The first thing I saw after leaving the airport were the animals. For someone like me who  only has experience with  cities like New York, London, Paris, Rome, and various others, the presence of cows, goats, sheep, cats, and dogs running wherever they wanted across the central city streets was very strange, but somehow, it fit. Goats, sheep, and cows were kept off the road by their shepherds, who would throw rocks or whack them with sticks to make sure they weren't hit by cars. These animals understandably felt pretty free on the roads: there are not very many cars. Along with animals, there were people everywhere. In the middle of the road, on the grassy strip running down the center, on the sidewalk, in front of stores. Some were working in the stores or digging in the grassy strip while others just seemed to be hanging out, doing nothing.

The drive to the Silesian school did not take long. The Abbas were very nice, and we had tea before going outside. There were kids everywhere. They had a full size soccer field (made of rocks), volleyball, and basketball. We were almost immediately swarmed by the younger kids, all of whom grabbed, pushed, and kicked their way to a piece of my arms or legs, and then hung on for dear life. For however long we were out there I was never without about  five kids on my arms or holding my shorts. We discovered that they really liked to be picked up and/or swung around, but this was very tiring because if you did it for one kid, you had to do it for everyone. They also loved touching and investigating me  - pulling at arm and leg hair, pushing my skin to see it briefly change colors, and playing with my hands. We brought out  plastic frisbees, which they loved immediately. Next time we need to bring more. Soon, they had lunch, which was a plate of rice and a piece of bread. We watched them eat for a little while before going for our own lunch in the building where we were sleeping. It was the first of many traditional Ethiopian meals we would eat - injera (flat, thin, crepe-like bread) and sauce, spinach, cabbage, carrots, bananas, and maybe pasta too.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up by hanging out with the kids and playing frisbee.  A little later, we went on a driven tour of the city, and stopped to pay for our flights to Mekele. We also took a tour of a neighboring Catholic compound - the home of our driver. We had more tea. Later, back at the Silesians, we played ping pong, showered,  had dinner,  then  went to bed. We had to wake up at 4:15 to drive to the airport.

When we landed in Mekele, it was hazy. I would become accustomed to the African haze, and I learned that if it’s hazy in the morning, it should rain in the afternoon. It was also pretty flat. We were collecting our bags when Abba Thomas approached us, and we greeted him for the first time. He wore glasses and a clerical collar, and looked younger than his 40-something years. Outside, we put our bags in a Toyota Land Cruiser and climbed in. The first thing I noticed was that my seatbelt didn't work. I had been expecting this, and I think I was secured to my seat only once in the whole month. Abba Thomas noticed us trying to fix the seatbelt situation and said "Ah…it is good to ah…well, here, we are not so careful with our lives." This was encouraging. Two minutes later we drifted off the road and came very close to hitting a group of goats. It was the beginning of an interesting journey to Adigrat.

There were a lot of rocks. Everything was covered in rocks, dust, people, animals, or buildings. There was hardly any grass. What did the animals eat? , the car broke down not long after we left Mekele. Tom noticed the steam and hissing coming from the front end, and we pulled over to investigate. Three teenagers from further up the road walked down to watch as Abba Thomas worked under the hood. He poured water from a bottle into the coolant tank, and one of the kids was sent to get more. The car was thirsty: it drank all the water he brought back, and not long after we started going again, it started steaming and hissing once more. Abba Thomas went jogging off the side of the road towards a muddy pond 300 yards away for more water. The car drank it all again. This happened a few times, but we eventually made it to some town where Abba Thomas knew some of the priests in the parish, and we stopped for lunch before heading over to their compound. A mechanic was called to come up from Mekele, and we drank tea. Then we had a tour, and more tea. After a few hours, our mechanic arrived and said the problem was serious. We would have to have a new car to take us the rest of the way.

Finally, several hours late, we arrived in Adigrat. We put our stuff in our rooms, and got a tour from Hagos, one of the students. He spoke halting English, but more than enough to communicate with us and describe the area. The seminary was a very attractive building in a beautiful compound. Surrounding it were the cathedral, the minor seminary, the building where the Bishop had his office, room, and guest rooms, and various volleyball nets, basketball courts, and gardens.

The  next few weeks were amazing. I think it is very true that we learned more than we taught, and received more than we gave. The students and Abbas were easily the most genuinely kind people I've ever met. They refused to let me carry my own backpack or even a book. Every single person who already had a seat in the TV room would get up when I entered to offer me their seat. Eventually I gave up asking them not to do these things. They all taught me much more about their culture and way of life than I was able to convey to them of my own. We took walks in the surrounding area where I would struggle to climb the steep mountains only to reach the top to see the students were wearing heavy jeans and not sweating at all. Furthermore, these mountains were flat on the top, and people regularly lived up there, so the steep walk was a daily exercise for them. Older men and women did it every day.

I became a much better ping pong and volleyball player, as well as learning boules for the first time. However, almost every student and Abba was much better than me at these activities; I had to learn in order to keep up. I enjoyed not showering for a week straight, and it was fun to sit and read while taking breaks to kill flies or brush away ants. It was hot, but not uncomfortable. It rained almost every day, but towards the end of the summer it became rarer, leading to nervous discussions about drought. There was excellent thunder and lightening whenever it rained.

