Snowflakes falling, sunshine calling

As I am sat at my desk, with a view of gentle snow falling in the garden I can help but think 'Yipeeee I am off to catch some sunshine!'. I must admit in November when I found out I was going to Ethiopia I added Addis Ababa to my weather app on my phone, just out of curiosity. Since then, the weather has shown a steady high in the mid 20's most days with a drop to around 10-12 each evening - not too shabby. 

However, I have to remind myself that this isn't a holiday, it is not going to be bikinis, sangria and sun loungers but actually modest clothing, long days and some pretty tough work. Of course, we will have down time but out of respect to our community and adopted culture for our time there, we can't behave like we're in an episode of Benidorm. I am hoping that we will learn new ways to enjoy ourselves and that it will open a whole new perspective on what 'having fun' is. 

It has been many years since I spent more than a fortnight in a consistently hot climate, having spend a few years in Puerto Rico as a child. I will most likely acclimatise to it pretty quickly, not that you would think it with my 'English rose' complexion (someone once said that to me and I felt a bit offended, it must be the whisky Scottish blood in my veins).

I like to think that the snippets of experience I have from my 25 years (with many thanks to my parents) will serve me well on this journey, that's not to say I don't expect to learn a lot but that I think I am quite well prepared - I'll soon find out!

Kx