This entry brings me up to date with my blog- finally! Last Thursday i said good bye to the overland group as they headed south down to Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and then onto Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. If i had known how much I would enjoy overlanding and camping,I would have signed up for the whole trip. Who would have believed it? this princess likes camping!
But i have had lots of things to keep me busy in Dar. It has been nice being back with my family again. Staying at my aunt and uncle's is so handy and really easy going - they are so accommodating to me and have helped me so much getting around and getting things done- i would not have survived in Dar without them. its been great to spend some quality time with them on walks to the beach (i have done 2 6am walks this week!), eating red chicken and driving up to slipway (the expat posh part of town with funky shops and cafes).
When i first got back to Dar it was Eid which was nice. I missed my own family a lot that day as we all get together and i see my friends Aff and Asifa...so i really missed being in London. Eid in Dar is pretty low key - we went to the mosque on the eve of Eid for prayers which was excellent, and then on Eid day a few people visited. On the Saturday I also had a friend come over to Dar. It is definitely all about who you know :-) as my old university friend Rich is a pilot with BA and so he gets to fly to exciting destinations, including Dar! He was here on a 2 day stopover, nicely timed with my trip, so i got to hang out with him at his posh hotel. Once again i was the country bumpkin visiting the city mouse as he treated me to ice cream and sodas as we sat by the hotel pool. What a way to spend Eid! it was really nice to see a familiar face from home and catch up on the old days.
On Sunday we had family over for lunch which was a lot of fun. I have many cousins here in Dar as my dad is one of 11 siblings and he is the youngest, so many of my cousins are older and their kids are nearly as old as me! my nieces and nephews are really cool though and they came over and we played scrabble and ate lots, and then walked down to the beach. it's funny but i expected my family in Dar to be really religious and traditional and not that open to my more liberal ways (esp o not wearing hijab), and yet they have been SO welcoming and warm to me and i have fitted right in. i think age and being comfortable in your own skin also has a lot to do with it- i am mature enough to embrace all the different parts of my life and make them fit. god i should go on oprah! as for my cousins/ nieces, they thought i was going to be a snobby english girl! so we all had a good surprise and have spent lots of time together this week. they took me to eat "mix" yesterday - a truly indian dish of potatoes in sauce, with bhajia and then chevro on top. sorry but i have no idea how to explain it- you will have to try it! it was reaaaaaallllly good. so was the passion juice. and the corn on the cob with chilli that set my lips on fire....mmmmmmmmmm.
so i have spent this last week just relaxing with family, going round town with my nieces/nephews, eating a lot, and generally just taking it easy. I have also done a few yoga classes at the local buddhist temple. i forget if i wrote about this already but before i left for my overland trip i discovered this amazing class of vinyasa flow yoga (same kind of yoga i did in london) and the teacher is a pure buddhist yoga master called sathya. i went twice this week and the class is brilliant. it is mainly full of expats but he teaches a really proper style of yoga. I think i might be addicted- i might go again tomorrow! my aim is to be able to bend over in half and touch my head to my knees....
remind me to express my views on the expats here and they way they live. i'll save that for a day i need a rant!
anyway -other exciting things this week is that seema and sachin, also university friends, arrived in Dar this week too! the timings of visitors has been really good. they were here for 3 days and it was great to spend time with them and wander round Dar.
the best news of all though is that my parents flew to mombasa this weekend for my birthday, so i am here with them now for a week, celebrating my 30th with them at the beach!
i spent the eve of my birthday in an irish pub (always so welcoming) with seem and sachin watching the rugby, then i got up hideously early, watched my birthday dvd, cried and laughed a lot and then boarded a flight for mombasa! we spent yesterday, the day of my birthday relaxing at the beach. what a way to turn 30 :-)
mombasa is a beach town in kenya and has amazing white sandy beaches and clear blue seas. so what better place for us to stay than the white sands hotel! it is also near Tsavo, a big natural reserve, and the town of mombasa has a lot of history.
will write more when i can next tear myself away from the pool/beach. i just had to send this and say thanks to all of you for my birthday wishes and the dvd...and that i miss u all.
big love from kenya
xxxxxxxxxxx
