20th August

I’m currently sitting in my house, a keyboard balanced on my knees and a computer screen on the wobbly wooden table in front of me. Ab generously lugged this computer all the way from his house and up the endless steps to my house so that I could use it today after our work computer blew up in the big storm on Tuesday evening. It’s not the easiest or most comfortable way to write and work, but I was going stir crazy; we don’t have summer school until next Thursday and I’ve started to run out of things I can do without a computer.

Luckily, the storm only damaged the transformer, so once that’s replaced the computer should work and all our files will be recovered. It’s not something we can buy in Lalibela, but Ab knew someone in Addis who could buy it and bring it by plane so it will arrive tomorrow. Normal service will resume on Saturday, when the power is on again.

We don’t have any summer school this weekend because it’s the end of the 15 days fasting and everyone is celebrating. This time, women are the ones who are most involved in the celebration (in Lalibela at least – it’s different in other parts of Ethiopia) with dancing, singing and ceremonies. However, the Lalibela air is filled with the sound of the other celebration that will take place this weekend – whips! Men will be cracking leather whips to accompany the women while they dance … and boy, are the whips loud! People have been practicing (and a few farangis were allowed to have a go) in the hotel compound below my house and it frightened the life out of me. I thought there was a gunfight going on!

I’m still trying to find out the actual significance of the whips. Like a lot of customs, the origins have disappeared from people’s memories and everyone just knows this is what you do at this time of year. We’re going to speak to Ab’s brother, who’s a Priest and should know!

I’m not going to be cracking any whips to celebrate. Instead, Saturday morning I’ll be going to the market to buy a chicken (I haven’t had meat for two weeks) and cooking chicken tikka masala for Saturday night dinner. Then on Sunday three girls from the UK are coming round to make vegetable lasagna. They’re in Lalibela for a month, working at the local hospital and an orphanage here, and I have already dragged them around to my house to play rummykub and card games. It’s really great to have them around, if only for a short time.