Departure Time 1935

While I sit at Addis Abeba Bole Airport waiting for my return flight, I thought I would make another entry.  It may not be the last as I expect to share photos, videos and stories after my August tour.  However, my time as VSO volunteer here is nearly over. 
 
I left Abi Adi 2 weeks ago and after spending some time in Mekelle organsing cars, hotels and maximising my return stay, I travelled to Addis.  Here I have been completing my exit visa, police clearance, exit interview and settlling accounts.  I type with mixed emotions as I remember some incredible times but I am more than looking forward to returning to the UK and catching up with everyone.

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The Final Cut

Baring in mind the previous entry, some of you may be wondering where I am at.  Well after a number of conversations, decisions and thought processes, I shall be leaving Abi Adi this weekend and will not be transferring to another placement and therefore shall return to the UK on July 2^nd after completing my exit process.  I shall then return with my brother on July 22^nd to tour Ethiopia until the end of August.  I am very much looking forward to seeing as many people as possible in July and apologise in advance if I do not get around everybody.  My reasons for leaving are complex and not really appropriate to explain here, but rest assured I am happy to explain fully when I return to the UK.

 

Since arriving in Ethiopia back in September, I have had an amazing experience, one which I will never forget and will also struggle to ever put into words.  Although there have been stressful, boring and even lonely times; overall I have fantastic memories and ones I will never forget.  While I have started reading more, begun drinking coffee and learnt even more about computers; I don't think it has changed me greatly as a person but I will let you be the judges when I see you in person.

 

Finally to the people who have emailed, posted and thought about me this year.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart and will forever be indebted to your kindness.  You cannot imagine the positive vibes you get from seeing Inbox (1) in bold or seeing your name in the post office ledger that records every parcel that arrives.  I would like to extend the biggest thanks to my brother who has transferred money, organised a huge amount of paperwork and generally sorted loads for me back home.

 

And to finish off:

 

·     Happiest moment:  sitting and sharing time with many college colleagues.

·     Saddest moment: making the decision to leave

·     Funniest moment: dancing to Tigrinya music – I will share these skills

·     Weirdest moment: jesting on a scheduled power cut that the power could return any second – and it did!

·     Most useful item brought: discounting my laptop of course, non-stick frying pan

·     Most useful item I did not bring: Fish slice – essential for non stick

·     Most useful gift before leaving: solar shower

·     Most useful gift I've received: myriad of sauces and spices for cooking

·     Holiday Work music: Teddy Afro – you will be introduced

 

See you soon :-)

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This is the news

On 7 May after my VSO meeting, I declared my intentions for my second year.  However, since then I have decided to make alternative plans and shall be leaving Abi Adi this month.  The current plan is to return to the UK in September or transfer to another placement in Ethiopia for my second year.

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New flavours

Recently I have been making the following new items from scratch:

 

·     Various cakes: (Carrot cake, Banana cake and Lemon cake)

·     Chocolate Biscuits

·     Thai sweet chilli sauce

·     Lemon juice concentrate

·     Bread rolls

·     Hash browns

·     Guacamole

·     Coleslaw

·     Mayonnaise

·     Dried garlic and chilli

·     Yorkshire Pudding

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What a load of rubbish

Back in the UK prior to my departure I tried to recycle as much as possible.  Paper, Cans, Glass and Plastic all found their way to the local bank.  Unfortunately there is no such system in place here.  Let alone recycling there is a distinct lack of care for the environment.  I regularly witness paper simply discarded in the street.  Teachers on our training at the weekend throw their biscuit wrappers onto their school playground.  The grounds surrounding houses are littered with bags of rubbish.  Paper is sometimes burnt, plastic bottles are often reused by people, particularly by shoe cleaners and for transporting oil and kerosene.  However cans, glass, plastic bags and anything not wanted is always thrown.  Thankfully, a new teacher to the college has started a petition to collect money to tidy up the place.

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Eggs, oil and salt

I may have lost a certain amount of weight, however, I think my increased intake of eggs, palm oil and salt should counteract any benefit I may have achieved.  Bacon sandwiches, sausages and a rare steak will be first things ordered from the menu when I return.

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Summer Plans

For those not already aware, my brother and fiancé shall be visiting over the summer.   The college dean has approved me spending the holidays touring Ethiopia.  The basic plan is to take in 10 sites in 5 weeks starting from July 21.  Part of the trip is to the Omo Valley where Lou shall be joining us before she returns to the UK.  I've opted for flying as I've had enough of buses as day journeys really are not that much fun anymore.  Hopefully I will have a vast amount of photos, videos and memories to share.

