Part 7

Well what can I say I have been a busy busy bee hence neglecting the blog, I do apologise! But that does mean that this will be an extended version, so get a brew and make yourself comfortable!!

So much has happened since half term firstly work has been crazy, with primary reports, then secondary reports, trips to Nairobi, fixtures, sports days and interhouse so literally my feet haven’t touched the ground! But I will try to write from the start so we had just finished a relaxing half term when I posted my last blog!!

Although I haven’t really had much time for exploring restaurants and places etc. I did go out for dinner with a group of people at the end of half term, now, trying to find somewhere suitable for vegetarians someone with a dairy allergy and just generally fussy people made deciding on a restaurant quite tricky. After 20 minutes of standing discussing options everyone pretty much agreed on Hollywood bites (sounded interesting) I then heard the expletive!! VEGETARIAN!!! For those of u who don’t know I don’t like vegetables I mean I am trying but seriously the thought of someone opening a vegetarian restaurant just seems totally ludicrous to me but I didn’t want to spend the next 20 minutes trying to find somewhere different so I kept quiet and decided to broaden my horizons!! 3 of us decided to share 3 dishes to add a bit of variety (well secretly it just meant I had more chance of liking something!!)  To my amazement it was actually a really nice meal – despite looking like baby sick I was so proud of myself!

Since my last blog I’ve also been house sitting – twice in fact! I am looking after 2 dogs who are lovely and I get to escape the noise of mtwapa, enjoy sleeping with ac on and watch TLC (trashy TV channel but I obviously love it!) it has made me realise that after finding a car that moving house could possibly be my next challenge!! I have moments where I really have to pinch myself – I took the dogs for a walk along the beach; glorious sunshine, peaceful dogs and then realising it’s the end of November!!

The following weekend  there was Halloween house party – what I love about here is that that pretty much automatically means a pool party! I was the most drunk I’ve been in a long time but was an absolute hoot although I have been told off for taking my usual casual attitude regarding getting home after deciding to walk home (despite not knowing where I was) and then getting a lift home off pretty much a total stranger - not good I know – but I have learnt my lesson. It’s not my fault that I believe everyone is as friendly as me!! J

The following weekend I had to take another trip to Nairobi, this time with an U13 and U11 rounders teams. 18 girls, 2 staff, a 24 seater bus and a heap of luggage made for an interesting journey!! I mean I’ve grown up with 2 sisters I know how they can over pack but you have seen nothing like it the kids were bringing massive suitcases for 4 days the bus was jam packed, kids were spewing, it took 11 hours to get there and  I still didn’t see any animals on the way!! L However we did go to the safari walk on the Friday and I saw hippos and rhinos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, elands, crocs and albino zebras!!  We then headed to the tournament on sat; I always forget that although it is much cooler in Nairobi the sun is still working its magic so although I wore a fleece pretty much all day I still burnt my face so bizarre! I also finally got to use an old saying in true effect- I had ants in my pants!! I kid you not I could feel like a sharp pain on my hip I thought it was the corner of Velcro on my shorts pocket but it was a massive ant biting me surprising how painful that can be, amused me though as the field we were playing on was massive and there were ants everywhere and there was 1 man walking around with 2 cans of doom spraying the ground, I have no idea how he thought that that would be in anyway effective. The journey back on Sunday had all the same problems as the way there apart from more kids puking the increase in temperature as you approach Mombasa and then parents not picking their children up on time!! Such a lovely way to spend the weekend oh and I almost forgot to mention the fact that we all had to camp in 1 big room which meant getting woke up about 5 times every night with children wanting to go to the toilet but who were too scared to walk down the 4 flights of stairs to get there!!! Needless to say I was relieved to return home!!

The following weekend was another busy one; I had planned a trip with a friend to go car hunting on saturday! I had made some appointments to see some cars in town and thank god I took my friend along with me I had absolutely no idea!! The first car looked to me to be ok however it had apparently clearly been rolled, has several bumps and scrapes and had been re-sprayed!! We then moved on to look at a few others which all turned out to be pretty much the same story so we headed for home with me beginning  to slip into a childlike tantrum!! (Unbelievable I know) As the friend I was with was hosting a party that evening we headed to the butchers and supermarket to get some supplies where we stumbled upon an advertisement for a car! He was keen to call and find out more I had already admitted defeat and was pretty sure it would be a waste of time! He called the number and discovered the car was just round the corner so despite having minimal time we went along to have a look. To my amazement I fell in love instantly! All the other cars we had seen had been filthy, battered and uncharismatic! However this 1 was sparkling, new tyres, newly upholstered, low kilometres and just well looked after and to top it all off was below my budget!!!! Woohoo we have a car!! It was just all the bits after that took an absolute age like checking all the paper work, paying, getting insurance and a vehicle transfer document, so although I have owned the car for about 3 weeks now I only got to drive it away last Friday!! But I am finally on the road and it feels amazing!! After help from my Facebook friend I christen her Delilah!!!! We’ve already had a very near escape with a crazy matatu driver but hopefully this is the start of a positive relationship!!! I am very fond of the saying treat them mean keep them keen however I am going to make an allowance this time and treat her very well!!

