I've finally made it to Addis. I got in last night and spent most of the day today in meetings. Nights here are quite cool--it was 59 in my bedroom last night, but during the day it's beautiful, about 75. I think I'll always be making the comment, "Nice day, huh?" School starts next week. Until then, preparation and meetings.

Not too much going on aside from that. It looks like I'll have a personal (Ethiopian) "helper", to do whatever I'd like in the apartment--cook, clean, laudry--while I teach during the day.  Not too shabby! The apartment itself is great (I'll work on pictures, but I think it'll be slow), all to myself--nice change.

But the campus itself is really nice, 8 acres, especially as it sits right in the middle of a rather poor Muslim neighborhood. You really feel isolated from the rest of the neighborhood due to the 10 foot concrete wall that surrounds the campus. (Apparently when Bingham Academy was built the area was a forest, with no neighbors.) I took my first walk around the block tonight with another teacher's son. It was great. I'll have to take pictures, but imagine roads in bad shape, no sidewalks, cars going everywhere, and pedestrians everywhere, always on the street, walking through traffic and jaywalking in middle of highways that barely missing them...neat sight. 

But, finally, living in a Muslim neighborhood means being woken up at 5:15 AM (every morning) for...the morning call for prayer. It's really loud; there are speakers on top of small poles that literally wake worshipers up to go and pray. I'd only read about them. But it was strangely serene listening to this man sing in Arabic. Can't wait for tomorrow! 

---

Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy! Try it!