I went for my first horse-ride this afternoon! Bashiir, one of the guards at the College very kindly came to teach me the basics - how to fit the saddle, how to tie the rope around the horse’s head to act as a bridle, how to get the horse to move faster (“Chi”) and stop (Shhhh!) and how to tie the rope to his leg at the end of the ride. I had such a great time. I have, after consultation with some Ethiopian colleagues, named the red horse “Daamaa”. I wanted to call the white horse “Bakakaa” which means Lightening [View Full Entry]

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Initially as a joke, I had suggested to the College and to VSO, that the College should provide transportation for me next year - in the form of horses. I argued that it would be difficult to ensure that one of the College vehicles would be available whenever I wanted to visit local schools (in my role as Cluster Coordinator providing training and support) but that it would also be more environmentally friendly. To my surprise people took me seriously and the idea was planted. Today, after lunch, Kedir who is my counterpart Cluster Coordinator next year, came to my office [View Full Entry]

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There is a major problem in Robe - it is not possible to buy ground coffee, which almost constitutes a state of emergency, in my opinion. Having spent much of Monday (a public holiday) searching the many shops in town, I finally realised that I would have to do it the Ethiopian way! Luckily, I have been to a couple of coffee ceremonies lately and took the opportunity to watch closely and ask questions. So … this morning I went to the market, as usual on a Thursday, and managed to buy a roasting pan (I knew what to look [View Full Entry]

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There is a major problem in Robe - it is not possible to buy ground coffee, which almost constitutes a state of emergency, in my opinion. Having spent much of Monday (a public holiday) searching the many shops in town, I finally realised that I would have to do it the Ethiopian way! Luckily, I have been to a couple of coffee ceremonies lately and took the opportunity to watch closely and ask questions. So … this morning I went to the market, as usual on a Thursday, and managed to buy a roasting pan (I knew what to look for) [View Full Entry]

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I was invited to Mengesha’s house for my first taste of “tella” the local beer. Ever since the Robe CTE Tour, we had talked about the fact that I had not had an opportunity to try it. Today was the day! I was, unusually for a Saturday, at work. The last session of the Higher Diploma was held on Thursday, and as the Moderators from Dilla are due to visit on Tuesday (and Monday is a holiday to celebrate the Downfall of the Derg”) I wanted to go through the Candidates’ portfolios to see what they are missing. Gizaaw telephoned to [View Full Entry]

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I was invited to Mengesha’s house for my first taste of “tella” the local beer. Ever since the Robe CTE Tour, we had talked about the fact that I had not had an opportunity to try it. Today was the day! I was, unusually for a Saturday, at work. The last session of the Higher Diploma was held on Thursday, and as the Moderators from Dilla were due to visit on Tuesday (and Monday was a holiday to celebrate the "Downfall of the Derg”) I wanted to go through the Candidates’ portfolios to see what they were missing. Gizaaw telephoned [View Full Entry]

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I then had to return to Addis for purely social reasons - months ago we had arranged to meet up to celebrate Grace and Mary’s birthdays. And what a social whirl it turned out to be: a house-warming party at Teresa’s, Holland House for a reggae band, then Divine night club (all on Friday night after 12 hours on the bus); Shola Market, lunch, Liza’a house for afternoon tea, out for a pizza on Saturday; and swimming and lunch at the Ghion Hotel on Sunday. On Monday I was working - a talk on road safety to the VSO Programme Office [View Full Entry]

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A week after my triumphant bus journey, I was again on the road, returning to Addis after a week of illness. VSO and Tesfaye decided that I should go for medical tests after 2 clinics in Robe found nothing wrong, and the hospital in Goba couldn’t deal with me as it was a Sunday. Tesfaye was going to Adama for a workshop that afternoon, so again I got a lift in the College car. Tesfaye, Guta, Darajee and Mengesha insisted on sharing the back seat so that I could travel in comfort in the front. VSO were also excellent and arranged [View Full Entry]

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Having managed to only visit Addis once since coming to Robe, three times in a month seems a little excessive! Once for a workshop, an unscheduled week due to illness, and a long-planned weekend to celebrate Mary and Grace’s birthdays. The first time, I managed to get a lift in a College car that was going anyway to the capital anyway. I had not been looking forward to the bus journey, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity. Having been told that we would leave early on Monday morning, it came as something of a shock to be phoned at 6.30 [View Full Entry]

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David and Nadia, friends from Addis, made the journey on The Road, with their Daughter (Nina, over from the UK on holiday) to visit Robe. On Friday, we went up to the Sanetti Plateau. We were up in the clouds and visibility was very poor, but it was amazing - driving in thick fog one minute and then it would suddenly lift. It did mean that, for the first time, we did not see wolves. Luckily, they had seen one on the way through Dinsho on the drive here. In the end, we decided that the visibility was too bad, and [View Full Entry]

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