Part 12 - A mammoth catch up

Jees ok so it has been quite along time since my last blog – I think a brief overview will have to do so that I can catch up!! where to start?! Weddings, weddings and weddings, trip to the UK, new school build, new home or things to look forward too!!!

Well I suppose I should start from where I left off which I believe was in May :s oops!! Well the next big event was moving home – as mentioned in my previous blog myself and Lauren had found a potential new home -3 bedrooms in a central location, what we didn’t know at the time was there were children who against all odds and language barriers became best friends yet because of that language barrier they communicate purely by shouting each other’s names A LOT therefore Tito and Edan are definitely off the baby name list (don’t think they would of ever made the cut to be honest!) but despite the sprogs we love our new home, even with the architectural faults (which we have learnt to be a Kenyan building feature!!) who needs drainage on a balcony anyway!!!

I then had my first experience of ‘Diani Rules’ an annual competition comprising of beach sports, sports injuries, drinking and near drowning! It is a charity event where teams gain sponsorship from local companies to take part – we were lucky enough to gain sponsorship from a new hotel in Diani called ‘Swahili Beach’ which meant we got a complimentary 2 night stay whilst the competition was on – I was in heaven!! A beautiful hotel, with stunning views and an all you can eat breakfast!!!!!!! Woohoo. The first night of competition was rugby football which saw possibly 30% of the competitiors wiped out of the competition for the rest of the weekend due to injury (I don’t think rugby balls and people are supposed to be kicked on a beach with no shoes on)over the course of the weekend we competed in waterball which is basically netball in the sea where drowning is allowed, then Ultimate Frisbee, downing a pint through a straw race, sliding on your stomach through cooking oil, blindfolded tennis ball throw, Volleyball, tug of war, touch rugby and the obstacle raft race. Had such a fun weekend, in fact one 5 minute moment of that weekend remains to be one of the funniest moments of my entire life thanks to Sebastian Chambers!! I still laugh to this day just thinking about it I cried continuously for approximately 25mins- No joke!! What a cruel legend that man is!!!

The 3^rd term of school was hectic, seemed to have so much to do and so little time, and was just generally tired by the end of term. But I survived and was seriously looking forward to going home, but first I had my first Kenyan/English/Norwegian wedding to attend. A beautiful ceremony, followed by a fantastically fun, and entertaining reception.  I have decided that when my time comes I am going to take traditions from numerous weddings and cultures, to add a little originality and as many of my friends are married now I have a lot to live up to, which leads me nicely to my trip home J

I was so excited and so ready for my trip home in the summer, I was desperate to see my family and friends and just put things into perspective. My first duties were to visit my sister at work, surprise my nephew by picking him up from school and then finally catch up with my girls and meet the beautiful new additions to my group of friends Eva and William.

As I mentioned at the start, this summer was all about weddings, I had a lot to look forward too as both my sister and friend were getting married and I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid at both – I am seriously becoming like that woman of 27 dresses I think I now own 6 bridesmaid dresses in the space of 6 years. First we had Deborahs hen parties, first a day session and night out in York followed by a continued joint stag and hen party at their house then a week later a beautiful spa day at and exclusive spa. It was so nice to spend time with my sisters, mum and cousin for the day being pampered, sipping champagne and watching the Olympics (which unfortunately I did not get to watch live due to the weddings and hen parties…. But still I loved the Olympics this year, definitely one of Britain’s finer moments)

Next was Claire’s hen weekend – Claire only knew the dates and nothing more, she confirmed how little she knew by stating she did not know where she was as she was in Gateshead, and she thought when she saw the sign posts she would be going to Newcastle!!! Oh dear Trish!! The weekend started with a meal followed by a karaoke pod, drinks and dancing. On Saturday we did a pop princess dance session, which was awesome(just wish I could remember the moves) we then hit the town in fancy dress making sure Claire looked utterly ridiculous in her clown costume – suitably selected due to the size of Claire’s feet.

Then came the weddings, first Deborah’s in Northallerton, followed by Claire’s a week later in Belfast. Deborah’s had a black and white theme and was a church wedding followed by a marquee reception in the grounds of their home, a perfect day – horse and carriage arrival, great jazz band reception, lovely food, great speeches and an opportunity to watch my sister on the happiest day of her life, It is so nice to finally see Deborah happy and with a deserving man who looks after her so well and loves her so much. Priceless.

Claire’s wedding continued to exceed wedding expectations! A fantastic family affair.  Their theme was Hunters Green a gorgeous colour, and the reception had a golfing theme in homage to her husband’s love of golf. The whole weekend was an amazing experience I was fortunate enough to have a great table throughout the meal which entertained me no end! The target for the day was to see both Claire and her Dad cry – and mission accomplished but then I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house! A fantastic couple whose happiness to be married was so evident on the day!

After the excitement of all the wedding festivities had passed I had less than a week left at home. There truly is nothing nicer than spending time in your family home with your closest relatives eating traditional home food (I think I had lamb chops and mint sauce 3 times in the space of 2 weeks) I loved spending time with my family and the goodbyes were as tearful as ever. I firmly believe that no matter how old you are, leaving home never becomes any easier. But I did have a nice little holiday to look forward to, before heading back to the sunny coast of Kenya. I jetted off to spend a week in Uganda with Alex. It was great to play house, prove my culinary goddess skills in the baking front and spend time with his friends, but best of all he whisked me away to Fort Portal to a beautiful place called Kyaninga Lodge, I have never seen anything so absolutely breath taking in my life – beautiful log cabins built overlooking the most stunning lake with a scenic backdrop. The staff were meticulously accommodating, the food was beautiful, the lake was the cleanest lake I have ever swam in and the company wasn’t bad either ;) a perfect end to the week before heading back to Mombasa to start work.

There was a certain buzz to this start of term as we were moving into a new school build, unfortunately in true African fashion the build was not complete. All the staff arrived on the first day filled with anticipation and excitement only to be handed a paint brush and a list of furniture needed to be moved. In true Braeburn fashion all staff mucked in and got the classrooms up and running for the start of term. Unfortunately PE was a little further down the list so now on week 10 we are still awaiting areas to be completed, or improved but we are certainly getting there, and the school is definitely a growing school with an improved atmosphere.

The start of term was as fast paced as ever and I had only 4 weeks to put on a dance performance evening – stressful is not even the word. 4 weeks later the dance performance went ahead and I was very proud at how well the girls and boys had performed, the support from parents was fantastic and I look forward to more performances in the future.

