Category Archives: Home life

Remember that kitchen that was stuck in Djibouti?  (Not likely to forget something like that, are you?) It’s here! Well, it’s most of the way here.  It’s in the basement of our apartment building, along with the rest of the … Continue reading →

I’ve already mentioned that one of the things I’m most looking forward to in our shipment is my memory foam pillow. It was the last thing my dear husband packed up as we were sealing up the boxes  –  I … Continue reading →

I want my stuff. This is the refrain you start to hear from new overseas teaching staff around this time of year.  Listen closely: you can pick out my voice in the chorus. Actually, when it comes to personal belongings, … Continue reading →

Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 4:40:02 PM Subject: Pot plants Dear Varnero residents, The ICS admin is pleased to let you know that it has purchased pot plants for your apartments. These will be delivered tomorrow. In case your maids are not at … Continue reading →

You know dark days (and nights) are coming when the welcome kit includes a pack of long-burning candles and a big box of matches.  Also when new teacher orientation includes a session on how to start a generator. Power outages … Continue reading →

Ethiopians use a different calendar than we do in the West.  I first caught on to that when, reading through my ICS contract, I encountered the statement  “all dates herein refer to the Gregorian calendar.” Ethiopians have 12 months of … Continue reading →

What is it with us and kitchens, anyway? Most of you probably know what happened a year ago last Monday.  Three weeks after we moved to Syria, Nik and Alice had a fire back in Medford that precipitated a full … Continue reading →

We flew into Addis late at night on July 28. The middle school principal and a driver met us in the airport parking lot and chauffeured us to our new home in the Lebu district of southwestern Addis Ababa. The … Continue reading →