It's good to be warm again...

I had forgotten how cold it gets sometimes in the UK!

When I left Hyde last Wednesday morning, dressed in my usually travelling shalwar kurta, I thought I was going to freeze to death as it was only 5 degrees celcius!!

After an extra week in the UK I was finally able to collect my new work visa from the Pakistani Consulate in Rusholme and so am once more legally resident in Karachi.

I had another interesting moment at the airport.  After my travels in the summer I have become convinced that by travelling in shalwar kurta I am attracting further security attention.  This was further underline by this trip.  When I passed through Manchester airport on the way to the Isle of Man, wearing a jumper and trousers, I made my way 'without let or hinderance'.  However, when I passed through a week later wearing shalwar kurta, I got to play in the new all over body scanner! I may just be being over sensitive, but I don't think so!

The journey back was fine and although the flight from Manchester was delay by an hour this only meant that I had a five hour lay over in Doha rather than a six hour one.  Doha airport is not the most exciting place on earth but it does at least have one major advantage over Dubai, that is, that there is somewhere to sit down!

I was unable to connect my computer to the free WiFi, as whilst in the UK Mr Frost had 'improved' my computer and it had it's usually nervous breakdown after being under his careful ministrations!  

This gave me the chance to sit quietly and listen to my iPod and take some time to pray for those people and situations most on my heart at this time.  I also spent a lot of the time with my glasses off and it was an interesting situation to be in,  surrounded by so many people and yet not be able to see any of them (without my glasses I can see less that three feet in front of me!).

I am now back at work full time though I can't say I am being stretched!  The legal niceities still remain unresolved and so we are still not allowed to open or recruit staff or students, though we are hopeful that we might hear some news by the end of the week, Inshallah...

Dy bannee diu as Failt royd...

Now if I have read it right, the above phrase should say, Hello and Welcome in Manx!

I have taken the opportunity of being back in the UK to pop over to the Isle of Man for a few days to visit my friend Simon.  He is currently working for one of the local church as Youth Worker and is have a 'fantastic' time!

I have never been to the island before, though I have flown over it many times on my trips to Belfast.  It really is a lovely place and so peaceful and relaxing.  I arrived on Wednesday and we went straight back to the office so that Simon could finish off one or two things before going on leave for a couple for days.

The church buildings are amazing and are well used by a variety of ministries.  The youth ministry has contact with between 50 and 70 young people every week in the church buliding and up to about 500 through the schools work.

From the office we came back to the cottage.  This is a real blessing to Simon and his housemate Darren as it is newly fitted holiday cottage which members of the church have allowed them to rent on a permanant basis.  Both bedrooms are en suite and they have Sky television and internet included in their rent!

Thursday we hired a car and made a tour around the island.  The island is much bigger than you think and is very beautiful and peaceful.  The weather was cool but clear and it was a strange feeling to be wearing both a jumper and a coat!  

In the evening we went along to The Key which is the youth group for 14-18 year olds and I was asked to contribute to the discussion they were having about being an Ambassador for Christ.  The young people were great and I even received the gift of a Urdu bible from one of them!


Friday was a more gentle day with coffee and cheese on toast at the Velvet Lobster in the morning and a trip to the National Sports Centre in the afternoon for a swim and lounge in the jacuzzi!


This was followed by dinner at Alessandro where the food was delicious, particularly, the Duck and Orange Pate to start and the Lemon Sorbet with Limoncello for dessert!


I will be flying back to the mainland this evening and it has been wonderful to spend these few days with Simon.  It has been great to catch up, talk and just to be together.  It has also been great seeing Simon so happy and enjoying his life and work here so much.  We have also been making plans for Simon to come out and visit me next Easter, Inshallah!


So for now I will say goodbye, Slane lhiat...

Here we go again...

In about six hours I will be making the journey to Jinnah International Airport once more.  This time I will be boarding an aircraft to take me to Doha and then on to Manchester.

It's going to be a bit of a shock to my system to be in the UK during the autumn, and the news of the cold and wet don't fill me with much enthusiasm!  The reason for trip is to renew my work visa.  For reasons I don't fully understand why I have to leave the country in order for this process to be completed but mine is not to reason why, mine is but to get on the plane and fly!!

Things are still a little uncertain here.  We are still awaiting the final legal permissions so that we can begin advertising for pupils.  We are hoping that all the paperwork can be completed soon and that we will be able to open in January.  

We have had some constructive meetings this week and are making all the plans so that we will be ready to go as soon as we are given the go ahead.  After so many weeks of inactivity it has been good to get back to a sort of working week, and have have something positive to do.  The challenge before us is considerable but I am really looking forward to what we are going to be able to achieve here...

