It's fun to have friends

Have I mentioned that I like having friends?  What a good long weekend this has been, because I have seen my friends!  On Sunday afternoon, I had lunch with a friend, who I actually met at wedding here in Kenya last year.  Then, our workshop began, and I saw other friends, from within my organization, who I only get to see at these sorts of workshops and meetings.  Of course, the workshop itself wasn't bad - there were some new things that I learned, but I did feel that at certain points, we were being taught "down" to.  It was also a bit odd for me, because we were talking about translation, and all of the exercizes that we were meant to do assumed that we knew a second language (more specifically, Swahili or French!) well enough to translate some pretty difficult stuff.  But my "market" Arabic wasn't going to cut it.  So, most of the practice was rather lost on me.  But, there were a few points and bits that I gleaned and will hopefully put into practice.

I had a funny conversation with someone today at lunch, actually.  We were just talking about our backgrounds, and how we ended up in this line of work with our organization.  I mentioned my educational background, and this guy was completely surprised that I have taken the same courses and have the same "credentials" as an actual Translation Consultant.  He was pretty incredulous that I actually CHOSE to do literacy and education work instead of doing Translation work!  I think he still assumed that people who do literacy work are just there because they were too stupid to get a full degree in translation and exegesis!  It was quite funny to see the look on this guy's face when we went through the whole conversation.

After our work for the day was all over, I trotted over to the little mall, to do some last bits of shopping, and to meet some friends.  Funnily enough, while I was sitting and waiting, I ran into a Kenyan friend, who is actually living in South Africa at the moment!  She just came by to do some shopping and there I was!  Later, my Canadian friends showed up.  What fun it was to meet my friends from home right here in Kenya!  I just wish I could have spent more time with them.  I could hardly believe that we were all together in Kenya like that, and I'm just feeling so loved that it all worked out like this!  I mean, of all the weekends in the year, we all got to be in the same place at the same time.  And it made me happy.

Straight from meeting up with the Canuks, I went to visit some other friends, who I know from Jb.  Unfortunately, the wife in the family needs to stay in Nairobi for the next several months, so I really wanted to have a chance to greet her before going back.  They were kind enough to arrange for a taxi to pick me and Jackie up and take us to their place for supper tonight.  We had a very good time together, too!

I really do appreciate things like this, because I really think they are from God.  He puts things together to make me smile, just when I need it.  And seeing so many friends over the past few days, and some in completely random ways, has been so refreshing and wonderful!

Tomorrow, it's back to my cat and my pumpkins...

I love this country ... again!

Have I mentioned that I like this place? 

It has really been a very low stress trip, so far.  Because I'm only here for 5 days, I didn't have to do much at home to get ready to come, and I didn't have to pack that much stuff.  My neighbor is kindly looking after Zaney, and my pumpkins should be happy on their own by this point. 

So yesterday, we got to the airport, I flirted a bit with the new immigration guy as I got my exit stamp (I was using the local Arabic, and told him I was leaving to Nairobi, but I was coming back soon.  He asked me what I was going to bring him from Nairobi, so I told him "cool weather and rain".  He thought I didn't understand him, and repeated his question in English.  So I repeated my answer in English.  I guess he was fishing for something more than a bit of cool weather and rain!), and we boarded the flight.  Once in Nairobi, the driver from the guesthouse was waiting for us to whisk us away to a waiting lunch.  Though I was hardly even hungry, because I had eaten well on the plane.  They were serving fish, and only fish, for the meal on the flight.  I asked if there was something other than fish, because the combination of a really bumpy flight and a cabin full of fish-aroma was not doing my stomach any favours.  The flight attendants were great and they went looking for something else for me.  A few minutes later, they came with a real china plate, full of a beautifully grilled chicken breast, roasted potatoes, gravy and BROCCOLI!   Wow.  Kudos to Kenya Airways for wonderful service!

