Hello FML,

My new ferret pen is coming along. The other day I decided the roof
shouldn't be flat. I have to protect the ferrets, particularly poor
little pink Jonas, from the sun. But, once covered w cloth or plastic,
a flat roof wd collect water, and maybe collapse during the rainy
season.

So I considered various ways to structure the roof. When I was
describing this to an Ethiopian, she said "Oh, like a gojo beyt." I
was surprised and delighted with the idea. Beyt means house, and a
gojo beyt is a small round structure with a round pointed roof. I've
dreamed of having a gojo beyt for fun, but never made it a priority.

The ferret beyt is pretty large -- 700"/19 yards/17.5-meter
circumference -- and I plan to make it comfortable for me as well
as the ferrets. Right now it is just wire mesh and eucalyptus poles.
I had the original pen set up so the eucalyptus tree in the yard
shades it from the afternoon sun. The new one is out in the open,
so it really needs v serious sun protection.

I took pix a couple of hours ago of the skeleton. If any of you want
to see it, email me directly and I'll send pix to you. I think it wd
be easy to copy.

Here's something from the internet that shows the real thing in the
Gurage area. If you go down 30% or so, you'll see how the insides of
these houses are constructed. Mine will be far less elaborate, but I'm
going to find out if I could thatch its roof, while still leaving the
sides open except for hanging cloth panels that can be rolled up and
down as the sun moves from east to west.

http://etlebut.openface.ca/~cobe/eth/countryside.html

What's shown is in an area that is a lot warmer and wetter than where
I have lived, though it's only a few hours from my little town. The
link will also show something of how basic-farming societies live
here, at least for Muslims and Christians. I haven't yet seen the
animist societies on any level in person.

Take a look at the other pages of this site, if you want to see other
types of things I experience here in Ethiopia.

Here's something off-topic, but might interest those of you who've been
following my adventures here. It's about another dream inadvertently
fulfilled -- I have a pregnant donkey, and she'll give birth within
the next couple of months.

A couple of years ago, while I was living outside of the capital
city, I took in an injured male donkey and named him Edilegnya. Like
99.999999% of Ethiopian donkeys, he was a working donkey. About a year
before I saw him, he'd hit by a car that broke one of his front legs,
and his leg had healed badly. I've enjoyed him a lot, which made me
wonder what a donkey that had been fully socialized as a baby would be
like. It was a "one of these days, after things settle down" idea --
to find a female donkey for Edilegnya and then enjoy the offspring.

Since moving to the countryside, I've experienced living w/o running
water for long stretches. The water infrastructure is quite weak in
this little town, and especially in my neighborhood. A couple of
months ago, the whole town was waterless for over a month. Earlier,
our neighborhood had been w/o running water for almost three months

A solution to that is to hire a horse-driven "gari" cart to bring water
to you in jerry cans, or to hire someone with donkeys to do the same.
Then you get used to using buckets and pitchers. I was very surprised
at how easy it was to adjust, and I am a seriously comfort-oriented
woman. I think it is because so much of the rest of my life is
satisfying, compared to when I was working my heart to a bone back
in the US.

Like most people, my budget is tight, and pretty soon the water-hauling
bill became very serious. In two months I spent enough to buy a donkey
of my own. So I asked some guys to find me a few donkeys at the local
market to choose from, not being a good bargainer myself. Instead, they
presented me with their purchase. I was irritated (and condemned myself
for being too cowardly to go to do my own buying), but then I saw her
and fell in love. Her being pregnant was a minus and a plus -- she
wdn't be a long-term worker in the short term, but I would be able to
bring up a baby donkey.

If you want to see some pix just ask me.

PS, I am in the process of getting some lupron for Jonas. Perhaps you
remember some posts of mine about him, including his recent hair loss
and sunburn.

[Posted in FML 7374]