Alone again, naturally...

(with thanks to Gilbert O'Sullivan).

I am once more home alone, having delivered Thomas to the airport at 3.30am this morning.  The journey was made all the more interesting as there had been rain about 8 hours earlier and certain parts of the roads were underwater!

We have had a lovely fortnight and have really done very little, apart from going out for some delicious meals including, Pakistani, Chinese, Italian and Japanese cuisine!!

We did make the trip out to the beach for the day last Tuesday which was well worth it.  The road is getting worse and in parts it really is a liberty to call it a road!!  Thomas did all the driving which was really blessing for me and a challenge for him, though he rose to the challenge extremely well and we made it there and back in one piece. 

We also did a fair amount of TV as well whilst he was here, including both seasons of Life on Mars, which we enjoyed enormously and is the cause of this postings title.

Today marks the beginning of Eid for us here in Pakistan, though the rest of the world celebrated yesterday. This means that tomorrow the whole city will be closed and on holiday and I will be having a quiet day at home.


I found out last week that I will have return to the UK so that my work visa can be issued.  This means I will be on a plane on the 25th September and will be there for at least two weeks.  Sadly, as the company are paying, I will be travelling economy class rather than my usual business class, I suppose I'll cope...

We're now entering extra time...

The original plan was that I would return to Karachi on the 23rd July and start work on the following Monday.  This was the plan when school was set to open on 2nd August, however, due to various legal problems, school has been unable to open and so I decided to stay in the UK for a couple more weeks.

I had two reasons for doing this, one, my mum and here husband were celebrating their Silver Wedding anniversary on the 7th August and I wanted to be there to celebrate with them.  Secondly, the Scripture Union Camp I have been involved with since 1991 was happening between 23rd and 31st July.

When I first realised that my summer holiday was to be cut short by my change of job I was too worried.  After all, four weeks off is all some people get in total and this was just one of my holidays.  However, the thought of not being able to go to SUbmerge was really upsetting me.  So I was 'up the moon' when I was told that I won't have to return to Karachi until the 8th August.

So on Friday 23rd July rather than heading got Manchester Airport, I fill the car with boxes and equipment and headed of to Salisbury for SUbmerge 2010!

The whole week was amazing and I am so grateful that I was able to be part of it.  The them for the week was 'Meeting God in...' and we looked at different ways in which we meet with God, eg in prayer, in tiredness, in adversity, etc.
It was the usual mixture of teaching, praise, fun and just the right amount of gunk!!

The highlight for me was our Prayer Room which we had open for 36 hours continuously with at least two people praying during each hour, sometimes as many as 6 were there.  There were a variety of prayer installations in the room ranging from guided liturgical prayer to pray dough! 

Alongside our focus on prayer we also enjoy lots of games, time in the pool and on the last day a village fete with inflatable slides and assault course, a space Hopper football tournament and two chocolate fountains!

I love being part of the team and we have become a real family, that is routed in our love of God and each other.  Like any family we have our ups and downs and squabbles, but we know in the end we are always there for each other when needed and I am very grateful to God for each and every one of them.


After camp I headed north again and stopped off in Derby for a couple of days to catch up with two of my university friends.  I stayed with Dan and we had a proper catch up on the the past year.  We also popped round to spend a couple of hours with Siobhan.  The three of us shared a house for 2 years when we were at university (though Dan and I shared for 4 yeas in total) and we shared lots of fun and silliness in that time!


We all trained as teachers but I am the only one left teaching.  Siobhan is now a theatre sister at Derby Royal Infirmary and Dan is Production Manager at a company that makes incendiary devices.

From Derby it was time to head to Scotland.  My other godson Alasdair and his family were visiting the UK from Kenya.  So I popped up to meet them in Aberfeldy.  It was a long drive but worth it as I get to see them all so infrequently.  Ali's older brother, Alban, is starting his first year at Aberdeen this October and so is slowly getting used to the change in temperature, though after 18 years of living in Africa, I'm not sure anything will preparing him for an Aberdonian winter!


After an over night stay it was time to move south again and drop in again on Meg.  On the Thursday we had a day out and went first to Hartlepool, hoping to get a sightofthe Tall Ships coming in to harbour.  Sadly the tides were against us and we could just make out some of the ships on the horizon.  We then went further up the coast to visit the Holy Island of Lindesfarne.  This was my first visit and I was surprised to find that it is quite a large island.  I had in my mind that there was the abbey and not much else, whereas, there is a whole community there including a school and library.