In half term myself and Alex had planned and provisionally booked a trip to climb mount Kenya which I was very excited about, however in the true form of our relationship Alex had his leave cancelled and therefore our trip could not go ahead, after throwing my dummy out of the pram I recovered and decided I need to use my half term to its full potential, so endeavoured in a Padi open water scuba diving course. Despite vomiting on my first open water dive, and feeling like I was on a boat for the following 2 days, I absolutely loved it and with my new friend ‘Sealegs’ taken I completed 3 further sea dives and 2 pool dives to complete my course. I definitely think diving is something I could get in to, being 18m under water surrounded by tropical fish, stunning sea turtles and sharks was incredible. I look forward to many more dives around the world.

I am pretty sure last year I said I would not be doing the Pantomime again this year however I couldn’t resist, at that time of year I seem to forget how busy this term gets with fixtures, reports, sports days, and lesson planning and put myself up for another performance. This year the show is Humpty Dumpty and I will be playing the good fairy! (Suitably cast don’t you think??) in less than 3 weeks eek!!!

Although I was very disappointed not to be seeing Alex over half term, I did have 2 weeks to look forward too when he visited Mombasa for a holiday, it was just frustrating that I had to work and attend a weekend Nairobi fixture whilst he was here! But we did have a lot to discuss for the future and despite hours of chit chat we still seem far from a solid decision, the discussions will continue J we do have a cheeky little holiday planned in the summer which if it goes ahead will be awesome! Whilst he was here we did manage a weekend away to stay with his dad and step-mum in Watamu, it was so lovely and a very much needed getaway. I loved getting to know his family, eating home cooked meals and he even surprised me with my first scuba dive as a qualified diver, was great to have that experience with him. I also think I experienced the nicest ice-cream in the world!! Fact!!

Now we approach Christmas with only 4 weeks left of term – where did that time go? I look forward to spending some time in the sun, to remove the ridiculous tan lines I have once again acquired – yes Mike the special sock lines have appeared once again! I look like a patch work quilt.

Anyway if I do not finally get this blumming thing posted then it will end up being a year long blog!! So I apologise for the lack of humour, detail and interest I promise to try harder in the future!!

Final thought – I have now selected my very first tattoo design (kind of) so watch this space to see if I was brave enough to go through with it –eek!!!

PS I always write this in word and I am actually questioning the web address to my blog!! Sign of not logging in for months on end oops!!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx StephxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Part 11 - Big Lind and Tricky Visit Africa!!

Well so much for me not leaving it so long until I write my next post – time just seems to fly here and every time I sit down to write this I get distracted by something else. So since I last posted my mum and dad have been and gone L I have aged, and I am already 4 weeks down in the 3^rd and final term of the year.

Having Mum and Dad here was great it’s so easy to forget how little I knew before I came and when I arrived, so to hear certain questions being asked and to see their surprise at things like the roads etc was quite amusing it’s amazing how you just adapt to this way of life. I know for my Mum and Dad it was a big culture shock, particularly for my Dad as I think my Mum has read my blogs more so knew a little bit more what to expect but when I called him up 2 days before they were flying out and he asks me if I need him to bring biros out or batteries as he wasn’t sure if I could get them out here I understood that he perhaps thought he might be staying in a mud hut after all. He then advanced to the other extreme when he was here by saying “I’m not bothered about much for tea … a Fray Bento’s pie would do me … do they do them at the supermarket!!” “erm no!!!!”

I had lots planned for their visit and yet I still turned out to be the worst hostess ever, I am definitely not cut out for that role, I have noticed it in the past but it was so evident throughout their 2 week stint, they probably went home 2 stone lighter due to the lack of food on offer in my house, my rubbish cooking facilities and the fact I often forget to eat in the holidays so forget that others might quite like food. Despite having day trips planned I found it really difficult to fill the evenings, my accommodation is quite limiting – I don’t have a nice veranda to sit out on and have a BBQ and since I was sleeping in the worst bed known to mankind I was shattered by 9pm every night and suffering from a severe stiff neck.  Not only were my hostess skills appalling but my tolerance of mankind – I have become so used to living on my own and being self-sufficient and independent that I found it really difficult been around people all the time, leaving me absolutely racked with guilt, after all these are my parents, I am sure they have wanted to escape the realms of my sisters and I on numerous occasions throughout the past 32 years and yet we would never of known about those moments and yet here I am being ,in all honesty, a total cow after living with these very parents for 2 weeks. I learnt a lot about myself and not very much of it I liked!! L So I continue to apologise to my parents profusely and I am prepared for them to reciprocate the same behaviour when I crash into their world for weeks during the summer holidays. I think my 2 sisters will be very pleased to hear that I quite possibly lost my 26 year reign of favourite daughter within those 2 weeks.

Anyway looking on the bright side (which I hope my parents did at least experience at times during their trip) we had some really fun excursions which hopefully gave my parents a bit of a taster of what Mombasa and Kenya have to offer. I think just the trip from the airport to my house was a bit of an eye opener – the camera was out within minutes to take photos of half cars being wheeled down the road on wooden wheelbarrows, goats roaming freely and plenty of people just meandering around aimlessly. Well saying bright side I spent the best part of the first day walking them around Mtwapa where I live explaining how safe it is and how friendly people are, only to get a phone call that evening whilst out at dinner to inform me a hand grenade had been thrown into a Christian gathering by suspected supporters of Al Shabab – yes very safe 2 people died and 8 people were seriously injured!!!

Their second day they got to meet my not so mystery man, Alex we went for lunch and had a really nice afternoon and evening, followed by a day of fun at the local waterpark the next day. I have never in my life been to a water park with so few people in it! But that meant no queuing for the slides!! Woohoo!! Alex in true style cracked his head on the bottom of the pool during his first attempt at the head first slide!!I think it was either head butt the bottom of the pool or slam head first into my Dad’s buttocks!! He opted well!!  I thought our trip was going to be cut short with a trip to hospital for stitches but luckily it wasn’t as bad as it first appeared!!

We started with a trip to the shops for my Mum to visit a project in Shanzu which she had come across in her charity work with the lionesses. It was so lovely for her to see the work of these incredible women all working with disabilities and creating beautiful bags, purses, jewellery and clothing. We then headed to Bomboolulu another workshop for the disabled. We took the tour around the site which houses the workers, has a nursery school on site and numerous workshops from jewellery to wood carvings and also some interesting plants which apparently grow in colder climates. My parents love a challenge so my Mum was soon purchasing some seeds to take home (I must admit I was initially concerned that she may be smuggling some kind of drugs into the country on behalf of the disabled, I don’t think there would be much leniency with that in court!) I will be interested to see if these plants to indeed grow in my parent’s beloved green house that normally only house the rabbit on its rampage –well before it died!!

