Quick update

Haven't been on internet as much for the last week so here's just a
quick update...

Both I and D were sick at the weekend - probably from the buffet lunch
in a local place on Friday (Yordanos Blue for those in the know). Turned
out D has amoeba while my test showed up nothing. I may have just had
something viral that passed and I was fine on Monday. D taking
tinidazole to get rid of his unwelcome visitors. I had thought I was
doing well for the first couple of weeks, not having any stomach upsets!

This week, I'm giving some computer training at Mums for Mums
(www.mumsformums.com), a local NGO I help out. I'm giving 6 staff
members training to improve their skills in Word and Excel, with the
objective of them being more efficient in their work. We started
yesterday - got everything set up, 4 computers moved into a makeshift
training room, my laptop and projector up and running...and about an
hour into it, the power went off (in the middle of a massive rain
storm). So we ended up with just my laptop to work off for about and
hour and a half (my time here being limited). But it was useful
nonetheless and the power did come back on eventually.

We did more today and will do tomorrow, moving from Word onto Excel.

Last Saturday, I joined D on his work field trip to a place called
Samre, about 60km from Mekelle. Small rural town surrounded (during
rainy season anyway) by rolling green fields and stunning mountainous
scenery. I didn't get involved in treating the donkeys, left that to the
experts, but I did chat to some of the farmers who had brought their
donkeys along.

Some photos of the trip to Samre are on Flickr at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terriosullivan/.

On the house front, we've had no running water in our bathroom (we don't
have a kitchen in this place) for over a week. Seemingly a problem with
the building - water is coming in and is ok on the ground floor but not
coming up to us on the first floor. The owner is blaming shoddy work by
the contractor (who apparently was a friend of one of the sons in the
US) so maybe not much can be done. Such a shame...a hot shower unit just
sitting there and I can't use it! We bring up buckets of (cold) water
from downstairs and wash using that. For a treat every few days I boil a
kettle (the lights dim when I plug it in...) and have a hot water wash.
What luxury! Hopefully our living standard in Addis will be better. It
could indeed be better here but not worth moving for a short time.

Ishee, beka for now,must finish this and leave!