village life

Sarah and I took the bus to Moniaive this morning. We had an hour to wait around and as it was such a lovely sunny morning, we sat reading our books and drinking coffee. 

Moniaive is a busy village, with people coming to get their papers from the shop, log trucks hurtling along the Main Street, repairs going on outside the pub, and people we knew stopping to chat.

Strangely, though, for a couple of minutes I had a flashback to being in Ethiopia. Maybe it was the huge tree (a cherry) which we were sitting under, the smell of woodsmoke and coffee or the sounds of the birds (starlings) on the roof opposite? Or maybe this time of year, the first week in October, when D and I would both be thinking about the Facing Africa mission, leaving on a Friday night flight from Heathrow.

Tonight they will be off, and we will be thinking of them and hoping that all goes well, as we head off in the opposite direction tomorrow morning.