Recently we went shopping. Not surprising you might say, even though it took four supermarkets to gather the few items on our list. The longer we are in Addis the less unusual life seems. We crossed an unmade road to reach one shop where a ditch had been excavated to lay sewage pipes. As I picked my way across the broken paving slabs I looked in the direction of some rather loud crying noises. I wasn’t really that surprised to see a goat, all four legs trussed together, being thrust into an overfull, dilapidated blue and white minibus taxi.

There are still a few things that make us smile though and a few frustrations. Supermarkets like to model themselves on the West. Some label their aisles with the products you might find, however they miss the fact that the products chosen are usually the popular items. We smiled at two notices during our shopping trip: one read ‘cake mixes and jelly’- the surprise - no jelly. The other read ‘toilet roll and sanitary’, not quite PC.

At the meat counter, Phil fancied some hot dog sausages, so I examined the packages and contents. There were two, both originated in the United Arab Emirates, both were halal, both had identical ingredients lists and the sausages looked the same. The difference was that one claimed to be ‘American Hot Dogs’, the other ‘German Frankfurters’, possibly meeting the needs of multi-cultural customers preferences and expectations.

Next time you shop be thankful for the unbroken supply chain that means it is rare not to locate a product easily. I was delighted over the past few months to find ‘Bran Sticks’, kind of similar to ‘All Bran’ if you use your imagination. They were stocked in many places for a while but now it seems they are no more. Whether we will ever be able to buy them again remains a mystery.

Back at school life continues apace. Today was the Middle School Beach Party. I’m always amazed at the ease with which the workers construct a swimming pool on the field from straw bales, wood, rope and plastic sheeting. I don’t know when this tradition began but the students love it. Monday is the ‘100th Day of School’. This would pass by unnoticed in the UK but is marked in a big way in America. We will dress up to look old (easier for me than some), and have a parade. On Friday it’s ‘Crazy Hair’ day. This is a bit more of a challenge as I don’t have much hair, but I’ll think of something.

The word ‘challenge’ is used a lot here – I wonder why?