Classes were hard in the beginning because I had absolutely no idea how to go about teaching English. I didn't have to learn it the way foreigners do, and it was hard to answer questions that began, "but why…?". All I could say was, "it just…well, it just is!". In the early morning, I usually taught them new words. Then after thirty minutes of ping pong, we had discussions about politics or history or religion or girlfriends. In the afternoon, we did written grammar exercises for the first week, then started playing cards or watching movies as fewer students showed up for the afternoon class. Lucky for them, I didn't like the grammar exercises either.

In the end, I don't think I was able to teach them much, but it was still good to get them speaking English regularly. One month of my amateur teaching style was never guaranteed to accomplish a great deal. That just goes to show that the quality of the entire trip is not based on the amount of English they learned but what we collectively learned about each other and grew together. Both teachers and students learned more about each other's culture, language, people, weather, history, and geography, but I think I learned more than they did. I am so happy to have met such wonderful people. I want to go back, or, maybe even get them to come here. Ethiopia is a crazy country, about as far from what I am used to as possible. The trip was an amazing experience and cannot be appropriately described. It just has to be done.

Peter Mellgard

The drive was amazing!  We were out in the country now, it took about an hour and a half.  And it was so green and mountainous and beautiful.  I was jealous of the people who could call this home, who could look out there doors and see what I saw and know it well, as their ancestors had known it and worked on it and fought for it and loved it.  It was a valley full of majesty and history, of beauty and promise; and I loved it.  Abba Thomas pointed out a mountain on top of which was his home and Negasi who had come with us for the ride showed us his house saying “it’s the last one before the mountain there; the last house in Ethiopia.  Everything else is Eritrea.”  That was pretty cool.  He was coming home for the weekend because his sister’s wedding was Saturday.  We dropped him off as close as the road would let us go then waved as we continued on. 

The priest’ house was something else altogether.  Perched on the highest point in the town, constructed of a dark almost slate looking rock in a similar style to a rock wall, no apparent mortar but still very solid looking.  It was really a small compound, a number of different buildings interconnected surrounding a small, breezy courtyard that had a fantastic view of the rest of town.  I love courtyards.  We had a tour before lunch which included their library which was entirely comprised of books which looked at least a hundred years old; I was in heaven with the scent of books –old books even better- all around me.  They had the original printings of the journals written by the first couple of Catholic missionaries to come to the area –and who had actually founded the mission in Alitana- handwritten Bibles I don’t know how many centuries old inscribed on goats’ skin.  Poor countless goats...  and then lunch which comprised the same food as it always seems to and which we were always surprised we never tired of.  Though it didn’t really matter to me because I still wasn’t really eating then, the pills still an ever present reminder and nuisance in my back pocket where I’d put them so I couldn’t forget to take them; sitting on them as I was... 

When we went to the sisters’ house after lunch a crowd of the local kids came running up to us and attached themselves to Peter and Tom, giving Abba Thomas a respectful greeting -and completely and absolutely ignoring me.  I must admit I was hurt.  The boys each had two and one walked in between them perfectly content and seemingly perfectly oblivious to my two perfectly friendly looking and perfectly available hands.  I wonder what was the difference.   The sisters’ were wonderful and we got to meet an Irish volunteer who was there for two months teaching English.  We later met the man who had made the connection and sent him to the sisters on the plane back to Addis –small world.  Back at the seminary we were greeted happily, told we’d been missed and asked if it had rained while we were in Alitana; seriously everyone.  The same three things were asked/ said it made you see just how important rain was to them, and how much this unusually dry summer was worrying people. 

Saturday we spent at the seminary, playing table tennis, reading, talking and annoying Peter as he tried to finish a book by sticking little pieces of grass up his nose and in his ears; and in each others.  Very childish, very fun.  And it wasn’t just me, I didn’t even start it, Hagos did.  Sunday we drove to Axum which was the seat of the ancient Axumite empire, rumoured home of the Biblical Queen of Sheba and one of the supposed resting places of the Ark of the Covenant.  We actually got to see the shrine where it’s rumoured to be.  Only one monk is allowed to enter the shrine and his successor will be chosen by God and shown to him in a dream.  The present monk actually came out while we were there, dressed all in yellow as some of their pilgrims are, he had evidentially been inside for 2 months; we were very lucky we were told.  Not 30ft from where the Ark is supposed to rest, the symbol of the covenant with God; but the glory of God does not dwell in a single place, the Ark at least has taught us that.  Respect but do not revere that which is Earthly.

Along with the Christian treasures, Axum also holds the Axumite obelisks, erected over the burial sites of royalty and nobility.  The largest and most impressive one however suffered from an inadequately sized base and they don’t think it stood for even a day before it came tumbling down breaking into four majestic, tragic pieces.  They have nearly finished re-erecting the obelisk the Italians had taken during their brief control of Ethiopia.  They said it would be finished in two weeks, we’d just missed it.  It started to rain about then so we decided the museum and gift shopping could wait till Monday morning.  We ate at the hotel and I surprised myself by being able to eat, at least a little.  It made me start to think that part of my problem was my mind might be associating the food with being sick and it was my mind that made me feel  nauseous. 

