Baishui, Part 2

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What wonderful diplomats we have:

Gwen's avatarGender, in development

Monday the 21st was our first full day in Baishui, and straight after breakfast we (Prof. Li, some students, Julia, & me) piled into a van and drove into town to visit the county apple bureau. There we had a long meeting with an extension agent/administrator who was very helpful and gave us a lot of information about apple production and cooperatives in Baishui county, including two books on those topics (one in English and one in Chinese – both with lots of pictures). Much like Prof. Li, he was eager to help us and answer our questions. Best of all, everyone was very encouraging about both our survey and photovoice projects. We also met a woman who worked at the bureau, Jinhua, who would be helping arrange our village visits.

Julia and I were hanging out in our room at the apple station after lunch, when we were visited…

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Friday, July 4

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millievarley's avatarMillie in Ethiopia

Happy Independence Day! I really enjoy that we call our independence holiday by the date which commemorates it. That way, I can sit in a restaraunt filled with soccer fans and think to myself, ‘well! look at all these people celebrating the 4th of July! I mean, they’re laughing and clapping and cheering and drinking, it is the fourth of July this is the only possible conclusion.’ Then I sit there and smirk quitely.

What a lovely semi-patriotic day! I bemoaned the fact that dressing for the fourth completely slipped my mind in the flurry of packing a month ago, but I had on an ISU t-shirt with a blue and white hoodie, so technically I was covered. Kayla and I headed to work, thrilled to share our sort of American treats! In our daily morning powow with Dr. Jean, she suggested we have a special coffee morning for the…

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Wednesday, June 4

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Botany Entomology & Altitude

millievarley's avatarMillie in Ethiopia

This morning I attempted a run, but it didn’t go very far as I am still adjusting to the altitude shift( more than 7,000 feet!) There is a nice track on campus however, so I plan to gradually get better (but doesn’t everybody?!). Meanwhile, I am eating. For breakfast I had fruit- pineapple, watermelon, honeydew- and the oats with seasoned beans. They looked like pinto beans, but smaller. I really enjoy all the dining areas because they all have outdoor areas with beautiful vines running up pergolas. Just one of the reasons Ethiopia reminds me of California!

Back at the offices, Dr. Jean took us to see the field work beginning-laborers were leveling out the field so that when the rains come there are no issues with the water running off and collecting in dips. It was interesting because all but one of the dozen workers were women. Also, they…

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Monday, June 2

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Ethiopia Time: 

millievarley's avatarMillie in Ethiopia

Hello all!

It’s been an absolutely lovely first day. We got in at around 9 last night and I slept very well. My hostel room is very spacious and much better than my dorm will be in college! So far, I’m not feeling jet-lagged at all and not too culture-shocked. This morning we had breakfast in the ILRI cafeteria- I had chickpeas with a dish that tasted like ground-up oatmeal, as well as fruit, toast, and pineapple juice! Then Kayla and I went on a walk around campus before meeting up with Tigist. She is in charge of capacity development here and has been an absolutely wonderful, gracious, and generous guide. She took us to the Zebu club for tea and samosas- lentils wrapped in a crispy shell. After that we met Dr. Jean Hanson, our supervisor, and she took us on a tour of the Forage Diversity Unit. She is lovely…

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