Having spent one Christmas and newyears at home I accidentally arrived in Ethiopia one day before the local ones started. If Estonians have one Christmas Eve and one proper meal in the evening, then here it goes on for two days in a row and they eat three times a day. During the past couple of weeks I have skipped a meal almost every day and had a few full length „water days“. I’m beginning to get back to my normal weight.

This time I am lodged again in a small house in the yard but this time the big house isn’t haibted by Estonians but a pastor from a local church and his family. On three of my first days I spent a few hours conversing with a man who has been a pastor for 38 years in the Apostolic Church of Ethiopia. Now I know exactly what the Holy Trinity is made up of, who is Jesus, how the soul gets into a human being, what happens to it after death, what becomes of those who follow the Bible as they do and what lays ahead for the world in general, looking from religious point of view.

There are two doggies in the courtyard – black doggy and doggy with the ladder. With the ladder means that if during the day they are both chained up, then at night they are set free in the courtyard, but one of them has a ladder attached to the collar. Go figure for what reason it is, perhaps so he doesn’t jump over the fence and run away. Anyways, he is dragging the ladder back and forth over the courtyard during the night and right under my window. The courtyard is all concrete. Yes, it does wake me! On the first nights I didn’t dare to use earbuds since I was afraid to miss the alarm and sleep in.

At school I gave five lessons each day, so a lesson a day for each grade. I did so for only one week since on the other weeks there were other errands to attend to, Islamic holidays and mid-exams so – no school. Kids are the same as last year, maybe a bit more used to a white teacher since they have had one of us around quite often during the past few years. The first grade is not used to a white teacher and so from time to time I have to call a local teacher or the headmistress to help me set the class back in order in the local language.

Son of the pastor was just in jail for a couple of days because after a long bargain he reluctantly decided to give a ride to town to an elderly lady since he was heading there himself. The lady had never been in a car before and didn’t know that to exit one you have to wait until the machine comes to a full stop. So she jumped out while the car was still moving and died later on of a cerebral hemorrhage. The whole story seemed silly to me and Martiina even got a bit annoyed but now the son is free again and the relatives of the deceased understand that the driver didn’t do anything wrong. Similar thing happened to a local acquaintance whose SUV was hit by stones thrown by kids. The kids thought that the vehicle, like a donkey, would move faster from it.

I haven’t had diarrhea yet which is my personal best. Maybe it will be so until the end. This far I haven’t managed to wash myself with warm water either. The taps have been dry for a whole week actually. Yesterday I washed myself after many days and it only took me five jugs of water which is five liters.

VALTER

Valter ja shennete bet ehk Euroopa Liidu rahadega ehitatud kemps

Valter and shennete bet, toilet built by European Union’s donations

Tüdruk koduväravas

Girl by the home gate

Doro watiks läinud kukk ja must Pontu

Cock that turned into doro wat and black Pontu

Maja naabertänavas

House in the neighbourhood

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