This first picture is Piazza, the main square in Gondar. Note the sheep heading off to market!





A couple of weeks ago it was the celebration of Timkat. We got up around 5 am and headed down the road to Fasilidas pool where the crowd gathers.

We were too early, to be honest! There was a long period of waiting whilst the prayers continued.....

As it got light the crowds deepened, it was hard to move. Everyone was dressed in their finest clothes, looking fantastic. There was much splashing of water and then the procession of arks moved off, slowly back to their respective churches.

I’ve stopped taking Larium (anti-malarial – the one that can make you mad!). I need a break from the all-night movies, it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the effect to wear off. Most people seem to say the risk of malaria in Gondar is very slight, particularly at this time of year, when it is very dry. We have had only one or two short showers in two and a half months. So I am sure I will be more wary of mosquitos but after 13 months on Larium I figured I was due a break.

We’ve passed the one year milestone. On the anniversary we had quite a depressing evening – we went out for pizza with Lucy, a Kenyan volunteer who arrived at the same time as us. We are all quite cynical about the whole VSO thing – particularly in Ethiopia. Before you leave the UK you hear a lot about capacity building and sustainability but the reality is really very different. I think really people aren’t ready. At college is seems as though they just want someone to come in and do things – they want me to sort out CPD but management don’t really seem willing to get involved. Or maybe they just don’t realise that for any change to happen they need to lead. Actually, last week I had a very good week but only because I found things to keep me busy. I’ve been developing some training on Action Research, some mathematics training for second cycle teachers, working on some research for VSO on “Valuing Teachers” and started a network group for female teacher educators. I’d had a positive meeting with my line manager at the beginning of the week, raising a lot of concerns I had and getting some assurances that things would be different. One thing he had agreed to was to attend the CPD committee meeting on Friday to show how the college management were going to support the CPD programme. Five minutes after the meeting was due to start I got a message to say that the Vice Dean (my line manager) and two other senior members of the committee weren’t coming, they were doing something else. No apology of course – that is not the way here. Amygdala hijack.

Anyhow, you have to carry on. We had a great day yesterday, out walking in the hills around Gondar. And I am about to sign up for an OU course to ensure my brain doesn't die.