COMING HOME...

I just spent the weekend in Addis visiting friends.

It was so lovely catching up with them all and sharing our experiences of our first weeks. We had lots of good stories and it seemed that all those who had started their work were loving the challenges they were facing. It was also a good opportunity to share some of our frustrations and difficulties in a safe place, without the worry of offending people or giving a bad impression. But for me I think the best thing about the trip was that is made me very happy to be based in Ambo away from the big city. By the end of the weekend I was really looking forward to heading home to my little life here. As well as Addis being so hectic and polluted it is full of far too many temptations for me to spend my money on. Lovely restaurants and shops with so much variety compared to little Ambo. In one day I managed to spend over half my monthly salary! The fact that in real terms I spent just over £50 and that it was mostly on things I needed to set up my home in Ambo does make it more understandable ...but it still hurt!!

By Sunday afternoon I was thoroughly exhausted and happily sitting on a crowded minibus taking in the beautiful countryside on my way back HOME. I was excited about getting back to my cute little house, putting away my new purchases and cooking up some of the interesting food I was able to get in an Addis supermarket. I was looking forward to starting the 3 week crash course for new university lecturers on teaching methodology on Monday morning and getting back to the familiar faces in the office. I was dreaming about the next Bayonette and Shai I would have in the University Canteen.

I know this next week will be challenging. I will be delivering a lot of training sessions as well as planning for the start of the Higher Diploma Programme (HDP) which will begin the following week. I know I’ll get frustrated by the slow pace that things happen and the fact that the language barrier makes communication more difficult. But I also know that I feel very lucky to be here and privileged to have such an interesting role within the University. Having shared stories with my friends in Addis and other parts of the country I know I have really landed on my feet. I have a lovely house with a lovely landlord; friendly and good humoured colleagues, my very own office with fairly reliable internet access and for the lonely evenings... a lifetimes supply of TV series and films that another volunteer downloaded onto my external hard drive! Life is looking good!