Home sweet home...

Things still haven’t really settled down but it is a more enjoyable rhythm then before. My paper process is running at its end. With Dr G driving me up the wall because he felt I should be doing things whereas the school doesn’t allow me to interfere. Due to a meeting in the ministry of education we are behind schedule which won’t be a problem for my visa but does mean I didn’t give the summon to GYA on time so the court may be postponed… .
Last weekend the 20th or something was fun. I hosted couch surfers at my home. 3 crazy guys from about my age: a Welsh one, German and South African. The last did his masters in London and is now returning. The welsh guy is joining him and they’re driving his 4X4 all the way to Capetown. Can you imagine from London to Capetown!?! They have a lot of fun stories to tell and saw some interesting places. They have solar panels on the roof of the jeep and try to raise money for a charity that wants to provide people in desolate regions with solar energy because the lack of electricity tends to intensifies their poverty. If you want to read about their adventures www.overlandandintheSun.com . The German is also involved in charity and is doing the trip from Germany to Capetown by motorbike. He’s currently joining them while his bike is being fixed. His site: www.fernwehge.de .
They were good fun, we had some delicious meals and did a daytrip to the lakes at Debrezeyt. Sadly enough I couldn’t go swimming because the water’s not safe if you’re not being treated against some disease and frankly the leech my feet attracted when I was paddling put me off. Still it was great to eat cheese and guacamole sandwiches at the shore.
In my class and with the colleagues all is well. My students are very adorable and say the funniest things: We were describing people and they said their previous teacher had a green nose. My wage and housing is arranged through the board more specifically through the senior manager, Sisay. He’s Ethiopian and not nice to me, may be because his kids are going to GYA ( not all the staff members are allowed to have their children in the school…). The head of primary, John Lane, was absent so I saw my new flat with him and his assistant and when I pointed out things that should be taken care off I got an inappropriate answer. When I told Mr Lane he apologised and even his assistant told me he felt his boss was out of line. Result: I have moved into my new home but where all the other teachers get a clean house mine is/was really filthy. This because Sisay wanted me to hire a cleaning lady of his choice, probably someone he owed a favour and got angry when I explained I already had someone doing my laundry and that I usually cleaned myself.
The place is starting to get cool though. I rearranged all the furniture yesterday, washed out most cupboards, unpacked and started cleaning the bathroom which was the filthiest. I’ve never missed Mr Proper this much in my life. There are hardly any cleaning products here so your result depends on your effort. Plus I managed to clog the bathroom pipes when I was trying to get rid of dirty water which made me unable to shower after cleaning. So now I’m waiting for the school plumber. It wasn’t exactly the start of my week off I had hoped for but the result _when I finally finish_ should be well worth it. I’m really excited: It’s so enjoyable to have a fridge again (after more then 2 months) and there’s an oven, a table to eat at, space in the cupboard, a good bed/mattress, a sofa, A sink in the kitchen etc. The flat is on the third floor and in the fancy tourist neighbourhood of Addis. It has a pretty big terrace and an extra bedroom with double bed which I’ll use to host people. It will be so nice! There are some things which aren’t exactly stylish such as the curtains which are extremely ugly and the painted kitchen cupboards which no matter how hard I try look dirty but hey I’m willing to put up with it. ( I may go all out shopping for matching scarves to use as curtains. Textile here is rather pretty plus affordable.)