Anyway, after eating a second lunch at the guesthouse, I went off to meet a good friend and her hubby at a mall for some coffee.  While waiting for them to arrive, I did a bit of shopping of my own, buying some nice smelling soap (not available at the moment in Jb, some new tough "tupperware" like clear plastic containers, and some doxycycline (which I take as malaria prophylaxis).  I also enjoyed browsing in the Kiko Romeo shop. It's a shop filled with beautiful "modern" outfits, made from traditional African fabrics. I love going in there and getting ideas for some new dresses in Jb :)  I wish I could afford to shop there, but the dresses are usually around $75 - $100, which is just a bit steep for an every day dress to bring to Jb!  There were several dresses in exactly the style I have in mind for my next Jb dress, though, which was encouraging to see that maybe my fashion sense isn't completely off base!

My friends did eventually arrive, and I really had a wonderful time with them.  Really, it was such a blessing that they just happened to be in town at the same time that I am.  It's the second time I've seen them since they were married in January, and neither of our meetings was really "planned" - just happened that we were all in the city at the same time!  What a blessing it was, and really just what I needed, to see some good friends this weekend.

After a few hours with them, it was time to set out for home.  I decided to walk, since it's downhill all the way, and the weather was deliciously cool.  And lo and behold, on the road, I bumped into a couple of people from Jb who I haven't seen in ages!  So we had a lovely little reunion on the street corner, and have made plans to get together once we all get back "home".

Today, I decided to do something that I've never done ever before in my whole life - I went to a movie all my myself! I wanted to see the "Smurfs" movie, since I remember growing up and watching the Smurfs on Saturday morning cartoons.  I know. I'm old.  And I know the Smurfs movie got pretty bad reviews, but actually, I really liked it! 
 
It made me laugh outloud a few times, and I came out of the theatre with a big smile on my face.  So I thought it was smurfily worth the $5 to see it!

AND the crazy part about being at the movies is that just as I was going into the theatre, I saw another friend and her new husband!  I thought they were still in the UK, as they just got married a few weeks ago, but alas, they have returned!  So it was really a very pleasant surprise to see them.  They were going to see a different movie, but we were able to meet up after our respective movies.  It was really good to see them, catch up a bit and hear about their wedding (which I was also invited to... but couldn't quite make it to the UK last month!).

I did something else tonight, too, which I don't usually do.  We went for Egyptian food with some friends who live here, too.  Since my buddy J was doing all the arrangements, I assumed she also arranged for us to get a ride home with the folks that we were meeting for supper.  Problem was, she assumed they would drive and car and would have no problem dropping us back at home after supper.  BUT, they rode a motorbike to the restaurant!  Now, if we were "proper" Africans, I'm sure all 4 of us could have fit onto that motorbike and gotten home all together.  But alas, we are not proper Africans, so poor D had to ferry me and J home, separately, while his wife waited at the restaurant!

What fun, though!  I trust this man completely on a bike - he's my dad's age, a pilot, and has been riding a bike in this city for longer than I've been alive.  I certainly wouldn't jump on the back of a motorbike with just anyone at night in the traffic in this city.  He's also a good friend, and totally trustworthy, and the sort of guy that you can throw your arms around and hold tight, and he won't think anything strange of it, because, well, that's what you do when you're riding on the back of a bike in this city (at least, he said he didn't mind, and he'd rather have his passenger be "stable" and safe in the crazy traffic).  So off we went, roaring off into the night!  He told me that I was an easier passenger to drive than J - said J was being a bit too modest or something, as she wasn't holding very tight and "flopping" around on the back of the bike!  No flopping for me, no siree!  And I had a great time!  I could do that more often!

Tomorrow, the plan is to go to church, then head to the Masaai Market, as I need a new mumu to wear when I get out of the shower.  The one I'm currently wearing is starting to fall to pieces.  Then we get a ride out to the Suburbs where the seminar is going to be held for two days.  Seeing all these friends, both planned and unplanned, is really refreshing my little heart this weekend.  With friends coming and going in Jb all the time, I must admit that I've been starting to feel a little sorry for myself, and a bit bereft.  So seeing all these friends from near and far this weekend is really lifting my spirits, and reminding me of all the good people God's put in my life, even if I don't see them on a daily basis. 