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Mosquitoes

The mozzies are back and this time they mean business.  Until now they have remained a lonely breed.  A quick spray of KillerÔ or hand splat put paid to them.  However now, each morning when I open the curtains I am greeted with a swarm of buzzing irritants.  Unfortunately they also seem to have developed an immune system to even the most vile blend of chemicals known to man.  

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Patience

From the title, you may expect an entry about my increased tolerance or difficulties being faced.  In fact, I wish to share with you my exuberance at finishing Mahjong Titans – a game included with Windows Vista.  I am sure my mother and I are not the only people addicted to the occasional marathon session of Solitaire on the computer.  I imagine that "Just one more game" or "Until I get them out" have been spoken many an evening.  After setting myself that very same challenge I was treated with the immense sight as shown below.  Needless to say I halted the celebrations and clicked "New Game" straight away.

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Sentence Construction

Following on from the language week we had, I decided to share some translation with you.  I thought about this issue during the Research Conference when presenters talked about translating instructions from English to Tigrinya and then translating student responses back to English.  It occurred to me that this may cause some irregularities, particularly as I am aware of the different sentence structure between the two languages.   Therefore, I decided to put it to the test.  I am interested to know if other foreign language specialists believe this to be the case with teaching other European languages.  The result is close enough to understand having seen the original sentence.  However, I believe it shows that children not just learning English, but learning in English must think and create sentences in a very different way to that of their native language.

 

Step 1 was to write a sentence in English.  For step 2 it was translated into Tigrinya, then step 3 was to write the literal translation of each word back to English.

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Power Off

I know I have mentioned the power many times before but still.....let me put it simply.   For the last two weeks we have had no power every two days from 6am-10pm.  Only half of them were scheduled!

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Fund for Furniture

The fund for furniture, of which the t-shirt lottery was part of, provided its first classroom this week with new tables and chairs. 

You can see a video of the class singing here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM3056FJnuE

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Draughts

To my knowledge, unlike here, draughts is not a big game in the UK.  While I am familiar with the rules, I've never considered it particularly skilful.  Recently I have been watching them play the game in the lounge.    Although some of the rules, not surprisingly, are different; they are able to play very fast and beat me every time.  Someone has tried to explain to me how to make better moves but I am still completely lost.

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Sharing skills again

I'm not sure it's what VSO had in mind when they said "sharing skills, changing lives" but I spent this evening introducing some of my colleagues to a true American burger.  They wanted, I quote, "to get fat" as they had read about burgers.  So they enjoyed their first freshly baked rolls filled with a cheese burger, topped with crispy lettuce, freshly squashed tomato ketchup, mayo and fried onion – with a side order of Cajun fries.  That was a tasty burger!

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Annual Research Conference

This weekend saw the college's 5^th Annual National Research Conference.  The two days compromises a number of selected research papers on educational matters such as "ICT in Language" and "Entrance Assessment criteria" that are delivered to invited guests.  It is compulsory for all teachers to prepare an annual research paper, even if the research is filed away in a store and fails to bring about change.  I supported a few colleagues with their papers and presentations on IT and statistics.  Each presenter has 20 minutes to share their research which is often backed up by a presentation consisting of every page from the printed version read out.  I plan to work with my counterpart next year on a paper about "Using ICT to enhance the curriculum".

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Mariam Gnbot

Yesterday we celebrated Mariam "Mary" Gnbot , which is always the first day of Gnbot .  Actually it is more of a party than remembering St. Mary.  Traditionally it is a celebration shared with friends as opposed to family.  Although I was fashionably late after returning from training with a flat tyre, I was quickly in the middle of an auction, bidding for a chicken and eggs.  Traditional food was once again very much firmly on the menu, except this time the meat was ox rather than goat.  A few glasses of whiskey and everything was in full swing.  The party finished later on as the men sat down to watch Liverpool v West Ham as the women cleaned up,  Some things never change eh!

 

P.S. Thought it was time for another photo.  Still working hard.

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Abi Adi Champions League Final

Having developed my style of play since primary school playground, I found it difficult to match the skill of my fellow teammates today.  My second turnout of the season saw my position switching from left back to right back, although there was just as many potholes on the other side.  Our opposition, from the local high school, were once again organised and showed no sign of fear before the game; as we practised with 8 players and no ball.   Quickly grabbing 3 students we lined up and went through the obligatory waving to the crowd and team photos.  With a trigger-happy Norwegian referee the game ended being fairly irritating for both teams.

