04-11T18:17:00.000+03:002004-04-11T18:36:42.390+03:00

Transcript (Addis Ababa, Sat April 9, 2004) Phone rings... David Peterson: Hello, David speaking. Pause Mysterious Stranger: Hello? DP: Hello? MS: Hello. DP: (slightly exasperatedly) Yes, hello... Another pause MS: (somewhat nervously) Hello. I would like to introduce myself. Would you like to be my telephone friend? Stunned silence DP: Uh, no. Confused silence MS: No? DP: No. MS: No? DP: (

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1080824405657234432004-04-01T16:00:00.000+03:002004-04-01T17:39:19.153+03:00

Yes, contrary to the evidence (or lack thereof), I am still alive. Looking back, my last email was November 30, so I’m a little behind schedule. As such, this time around you’re getting the ‘snapshot’ edition. If you want a pretty version with photos and lots of colour, click here (and make sure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed). Christmas in London Christmas this year was spent in cheery

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1070228659832031752003-11-30T11:41:00.000+03:002003-12-01T01:19:29.950+03:00

Editor's Note: I know a lot of you were looking forward to getting Not In Addis: Episode III, but the subtitle was going to be 'David doesn't do much at a couple of lakes', so I decide to summarise it in this much more interesting installment instead. So, here's the summary: David doesn't do much at a couple of lakes. Ok, ok, here's a bit more detail: Trip 1: David goes back to Babugaya for

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1067458333079950472003-10-29T23:20:00.000+03:002003-10-29T23:20:31.620+03:00

Editor's Note: The following email message is viewable in two formats. Those wishing to get through quickly can access the Standard Edition by simply reading through the message directly. For those wishing to access the full text of the Special Extended Edition (including extra scenes and exclusive director's commentary), watch out for the special links to the extra features. Previously in 'Not

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1067181160643725962003-10-29T20:31:00.000+03:002003-10-29T21:50:56.346+03:00

Editor's Note: The following email message is viewable in two formats. Those wishing to get through quickly can access the Standard Edition by simply reading through the message directly. For those wishing to access the full text of the Special Extended Edition (including extra scenes and exclusive director's commentary), watch out for the special links to the extra features.Well, three months

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1065216770977363252003-10-04T00:32:00.000+03:002003-10-04T01:00:26.763+03:00

Well, I've now been out of Australia for a little over two months, and in Ethiopia for about six weeks. Looking back at my last post, I realise it's been a few weeks since my last epistle. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that I've been pretty busy. The second is that it hasn't been terribly interesting busy - mostly just preparing lessons and fixing computer problems. And I know

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1064060245498944482003-09-20T15:17:00.000+03:002003-09-20T15:17:25.433+03:00

Woohoo! After being only 3 points ahead of the Sydney Swans at three-quarter-time, the Lions restricted them to only a single point in the final quarter, while at the same time increasing their own lead to win by 44 points. This sets up a replay of last year's grand final against Collingwood, who defeated Port Adelaide earlier today, also by 44 points. Go the Lions!!!

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1063383894048206852003-09-12T19:24:00.000+03:002003-09-12T19:24:54.070+03:00

To all the Ethiopians out there reading this, Happy New Year! To all the Australians out there, the Lions are into the semi-finals after a strong victory over the Adelaide Crows at the Gabba. Woohoo!!! If only they'd show the games here...

