Simien Mountains

They say the camera never lies, so the pictures below would suggest that we endured hours, if not days, of tough hiking! We didn't! Since we were on such a whistle-stop tour of Ethiopia we took the easy option and drove up through the mountains and went for a light stroll around the summit! We stayed in a lodge and enjoyed a couple of sundowners.

A few of the gentle gelada baboons .... 

A Culinary Tour of Ethiopia

Above is one of my first meals in Ethiopia. Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia fast for an extended Lent period, cutting out all meat and dairy products from their diet. Understandably, the evening before the fasting starts is a huge party night, where people enjoy their last night of feasting on all the forbidden foods. When I tried to order 'fasting food' (the veggie option), I was told I could have it tomorrow. No amount of explaining would get me a veggie meal. In the end, we agreed that we could have a dish with a mixture of meat and veggies. Having had Ethiopian food a number of times, I was content with this, as the sauces normally neatly compartmentalised. But not this time. We were presented with this injera parcel with everything mixed up. I enjoyed nibbling on the omelette on top but was horrified to discover that what I expected to be a tomato sauce was actually raw meat! Even the most hardened carnivores amongst us found that hard to stomach!

Later that evening, we visited a local bar to watch (and tried to join in with) a little cultural dancing. One guy nearly got a slap when he said to my friend 'Do you like touch?' ... The poor bloke was actually just asking her what she thought of the local honey wine, which is called 'tej'! How easily we are misunderstood! 

Saint George is not only the patron saint of England, but is also a bit of a hero in Ethiopia. Churches are dedicated to him throughout the land and the image of him bravely slaying a dragon adorns many a mural. I enjoyed a few beers in his honour too!

Ethiopians enjoy chewing on a little chat, which is said to have a mild euphoric effect. I didn't get that far though as I found it so disgusting that I had to spit it out after a couple of minutes. I didn't fare much better when I tried chewing coca leaves in Peru either! 

Here's a more typical injera dish, where the foods are served separately. Thankfully for me, by everything on this plate was 'fasting food'. My favourites were the spinach and the 'shiro' bean stew. I'm not entirely sure what the cold chips were doing on the plate though!

Addis and Lalibela - Ethiopia

A few photos from my recent trip to Ethiopia. I'm relying on memory as I forgot to take my notepad, but will let the pictures tell the story!

This is the view overlooking Addis Ababa. It's a relatively new city, being only 125 years old and the name means 'new flower'. I enjoyed the clean streets, smooth roads and the cooler climate, due to the high altitude. I wish we had more time there to enjoy a spot of Italian food though!

Some of the most impressive sights were the rock hewn churches of Lalibela. Many of the churches are carved out of a single piece of rock and date back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.  Each church has its own cross (like the one shown by the priest on the photo) and the devout locals go to worship most days. 

It was a proper ABC tour (Another Bloody Cathedral) - am sure my Dad would have been impressed!!

International Day 2012

UK Contingency 

Ugandan National Dress?

Henna tattoos

Today I learnt that you get more exercise from carrying the croquet set up 4 staircases than actually playing the game!

We thought this may have been the world's biggest ever Hokey Cokey - but then discovered that the world record is over 7000 people, so we fell short by about 6500!

Who's the queen? I'm queen!

Ozzies finding a way to surf in the middle of a land locked country in Africa!

Feeling the heat!

You may have noticed that my posts have been a little thin on the ground recently. It's not for lack of trying, but the internet has no been very co-operative of late and has not been letting me write. Humph!

It's been a hot and hectic few weeks. The hottest I have ever known it to be in Uganda. To my knowledge, it has not rained in Kampala at all THIS YEAR! Temperatures in my classroom are soaring well into the thirties, and this combined with a couple of weeks of broken generator make it almost unbearable. I have had to disperse the children into shady and breezy corners in the afternoons just to make it through! I have been trying my best to drink gallons of water to avoid going home with a dehydration headache. Today clouds gathered around lunchtime, but to no avail.

The dry season has brought new challenges to the biking. Gone is the sticky and squelchy mud, replaced with deep patches of sand and dust. What they do have in common though, is that they can both make you wobble and fall off your bike if you're not careful! Today the leaves appeared to have taken on an autumnal tinge, but on closer inspection it turned out to be a thick layer of orange dust! It takes a serious amount of scrubbing to get rid of it too. I didn't quite manage today and when I looked down at my legs it looked like I'd done a really bad job with the fake tan!

We have one more week before we break up and I'm off to Ethiopia. One more place to tick off the bucket list! Plans are for a quick loop around the north, taking in Lake Tana, Gondar, Lalibela and the Simeon Mountains. My friends who have been before say it was one of the most inspiring and amazing holidays they have ever taken. If nothing else, I'm looking forward to a spot off cool mountain air in Addis!

Liberation Day!

Today was Liberation Day in Uganda. A day to celebrate nearly 3 decades of ruling by M7 and the NRM party ...

Today I liberated:

• A few braincells as I had my last glass of white wine around midnight last night
• A couple of hundred thousand Ugandan Shillings from my wallet as I shelled out for a new phone. Last night, I came home to no light whatsoever so thought it would be a great idea to perch my phone on the sink as a light source. It was, until it dropped into the sink and appeared to die. I dismantled it and dried it out as best I could in the pitch darkness, but in the morning it still appeared to be dead. I invested in a new phone that can access maps, You Tube, Facebook, Internet and God knows what else, but have no idea how to make a call or send a text. Old phone now seems to have resurrected itself. Will dedicate time at the weekend to a spot of manual reading!
• At least a million calories on the roasting hot mid-afternoon bike ride
• A few tears as my eyes watered when I got suncream stuck in them
• Much orange dust that was washed down the plughole after the bike ride
• Most importantly, the beautiful bike ride with views overlooking Lake Victoria liberated me from all of the stress of the job fair weekend

Feels good to be liberated!

Teacher Idol ... The Job Fair!

Exciting news ... Ali's Adventures will soon be coming from a new location - Singapore!

I am currently in post job fair recovery, after an incredibly hectic and stressful weekend. I know I got to enjoy a few more bites of Cadbury's and caught up with a couple of friends, but this was no holiday.

For those of you who have never experienced a job fair, it is some kind of cross between a cattle market, speed dating and X-Factor auditions. At sign-up, armed with only a CV, you have approximately 2 minutes to wow the recruiters and convince them to give you an interview. I'm an old fashioned kind of girl - I thought a CV was the way to get you noticed. Clearly, it had never occurred to me to go to the extent of designing personalised chocolate bars, with my own logo and a brief resume on the wrapper. The sour aroma of BS still lingers ...In my view, there were far too many candidates and not enough positions. Being told that there was a 40-60% of walking away from the fair with a job made my heart simultaneously sink and panic.

Once the interviews start, it's an emotional roller-coaster.Painting on the smile for an interview after you've just had a rejection is NOT easy! I nearly went to the pub instead of the final interview, having convinced myself that all the jobs had been given away! What a good job I didn't!

So soon it will be farewell to potholes and power cuts and hello to more sunshine, shops and  Singapore life!