Ever since we arrived in Gondar I haven’t been able to read my own blog (or anyone else’s). I can upload new entries but I cannot look back at what I have written in the past. I’m looking forward to one day reading through my blog to see if there are any patterns, because I think my (and Gill’s) experiences and feelings have become generally more cynical and critical in the last few months. If so, then I’m being honest, although I should spend more time describing the good things and positive experiences of which there are many. I can be fiercely critical and angry about many things here, but they are mostly to do with work. Am I claiming that the way we work at home in the UK is better than here? Yes, even if that sounds patronising. That doesn’t mean our society is superior to Ethiopia: there are many aspects to social culture where Ethiopia is more advanced than us.

Just as I was beginning to give up hope on developing Science training collaboratively with anyone, the Biology teacher I had started working with weeks ago actually turned up for a meeting. The fact he was more than half an hour late is a triviality. I felt pessimistic that we would get anywhere useful, but he had clear thoughts on how the training should take place and was keen to do some initial planning. Maybe I’ll get some joint training going after all.