The slippery slope

(Originally written 11/05/08)

 

Nothing much is going on at the moment, college-wise. I am basically waiting (and have been waiting over two months in some cases) for supplies and resources. Until I get these, I can’t distribute them to the schools to allow the teachers to follow up the training by making more displays for their classrooms. Also, I cannot employ college students to make number fans until I have the card and marker pens to do it. It has now been about two months since the training and I am worried that by the time we do distribute the next lot of number fans, the teachers will have lost motivation / forgotten the training. On the other hand, I’m getting a bit of hassle for not spending my budget yet!!! I have been trying but when you order something and nothing happens even when you keep chasing it, what can you do?

 

Added to this, the next lot of training is based solely on a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) pack which I have been waiting to have duplicated - also for about 6 weeks – a part is missing from the copier. So, no booklet, no training and with the schools stopping for exams and then summer holidays in about a month, I will probably have to abandon that project until next school year.

 

On the plus side, I did enjoy teaching again at the local primary school and made some displays for that classroom which I put up on Friday.

 

Celebrations

 

I found out the day before that Ginbot 1 (9^th Ethiopian month of the year which we started on Friday) is St Mary’s day (Jesus’ mum) and this involved sitting outside until late getting bitten by insects, eating goat (which this time I saw being slaughtered*), drinking alcohol and then writing on a list what you promise to get for next year’s one – I put down English sweets and cakes (Mum, remember next year I’ll need a package of cakes and sweets sent out!!!).

 

Yesterday was Ledetu’s first birthday (assuming his actual Birth Day was his 0^th one.) People trickled into the house from about 1pm to 9pm and had coffee, bread, popcorn etc. I was there for some of it. Ledetu is the baby of the family I live with. He is standing for several seconds now.

 

Weather

 

After the recent rains, it’s amazing how quickly everywhere became green again. The grass came back very quickly. Unfortunately it hasn’t raining for a few days now, and the temperature is going up again. It got to 32C in my room last night.

 

Services

 

Electricity has been good for the last week with cuts only lasting a few minutes at the most. Water on the other hand has been only for an hour mid-day, and then only at low pressure. I’m glad I have all my buckets and bowls now, although my washing has been sitting soaking for two days as it’s difficult to rinse without running water. [Additional: Washing goes smelly if you leave it soaking for two days.]

 

Family

 

Well, the honeymoon period with the family (I share the house with) is over. When they returned from Addis Ababa, I gave them a list of house rules (like pouring water down the toilet after using it.) Initially they were good, but then the husband went back to Addis to finish the job he is doing, and his mother and the younger sister (about 13) came to stay – maybe just for the birthday (hopefully!). Anyway, someone has pretty lousy aim in the toilet department, and the younger sister is already bugging me - I have to close doors otherwise she looks or comes in. Last night quite late there was a knock on the door and it was because someone’s phone didn’t work and then, while I was having my bowl wash – completely naked – the handle of the door turns and it’s her again. Luckily, knowing the Ethiopian policy of “open door first, knock later”, my door was locked. Anyway, I’m going to Addis next week so hopefully it will all be back to normal when I return.

 

Magazine

 

I have been drafted in to take the photos and set the layout for the college graduate’s magazine. Apparently to get the pros in costs about 100,000 birr – I’m free!!!

 

Anyway, this may be the last entry for a while until I get back from Addis, especially if I find that there is a car suddenly available at the last minute, the day before I’m due to go!!!!

 

 

*The only sensible way to keep meat fresh after buying it here, is to keep it alive until you need it. This is no different to England 100 years ago. It’s a bit weird seeing a goat get its head sliced off in front of you and the body struggling after that, but you can’t anthropomorphise animals you eat. They are just meat factories: grass or corn in, meat out. In the developed countries that is pretty much what is thought anyway – you just get the pre-packaged meat from a freezer in a supermarket and don’t think about the animal it came from (unless you are a vegetarian.)

 

Additional (added 13/05/08): No water, no power, no telephone

 

The water has now been off for 48 hours (and it was only on low pressure for an hour a day for three days before that.) my reserves are almost gone and I seem to be having a great deal of difficultly getting information about where to get water from. There is one stand pipe actually in the college courtyard, but there was a massive queue for that yesterday (the students share it) and it seems to be off today. Apparently something is broken in the pipe. They’ve sent to Bahir Dar, but it could be a while.

 

Last night there was heavy rain. I left all my bowls out and collected enough to do my washing up that had been festering. Also, I very quickly filled the buckets to flush the toilet from the gutter pipe from the roof. The water was not clean from there, but it doesn’t matter if it’s only used for the toilet.

 

The electricity has been off for 36 hours, and the telephone network, both landline and mobile are out of action.

 

This morning there were about 100 bimbi (mosquitoes) in the toilet room, but when you have to go, you have to go.

 

Did I mention that Shintabet, Ethiopian for toilet, literally means “House of urine”. “Bet” is house, also used for things like buna bet (coffee house) temurt-bet (house of students – school); and “shint” means urine!!!