 

We went into the second half trailing by a goal to nil after a cross field free-kick saw a high school teacher head in at the far post.  A quick turn around was required with light failing, so after essential fluid was taken on board and a few comments by me regarding overuse of the long ball game we started the second half.  Eager to take the game by the scruff of the neck we equalised after a teacher booted the ball, no.. lobbed the keeper from 50 yards.  Twenty minutes later our winner came from a free kick inside our own half, which was received and slotted home by our PE teacher.  I guess that's the last time I give team talks.

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VSO Meeting

My initial "after 3 months to see how I am settling in"  meeting took place this week after 7 months.  My programme manager arrived from Addis to discuss progress, problems and "potentials" for next year.  He was pleased with the work I have done and is happy for me to continue for next year.  The three major tasks I have been working on are: networking the computer lab, updating all the computers and training in Office.  There was a possibility that I would move over the summer to a different placement but as I am happy here and there is potentially work to do, I have declined.  Unfortunately, due to delays with the World Bank money aka GEQIP, most of the purchasing development has had to wait until next year.  Also, with the staff turnover so high, I'll have just as many new recruits for training next year.  Still I have learnt loads more technical stuff for myself.

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SuperBug

No not Swine flu.   "I have been bugged" was the email subject heading.  Normally I would immediately send this to junk.  However, after a quick check of the website, I realised it was based in Sheffield.  So with no sender attached, I have my suspicions who may have sent it but I am not 100% sure.  So here is the bug with a quick resume.  Any information to the usual.

 

"The sprackybob's body is hairy for warmth and has stripes for warning off predators.  It can sting more than once.  It has large furry antennae for detecting mates and does not need to eat.  It also has long legs adapted for jumping.  Grooves on the legs allow it to communicate with others.  The sprackybob has super strength for fighting, lifting and carrying food or nest material.  It also can spin a web to catch prey and can travel using silk strands."

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Lottery

Thanks to my mother sending out a pair of Manchester United T-shirts, I have decided to hold a lottery with one as a prize.  The proceeds will go towards another project which is purchasing tables for a local kindergarten.  At the moment, children aged 4 are sitting in U.S. university-style adult chairs with a small shelf on the right hand arm to write on.  You might expect tables and chairs made locally in a workshop to be quite cheap, it is going to cost about £300 to kit out one.  classroom.  Although not impossible, colleagues back home will agree that it is far from ideal; limiting group work, active play and it is nice for your feet to touch the ground!  Thankfully everyone here supports one of the big four (no offence - Everton and Villa fans) so even the students should be able to afford a 1 Birr ticket. 

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Kitten Update

The kittens have grown up fast and are now causing havoc around the house.  They are eating for themselves and enjoy a good fight in between entering pillow cases, going under bookcases and down sofas when finding attractive places to sleep.  Currently we are trying to find accommodation for them.  People like to have them for their mouse catching abilities.  Any takers? Will post!

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Another bus ride entry

The whole "bus leaving a town" scenario for me is quite familiar now.  Waiting for it to fill before it leaves, people staying on who are not planning on going, children saving seats is all normal.  However, what I will never understand are the few people who choose not to walk another 200m to the bus station to get a seat; but wait down the road for a bus to pass hoping that there is an empty seat still onboard.  There never is! 

 

Despite previous entries, having now driven 3 of the college cars, I fully admire some of the drivers.  Although all of the buses are old, some are very much in their "classic model" stage.  And like UK cars, old is not necessarily a sign of being unreliable.  For my Easter journey, the bus did not even have a radio.  Colleagues had not been keen for me to travel on such a bus, but as we overtook newer broken down buses and reached Mekelle quicker than normal we felt reprieved for our decision.

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Life in Semester 2

While life here was slow to begin with, daily life has all but stopped.  A busy student computer training timetable leaves little lab time to train the staff.  I currently have 4 hours work a week – all in the last hour of the day.  While that sounds great, it also means I am not able to travel around as much.  The World Bank money that was due last October has arrived; and after submitting a proposal to spend some money, I have been told that it has been significantly reduced.  With no money to spend, no time to train and the power going off one day in every two, nobody even has a chance to damage or corrupt the computers for maintenance.   Still I am making good use of my time; trying new recipes, preparing school ICT materials that will be useful when I return and watching too much National Geographic.

