A quick hello

I've got ten minutes before my class starts so this will be quick. We're heading off to Hagas for the day on Friday so our language lessons are bumped around and I won't be able to do this blog tomorrow. Hagas is a very lush agricultural town in the lowlands of Keren, where a VSO volunteer lives. We finally got the travel permit to visit her. It's the one place in Keren where you can get cheese and wine, so Kim is really looking forward to this. It's also quite hot there, which will be nice as things have cooled down a bit for our Keren winter (14 degrees in the morning feels mightly chilly!)

Things that have made me laugh or smile lately:

- our friend Saba asked us if she could borrow "Harry Potty" to read.

- Kelly is now walking and boy is she proud. She's also falling and crying a lot lately but overall is thrilled with her independence

- two unannounced meetings this week meant Kim and I got out early two days in a row, a nice surprise

- I did my first coffee ceremony with Maya and a friend Aimelee who taught me the ropes. Now I'm ready for Eritrean guests

- Kim and I biked out to a shrine inside a big baobab tree 2 km outside of town. The tree is over 500 years old.

Things that were less amusing:

- the "Black River" that runs through the road to our school. The sewage system is awry. Usually we can lift our bikes over it, but it's not pleasant.

- total loss of control of my classes on Sunday left me in tears and screaming at one class for the first time in my life. All is okay now but boy do they like to talk and since i don't hit them, they don't stop when I ask. We're trying out some new approaches, any ideas are much appreciated.


Got to run. Kim may add more tomorrow, otherwise, more next week.