Before I came over to Ethiopia I had not really given a lot of thought to the setting I would find myself in.  Probably a good thing since it all changed at the last minute anyway.  When I first met the Dean of the college in Addis as part of the orientation he told me that it was green down in Adola, but that still hadn’t really prepared me for what I experienced on both the drive down and in the surroundings of Adola.  It is indeed very green and the scenery stretches as far as the eye can see.

The biggest surprise was probably how many trees there are, not least on the campus itself- it’s almost like living in the middle of a forest.  It didn’t take long living here to realise why it was so green- there is clearly some connection with the amount of rain.  Remove from your mind images of life in a drought-struck village, and imagine instead my working on the building of an ark.  The weather has certainly made an effort to make me feel at home, although I don’t really think it was necessary to receive the entire UK’s annual rainfall in two days.

As this entry continues I fear I shall destroy some other images of my life here in Adola.  Living on the campus of the college has certain advantages.  Had you considered that I was living in some rustic mud hut, with thatched roof, then I am afraid I shall have to disappoint.  The construction is concrete and even has several rooms, but panic not- any mental visions of my trying to survive without running water are well founded.

However, this may not be forever.  The facilities are already in place, all that is required is to connect the college to some water source.  This will take only two months.  Sadly it is not clear which two months this will be and the vice-dean confirmed, not too long ago, that it was unlikely to be this year.  Fortunately a donkey does a great job of bringing jerry cans to the college filled with water and I have made firm friends with the young lad whose job it is to guide the donkey.

Now I am unsure how drinkable this water is, suffice to say it is boiled at least once and filtered (although I have my doubts about the filter since discovering particles floating in the lower half of the filtering system).  Often I will boil it again, just to be sure… so far there have been no ill effects – and don’t worry I shan’t go into detail if that changes.

My home is lightly furnished, but comfortable.  I did some rearranging to get the furniture how I liked it, but this has been altered a few times because of my Serategna.

In Ethiopia it is not unusual to have a worker, this is usually a lady, who completes various household tasks, such as cleaning, laundry and cooking.  This is something that some volunteers are keener on than others, mainly from the perspective that it is a chance to put some money into the local economy and help give employment.  In a country where unemployment is extremely high I see this as a good thing.  It also has the added advantage that the serategna can purchase the necessary food items to provide the meals.  Of course this means missing out on the joy of wandering the markets and the shops as well as missing out on the opportunity to pay the special foreigner price…

Naturally it is for all the good reasons that I have made this hiring and nothing to do with my skills in the kitchen or lack of a washing machine…

So far we seem to be getting on well.  She speaks very little English, but has managed to get the stuff done that is needed and I have taught her how to make porridge.  The only thing is she did keep moving my furniture around, clearly I am the boss and know how I want things and am sure I can make this clear with time, but for now I’ll, err, just leave it as it is…