Totally didn’t know about Theresa May

Yesterday was a really good day. I saw my friend Suba at Victoria Station before I got on the bus to Oxford. Sarah who I am staying with had kindly left amazing Columbian filter coffee out and mince pies and biscuits (Cara if you’re reading this, I only ate one biscuit I promise). I then went via the post office where there was a really lovely assistant who went completely out of her way to help. The guy at the counter asked me where I was from and when I said Zimbabwe he said but weren’t there only Shona and Ndebele accents – er no! There’s a Rhodie one, a middle class white one and coloured and then a range of others. My friend Demelsa that I met later had said she was looking forward to hearing a familiar Zim accent. I had said well which one? I can try the various options.

I was treated to lunch with my friend Bronwyn at Christchurch College who is studying an MBA there. She gave me a grand tour of everything, including the library there (my favorite bit – it had a curly staircase and books going up the walls – so cool), places where Harry Potter was filmed and Einstein’s study where there was a poem he had written (who knew he wrote poetry?!) We went to other colleges and the Bodleian before having scones and tea at The Rose (amazing chai tea – very warming,  Yesterday was cold).

Demelsa met me outside M&S and we went to the Christmas market. Lovely things and very festive. She had said when it got cold her strategy is to retreat into a shop, so we went and perused Waterstones. We had such good laughs. She found a book called How to Pack Your Suitcase and said it might help me so I don’t have gunpowder in my bag next time – er, it was medication Demi! There was also a book that went into great depth on how to ride a bicycle that we thought was hilarious and Demi said well maybe if it isn’t your culture and you move to Oxford where it is, you may need this – but still. We had dinner at Liam’s which serves very healthy fast food. It was really yum. Demi then got some carob from Sainsbury’s and we had some with hot rice milk at her flat, also yum. Turns out she lives literally around the corner from Sarah in Headington and I must have walked past her flat hundreds of times before.

So to relate to my heading – I like totally missed the whole Theresa May vote thing yesterday – oooops. I haven’t really been online or following the news. I might have woken up this morning to her not being PM. My friend Sarah said well the UK is in crisis you know. Afraid I retorted well you still have food and fuel available unlike Zim, to which Sarah promptly replied – for now! I can legally get a prescription made out for me while I am here to stock up on my medication – I may need to get a cover letter though for travelling with “my explosives”. Apparently though medication here might run low because of BREXIT – not all a bowl of cherries here either.

An explosive story in Nairobi

Am sitting comfortably in my good friend Pippa's spare room in Steatham writing this. I did wonder if I was going to spend a couple of months or more in a Nairobi jail yesterday. After managing to get round not paying US$75 per kg for being 3kg overweight in Harare and leaving at 01:40 instead of 00:10 as it had said I actually arrived in Nairobi on time yesterday morning, a little sleep deprived. My whole trip has been proudly sponsored and supported by Kenyan coffee most of the way. I found a nice coffee shop in the airport and took my meds as normal before heading to the departure gate. I did note they had a security check point to go through but it wasn't in operation. They did however randomly pick people out to be searched and have swabs taken of the inside of your hand luggage and your hands and clothes. As I obviously look like a potential drug smuggler I was singled out and had to wait to be searched.

They literally emptied out the entire contents of my bag and got to work. Well ... they hadn't been at it long before the fancy looking chemical analysis machine starting going off. I started wracking my brains as to what could be triggering this but I was in no way prepared for them to say, "Madame, it appears you have explosives in your bag." Sorry, what??!! Instinctively I reached forward to try look in my bag but was told, "Do not touch the bag!" OK. Not having touched my bag, they then did swabs of my hands and to my alarm and consternation they announced these were covered in explosives too. They called for security back up at this point and I started wracking my brains as to what could possibly be explosive in my bag - panic. I could only think of an eau de cologne but it is not an aerosol. The new security person wanted to know if I had packed my bag myself - yes, and if I had at any point left my bag unattended - no!

I suddenly thought of my lithium tablets. Suggested these but was told no, lithium is not an explosive. But .... they had a look at what else I have in my medication vials and low and behold Venlorflaxin is! At this point I would like to thank my psychiatrist who wisely told me to photograph my prescription before I left Zim, which thank God I did! I had to switch on my phone and showed this to security and luckily it had a nice big stamp with my psychiatrist's name and qualification on it. I did begin to wonder though if they would confiscate my meds - do you know how hard they are to get in Zim at the moment and they cost me precious US dollars?? To my great relief though security filled out a form with all my details on and then said I could repack my bags and go wait for my flight. So there you have it - my story. I did not spend Christmas and next year in jail as a potential terrorist from Zimbabwe who uses her medication to blow up planes.

I managed to make my way from Heathrow to Streatham on the Underground and thanks to Pippa helping me get an Oyster card last time managed to get a bus. Did go the wrong way up Streatham High Street and rescheduled to see my cousin Carly today rather but now happily ensconced in chilly England. Off to watch A Very Very Very Dark Matter with Pippa tonight at the Bridge Theatre - it looks like it will be good and seeing Carly for tea this afternoon.

Fifty Shades of Gluts and I am done

We closed school yesterday, ending off with a prize giving. I had to suddenly translate the French club's skit as the main person in it had forgotten her words and only remembered them in English. Two of my grade seven students gave farewell speeches. The one was absolutely delighted to be asked to and had a speech already written before I asked. After having been one of the naughtier ones in the class he said he wishes we had a form 1 as he would come back next year if we did. I ruined the beginning of the holidays for one of the other teachers by saying that in four weeks we will be back at school. We used to get longer December holidays. Next year terms are all going to be 14 weeks long and we only get three week holidays - the person in the Ministry clearly never taught.

Managed to get most of my planning for next term done sitting in a five hour petrol queue. People kept asking me if I had gone and been given a number from the garage - by this point if I went to go and get one I would lose the place I was in. Luckily when I finally got to the pump it wasn't an issue - I would have been very bleak if it had been. Trying to eek out on the fuel I got and hopefully will last and take me to the airport on Sunday. Fuel is rather scarce.

I am excited about some things for going to England on Sunday night but I will miss the boyfriend and I will be honest I am not looking forward to the darker days and cold. But it will be good to see friends and family and maybe snow (fingers crossed - although that possibly will make it colder!)

Had my last personal training session for the year today and we did gluts and more gluts - who says you can't get a lower body work out without bending your knee (still seem to have a damaged meniscus). Going to get some things I can do while I am away to try keep fit and was told to watch what I eat - over Christmas is tricky but will try :P