In the morning we ate, then headed back to the area where the obelisks –and we discovered- the museum was.  It was an interesting museum, a very interesting museum.    Not so much for the displays, which were sparce and not too impressive, except for the largest piece of obsidian I’ve ever laid eyes on.  It was about as big as a basketball.  No, the interesting part of this museum was how everything had been put together.  It wasn’t quite fully built or organised yet.  Half the cases didn’t have glass on them and those that did all had the keys in the locks.  The pottery and other displays were nestled in cardboard boxes and other various containers –Peter found a Philadelphia cream cheese dish- and there was a rather large hole in the floor of one room where they believe there might be a tomb under the foundations and just thought they’d check before fully opening the museum.  It was very fun.  They also had a very well made model of the ruins of an Axumite palace which is buried under the middle of the town; I really liked the design of it.  Most of the palace was a rectangle around a central garden or courtyard but then the dining hall, or royal quarters it was hard to tell, in the centre.  It was really cool and different, especially compared to European palaces and castles. 

After the museum we did a little bit of shopping, feeling like real tourists for once, and then piled into the car for the long drive back.  The roads are pretty good for the most part but, they have a subtle and constant bumping which hurts after three and a half hours.  Everyone was really happy to see us again and we’d missed them.  But we could tell it was coming to an end, even in the conversation topics the three of us found ourselves discussing, things like tv shows and European friends started coming up more and more often, it made me sad.  Monday passed uneventfully and then it was Tuesday.  We were going to leave Tuesday after lunch and drive to Mekele to spend the night to make sure we made it to the airport on time in the morning.  We all packed for a little while in the morning, but then found it too depressing so left it till after lunch and went back downstairs to enjoy what time we had left.  We played table tennis and talked and laughed.  And then it was lunch.  We all ate together again in the seminarians’ dining room and the Bishop came as well.  We ate the same things we’d had for the past month and still hadn’t tired of them, then the drum came in and everyone sang for us, a song about having the prosperity and longevity of the longest lived people in the Bible and one about how they hoped we would be well and come back soon.  I was really fighting tears by this point, but managed to hold them off.  Then came the gifts, they’d already given us so much and yet there was more; never have I met a more generous people. 

They had gotten each of us a set of their formal feast attire, all white and beautiful.  A dress for me with the most incredible embroidery all down the front and a shawl they call a ‘netela’.   Peter and Tom’s feast clothes are white, a tunic reaching to their knees and white trousers.  Very stylish.  We decided to wear them on the plane ride home, it seemed appropriate that since we’d come to Ethiopia looking like westerners, we might as well go back to the west looking like Ethiopians –or as much so as we could. 

Leaving was hard, very hard.  Everyone was outside, we took pictures, we hugged, we smiled and promised we’d come back.  Negasi climbed into the front seat having made up an excuse of having to see a doctor to come with us to Mekele.  Abba Thomas sat in the middle with Tom and I on either side.  Everyone waving, we drove away. 

I slept most of the ride, and missed a camel caravan they said we passed along the way.  I was mad; I’d fallen in love with them in Axum.  We wandered around Mekele before dinner, walked up the hill to the memorial of the Tigrinia Liberation Front who were the main rebel force that ousted the Communist Party, thought they were also one of the smallest rebel groups, having started with ten men and five guns.  We spent the night in the hotel, Negasi stayed in Tom’s room.  In the morning we all got dressed and wandered down to the lobby quietly, all dressed in our new Ethiopian clothes.  From the moment I left my room everyone I passed stared or did a double take to take in my outfit.  At the airport they didn’t seem to trust our bags –or their scanners- and had us put our stuff through twice and then went through it by hand as well.  We checked in when they finished and tried to eat but the three of us couldn’t really do it. 

We were met in Addis by Hagos’ uncle who is the head of customs.  The family ties in Ethiopia are so amazing and in my opinion should be spread through the world again, especially in Europe and the States.  It creates such a connection and deep feeling of community when you are that close to so many of your relatives.  He bought us all a drink and wouldn’t hear of it when Tom tried to pay.  Then he took us to the front of the check-in line and walked us to the customs line.  He was wonderful.  Our plane from Addis to London was tiny, but it was one of the smoothest flights I’ve ever been on.  We had a lazy decent over London which I always love being able to watch.  And then a massive customs line, a long wait for our bags and finally we walked out to the pickup area. 

By Friday though, I knew I was still sick, the antibiotics Abba Thomas had given me on Monday (the same as Peter and Tom had had) just hadn't worked.  I tried to call home uncertain if I should start taking the antibiotics I had brought with me since they are mainly for bacteria rather than amoeba which is what we all thought I had; but the line was busy.  So I admitted to Abba Thomas I was still not really feeling better and while upset that I hadn't told him earlier,  suggested we go to the clinic in town which we did and it was determined that I did indeed have the same thing as the guys.  Since the medicine they had been given hadn't really worked for me, the doctor suggested something a little stronger to be taken 3 times a day.  Which has so far worked much better than the first prescription. 

