The police barracks outside our house

A very quiet and very very nice Xmas Day at home today (Ethiopian Xmas that is). There seem to have been fewer people around, probably because they had been at church all night and then been gorging on meat afterwards. We haven’t left our compound all day and it’s been great. Retreating behind our fence enables us to have a “break” from Ethiopia which is restorative and much needed. When I get some space like today it can be really nice to just sit outside and watch the many birds of prey circling overhead and listen to the eucalyptus trees around our house rustling in the wind. Beautiful. Something I’ve learned here is to enjoy the simple pleasure of just sitting and being without feeling any guilt-inducing “must be doing something” feelings. For one day, it’s like being on holiday: sunshine, warmth, African dance music in the background from “Ngoma” on our radio and temporarily forgetting about the poverty in the world outside our fence.

I set up a sundial in our compound this morning. When I say sundial, I actually mean a vertical stick in the ground, but I had fun placing small sticks at the tip of the shadow every hour and tracking the movement of the sun. Moments like that speak to the physicist in me and I browsed the internet for websites on sundials. It’s amazing how much info is out there on just about anything. I’ve learned a lot about sundials today and loved every minute.