Phil and Chris in Ethiopia

I'm in clinic today and I want to tell you about Haile. (It’s not his real name but a lot of people here are called Haile. I have also changed the details to preserve confidentiality.) He came to consult with me about a simple problem; nothing taxing for me as a hackneyed old British GP – I’ve seen tens of thousands of problems like his, literally! Haile is middle aged, and struggled into my room coping with a significant physical deformity. I dealt with his presenting problem and asked him about his deformity.

Travel in this city is not for the faint-hearted. The Lonely Planet guide describes Ethiopian transport as "butt-clenching". Driving is quite an experience as Chris has described in her latest post, but our trip in Elias's bajaj  caused no small amount of butt clenching, despite the journey being fairly short.

This is homemade Christmas tree Mk.3. (Click it to see it in all it's glory!)

 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.

On the wall of the SIM HQ clinic there is now a yellow piece of A4 paper. It has to be displayed or SIM Ethiopia will be in serious trouble if (when?) the inspectors come round. On it is my picture, but, much more importantly, a stamp. An official stamp. It's not quite up to the Nicaraguan love of stamping that I noticed there last year (I blogged it - click here if you fancy reading it) but they definitely love their stamps.

6pm Lemma said. So we arrived fashionably late at 6:15pm. By then there was us (Chris, Clare and me), Lemma's family (minus Hana of course as she was newly wed 3 days ago), Lemma's elderly mum swathed in traditional clothes and another similarly decked out Ethiopian lady who will remain a mystery. Clare has been here a long time so she should have known better - Ethiopian timekeeping is unfathomable and despite everything we were very early. We were welcomed in as honoured guests and sat in Lemma's lounge wondering what might happen. As far as we knew we were here for a meal.

This week has been my first with the new timetable. I have taught KG1 (Foundation) to Grade 5 (Year 6). The children have been very responsive and I love KG PE. I also set up a couple of meetings about how I might develop library sessions across the Elementary school.

As we all live together on the compound, I meet my pupils, wherever I go outside our front door. Of course they all know my name, even if I can’t yet remember who they are or which family they belong to. I even heard my name and a friendly greeting from up a tree as I walked beside the sports field.

As we walked back to our flat from the car park in the dark up the hill past the speed bump I always trip over, I asked Chris if she had a key. "Stop here" she said under a lamp post, and opening her small back pack added: "I'll get it out now where I can see because I don't want to put my hand into all these bits of sheep". I bet I've got your attention now!

The sun is up, there isn’t a cloud in the sky and red kites are circling overhead, as I walk out of our front door and next door but one to the teacher’s lounge. It’s filling up with staff from Elementary and High school. We meet to consider why we are here, to be encouraged and pray for the school day and specific pupils. Each day begins like this.

It wasn't a Dreamliner; it was a 767. Somewhat disappointing but at least no 767 has suffered from spontaneous combustion. At least Boeing haven't admitted it. A standard and uneventful 8 hour flight shortened by 20 minutes by a tailwind preceded a non-standard and quite eventful hour in the baggage collection area. And it was those oil filters.