An interesting speaker

Tonight I went along to a Rotary Club meeting to hear someone speak. He's been in this region for nearly 30 years, and really seems to talk a lot of sense about the complicated situation in these parts.  So he gave a talk tonight, which I attended for $6 (which included 2 chicken wings, a samosa, a bottle of water, and a chair in an air conditioned hall!).

This guy was talking real sense.  With a room full of UN, Diplomats, and NGO workers, this guy just told it like it is.  Did you know that the average term of work for UN, Diplomats and NGO workers in this country is 9 months!?  9 months!  No wonder I've gotten tired of all the coming and going and turn-over in this country.  He said a lot of really interesting things about the political situation here, but he also said some serious things about the NGO and humanitarian community.  Pretty much lambasted them for staying for such a short time, never getting to know the culture, the people, the language, and just coming and living in their "Fortified Aid Compounds" and pretending to understand the situation here. 

However, this guy had a real way about him, that he said it all more as a challenge to people, to try to get everyone to think about how things can be done differently, rather than offending and criticizing everyone in the room!  This guy has a lot of "field cred", that he has seriously earned, and he knows all the players, and has watched the situation for so many years.  So people listen to him, and really seem to respect his words, even when they're not exactly what people would want to hear.

Besides hearing a really good talk that had started my brain turning a bit, it was kind of neat to be a part of a Rotary Club meeting!  They have quite a few traditions and rituals that they go through, and in a way, it's sort of like "Church" without any mention of Christ.  They say a prayer to begin with, they do good things in the world, they meet together regularily for "fellowship" and sharing, and as individuals, they are committed to the group, as they work together for the common good.  From the outside looking in, at least tonight, it seemed like they were being more of a "church" than some actual Churches that I know of!

An accomplishment

And even Zane is kindly sharing "his" table with my little pumpkin.  My very first pumpkin from my garden!  It only took a few years of trying, but finally, finally, here is a pumpkin.  I can't wait to eat it!  There's one more that's almost ready, and at least 4 more that are getting there...!

Update on Update

Seems the party next door was put on by one of the local tribes which does NOT do overnight prayers :)  Huzzah!  That means by 10:30pm, all was quiet.  Now all I can hear is Jackie's BBC on the radio and people crunching through the empty soda cans and water bottles and other detritus from the party.  Can I say again, "Huzzah!"

Just an update

Just yesterday, I was looking through some of my old pictures from this place, and was thinking to myself that I used to have a lot more fun than I've been having lately.  I used to invite people over for games and dinner, we used to have potlucks, and go out on adventures.  And lately... I sit here on the compound, with my laptop on my lap, or engage in more, well, solitary leisure activities, like gardening and cooking.

I gotta turn over a new leaf.  No more.  I gotta get out and find some new friends!

And tonight was a good start.  We had a BBQ with folks from our Sunday evening Bible study.  Unfortunately, it was in "honor" of some good friends who have been here for 5 years, and who are now moving on.  I'm really going to miss them, it's just not going to be the same without them, that's for sure.  But in the process of saying goodbye, we had a big BBQ, with an almost epic game of frisbee golf on our compound.  We used to play frisbee golf all the time, but I haven't played in forever - you should have seen my frisbees when I dragged them out from under the bed!

It happily coincided with the return of two friends who used to be around during the "good old days" of fun, and who are back (one for visit, and one for work).  So even though we do say a lot of goodbyes, there are a few faces who pop up again.  It was really a nice time, catching up with old friends and meeting a few new people tonight, too. 

