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...
Friday, 24 September 2010
Friday, 10 September 2010
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...
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...
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
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...
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...
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