6th August

My new Amharic phrase for today is 'yallen feeyna' – no balloons! … see below …

This morning I made my way to the orphanage for the first time on my own – woo hoo! Well, I say on my own, I went in a cab, but that's not actually as easy as it sounds: before I can go anywhere I have to go through what I have dubbed 'the taxi ceremony':

first I have to find a cab driver who has been 'vetted' by E, M or Hanna (that is, recommended by someone they know – so they're fairly sure I won't be kidnapped, apparently …)

then I call them, and it turns out they are not available … but they will send someone else …

So I call the someone else and find he doesn't speak any English and my Amharic just won't cut it in this situation

So we start again from the beginning, with a friendly cab driver Hanna has found for me called D. He speaks good English and understands my sparse Amharic …

But he doesn't know where my house is. You can't always just give addresses or street names in Addis, as most roads have several different names (and you can guarantee the name you know is the not the name anyone else knows!). Also, my road is a fairly new one (a couple of years old) so people don't know it …

So we agree I will walk to the Meridan Hotel, about 5 mins away, and meet him there.

I then try to work out exactly where the orphanage is … I know the general area, but there are many backstreets and I can't always remember where it is. Cue D turning into muddy lanes while I'm in the backseat saying 'er, I think it's this one … no, no, no, not this one …'. Luckily, he was very patient!

All that aside, I arrived safely and without to much trauma.

And then Hanna asked me could I teach a class of 25 Grade 3 students who speak very basic English? Um … sure! I don't have any problem with teaching, but I had no resources and no plan, and I don't speak Amharic well enough to be able to give instructions/explain things! Sadly, 'group juggle' - which is the game I normally throw in when a lesson is not going well or I'm not prepared - just wasn't going to work this time.

So I improvised. I found the balloons I'd brought over and found one of each colour to blow up, and we played 'Colour Catch' – each time they caught a balloon, they had to say what colour it was. Not the most sophisticated teaching device ever, but a good start!

Except then, when the class was over, everyone realised I was the balloon lady and there was a never ending cry of 'feenya, feenya!' (and occasionally 'feenya faranji, feenya faranji!') So I sat for ages blowing up balloons with the balloon pump, trying to meet demand for an orange one, or a blue one, or a white one. After an hour, my arms were aching and I had responded to most requests, so I went back to the office to finish the brochure I am writing for Hanna. And so the children followed … feenya, feenya!

Eventually, as otherwise nobody in the office would have got any work done, I had to say 'yellan feenya'. I've promised that I will bring feenya on Monday, though …