My last port of call was back in Stalybridge when I appear at my mum's party as a surprise guest!  I have to sayit is one of the few times in my life that my mum was lost for words!  It was lovely to be there and celebrate with family and friends.


So that brings me back to Karachi.  The job situation is still somewhat unknown, but I sure that God has it all in hand and am I learning to trust and rest in God.  It's not always easy but with practice it is getting easier...

Forty years on...

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of my arrival on planet Earth.  I have had a wonderful weekend celebrating.

Early on Saturday morning, Thomas arrived safely from Cairo and he will be here for two weeks.  I left him resting and I went off for a meeting with the school founder.  There is no real news about the school's future at the moment we are still waiting on the outcome of a court case, and things do seem to move slowly!

After collecting Thomas we headed of to Clippers for a couple of hours of relaxation and beautifying.  Then we called in on Kathy to finalise arrangements for the evening's festivities.

Kathy and Zulfi had very kindly agreed to hosting a dinner in my honour, with Zulfi creating all the food.  To say that Zulfi is a good cook is something of an understatement!!  So later that evening 12 of us gathered at their house and enjoyed a delicious array of dishes, with cake provided by Pie in the Sky.

My actual birthday was spent very quietly.  After church, Thomas and I retired to the apartment and just enjoyed each others company.  We ate very little as we were still stuffed from the day before, but we did enjoy a game of Super Scrabble, with all the honours going to the birthday boy!

We toasted the event with some Lindsfarne Mead, which I had bought on my birthday trip with Meg, just before I left the UK.  All in all a very enjoyable and relaxing day.

Life begins at Forty or so the saying goes, so I say, let it begin...

Capital ideas...

From Belfast I left for my annual pilgramage to the Capital.  

Thanks to Airmiles, my journey was once again without cost!  Though my travels did give me something to think about.

I have taken to flying in shalwar kameez, traditional Pakiatani dress, as  it is very comfortable and contains no metal or belts that need removing at security.  However, it has made me more noticable to security staff.  On each of my last 6 flights I have been stopped at least once for extra security checks!  I may be being paranoid, but I suspect my attire is what is causing the extra interest!  I wonder what would happen if I travelled in my dog collar?

I stayed at the Highbury Centre whilst I was in London, which is a Christian Centre set up to provide accommodation for missionaries on furlough.  They also let rooms to others when they have spare capacity.  It provides a nice place to stay at a very reasonable cost.

Friday I made my way to the British Museum to met my friend James for lunch.  We ate in the museum restuarant which was superb, expensive, but superb.  It was great to catch up with all his news, as James lives one of the most interesting lives of anyone I know!  

He is currently working as a Manny (a male nanny) whilst at the same time running a stall at Brick Lane Market at the weekends.  In his spare time he is a food critic and has a couple of other sidelines as well!!  In fact the day after we met he was drive a dog to the South of France, but that's James!

Friday evening was my fourth and finally trip to the theatre when along with Kirsten I went to see Sister Act.  It was a fantastic production, very similar plot to the film but with all new music.  The sets were fantastic and the cast superb.  Also it was apparent during the final number, how suitable the vestments of the Church of Rome are for decoration with sequins!

Saturday was a trip out on the train up to High Wycombe to see Rob, Elizabeth and Emily.  It was amazing to see how much Emily had grown in just the few short weeks since she had left Karachi.  It was good to catch up and hear their plans for the future.

Saturday evening I was back in the West End for dinner with David.  David is one of my former pupils who is now living and working in London designing, 'spaces'!  This can be sets for theatrical performances or spaces at festivals like Greenbelt.  As coincidence would have it, David's latest project is preparing the sets of Sister Act for its UK tour and transfer to Broadway!

Sunday it was once more to the airport for a flight back to Manchester and to collect another hire car.  I have never been particularly bothered by cars, but I have to confess I really did enjoy driving two very new cars whilst in the UK.  They were nothing special just very new and a pleasure to drive.

My fourth week in the UK started with another lunch to catch up with a friend.  This time it was Jane and we met up in the Trafford centre for a bite to eat and a little light retail therapy.

The following day I met up with my mum and her friend Barbara for our 'last' lunch before I returned to Karachi.  You see although I had been able to extend my summer holiday by two weeks, I hadn't mentioned this to mother.  My reason being that she and her husband were celebrating their Silver Wedding anniversity on 7th August.  I had already told her that I wouldn't be able to be there, so I decided to let her carry on thinking that so that I could surprise her, but more of that later...