distractions...
on Tara's Ethiopian Adventure (Ethiopia), 31/May/2010 08:13, 34 days ago
I realise I have been a  bit useless recently at updating my blog. My mind has been a bit preoccupied by two things in the last few weeks. The latest Ethiopian election (which I didn’t feel would be appropriate to comment about on the internet) and the fact that I am due to travel back to England for a 5 week holiday in approximately 2 weeks (which I doubt makes very interesting news). It is quite ridiculous how excited I have been getting and I’ve been counting down the days for quite a while now. I often find myself off guard daydreaming about all the things I will do, people I will see and food I will eat when I return. Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this but I have even tentatively packed my suitcase (and I am usually a real last minute packer)! In an attempt not to let my daydreaming totally take over I have been doing all I can to stay busy and distract myself. Hence during the last week I have probably done more work than the few months preceding it and my social calendar has become pretty full.At work I am tying up the loose ends of the Higher Diploma Programme and expecting an influx of completed portfolios, ready for marking, in the next few days. I’ve also been having fun making lots of resources for a new pedagogy centre which is due to open over the summer. Finally, a chance to be creative; cutting, gluing and laminating exciting (well for some at least) ideas for lessons and searching for useful resources on the internet. We have also been preparing for a workshop on‘action research’ where amongst other things my candidates will present their completed action research reports to an audience of about 100. Socially, my last few weeks in country are going to be even more exciting. On Thursday I had dinner with our local EU observers, Friday I had 10 friends round to my house for veggie chilli and games and this weekend I had two friends come to visit from Addis. We took a trip to Wenchi Lake and Crater where we walked at record speeds (the guide was in a rush to avoid the rain) past hot springs, amazing watermills and jumped over 100’s of rivers before taking a boat across the lake just in time to ride horses back up to the craters edge in a torrential downpour. This morning we woke to find our muscles had seized up after jumping all those rivers and so tried to go for a walk in the countryside surrounding Ambo to loosen them up. However, the plan backfired slightly as we found ourselves stuck in ridiculously sticky mud and pulled more muscles wading our way through in flip flops!Next weekend I am planning to buy the remaining books for the library project, attend my friends Hen Party and treat myself to a day of swimming and sunbathing (weather permitting) in Addis. I am then looking forward to spending 3 days at Langano for the annual VSO conference. The conference ends on Wednesday which is, conveniently, my birthday and so we will be back in Addis in time to celebrate with a curry on Bole Road! I have another workshop on Thursday in Addis and then need to travel quickly back to Ambo to help deliver the‘Action Research’ Workshop on Friday. On Saturday we will have a formal graduation event for the HDP candidates and then I head back to Addis to buy some last minute presents and catch a flight  back home!Being so action packed...the next 2 weeks should fly by but I’m sure I won’t be able to keep myself quite busy enough to stop my daydreaming completely! With all this mental build up there could be some worry that England won’t live up to my expectations...but then again after 10months away I’m not really sure what to expect. I’ve been away from home many times before and sometimes had quite a culture shock coming home...but I’ve never been away for this long and I’m not really sure what I’m in for. I am sure, however, that as long as I have family and friends to meet me at the other end, it’ll be fantastic! I’ve missed you...see you soon!