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Happy Easter

No, I'm not a week late.   It will not come as a surprise to regular readers that Easter here is celebrated at a different time.  One week later in this case.    So last weekend I headed off with many other colleagues to my regular holiday destination – Mekelle.  Even on Friday at 6am, the excitement was noticeable on all faces as people boarded the bus with their goats, chickens, stereos and best clothes.   Throughout the year, it is typical for people to donate change to small churches along the way; those contributions went up dramatically this weekend.

 

Like the UK, Good Friday is a holiday; as is Easter Sunday which is the end of the 55 day fasting season.  55 days?  the "traditional" 40 day fasting of meat, dairy and for some people this also includes conjugal rights, was extended 15 days by a king who felt the people needed some time to think about him.   Of the other common festivals (including Christmas and New Year), Easter is the biggest, being celebrated in much the same way we would celebrate Christmas.  Even the last minute purchasing of sweet and biscuit collections was at every shop doorway.  Not so familiar is the streets covered in discarded goat and sheep skins.  For a change everyone (not just ferenji) is faced with groups of children, roaming the streets, begging for money and food. 

 

Everyone heads off to their family home and invites friends around to eat and drink all day.  It is quite common to be invited to many houses on Easter Sunday and stay for an hour.  I visited four.  At each house, your plate is piled high with injera and wat and a glass filled to the brim with Tella, followed by 2 or 3 cups of coffee.  Everyone appeared to be watching a music festival on TV, sadly no Queen's speech or classic film.

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What next?

When will the bad news ever stop?  A number of volunteers have recently become ill or been involved in incidents.  Someone has been airlifted to Nairobi with heart problems, another with suspected malaria is back in Addis and a third (in a different country) involved in a serious road traffic incident.   I guess probability states there will be clumps of events or is it simply that things come in threes?  Either way, my best wishes to all involved.

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The last few days

How can I describe the last few days?  I have started writing this entry a number of times so will just go for it.  Sadly, after a terrible car accident, my counterpart's father died this week.  He had been flown last week from Mekelle to Addis to receive spinal treatment but apparently little could be done.  They even considered flying him to Kenya for treatment.  Within a few days, another teacher's father also died suddenly this week.  Following that, as much as I understand, some shocking news about a teacher in Abi Adi, who stabbed and killed his wife after an argument.

 

I heard when I first arrived about how a public bus can be diverted and stop at a house for the passengers to get off and show their respect.  It is traditional (both culturally and compulsory) for staff and students to visit, on mass, the grieving family's house.  There they will sit in silence for about 20 minutes and then leave.  I have recently attended three of these "wakes".   Although not dressed in black, both men and woman, will often wear "shash" material, like a shawl, over their heads.   A family may often stay in the house for a week waiting for people to visit.  Close friends of the relatives are also expected to stay with the family for some time.

 

Over the last six months I seem to be far more aware of people passing away.  A large number of teachers have had parents die while I have been here.  Life expectancy is around 45 and the infant mortality rate is 1 in 10.  The obvious factors are HIV, difference in medical care and higher road traffic incidence.  It is yet another reminder that while my focus here is to improve ICT, most people have much greater responsibilities and issues to deal with than I am familiar with facing.  Understandably my training seems of little importance.

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Guess what these phrases mean?

Yegreta

Baka

Allo

Tsegem Yellem

Yeken-yeling

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Puzzle Time

k t l C r o c h a i

m S W O h a k o k n

a a H M d o g r E o

k b y I i s o a E r

y a o D N u m m H a

a n n E n Q i o S c

t y i R i w U c N a

o t f O s a d I A m

y a n u h b e e R a

s w o l k a r i A T

 

1.        Aranshee

2.        bany

3.        Beera

4.        Bhuna

5.        Chai

6.        cho

7.        Comidero

8.        Dinnish

9.        ergo

10.     fino

11.     Karia

12.     lows

13.     macaroni

14.     Makyato

15.     MaR

16.     My

17.     Nkokahow

18.     Shinquirt

19.     soft

20.     Suqwa

21.     tsaba

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Drink Up

Tea – Chai,

Coffee – Bhuna,

Milky coffee – Mak-yato,

Water – My,

Tea/Coffee Mix – Spris,

Ginger Tea - Kashir

Milk – Tsaba,

Beer – Beera,

Sugar – su-qwa,

Yoghurt - ergo

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Off to market

Potatoes – dinnish, onion – shinquirt, tomatoes - comidero, honey - MaR, eggs – Nkokahow, chilli – Karia, cabbage - gomen. 