That evening I took them to Volleyball to meet the crowds and to experience the white sands of Nyali beach, I think my Dad was happy he managed to unintentionally rip off the bar – he hadn’t become accustomed with the money yet so it was allowed.

The first week we also visited Haller Park to feed the giraffes, watch the hippos and crocs being fed and also to become a main attraction for all the local school kids that were visiting. Secretly I think those children made that day trip for my parents, they were all very sweet and we gave them some food to feed the giraffes and even helped many to brave their long, wet tongues whilst feeding them.

When they originally booked their flights my Dad was adament he wasn’t too fussed about going on a safari but after my photos from a previous trip he changed his mind so at the start of their second week we headed off on our planned safari - camping in Tsavo East for 1 night taking the same route I had taken during Hannah’s visit in a hope we would see just as many animals. We packed up the night before ensuring we had enough to survive but also not too much that it wouldn’t fit in the car. I love my little Delilah but seriously her boot is ridiculously small. My Dad made sure that I didn’t overfill the coolbox so he could fit in his beers but also had a back up plan, and carried a bottle of red wine for safe measure. My poor Dad ended up sharing his back seat with some mattresses and pillows but we eventually made it safe and sound to Tsavo East.

Within a few minutes we were spotting herds of elephants, zebra and impala. Already an entrance fee well worth paying.

Whilst we were driving along, we hadn’t seen a car for about 40 minutes. I approached what looked like a stretch of sinking mud, it had very deep tyre marks right through the middle – clearly made by a larger vehicle than my own. The mud looked wet and thick and clay like. I sensibly asked my parents for some wisdom and advice as how to handle this situation – My Dad’s response “erm well erm you’ll just have to go for it” I didn’t really fancy my chances going through the middle so the sides looked slightly drier. I decided to drive up the side of the bank unfortunately too steep to go around the road. I got half way through and yes as you all probably guessed the left hand side of my car got stuck – My Dad’s response “bloody hell Steph, I knew it!!” erm well if you knew it why not advise me against it in the beginning I sensibly suggested putting my car into 4 wheel drive – My Dad’s response “ bloody hell Steph nooo (in a very yorkshire accent) I’ve seen cars do that and they just get more stuck”. Right so we are in the middle of a game park where there are lions, leopards, cheetahs and elephants to name but a few animals which could harm us. I am now feeling about 12 years old again after getting shouted at by my dad and frantically try to think of a way of getting us out! I hop out of the car and decide I will dig us out I pick up a wooden sign at the side of the road (which could of said ‘beware lions eat humans’ but it didn’t.) I then proceeded to try and dig my wheels out of the wet thick cement like mud. My Dad decides that he will drive and Mum and I will push!! I’m not been funny but I don’t think me or my Mum could push a fat kid in a pushchair never mind a car! Anyway whilst still on the lookout for animals and with my Dad safely tucked up in the driving seat myself and my Mum try to push the car whilst getting splattered with more mud. Whilst I was on the periphery of an emotional breakdown suddenly the car jolts forward!! Yey I was delighted I asked my Dad “what did you do?” – My Dad’s response “oh I just put it in 4 wheel drive!” aarrrrggghhh did I not suggest this in the first place!!! Anyhow there was no time for standing around, Mum and I had spent far too long outside in the danger zone but according to my Dad not long enough “ Steph just run up there and move that log, otherwise that will be the next bloody thing, we’ll hit that and get stuck again!” hang on a minute can I just run up there 50 metres away? in lion infested lands? and move some wood which you can drive around!?!? I don’t think my

Dad was getting the whole danger issue. So I have a quick look around and start trotting up to the log my Dad then proceeds to drive past me and as I turn I see my poor little mum running behind the car as my Dad has failed to actually let her back in!!!! You could not make this stuff up!! There was a very sombre atmosphere in the car after initially getting shouted at like a 12 year old, however 5 minutes on and we could see the funny side!! We even discussed what a shame it was we hadn’t taken photos – I definitely think that would of tipped my Dad over the edge if I’d of whipped out my camera and asked for a family pic!! We did however reinact the scene safely from the camp site – minus sinking clay!!!

We continued towards camp after stopping for what I advised as a quick stop to clean our shoes out the window (after they were caked in mud) but what my dad took as get out the car and spend 15mins scraping all the shoes with a knife and cleaning them with baby wipes – still not sure the whole lion thing has sunk in!!!!

After another couple of hours and many more sightings of warthogs, elephants - including heaps of tiny (well tiny for elephants) baby elephants, zebra, eland and giraffes. We were trundling along the road when my mum claimed to see something – now bear in mind that my mum had previously shouted quite excitedly to stop the car on approximately 150 occasions claiming to have seen elephants that turned out to be mounds of sand, lions that turned out to be logs and giraffes which turned out to be trees! My dad and I were a little sceptical when she claimed she may have seen a cheetah!!! I went along as I had done previously stopped the car and put it into reverse. To our amazement – just sitting there 30 metres from the roadside was a stunning cheetah, she looked uncomfortable and breathless and in no hurry to move despite her clearly laying her beady eyes on us. I questioned whether or not she was pregnant because of the way she was sitting, and as if she had heard at that very moment she should up and turned side on to reveal her big baby bump, no wonder she was so nonplussed by our presence. In my caring ways I decided we should move on so she does not become distressed – my dad’s idea “can’t you get any closer??” My mum had finally redeemed her animal spotting and we spent the rest of the trip hearing about it J.

We finally reached camp after stopping to look through the binoculars at another one of my mums “lions” which then attracted attention from a bus load of tourists – well what actually attracted the attention was my mum shouting – “Stop – LION!!!! To which the bus responded by putting it’s foot down and pulling up alongside us – 6 people hanging out their windows with binoculars and cameras – as we discreetly rolled away a nice shade of crimson after discovering once again it was a log.

We reached camp greeted by a mass of baboons – wonderful!! But there was a very nice man who helped us with our tents, wanted to share his wine with us and would also be keeping watch whilst we slept!! Again I say slept but once again I barely got any sleep largely due to the panic that my parents might get eaten by a lion. We had a steak dinner – well a rock hard lump of meat that was supposed to be steak and played cards by torchlight!!

Once I was tucked up in my tent, my dad decided to come and ask how dangerous red and black snakes were, I was caught off guard of my apparent Bear Grylles knowledge – seriously how the hell would I know which snakes are dangerous. I then panicked “have you been bitten dad?” “Oh no I just looked at it and it slithered off” “hmm don’t think you have anything to worry about then!!!!” With my mums least favourite animal on my mind I struggled to sleep worrying that if she got up to go to the toilet and saw a snake she might die of a coronary!!.

Morning finally arrived and we headed out on a morning game drive – no lions but Jekyll’s, buffalo and some massive elephant bones at the side of the road. Once we got back to camp we packed up tents and cooked cremated sausage sandwiches for breakfast before heading out of the park.

On proceeding to the exit gate we approached an area popular with lions – unfortunately the lions must of heard we were coming so decided to hide or not show up, literally 30 seconds after pointing out the area we saw the lions last time my dad piped up “Steph, just pull over for a minute will you, let me get out and stretch my legs, my bloody back is killing me!!!!!” “Erm dad we’re not at the zoo you’re in a game park there are lions that will eat you” “what? Where? Well I haven’t seen any bloody lions” “yes dad just because you have not seen any does not mean that they are not there.” So we continued to the gate with no leg stretching!!!.

I don’t think I will ever get bored of safari’s seeing such beautiful animals and their offspring in their natural habitat is amazing!! Next time I must go with someone more experienced who can show me a new route and give me some cooking and camping tips!!

The final few days with my parents were spent revisiting preferred places, chilling and tanning – before bidding them farewell on an early morning flight! L Luckily not too long until I see them again and I can allow my mum to teach me a thing or two about hosting.

The following week was my birthday and I was looking forward to finally spending some proper time with Alex, he had originally booked a week off work so we would get plenty of time to make some memories, however at the end of march that was cut short to a 5 day stay I was disappointed but knew it was out of his hands due to having training on the Monday and Tuesday. The Monday of his training arrived only for him to be told the training was cancelled but he now had another meeting on Friday – my birthday!! So not only could he have come the Friday before but now we was having to leaving the morning of my birthday I was very annoyed and unfortunately Alex took the brunt of it!!! Jees the things the guy has to do to get out of spending time with me!! We ended up having 3 days together which we managed to fill with lots of fun, laughter and adventure. We celebrated my birthday on the Thursday.  I was awoken to find presents including champagne (which tasted amazing – it’s been way too long and he might regret reigniting my love!!) Ray Ban aviator sunglasses, 2 bracelets a necklace and then he whisked me away for a full body massage at a beautiful spa (which after my back and neck problems during my parents visit, was the most painful massage I have ever had, yet so necessary!) We then went snorkelling which was not the most successful but still highly amusing all topped off with dinner at my favourite sushi restaurant! J all in all a very good birthday eve. Followed by a lovely chilled birthday with friends, puppies, food and baby cuddles on the Friday and a mountain of cards and gifts from home J Thank you!!

Unfortunately it’s now a long time until I get to see Alex again he travels to the UK for his sister’s wedding at the end of May so by the time I see him it will have been nearly 9 weeks L but it is all going well despite the distance. I am planning a trip at the end of august when I return from the UK, then we are planning on climbing Mount Kenya in October. Also I won a night for 2 at a Beach club resort in Malindi on a raffle so we are heading for a romantic night away in June when he next visits. Exciting times!!!

I have some very distressing news to announce – Delilah has been taken ill and has spent the past 4 days in the car doctors!! She is recovering well but costing me a fortune!!!! Due to Delilah’s condition I have to rekindle my relationship with matatu’s and boda boda’s. I have made 4 trips on a matatu and have seen 3 fights, nearly crashed into a tuk tuk and been touched up by an overweight priest who kept coughing like he was bringing up a hair ball and could at any point follow through a little bit of vomit!!! I know what you’re thinking why would I ever want to drive again!!

Spent the last few days helping my friend plan her wedding, and house hunting, which is very exciting. I have decided to finally leave Mtwapa as the road is driving me nuts and the drive to get anyway is beginning to turn me into a hermit!! So I have decided to move in with a friend and colleague so that we can put our allowance together to get somewhere bigger and in an ideal location. After looking at many apartments some disgustingly under budget some amazing but over budget and some ideal but with greedy landlords we think we may have found our new home. It is a 3 bedroom furnished apartment in Bamburi which is close to all our friends, Nakumatt supermarket and the new school. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan.

Really really looking forward to my trip home in the summer I have so much to fit in but can’t wait. Still missing food quite a lot I think after family, friends and working internet food is my biggest loss. My mum and dad brought some cheese out! WOW! Amazing!! I’m still pining for Chicken Parmo but also looking forward to orange lucozade, my mum’s homemade panacotta, bacon sandwich in a soft bun with HP fruity sauce, something from the bakers i.e sausage roll, cheese straws, yum yums … the list could go on!! Ooh nearly missed off a Garthway sandwich!!! Anyone I am visiting when I am back if you could make sure you have some food delights in then that would be most appreciated!!! J

I am not looking forward to the weather but will be nice to wear normal clothes, be able to get properly dressed up on a night out and to sleep under a duvet and without a mosquito net caging me in and not get bitten by mosquitos or any other little critters!

Most of all excited to see my family, catch up with my girls, meet the new babies joining the group and be bridesmaid at both my sister Deborah’s and my friend Claire’s weddings!!

Final thought ‘feeling old so decided I need to stop being so sensible so that when I am 80 I look back and can say I lived life for those who don’t get the chance – which means I’m back on the idea of a tattoo and want a puppy!!! J ‘

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Steph xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Part 10 -

I would like to start this instalment with a tribute to a very special young man who I was fortunate to teach for 3 years whilst living in Scarborough. He unfortunately passed away at the tender age of 17. Such tragic news and really makes you realise you should live every moment as if it may be your last and have no regrets! Live life, laugh often, love much!!! Rest in Peace Joe!
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Well as I write this next instalment I am 2 hours in to a 10 hour journey on a bus full of primary and secondary school girls returning from Nairobi!! But despite my previous moaning I have had a lovely trip – topped off by driving past some beautiful giraffes meandering in the distance! I love this country!! We finally had some great accommodation so despite getting thrashed at the hockey tournament again ... I had a lovely and fairly relaxed weekend. I am however slightly concerned at the affects it has on my body. Nairobi is not that cold particularly at this time of year in fact during the day it is a very hot dry heat and yet every time I travel up I instantly get cold like symptoms and sore lips – I have no idea how I will cope with England in the summer!

 I love listening to some of the kids telling me about their families I am so sheltered coming from parents that are still married – many of my students can’t believe I have a 31 year old sister and my parents are still married some of their families are so complicated but colourful and interesting. I am a little bit more excited than usual for my journey home as once again on the romance front the first weekend he is back from Uganda for a wedding – I’m in Nairobi L however he has kindly taken Monday off work so we can spend 1 evening together! What happened to nice uncomplicated men who live around the corner hey?? But we do get a week together in the Easter hols when we have plans of staying in Watamu, camping, lounging and exploring which will be really cool.

