Arriving at night in Addis Ababa revealed the dramatic transformation the city has undergone since the first Anthropogeny Field Course in 2011. What was once a large but comparatively modest city 2,355 meters (7,726 feet) above sea level and nestled between the mountains of the Ethiopian highlands now teems with modern towers illuminated by fancy digital billboards, wide thoroughfares and avenues coursing in every direction, and sleek, contemporary shops and restaurants lining the streets. Yet, amid this modernity lingers poverty, grime, and decay, much of it hidden by tall corrugated metal fences. The heavy military presence, due to ongoing civil war, also marks the streets. These elements remind us that neither the past nor unrest can be erased by technological veneers. As our taxi wove through the quiet late-night streets to deliver us to the hotel, our weary, travel-worn group had its first glimpse of a city undergoing dazzling change but unable to forget its past.