Ethiopia vs......Chico State

(Editor's note: We're feeling all kinds of guest blog love now! This one comes from Zanja. His name means "irrigation ditch" in Spanish, he somehow managed to spend the past 8 years living in Manhattan on a $16K/year grad student salary and SAVED money, and now he's about to broaden the minds of hungover frat boys as Chico St.'s new Professor of the Philosophy of Science. Hit it Zanj.)

Yikes! I've been lapped! I was in Africa with Rahul and Meg before Ali, and I promised a guest blog, but now I see that she has already submitted her guest entry. So I've been shamed into writing something.

Meg and Rahul were insistent that I reveal some of the darker side of travel with them, but I think Ali has pretty well taken care of that, so I feel relieved of that obligation. My most immediate experience now is not Africa, but my first day of teaching at Cal State Chico. But some of my more memorable interactions in Africa, Ethiopia especially, were with the youth. So let me offer this humble comparison between the youth of Chico State and the youth of Ethiopia!

The youth of Chico State are mostly white. (80%)
The youth of Ethiopia are mostly black. (99.99%)

The youth of Chico State desperately want a downtown parking structure so they don't have to drive around looking for parking.
The youth of Ethiopia desperately want shoes.

The youth of Chico State are bummed when they have classes on Thursday, as it makes it harder to enjoy Wednesday night partying.
The youth of Ethiopia are bummed when they can't attend any classes until they are fourteen years old because they have been herding goats their entire childhood.

The youth of Chico State have names like Kyle and Jessica.
The youth of Ethiopia have names like Hailu and Tashaga.

The youth of Chico State are friendly and smile a lot.
The youth of Ethiopia are friendly and smile a lot.

The youth of Chico State really like football.
The youth of Ethiopia really like foosball. (And they're really good, too)

The youth of Chico State make $6.75 to $14.52 per hour at their campus work-study jobs.
The youth of Ethiopia make 7 birrh (about 85 cents) per day doing back-breaking construction work.

The youth of Chico State like bio-diesel (well they should, anyway)
The youth of Ethiopia like Vin Diesel (well, at least one of them, anyway)

The youth of Chico State share music online.
The youth of Ethiopia share music by sending their voices and the notes of their flutes through the mists that rest above rolling green hills and waterfalls.

The youth of Chico State never say "brrrr" in August, because it's too damn hot.
The youth of Ethiopia often say "birrrrh" in July, when tourists are around with cameras in hand. (The birr is the Ethiopian unit of currency --ed.)

The youth of Chico State like to ride bicycles to campus.
The youth of Ethiopia like to chase bicycles up rocky dirt roads, then grab on to the ends, and give struggling faranji helpful pushes.

--zanja