Travelling

When I was younger, we never went to the cinema. Like never! I saw Santa Claus the Movie and then practically nothing until Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. I also never went on a plane, especially not one with a screen showing films. When I first started going to far away places, it was one of most exciting things. I remember staying up all night with excitement watching all the films and classing that as a very good flight. I don't know whether to be excited to sad that I am here in Jo burg airport with a suitcase full of hobnobs, chocolate fingers and tax free impulse buys from Accessorise, considering whether I have finally grown up. I think the contents of my suitcase hint that it's probably more that the films were bad and that I was totally knackered but I only watched half a crappy film and then slept for 6 hours!! What a waste of good film watching time!!!

Maybe it's more that I have just been on lots of flights and I now know that aisle or window is the not the important question. They should really put the weight of the passengers on the computer when you choose where you want to sit. I'd rather be in the middle, between two pixies than between a window and heifer.

I just landed after two glorious crazy weeks in England. I spent it mostly drinking coffee and chatting in different places. Tents in Cheltenham, noodle bars in London, coffee shops in Hull, on bridges, in fields, whilst dipping in ponds. I had a great time and was reminded of the great life I have in London and of how lucky I am to have such great friends and family. It felt like each encounter was another little step in the decision about what I am going to do with myself after the Swazi adventure comes to an end. Find a job is plan A, probably in London unless it's a totally fantastic one, in which case somewhere not so far away!

I also spent a valuable while reading a book on management. This turned out to be a good plan as I have never had any training on management and now I find myself managing a project and a team in a cross cultural context. No wonder it's a bit stressful. My only training has been watching other managers, both good and bad try to manage me. This has also been mostly in context of a hospital ward and ward team, which is totally different to community based work in Swaziland and with Swazi people. So! I read the rules of management and found out that I have been doing some things right! Hooray! I have also been doing some things not so right, Hoorow. But that's ok, nothing is unsalvagable!! It's all valuable learning. Nothing is trashed. A lot of it is to do with being comfortable with the responsibility of being a manager. That takes time to get used to, or so I tell myself! I think there are many ways to manage and I just have to find a way that fits me and my shoes and is also efficient.

So, a less serious blog post is coming up when I get the photos on to my computer. There will be pictures of my impossibly gorgeous nieces, big toads in Hull and other fun stuff. Promise.