Addis fatigue
As soon as I got back from a two-week work trip in Mozambique, I got hit by what I call the Addis fatigue syndrome. We all suffer from it from time to time. How to describe it? maybe being weighed down by the sudden realisation of what lies ahead: the constant micro-management of the household, the internet not working, the recurrent power cuts, the water shortages, the unreparable water leaks, the unbearable traffic due to road works ( I don’t go anywhere anymore to avoid sitting for hours in the car), the bedbugs, the fleas, the lack of food diversity, the lack of entertainment, the lack of cultural choice, the lack of bookshops, the lack of horizon. It is wearing me out.
Addis in the making…
After a few days, we get used to it again and get on with our life, but it takes a lot of self-motivation to do so. That said, I must be passing on the negative vibes to my children. Yesterday, one of my daughters was texting her Dad (she knows he is softer with her) telling him that she couldn’t bear her school and her teachers anymore and that there was no way she could last until the end of the year. She is in the French Lycée and the alternative would be to enrol her in the American international school, which we have chosen not to do at Middle School level (and it is five time the fee…). This morning, my youngest son refused to go into his Kindergarten classroom on the pretext that his teacher was always in meetings and he didn’t feel comfortable with her temporary replacement. It took me and his regular teacher ten minutes to try to convince him unsuccessfully to go in, it all ended up in tears with me running away and him screaming that he wanted to stay with me. I will have to force myself to be more positive to see if it helps them cope better, and in the meantime, I will take a short mental escape by writing about beautiful Mozambique. To be continued…
Salambo in Addis 
I had the exact same feeling when we returned from Kenya after half-term break! Only I thought it was depression and refused to leave my bed. It gets better . . . I think. Now just focusing on planning our 3 wk escape to the Haute Savoie!
Alli..It is depression!!!! Today I was able to tone down the text and put a bit of prospective on it, but yesterday I felt completely depressed as I faced again the eternal question: what are we going to cook tonight?! I just wanted to get the f…out of this place!! Today is another day…:)
Bon courage!