So where was I…. before I got overly excited about me car!! Oh yes – after shaking on the deal we were even later for the party- house cooling – 70’s kind of porn star theme good food, good company and a trip down memory lane by doing cheerleading basket toss somersaults in the swimming pool!!! Good times.

That then gave us 1 week to prepare for the next fancy dress party!! A pirate party the following weekend up at Kilifi Boatyard! I feel like a big kid fancy dress parties galore I love it just a shame there are no quick easy fancy dress shops I’m feeling I should have raided Scarborough’s tacky fancy dress shops before I left!! Dam it! Oh well I managed to throw an outfit together and once again ended up a little bit more than tipsy and in doing so suddenly believed I was the best photographer ever known to mankind!! The evidence of this suggests something very different!! A very good night though!

No more time for partying though as we had approached the long awaited week of … PANTO!!! Technical rehearsal on the Sunday, dress rehearsal on the Monday in front of an African orphanage who had absolutely no idea what was going on but we were finally ready for our opening night on Wednesday!! By Tuesday I was feeling ill, quite literally and was beginning to panic that I would actually be bed ridden by the performance (I’m sure some of the audience wish I had been) but in  true professional form the show must go on so we did 3 performances 1 Wednesday 1 Thursday and 1 Friday! It actually went very well and despite a lot of adlibbing and probably too much alcohol for some people the shows went really well, someone even made a video so for those people who are desperate to lose their hearing and 2 hours of their lives that they will never get back I may allow you a viewing of my little red riding hood performance. By the end of the 3 shows my immune system had decided that enough was enough and about 2 hours after finishing I started to lose my voice which for me is a catastrophe! After a party night Friday to celebrate a few of us decided to carry on celebrating on Saturday but in a much more refined style! We treated ourselves to a nice meal out at the Tamarind restaurant which is a well renowned restaurant in Mombasa. The food was amazing I had ostrich liver pate for starter followed by balsamic glazed duckling! After weeks of Weetabix and dried mango my taste buds were so grateful!

I can’t believe we are now into December and Christmas is only around the corner. Christmas is not so commercialised here so it is very easy to forget. It has been so nice not being involved in the Christmas shopping rat race this year!! I am now really looking forward to Christmas, I am prepared to find it difficult, this is the longest I have ever been away from my family and obviously not been at home for Christmas is a big thing but I think I have the next best thing! A day of sunbathing by the pool with a heap of people in the same situation as me, good food (even a Christmas dinner) secret Santa, watching the sunset, drinking and no doubt chaos, it will be an interesting experience!!

I still have many plans to fit in there’s so much I want to see and do, I am definitely hoping to go on Safari over the Christmas break, I want to climb mount Kenya at some point, I would like to visit Uganda next year and most importantly my mum and dad have booked their flights and are visiting in the Easter holidays!! I have also created a bucket list – all the things I would like to do before I die, so If anyone has any suggestions please send them my way!!!

I can honestly say that this experience is the best thing I have ever done, looking back one of the main reasons I moved abroad was probably not the best one but the outcome could not have been any better!! I now realise that some people are never truly the people you think they are and are happy to plod through life making excuses! I am not one of those people, I have realised how resilient I am, how independent and although I know I’m known for my moaning I can honestly say I have nothing in life to moan about!! I see poverty every day, but I see poverty stricken people doing anything in their power to earn their keep, people here turn their hands to anything to make some money rather than sitting at home feeling sorry for themselves claiming benefits! It’s a shame some people can’t reflect on life a little bit more and rather than being destructive and selfish realise that every decision they make has implications on other people and words can be so cheap!!!

Final thought:

I am quite sure that the brew will have either gone cold or been supped by now so I will leave part 7 here!! I wish you all a very merry Christmas!! Enjoy your family and friends!!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Steph xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX