Update

It’s the small rains here in Debre Birhan at the moment. They normally come in February, but this year they are late. The small rains last for a few weeks whereas the big rains, in July and August, last a couple of months. The farmers have been waiting and praying for them, and it’s easy to see where I am that the earth needs it – when I came in September everything was green and alive, now it is brown and dry. I am told that soon it will all be green again. The rain is magnificent here with crazy thunderstorms and lightening. I am still surprised and very grateful that the roof in my house hasn’t leaked. It’s been very strange for me to wake up with a cloudy sky here; it feels a lot like home when it’s drizzly, although mostly it rains in the evening and at night. Needless to say, the rain means that the electricity goes out frequently.

I don’t know if it’s to do with the weather, but there is now an even more limited selection of fruit and vegetables – or if it is available, it’s not good. For example, the bananas and tomatoes available have not been very nice recently. Plus there is a situation with sugar here at the moment (not just in where I am but other places too I’m told.) I can’t quite work out if it’s a shortage or what. Anyway, it has now become impossible to buy sugar from shops. You have to buy it from the Kebele Office, which is like a council office. There people queue for it and then it runs out and they tell you to come later. Very frustrating. Ethiopians love their sugar – in tea and coffee – so they need it. I need mine for my morning cup of tea (though I don’t use anywhere near how much Ethiopians use). I stupidly waited until I’d completely run out last week to buy sugar. I went to three Kebele Offices and for various reasons waited ages, but they didn’t have any. I did manage to find some in a hidden shop where I was secretly sold about two handfuls of sugar for six birr (normally a kilo is fourteen birr). I felt very lawless buying sugar on the black market! But I was lucky because a friend of mine went to Addis so he bought some more back for me.

Work has been going well. The classes with the teacher trainers are going well, though I am unsure if they will complete the course this academic year because we started so late. However, they will be able to complete the course next academic year if they need to. It is also nice to see that staff and students are using our English Language Improvement Centre.

This is one of our student Film Nights with me telling students about the film they are about to watch.

As part of the Gender Club, we are planning a Health Training workshop for females next week Wednesday for 400 females. The tutorial program in which second and third year students tutor first years will also start on Monday next week. The students were very keen to join this programme, so it will be interesting to see how it works out.

I am still taking Amharic lessons. I have been learning the ‘fidel’ or the alphabet of Amharic as well and earlier this week I read my first words in Amharic! I was so pleased. Also when I went to the Kebele Office, I was able to read the sign. Learning a new language has been a great experience for me. I enjoy it so much and will definitely miss it when I return home, but it’s sad to think that I will forget most of what I am learning because I won’t use it in England.