And strangely enough, Celine is singing about Saying Goodbye.  Yes, Celine is in my living room!  Well, ok, not exactly.  But remember, I live in a brick tent, so there is nothing but screen between me and the giant speakers they put up this afternoon about 15 feet from my house.  The occasion?  I think it's a wedding celebration.  There's been lots of talking with a microphone, but it's in one of the local languages, of which I only know about 5 words (including a few ways to say, "Hi" and "It's all good" and "water"), so I can't really say exactly what it is.  But there were a few busloads of happy people arriving earlier, and now they're playing a steady stream of cheesy love songs, courtesy of Shania and Celine, among others.  I'm just waiting for "African Queen" to be played, then I will know for sure that it's a wedding celebration.

Unfortunately, these parties have a tendancy to go till the wee hours of the morning, at least, and sometimes until dawn.  So it might could be a night of little sleep. I'm hoping I'll be pleasantly surprised and they will shut down at midnight or so. 

A few photos

Today we had a little "Book Fair".  One of the participants in the workshop said it was the biggest book fair this country has ever seen!  And you know, I'm sure he was right.  I hope that someday soon, there will be a MUCH bigger "book fair" than ours, but at least we're making a start!

All week long, the participants have been writing children's stories to go along with the Science and Social Studies curriculum here.  I have to admit that trying to help these guys think creatively about some good stories has been a bit of a stretch, but it's been good!  And I think I'm on a roll now.  Everything that happens now becomes a cute little story in my head, complete with little illustrations!

Unfortunately, we don't have that many illustrations yet for our stories, but we do have the texts, both in some of the local languages and a translation in English.

 So we spent some time looking at everyone else's stories today, which was good fun.

Of course, we also spent lots of time during the workshop singing.  I love singing songs with these guys!  Somehow, they LOVE silly little songs, and I try to teach them one or two new songs that they can sing in their schools and Sunday schools every time they come for a workshop.  "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" is always a hit, and gets people moving a bit.  This time, we learned "My God is so Big!", and also "Read your Bible, Pray Every Day".  I feel like I'm a camp counselor again some days!

Of course, most of our songs here are accompanied by drumming, which is good fun.
In the middle of all this work and fun, we also get to eat :) Today, since it was the final closing day, Izzy cooked up a pile of chips and fried chicken!  And we each got half an orange for dessert.  YUM!  Since it was a special day, too, she served it all up on individual plates, instead of having us all stand in line and get served out of a big pot, like usual.

It was a good week.  Now I have one more meeting tomorrow with some teachers from a rural area, and then it will be time for a weekend!  Woot-woot (which, by the way, I just learned is a new entry into the dictionary this week).

Mmmm.... Coffee

I'm just sitting in my verandah, listening to the neighbors (on both sides of the fence), and sipping a bit of coffee.  Too early to go to bed, yet... not sure what else to do.  I'm having one of those evenings where there are things that need doing, but I don't really feel like doing any of them.  So maybe I be a lump on a bump and go watch some Arabic TV, see if I can learn anything :).  I'm hoping the Al Jazeera English channel will be working tonight, since I just read on one of my favourite blogs that Al Jazeera will boost my "field cred".

Or, maybe I'll read a book.  I don't know.  Maybe I should sleep.  Maybe I should tidy.  Maybe I should finish unpacking that trunk.  Maybe I should prep for tomorrow's workshop.  Maybe... see. No shortage of things to do.  Just a shortage of motivation to do any of it!  So maybe I should sit right here and continue to drink my coffee.  And by the time it's finished, it will probably be not too early to go to bed...

Oofta Again.

Here I just lead a session today on "Editing and Revising" and mentioned how a good story/article/text needs to have a good title... and all I can come up with for my own title is "Oofta Again".  Honestly, I amaze myself sometimes.  I'm just glad none of the participants in our workshop are reading this blog! It would be a serious case of "do as I say, not as I do..."

