I can’t believe I have been home for nearly 3 weeks
already. Where has the time gone? With this trip back being my last for the
see-able future it is strange that I haven’t had the urge to try and catch up
with people since I have been back. It
is so slack, and I know that people are feeling a little put out, but I just
want everyone to know that it is not them personally; I haven’t caught up with
a single person. No lunches, no dinners
and no catch ups. The strange part is when
I was home last time I saw as many people as I could and I just don’t have that
urge this time round at a time when I may not see people again for a long
time. Have I lost my social mojo? It even sounds weird to me but I just don’t
know why my care factor is out the window.
I’m not embarrassed by what happened with Zeme and I don’t mind talking
about it if asked, but I have just kept a low profile this visit and I want
everyone to know that it isn’t them. I’m
just acting weird.
This week was a low key week. It is the calm before the storm of packing
and getting in full swing of departure finalities so I was going to relax this
week and not get up too much. Shelly and
I had a cinema date every Tuesday on my last visit where she now works on
Tuesdays, so we decided to wear the full cost of a movie and go to a Monday
session at our local shopping centre, Chermside. When we walked into the centre we knew there
was something not right-it was so hot.
The cinema box office didn’t look open and as we were early thought
nothing of it and decided to pop into Myer to have a quick Christmas shop in
there to kill some time. It was here
that we found out that a water main had burst its pipes and half the shopping
centre was without water and air conditioning which in turn meant that some
food places were closed and there were only 2 public toilets open for the
centre staff and the shoppers, 2 weeks out from Christmas. We headed back to the cinema and found out
they weren’t showing any movies as there wasn’t going to be any
air-conditioning and they wouldn’t know when they will re-open. Okay.
So that threw a spanner in the cinema plans, but every cloud has a
silver lining and this meant we had some more shopping time as the girls were
at their Nana’s and we decided to make the most of the no children shop.
I wanted to get some more clothes, particularly skirts
and I found some lovely ones in Myer which Michelle bought for me for
Christmas. She was on a mission for me
today as well as the girls because she wanted to buy me things that would be
helpful and able to be taken with me on my move. This led us to the camera shop. Shelly had told me about these cameras’s they
had seen in Singapore that were Wi-Fi enabled.
So once you had taken a photo you could load it directly to Facebook
from the camera. Now I know that you
have that facility on your phones but the quality is never that great, well on
my IPod, my Blackberry isn’t too bad, but with a camera you have all the
functions and quality AND able to upload.
This was my dream present and after going to Camera House they had a
sale on one and before I knew it, Shelly had bought me it for Christmas!! I LOVE IT.
I was given permission to be able to play with it when I got home for the
day and then it had to be handed back to be wrapped and put under the tree. WOOP WOOP I have a new camera. I LOVE camera’s!!!!
My first week back I had placed orders for my SD
cards. I buy them from this company in
Hong Kong off EBay. They work out to be
$4AUD for 4GB cards, I need to keep my storage space updated and that is a
steal for the cards. Well they arrived,
3 weeks after ordering and out of the 10 I ordered, only 8 were in the
packet. I HATE it when that
happens. You have to let them know, but
then how many dodgy people do they get that tell them the same thing and they
did get the right amount. Well I can
only email them and see what they say. I
was happy to take a refund back for the missing 2 but they got back to me
pretty much overnight and said that they will send the missing 2 cards and they
apologised profusely. So it probably won’t
make it in time before I leave, but I guess Shelly can send it with some gear
when I need a care package sent to Africa.
I also ordered a spare battery for one of my camera’s and of all things
I also got a Myer gift voucher in the post today which was a nice surprise, as
my credit card reward [points were due to expire this month, so they sent me a
card to the value of what I was going to lose.
So that was a nice surprise from the bank for once.
In saying that I had big plans, that maybe I knew were
going to be a little ambitious and that was to get a trip in to Melbourne as I
really wanted to catch up with a few friends, a trip to Townsville to see my
Dad and Stepmother and a trip to Newcastle to see my Nan and my mums
family. As the days roll past, Melbourne
is now out of the picture and Townsville is looking like a distant idea. I did check prices and the flights were
around the 400AUD mark which is a rip and I just didn’t want to pay that
much. I’m still working on dates to get
to my Nan’s though and at whatever the cost.
As fit as a fiddle my Nan is, you just never know what s around the
corner when you are 86, so this was a MUST visit as I had planned to do it last
time I was home and ran out of time on that trip.
Tuesday saw me babysit 5 kids for a few hours. The kids are 5-7 years old with Lulu who is 2
years old. Shelly and her brother all
had kids around the same time, so they are all similar in age and they are at
that age now when they all just play so well together. The only thorn is that poor jack is the only
boy with 4 girls in his day he sometimes get a little bored playing with dolls,
dancing and makeup parties. They really
are great kids and they are going to have a grand old time growing up with each
other. What a great way to have a
family, surrounded by kids your own age, family that love you and to have so
much contact with-it really is amazing to be part of this family
sometimes.
