Sunday
Raining here - got soaked on our way to the internet cafe. Michael thought it was great to be out in the rain, I wasn't quite so amused.
Quick check of the emails shows there have been some explosions in Addis over the last couple of weeks, anyone hear about it on the news? We get very little news here but things seem ok. Fab run this morning!!
Saturday 8th April
We’ve had no phone line for a week now so no easy internet access. Earlier in the week, Fitsum, our line manager, took us to a couple of internet cafes and introduced us to the owners – to ensure that we got habasha rates and not ferenji. Been so busy tho that we haven’t had time really to get there.
On Monday we had another college dinner at Pinna Hotel – in honour of a visiting American who had adopted two children from Awassa and was meeting his extended family. He was travelling with an Ethiopian whose organisation had donated books and helped fund the computer lab at college. Marhary was fascinating – he has a wealth of experience – coordinating relief during the drought in the 80’s amongst other things. Both got us all thinking about the role of the college in bringing change in the country – the teacher educators train about 5,000 students a year who all go off and teach hundreds of children themselves.
On Thursday our programme officer from VSO turned up at college with two volunteers from Dilla, a town to the south of here. They have been evacuated as there have been some problems this week – the local sidaminga group still trying to get their own region. It sounds as though things have calmed down there already but I guess it is better to be sure. Everything seems quiet here in Awassa though we have heard that people are still imprisoned following the trouble here a few weeks ago. I think the Amnesty International site has more information – difficult to get anything reliable here. Bizarrly non of it seems to affect us.
Today was a very leisurely day – breakfast at Lewi 1 with Lena – our first trip there. Good to visit somewhere new. They had fabulous mango juice and a great omelette – a nice atmosphere, very popular with locals. Breakfast for about 60p. A bit of shopping and then called at Fiona’s – just in time for the coffee ceremony! Bliss!
Sunday 2nd April
I think Michael is a bit of a Cinderella really – our morning run has been getting earlier and earlier so that he can be back before there are too many people on the streets. Today the alarm was set for 5 am – at that hour I have no desire at all for exercise and today was no exception. I kept as still as possible hoping that he would go back to sleep – tho at the same time a small part of me wanted to run, I know I always love it once I get out there. Anyway, by 5.30 we were out and it was lovely as usual. Had the life frightened out of me be Bobby (our guard dog, who should have been at home!) as I turned the first corner in the darkness and there were loads of bats flying around as we turned the second. We have had rain daily I think for about 3 weeks so the insects are starting to breed. Everywhere is really green now too and you can smell the eucalyptus as you get to the trees. I’m afraid I did the usual walk to the top of the hill but once down again I did a few reps. The first twenty minutes or so is always so hard as my body just wants to be in bed. Out long enough to see the sun rise. I long to be able to go for a run at a sensible time of day….
The rains are great – really dramatic, not like the endless English drizzle. Clouds build up during the afternoon and we usually have a dramatic thunderstorm late afternoon. This week we had a grey day – no sign of the sun and I missed it tho I was glad of the lower temperature. Evenings generally are a welcome relief from the heat.
Got the bird book we ordered so we can start to identify some of the many new birds – they have great names. The “Beautiful Sunbird” is a regular visitor to the garden, as is the “Speckled moosebird”. One of my favourites is the “Red-cheeked Cordon-blue” – a tiny azure blue waxbill. If it stays dry we will go down to the lake later and see what else we can identify. Well, there isn’t much else to do here…..
I’ve had a week of observations at college, really interesting. I have my first maths observation next week. I’ve seen a lot of education methodology lessons and people are taking on the new methods of teaching with enthusiasm. We are struggling to come up with alternatives to lecture notes in a place where books are scarce. Exciting moment this week when I was observing and a snake was discovered under my chair – now that doesn’t happen at home!
Raining here - got soaked on our way to the internet cafe. Michael thought it was great to be out in the rain, I wasn't quite so amused.
Quick check of the emails shows there have been some explosions in Addis over the last couple of weeks, anyone hear about it on the news? We get very little news here but things seem ok. Fab run this morning!!
Saturday 8th April
We’ve had no phone line for a week now so no easy internet access. Earlier in the week, Fitsum, our line manager, took us to a couple of internet cafes and introduced us to the owners – to ensure that we got habasha rates and not ferenji. Been so busy tho that we haven’t had time really to get there.
On Monday we had another college dinner at Pinna Hotel – in honour of a visiting American who had adopted two children from Awassa and was meeting his extended family. He was travelling with an Ethiopian whose organisation had donated books and helped fund the computer lab at college. Marhary was fascinating – he has a wealth of experience – coordinating relief during the drought in the 80’s amongst other things. Both got us all thinking about the role of the college in bringing change in the country – the teacher educators train about 5,000 students a year who all go off and teach hundreds of children themselves.
On Thursday our programme officer from VSO turned up at college with two volunteers from Dilla, a town to the south of here. They have been evacuated as there have been some problems this week – the local sidaminga group still trying to get their own region. It sounds as though things have calmed down there already but I guess it is better to be sure. Everything seems quiet here in Awassa though we have heard that people are still imprisoned following the trouble here a few weeks ago. I think the Amnesty International site has more information – difficult to get anything reliable here. Bizarrly non of it seems to affect us.
Today was a very leisurely day – breakfast at Lewi 1 with Lena – our first trip there. Good to visit somewhere new. They had fabulous mango juice and a great omelette – a nice atmosphere, very popular with locals. Breakfast for about 60p. A bit of shopping and then called at Fiona’s – just in time for the coffee ceremony! Bliss!
Sunday 2nd April
I think Michael is a bit of a Cinderella really – our morning run has been getting earlier and earlier so that he can be back before there are too many people on the streets. Today the alarm was set for 5 am – at that hour I have no desire at all for exercise and today was no exception. I kept as still as possible hoping that he would go back to sleep – tho at the same time a small part of me wanted to run, I know I always love it once I get out there. Anyway, by 5.30 we were out and it was lovely as usual. Had the life frightened out of me be Bobby (our guard dog, who should have been at home!) as I turned the first corner in the darkness and there were loads of bats flying around as we turned the second. We have had rain daily I think for about 3 weeks so the insects are starting to breed. Everywhere is really green now too and you can smell the eucalyptus as you get to the trees. I’m afraid I did the usual walk to the top of the hill but once down again I did a few reps. The first twenty minutes or so is always so hard as my body just wants to be in bed. Out long enough to see the sun rise. I long to be able to go for a run at a sensible time of day….
The rains are great – really dramatic, not like the endless English drizzle. Clouds build up during the afternoon and we usually have a dramatic thunderstorm late afternoon. This week we had a grey day – no sign of the sun and I missed it tho I was glad of the lower temperature. Evenings generally are a welcome relief from the heat.
Got the bird book we ordered so we can start to identify some of the many new birds – they have great names. The “Beautiful Sunbird” is a regular visitor to the garden, as is the “Speckled moosebird”. One of my favourites is the “Red-cheeked Cordon-blue” – a tiny azure blue waxbill. If it stays dry we will go down to the lake later and see what else we can identify. Well, there isn’t much else to do here…..
I’ve had a week of observations at college, really interesting. I have my first maths observation next week. I’ve seen a lot of education methodology lessons and people are taking on the new methods of teaching with enthusiasm. We are struggling to come up with alternatives to lecture notes in a place where books are scarce. Exciting moment this week when I was observing and a snake was discovered under my chair – now that doesn’t happen at home!
posted by Gill @ 5:37 pm
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