Do they know it's Christmas time at all - well yes probably.

I was at my work Christmas party last night and at the end of the night, all of the usual Christmas cheese came on. I was very quite drunk, but got a little bit into the lyrics of Band Aid.

I was obviously at the point of drunkeness when I got a little too into the lyrics and started to think well actually they're a bit ridiculous. So I refused to sing along.

Now I realise all song lyrics are a bit ridiculous, but one one of my pet hates is people to referring to Africa as a whole. I have a friend who always says 'Oh when I went to Africa' and I always say 'You went to Uganda!'. He'd never say, oh I went to Europe, when he was off to France, so why should it be the same for Africa.

So it annoys me when the lyrics say things like 'There won't be snow in Africa at Christmas' as Africa is so massive, that it's entirely different in every country. And actually, there will in some countries. I've been to Morocco just after Christmas and there was plenty of snow in the mountains - we even went skiing.

(Skiing in Morocco)

Similarly the 'Do they know it's Christmas time at all?' Well yes. About 40% of the Africa population is Christian and so Christmas is one of the most important events in the Christian calendar. Even if they don't celebrate it in the same was as us, with a tree and presents, Christmas is still a time of family and giving and most Christians will try to go to church and celebrate on Christmas day.

(Christmas in Namibia - 2009)

Similarly, the bit about 'where nothing ever grows' only really applies to a very small percentage of Africa areas, and even Ethiopia, which is was written about, is very fertile in the west of the country.

(Blue Nile Falls in Ethiopia)

(Eating wild peas on a walk in the Highlands in Northwest Ethiopia)

So there we go, rant over, but this is one Christmas song I won't be listening to if I can help it this Christmas.

...and the start of a new one!

So, following on from my previous post I am very impressed with the speed of the passport service. Forget the 6 weeks they say it may take, I had my new passport back less than a week after I sent it! How's that for service??

But - wow how passports have changed since I got mine back in 2004 - well and even since friends who have got them in the last few years.

Apparently they've added loads of touches to make them harder to forge - like 'canal' 'mountain range' along with matching illustrations on each page. The other new security features are a chip, watermark, biographical page and secondary image and new design theme. Colourful! The photo page has moved to the front, and is flimsy and a little blurred as there are so many holograms on it. 

I'm off to Cape Town again in January so hopefully it will be real and they'll actually let me in!

The End of an Era

It is the end of an era. I have to get a new passport. Not because it's expired, but because there is no room left for visa or stamps. Well, there is actually a fair bit of room left, but a certain country in the South of Africa is particularly fussy, and will only let you in if you have 4 blank pages.

I don't understand how this makes sense, as the entry stamp is about an inch in diameter, so clearly can be squeezed in anywhere, but apparently, as I found out when I tried to go to Cape Town in October, they don't agree.

After my 2 gap years, and various other holidays in-between, my passport is looking pretty full. As certain countries have very pretty visas which take up a whole page, and you only get about 27 pages once the printed ones have been counted, it's hardly surprising.

(This Kenyan Visa is one of my fav's as it has the Big 5 on it!)

(Thailand, Bolivia, South Africa)

(Nepal - going in and out of Tibet)

In 2009 when I was heading to South Africa, I panicked as I only had 3 entirely blank pages in my passport, and was worried that they wouldn't let me in, so I paperclipped them together so that noone else would stamp on them first. As it happened, crossing in from Namibia, they really didn't care, and so stamped elsewhere. My pages have survived being paperclipped together, through 20 country entries since then (Australia-New Zealand-Cook Islands-New Zealand-Fiji-New Zealand-Chile-Bolivia-Argentina-Bolivia-Peru-Panama-Peru-Argentina-Brazil and then Gibraltar, Malaysia-Singapore-Malaysia and South Africa), until I got to Cape Town in October, when they advised that they were seriously thinking about sending me straight back to England.

(My coolest stamp - although I'm not sure it's allowed - Machu Picchu)

(My 'annulado' - cancelled stamp. I got stamped into Uruguay in Buenos Aires, and then my flight was cancelled so I stayed in Argentina and my visa was cancelled)

So, as I'm heading back to Cape Town in January, I'm currently passportless as I'm applying for my new one.

(I love that the stamps say where you've been in and out off - very cool when you're travelling overland. This page shows Zanzibar (they count it as a different country to Tanzania so you get stamped in and out), Fiji, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia)

It's a sad state to be in. Not that I was planning on heading out anywhere between now and then, but I don't like feeling that I can't.

But...I am excited to have all those blank pages to fill up again.....

Ooompa Lumpa Makeover? Anyone?