Saturday was Tom's birthday and while they were all planning on going on a hike up into the mountains to an Orthodox church, I had been running around all week searching for ingredients for Carrot Cake.  They have very little butter here, though a lot of cows, have never heard of cream cheese so i was settling for a butter milk icing, baking powder we found at one of the Sisters' houses, cinnamon and vanilla took awhile as no one was entirely certain what it was at the seminary, but when we asked at the supermarket -which is really just a counter with shelves behind it- they pulled both out for me.  The powdered sugar we couldn't find but the ladies in the kitchen ground regular sugar for me into a powder!  They also skimmed off the cream from the top of the milk every morning and kept it so we could (try to) make butter.  Saturday morning as the boys all left I entered the domain of three of the most wonderful ladies ever to live.  Abba Moses introduced us then left us to it.  We peeled and shredded 6 cups of carrots.  When we had a tray full I used a drinking glass as a measuring cup and we had 3 cups, she held up 3 fingers questioningly and I shook my head and held up 6, she raised an eyebrow and we went back to work.  We got to grind the cinnamon as well which was really cool, though she wouldn't let me do much of it, laughing at me when I first tried the giant mortar and pestle. 

The cakes in the oven, we started on the icing.  We took the cream and shook it until we had a good amount of jello-like butter.  We mixed it together trying to keep the consistency rather than using the recipe and it seemed to turn out alright -until I tasted it.  It was sweet but the milk and homemade butter added a definitely off aftertaste to it.  I wouldn't go so far as to say it was bad just not right.  We used it though as there was nothing else for it.  The cakes did quite well in the wood burning stove, and though they didn't come out of the pan in one piece, they looked edible.  By then it was time for lunch and Abba John, Hagos and I took the truck out to meet everyone else as they came down the mountain.  We ended up eating under a bridge on a dried river bed which was perfect as it was shady and flat.  Lunch was a fabulous affair which the hikers especially appreciated I think.  After we returned and I finished icing the cakes, very nervous now about how they had turned out.  After dinner we all gathered in the tv room for a coffee ceremony, cake and games.  The coffee and the games were a huge success, but I have to say it was the worst cake I'd ever made.  The cake itself was fine, but the icing just hadn't turned out.  Peter said it was alright though, and they seemed to enjoy it so I guess I'll have to be content, but I will always view it as a failure I think and want them to taste real carrot cake.  The rest of the evening was a success.  The games all turned out to be hilarious practical jokes and everyone seemed to really enjoy it, especially Tom and Peter which was the best part. 

Em

We stopped in the last town before the first church and Abba Thomas asked one of the local boys if he knew where the priest with the key for the church was.  The boy ended up climbing into the back of the truck (we were in a pick-up) and shadowed us the whole day.  We continued toward the church and he got out at one point and ran into one of the houses to bring back the priest and the key.  With both of them clinging onto the back we bumped along the unpaved road up to a cliff face and stopped.  By that time we'd acquired a number of small and large shadows who led the way up some rickety but surprisingly sturdy hand made ladders to the ledge on which the church was perched.  This first church wasn't entirely carved out of the rock, some of it was built around it as well but it was still awesome.  Everything was tiny though, the main door came only half way up my torso -I'm not really sure how Peter even got through- the whitewashed walls leaned slightly and the inner door came up to my waist.  It was beyond this inner door and on the actual rocks that we found the paintings.  Outside the back we had a bit of a surprise when we found two uncovered tombs with the various bones lying around in a corner.  It took me a second to realise this was the first time I'd seen human bones in real life when there wasn't at least museum glass separating us.  It was cool. 

My stomach ache was turning into cramps by this point and getting worse, but I've had slight pains on and off since we came so I ignored it.  After the third church we found a little clearing in some farm land for our packed lunch which reminded me of family trips where we go to the supermarket and buy little snack foods for lunch; and then off again.  By the time we got to the fourth church I knew something was actually wrong with me.  The cramps were worse and really painful by now so I was happy this was our last church, as cool as they are. This one was across some grazing land and had been carved into an already existing crevice in the rock.  Unfortunately no one could find the priest so we couldn't go inside, but we were able to wander around a bit which was awesome.  Tom discovered another open tomb which kind of freaked him out because one of the skulls lay so that you could see inside it.  The boys then climbed up higher to see more of the view while I stayed and sat with some kids who had found us and tried to breathe normally. 

On our way home, we stopped by a Sisters' house and clinic for tea and met the Parish Priest.  I was still in denial that I was really sick, hoping a good night's sleep would cure me of anything, but I couldn't eat dinner and word started to get around that I wasn't feeling well. Everyone asked me how I was and what was wrong and if they could do anything.  And when I walked into the tv room after dinner everyone clapped as they stood up to offer me a seat.  It was REALLY embarrassing.  As I went to bed a little while later, Abba Thomas offer me a hot water bottle which is probably the only reason I survived the night.  Never has being sick hurt so much.  Normally I'm just miserable and feel sick but this time it's painful!  I didn't get much sleep and by morning was beyond denying I was sick.  I staggered into Peter's room at about 7 45 and collapsed.  He made me a 'cocktail' as he called it which ended up being a litre of water, a rehydration packet and concentrated mango juice.  It's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted!  Like warm ocean water that someone tried to make into fruit juice.  I also took a parecetamol and 2 of his left over antibiotics.  And I'm now sitting in bed wrapped up in as many clothes as I can find while everyone else is working on English.  But I do feel a little better.  And I've already had a number of visitors, for all that it's nine in the morning...

