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Published: October 11th 2010
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farm timeThe past 6 weeks have flown by and tonight I'm off on Part 2 of my travel year. Although this is meant to be a travel blog it is also meant to document my 2010 journey. Let's just say that if I didn't record some of the highlights of being home I would miss some very important aspects.
Food was high on my list of priorities. By the end of my second day of being home I had polished off the majority of my “Home Foods” wishlist. Everyone knows that you just can't beat home cooking—or the foods that symbolize friends and good times. That is why red wine was sitting pretty in the number 1 spot of “to be consumed”. Also up there was beetroot, roast, large quantities of Vegemite, and all the gourmet stuff like Kalamata olives and Danish feta. Being back when the weather was still chilly meant that we also indulged in chocolate fondu and other naughty stuff courtesy of Mia's lolly jar.
The novelty of using proper toileting facilities was thrilling but short lived. Not having to wear shoes in the shower was appreciated with gusto for more than a week, as was
Enjoy Stronsay's Sunsetshaving showers with hot water. The pinnacle however, was the bath tub. Whoever its inventor is has my eternal gratitude.
Catching up with friends is never easy to write about for me. I just can't manage to capture the invisible threads that leap out of your body and within nanoseconds connect eyes, heart, memories and in many cases strange sounds (with females it seems to come out sounding like a high pitched, screaming pressure cooker) . Seriously though, from the first embrace of my Mum in the airport, to the freely given hugs from ex students and parents, to the accepting but no quite understanding friends of my childhood I was welcomed home with such overwhelming love and support. See, how can words do justice to those moments? I guess they can't- that's why we have to live them.
The aim of coming home was to sit on the couch and rest up for a bit. Of course I was able to get a fair bit of that in but I was also pretty productive. I managed to pick up some relief teaching, therefore taking the financial pressure off the Africa trip. I also spent some quality time with
family timeVegmite the dog and my beloved sister (even though I did not find her a new job which was very disappointing for me).
The biggest hurdle by far though was making up my mind about jobs for 2011. I came home not knowing what to do and feeling very confused. Over the course of the last 6 weeks I have officially resigned from my old school and secured a teaching position on Outback Oz- Derby to be particular. So it looks like next year will be full of new adventures of a homemade kind. I am looking forward to the challenges that await me there.
So, as you can see the last 6 weeks have been busy. The weather has been delightful this past 10 days and I will miss seeing Spring turn into Summer. I do feel ready to slip my pack on again. Being in travel limbo has achieved its aim of recharging the batteries but I'm over doing not much of anything and crave new challenges.
I arrive in Cape Town tomorrow around 4.30pm SA time. I promise to keep you updated as best I can. I hope you will stay tuned and continue to offer
Exercise views
View from turn around point as I run along the coast to work off my rice baby belly
me those words of wisdom that got me through Asia in one piece.
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