As will every other day for several months, my birthday dawned bright and cloudless and, somewhat annoyingly, at 6:30 am. It’s Saturday so laying around in bed for a bit is quite appropriate, until I try to watch the BBC Breakfast News when the Internet does what it often does – the speed oscillates alarmingly between zero and very fast for a couple of minutes then it fails altogether.

Amharic has a fabulous term to describe naughty or cheeky. It is ‘rabash’. This week an animal on the compound could definitely be described as rabash. There are several wild cats that live in the rubbish pit. I have often jumped when emptying a bin and a cat has jumped down in front of me from a dark corner.