Archived Blog
South Africa!
So due to Ethiopia’s lack of internet, I’ll have to blog about my last days in Ethiopia from South Africa.
Last Weekend, Brian and I and some of the girls left the city to spend an evening in the country. We went to a place called Debre Lebanos, where an Ethiopian man who lived in Germany for 30 years has built an attractive resort. It is built right on the edge of a large gorge, a tributary to the Nile. The views from the restaurant especially are stunning, which you can enjoy sitting in front of a fire pit that is built there. The accommodation is quite nice; it is one of the first places I have stayed in Ethiopia where toilet paper is provided.
On Sunday morning, we went for a walk to a nearby cave, accompanied by 15 local “guides” all eager to help out and offer us helpful information regarding the scenery and sights. The views of the gorge were immense. The actual cave is massive, and has a number of rooms at the back, one of which was inhabited by hundreds of bats which started flying around us when we started pictures of them. Brian and I were the only ones who remained by this stage.
The weekend was a really great final vacation out of the city and breathe in the country air. We all discussed how much we need to do this sort of thing more often next year!
On Wednesday night, we took the street boys we go to see out for dinner. We took them to a nearby cafe for injera. They all ate while we told them about how much we’d be thinking about them and praying for them over the summer. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again next year, I’m sure Dundee will keep going to see them over the summer too.
Thursday night Brian and I had a barbeque for all the teachers at Bingham. We were able to get some chicken which I cooked over a barbeque that Brian borrowed from some friends. It was traditionally Irish; we had to cook under our porch because of the rain, but it was still good fun and everyone enjoyed the food which was good.
On Friday evening, Bingham Academy had its graduation ceremony for the grade 12 students High school graduation is a big deal in America, and the Americans like to do likewise in Bingham. I think there was more fuss and show put on than for my University Graduation. Anyway, it was a good chance to dress up nice and have dinner at the Sheraton Hotel.
So that’s it. A whole 9 months. It has gone extremely quickly, amazingly quickly. And I’m sure that the next 5 months that I’m going back for will fly by too. I’ve now safely arrived in South Africa, and have met up with Mark. We’re just finding our bearings for the moment, and trying to plan out the 2 weeks that we’ll be here. I have been loving the high speed wireless internet that we have in our accommodation, and walking round the local supermarket here with the wide variety of products and items. Mark was amused by how amazed I was at supermarket shelves, but I haven’t seen that in months!
Niall
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