Damage Control
I'm so happy to not be in Dar anymore. I completely chilled out as soon as I got on the bus and it didn't even bother me that we took an hour to leave. Very glad to see the back of the place as you can probably tell. Spent the last two nights camping in the middle of nowhere(ish) which is just what I needed. Now I'm back to civilisation have figure there are probably a few people who would like reassiring that I'm still alive after a rathyer up int he air few days. I'm good ta so you can all stop groaning at your moniter everytime you log on to see if there's a new post. There is a nice shiny new post and you'r ereading it, hoorah for you. More to the point I'm writing it thus am clearly still very much alive.
My angel is not of Celtic origin as far as I know, I'd have to ask. Can be grumpy at times but then we all have our off days. Yes dad I know (or at least assume I know) who you're refering to. Sorry that life line was used up quite a while agoelse I'd deffinately have come home early me thinks.
So now I'm in Iringa-trying to get to Mbeya which is the last stop before Malawi. All the busses are really early in the morning (opkay so 8 isn't that early) but I'm staying in a place really close to the bus station. My bags are already packed so all I need to do is roll out of bed and onto the bus. I've already slept in these clothes once so I figure what's one more night. Don't look at me like that, we've all done it, that's part of the joy of camping. That and eating everything with your hands-yes even spaghetti. The jeans are going in the bin tomorrow anyway, my pasrents would be appalled if they could see the state of me. Good job I've not seen a mirror for 3 days, othewrwise I'd be appalled too and that would never do.
In other news I would like to announce that anyone who wishesd to talk to me may do so. Or hopefully soon anyway. I'll try to arrange it with the place I'm going to stay in Mbeya then if it's okay with them I'll post the number on blog and a time you can call. Will probably be Wednesday night. Think the time diffenence is 2 hours, it used to be 3 but then your clocks went forward, or at least I think they did. Bear in mind if any of you start down the 'told you so' route you will be hung up on (you kniw who you are) so just don't do it. We'll have nothing but nice things thank you, the odd tear is perfectly acceptable however-I plan to shed many though I obviously wont let on. I still have some dignity...?!
posted by Wendy @ 1:19 AM
25 Comments:
Ah dignity yes I remember it well, have got your letters by the way and it took me a good half an hour to read the one you sent to me and matt what with the magnifying glass and separating the words being major issues. Glad you're back to enjoying it all again and I hope you got the money I transferred to your account the other day, if you need it use it if you don't then see me when you get back I'll have the big burly debt collectors waiting, they might even have some of their tattoos spelt correctly. But it would be good to be able to speak to you. We love you and Matt is impressed with the drawings on the letter. Will post the others out today except the obvious one which I'll leave till nearer the time.
Love always
Hi and good to hear from you. I admit to looking on the blog to see if you have posted. But then I wouldnt know if you had posted if I never looked would I. Can you tell I have been helping Helen with her philiosphy revision.
Glad you are okay, but actually, I assume that you are fine unless hear otherwise, you and God are taking fantastic care of Wendy. And God is giving you wonderful, life enriching experiences.
And if anyone say "told you so" then just let me know and I will arrange for my auntie to have Rupert Bear go and talk to them.
Honestly folks, you have to all agree, that whatever life is throwing at Wendy, she and God and coping brilliantly, and for what it is worth, although I am only a friend of Wendy, I am very proud to know her and proud of how well she is handling all this stuff.
having got slushy, I will now shut up
Liz
wendoline, wendoline, wendoline...
talking about eating spaghetti reminds me of last night, when I went to a dinner party at my friend's house and there was a chocolate fountain, most of which ended up all over half the people there (almost from head to toe...)
but it's good to know all is well en Afrique and that you're having a wonderful time!
in the same cheery tone, I passed the halfway mark in my exams today (5 down, 4 to go) so the end is in sight!
much love to you all!
good for you tom! I haven't started but then i don't mind, more time to revise which shock horror i will do! I know i can scare the world like that!
Wendy it is indeed great to hear from you. I really should give you a fuller up date of my funny world at some time but for now just know that i have no more art to do other than stuff i want to do. It's all in and is starting to be marked. Hehe i now have the most fantastic timetable ever for two weeks, well what do you expect with only two subjeccts left other than signing!
speak soon hopefully*fingers crossed*
But Sarah are you really really sure your art is really really finished!