I'd been meaning to buy some new foundation for ages as I'd been feeling a bit blotchy and uneven. I don't really wear make up very often, and so wanted something really natural, that would just smooth me out a bit, and not look like I was wearing make up at all.

So we went to Selfridges on a Sunday morning, definitely not looking our best after a Saturday night out, and in need of some pampering.

The first counter I went to, was Bare Essentials, and the girl was very enthusiastic about transforming my face. I have to admit, I did look very smooth...but also very much like I'd been tangoed. It's hard to tell exactly under the harsh shop lights, but as I walked away from the stand, not only did I feel a bit cakey (she'd put a lot more layers on than I was really after) but I was also worried that I was looking like an extra for Willy Wonka.

So we wandered on. I was feeling very self concious as I knew I was looking slightly worse for wear after the night out, and I really didn't want to be orange and slightly worse for wear. We approached the Mac counter. After wandering around slightly aimlessly, we were advised that you have to go to the booth to get a makeover.

The woman looked at me, and said 'I don't mean to be rude - but is that your normal foundation?' When I shook my head very enthusiastically, and explained what had happened she said 'Phew, how can they do that to you!!'

Similarly, when I told one of my colleagues what had happened, she looked horrified and said 'But I thought they weren't allowed to do that to people?'. I don't think she'd purposely made me look like an oompa lumpa, I'm pretty sure that she thought that's what I wanted to look like! And she herself was pretty orange - I assume on purpose!!

So I came away with some Mac foundation which does exactly what I wanted - smooths me out without looking like I'm wearing make up. On the recommendation of most of my friends I also bought some Benefit tinted moisturiser and I am in love with it! Not only does it smooth me out, but it also smells like flowers - in a very nice way! Successful mission!

Christmas Shoeboxes

It's that time of year again! Shoebox O'clock! I can't remember when I first got involved with Operation Christmas Child through church, and made a shoebox. If I was properly story telling I would want to say hundreds of years ago, but I'm really not that old!

It became a normal part of the Christmas preparations for me, and one year me and Laura made something ridiculous like 30 shoeboxes between us, saving up all of our pocket money. (There is a photo somewhere of me lying on my floor in my school uniform entirely surrounded by shoeboxes, but this was in the days before digital cameras and so it's probably 'somewhere safe' in my parents house.)

Last year I'd just moved to London, and the year before I was somewhere around Uganda at this time of year, and so when someone mentioned Operation Christmas Child, and the shoebox appeal at work last week, I got very excited.

I'd forgotten how much fun it is shopping for loads of little things that we take for granted as having, for someone else. I had a lot of fun raiding the shops on my way home from work one night, and then all along Oxford Street after giving blood one evening, and got an amazing array of items. Things I hadn't really thought about getting seemed to pop out at me along the way, like a skipping rope, and a very cool multi pocket pencil case.

I decided to do one for a boy and one for a girl, both ages 10-14years, as I imagine that more people do ones for younger children, as it is much easier to buy toys to fill them. I based my shopping lists on hanging out with the older children at the Walk in Kenya. Anything that was associated with film stars, such as big hats, sunglasses and sneakers was deemed as cool and so the most coveted item. I'll never forget the day one boy insisted on squeezing himself into some pink converse style trainers, and refusing to take them off and put the navy ones which were meant for him on. I have to admit though, with his aviator style sunglasses, and a black scarf, he did look every inch the film star.

So here are my boxes...

There is the added excitement this year of being able to track your shoeboxes!! I've dutifully added my barcode into my girl boy and to be honest, even if it was made up, I'm still going to be so excited when I hear in January where my box ended up.

Random Thoughts

I have many random thoughts. They usually come to me at times when I'm alone for a while, such as walking to work, or sorting things in the stock cupboards at work.

Today, I'd been sorting out suitcases and so had got very dusty hands. I needed to go to the toilet, and had the dilemma of whether to wash all the dirt off my hands, then go to the toilet, and then wash my hands again, or to go to the toilet with dirty hands, and then wash my hands only once.

And then I found my keys....

Hanging Loop Removal Surgery

I have a bit of a dislike of hanging loops in clothes. Ok, well a big dislike! Sometimes, they are genuinely useful, but 99% of the time, I don't think they are. I usually cut them out as soon as I buy something, but sometimes will forget and then spend the whole day being annoyed when they slip out and are hanging around under your arms looking weird.

So i've been collecting them up from when I cut them out of my clothes and now seem to have a collection of nicely coordinating bits of ribbon. I made loads of ribbon purses before Christmas which sold really well, out of scraps of ribbon and vintage lace from my ribbon tin, and so thought about using these to make some purses in a similar style?

I think these look quite pretty and are definitely a good use of the spare ribbons! It's all about the reduce reuse recycle! Love it!