My trip to Uganda was great – we didn’t end up going to Ethiopia in the end which was good as I got an extra night in Uganda rather than in the airport however I still had to share my date with his work on many occasions which was a little frustrating at the time, but so nice to see Kampala it’s so different to Kenya. The climate was particularly nice apart from the rain and the ridiculously scary thunder storms. You can wear anything you like without feeling too cold or too hot and without the ridiculous sweating and humidity of Mombasa. And obviously very nice to spend some time just the 2 of us. Just a shame we are both back in England at totally different times this summer – I could of shown him North of Nottingham seen as how he thought Nottingham was very North so when I told him I drive 2 hours south to get to Nottingham he was so shocked!

Although I love Mombasa and can see so many plus factors for living here I am starting to have career issues, I am so ambitious I really want to climb the career ladder and get responsibility. I would love to be a head of department but that is unlikely to happen at Braeburn and also I miss climbing the main pay scale then aiming for the upper pay scale it doesn’t work the same here. The pay I receive is definitely a massive negative for living here L we shall see what happens – if I can get a community gym club up and running that will hopefully bring in some extra income. I want to travel to so many places but vowed I would not dip into my savings in England whilst I’m here. We’ll see I get my review meeting next January, a lot can happen between now and then.

I am so so excited that my parents arrive in less than 2 weeks, I have never spent so long apart from them and cannot wait for them to experience Kenya. Both have rarely or never travelled outside of Europe so it will be really cool to experience that with them. Just hope they don’t get bored, it’s a hard balancing act making sure they have enough to see and do but not too much so they don’t feel like they’ve had a holiday.

Had some very busy weekends recently with work and also celebrations I helped to throw one of my friends a baby shower at the start of march. Had a lovely day and it was very surreal experiencing a balloon bump even that was restricting never mind a baby, but with lots of indulgent food and games and gifts the afternoon ran smoothly. Just need to wait for the arrival of baby now! Very exciting I can’t wait for cuddles! We did have to explain (as she is Norwegian) that the name Berk for a boy is not a good idea especially as his dad is British so fully understands the term Berk and with a surname like Nutter – Berk is definitely not a good idea!!

I pleased to inform you have I stopped being a total lazy Sloth and have actually started an exercise regime in a hope I can complete this triathlon without actually dying or needing medical assistance! It is all going well I am cycling around 20 miles a week swimming around 50 and running about 5 – still have a way to go but it’s amazing how energized and motivated I feel, the swimming is the worst I have never had a swimming lesson in my life and although I can swim competently I question my technique particularly when it comes to breathing we shall see I managed 30 lengths in one session this week which is an achievement just need to try and cut down the rest periods now. The netball club I am running is also going well just need to make sure we can keep up the numbers and also try and appeal to new faces!

It’s amazing how every week and every weekend when I am busy working I moan (I know what some of you are thinking, you can’t believe that I would ever moan) that all I want is a weekend of nothing – yet when I get a weekend of nothing it drives me crazy I looked forward to getting jobs done today then sunbathing and yet despite getting jobs done and sunbathing I have been bored out of my brain I used to spend most weekends doing nothing in Scarborough I don’t know how I ever coped!!

Everything has been pretty uneventful over the past few weeks just busy working, however I’m hoping my next blog will be much more interesting as I’ll have tales of my parents visit (there’s bound to be humour), my hopefully romantic break (hint) and I will have also spent my first birthday in Africa!!

Really looking forward to coming home in the summer despite having currently no desire to live there it is still home I miss the people a lot can’t wait to see my nephew and get a big squeeze just hope he hasn’t forgotten me although I don’t think he would ever be allowed!!! I have 2 weddings with bridesmaid duties and 2 hen parties, plus some babies to meet I can’t wait! Also looking forward to seeing what delights my mum and dad bring our for me I gave them a list but just asked them to select things off it so it will all be a nice surprise but I would have been just as happy for them to turn up with just the clothes on their backs!!

Final thought - ‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Steph xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S I promise my next blog will be more interesting and I will take more time in making it flow!!!

Part 9 - It's a long one!!!

Once again I seem to have left it an awful long time before even starting to write this, every time I convince myself it would be easier and more effective to just keep updating it as something happens but true to form something else always comes up. So the real reason I am writing this now is I have had no power for the past 2 hours and have run out of things I can constructively do by candlelight and unfortunately one born every minute and crime watch haven’t finished downloading yet!! May I just say that if I wasn’t a PE teacher I think I’d love to be a midwife I think it was my secret calling in life I absolutely love that programme!!

Anyway so since I last wrote I am back to work and already on week 4 – time flies!! I spent my last week of the holidays, chilling out, eating good food, spending time with special people and occasionally looking after a sick dog!! I also played squash for the first time and really enjoyed it, my backhand is pretty pathetic but something I will definitely keep playing from time to time!! I am also looking into entering my first ever triathlon which would be pretty cool but really need to get myself in gear after a very good start my new exercise regime has pretty much declined since October it is pathetic so I am back on it!! With something to aim for!

Work is gong really well I expected to really hate this term as it is predominantly hockey season, however I waved my magic wand and got gymnastics and dance on the curriculum so I am lucky enough to teach both boys and girls gymnastics at the minute leaving my head of department to teach girls and boys hockey. Gymnastics has really taken off the kids are so enthusiastic to be learning something new and are progressing really well I have a gymnastic activity on a Thursday and despite 12 being the supposed limit I have 30 children – I don’t have the heart to turn any away – I became a PE teacher to get kids to really engage with sport and be enthusiastic so I don’t want to turn kids on to gymnastics in lesson then turn them away from the only access point. That’s one main negative about Mombasa there are no outlets for sports, no clubs no pathways which is a shame as so much talent gets missed and under developed. So I am thinking I could maybe set up a community gymnastic club somewhere but I need to look into it further! I will keep you updated! I also have a dance club on a Wednesday which I am also loving and have good numbers for – boys even missed football training to come to dance woohoo 1 nil to Goodall!! We are working towards a dance performance evening so I am really excited about that just hope I can pull something off in a short amount of time! But the kids are so enthusiastic and practice so hard outside of school!

 The only negative so far to this term has been trips to Nairobi I generally don’t enjoy them it involves a 10 hour bus journey there and back, we usually take a thrashing because we have limited students to select from, its freezing at night and for the last 2 visits accommodation has been abysmal so I am not looking forward to going again in march!! On the up I finally saw some animals both on the way up and back down – zebras just chilling, grazing at the side of the road – truly amazing!!

I will take this opportunity to explain a near death experience that I deliberately left out of my last blog I decided it may give my mum a heart attack but ..I think she can handle it – I will set the scene first and explain the Kenyan driving skills – bearing in mind that the test in Kenyan consists of a car full of people waiting to take their test you sit in and drive a hundred meters and then pretty much everyone passes most people who learnt to drive here have the funniest stories about their test – the one that springs to mind is when a girl I know was on her driving test the girl before her got into the driving seat and was already pretty much in tears as she had never driven a manual car before, the girl admitted to having no idea what she was doing, so from the back seat my friend discreetly explained she need to put her left foot on the clutch at the far left side etc. etc. and basically spoke the girl through her test – the girl proceeded to kangaroo the car in a backward direction before bursting into tears only to be told by the instructor ‘you’ve passed!’ unbelievable!!! So you get the idea – many matatus use indicator as accessories and just have them flashing to light up their vehicle, as we in the UK would flash our headlights to indicate you are giving way to someone here it means ‘I’m coming through move out the way’ so you can see where some problems might start! I was also informed that Lorries often indicate right if it is clear for you to overtake! Which leads me nicely on to my story, whilst returning from our Diani trip I was stuck behind a big lorry, I kept pulling out but vehicles were always coming in the other direction, after a while the lorry began to indicate I sat behind it for a while presuming it must be turning right – I then remembered he may actually be letting me pass – I pulled out and saw no vehicles – aha I thought I’m finally reading the lingo of the roads – I accelerate a long side the lorry only then to realise, no I was not reading the lingo I might as well of been attempting to read braille as yes you guessed it this time the lorry was actually turning in- by this point I was too far overtaking to go back so instead I swung my car on to the dirt at the side of the road, bounced through massive puddles, feared for my live, my poor passengers were lifted out of their seats before I safely returned them to the road in front of the lorry – close call.

I have had some lovely Skype sessions with home this weekend, particularly getting to Skype with my Gran, I am so proud of her, since I moved to Kenya she decided it was time she leapt into the 21^st century and became technological. She secretly attended some computing lessons and got set up with a computer and internet – she even has Facebook, she is a total legend. Well done Gran can’t wait to speak again!!

As I am sure many of you are aware or many of you have certainly asked the question…yes I will confirm that there has been a bit of a blossoming romance – I have met a very nice guy, who I get on really well with, and he likes me so much he decided to move to Uganda to get away from me!! He already had a job posting out there when we got together but we shall see what happens I am going out to Uganda (secretly just wanted a cheap holiday to Uganda – but don’t tell him until I get back) in February  for a couple of days, but before he left he managed to claw his way out of the doghouse for his ridiculous time keeping and endless work calls interrupting any kind of date nights, by taking me on a surprise dhow trip with a lovely 4 course meal, watching the sunset and finally getting time together with no interruptions, it was the perfect evening before carting him off to the airport the next morning! Watch this space … if I never mention it again … it means in true Goodall form it’s all gone to pot so don’t even ask!!!

I am so excited to be having a spur of the moment visitor from Wednesday my Bezzie Hannah is coming out for 6 nights, I absolutely cannot wait! It’s a shame I have to work but I am pretty sure she will find it very easy to entertain herself lounging by the pool in 37 degree heat!!

Well since I last had chance to add to this blog Hannah has been and gone L but what an amazing 6 days we had!! Despite having to work we managed to cram a whole lot of Kenya into such a short space of time! Hannah got to experience volleyball, eating out, safari, camping, Haller Park, boating on the creek, shopping in Shanzu, beach days, pool days and meeting pretty much all my friends.

Having Hannah here was a great excuse to finally experience a safari I can’t believe I have been living in Africa for 6 months and not been on safari!! So with minimal knowledge and zero experience 3 of us set out on a safari to Tsavo East National Park it is only a 2 hour drive away so since we only had a weekend a perfect distance. We rocked up with our residence cards (Hannah becoming Luisa for the day) and paid 1300KSH for entrance and camping for a night that is the equivalent of £11 which just seems ridiculous! It is then free range – follow the map to the camp site and hope to spot some animals -  200m in we saw our first siting … an ostrich!! Not quite a lion but hey it was a good warm up viewing and gave us chance to set the camera’s up. We spent the next few hours driving along spotting all kinds of animals and birds. Simply stunning, quite possibly one of the best experiences of my life. We saw zebra, elephants, gazelles (a variety of breeds), warthogs – which are so cute with their vertical tails and heaps of birds. We took a route which was signposted to a swamp – as we turned the corner we saw the most beautiful view with over a hundred elephants meandering around!! There were lots of baby elephants playing and trotting behind their parents so cute, we literally sat on the roof of my car out hanging out of the sunroof for about 20minutes just taking it all in!

We then headed to pitch our tents a little disappointed to have not seen any giraffes or cats. Arriving at the campsite we were pleasantly surprised to find showers and toilets and even a guy who would find us fire wood and build us a camp fire!! The only concerns were the amount of baboons and the fact that we were not enclosed so any animals could just wander through our campsite!! A little worrying especially for non-campers. After successfully pitching our tents in record timing and trying to make some kind of comfortable beds out of sheets and towels as we didn’t have any mattresses, we headed back out to watch the sunset with a bottle of wine. So glad we did as within minutes we had a sighting of our first giraffe – granted it was about 500m away and looked like it was made out of wood but as we continued down the road we saw 10 more all gracefully walking alongside the road and crossing our paths! Following the giraffes there was a really calm herd of elephants which walked down the side of the car about 10m away and then crossed the road in front of us between my car and the sun setting!! I felt so lucky on this trip to be seeing so much! As the light faded we headed back to camp for some tea (dinner – as I keep getting reminded) Again we weren’t the most organised campers so we had left over pizza, a tin of tuna and then toasted marshmallows!! We decided that we would try to get an early night so that we could arise early and go on another drive as the sun was coming up to see what else we could see so we headed to bed!

 I am definitely not a camper I must have seen every hour, I felt claustrophobic, I could hear a heap of animals which sounded like they were right outside our tent and I felt as though I was sleeping on lumpy concrete! I was willing time to pass more quickly finally 5.30am came around and we got up and sorted to head out. It was lovely to be out so early but didn’t see any different animals, however we did see a pile of bones next to the road!!! We headed back to camp for breakfast and this time we came slightly more prepared and cooked sausage sandwiches which went down a treat, and of course to finish it off some more toasted marshmallows!!We packed up the tents - after being told baboons had been using them as trampolines whilst we were out!! Oops!! - And planned our route back to the exit of the park. We were desperate to see lions and after about an hour we spoke to a couple who were also hoping to see lions and had been told there had been a sighting at Aruba lodge – we checked the map and headed that way – the journey went so quickly as once again there was so much to see buffaloes, more elephants really close to the road, impala and zebra. Every time we saw a couple of parked up cars we got excited as we hoped there might be lions but no. We continued driving and eventually we saw 4 cars all parked up with people hanging out of windows with binoculars and ultra-zoom cameras – surely they were looking at the lions – we pulled up whipped out the binoculars and as luck may have it there were lions!!! 5 lions all chilling, sitting around their latest kill… a zebra!! Although they were quite far away it was still incredible to see such magnificent animals in the wild!! After hanging out the sunroof for a further 15minutes hoping they might suddenly have the urge to walk towards the road we decided to continue on our journey. Just around the corner we came to a swamp with the most stunning back drop – an array of gazelles, zebras and elephants topped off by 3 hippo’s wallowing in the water. We finally made it back to the gate and headed home- all with aching bodies and tired eyes from our camping experience!!

On returning to Mombasa I had a text from a friend inviting us out on his boat – although we were so tired I thought it was a perfect opportunity for Hannah to experience the creek- to top it off he had brought his doughnut along so I got to watch Hannah hanging on for dear life whilst being thrown around on a giant doughnut so much fun!!

Monday we headed to Haller Park straight after I had finished work – I arrived feeling quite anxious after my traumatic monkey incident the time before!! We paid our entrance and headed to feed the giraffes – the monkeys also felt it was feeding time for them! Luckily I managed to stay calm and surrounded by other people I felt a little safer! We fed the giraffes and then watched the hippos and crocs being fed before heading to Shanzu for Hannah to do some last minute souvenir shopping!

Saying bye to Hannah was awful I don’t think saying bye to people will ever get any easier but so glad she came out and we got to spend some time together – it is amazing despite not seeing each other for 7 months everything slotted perfectly in to place, I laughed until I couldn’t breathe on several occasions, we reminisced, we bitched and even cried at the airport- a true lifelong friendship!!

The following weekend I had planned a weekend of nothing – sleeping in, chilling by the pool and catching some rays however that all changed when I got a surprise visitor from Uganda at 1.30am despite not seeing him for 3 and a half weeks his timing was once again ridiculous, I had decided to bite the bullet and get my hair done out here as it was in terrible condition and I thought it would be nice to make the effort before my trip to Uganda – I chose to get it done on Friday so I had a few days to get used to it, for the colour to settle and for the cut to grow in – my skin is also in terrible condition but again thought I have till Wednesday for it all to clear – but no I had to answer the door with hair dye around my hair line still, terrible skin and hair that I definitely wasn’t used to yet possibly because I look a little bit like Morticia from the Addams family!! But it was still a great surprise and although it put a stop to my lie in on sat, and we then spent 3 hours at the vets with his dog and I spent Sunday feeling like I had food poisoning (we are destined for a rough ride) It was still a lovely weekend and only a few days till I fly out. Speaking of which again true to Goodall form I booked my flights to Uganda and 2 weeks later he gets an email from his boss telling him he has to go to Ethiopia for 2 days on the day I fly out to Uganda!!! Typical!! Luckily his company are pretty nice and therefore are flying me out to Addis in Ethiopia for 2 days too!! Bonus really I get to travel around in such a short space of time!! I will probably need another holiday when I get back but I can’t wait!!!

And that brings us to now! It has only taken me 2 weeks to write this but never mind I got there eventually!!

Final thought – I am loving the home comforts Hannah brought out – sultana bran, fajita kits, minstrels and dolmio sauce!! But the best home comfort will be when my parents fly out in 6 and a half weeks – can’t wait!!!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  Steph xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Part 8

Wow I have just read my blogs from start to finish (well where I am up to) what a journey I have been on and I am only a quarter of the way through my contract!! I have learnt so much when I look back at the early blogs, for a start there are so many spelling mistakes regarding Swahili terms, the things I miss has definitely changed and if I’m honest I feel my opinion on so many things has altered, don’t tell my dad but I was even contemplating a tattoo (obviously somewhere discreet) but seriously if you’d of asked me that 6 months ago there would be no way I would be having something permanent scarring my body which would still be there when I was 80!! Think my outlook on life has changed drastically!

Anyway since my last blog I got into trouble for not actually mentioning people by name, I had chosen to do that for a reason as I didn’t want them to feel like I was telling lots of people about them without them knowing however ‘Tania’ had a hissy fit so I am mentioning her now!! She will feature in many of my stories in this blog – she’ll no doubt now complain that I am talking about her!!!

You’ll be pleased to hear some trauma has returned in my life (I know u all secretly pretend you’re not bothered if my blogs are boring and uneventful but I know you like nothing more than to hear of my misery!!) but we will get to that.

I have now been on school holidays for 3 weeks and although we haven’t travelled greatly as we had planned it has been perfect, pampering, sunshine, action and parties what more could a girl want! I’ve had a few good boat trips too one in which involved – in fact both of which involved near death experiences luckily the first trip was someone else’s life in the balance! Boys being boys some friends had come up with the idea of parasailing from the back of the boat, one of the guys does a lot of skydiving and has parachutes and the other a boat so they thought what better to do on a Sunday afternoon than run off a tiny beach surrounded by mangroves and be lifted 100m in the air attached to a moving boat only by a thin rope!! The thin rope turned out to be the problem on the first 4 attempts as the rope kept snapping, meaning the guy in the air generally landed in mangroves! However on the fifth attempt and with a shorter but double thickness rope it worked!! It looked painful but it worked! Next time they possibly need to work on their communication as the guy in the air kept shouting ‘go’ and the guy driving the boat thought he was saying ‘slow’ it meant the guy in the parachute kept dropping and then was heaved back up needless to say his body was a wreck afterwards!!

