With holidays a pleasant memory it’s now back to work. We’re eagerly awaiting ‘field days’ at the end of this week. Imagine a Friday and Saturday with the whole school involved in competitive sport. We anticipate using the now levelled field for this, with each grass plant that was lovingly set in its position by hand now growing with vigour.

Thinking back to the holiday there was one small incident that sticks in my mind. It was following a trip to church here in Addis. I was driving home and came to the end of a two way road. As I approached the T-junction, I noticed some strategically placed rocks across my route and some random guys sitting by the roadside indicating that I should turn up a minor side road. This is usually all the warning one is likely to encounter alerting the driver that road works are taking place in this city.

Both sides of the minor road I had turned into were lined with cars as I drove forward. On approaching a junction where I would have turned left to resume my route, I reached the back of a truly enormous container lorry. Try as the driver might he could not negotiate the corner even when at least half a dozen Ethiopian men had appeared from nowhere to assist. The road was blocked. I turned and peered behind me and saw around eight cars that were waiting nose to tail and behind them - another container lorry.

The German driver from the car on my tail was by now pacing the road as well as giving me the benefit of his opinion about the ridiculous situation in which we now found ourselves. It was at this point I phoned Phil to say “I might be a bit delayed”.

I noticed a couple of drivers had been found to move the parked cars nearest the lorry out of harms way, but alas to no avail as the lorry driver inched forwards and back amidst a flurry of exhaust fumes.

I was level with the large double gates of the Sierra Leone Embassy out of which an official emerged and invited me to drive in. As there was a certain language barrier I drove in through the gardens whilst scanning the walls for further gates to allow an exit. With relief I spotted a fairly ancient guard who was hobbling across to open alternative gates set in the far wall. Thus my experience ended, but I would love to know what happened in the end. There was no way the second container lorry would have been able to negotiate the Embassy gardens. I guess I will never find out, however I can say that I’ve visited Sierra Leone without ever leaving Ethiopia and without a passport either.