Thursday 10 December 2009

Life continues at brake neck speed in Addis!

The days and weeks are flying by and I think part of the difficulty in realising that the months are passing is because the weather is eternally beautiful now. At home you realise time is passing as the seasons change but for me here in Addis the sunshine makes it feel like a brief summer. It is great to get up each day and see the sunshine and blue skies...reminds me so much of California...and here too like the first year there you try to pack so much in.

Routine...well I have just given up on that one...it hasn’t happened and I don’t think it really will...the up side is there never seems to be that Sunday night feeling...I never seem to feel like Monday impinges on the weekend...so that is a plus for life in Addis! And those of you who know me well – I have kicked my internet junkie habit.

Highlights of the past few weeks...
The Great Ethiopian Run – an annual 10km run in Addis with participants from all over the world and over 30,000 participants...a lasting memory! The good humour and fun on the streets of Addis was not to be missed. I ran to raise money for the Food Run, a weekly program aimed at feeding 400 homeless people in Addis and organised by Jill Campbell , the year 4 teacher at Sandford, entirely though donations – Addis’s Mother Teresa. Thanks to the generosity of friends and family the current total is £1520...truly amazing and so worthwhile as all the moneys go directly to feeding the homeless as there are no administration costs. Major donations were received from Belmont House School and St Mary’s College in Derry.

Another highlight a three day weekend spent at Safari Lodge in Adama, a town that is growing in size 2 hours south of Addis...a mini bazaar at school to raise money to provide clean water in Sheshamanie...the Artisans Bazaar at the tropical gardens in Addis...sunsets over Addis at Top View...lunches at the Greek club...an amazing barbeque at Mary and Yohansis’s house...great food, great company and great craic!
So life...never dull...often fun...and I am sure the fun will continue when Siobhan my friend from Dublin arrives in the wee small hours of Thursday to celebrate the holidays in Addis. We will travel to see the tribes in the South Omo Valley...

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