Em

The afternoon was mainly evaluation and we assigned them some exercises which I knew my group would struggle with, but I wanted them to try.  I was also coming up with a list of possible vocabulary themes so each night they could have a list to learn and then in the morning we would go through them and play a game or a dialogue using the words.  The first one, which I gave them today, is introductory phrases and greetings, both formal and informal.  Then it was dinner with the Abbas and the 'Great Escape' in the evening.  Again I knew most of my group wouldn't be able to follow most of what was going on but luckily this just happened to be one of the films I brought down with me so this morning in our second session after spending the first hour and a half on grammar, we re-watched most of what we'd seen the previous night, this time with me pausing to explain and them sometimes asking questions.  It was good, and gave them a break from grammar.  We had our tea break with them this morning as well instead of with the Abbas which I think works better.  Then lunch, volleyball and more grammar.  We again went through the Present simple and present continuous.  I never realized how hard it is for a native speaker to teach their own language!  If you speak English, you just know it, you know what it grammatically correct by how it sounds, you don't know all the names of the different tenses or the exceptions or why something is written as it is, it just is that way, but then you sit down to try and explain it and you (or at least I) just can't!  I tried though, looking for patterns that show you which tense or conjugation to use where but some of them just make no sense.  Such as 'Now I see what the teacher means'.  Because it uses 'now' it should be in the present continuous, but that would mean conjugating 'see' as 'seeing' and in no way shape or form would that ever make sense!  And I find myself -to my horror- thinking of my french classes from highschool, not only because of the names of the tenses but also because of the looks of frustration I can see on their faces when they don't understand and no way I explain seems to make it clearer for them.  I hated that feeling, when I knew there was a reason, I knew I had it wrong, but I just couldn't seem to understand how to make it right.  It was always the worst feeling in the world, the feeling of total inability to understand or complete anything.  And it's killing me to see it on their faces!  Yet I can't seem to explain it in a way they understand.  I'm thinking of maybe making a little booklet of tenses and their rules for them, so they'll always have them and can read and learn them in their own time when there isn't the pressure of a teacher figure -however much I'm trying not to fit that description- sitting in front of them waiting for them to answer because no matter how patient a teacher is, the fact that they're their waiting, expecting only make sit worse and I hate that I'm now in that position to see their discomfort. 

On to happier thoughts now.  The culture here is amazing!  Everyone we've met is so polite, so hospitable and courteous.  When I went into the Tv room last night for the film, most everyone was already there and all the obvious seats on the couches were taken, then all of a sudden every single on of them stood up and offered me their seat.  All of them.  Peter said they'd done the same thing for him.  I really don't like being the centre of attention, especially when I've done absolutely nothing to deserve it and this was just too much, I swear my face must have looked like a tomato.  And when we went in for tea with them they sat us at a different table and wouldn't hear of us getting our own tea.  After we watched Great Escape, Filmon carried my laptop back to my room for me even though I'd repeatedly said I could carry it and my arms were empty.  The Hagos (There are six of the seminarians named Hagos) I was sitting next to for the film was telling me its just their culture, for every guest and every senior, this is how they act, it's how they show respect,  hospitality and gratitude.  And as much as it may make me ever so slightly uncomfortable I don't want to make them feel that I want them to change for me but at the same time I don't want to just let them always have their way if I'm uncomfortable.  It's a thin line to find, let alone walk. 

But now it's stopped hailing so I think everyone will be outside again soon so I'm going to go!

Em

And outside we went, but not for more sports, we went into town and the three of us got split up into different groups and each had a different tour around town by different people.  It was really great!  Woldesegasi, Hagos and Hagos took me around and we ate cactus!  The little prickly pear fruits of the surrounding cacti (there are so many cacti here it's unbelievable!) There are women standing by the side of the road with buckets full every day and you eat them by the dozen.  I had four I think.  They're good, but kinda weird, almost like a pumpkin and a mango combined and the seeds are hard enough that you can't really bite through them but no one else was spitting them out side I had to try and chew around them which made it interesting. 

After the cacti eating session we wandered through the centre of town, then up one of the streets, turned left and followed it back parallel to how we'd come.  We meandered back past the high school and then back into the Cathedral, seminary compound.  We talked to whole way and they pointed out different things like the richest man in Africa's hotel, different bars, some of the shops and boutiques.  And they kept asking if I was tired, afraid that the elevation might be affecting me.   But it was fine. 

Dinner was the same as it has been every night.  The food is actually alright, better than some of the college food I've had this year, but it is always the same and I think that might get really annoying by the end of the month.  After dinner we finished The Great Escape. I sat next to Abba Thomas and he talked the whole way through it was hilarious, he's worse than I am -and I'm pretty bad. 

This morning it was glorious out, a little overcast but the sun didn't seem to realize that and shone just as brightly.  Our shower has been leaking so that's being fixed which meant I had to get creative to control the frizz which is my hair, but I think it ended up alright.  We went outside to the benches between the basketball and volleyball courts and when asked if they'd rather do more grammar or some vocab they said vocab.  So we paired off and started doing dialogues of meeting people for the first time and asking introductory, small talk questions.  It started a little slow but soon really picked up.  I'd correct them if I noticed something wrong but mainly stayed in the background.  It degenerated into just a question and answer session which I joined in on and they asked me about everything from dad's name to how they could improve the living standards and third world status of Ethiopia. 

