VOTE!

We're getting down to the wire on the US election. It's big news here
(and has been for several months). Many of my friends, both Ethiopians
and ex-pats, are asking about it and thinking about it. A great new
café in Bahir Dar opened up a couple of months ago—Obama Café and
Restaurant. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite haunts. I even
(thanks to friends and family back in Denver) brought them some
additional Barack paraphernalia from the convention last August (which
the proprietors were exceptionally excited about). I got my absentee
ballot in the mail a week or so ago, sent it back, thanks to the Peace
Corps, priority. While my vote isn't going to change the situation in
Washington State, it still feels like such a privilege to be able to
make a choice (at least symbolically) from so very far away. It's
really overwhelming to see how many people here care, and how deeply,
about the results of this election. I'm inspired to see people without
a lot of access to international news media who know more about the
repercussions of this election than many Americans do. A great new
café in Bahir Dar opened up a couple of months ago—Obama Café and
Restaurant. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite haunts. I even
(thanks to friends and family back in Denver) brought them some
additional Barack paraphernalia from the convention last August (which
the proprietors were exceptionally excited about).

If you haven't already, PLEASE make sure to vote in this election. Do
it for yourselves, for me, and especially for those millions of people
in Ethiopia and elsewhere who care deeply about what happens in
America and don't have that privilege.