summer to november in 25 hours...

I just returned to Ethiopia after 5 weeks of almost perpetual sunshine in England. It was amazing! ... I don’t remember ever having such a long spell of perfect weather back home before and it certainly left me with very rose tinted memories of my time there. 5 weeks went by so quickly and were filled with long summer days, family, friends and loads of cakes as I made my way from one special event to another! Soon enough I was packing up and heading back to Ethiopia. I left my parents house at about 8.30am (BST) on a lovely sunny Sunday morning and arrived in Addis (after an 8 hour transit in Dubai) around 9.30am (BST) to a wet and miserable Monday morning in Addis. Welcome to Africa! I couldn’t believe how cold it was! My friends had warned me that Addis gets very cold in the summer but it felt like I’d suddenly arrived in mid November and I was totally unprepared. After long hot summer days I was now greeted by a week of nonstop rain and it was now getting dark at around 6pm. The rain wasn’t even of the tropical variety that hits hard but is still fairly warm and dries up quickly...instead it was cold and persistent and grim. Wednesday lunch time some friends and I headed to a local restaurant for lunch fully kitted out in several layers, scarves, hats and waterproofs ( I was even wearing some wellies I brought over from UK) and we were so cold we felt like we could be in a ski resort! The worst bit is that there are no warm houses to dry off in when you get soaked to the bone...no central heating...and clothes take days to dry. Brrrr! Thankfully not all of Ethiopia is like this at the moment. Ambo is normally a couple of degrees warmer and a bit drier. The Afar region is unthinkably hot at the moment with temperatures averaging in the 40’s (celcius)... But here in Addis it remains cold and wet... and I’ll be here until next Wednesday while I take part in an intensive language course. I never thought I’d be in Africa longing for the British sun! Perhaps today will be a little warmer?! Here’s hoping!

glad to be back

Despite the rain in Addis it has been great to be back in Ethiopia. I think it was pretty easy to take for granted I was living in Ethiopia before I left for the UK and it just seemed ‘normal’. But coming back I’m seeing things fresh again and it really is quite exciting. Addis is a really vibrant city, there is so much life happening around you and somehow everything feels a little more ‘real’ than life in the UK –perhaps because it is seems so disorganised and chaotic compared to our organised (rather clinical even) lives back home.

This week I’ve really enjoying taking part in an intensive language course. My brain buzzing with Amharic words and phrases constantly, but sadly much of it doesn’t seem to be sticking at the moment. We have 6 hours of classes each day as well as homework each evening so we’ve been working hard. I was really chuffed with myself on Friday as I was able to discuss my daily routine...your daily routine...her daily routine...their daily routine... and our daily routine... IN AMHARIC...but only with the help of my book! At the moment we are writing everything out in English script so although I can now write about half a page of reasonable Amharic I don’t think many Ethiopian’s would be able to make head or tail of it! Next week we are going to try and learn some of the local script...only about 250 letters in their alphabet so it should be pretty easy!! Yikes!

Last night we had a leaving party for one of the Diaspora volunteers. He is Ethiopian but has been studying in Canada for the last few years. He has just volunteered, in Addis, for the last 6 months and is now travelling back to Canada, with his wife, to finish his PhD. I think he really enjoyed the chance to give something back to his country as well as having a chance to spend time with his wife who he had been separated from while he was in Canada. Another volunteer hosted the party and it was excellent. A delicious spread of food and great mix of music from Ethiopian Pop to Salsa to 80’s Classics. I don’t think I’ve ever danced for as long in my life and my legs are suffering a little today! Because of the language classes and an IT project in Addis there were loads of volunteers from all over Ethiopia at the party and it has been great catching up with people again. I’ve just got a few more days in Addis and then I’m looking forward to catching up with my friends in Ambo and hopefully introducing them to some friends who are visiting from the UK. It is good to be back!