Tom had suggested a game the previous night using questions and Boulles so we soon picked that up where the team who won the point could each ask the other team a question.  We went from the rights and wrongs of celibacy to your favourite colour and everything in between.  It was really fantastic and I could really tell that they were enjoying themselves and improving right before my ears.  We didn't quite finish our game before lunch but after tea in their dining room we went right back out and continued.  After we finished the game (and another one after it) we returned to the benches and got out the cards.  They'd taught me a game similar to gin yesterday and we played that with a few alterations.  Every card you discarded, you had to take its first letter (so if it was a six, 's' or a queen, 'q') and think of another word that started with the same letter.  It worked really well and they got so into they'd be saying five or six words for every card.  It really helped for them to recall words they didn't necessarily know they knew, and they know some really good words! 

When we went in for lunch, or rather were waiting just outside to be called for lunch, some of the Abbas were interrogating them about what they'd done this morning -nicely.  And even speaking to the Abbas they were clearer and more confident and calmer about speaking; it was wonderful!  Lunch itself was uneventful, except for we discovered that every Wednesday and Friday is a fast so no meat, which is fine by me.  It was thundering and sprinkling all through sports so we accepted defeat and went inside for the afternoon session where we again played cards because Filmon had been missing in the morning and hadn't gotten to play.  We changed the rules this time though because we were starting to reuse some words (especially 't' and 'f') so now it was the letter after whatever letter was on the card (so for six 't' and for queen 'r') which livened it up again.  Then we went through the vocabulary for tomorrow, directions!  We're going to play a game in the morning where we blindfold one and put a water bottle or something  on the basketball court and then direct him to it. It's another one I stole from Tom, but they've seen his group playing and were excited. I'm thinking I'll add obstacles as well to make it harder, but we'll see. 

Right, they're at the Cathedral, so I'm going to have a nap!

Em

Well the directions game went over REALLY well yesterday!  They're still a little hesitant but they know what they're talking about when they say something.  We played in front of the cathedral since the basketball court was taken and it was much more fun; more room to move around and much more interesting when you're blinfolded than a simple flat surface.  It's also right where everyone can see us though, so we had a large audience. They really really enjoyed it though.  We used my umbrella as the object to be found and hid it all over the place down the stairs, in a tree, in the bushes, over a fence, up the stairs and through a gate, the list was endless.  But the more creative the hiding place, the more creative the directions s it was good. 

For the second session we retired to the benches between the basket and volley ball courts and discussed famous people.  It very quickly degenerated into Bible characters but that was fine because they had a lot to say about them and we spent the entire hour and a half talking which was amazing!  And the improvement is just phenomenal!  Their confidence is so much higher, they're not nearly as afraid, they correct each other and jump in excitedly when they know the answer.  They're friendly and happy and chatty, always asking questions and telling me the word in Tegrinia (local language) that I tell them in English. 

And then after lunch I played boulles with a couple of the Abbas and a Hagos or two which Pete and Tom were playing volleyball and the daily thunderstorm began to brew overhead.  Then about 2 30 we all went inside for afternoon tea -they put even more sugar in their tea than I do in mine!- and upstairs away from the rain one last game of cards and then the telling of our lie stories!  From life stories we moved to amusing childhood stories.  At four Pete, Tom and I went with Ngassi and Big Hagos to Ngassi's cousins house for a coffee ceremony Ngassis had been telling us he would do for us all week.  He found me the second night we were here and excitedly made me promise that he could be first in showing us how a coffee ceremony was done in Ethiopia.  The house was simple but really had all it ever needed.  A window with a curtain, a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling, a bed in one corner and another opposite, a coffee table with a couch and four matching armchairs, a tv, a table full of all the cooking implements and a large rug covering most of the cement floor.  His cousin greeted us and sat us down then set out a small tarp and put a little cooking stove on top with and small, long handled pot on the coals.  In the pot she roasted the coffee beans then crushed them and poured them into a long necked pot to which she added water and placed back over the coals.  Ngassi explained that there are three stages to a coffee ceremony, meaning three cups of coffee, each very tiny -the pot wasn't very big.  The first stage is where the coffee is the strongest, then she adds more water to the same beans to produce the second stage, and again for the third stage.  It was the best coffee I'd ever had -and I don't like coffee, but this was good- possibly partly due to the amount of sugar added, but who cares, it was amazing!  They had home roasted popcorn as well and we watched the second half of a very bizarre film about a french army deserter who gets lost in the desert and befriends a leopard, very strange, wouldn't recommend it.  The whole thing took nearly two hours and was probably the best evening we've had so far.  We wandered back to the seminary via a bar for a quick beer before dinner -a pint cost 6 bir which is a rough equivalent to 20p.  The beer was really quite good but I didn't have too much, the elevation I knew would make less count for more.  Though I do think it made me a little tired because I could hardly keep my eyes open during dinner and had to skip the news which seems to be a nightly tradition -one I like- and go straight to bed; at about 8 45... 