I decided that during the hols I needed to make more of an effort at making my very bland flat look more homely, the first item on my wish list was a hand carved giraffe I had seen one when I first arrived at bombulooloo workshops but would need a car to transport it, so now I have Delilah I had planned my first purchase however whilst shopping in Shanzu I saw the cutest most thoughtful looking giraffe and couldn’t help but take him home and name him Geoffrey!!! Geoffrey then made some smaller friends, Hamilton the Hippo and Riley the Rhino. I also managed to find a local carpenter to make me a proper mosquito frame as I was sick of rolling into my net and losing half my bed space to the net!! Next step is buying some frames so I can put some pictures on the wall and also a painting my friend has done for me which I love!
The second boating near death experience came on my first ever fishing trip a couple of weeks ago, I have always wanted to try fishing but wasn’t sure I had the patience to be unsuccessful however with 3 of us on board one being Tania! We set sail will a stack of food and a massive tank of Pimms; I don’t always travel well by sea so I was handed pregnancy sickness tablets and a glass of pimms at 7.30am! We had an 8 hour trip ahead of us and sensible as ever I thought factor 15 sun cream would be more than enough!! Apparently not!! Despite not catching a single fish, (although we lost a fair bit of bait they we’re just being sneaky fish and stealing the bait without hooking on!) I had an amazing day saw flying fish, massive sea turtles and above all a massive shark!! We saw this giant fin in the distance so the others thought it would be sensible to sail right up to it – I had my reservations but was fascinated we sailed right over it and it was bigger than the boat we were in, an epic moment!! All in all getting a hangover at 8pm and having very painful sunburn was all worth it!
I have been desperate to go to Haller park since I got here it has hippos and crocs and giraffes plus other animals and if you go in the afternoon you get to watch them all being fed and even feed the giraffes. So I was super excited to actually get to go (everyone has already been so had to find someone who didn’t mind going again) we started at the giraffes which were amazing, I then fed a giant tortoise before heading to the snake enclosures, as you may of figured out in my previous blogs monkeys have some amount of front out here! You may have also read about my courageous encounter with a rhino, tiger and crocodile!! Well I’m sure you’ll all be stunned to hear that that story wasn’t strictly true!! So here goes the actual story!!! I was casually walking along, monkeys are everywhere! I don’t like them and they can obviously sense that, 1 rather annoying and very cocky monkey decided it would be fun to attack the petrified muzungu girl! It ran towards me I ran and screamed, I stopped, he stopped, he eyeballed me, he then ran towards me again (looking aggressive) I was watching the monkey whilst attempting to run away from it in flip flops, I tripped, performed a slow motion dive across gravel, whilst still trying to escape the monkey. I stood up to find I had a deep graze in my wrist, cut knees and toes and a grazed shoulder and above all a massively bruised ego! I went to receive first aid only to have the guy take me back through the monkeys!! We were then locked out so he asked me to wait there – right near the monkeys! He then proceeded to pour iodine on every graze I think in that moment I experienced a pain similar to childbirth!! My word!! Unfortunately the monkey incident had a damning effect on the rest of my afternoon I jumped at every tree rustling I would not walk down paths where monkeys were sat waiting for me and I made us walk around in a group!! I still have horrible looking scabs which people always feel the need to ask what happened hence the rhino story!! These injuries are not helped by the level of tanning I have managed to achieve it has just made the scarring look incredibly pink and like it will never disappear. I look forward to facing my fears and returning to the park when my mum and dad visit I might take a shot gun with me next time!!

Again in Tania’s company we took a trip to Malindi to a beach called Che Shale it was beautiful, a really glittery beach with sand dollar shells which I love, unfortunately the locals tend to get up early pick up all the sand dollars then try and sell them to you!! Was really nice to just go somewhere different! It was a nice start to the Christmas weekend!

Speaking of Christmas, Christmas day in Mombasa was definitely very different to England! Christmas Eve 3 of us decided to stay together so that we didn’t wake up on Christmas morning on our own!! Awww!! We had a lovely steak dinner, watched as much of the pantomime DVD as we could physically and mentally take and then headed to bed to wait for Santa! Christmas morning was very relaxed a full cooked breakfast, a swim in the pool and a heap of fruit, we then headed to Tania’s where about 12 of us were getting together to spend a very random Christmas day! By the time I arrived I felt a little stressed (I know those of you who know me well must be shocked!!- we were LATE!!) But when I walked into a beautiful house with a lovely pool and sea view the stress drifted away! I got to Skype my family which was amazing and then took a dip in the pool, alcohol on tap and not long to wait for Christmas dinner!!! We had a fairly traditional Christmas dinner; roast ham, turkey, dates wrapped in bacon (amazing), pigs in blankets, veg, stuffing and roast potatoes, followed by mince pies and mulled wine! We then hopped back in the pool watched the sunset and let the drinking continue. We had organised a secret Santa which was good we had a 500 bob limit and it was amusing watching some of the gifts be opened!

The week following Christmas 6 of us took a girly trip to the south coast, Diani, which entails a short ferry crossing and about an hour drive, I’ve heard so much about it but never got round to going, we left early to avoid queuing for the ferry and made good time, we arrived at a bar/restaurant called 40 thieves which is right on the beach front. The beach is a beautiful white beach with really clear water. We were lucky enough to be there whilst there was a kite surfing competition on which was really cool. We had planned to also rent a kayak but unfortunately the tide was out for most the day so there wasn’t enough water, even the kite competition had to be delayed! But laying on the beach watching hot guys strut their stuff was a good compromise!
These holidays have brought quite a bit of partying one of the guys is moving to Uganda so he had 2 leaving parties 1 was a James Bond/black tie theme which gave all the girls an excuse to don a dress, true to form here most of the guys wore a shirt and kikoi!! We then had to prepare for New Year!

For New Year there were many options of parties and places to celebrate. We had managed to get tickets for Kilifi boat yard where a few of our friends would also be celebrating. It was a dinner dance with a DJ. It started fairly slowly but once the music got going we spent 6 hours nonstop dancing! To top off the whole evening I had been speaking to some older ladies in the bathroom when it struck me that one of them looked really familiar I was convinced she was an actress off coronation street I went back and shared my thoughts with everyone but of course no-one knows coronation street out here. I then realised it was Rula Lenska – I knew it!!! I was overly excited! I even held hands with her whilst singing Auld Lang’s Syne such a random place for her to be!!

New Year’s Day we headed north to Watamu where some other friends were spending New Year and it has a reputation for continuing the celebrations in to New Year’s Day! We arrived at a beach bar with a stunning view and spent the day swimming in clear water, meeting new people, eating and drinking!! These holidays all I seem to of done is eat and drink! But I have loved every minute of it I have eaten some amazing food, spent time with great friends and seen and experienced new things. I am really excited about 2012 I think it could be a very good year!!

Well that brings me to now 1 week left of the holidays to relax and enjoy. It has been a very strange time of year but I am glad I have experienced a warm Christmas with white sand rather than white snow! I still miss home but more specifically the people at home! Can’t wait to catch up with everyone in the summer meeting new babies, attending 2 amazing weddings and spending quality time with family and friends!. I no longer miss the same things as I did at the start however I realised as sad as I am that I was missing crime watch but luckily I managed to download an episode to fill the void! I still miss home foods like chicken parmo’s, mild cheese and broccoli pasta and sauce, fajita kits and generally just easy things to make like dolmio pasta sauces but truly I think it’s just laziness as so much of the above is convenience. So I will leave you with my New Year’s resolutions.

1. Learn to cook or at least experiment more with cooking
2. Care less about what people think and make decisions based on what I want rather than worrying how that might look to others!
3. Learn something new

Happy New Year!! Best wishes for 2012 I hope this year brings you all love, laughter and happiness!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  Steph xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx