Ready to Travel

The longest pole in the preparation tent is the authentication of one’s degree, if one is to teach in Ethiopia. This involves one’s university, the county government in which the university exists, the state government, US federal government, and the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC. Figure on at least a month to get it all done. Expect to pay around $700US in postal and processing fees. You can spend less on postal fees but then you should multiply the total end-to-end time by three. We were pressed by a deadline so I took the more-expensive but shorter route. There are companies who specialize in getting all this done in a timely way but they cost even more. Figure on $1000US if you go that way. My hope is that we will eventually be reimbursed for these unexpected expenses.

Managed to find out what course the University of Gondar, where I am assigned, wants me to teach. The course description sounds like a mix of Distributed Computing and Distributed Systems. Computing takes place on Systems so there is more in the way of computing examples and exercises that I have to develop, as well as additional lectures on processes that share memory and processes that do not share memory. It will be a challenge to find just the right mix of Computing and Systems. Another challenge will be to fit the right amount of material into each lecture. The course information did not include anything on the length of each lecture, nor how many lectures per week over how many weeks. My attempts to access the university’s website continually fail since Norton detects an attempt to install a bitcoin miner on my machine each time I try connecting. That and the lack of response to my emails makes me wonder but the government’s telecom company is not known for maintaining a healthy and effective infrastructure. This is in wide contrast to Ethiopian Airlines, which is well-known worldwide as a class act.

Packing has proven to be interesting. The trick is to fit 100 pounds into two suitcases in such a way that none of the electronic equipment is damaged enroute. The equipment is speculation on what might be useful for R&D to benefit Ethiopia. My hope is to add something needful to precision agriculture. I’ve gathered what equipment I can. That equipment is broadly useful whatever direction things take. Of course, I am bringing references on paper and on computer storage.

Some will say that I’ve overprepared. But, throughout my career, that has proven to be the best approach. As a colleague of mine says, “Overkill is Underrated.” In the end, I will accomplish my goal in Ethiopia without a lot of extra stress caused by lack of prior preparation.

Something interesting is that this assignment requires us all to travel on Ethiopian Airlines. There was a lot of explanation as to why we are not allowed to fly on “American-Flagged” carriers. Having travelled to and within Africa since 2011, I have found that airlines from America do not fly in Africa. Rather, they lease seats on other countries’ airlines. That is how they can claim to be “American-Flagged”.  My experience is that the routes flown by “American-Flagged” airlines take twice as long and cost twice as much as that achieved by Ethiopian Airlines. That is the airline I always fly, unless forced otherwise. Besides, if one flies on airlines from the west, one misses a great African cultural learning experience.

Adventure awaits. Ultimately, in spite of preparation, one must trust in God, get on the plane, and go.