The small rainy season has arrived and the ground smells wonderful. Let’s hope the rains are good this year. Last year they weren’t and the food situation in the countryside is very bad now.
In the UK I take a constant supply of reading material for granted. Libraries and bookshops have always been a constant in my life. There is a huge supply of books in the VSO office passed on by volunteers over the years and I am possibly reading more now than ever. And I take it as normal. Yet to Eritreans a book is a luxury. An English novel given to a student was accepted as if it was golddust, and read by the time of the next lesson, a week later. I am constantly asked by colleagues for novels. The male friend who asked yesterday told me that he particularly liked to read detective stories. However most men, when asked what they like to read will say “love stories” (honestly!) and give Danielle Steele as their favourite author. I’ve no idea how this came about but as far as I’m concerned any reading is better than no reading so I’m happy to feed their habit.
C
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don't know if you know about bookmooch.com. but I've got points I can give you to get books from there if that would help?
ReplyDeletelet me know if that would be of interest.
I miss the VSO library - it's much harder to find stuff to read here than it was in Eritrea. I'm coping, but only just. I get nervous every time I'm coming towards the end of a book. It's just hideous to be trapped somewhere in the evening with no book and no other entertainment. Oh well, that's where the abundant booze comes in I suppose.
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