Currently

Currently reading- The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.
I recently read this and loved it and this which was a light and enjoyable read.

Currently listening to-Bombay Bicycle Club and Tom Odell

Currently playing around with-Instagram. You can see all of my 6 photos (!) at robopurdie

Currently watching- Wimbledon. The TV is not on much during the holidays but I love watching the tennis with McEnroe's commentating. (Funny to think that this time last year I was still working in Nairobi, watching the games at my friend Nadia's house).

Currently experimenting with- new(for me) recipes. I love having the time to try things I've wanted to for ages; French onion soup (would not be the same made in Kuwait...wine free!), rhubarb muffin with rhubarb from the garden, quiche from scratch...and I want to make my first pie. I might have to start the fasting diet to balance things out a tad!

Currently enjoying-runs in fresh air and the colour green!

I'm home, but not yet fully in holiday mode. Enjoying pottering but taking some time to slow down. This mood though doesn't mean I am not appreciating every moment of being home; having a glass of wine at lunch, afternoon runs in the cool weather, reading during the day, catching up with family and walks round Loch Lomond. In a few days I'll stop feeling guilty for enjoying these pleasures...and I'll make time to write...or not!

We'll Always Have Paris

It's the time of year for goodbyes and farewells. The leaving parties and weekends away started over a month ago...making sure everyone has their moment, their closure.
I was going to say that even after being an expat for over half my life, that goodbyes don't get easier, but that is not true, they do.

When I left the Middle East four years ago, I kissed best friends farewell, then cried and cried as I said goodbye to the life I made for myself.

 The world seems a smaller place to me since then. I know that lots of my goodbyes are "see you soon", made easier with  set plans of races together, visits and promises of joint holidays sooner rather than later. This summer I'm spending time with a good friend I met in Uganda, my Kenyan running buddy and seeing new friends in Canada from this year in Kuwait. All this does actually make those goodbyes easier.

Kuwait itself is not a hard place to say goodbye to, especially at this time of year. Friends that leave the security of the strong Kuwaiti Dinar, comfort themselves in the knowledge that they are moving to a greener, cleaner country. Here, every day the dust is blown in and the blue sky is once again hidden. Photos don't even capture the sweeping sand.  So instead, I will share some photos of a much more beautiful city.

And then we said goodbye...

That's it. 

We said goodbye to our pupils today. 

This summer I plan on enjoying the quiet...and reading lots. Please pass on any recommendations.

Gratitude Lately

For coffee to-go. I'm not yet tired of this first world solution to my slow mornings.

For constantly working air conditioning. Every part of me, from my eyeballs to my little toe is thankful for keeping me cool.

For love and true friendships; from running with me and pounding the streets, to messages and comforting phone calls and to hugs and kisses. I feel blessed.

For  the knowledge that every experience makes us grow.

For Mac's Vegas Volt lipstick that brightens my mood.

For reminders that every day can be an adventure.

The Summer Slow Down

Here the summer term ends in a quick-quick-slow pace. Teaching teaching teaching, followed by half days (where the pupils only come in until lunch time) then time to mark assessments, write reports and pack up the classrooms with no pupils for the last few days. It is quite an anticlimax in lots of way. No real end of year concerts or parties...it will just be the end of a year.

We have been lucky this year with the heat. It only recently got hot hot. The type of heat where your eyes hurt when you walk outside. Where you feel your skin prickle. Where you will sweat no matter what you wear. Teachers stagger round the playground, eyeballs sweating, clutching a bottle of water, reminding pupils that the skipping ropes are not weapons, counting down every minute.

By the time I leave the circus school, the roads are emptying. Everyone wanting to rush home to find refuge from the heat in their cool houses and apartments. The roads are once again turned into race tracks (just like during Ramadan), not wanting to stay out one moment more than necessary. Time for lunch and a siesta.

Facebook is full of daily weather updates. Not a surprise, but neither is the heat. It is a desert after all. Yet as soon as the gauge hits the 40s, we turn to British ways and comment on it endlessly.

I am still running. But my buddy are back to 4:50 am runs or short evening sessions. It makes training for anything challenging. We tried a longer evening run this week, but after 35 minutes I was broken. I spent the rest of the night lying in my underwear on the cool tiled floor of the apartment. Next year I WILL join that overly priced health club...even if I use it on dusty, hot days it will be value for money!

Less than two weeks and I'll be on a big plane again. I'll be heading back to Scotland for a bit, then I am off to Western Canada; for hikes, runs by a lake (I've never been...just picturing it!) and a special wedding.

PS- Today, it was announced, Kuwait was the hottest country in the world (yep,my car read 50 degrees Celsius..it said 51 at one point!). Good job there is a lot of oil and money, as there are not many other reasons to be here. Now the summer exodus begins!

Be awesome

I've been reading this because sometimes we need a little help to be our best.

The book has some great ideas of how we ladies can support one another through modern life, how we can be better friends to one another and basically reminds us how we can be awesome. But there are also a couple of laugh out loud excerpts.

I like the "You're Never Too Old For Topshop" chapter particularly!
"...thus, it's not that your 'too old' for Topshop; rather that you're wise enough to know that you should walk straight past the boiler suits and silly logoed underwear and head to the lovely smarter clothes...that are hidden among the party dresses and skirts which are very popular but render the entire world your gynaecologist. "

I read Tina Fey's last year, but this book has none of the sarcastic put-me-downs (what Freeman calls self-deprecating tourettes) that fill the pages of Bossypants.

Thanks for reading my blog. I think you are awesome!



Ps- I went to carpet shopping in the souq on the weekend. It was the first time  I've been to the souq since I've returned to Kuwait. It was a pretty awesome good day.