After a very pleasant time in Business Class I arrived safely into Karachi at 6.30 am today.
The weather is hot and humid and I had only been here for 4 hours when the power went off in the apartment!! (T.I.P. This Is Pakistan).
Whilst away the internet provider has switched of my cable TV and Internet and Andrew has reclaimed various pieces of furniture that belong to him so I am in the midst of sorting all of that out. The new washing machine arrives tonight and the man from Worldcall comes tomorrow.
School restarts for staff at 10 am tomorrow and the students are back on Monday, so just enough time to finalise the timetable and get the school building ready for them.
The adventure continues...
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Monday, 25 August 2008
Here we go again...
Well there are now 11 hours until my parents come and collect me and take me to the airport and I return to my life in Karachi. I am almost ready, at least everythin gthat has to go is in the same room, if not exactly packed at the moment!!
I sit here with mixed feelings. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in the UK and I have seen nearly everyone I want to, though some have slipped through the net. I have had a mix of holiday, work and just vegging out which has been fantastic. I am happy to be going back but am not excited. When I look back to last year it seems almost like a dream, which may sound strange but it's the only way I can explain how I feel. I am sure that when I get back there tomorrow I will slot back into life there and the UK will retreat into dreamland!!
Last week was a busy one which I spent cooking for 70 at The Great Adventure, which is a Scripture Union Holiday for 11-14 year olds which is held at Gilling Castle in Yorkshire. It was a great week and the food went down very well, and if I do say so myself the lasagne was particularly good!
The news from Andrew and Tamkeen is that the weather in Karachi is pleasant and that the AC is unnecessary over night which will be a great improvement on what we have had in the UK for the last 9 weeks. It has really struck me whilst I have been here the variation that there is in British weather and that is something we don't get in Karachi, as it is hot, followed by hot, with intermitant hot!!
Well I had better do something about this packing or else I won't be going anywhere, more later...
I sit here with mixed feelings. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in the UK and I have seen nearly everyone I want to, though some have slipped through the net. I have had a mix of holiday, work and just vegging out which has been fantastic. I am happy to be going back but am not excited. When I look back to last year it seems almost like a dream, which may sound strange but it's the only way I can explain how I feel. I am sure that when I get back there tomorrow I will slot back into life there and the UK will retreat into dreamland!!
Last week was a busy one which I spent cooking for 70 at The Great Adventure, which is a Scripture Union Holiday for 11-14 year olds which is held at Gilling Castle in Yorkshire. It was a great week and the food went down very well, and if I do say so myself the lasagne was particularly good!
The news from Andrew and Tamkeen is that the weather in Karachi is pleasant and that the AC is unnecessary over night which will be a great improvement on what we have had in the UK for the last 9 weeks. It has really struck me whilst I have been here the variation that there is in British weather and that is something we don't get in Karachi, as it is hot, followed by hot, with intermitant hot!!
Well I had better do something about this packing or else I won't be going anywhere, more later...
Friday, 8 August 2008
A wheel has come off...
After successfully completing, not one night but three continous nights in a pup tent (I amaze myself sometimes by my adaptability and ability to cope in the face of adversity) I departed soggy Cornwall and headed off to the big smoke!
I arrived here in London after a 7 hour journey across the country, which could
have been quicker but I needed a couple of pitstops for refreshment and the release of waste products!
I am staying at the Highbury Centre, which is strangely found in Highbury and is the home of the Foreign Missions Club. This is a club available to missionaries on furlough and rents out rooms when they have space to non missionaries. The accommodation is clean and tidy and relatively cheap compared with London prices.
On Wednesday night I met up with James, who has just finished his history degree and is working out what to do next. Until he does he is working in a bar and a spice shop in Notting Hill and sleeping on a friend's floor! The joys of youth.
Thursday saw me setting out to claim two more 'wheels'. I planned to ride the wheel in Hyde park and then the one at Greenwich. After wandering around the edge of Hyde Park for nearly an hour and being unable to find the 200 foot high wheel, I phoned Belfast and asked David to locate it for me on the website. He read out to me 'We NOW have three wheels in London' and then following a link was told that the Hyde Park Wheel would return in December 2008!! Now, I don't know about you but I take NOW to mean Now, not 5 months time!!!
Anyway, I benefitted from the stroll around the park and then headed off up Oxford Street to buy lunch at M&S Food. Suitably supplied I made my way via the tube to Westminister to pick up a boat to take me down the river to Greenwich. Apparently so rumour has it, the first time the Guthries visited Westminister tube, the Sci-Fi appearance prompted Philip to say 'you find the Millenium Falcon, and I'll disable the Tractor Beam'!
The boat from Westminister to Greenwich took an hour and we were provided with an unofficial guided tour by one of the crew, which was highly entertaining.
My favourite comments were thus:-
On passing Cleopatra's needle -"this is oldest thing in London and was brought back by Nelson after his defeat of Napolean at the Battle of the Nile, there is another one in Paris which they were apparently awarded for coming second"!
On passing the Globe Theatre -"In Shakespere's day the theatre was full of taverns, restaurants, brothels and other places of interest, today there's a Pizza Express'!
