On Monday evening I went off with Lynne, Bernie and Pete to do a yoga class. We went to Jerry’s house opposite Safari Garden, this was the first time I have been in her house it was lovely. The lounge area was huge so we had a good area to lay down mats to sit on. Jerry is a qualified fitness instructor and has enjoyed doing yoga herself for a number of years although not qualified. Because quite a few volunteers were interested she said she would run a class on a Monday evening. We started the session doing stretching exercises on the mats some of which were quite hard to get into. By the end of the session I had fully enjoyed myself even the ummm wasn’t as embarrassing as I thought. I am hoping it will help with my back and sciatica problem which has been bothering me again over the last few months only time will tell.
On Tuesday evening we invited Courtney, Paul, Max and Lynne over to discuss the barbeque. We have decided to do a barbeque for the new volunteers before they depart for upcountry to their new placements. I had made us a couple of curry dishes chicken and vegetable as Courtney is a vegetarian. We sat down to eat phoning Max to find out where he was, he had only forgotten, arriving fifteen minutes later. The power was off as usual so after dinner we sat and discussed who was bringing what dish by candlelight. We also needed to agree on how much to ask the volunteers to contribute to the meal as meat etc is very expensive. We finally agreed on a 100 dalasi contribution.
On Friday Lynne had arranged to look at some furniture and wanted my opinion on it. Lynne had noticed a poster up in the Fajara club so had phoned to enquire on items for sale. It only turned out to be Anne and Elsie who were selling some furniture due to them having to move out of the small hotel which they had built up. Abigail was able to show us directions so we were soon heading out along the road behind the American Embassy once there we phoned Anne to gain access. Abigail was hoping to see Elsie but she had gone to a friends house to play. The house and hotel was built around a little central courtyard and was very nice although not as much care and attention had been put into it lately due to them moving. We looked around the rooms at the furniture with nothing much catching our eye other than a fan. In the last room we both spotted a lovely dark wood dresser with a large mirror above it. In total Lynne bought the dresser, fan, an iron, and some dishes. There is other items which may be for sale however until Ann moves she is unsure whether to sell them or not. We walked back fully laden with the items we could carry having arranged delivery of the dresser.
A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MIKE !
On Tuesday evening we invited Courtney, Paul, Max and Lynne over to discuss the barbeque. We have decided to do a barbeque for the new volunteers before they depart for upcountry to their new placements. I had made us a couple of curry dishes chicken and vegetable as Courtney is a vegetarian. We sat down to eat phoning Max to find out where he was, he had only forgotten, arriving fifteen minutes later. The power was off as usual so after dinner we sat and discussed who was bringing what dish by candlelight. We also needed to agree on how much to ask the volunteers to contribute to the meal as meat etc is very expensive. We finally agreed on a 100 dalasi contribution.
On Friday Lynne had arranged to look at some furniture and wanted my opinion on it. Lynne had noticed a poster up in the Fajara club so had phoned to enquire on items for sale. It only turned out to be Anne and Elsie who were selling some furniture due to them having to move out of the small hotel which they had built up. Abigail was able to show us directions so we were soon heading out along the road behind the American Embassy once there we phoned Anne to gain access. Abigail was hoping to see Elsie but she had gone to a friends house to play. The house and hotel was built around a little central courtyard and was very nice although not as much care and attention had been put into it lately due to them moving. We looked around the rooms at the furniture with nothing much catching our eye other than a fan. In the last room we both spotted a lovely dark wood dresser with a large mirror above it. In total Lynne bought the dresser, fan, an iron, and some dishes. There is other items which may be for sale however until Ann moves she is unsure whether to sell them or not. We walked back fully laden with the items we could carry having arranged delivery of the dresser.
A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MIKE !
Barbeque
On Saturday I woke up and started making preparations for the barbeque. I had marinaded some chicken the night before which I had decided to cook in the oven and then we would barbeque it later. I also cooked some wedges and prepared coleslaw and a couple of dips. Courtney was bringing along a vegetarian option of stuffed rice peppers and potato salad. Max was bringing along a mixed salad and Lynne had cooked a macaroni cheese dish. So with burgers and prawns on the menu we were all sorted and waiting for the volunteers to turn up at 2 o’clock. Paul dug a couple of holes in the ground in the shade to put the buckets in to fill up with ice, julbrew and soft drinks. Auntie Lucy had also borrowed us a settee which she sometimes uses in the garden we placed this in the shade under the plum tree along with more chairs. At 2 o’clock the volunteers started to arrive so Paul started to cook the meat. Once the meat was ready we brought out all the food to the table in the lounge. The flies must smell food because they just appeared from nowhere. It was lovely just to sit in the garden eating a nice meal (except for the flies) and drinking julbrew. What a good afternoon was had by all chatting and drinking, I must admit I had a few too many. It was also Tom’s birthday on Sunday so we had bought him a cake to celebrate. Just after 8 o’clock everyone started to pack up to leave they were planning on going onto Churchill’s for a bit of karaoke.
Pat, June, Lynne Tessa, Bernie, Marcus, RichardJane, Vicky, Tom, Pete, Anika
