Happy Birthday to me

Happy Birthday to me! Well I had a lovely Birthday weekend. The planned trip to Dire never materialised as Susan was sick with tonsillitis, and I wasn’t that fussed so we decided to delay until she was better. Instead we went into Harar again for lunch and a few beers, and a bit of shopping. It was a really nice day. In the evening we went to Jenny’s for wine and nibbles. My standards when it comes to red wine are definitely dropping and the Ethiopian gouder wine is now becoming quite pleasant (desperate times). Apparently though, some French winery has bought up a whole lot of Ethiopian land for vineyards so you never know. Ethiopian wine could be the next big thing!!!

On Sunday I spent the morning by the pool reading my book which is a brilliant way to spend any birthday. Then in the afternoon our friend Rozina gave a coffee ceremony for me. This is Ethiopian tradition and happens when you have any guests to your house. All Ethiopian women know how to do it. It starts with roasting the coffee beans on a metal pan of sorts, traditionally over a charcoal stove, then the beans are ground in a mortar and pestle before being put in an Ethiopian coffee pot with water and heated to produce coffee. There is incense burning and the coffee is served with pop corn. The first round of coffee is the strongest and therefore considered the best. It is served in espresso sized cups usually with copious amounts of sugar. More water is then added to the pot and it is reheated for second and third rounds of coffee. I had seen coffee ceremonies before during in country training but it was nice to have it described in detail for you.

On Sunday evening we took a walk down to the bottom of campus to see the hyenas that live wild here. I’m told we are completely safe as they are scavengers, but it’s still a pretty hair-raising experience to see them in the flesh. Apparently, Gary one of the other volunteers didn’t know there were any on campus and the first time Gary saw them he got such a fright he climbed the nearest tree then sat there wondering what to do next!!! He won’t thank me for telling the world that on my blog, but to be honest I think I would have done the same thing had I not been expecting to see them.

The best bit of birthday news was that Susan and I finally have a house sorted and should be able to move in at the end of the week. It belongs to the vice president of the university who is away on sabbatical for a year, and so it is rather grand indeed! We saw it for the first time of Monday and it has a huge open plan living/ dining room, two enormous carpeted bedrooms and big bathroom with bath and shower, and a big kitchen. It’s a little dark and dusty as its been empty for 3 months but it has so much potential. It also has a lovely little garden and a reasonable amount of private outdoor space for sitting and exercising in. Can’t wait to move it! Photos will follow.