On reaching Greenwich I took the option of going on up the river to see the Thames Barrier and sail passed the Millenium Dome, and then back to Greenwich. Here I managed to ride the Greenwich Wheel which is actually there NOW and then I had time for a hot chocolate before sailing back up to Westminister and making my way to Leicester Square to meet Kirsten for dinner in China Town and then tickets to Chicago. We really enjoyed the show and I have been humming and singing various tunes from it all day.
This morning I headed off to Waterloo and boarded the train to Windsor to collect my second wheel, which I duly did. I do have photographic proof of all this wheels as soon as I work out how download them from my new phone!
After a pub lunch and train ride back to Waterloo I made my way to Leicester Square once more, where I was taken advantage of(and not in a good way!). I decided that as I have never seen a film in Leicester Square I would remedy that oversight!! I can safely say that today was first and last time, at £13.50 a ticket I can't afford the experience again!!
I saw Mamma Mia and it was hilarious, not to spoil it for anyone but the sight of Meryl Streep, Julie Walters and a host of Greek women singing Dancing Queen and dancing on a wooden jetty sticking into the beautiful blue Aegean was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time!
I am currently in an internet cafe just of Oxford Street whiling away a little time before I go to meet Philip from work at Waterloo Ambulance Station. We are then heading off for something to eat.
I return to Hyde tomorrow and will be there for a few days before moving on to Darlington where Meg, Dot and I will plan their forthcoming trip to Karachi in October and then off to The Great Adventure.
Time has really started to speed up and three weeks today it will be my 38th birthday and I will be once more in Karachi and my summer holidays will be over. What the next year holds who knows...
I arrived here in London after a 7 hour journey across the country, which could
have been quicker but I needed a couple of pitstops for refreshment and the release of waste products!
I am staying at the Highbury Centre, which is strangely found in Highbury and is the home of the Foreign Missions Club. This is a club available to missionaries on furlough and rents out rooms when they have space to non missionaries. The accommodation is clean and tidy and relatively cheap compared with London prices.
On Wednesday night I met up with James, who has just finished his history degree and is working out what to do next. Until he does he is working in a bar and a spice shop in Notting Hill and sleeping on a friend's floor! The joys of youth.
Thursday saw me setting out to claim two more 'wheels'. I planned to ride the wheel in Hyde park and then the one at Greenwich. After wandering around the edge of Hyde Park for nearly an hour and being unable to find the 200 foot high wheel, I phoned Belfast and asked David to locate it for me on the website. He read out to me 'We NOW have three wheels in London' and then following a link was told that the Hyde Park Wheel would return in December 2008!! Now, I don't know about you but I take NOW to mean Now, not 5 months time!!!
Anyway, I benefitted from the stroll around the park and then headed off up Oxford Street to buy lunch at M&S Food. Suitably supplied I made my way via the tube to Westminister to pick up a boat to take me down the river to Greenwich. Apparently so rumour has it, the first time the Guthries visited Westminister tube, the Sci-Fi appearance prompted Philip to say 'you find the Millenium Falcon, and I'll disable the Tractor Beam'!
The boat from Westminister to Greenwich took an hour and we were provided with an unofficial guided tour by one of the crew, which was highly entertaining.
My favourite comments were thus:-
On passing Cleopatra's needle -"this is oldest thing in London and was brought back by Nelson after his defeat of Napolean at the Battle of the Nile, there is another one in Paris which they were apparently awarded for coming second"!
On passing the Globe Theatre -"In Shakespere's day the theatre was full of taverns, restaurants, brothels and other places of interest, today there's a Pizza Express'!
On reaching Greenwich I took the option of going on up the river to see the Thames Barrier and sail passed the Millenium Dome, and then back to Greenwich. Here I managed to ride the Greenwich Wheel which is actually there NOW and then I had time for a hot chocolate before sailing back up to Westminister and making my way to Leicester Square to meet Kirsten for dinner in China Town and then tickets to Chicago. We really enjoyed the show and I have been humming and singing various tunes from it all day.
This morning I headed off to Waterloo and boarded the train to Windsor to collect my second wheel, which I duly did. I do have photographic proof of all this wheels as soon as I work out how download them from my new phone!
After a pub lunch and train ride back to Waterloo I made my way to Leicester Square once more, where I was taken advantage of(and not in a good way!). I decided that as I have never seen a film in Leicester Square I would remedy that oversight!! I can safely say that today was first and last time, at £13.50 a ticket I can't afford the experience again!!
I saw Mamma Mia and it was hilarious, not to spoil it for anyone but the sight of Meryl Streep, Julie Walters and a host of Greek women singing Dancing Queen and dancing on a wooden jetty sticking into the beautiful blue Aegean was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time!
I am currently in an internet cafe just of Oxford Street whiling away a little time before I go to meet Philip from work at Waterloo Ambulance Station. We are then heading off for something to eat.
I return to Hyde tomorrow and will be there for a few days before moving on to Darlington where Meg, Dot and I will plan their forthcoming trip to Karachi in October and then off to The Great Adventure.
Time has really started to speed up and three weeks today it will be my 38th birthday and I will be once more in Karachi and my summer holidays will be over. What the next year holds who knows...