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1063383743492072072003-09-11T11:22:00.000+03:002003-09-12T19:25:28.716+03:00

I am now a veteran of two weeks of classes at Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Two weeks you say? But it's only Thursday? The answer to the conundrum is quite simple. Tomorrow is the Ethiopian New Year. Ok, fair enough, I hear you mutter, but why aren't you teaching today then? The answer to that is a little more complicated (but only a little). The Ethiopian calendar works differently

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1063383671949271732003-08-31T11:18:00.000+03:002003-09-12T19:21:11.990+03:00

Hi all, While not as terrifying as the subject title may imply, the big day is now just hours away. The First Day Back At School. It has been relatively quiet here for the 12 or so days I have been in Bingham Academy, with just the staff, their families and the workers around. Tomorrow we will be invaded by about 220 children, ranging from about age 5 to age 16. Am I prepared? I really don't

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1061304690733239592003-08-19T17:51:00.000+03:002003-08-19T17:51:30.786+03:00

This is just a quick post to let you all know I've arrived in Addis Ababa. I'll probably do a longer post in the next day or two - maybe with some photos of my new pad. Stay tuned...

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1061163661602430572003-08-18T02:41:00.000+03:002003-08-18T02:48:02.750+03:00

I've been informed that people getting these posts via Hotmail are getting blank messages. I can't fix the problem at the moment, but once I'm in Addis I'll change my delivery mechanism which will hopefully fix the problem. In the meantime, hopefully you're reading this on the web. On with the update... Upon landing in Glasgow on Friday, I met up with Rachel McLellan, who was kindly providing a

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1060963345358798632003-08-15T19:02:00.000+03:002003-08-15T19:06:45.783+03:00

It's been a while since my last post, so I'm breaking this report up into two sections. This one will cover what I did before heading to Scotland. You can guess what the next one will have... On Tuesday night, I finally got in touch with my uncle, David Knight, who was in the UK enroute to the United States to see his son (Christopher) and daughter (Katie). We decided to try and meet in London

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1060871058131837832003-08-14T17:24:00.000+03:002003-08-14T17:28:52.470+03:00

Hi all. Just a short one to let you know that new photos are up on the Yahoo Groups site. I'll write another entry in a day or two with more details about what they are photos of, but for now, enjoy...

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1060017744894870892003-08-04T20:22:00.000+03:002003-08-04T20:30:59.526+03:00

I'm sitting in an Internet Cafe in a town called St. Albans, about 50km north of downtown London. Paul & Jane, the couple I'm staying with here, moved here on Saturday from their flat in Notting Hill. It's a pretty nice little place (3 bedroom, lounge, dining, etc), although they're planning on repainting most of the rooms. Before that though, on Thursday, I visited the British Museum, which

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1059647993377598182003-07-31T13:39:00.000+03:002003-08-01T13:46:51.403+03:00

Well, I've made it to London. This photo was taken by Jane Hatch about 1 minute after we got to her and her husband Paul's flat located in Notting Hill. Considering this was after an 8 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), followed by a 12 hour flight to Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and a 1 hour flight from there to Heathrow, as well as another hour of dragging my 40kg of luggage around London,

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1059564195049513072003-07-30T14:23:00.000+03:002003-08-01T11:33:16.156+03:00

Well, I made it to London in one piece. I'm off to fight jet-lag and do some sight-seeing, so I'll put some more detail in the next post.

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1059225604357599622003-07-26T16:20:00.000+03:002003-07-28T02:50:02.336+03:00

The Brisbane Lions just lost to Port Adelaide by 1 point! Not happy...

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1058928532735048522003-07-23T05:48:00.000+03:002003-07-23T05:48:52.653+03:00

Well, less than a week to go now. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting me in many ways over the past few weeks and months. The 6 'Dinners for 10' that were hosted by various people to help raise interest and funds were excellent! I met a lot of interesting people and everybody seemed to enjoy the opportunity to chat and meet new people. Thanks to Bec and Scott in particular for instigating

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590411.post-1058497452162114562003-07-18T06:04:00.000+03:002003-07-26T16:21:11.680+03:00

This is an experiment in journaling. I've never been any good at keeping a regular diary, but two factors may increase the lifespan of this one: 1) It's on the web, and that's cool; and 2) I might actually have something interesting to write about. We'll see... In any case, I will be endevouring to make regular entries here documenting my time in Ethiopia. If you want to be notified when a new

David Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17808091444429644018noreply@blogger.com0