Blogger is being soooo slow and difficult at the moment.

Another run this morning: up and over Tabor Hill by the light of a full moon.

At last, we have confirmation about our immediate future: we are going to Gondar! We received an email from the VSO country director on Monday night that we will start work at Gondar College of Teacher Education (CTE) on Monday 20^th November i.e. in less than two weeks time. So the plan looks like this: we will continue to work flat out until the end of this week (we are working in the evenings as well at the moment; it’s just like being back home!) to finish the HDP; HDP graduation over the weekend; sort out our stuff at work and pack up our stuff at home on Monday and Tuesday; spend Wednesday with the Ministry of Education HDP team who will be here to moderate our work; leave Awassa and travel to Addis on Thursday; fly to Gondar on Saturday; unpack and settle in on Sunday; and then start work on the Monday. I feel tired already. Actually, I also feel excited. There are many good aspects to life here in Awassa, yet moving on feels right. We will get to live and work in a different part of the country, have new colleagues and get to know a new town which is very different from Awassa. Awassa is known for its setting and relaxed pace of life. Gondar is known for its history (it was the capital of Ethiopia for several centuries) and is very much on the tourist circuit.

After all the stress and anxiety of the last week or so finally finding out was a bit of an anticlimax. We were always happy with the idea of moving to Gondar not least because it’s 400 to 500 m higher than Awassa and therefore cooler. The rainy season has properly ended and the weather has settled into a new pattern: almost-cold overnight, cool in the morning, absolutely baking hot all afternoon and then cool in the evening. The lack of rain means the dust in the air is permanent, and I can taste and feel it in my mouth. The next rain is due in March!

Before we leave though there’s a lot to do. We have a mountain of paperwork and assessment to complete, lesson observations to do and a graduation ceremony to sort out, all by Saturday. Tomorrow is my last HDP session which I am looking forward to but will also feel sad about. The lesson observations I’ve done this week have ranged from encouraging to truly inspirational. Despite the hassles, difficulties, cultural barriers, low morale and my inexperience all of my HDP candidates have changed and developed their teaching.