I'm here

After all the planning, preparation and the highly stressful last couple of days trying to pack everything and completely set up and restore my laptop, I am now in Ethiopia.

Yesterday: With all the last minute reloading of the computer, I finally got to sleep at 0600 and woke at 0700 so I was just a little tired! I got to the airport after a couple of hold-ups on the M23 and M25, checked in, in plenty of time, had a last drink with Mum and Dad, said our goodbyes and went through security. Luckily, my bag wasn't searched – there were a lot of gadgets in there!

The plane left a bit late (about 1500) and our first destination was Beirut (Lebanon) to re-fuel, change crew and off-load a few people. After that, the plane seemed to mostly contain VSO Volunteers and we could spread out. There were 20 of us, 10 more arrive tonight, then 12 more on Saturday. I managed to grab some sleep.

The plane had LCD screens and you could either watch one of seven movie / comedy channels, or choose programmes on demand which kept me busy. On one channel you could see the flight status and a map of where we were which was very good. We mostly flew at 10000m and the outside temperature was about -50'C! I had my pressure sensor watch with me. I reset it to 0m at Beirut, and when we climbed after take off, the pressure in the cabin dropped to an equivalent altitude of 2100m. (That's what makes your ears pop – also I noticed when we had a snack that the packet of crisps were blown up like a pillow because the pressure inside the bag is much higher than in the cabin!) My ears didn't pop landing at Addis Ababa as that actually is at about 2100m. (see below.)

I flew over the coast of Africa at 21:27 (BST) (the first time I have been in this continent) near Alexandria.

I will now use Ethiopia time (ET) which is GMT+3 (which means at the moment it is 2 hours ahead of Britain and in the winter it will be three hours ahead.)

We landed late - after 0300 (ET), so 0100 back home. I thought it would take ages to complete all the formalities, but ours was the only plane in, and the airport is fairly small. It was very quick (maybe 10mins) filling in a form and going through immigration – (they let me in!), then baggage claim was quick, and through customs (I didn't have to fill in any forms, they let me straight through) to meet the VSO staff with their big sign. We didn't get any hassle as there wasn't really anyone else about.

Next we went to a bus which was taking us to the university campus we are staying at. It was all done up at the front with flowers and pictures, like a shrine. At first it could've been the UK – the road signs have the same pictures and were in English, then I saw a petrol station where the illuminated sign looked just like a BP one, but all the prices were in Amharic characters. Also, we had to slow down in a number of places where there were huge holes in the road.

We got to the university at around 0530, collected our cases and two big bottles of water and went to our rooms. They are university staff and student accommodation. There is a lounge downstairs and a small kitchen, and upstairs a bathroom with flush toilet, shower (which only does cold at the moment – one of the pipes is broken – may get fixed tomorrow – could be a cold shower tonight!!!)

My room has a table (which I am sitting at now), two big lockable wardrobes, drawers and a door to a balcony. There are no curtains anywhere so I have to be careful changing with the light on!! But basically this is a very gentle cross over into Ethiopian culture. After a quick wash and doing my teeth (remembering to wash my brush and mouth out with the bottled water – it was hard as I kept reaching for the tap) I basically crashed into bed and put my earplugs in. There is a busy road about 100m away, and I heard the first "call to prayer."

I woke a few times, but eventually at 1030 when I heard the downstairs door unlock, someone walk up, unlock my room and (without my glasses) I saw a blur which peeped in the door and said "sleeping." – I found out later it was the cleaner.

As I mentioned before, the pressure is lower here because we are much higher than at home (my GPS says 2050m) and I have felt a bit dizzy every now and again. At sea level the pressure averages 1000mb, but here, this morning is was 794mb (so there is 20% less atmosphere here between me and space!)

As I mentioned, at the moment I could be in a training centre in England, but there are a few things I noticed that make it different:

1. Out of the window I saw a bird with a long curved beak sipping nectar from a flower (not as fast as a humming bird and bigger.)

2. I went outside after a quick sort and locking stuff away at midday. Then I noticed the sun almost straight above me (as I am near the equator.) My shadow was tiny.

3. There were a number of ant trails, they are black, but much smaller than the ones in the UK.

At lunch it was very nicely set out and I had my first taste of injera (the national bread made out of keff – a kind of wheat. It is rolled up like a toilet roll and you unroll it and use it (with your right hand) to pick up the meat and other food and then you eat all of it. The injera has a sort of vinegary taste. I'll have to get used to it, as it will be my main diet for the next 2 years!!!

Then we had a welcome from the head of VSO Ethiopia and a coffee ceremony – incense was burnt and we all had a cup of the very strong Ethiopian coffee.

Using my GPS, I have the co-ordinates of my room. For those of your with Google Earth (or similar) the coordinates are: 8d51.389m N 38d48.248m E (in Google Earth you enter: "8 51.389'N 38 48.248'E"

That's it for now. We are going to visit the capital tomorrow then have two weeks of training including language and customs. Stay tuned.