Monday, 4 August 2008
I don't do canvas...
As many of you will know I have had a long standing aversion to camping. In fact whenever I have been offered the chance to camp my response has been the title of this posting, 'I don't do canvas!'
Last night, however, I spent the night in a one man pup tent and at 4.45am I trundled of to the shower block for an early morning wee! It was surprisingly comfortable as I was sleeping on an airbed under a double duvet and I had a pleasant night's sleep! This does not mean that I am born again camper, and if I don't have to camp out again, I shan't be too upset, that being said I do have two more nigths here in Padstow...
Last night, however, I spent the night in a one man pup tent and at 4.45am I trundled of to the shower block for an early morning wee! It was surprisingly comfortable as I was sleeping on an airbed under a double duvet and I had a pleasant night's sleep! This does not mean that I am born again camper, and if I don't have to camp out again, I shan't be too upset, that being said I do have two more nigths here in Padstow...
Isn't technology wonderful...
I am currently sat in a caravan on the North Cornwall coast at Mother Ivey's Bay, conected to the internet via a wireless network!!
I have had a busy week on the Scripture Union SUbmerge holiday, which is a christian holiday for 11-14 year olds. We have been based in a boarding school in Salisbury for the last week.
There have been 76 people on site, 47 guests and 29 team, and we have had an amazing and awesome time. It is wonderfu lto be together with other christians and to see God at work in the lives of team and guests alike. It was also fantastic to see christian young people throwing themselves into the party games and dancing in the same way they entered into the praise and worship and teaching. There were no wimpy young people on our holiday, it was full of real people who have a desire to make God the centre of their life, it was fantastic!
We spent the week Acting Out the Bible, which involves a giant map of the Holy land and it's surrounding and working our way from 'In the beginning' to 'Amen' ie Genesis to Revelation, and helping everyone to understand how the Bible fits together and the story of God's dealings with his people.
We add to this, the Wetta the Betta, Multi Gunk and other mad games including the new invention called Chicken Hunt, which involved 6 team members dressed as chickens being hunted by the guests!!!
Also we celebrated Christmas on 31st July, and why not! We had reached the birth of Jesus in AOtB and so when the guests came out of the hall they were ushered into Santa's grotto and received their pressie nd then we went for Christmas day worship followed by a full Christmas dinner and then a Christmas Party. There are pics on Facebook on the SUbmerge page and I will try to pop some on here. We were really pleased as it came as a total surprise to the guests and the look on some of there faces was priceless!
There was some drama on the way down to Salisbury when my car overheated, so I did the last 60 miles on the back of a low loader and my car now has a new heater matrix and soggy carpets in the footwells!
Last night was spent in Exeter which is about two hours drive from Salisbury and about half way to MIB where I am currently residing with the Waggies, my friends from Great Houghton, who emigrate to Cornwall for a month every year.
I am here until Wednesday then I am off to London for my 'wheely good' experience and to see Chicago with Kirsten, which will be great and then back to Manchester for a few days before I head off to my next SU holiday this time as Chief Caterer providing 70 covers three times a days, do it standing on my head...
I have had a busy week on the Scripture Union SUbmerge holiday, which is a christian holiday for 11-14 year olds. We have been based in a boarding school in Salisbury for the last week.
There have been 76 people on site, 47 guests and 29 team, and we have had an amazing and awesome time. It is wonderfu lto be together with other christians and to see God at work in the lives of team and guests alike. It was also fantastic to see christian young people throwing themselves into the party games and dancing in the same way they entered into the praise and worship and teaching. There were no wimpy young people on our holiday, it was full of real people who have a desire to make God the centre of their life, it was fantastic!
We spent the week Acting Out the Bible, which involves a giant map of the Holy land and it's surrounding and working our way from 'In the beginning' to 'Amen' ie Genesis to Revelation, and helping everyone to understand how the Bible fits together and the story of God's dealings with his people.
We add to this, the Wetta the Betta, Multi Gunk and other mad games including the new invention called Chicken Hunt, which involved 6 team members dressed as chickens being hunted by the guests!!!
Also we celebrated Christmas on 31st July, and why not! We had reached the birth of Jesus in AOtB and so when the guests came out of the hall they were ushered into Santa's grotto and received their pressie nd then we went for Christmas day worship followed by a full Christmas dinner and then a Christmas Party. There are pics on Facebook on the SUbmerge page and I will try to pop some on here. We were really pleased as it came as a total surprise to the guests and the look on some of there faces was priceless!
There was some drama on the way down to Salisbury when my car overheated, so I did the last 60 miles on the back of a low loader and my car now has a new heater matrix and soggy carpets in the footwells!
Last night was spent in Exeter which is about two hours drive from Salisbury and about half way to MIB where I am currently residing with the Waggies, my friends from Great Houghton, who emigrate to Cornwall for a month every year.
I am here until Wednesday then I am off to London for my 'wheely good' experience and to see Chicago with Kirsten, which will be great and then back to Manchester for a few days before I head off to my next SU holiday this time as Chief Caterer providing 70 covers three times a days, do it standing on my head...
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