Author Archives: anna

Arrived in Addis which felt like home! No temperature scanning here but plenty only hand sanitiser. Here they use a purple alcohol based hand sanitiser which smells exactly like tequila. Nearly makes me heave every time! I put it down to bad university memories, Jay, however loves the smell and puts it down to goodContinue reading “Holiday with Jay – back in Addis Ababa”

Woke up early and had breakfast outside at the hotel. Then got a lift to the airport and discovered that we were the only ones getting on the flight at Gondor! (The flight had originated in Axum, so there were a few people on the plane already, 10 to be precise). After being personally fetchedContinue reading “Holiday with Jay – Lalibella”

Woke up refreshed and a lot happier than the day before after a good sleep! Amare our guide told us this would be the toughest day, with a lot of up and down, including a 450m hike through a forest up to 4070m – the highest point on our trek. Jay was quite nervous aboutContinue reading “Holiday with Jay – Simien mountains part 2”

Had a long discussion the morning of our trek as to whether to go or not, as we had received a lot of messages from worried relatives and friends regarding coronavirus and whether we would get stuck in Ethiopia for weeks/months if borders closed/flights got cancelled. We basically discovered that our insurance company wouldn’t talkContinue reading “Holiday with Jay – simien mountains and Gondor part 1”

Arrived in Bahir Dar to a temperature fun and hot temperatures (the weather, not us). They reckoned my temperature was 34.6 (unlikely, I did not feel I was on my way to hypothermia) and after a long wait in front of a man with a form and an inability to copy names from a passport,Continue reading “Holiday with Jay – Bahir Dar”

I booked a nice hotel starting the night before Jay was due to arrive. It had a bath like a jacuzzi, but with no instructions and no markings on any of the many taps! I decided to make use of the rain shower instead and had the best shower of the last 2 months. IContinue reading “Holiday with Jay – Addis Ababa”

So I’ve managed to miss Jay’s birthday, Valentine’s Day, and our one year anniversary by being in Ethiopia! We agreed not to do Valentine’s Day and I sent cards in the post. There is a pretty limited selection here, so some of them had random pictures and Amharic script on them! Still, it’s the thoughtContinue reading “Countdown until Jay’s arrival”

The last 2 weeks have gone quickly. I finished my picture leaflets and tried them out on the patients staying in the leprosy house. They all seemed quite amused by it but said they liked the pictures, and seemed to understand what most of them meant! (Addis was translating for me). At the end ofContinue reading “Final 2 weeks at work”

Friday is half day so I did a morning at work and then moved accommodation. I had a startling discussion with my colleague who felt my stomach and asked me if I was pregnant! That’s two people in two weeks! I said no, not pregnant, but apparently too much love for food. She then askedContinue reading “Swimming and running”

I said good bye to my accommodation Monday morning, went to work with all my stuff and moved in to the new accommodation in the evening. I had had a look round previously and thought it looked nice – little buildings with bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms in them all set in a garden, andContinue reading “A dabble into different accommodation”

On the Friday night I was taken to a doctors’ dinner. It is for people (doctors, nurses, midwives etc) who want to improve their medical knowledge (and also have a bit of a meet up), as I don’t think improving your knowledge through little courses etc has as much emphasis here as it does inContinue reading “Armenian, Yemeni and Jamaican food”

The day after the scarf shopping trip I came down with an awful cold. There were a few jokes about Anna having the coronavirus and I ended up taking the Tuesday and Wednesday off work. Rubbish though it is being ill in a foreign country, recuperation was a lot more pleasant – day in theContinue reading “A cold in a hot country”

Time is passing and I’m half way through my time at the hospital! The last couple of weeks have consisted of me learning more about leprosy, and now starting to plan the self care programme for the patients. I’ve learnt tons about leprosy, which has been great. My two nursing colleagues are brilliant teachers, andContinue reading “One month in”

I write this in the sun on the lawn of the ghion hotel. I am surrounded by palm trees, and a wedding party! There is a lot of dancing, drum beating and high heels. The hotel grounds are amazing, flower beds full of succulents, jacaranda trees (full of purple flowers) and the odd fountain, thatContinue reading “First full week”