This morning we played basketball with adjectives.  Every time they missed a shot they had to give me the synonym, antonym or definition of an adjective we'd learned yesterday.  It went well. We also went over sayings for different occassions like Christmas, and a birth or graduation or death.  Then very nice overly sweetened tea and the second session was spent again playing the directions game, but this time whenever they bumped into someone they were asked and had to answer three questions; one in the past, one in the present and one in the future.  Tenses are one of the things they struggle with most, so it was a good game and again they really liked it.  They're boys, how could they not enjoy blindfolding and directing each other around? Poor Hagos had to climb over the dirt piles and through the trees.  When we ended for lunch I discovered that Peter had been taken to the hospital earlier because he'd been throwing up all morning and then found when Tom didn't show up for lunch that he had the same thing!  They came back and said it was only a minor bug.  They'd given him some pain killers, antibiotics and some rehydration sachets, told him to keep warm and get some sleep.  He'd be better in the morning.  The same went for Tom.  I was sitting there trying to figure out what they'd eaten that I hadn't, and couldn't come up with anything so had to assume I was next.  But so far I'm fine, so I guess I'll just have to be extra careful and be thankful I seem to have a stronger immune system.  Since we were down to only one teacher for the afternoon, we piled into the tv room and watched what claimed to be "Witness for the Prosecution" but ended up being nothing of the kind.  It was a murder mystery, but so far it has little of Agatha Christie's style and most definitely isn't witness for the prosecution.   It generated a little discussion anyway so that's fine.  Both Pete and Tom are resting so that's good and they say they already feel a little better so that's great!

Em

Bonjour world,

We are nearing the end of the craziest day of all time. To say that it was a new experience would not do it justice. First though, I'll get you all up to speed after Em's epic post a few days ago.

Yesterday was very sunny. In the morning we met with Abba Thomas to talk about how we would go about filling 4+ hours, 5 days a week with constructive English learning. We decided to focus on speaking while using old English exercise books for grammar and writing. After that we had tea. I have never had this much tea in my life, and Ethiopians like it with lime and sugar, no milk. I've also started drinking coffee sometimes because we are pretty much in the coffee capital of the world. Then we decided to take a short drive a little ways outside of Adigrat to a missionary church/residence where two sisters lived. It was called the house of St Justin, or something like that. St Justin was an Italian missionary who came in the 19th century and was known for his caring attitude toward the locals. His fellow Italians disliked this approach and wanted to more actively recruit the natives to Christianity, and St Justin became afraid for his life. Abba Thomas regards him as one of his favorite saints. We took a short walk behind the mission house which went up to a plateau inhabited by numerous small rock houses and one amazing tree perched on the edge of the cliff, growing straight out of the rock. The sister told us it had been there since St Justin's time. Em and Tom got pictures. While walking on the plateau we were mobbed by kids, girls, and women who were fascinated by the cameras. Em and Tom had to take so many, and after each one everyone crowded around to see the result. It was hilarious. We wandered for  a while before making our way back to the seminary, and soon Abba Thomas came again to see if we wanted to meet the Bishop. We went to his office and talked for a while about everything from Dr Radcliffe to why Colgate was named after a toothpaste company to what Adigrat used to look like. He took us up on the roof to have a nice view of the city. Apparently 15 years ago, it was much smaller. Then, dinner, then TV with the students - their satellite is bad sometimes, and we had to watch Kung Pow - Enter the Fist in stop and go connection...very frustrating. Then Evolution came on, and I went to bed. I finished my first book about Agent Zigzag, or Eddie Chapman, a British double agent who offered his services to the Germans when they took over Jersey in WWII, was trained by them, given the task to blow up the factory making the British Mosquitos (which, amazingly, were made out of balsawood), was parachuted into Britain north of Cambridge, and immediately turned himself over to MI5. He played an important role in much of the deception confusing the Germans throughout the early 40's, and was even awarded an Iron Cross by the Germans for his services. He must have been pretty convincing. Also, he had an insatiable appetite for adventure, and was dropped by MI5 because when he was bored, he strayed into an "undesirable" lifestyle. He made a lot of money from rigged dog races, including one time when he and his brother made £250,000 when they fed all the dogs, except the one which had odds of 20:1, fish soaked in chloretone. It won by 10 lengths.

Anyway, today we woke up, ate breakfast, and then had all 17 students, 3 teachers, and Abba Thomas gathered together to discuss the plans. We all introduced ourselves, said our hometown, favorite sport, and English proficiency level. Based on their judgement of their English, we split into 3 groups. Em had earlier volunteered to take the beginners, which was a relief to Tom and I. I called the experts. My group stayed in that room and talked about English restaurants, steak and ale pie, handshakes, beer, and random other things. I was very nervous and lost all my ideas about what to talk about. Luckily, these experts were pretty good, but not quite fluent. At 10 we had a break. Abba Thomas, Tom, Em, and I talked about what we had been doing so far, and it seemed my group was the only one that stayed inside. So, at 10:30, we went and sat under a tree in the minor seminary. This session went much smoother as we became accustomed to each other. We each told brief life stories followed by most embarrassing moment. I told the one about falling off the risers. Ngassy, who is already very good at speaking English, told us about a time when he was taking a test in high school when the girl next to him pleaded for help on hers. He was too nice to refuse, and switched papers. When the teacher collected everything at the end, and his had a girls name on it, Ngassy was forced to plead for him not to tell his the other teachers, which would have ended in expulsion. He was successful, and ended up 2nd in his class. He never talked to the girl again.