Are you sure some wont jump out a bite you? That your teacher wont change her mind?
I have just discovered that there is a weird attachment to my sewing machine, which will sew buttons on for me. It looks so so complicated to use. And I have something called a walking foot. Well I have one on the end of each leg, but also one for the sewing machine, have no idea what to use it for.
Have fun people I am going to post a parcel to my parents, take my shoes to the menders and collect the last stuff for the mag from the office at church. Perhaps I should include highlights from Wendys blog :-)
Liz
i'm sure! There are marking work now. I don't want any of it back!!! I like art alot but when i have had to do so much i think i want a break from it and thats what i've got. All i have now is stuff that i want to do!!!
You WANT to revise!
Liz
yep! I do but i still have lots of other work which is getting in the way of doing so.
did who get what. My old pain med addled brain is confused.
I dont understand people WANTIng to revise tho, I hate revision and find it really hard to do, boring because hey I have done this stuff before. I do of course revise, just dont like it. But I am not doing any exams this year. (yes I am 48, but did GCSE Latin last year)
Liz
i never said i found it easy but i don't mind revision that much. I do what i can and don't push myself. When revisiog it makes me feel good once i know tht i know that bit. ooohh i know something and that kowledge on subjects keeps getting bigger. When revising german the language starts to come together and you can finally see what all the hard work was for. Its a good feeling. Plus i make sure i reward my self for doing revsion mostly with chocolate. Tis a good thing.
Are you planning to study anything esle at some stage liz?
Hmm... revision. Always best at the last minute. Then it's fresh in your brain! Exams start tomorrow, so today's been a day of Russian past papers... очень хорошо! Languages are different, I find.
its all great fun , really. Yeah i kinda agree with you on the language part. They are in some ways harder to revise but anyway. I hope the exams go ok. I shall be praying for you!
fun? Fun? FUN?
Bleh.
OK, so I don't mind revising Italian that much, because it's all new and sparkly, but revising French just makes me sad.
Nonetheless, chin up! Plenty of things to smile at!
Like this bid for funding I'm writing for the Italian department at uni...
OK, bad example...
Like the fact that the Eurovision Song Contest is heading our way this Saturday... there's something for us to grin at!
I didnt much mind revision at uni, I just did past papers with the books in front of me, and looked up anything I needed to know, and once I had done enough of them I didnt need the books, and anyway there is a limited number of questions they can ask - but maths and language are different from essay subjects. When I revised for my O levels I lay in the garden and revised whatever lesson I would be doing if I was in school, and had breaks when I would be having a break. but I fell asleep and got burned, and actually burnt the soles of my feet. OH THAT WAS SO PAINFUL! In those days they have much by way of sun tan cream, or after sun.
Yes Sarah, I am planning to do a PhD in Medieval History, looking at the attitude towards and the treatment of womens mental health in Medieval England - possibly Britain, but if I can just do England it is easier, dont have to learn any Celtic languages, and most of the papers are in three places - Oxford, Cambridge and London. I am learning Latin so that I can read the documents of the time which were often written in Latin, and also Middle English, which I am pretty okay at, and Old English, also known as Anglo Saxon, which I havent done much of yet. Some may be in Anglo Norman French, because part of the period I am interested in large parts of the country were under Norman rule. I also have to learn to read the handwriting, the study of old handwriting is called Paleography, and I went to a summer school for that last year. But since it costs £600 for the week, I am not going this year!
The jump from GCSE Latin to reading everyday documents is huge and I have found it hard especially with not being well much of the year. Abd at GCSE we are taught Classical Latin based on the Latin of the Roman Empire, and the Latin of Medieval documents is of course different. There are words that dont appear at all in Classical, because what they describe doesnt exist. And the grammar is different too. And the language flowery with lots of passive verbs. But I did find one book that wasnt bad to translate, because a basic familiarity with it helped. The Latin Vulgate Bible, did some translation of Lukes Gospel, Jesus' death and resurrection.
Next year I will do AS Level. I cant do the PhD until I can afford it, and wont start at all until after Helen is through uni and finacially secure. It may even be a retirement project.
Well that was a long answer.
