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Showing posts from May, 2014

Of Hen Nights and Marital Advice

I attended a friend’s wedding in Zambia early this month.  It was a fabulous trip- the weather was perfect (hot during the day, crisp at night), everyone was so friendly and welcoming (I was crushed into many an aunt’s ample bosom) and our surroundings were so beautiful it was impossible not to have a good time Luckily I was able to attend some of the pre-wedding festivities, namely the hen night.  Now, I’ve attended a hen night or two here in Uganda, but they didn’t really seem that much different from an ordinary night out with the girls.  This one was a whole different experience, mainly because of what I learned about the things women are told before they get married. After arriving at the venue and having a few drinks, we were introduced to a young doctor who had come to address the group and the bride in particular.  Being a urologist, she deals with trouser snakes on the regular, so she knows a thing or two about a man’s plumbing system. Anyway, after dispelling a few

Heaven- That Great Big Posh Hotel In The Sky

I’ve been having a difficult time writing recently- putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, more accurately) has just seemed impossible since my Dad died. I don’t know why, especially since he enjoyed my writing and always encouraged my active imagination right from when I was a little girl trying to write in the style of my heroine Enid Blyton. (Flying chairs and talking animals just really appealed to me when I was a kid).  For the past few weeks I’ve heard his voice in my head, asking why my article wasn’t published AGAIN.  My writing cogs started turning again after an insightful conversation with a friend’s three year old daughter recently.  I asked her if her goldfish was lonely- he just looked so sad swimming around that bowl all alone.  She explained that his friend had died- he simply started coughing one day, and died.  Floated belly-up to that great goldfish heaven in the sky.  (Ok, she didn’t actually say that, but I thought it sounded poetic).   So I asked her w