It has been an interesting week… and I haven’t even left yet.  On Thursday I received an urgent message from VSO telling me I needed to contact immediately and for a moment I thought that I wasn’t going to be heading out after all.

When I finally managed to get in contact with my advisor I was told…”don’t panic, but there is a problem with your placement.”  However, I was also told, “you are still going out to Ethiopia on Saturday, but you might not be going to Bule Hora.”

This is the second change of location I have had since first hearing I was going to Ethiopia and each change has brought me to a slightly more obscure location!  The latest place has a brief commentary on wikipedia and mention is made of a nearby gold mine.  I shall probably only find out where I am going for certain at some point during the next week while we are training in Addis Ababa.  I say probably because there are no certainties, but that is of course part of the adventure.

The bags are packed and I am ready to go. I don’t know how I managed to fit in all the stuff I have – anti-malarialls, first aid kits, clothes, solar showers.  Probably won’t even end up using most of it and certainly intend to come back lighter than I leave.  The uncertainty has meant packing for as many eventualities as possible.  Thankfully the generous baggage allowance of the Ethiopian National Carrier has allowed for this, although I may come to regret it at the other end when I have to carry everything myself.

I realised, I think, when I wrote my first entry that it was going to be a long goodbye, and it certainly feels that way.  I am glad to have been able to catch up with so many friends the last few weeks and if I haven’t managed to see you, then I regret that it has not been possible.  You’ll just have to come out to visit me!

The next time I write here I will be in Ethiopia and this already adventurous journey will have begun for real.

7 hours to the plane, 15 till I land…