Anyway, I did find myself saying "oofta" a few times today, starting from the moment my alarm went off on my phone this morning with its "blue ice" ring-tone.  It was pretty icy getting out of bed.  23.5C in my room!  The water was rather frigid in the shower, but at least it woke me up. I needed a good dose of waking up this morning, too, because I didn't sleep all that well. I went to bed with a bit of a funny feeling in my tummy, and a little ache in my head. I woke up at 1:30am with a serious stomach issue and the feeling that there was a tent peg through my right temple.  Not a good way to wake up in the middle of the night!  So I was awake for a bit last night, and I confess that I even heard myself whimper once or twice.  It was a pretty pathetic little scene for a while there.  I did fall back to sleep after taking a few pain killers, and in the morning, my head was tickity-boo (I think that means, "all good"), and stomach was passable. 

So I went to the workshop and enjoyed hearing some of the stories that the participants have been coming up with.  In the middle of it all, I went to chase a nun around town for a while, which was a nice little interlude to the day.  Finally caught up with her, but not before I went to the Sister's house, which has a lovely garden.  I wish our compound gave people that same sense of peace and calm when they walk through our gates!

I then did a bit of teaching of my own, and lead 2 hours of session on "Editing and Revising", which I think went quite well.  The afternoon is a tough time to teach, but at least it was relatively cool today, so people weren't expiring from the heat or anything.  It goes keep a girl on her toes, though, to facilitate sessions on topics that are quite new to people, and to do it all through a language that is my mother tongue, but the second, or third, or even fourth language, of most of the participants.  I love it, though!  I get exhausted when I teach, but I just love leading people through discovering new things.  In preparing for this session today, I actually wrote a little story in the local Arabic.  I took it to Clara, our guesthouse manager, to help me edit and correct the language in it.  And she loved the story.  In fact, she loved it so much that later in the day, she had emailed me her own little story that she had written!  So even just in my preparation, it seems someone was inspired to write a little story in her own language!

After a long day of work as a literacy specialist, I put on my work shorts and spent a few hours "oofta-ing" over the ceiling tiles for my new house :)  Richard was doing the main work, but in order to save him from having to climb up and down the ladder a gazillion times, I was given the task of not only handing stuff up to him, but also cutting the tiles to fit.  So while he measured and called out measurements, I measured and cut and handed the tiles up to him.  It did make me grunt a bit, but a little manual labour can be quite satisfying sometimes, you know?  I forgot to bring my camera, but I will go in there tomorrow, I hope, and take a few pictures of our handy-work.  I'm quite proud of us for getting the ceiling done, and Richard didn't even throw his hammer at me, and I didn't feel the need to push him off the ladder :)  I'm just happy to contribute a little to the progress that's happening on the house that I'll [hopefully] be moving into at some point!

So all in all, it was a day well played, if I do say so myself!

Ooofta...

It's been a bit of a challenge to get things down on the keyboard these days. I've been trying not to feel enslaved by Gene (aka, our faithful generator).  Since my cooking, eating and internetting have all been dictated by the schedule of the generator, it's been a bit difficult to fit everything in.  On the weekend, I actually ended up reading an entire book. A real book, printed on paper, in which I had to turn pages, rather than swipe a screen or click a link!  Imagine. Back to the dark ages for me.

But then, yesterday, just as I was grabbing the keys for the truck to go out to our Bible study, the city power came back on!  Huzzah!  (That's another good word I was reminded of this weekend - I was doing some work to get handouts ready for our workshop this week, and my buddy the computer guy was listening to a Herman Melville audio book in the office where I was. And one of the characters kept saying "Huzzah!".  What a good word, thought I.)  Anyway, Huzzah!  The electricity came on and I did a little dance of joy.  Not just in my heart, but actually out loud.  It was like the chains were dropping off.

So, now I also need to do a bit of introspection (imagine, SMP, all by myself!), on why I start feeling so enslaved to Gene when she's our sole source of power.  But that is for another day.  Today, I need to start paying attention to our "Lower Primary Subject Materials Workshop"!

Untitled

I've been reading about "good writing" and trying to find some interesting resources to use for our writing workshop next week.  And I keep coming across articles and activities about how important it is to have a good title.  The pressure has gotten to me, I think.  I cannot for the life of me think of a good title for this post.  But actually, that is neither here nor there, because I have exactly 9 minutes to write this post and drink my tea before I am plunged into darkness once again and cut off from the internet in my home until 9am tomorrow morning. 

There is no diesel to be found anywhere in the city.  Which means no city power, and we'll see how long our own supplies last for our own generator.  There's also no cooking gas in town.  So, while RM was out and about today, he managed to find one of the last electric burners in town for us!  It's got two burners, and when he brought it home, I was itching to get it out of the box and try it. My pasta-in-a-rice-cooker meal didn't turn out too terribly at lunch today, but I was hankering for some potatoes, which I wasn't sure would go over too well in the rice cooker.  Anyway, of course, I had to wait until 7pm, when our generator came on, in order to try out the new electric burners. 

For the first few minutes, all was ok.  But suddenly, there was a flash and a pop, and a little puff of smoke... and one of the burners went out.  At least the second burner was still boiling my potatoes, though, so I carried on with the cooking.  It took a little longer to make mashed potatoes, greens, and fried eggs using only one burner, but I managed.  After supper, the little cooker made it's way to RM's tukel, where he got out his screwdriver and took the whole thing apart.  Of course, he managed to make it work again, and even fixed up some of the bent metal bits that were already bent when the thing came out of the box!  I just love living in a place where you pay $65 for something, and have to take it apart and repair it as soon as you get it home!  I am thankful, though, that RM is here and can pretty much fix anything.

After supper and after fixing our burner, I also became a sous-carpenter.  RM is putting in the frame for the ceiling in our new houses, so I was the tool-hander-er  while he was on top of the ladder.  Once that job was finished, I decided to have a cup of tea and a bit of blogging, rather than a shower.  I'm rather glad that blogs aren't scratch n' sniff yet!

So, now that this post of random happenings is finished, any thoughts on a title?!

My beautifully coiffed feet...

... hit the ground running in Jb! 

After a good day of getting into the right time zone with Grace and Pack, I flew back to Jb with a colleague who was returning after visiting his family in Uganda.  It worked out SO nicely, because he had something like 7 kg of stuff, while I had... well, a bit more than that.  We each had a 25 kg luggage allowance, so, I got to use 18 of his kgs for my junk :)  We ended up having 47.8kg of stuff between the two of us.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.  But I could have gone to the shop and brought 2 kg of bacon or cheese or avocados with me, had I know that I would be 2 kgs short of our limit!

Anyway, the flight back home to Jb was uneventful.  It was nice to get back home and see all the familiar faces again.  And now that my perfectly coiffed feet are back on the ground... it hardly seems like I ever left.  Except that I have a few new clothes that aren't faded and falling to pieces and I have a few new kitchen gadgets with which to culinate.

I've already dived into work.  Busy busy.  But have still made time to have an impromptu dinner party with my neighbours, been taken to lunch at a lovely restaurant on the riverbank, and admired my pumpkin and cucumber vines.  I've even gotten a bit creative with my culinating, because, well, there's no cooking gas in town.  Our gas bottle is nearly empty, and there are no full ones to be found.  So unless we want to start making our coffee over charcoal, we've got to find some ways to conserve our cooking gas a bit.  Which is going to be adding a whole new dimension to my creative cooking :)  Tonight, though, I made an entire meal in a rice cooker!  Who knew you could do so much in a rice cooker?!  I chopped and sliced green pepper, onion, garlic and carrots [just a second, gotta go escort a frog out of my living room] with my new little food chopper (as below, for you visually inclined readers)

Then I put it all in the rice cooker, together with some tomato paste and a bit of seasoning and some rice (of course!) and flipped the switch.  After about 30 minutes, the rice cooker switched off, and I had a meal!  It was a lovely sort of paella/risotto thing (just shush if you're an actual chef or eater-of-fine-foods, because I know it's not REALLY a paella or risotto, but remember where I live!).  It tasted good, and had lots of veggies in it, so really, you can't go wrong, can you?  I also made a salad with cucumber (from my very own vine!), tomatoes and basil (from the garden!).  So delicious.  But now, since I stuffed my belly full of rice for supper, I'm feeling a bit peckish...

Back in Africa!

It was smooth sailing from Canada to Uganda.  Everything got packed up well, and I only forgot a few tiny little things, but so far, nothing important.  The flight to London was uneventful.  I watched "Water for Elephants" and got a tiny bit of sleep.  Every seat on the plane was packed full, so no room to stretch out!  But it was ok.  Had a decent seat-mate - a young woman who was going to live with her boyfriend in the Netherlands.  Her Dutch was better than mine, so she was off to a good start :)

I was wondering how my 8 hour layover in London was going to go, since I hadn't slept in a while, and I hate that half-dazed feeling, wandering around the airport, greasy hair and sleep in my eyes.  But it turned out not so bad, and went rather quickly.  Terminal 5 has 3 sections - the main section with A Gates, then there are "satellite" terminals with Gates B and C.  Since I flew out of Gate C last time, I knew there was a lovely Starbucks and some peace and quiet in Gate C area.  But after getting off the plane, everyone is shuttled to Gates A section, where you have to go through security.  Then you're immediately in the crazy business of the main Terminal 5, with no quiet places to sit, gizzilions of people everywhere and lots of noise.

So, I immediately got on a train to head over to Gate C, figuring I had 8 hours to wander back through Gates C, B and then end up at Gate A by dinner time before it was time to find the gate for my onward flight.  That plan worked quite well.  I found a completely deserted section of Gate C, with huge windows overlooking the runway. It was a lovely place to sit and relax and read my book and just be quiet for a little while.  Once I got bored of sitting there all by myself (and a wee bit peckish for a snack!) on an uncomfortable upright chair, I made my way over to the Starbucks.   Starbucks has beautiful couches to sit on, complete with little throw pillows.  So I got a juice and a muffin (didn't think I could handle too much caffeine in my unslept-state) and enjoyed the comfy couch for quite a good chunk of time, while slowly nursing my muffin and juice (so I felt justified in taking up what was probably the most comfortable chair in all of Terminal 5!).

After quite a long time, though, I figured I might be overstaying my welcome, so it was off to the next Gate section to see if I could find another comfy Starbucks to sit in.  Problem was, there were no signs anywhere leading you back to Gates A or B.  No signs whatsoever!  So I ended up going down the elevators I had come up on from the train from Gate A.  And still no signs of how to get anywhere else.  Fortunately, there was a nice staff woman sitting there near the train, probably for the very purpose of directing lost passengers.  She realized I was a bit lost, so I told her I wanted to go to Gates B (didn't tell her I was just looking for another Starbucks rather than going to catch a flight...).  She said that if I took the train, I would have to go through security at Gate A AGAIN, but instead, I should take the staff walkway.  So she had to call on her walkie-talkie to "base" to tell them that she was going to let me through the walkway.  She used her little swipe card and opened the door to the walkway.  Wow.  I wish I had a skateboard or something, because it it was just a huge long hallway, 20 feet across, and no end in sight.  Just concrete and blue lights.  "Off you go", said the nice lady.  So there I was, all alone, in the bowels of Terminal 5, in a concrete bunker. Just me, my carry on luggage and the blue lights.  It was pretty eery, actually! 

And it was a LONG walk.  10 minutes of good walking, and not another soul down there.  Periodically, there were chairs to sit in, but I didn't want to linger down there for very long!  Eventually, I did come up at Gates B!  And I saw that the walkway continued up to Gates A, as well.