I have been busy since I have been back and that includes
attending 5 concerts in the 4 weeks. My
first one was just by chance as Shane was unable to go to Cold Play due to a
work trip, so I was a great friend, took one for the team and just HAD to take
his place and what a concert it was. The
best part for me was we were all given a wrist band when we entered the stadium
and then it lit up during the concert in sequence to songs for the whole night
and besides it looking absolutely amazing it felt like we were sitting in a
gigantic Christmas tree. Our second
convert was A Day on the Green and this has become the rage the last 2
years. In Brisbane they are held in a
winery and it basically is a comeback for 80 bands which also seems to be the
flavour of the moment. Our Day on the
Green had playing The Models, The Church, Devo and Simple Minds. I had heard lots of stories from previous
concerts and they all had a general theme of wine, drunken-ness and crazy
antics. This being my first one I was
not sure what to expect but knew it was going to be a long day, sitting in the
sun and drinking and that can only lead to drunken-ness and antics right? It was a great day, a few bottles of wine
consumed and a few tears shed, great music with great company with our group
taking up nearly a whole row of seats not far from the front. What I don’t know is how people get up the
following morning to go to work as they apparently always have these concerts
on a Sunday afternoon. Our third concert
was to see a stand-up comedian, Bob Down.
This guy I haven’t seen around for years, but used to make appearances
on Hey Hey, Kerri-Anne etc. ….and was hilarious. Well this concert didn’t disappoint and his 1
hour show was full of singing, impromptu jokes and audience participation. I haven’t laughed like that in a LONG time
and for the 35AUD we paid for the tickets was worth every penny. Our 4th concert was Human Nature. Shelly and I LOVE Human Nature ever since
they turned Motown 8 years ago and this concert made it our 4th one
together and I also saw them in Las Vegas this year and they are still cool as
ever. This show was their Christmas
special and we drove to the Gold Coast to see them and then drove home afterwards
deciding to not stay the night down there.
They also NEVER disappoint and it was another amazing concert. Our last concert was going to be J-Lo next
week and that concludes the 2012 concert season for me. I told you we have been busy.
I have made a short list of things I need to buy for my move. Mostly clothes and a few electric
appliances. I have spread the word to
the family that they were not to buy Christmas presents for me this year and
that I will only buy presents for the kids.
I don’t really need anything and if I get things I would then have to
get them sent blah blah blah and not only for that point it cuts down on the
finding a gift idea, shopping time and the expense. So I only had to buy 5 presents for the kids
and then presents for the god-daughters which I have done, throw in a few
presents for Selly and Shane and I was pretty much done for my Christmas shopping. I wanted to get most of it done before school
got out. Once it was school holidays I
rekon the shops were going to be a nightmare.
I have also been in contact with Minalu, my guy on the
ground in Ethiopia, and he has some tours in January. So we have decided to run with February for
my arrival and I now find myself in the position again where I need to fill in
my time somehow for 4 weeks. I can’t
complain when this happens and the only bad side is that money is leaving the bank
account so I had to pull out a map and start to work out what was going to be
cost effective, cheap and that I would like to do. After web surfing, looking at a few options,
speaking to a few people I have decided to spend a few more days in London and
then I am flying to Barcelona, joining a cruise for 9 nights to the Canary
Islands and surrounds. Even for a single
cabin the price was damn cheap and a great option for me, 3 more nights in
Barcelona and then I am heading to Kenya for a few weeks to catch up with some
friends. This will get me to the first
week of February and then after that it will be up to Ethiopia all going to plan. A seed was planted by some friends a few days
ago about staying in Kenya rather than heading up to Ethiopia and I have taken
that on board and has given me something to think about. Certainly I think Kenya would be an easier
(as such) for me to start a new life as they speak English there, they were
once British rule so their laws are similar, they are used to western people,
there is infrastructure, tourism and more civilised. These things you do not find in Ethiopia,
well not to the extent of Kenya, so it will be good to spend some time in
Nairobi and get a feel for the city and see how I feel. There really is no burning need to go back to
Ethiopia now and this thought has given me something else to think about. I feel nude, not having a plan in place after
the 21st January but I just need to run with what feels right and I
won’t know that till I get there. I have
a few contingency plans in place should things go pear shaped. From picking some short tours, to a 95 day
tour, to some contacts in Cameroon and also in Mozambique I will not be totally
alone should I need some help of some sort but it is still scary all the
same.
I’ve been using the week to go through what I do have in
my room, culling some more things and more donations to Vinnie’s. It seems every few days I go through what I
have and I am able to get rid of more things.
My next big things to go through are my jewellery and my
toiletries. I have a lot of perfume and
makeup that needs to be culled. What
will I do with all the stuff I don’t want there? I’ll think about that one a little more. My jewellery is another issue. I have a lot and I have a lot of pieces from
my mum that I would NEVER give away. I
won’t be taking much of it with me but it was nice to look at what I had and I
wear some of it while I am home. My room
looks like a bomb has gone off each time I go through the cull, but I do feel
good every time there is another bag to donate to Lifeline.
My last major shop of the week was at Woolworths to
restock my ‘Australiana’ foods. I guess
people would call it comfort food, but I like the fact that I can and will have
some of the foods I like sent and accessible.
I’m not sure how long my supply will last but I managed to spend $119AUD
on my creature comforts and are now in a bag that will be waiting for
shipment. I also bought an extension
cord and 2 double adapters. Most of my
gadgets have Australian plus, so I think a power board will be a cheaper option
that trying to buy conversion adapters.
In saying that, like anything else in Africa it is probably cheap to buy
adapters when I get there, but just in case I have a backup plan anyway. So my supply of BBQ shapes, Mint Slices,
Twisties, Burger Rings and Cheezels can be crossed of my to do list.
So I just want to reiterate that I am not intentionally
ignoring people. I am fine and I think
the only way I can put it is I have lost my socializing mojo. My priorities this trip was to get through my
storage container and all my belongings see my Nan and spend as much time with
the girls as I can. It’s that simple and I just hope people can
understand. That was my third week and I
cannot believe just how fast my time is passing.
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