Today is not only remarkable as the start of the new Premier League season, the hottest day of the year and potentially the day that Prince Philip popped his clogs; Saturday 18th August also happens to be my last full day in Europe for two years. Up until now I've been impressed at my lack of panic, but now I am a little bit of a mess and starting to realise that I have absolutely no idea what I've let myself in for.
Packing has never been so much of a chore. Please explain how anyone can condense their life to one large suitcase weighing no more than 30kgs!? I've had to compromise my impeccable fashion sense (leaving a stash of my ill-fitting t-shirts and jeans that have been with me since the thin days) and content myself with only the most basic of entertainment rations. However, this compromise has been achieved the hard way: packing, unpacking, repacking, realising I've not packed any kegs, unpacking, repacking, realising my laptop wears a fair old bit that I've not accounted for... In the end I've spend £150 and bought myself an extra 5kg, but even now I cannot fit my Lynx Africa shower gel in, which has been used for the past fortnight to try and get me into the spirit.
Don't get me wrong, I have managed to make time for some important things like watching Football Focus, the early kick-off, a 3pm kick-off and Spurs getting beaten and eating a fair well battered sausage. To be honest the sausage and her accompaniments were average at best, incomparable to offerings in the North West, but it put me to wondering about the things I'll miss about the UK. Friends and family boringly, my Corsa (RIP baby... £60 and crushed out of this world), a good cheddar... so many things... I doubt I've even considered the things that I'll really miss, it'll probably be things like comfortable chairs, Saturday bumming around routine and Hollyoaks... bugger! Hollyoaks. Hopefully I'll have at least one friend prepared to take on the task of watching religiously so they can keep me up to date on Brendan's various shenanigans.
Anyway, I'm just about ready now. The folks will be driving me to Heathrow at 1pm, arriving around 3pm and with time to watch Man City vs Southampton (how kind of the schedulers to arrange this as the last match before I bugger off!), checking in for 6pm and flying at 8.30pm. I won't arrive in Entebbe (Ugandan city with an airport) until lateish Monday 20th and presumably by the time I get to my shack in Kampala I'll be straight to bed. (If someone could let me know how my Unity kids get on I'd be grateful!)
I promise all future blog entries are significantly more interesting and have some suitably exotic photographs to prove that I have indeed buggered off and left the rainy isle. I'm going to be very lonely so please do stay in touch: let me know how much hotter the UK is; or bug me about things you want to know about Uganda, emigrating, fashion; or inform me of pregnancies, marriages, new partners, holidays I'll be missing out on.
Will miss you UK, but I'm a muzungu now! x
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