UK trip update

Dad's Surprise Birthday Party!

I wasn't able to blog about it as the first weekend we were here was my Dad’s surprise 60th Birthday Party. And he’s an inquisitive man! I even deactivated my Facebook account just in case one of my friends mentioned something on my Wall about the journey back and the party etc! The ironic thing is I don’t think that any of my Friends have noticed. Except one. My Dad. But oh, we've laughed recounting how we've been watching our step, what we’ve said, did we let it slip inadvertently?…watching and rechecking our email distribution list…was dad on it?… and even the odd white lies, getting paranoid that he knew that we were arriving.

It was a wonderful party and he was genuinely surprised by our arrival. He had a suspicion that something was going on…for instance, Mum, the woman who rarely has her phone switched on let alone out of her handbag had it by her continually for days before!

A great evening, the kids were so well behaved and the guests were great with them too. But Dad had a brilliant time and has had a super birthday I think! Well done Mum for organising it all x

I'm unable to post pictures at the moment as we're on a roaming dongle thingey (!) but I'll post a few pictures of the trip when we're back in Oman or if i get on wifi.

EBC Day 9 and a memorable birthday + Amendment

PLAN:

- Ascent of Gokyo Ri (elevation 5483 metres); walk approximately 5 hours
- Trek to Thangna (4700 metres); walk approximately 3 hours

It's a early start today and so it should be seeing as it's Wasabi Boy's 40th Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Not that he'll be reading this where he is of course!

So today they'll steadily ascend Gokyo Ri - the duration is depending on their level of fitness and how well they've acclimatised so far. It should be one of the best panoramic views in Nepal. From the rocky summit four peaks higher than 8000 metres can be seen; Everest (8848m), Lhotse (8501m), Makalu (8481m ), and Cho-Oyu (8153m) [worth mentioning these are not the exact heights...every site I looked at had different figures so I have gone with the heights that the Guide has given].

There will be plenty of other peaks to see all around 6500m. Below them will be the Ngozumpa Glacier that stretches through the valley. The lakes should be a beautifully striking colour and I think it will all make for some incredible and awe-inspiring photographs of the Gokyo Valley. I can imagine they will not do it justice.

They will then make their way across the glacier to Thangna, it looks like quite a meandering trail.

Along with keeping an eye out for the Yeti ;-) they may see the Himalayan Thar (or Tahr) on the rocky slopes...they are not hunted here and are not too shy apparently.

Wasabi boy is the new name for Aussie...lets just say he bought a jacket that was not green, it was wasabi and the others aren't letting him forget it. However, they haven't all got away with it. Kiwi should be Ricky Pule (another one for the Monty Python fans out there) as he has a 'stylist' back here in Muscat! 

So today is the day that prompted this trip in the beginning. Happy birthday from us all. I hope today is a truly fantastic memory that will stay with you.
Enjoy and treasure!

Addition from the birthday boy - he called home this morning. All is still fantastic. But they are starting to feel tired now. They were up at 0400 their time (0215 Oman/2315 BST). All are acclimatising well, a couple have had headaches but so far, so good. Hubby seems to be the one that has acclimatised the best...I suspect thanks to his Dad taking him walking in the Scottish mountains every weekend...not quite the same league but training nonetheless! See, Grampa, all your hard work is paying off!

WB also said the views were spectacular especially when they watched the sun rise with Everest in view. How amazing...

And to top it all he was presented with a massive Yo-yo to take up and eat on his birthday, made by the awesome Auntie S. What a day already!

If you don't know what a Yo-yo is (I didn't until I met these guys), it's a cake made of two sweet dough circles and a filling in the middle...put together to look like a toy yo-yo (the latter fact only dawned on me a few weeks back :-/ My family and friends know I'm a bit special sometimes...).

Another first...

Last weekend, the children and I were invited to the birthday party of the sister of one of C’s school friends. It was her first birthday party. I should start off by saying that this is an Omani family and this is the first time I have been to an Omani lady’s house. So I was quite excited.

I was only one of two western expat women there, we were made to feel so welcome and most ladies introduced themselves. Admittedly I introduced myself to the others in my fabulously broken and stuttered Arabic!

I found out during the party that the traditional first birthday party is called a hul-hul (sp?). But on asking the Mum if this was such a party, she said it wasn’t quite the same. 

So this is a plea to OPNO and any other Arabic readers, or those with knowledge of the Islamic culture, please can you tell me what a hul-hul is and what is involved?

It’s funny because with my two children I wanted to have big parties for their first birthdays, with family and friends. The intention was there to never have another big party again until they’re 21!