Eventually we made our way back for lunch, followed by several hours of volleyball, soccer, frisbee (which turned out to be a fantastic success, they all love it...except that the frisbees are really getting beat up), and boules. Everyone is fantastic at all of the above, especially volleyball and boules. They can also throw the frisbee better than some people on my team at Colgate after only an afternoon of teaching in sign language and much gesturing. We met again for a little to see what they thought of the first day and outline our plan for the week, which is still sketchy. After that, more volleyball, then a shower, and here I am. We are going to dinner....about now...and watching The Great Escape after. Tomorrow we'll ask a few questions about it to see how well they understood. Em and Tom gave homework from the exercise books, but I told my class we would do it together tomorrow. Time for dinner!

Peter.

Balmy weather, sparsely green hills in the distance and in the minority of the skin colour, everything was just as it should be. We climbed into the back of Abba's truck and immediately found ourselves disobeying one of the key rules we had been instructed to follow before we left England 'always wear your seatbelt'.  There were none... But we made it through the winding capital alive.  Africa was just as I'd remembered it, entrenched in Africa Time, each person at their own pace, lots and lots of little booths selling everything you could ever imagine wanting or needing -or not- and a completely mind boggling juxtaposition of what always seems to me to be almost a medieval living standard combined with post-modern materialism and lifestyle.  Totally bizarre and wholly unique; I loved it.  

A 20 minute journey through pedestrian traffic, unmarked and sometimes paved roads, u-turns, goats crossing the streets in the middle of the capital, human traffic lights and much more we pulled into an unpaved drive, through a gate and into the school complex where we'd be spending the night.  Primary through high school kids and all very curious to see who we were.  They crowded shyly around the bus watching us timidly while we unloaded.  We put our stuff in our rooms and went down for some breakfast and tea before grabbing a frisbee and heading back outside.  After a short tour of the main buildings of the school trailed by silent shadows, we collected on pavement and started throwing.  We quickly had 20 or so kids clambering to catch and throw, whether or not they actually knew how.  A few brave ones asked 'what's your name' always the same opening question.  We had a few diversions of throwing kids into the air, being towed off to see the house they were building in the gravel of the football pitch and stopping to see the shirts some were embroidering to sell to older siblings who worked in the market.  A second disc and a football soon joined the fun and Peter and I had the treat of being herded off to one of the classrooms where we were introduced to the students and they sang us a song; I swear every African is born with an innately beautiful voice and a truly marvellous gift for music.  They were soon all rounded up for lunch of fresh bread and rice .  They're all happy, healthy inquisitive kids, though the language barrier usually forced us all to resort to hand gestures and speaking really slowly -though it made no difference- after 'what's your name?  I managed to nearly win a game I had no idea of the rules for until the girl in the middle smiled tentatively at me and I returned it questioningly and was informed through their sudden laughter that the point was not to laugh.  Oh. 

We had lunch with the teachers and staff; polenta, beets, tomatoes, meat and a pancake bread I can't remember the name of.  I had some difficulty eating a lime smelling, orange tasting fruit but still managed to enjoy it.  After lunch we could all feel our eyelids closing and our feet dragging, but we returned outside.  The kids were really great, they followed you around, asking questions and chattering about you to everyone around them.  I was sitting on a bench with some of the subs for an impromptu volleyball game when the girls decided they were really interested in my hair.  They proceeded to take it down, brush it, braid it, unbraid it, rebraid it then unbraid it again and then rebraid it again and again in all different styles, tiny little braid close to my head, loose braids, a few big braids, braids that zig-zagged across my head, everything you could think of and they really enjoyed it.  So much so that when Peter came to find me saying we had to go get our plane tickets for the morning I had a 1/3 of my hair in yet another style of braids and the rest of it standing up at the most ridiculous angles. 

How I love hats, they can make anyone respectable.  And so with my hair shoved up under my hat we all went back into Addis central. Tom and I immediately fell asleep in the back, the motion of the truck too tempting to our jetlagged minds. 

In the travel agency Abba seemed to know everyone.   We sat and quietly observed as wads of money exchanged hands for tickets and I admired the yellow roses sitting in a vase in front of me.  They're probably the most beautiful roses I'd ever seen.  Then suddenly one of the two men behind the desk whom I hadn't even noticed leaving appeared by my side with 10 fresh roses saying his sister had a booth nearby.  Completely scarlet, I thanked him profusely and wondered how I would get them through the flight. 

Flights sorted, we took a small tour of Addis but by then all 3 of us were just beyond exhausted so Abba stopped by the seminary and we got to have a tour of that and then some truly wonderful  tea and coffee.  It worked wonders!  We're now all waiting for dinner,  Abba and Abba are strolling back and forth murmuring together contentedly, Peter and Tom are playing Table Tennis and the other three students and teachers have slowly drifted off after a checkers game.  And my first proper thunderstorm in years is slowly moving on.  So happy to be here!

- Peter