Lest I give the impression that everything here is straightforward, this week there were sewage problems in KG and the laundry that we use for our washing was flooded. In addition, at the opposite end of the building is a little souk (shop) which sells chips, bread, popcorn, washing powder and loo rolls. As the fabric of the building is made of mud, the water leak caused the ceiling to collapse. Lying in bed at night and looking up at the sewage pipe that runs along the wall just below the ceiling above my head I couldn’t help but wonder…

On the education front, I am becoming familiar with my crazy, fun packed timetable which is as flexible as a piece of rubber at this time of the year. It is refreshing however to have the freedom to deliver lessons with a Christian worldview and I have had some lovely conversations with children during library sessions in particular.

The ‘Bingham music night’ was held this week. It was for Grades 1 (Y2) to Grade 8 (Y9). The quality of music teaching here is very good, I feel qualified to say this not just from experience of schools in the UK but also because our apartment shares a wall with the music room (mud is not very soundproof)!

We have been here three and a half weeks and here are a few things that I no longer take for granted.

• Being able to print a document when you want to.
• Being able to take fresh milk straight from the fridge (rather than mix in the powder)
• Being able to open your mouth in the shower.
• Being able to set the oven temp according to a recipe (My electric oven is numbered 1-10)
• Being able to send a text on the first or second attempt.
• Being able to rinse your toothbrush in water from the tap.
• Being able to cook lasagne and be confident that the electricity won’t fail halfway through.
• Being able to use credit and debit cards to pay for things.

One morning before lessons I walked around the perimeter of the campus collecting leaves and kindling for the wood burner (Phil’s fire building skills are becoming legendary). I walked to where there is a door in the fence to get back towards the school buildings. The handle (which was more like one you would find on an internal door) had been broken off near the pivot. As I balanced my fire supplies and tried to manoeuvre the handle stub unsuccessfully, an Ethiopian worker came running up from the stream where he may have been washing. He held a piece of plastic pipe with a slot in one end that fitted over the stub and effectively brought the mechanism back to life. We exchanged greetings and thanks and I was left wondering if there was an identical piece of pipe for the handle on the reverse side of the door which was in a similar sad state.

We have visited a Kaldi’s Coffee shop. There are now several of these across the city. They are owned by a parent at school. They are a copy of Starbucks even down to the logo. Phil and I ordered ‘tall’ cinnamon mochas. In the UK that would be the smallest size. Not here, a friend was served a ‘short’!