Well, I think there are already a few points of contrast between my posting and yours Steve. I've had my departure date delayed due to a lack of paperwork. I'm now writing furiously to try and fill some space on this damn blog because when I get to Barentu, my town in Eritrea, i'll have to travel 3 hours by bus to the next town before I can get internet access. It might take even longer if I buy the camel i've been checking out on E-bay. Then when I get there I can look forward to camel speed downloading/uploading to boot!

However, it looks like you have access in your apartment. High speed broadband no doubt (just look at the snazzy pictures that you've been able to upload!)

I leave on the 22nd of January. I fly out of Sydney, to Abu Dhabi, Cairo and then Asmara- capital of Eritrea. I'll have 2 weeks there before they drive me out to Barentu (check it out on Google Earth, very small and dry) and i'll begin teaching. Half of my time is designated to teaching a couple of grade 5 classes, the other half to collaborate with the local teachers. I'm a bit daunted by the prospect of 70+ kids in a class and have absolutely no idea as to the logistics involved in teaching anything to such large numbers. In addition to that, they have a strict exam schedule which they follow, and most of the students are notorious for cheating. I'm putting it all down as a LEARNING EXPERIENCE!