Firstly I’d like to say a massive congratulations to 2 very very good friends Sabrina and Jen (and their husbands) who have both recently given birth, welcome to the world Eva and Charlie can’t wait to meet you both!!!
Right where to start, I’m currently on half term so should technically be sitting by the pool being fanned by a male model whilst sipping cocktails but ….. It won’t stop raining!!! So instead I’m writing part 6!!
Had a really hectic couple of weeks with lots of work and not much play L had a rounder’s tournament one weekend so il covo until 5.30am the night before probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had! But after a 40 minute snooze I rocked up to the bus with my usual bossy teacher tones and managed to umpire 9 rounder’s matches in sweltering heat without vomming or passing out!! Go me!! My team even managed to come 2nd- what can I say it must be down to the coaching they have received!!
I am showing great teacher dedication out here and had a fixture for the full weekend the week after my rounder’s tournament! This one included 10 kids on a coach for 10 hours to Nairobi – I know what you’re thinking … absolute hell ….surprisingly not – the kids slept for the first couple of hours – then we discussed a whole range of topics from films to books, politics to religion. Then we whacked on the top 40 (provided by their cool PE teacher ... – that would be me in case you were wondering) and sang the rest of the way!! No moaning, no having to shout at kids, no swearing (them not me obviously) the easiest school bus trip I’ve ever had. The road to Nairobi also takes you past loads of game reserves so apparently you quite often see zebras at the side of the road etc. I however did not but I did see some baboons the size of lions!! I have another fixture there in a few weeks so hopefully I’ll spot some animals then!!
The Nairobi trip was a gifted and talented sports festivals for all the braeburn schools – the event was great I was a team manager but to be honest the teams pretty much ran themselves! I was just pleased to get free T-shirts! The weather in Nairobi is pretty different to here, around midday it’s really hot and dry plus Nairobi is at a much higher altitude but in the evening and early morning its much cooler I actually got to wear my hoody which was quite nice and because I wasn’t in ridiculous humidity my hair didn’t look like Monica from friends after I washed it!!This was amazing – even if the water was yellow!!I did have a slight mishap with the shower, a mishap that I’m sure all of you would have had too – ok imagine 2 taps under a shower 1 is a silver tap with a little blue dot on it, 1 is a big red cog thing – which is the hot tap??? Yep the blue one!!! Figures – Not! Overall the weekend was great, I learnt loads of Swahili from the kids, so I’m making my own little phrase book and I even got flown back on Sunday evening so I was back in time for the primary inspections on the Monday! But it was the smallest, noisiest plane I have ever been on in my life!
Which brings me to inspection week – Basically the primary and secondary get inspected separately – I’m a secondary trained teacher – the inspection was primary and …. EARLY YEARS!!! Mombasa is a coastal town – known for its sunny climates, I mean my school doesn’t even have an indoor PE space just a little assembly/drama room … it RAINED all week so as a PE teacher getting inspected it was quite difficult, but overall the school did really well and got great feedback and comments. Thank god they did not inspect my Reception lesson – total chaos!!
Unfortunately it has rained pretty much solidly for a week now which is getting rather depressing especially when it’s half term! However I did have the most amazing day yesterday!!
Woke up – Sunny – Jumped out of bed (for a change)
2 hours – by the pool – lounging
Phone call – invitation to go out on the creek in a boat – accepted
Boat – amazing
Weather – amazing
Topped off by having my first wakeboarding lesson – absolutely amazing. It really made me realise how much I like to learn something new, think that’s why I’ve been trying to learn so much Swahili. It was so nice to try something totally new, which means when you are successful (and believe me it took quite a few attempts) it makes it so much more satisfying! Getting up on the board was the hard part but apparently letting go of the rope is hard for someone like me too, hence why my forearm muscles got shredded, as I was falling off I forgot to let go which meant the rope attached to the boat pulled me in one direction whilst my board pulled me in the other – ouch! My hands were actually paralysed for 23 seconds! But if at first you don’t succeed and all that!! So I got back on loved every minute of it. Some people will be pleased to hear that during this trip I decided to leave off the sun cream on my feet so I can try and even out the tan – I think it worked!!
I then had a lovely girly evening, 1 of the girls cooked for 5 of us, the food was amazing – my mum will be so proud ….as even the vegetables were amazing I think I might ask her for some recipes!! We drank wine played a funny game and as is pretty much standard out here I got ripped for the way I speak!! I do keep reminding them that I’m quite posh but they seem to find that amusing! I can think of a few friends and family who would be interesting to bring out here!! You know who you are!!!!!
Well another great few days I got out on the boat again for some more sunshine and wakeboarding and I’m definitely improving – despite taking a few face plants into the water giving myself whiplash and a severe winding!! Remind me why I do this again!! Plus I definitely got stung by a jellyfish seriously that creek as some crazy animals inhabiting! But it’s not too bad just itchy so no before anyone asks I did not wee on my own hand!!
On wed I was so exhausted by the time I was getting out of the water – my arms and legs were like jelly and after my forearm shredding the previous session I had minimal strength – getting out of the boat was not pretty I couldn’t physically lift myself out I was swinging around the ladder (smallest ladder in the world) looking pathetic when I squashed my finger between 2 pieces of mental with my entire body weight!! Soo painful!! If I weighed 2 pounds more I think my finger would have snapped in 2!
Thursday 4 of us went to Kilifi for the day we started at the beach flying this massive kite that looked like it would lift me off the ground with a slight breeze and then we headed to the boatyard for lunch and then in the evening I experienced my first sundowner – now I had no idea what this entailed and still not sure if tonight was a typical “sundowner”. Anyway this one involved lots of people on boats meeting in the creek, tie the boats together, drink and watch the most beautiful sunset!! Stunning!!
Friday I went to the market – you have to have your wits about you so I rocked up with my hidden bum bag looking too cool but got some absolute bargains!!! You think Primark is cheap ….! I have bought some Kanga material so hoping to get a few items made no doubt for some ridiculously low price! I bought some handmade flip flops with beading and shells on the other day and they cost me less than £5!!
Not much more to tell really, still searching for a car, pantomime is going well, I’m house sitting for the next 2 weeks which should be good as they have a house guy who is there most of the day so he will hopefully help me cook etc. will report back on any successes.
Final Thought – I actually love my life! I have moments of needing to pinch myself just to make sure it’s real!!
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Steph xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
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