Good luck to all you linguists, and everyone else, with your exams. I am not a linguists, have had long conversations with assistants in haberdashery shops in Montmatre about cancer patients losing their horses, and needing little black safety pins so that volunteers could tie scarves inside their heads. If ever you need a back safety pin - "les epingles surete noir". I can complement a Russian gentleman on the shape of his bottom, accidentally proposition a Frenchman, and give a German exchange student hysterics, by explaining what a burglar is, and she ending up thinking someone came in the house each night while we were asleep and stole our television. Italian, I can say many thanks, hello, goodbye. And I would never risk asking for a salad served in a sea shell in Spain.
I will stick to Latin, which I never have to speak, unless I am crossing the Strood from Colchester to Mersea Island, where apparently otherwise normal people have met Roman Legionaries.
I ramble, sorry people.
Liz
Hi Wendy - glad you're doing ok :)
I'm also glad I don't have any exams or revision to do this year, or probably ever again. I do have to write an essay about preaching though.
Good luck to all of you who need it for your exams.
That sounds really interesting Liz, though I must say I'm more interested in the linguistic aspects of it! I'm doing a module next year (hopefully) on the history and development of the English language and present day dialects. I've done a similar one in Spanish this year - it's all fascinating!
Russian Paper 1 this afternoon...
I too an interested in linguistics, I did my degree in psychology and did some of that then. The whole business of how languages develop fascinates me, and learning Latin gives a great insight into that, as does the middle English and Old English. But history of medicine is my real love, especially related to Medieval England - they knew so much then that has now been lost, and many of the rememdies they used would work, although I dont use them. Did you know that in a book from I think 10th Century, called Bald's Loecboc, it has a recipe for a depilatory cream, which involved collecting ants eggs and crushing them to a paste and applying to the area you want to remove hair from, and apparently it is permanent, the hair never grows back. Tempted as I am on my hairy legs, I wont be trying that, with my luck the ants would still hatch. I have enough problems with aunts as you may have read and dont want anymore thank you!
Hope this afternoons exam goes well.
Lou - never assume you wont have to do more exams, I am still doing them at nearly 49! For fun, which is worrying, I am doing all this because it is interesting, no other reason, no career aspirations, I am just interested.
Liz
Wow, Liz, I love that you have your education planned out like that and you can see where you're heading! However, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd love to know how you accidently propositioned a Frenchman???
i would love to know too!!! do tell liz!
Okay, if you are easily shocked and speak fluent French, please stop reading now. I was in a lift in the Louvre about 6 or 7 years ago, during what was the hottest August on record - although we didnt go to Eurodisney on that visit, apparently the temperature on Main St for the early evening parade was 106 degrees. Pretty hot. So here I am, with Lynne, who speaks some French, trying out my high school French (failed O level) in a Stockport accent. And I announce to the person stood next to me, some French guy "Je suis tres chaud" meaning - to me at least - I am very hot. However, this sentence does NOT mean hot in the normal "warm day" sort of way. It means hot in the "I want to be alone with you" sort of way. Lynne went kind of beetroot coloured and was hushing me - but she does that a lot and I just ignored her. The French people in the lift were smiling. I thought they were agreeing me and thinking how good it was that an English person was speaking French. When we got out of the lift, Lynne explained that in fact this was not the case, and I had propositioned the French guy.
I also managed on another occasion to tell a queue of people waiting to go on Its a Small World at Eurodisney that "My (own personal) Town Hall is at the front of the queue" as I pushed past them all smilingly, and they looked at me oddly. But I really did think that Mon Marie was "My husband"
I am not an asset in foreign countries.
Liz
congrts on that liz! god story.
I just sent you an email Sarah
Liz
i lurve that story and ai am sorry to say iam a bit drunkled but i love that oy were in a lift and all and said "je suis chaud" and i ain't gon' translate that here but it's wicked cooool man hahaha aww i love y'all you know you Kmake me smile and tonight i hav eau snnange karaoke of "" alwayts look on the bright side of life" with david and you are jone of the bright sides of my life i;'m sorry i;m so drunkled but you all are wicked cool.!!! good cheesing and flabegn!!!!!!!!!
yes Tom, you are very drunkled. Your spelling is especially drunkled. Being an old lady now I no longer do drunkled. I will pray for your headache tomorrow. And for your embarrassment when you look at your spellings :-)
Liz
ash to be drunkled...What plans for your birtday Tom. I'm back the day after...
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