Seysays

One attraction of the new job was the possibility of undertaking training in Mauritius, a two hour flight from Seychelles, and so it came to be. Myself and my jobshare partner were shipped off to learn the procurement and purchasing packages for the FCO and meet our fellow colleagues of the BHC in Mauritius. Mauritius is surprisingly, I think, home to a million people and has a reputation for being more built up than our fair islands. Indeed, the capital Port Louis was an hour’s drive from the airport, somewhat novel for this islander. it's bigger than it looks! Arriving at our hotel and I was disappointed that I only managed 2.5 rolls across the bed (not yet equalling the other one’s record of 3.5 at the Grosvenor in Chester) but still more than enough space ... read more

In my second week at the British High Commission, the main focus of activity was the arrival of a Lifeboat donated by the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) to the Seychelles Coastguard. I got to exercise my press skills, writing the press release and speech for the handover ceremony and more thrillingly, got an invite to the handover itself - how’s that for dediciation (and a desire to do anything different) that myself and the other one found ourselves up early on a saturday morning to bear witness to this event. For Queen and Country and all that. As we strode through a type of Guard of Honour formation and the band struck up as we entered the marquee, I have to say I was a little embarassed- like being the second cousin of the bride’s ... read more

No, not got sick of the other one yet (though he does push it sometimes!) and neither have I had my head turned at belly dancing, he he, but networking has suddenly become order of the day. It started with a random bumping into- and swapping of numbers- that after some thwarted attempts at planning resulted in a beach meet with A and his family. A couple of hours were spent on the beach trading stories and watching their kids hurtle about pretending to be superheroes and building sand empires. They were lovely and it was fun to be in the company of what I imagine a 2.3. family to be like - complete with dog - though the early friendship ws nearly finished as soon as it started as the dog, left to his own ... read more

So I went to the belly dancing where there was a modest turnout. I enjoyed shaking my bits and the company of women. Something to be said for females having fun and though it would be dangerous to burn one’s bra in this context - risking personal injury for those with a more ample bosom ( I imagine…) - I fancy the youth today don’t know as much about the ‘F’ word these days as they should; the struggle ain’t over yet! Perhaps the group could become some radical feminist movement ‘ Bellies Towards Equality or ‘BeTy’. Go BeTy go.... read more

A couple of colleagues are leaving the end of this school year and so we have a surprise do for one of them to attend. It’s an Arabian theme which the other one and I were going to ignore but then our neighbour J comes round having made the effort, so we feel guilted into doing the same… the other one grabs a tea towel for his head and I randomly stick on a pair of tights and a stained silk top (ever classy) that makes me look less Arabian and more an escapee from a mime school in the ‘playschool’ tradition. Still we made the effort eh? The party girl is I think surprised when we jump out of her kitchen and yell ‘ we didn’t do it’ and has a fun night dancing ... read more

Finding out where to make tea is the first most important thing I think I learn on my first day at the British High Commission. The second is how to log in to my beggaring computer. I manage it eventually and it feels odd being on a dot in the middle of the indian ocean and yet connected to the UK Civil Service (once again) like I’ve never been away, though this time its an fco.gov.uk email ending, darling. I also fend off questions about visas that I cannot even begin to answer (its not really what I’m there for) and realise that such questions may now be the stuff of dinner table conversations as I’ve already had informal approaches from people I know. My advice? Read the website that’s what I do.... read more

We’ve managed to get a two bedroom bungalow for our two night stay at a reasonable resident’s rate and though it looks lovely from outside, painted green and cream with a wide porch and green shuttered windows, inside its very basic and the furniture purely functional. Still, I guess the idea is that we’re out most of the time. Abs spots a TV but his hopes are dashed before he has a chance to get them up as we switch it on and nothing happens. The ceiling fans above the beds are also a small cause for concern, it’s clear by the DIY way it’s hooked up that it’s clearly fallen down before. We eat at Chez Marston where we’ve been before as though we considered heading north, it’s a dark walk. The restaurant is quite ... read more

Someone joined Social Seychelles promoting their belly dancing club and I thought, why not? My bits shake more unintentionally as I get older anyway, so may as well give an excuse for my belly and breasts to hang out… besides its far better than competing with pre teens with their hardboiled bodies. I try to recruit others to the cause and it seems to cause the most interest in an event on Social Seychelles yet albeit I did let everyone of my female friends know about it - let’s see what happens!... read more

I feel joy as not one but two goals go in against Germany. We then crash and burn not even the prospect of London Dairy ice cream can lift my spirits.... read more

also had the foresight to swap to water sometime in the evening, seeing as though we were up at 8am to do a sponsored walk- I wasn’t about to repeat my mistake of the week before. Our friend ‘N’ has been raising money for the hospital in Guatemala where she spent a year’s sabbatical and we were helping out by taking part in the walk. A few hours sleep and we were up and out and in school where we then had to wait about 40 minutes ( I could have been in bed longer!) before we started. We walked from the school, up to Bel Air and then through Le Niol and down the road linking Beau Vallon to Victoria. We managed to lose some of them and confusingly met them later on with ... read more