So anyway, baby H had a magician (hilarious!) and a clown (also made me laugh!). The Mother of H got me doing the facepainting! The children taught me the colours in arabic! And then she gave me her lovely Nikon SLR so I was playing with my camera and hers - I was in my element! (I won’t post any pictures as they are all of the ladies and the children so I’d rather respect their privacy of course).

And then the food! Well, it was all the traditional party food laid on and a huge tray of lamb biryani with the lamb’s head on top. Bit of a shock but if that’s the way it’s done then that’s fine! I went back to the main room and looked for Bear and there she was sitting on the floor with the other Mums and kids. So that was good, that was my excuse to sit on the floor as well. I really felt a part of the day and had a great time. I even ate with my hand without too much mess!

I was looking for a picture of a large biryani and found this one! Brilliant! (it wasn't quite this big at the party!)

On the down side, Omanis’ parties seem to last all day! I say the downside only because I had made other plans that afternoon as I just assumed it would last 2-3 hours! Whereas us Brits especially write on the invitation a set time to start and finish; we can only cope with other friends' children for so long! Plus the parents more often than not tend to (I call it ) 'drop and run', leaving you responsible. Whereas at H's party all the Mums stayed, less stress I imagine for the hostess.

I was expecting to leave by 1pm but it was still in full swing. My children were exhausted so I had to make my excuses at 2pm. H’s Mother would not let me leave until we had eaten some sweets and filled up a foil container full of yummy treats, nuts and cakes to take home. My kids loved the jellies with nuts in. I go mad for the Om Ali...I think it was like Om Ali at the party except it was a much more solid consistency so I could eat it with my fingers.

So a joyful day and a super experience, I know now that I think I can manage if I’m invited again to an Omani house! 

(And OPNO, she's going to do my makeup!)

Our little man is 5 today!

Where has that time gone? It's amazing how on days like this memories can come flooding back. I had such good experiences with both births of my children and I'm lucky and humble to know that I had such fantastic pregnancies and I can look back and remember with pleasure, exhiliration and pride.

The last ten weeks of my pregnancy with C weren't quite straightforward, I have to admit. I was having regular false contractions as early as 30 weeks. I made a dramatic exit from my job, was told to go to the hospital and spent the next week in St. Richard's Hospital in Chichester having been blue-lighted there in an ambulance, wired up to machines testing heart rate and contractions etc. So I had to start my maternity leave early. Then a month before he arrived, he was pretty much doing somersaults non stop and as amazing as it feels, it became quite uncomfortable, being drop-kicked and butted and pushed against every which way.

His arrival was a little dramatic too - I gave birth in the midwife run unit at Crowborough (one of the best places to be on this planet, such fond memories of the place and the ladies there) - all his acrobatics has led to him being tangled up in the cord and he came out looking like an aubergine...no more details needed as all worked out fine! I did keep a diary for a little while and this is what I wrote following his arrival,

"At 0915 you were born, completely wound up in your cord - your neck, arm and leg were completely entangled in it...
Looking back, I didn't have any feeling of panic, just strength and natural instinct to get you to come round... I had you in my arms rubbing you, cuddling you, willing you to breathe and cry."

If age wasn't an issue and if I could be guaranteed that each pregnancy was like my two then I would do it again and again. I am happy with our little team so I even considered being a surrogate mother. Oh, as long as the baby wasn't too big either! Fair-weather antenatal Mother, me!

So happy 5th birthday, you beautiful boy. I could stare into your gorgeous chocolate brown eyes for ages if you could keep still long enough, I could squidge your apple cheeks until you grow too old for me to do it, I could kiss your face a million times and hear you giggle breathlessly.

My Birthday continues!

Well, not exactly … I’d love a month-long birthday celebration! Ooh, maybe not … Anyway, I received two more birthday presents today. We had to wait for the visitors to arrive to bring it with them: A USB card reader and 3 x 8gb memory cards for my new camera (this is mega for me as I was using a…ahem…256mb card!!) AND the big surprise, Bryan Elkus’ Cape Hatteras Photo Book. I was expecting a large and heavy coffee table book but it was tiny! It was pretty much highlighting the best bits of Hatteras through Elkus' photography. But I love the place so much so this is a very special pressie! Thank you Captain, you can still surprise me!

 I don’t think I mentioned my neeeeeeeeew Camera. It deserves a capital letter. It is fab. I’ve gone to a Canon 550D, which has 3 times as many pixels as my 300D, which had 6.4mp…aren’t some camera phones this size now? And the ISO ability is brilliant. It’s renewed my creative urges although my first trip out held no inspiration really….although it was mostly to play about with the functions. I went to Shatti so I can’t say it was the place, I think it was me.

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We’re just watching ‘Come Dine with Me’ on BBC Lifestyle…I think this is on the cards for me, ZQ and Champagne Charlie to do over the next few months…did I mention I hate cooking?