Well, things are going on much as usual here. Living with giardia seems to be a permanent fixture here – I got it a few days after returning from the UK and it is proving drug resistant so far. Thought I’d try alcohol next, tho my first attempt last night failed as the Ethiopian red wine I opened last night was fizzy and ended up down the sink. What a waste of 35 birr (£2). One of the 3 shops (I can’t call them supermarkets here really because that would conjure up a vision of well-stocked shelves, a wide variety of food…) in Gondar has farenji wine I noticed so I might need to investigate how much it is. Web wisdom seems to say that giardia clears up by itself and there is some question over the prescribing of antibiotics. Yes, I am becoming quite an expert.

Enough of that. We actually did something interesting yesterday and went to visit Debre Birhan Selassie church. This is the most famous church in Gondar (the guidebook says there are 44 altogether) – hard to know how old it is but they reckon there has been a church on the site sincethe 1690’s. This one is an unusual shape (most churches are ciccular) and famous really for its paintings. The ceiling is beautiful, paintings of 80 cherubic faces as you see. Some of it has been water damaged but the roof of the building was restored recently. The walls are the traditional mud on the inside and covered with paintings depicting various saints, the life of Christ and Ethiopian historical figures.

The setting is beautiful, about a kilometre out of town, on top of a hill. There is a high stone wall surrounding the grounds full of juniper trees and others I didn’t recognise. It was a windy day went we went, cloudy and very atmospheric.

Went for lunch at Steve and Gemma’s too and had a great veg curry. Gemma is a optometrist and was telling us why we see so many blind people. Can’t remember the technical details (but I sure Mike will) but basically most cases are from an easily curable infection spread by the flies you often see round peoples eyes. Simple hygiene would prevent most cases.

I’ve finished ‘Researching Mathematics Education’ – the final part was a project. I have to say I think mine is crap but hopefully it is enough to pass. I think I peaked on assignment 4! Started my next course now, doing some hard maths and trying to really understand it.

Kibeb, the daughter of one of our neighbours, called round the other evening with her little sister Kizzy. Kibeb is studying laboratory at Gondar Uni and was one of the most open Ethiopians we’ve talked to. When I said we were going to visit the church she asked if I was Christian. Well, that started an interesting conversation – she can’t believe that we have no God or anything we believe in and are still happy! It is quite common here for people to dispute evolution and I think it is something we will talk more about.

OK, Mike has been making pancakes so I’m off for breakfast…