Orange – aranshee, Lemon – lomin.  Oh yes and banana is banana.

Peanut - low-S, Pasta - macaroni, Bread – bany, Flour – fino, Salt – cho, Toilet Roll – soft.

There are also many items that are sold by their brand name.  e.g. Pepsi,

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Breakfast and Dinner

N-kok ahow fir-fir – Scrambled Egg

N-kok-ahow Sils – Egg / Tomato mix

Fata – Bread, Berbere, onion, tomato, yoghurt and egg

Full – Tomato and bean served with bread

Kitcha fir fir – tortilla wrap ripped up, fried and mixed with berbere and yoghurt

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Tibs – Frieds goat chunks and chilli

Ky-wat – lamb curry

Doro-wat – chicken curry

Be-ay-natoo – vegetarian mix of salads, rice and lentils

Shiro – chick pea sauce with onion and berbere (chilli)

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Numbers Up

1 – hada, 2 – kilta, 3 – selesta, 4 – arbata, 5 – hamushta, 6 – shadista, 7 – shawata, 8 – shamunta, 9 – Tshata, 10 – asseta

20 – isra, 30 – solasa,  40 – arba-a, 50 – hamsa, 60 – sissa, 70 – seba-a, 80 – samenya, 90 – teas, 100 – m-iti, 1000 - she

e.g. 45 = arba-a hamushta

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Some Greetings

I thought it was about time that I shared some local Tigrinya language with you.  So over the next few days, I will add some useful words to learn; particularly if anyone comes to visit.

 

·         Seulam "Hello"

·         Dahan duha? "How are you?"  (or as they say in English – "Are you fine?")

·         Kamay laha/lahe/lakum "How are you?"

·         Igzabea-yamusgan "Thanks be to God."

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Conquer

Aim

Conquer is a card game, played with two packs (including jokers), loosely based on "Rummy".  The aim of the game is to collect your hand into tricks of 3 or 4, either of the same number or a straight.  The four suits are: ©lib (hearts), ¨diamonds, ªspears (spades) and §trees (clubs).

 

Joker

Before the cards are dealt, a player must designate a new joker.  After the pack is "cut", a player must use this card to support their decision for selecting the new joker.  e.g. 6§ - "one up" is 7§, "one down" is 5§ or "opposite" is a red 6.  For the following game, the new joker acts as any card needed by the holding player.  However, the actual joker card takes the face value of the new joker.

 

Dealing

13 cards are dealt to each player, except the dealer takes 14.  One of their cards is "thrown" at the beginning to start the discarded pile.  After the cards are dealt, a player may declare "monte" (makes cards meaningless).  This is a request to all other players that cards are dealt again.  However, all players must be in agreement.

 

Rules

·         The player to the right of the dealer must take from the face down pile and then reject a card to the discard pile.  It is not possible to take a card from the discarded pile until you have at least "41" in your hand (see below); or if you require the top discarded card to complete your tricks and win the game.

·         A player must collect their hand into tricks of 3 or 4 that total 13, i.e. 3+3+3+4.  A trick may consist of the same face value number (although not identical as two packs are used) or a running straight from the same suit.

·         A player may produce 3+3+3+3 or 4+4+4; only if they are able to use the final card in another players' trick.

 

"Double" Games

·         If a player's final card to throw away is a new joker and therefore not being used; they can declare a "double game" and score 2 points from each player.

·         A player may choose to collect pairs e.g. 2+2+2+2+2+3.  Each pair must be the same number and colour, e.g. 9©9¨.  However, they may not take from the discarded pile even if they have "41".

 

 "41"

The total value of your hand is based on the card value of your completed tricks of 3 or 4 only, where A=1 or 11 and J,Q,K=10, e.g. 8ª8©8¨=24, 4§5§6§=15.   When this state is reached and you wish to take from the discarded pile, the complete tricks must be placed down on the table.  From this moment, all players are able to add their cards to the tricks.

 

Scoring

The winning player takes a point from each competing player.  Therefore after the first game, if there are 4 players, the winner is on 3 and each losing player will be on -1.  When a winning player, wins a "double" game, they take 2 points from each player.

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