Ethiopia Mission Trip Update

hello world.
once again I’m still here in Ethiopia. The time is coming soon that I will be leaving. Going to miss this place but I def. miss home back in the states.

Past couple days we’ve just continued to teach the local private school computer class and english classes. Kids have been “somewhat” good. Some just don’t care to learn and some students are very good students. The computer room i teach in has about 35 students per class and has about 12 working computers or so. Definitely difficult to teach a computer class with just chalk and a black board.

Other than that, everything is good here.

Ciao

Day 7

Well i just got back in to town to Addis from Jinmma. I’m so glad to be back here in Addis. Here at Basco, it is truly a home away from home.

Jinmma was def. a great experience. The 7 hour car ride going one way was not fun. But the view was to die for. Amazing mountain views, farming landscapes, cattle running through the streets, donkeys carrying humongous loads of cargo and goats running rampant eating anything green in sight. What an experience to see the country side of Ethiopia. More on this late. Till than

CIAO! j5

day 4

hello once again. I’m still here in Addis Ethiopia. It’s been raining everyday with some down times. But it’s been pretty nice overall since the weather is pretty cool here. Past couple days we’ve been touring around different orphanges and villages such as Jah Jah. What an incredible story I have when I get back. I’ve taken tons of photos but this dinky 56k connection is not going to let me upload any photos. The people here are amazingly nice, and kind but me being pesimistic and slow to being friends, I find it suspicious. But I’m sure thats just me. Other than that traffic is a killer and I feel like my bugers are turning black from all the smog I’m breathing in. I’ll show you guys when I get back! =)

I hope everyone else is doing ok. Till next time.

Hello from Ethiopia

Hello world.
I’m blogging from Ethiopia right now. We arrived around 8pmish… we’re 7 hours ahead of US. So basically it’s cold and rainy as soon as we land. Where’s the desert? The dry and baron land? I was wrong. Ethiopia is a very vegetative country with tons of mountains and different landscapes. I’m still trying to get used to the time change and the water here is def. different. For now all I’ve had was nasty airplane food and granola bars.

Other than that, I’m thankful we’re all here safe and healthy. To all the people at work, have fun with out me, and people back at church, keep praying for us.

I’ll try and blog everyday that I can. I’m not even sure if I upload photos cause this computer is way old and doesn’t support USB… =/

Till than CIAO!

Goodbye…

Flight to ethiopia 12pm today. I’m nervous, excited and anxious all at once.

Please pray for Shawn, Peter, Joy, Joanna, Jade, Christine and me.

My will:

I own next to nothing, but everything I own including my bank accounts, savings, car, and all material things that I own, I want it to go to my brother Peter. He’s the best damn brother I’ve ever known in my life.

How's the weather up there?

Houston by j5

Back it up!

Grapefruit link to breast cancer

Eating grapefruit every day could raise the risk of developing breast cancer by almost a third, US scientists say.

A study of 50,000 post-menopausal women found eating just a quarter of a grapefruit daily raised the risk by up to 30%.

The fruit is thought to boost levels of oestrogen – the hormone associated with a higher risk of the disease, the British Journal of Cancer reported.

But the researchers and other experts said more research was still needed.

The women had to fill in questionnaires saying how often they ate grapefruit and how big their portions were.

Oestrogen important

The researchers, at the universities of South California and Hawaii, found that women who ate one quarter of a grapefruit or more every day had a higher risk of breast cancer than those who did not eat the fruit at all.

Previous studies have shown that a molecule called cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is involved in metabolising oestrogen hormones.

And grapefruit may boost blood oestrogen levels by inhibiting this molecule, allowing the hormones to build up.

The researchers found that in women who ate at least a quarter of a grapefruit daily, levels of oestrogen were higher.

They said: “It is well established that oestrogen is associated with breast cancer risk.

“Therefore, if grapefruit intake affects oestrogen metabolism leading to higher circulating levels, then it is biologically plausible that regular intake of grapefruit would increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer.”

More research

And they said this was the first time a commonly eaten food had been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer in older women.

However, they warned that more research was needed to confirm the findings which may have been affected because they only took into account intake of the fruit, but not grapefruit juice.

Breast cancer accounts for almost a third of all cancers in women, and previous lifestyle factors linked to the disease include drinking alcohol and being overweight.

Dr Joanne Lunn, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation said: “This is an interesting study of a large group of post-menopausal women whose diet and health have been followed for many years.

“However, this study is simply a piece of the jigsaw that will eventually help us to understand how our diets affect our health.

“Although we are beginning to get a better awareness of how our diets can modify the risk of diseases such as cancer, we are still a long way from identifying particular foods that might specifically increase or decrease risk.”

However, she said that some dietary patterns are associated with a reduced risk of certain cancers and that a diet rich in a variety of different fruits and vegetables could help reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.

found via bbc.com

10 Billion-Trillion-Trillion-Carat Diamond Found in Space

(Rapaport…February 16, 2004) The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has announced the discovery of a mass of crystallized carbon formerly known as star BPM 37093, now known as the biggest diamond in the galaxy, fifty light years away from Earth in the constellation Centaurus. The diamond is estimated to be 2,500 miles across and weighs approximately 10 billion-trillion-trillion-carats – a one, followed by 34 zeros. Travis Metcalfe, an astronomer from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and leader of the team who discovered the gem, says “You would need a jeweler’s loupe the size of the sun to grade this diamond. Bill Gates and Donald Trump together couldn’t begin to afford it.”

When asked to estimate the value of the cosmic jewel, Ronald Winston, chief executive officer (CEO) of Harry Winston, Inc., indicated that such a large diamond probably would depress the value of the market, stating, “Who knows? It may be a self-deflating prophecy because there is so much of it.”

The diamond is actually the crystallized interior of a white dwarf – or the hot core of a star that is left over after the star uses up its nuclear fuel and dies. It is made mostly of carbon and is coated by a thin layer of hydrogen and helium gasses.

Five billion years from now, our sun will die and become a white dwarf. Approximately two billion years after that, its ember core will crystallize as well, leaving a giant diamond in the center of our solar system. A paper announcing this discovery has been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters for publication. The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. Scientists within the organization are classified into six research divisions where they study the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.

found via diamonds.net

Houston by j5

So kiss me…