Anyway, by then, I was happy to see people again, so I lingered around Gates B for a while, whiling away time while looking at magazine covers.  I think North American magazines should learn from British magazines - they give away free stuff with all their magazines!  You get free tote bags or free mascara or free nail polish with every magazine you buy!  I also noticed that the cover for National Geographic is different in the UK than it is in North America.  I guess they figured this month, the London audience would be more attracted to robots than to Grizzly Bears.

At Gates B, I found a deserted TV showing BBC, so I sat and watched that for a little while, all the while doing a bit of head bobbing while my eyes closed.  Eventually, though, I got a bit hungry for some real food, so decided to head to Gates A for a burger or something.  Of course, there were no signs again directing anyone to Gates A.  Once you're at Gates B or C, they figure the only way you're going to get out is by getting on a plane!  But I knew the secret this time...  So off I went, down the elevator, and down a flight of stairs to the secret passageway.  This time, the passageway was just open, no secret door to go through or anything.  I really didn't know what I would find at the other end, and there were still no signs of any people at all, so it was still a bit eery.  But sure enough, I ended up at a set of elevators, which indicated that they went up to Gates A.  So up I went, by this time, with 3 staff people who had wandered by.  They looked at me rather funny, wondering, probably, why I was in the passage way! 

After a nice burger for dinner, I did manage to find a chair to sit in at Gate A, as they hadn't even posted which gate my flight was leaving from yet.  I then managed to sleep a little, and by the time I woke up, it was time to go to my gate.  I couldn't believe how quickly the time passed!  But I had a good book, and I must have walked a few kilometers in the passageways, so it was all good.

Getting on the plane to Uganda was a bit fun.  Again, the flight was absolutely PACKED.  There were SO many people, with SO much carry on luggage.  Couldn't believe all of us, and our junk, fit on that plane. It was actually a bit comical watching everyone try to settle themselves and their stuff.  My own little sling-back "purse" fell on my head 3 times while people tried to find space for their stuff.  Good thing it's got a nice padded back.

I fell asleep during two movies that I started, so gave up, but still couldn't sleep very comfortably.  But I must have slept at least a little.  I also made a lot of trips up and down the aisle to the galley to get some water and juice.  I love it that BA keeps a tray of juice and snacks out all night, so you can go and help yourself. 

Anyway, we made it to Uganda, safe and sound, and my buddy Grace was there to fetch me.  All the luggage came through, too.  There were a few groups of huge short-term missions teams on that flight, and I could not believe how much stuff they had (and this is the pot calling the kettle black, by the way).  I was happy to see that two people were still travelling with old vinyl samsonite suitcases, exactly like my parent's old suitcases (one of which I now use for storage in Jb!).

As soon as Grace got me home, I had a shower and a snack, and then we walked over to the new hair salon near her house. While she got a hair cut, I got a pedicure.  Man, what a way to arrive.  I think I shall make it a tradition. My feet were all sore and swollen, and that pedicure did wonders for me.  I've never in my life had a pedicure from a guy before, but this guy was good.  He massaged the swelling right out of my feet and ankles!  So armed with beautiful pink toenails, I was ready to take on the day.  The idea was to stay awake until 8 pm.  I almost managed - had to take a short nap in the afternoon.  And I fell asleep right after dinner.  But once I woke up from my cat nap (with a cat on my lap, by the way), I was able to stay awake till 10pm.  Then, off to bed, where I slept like a log (or a dead soldier, as one of my colleagues likes to say!) until 6am.  And today, I feel more awake than I have in days!

Hopefully that means I've nipped the jetlag in the bud :)  But a cup of coffee sure would taste good now... good thing I brought Grace a giant tub of coffee.  One cup as a carriage fee isn't unreasonable, is it?

Farewell

While I had fun jumping over logs in the forest yesterday, here's hoping there won't be too many hurdles to get over in the next few days as I travel back to Africa!  Next time... from Africa!