It's been a while!

Well, it is just over a year since I updated FBG and directed folks in a new direction. It has been a gruelling year, and the detail has been captured and shared relentlessly (on the link below).

I have said firmly that following my diagnosis, life changes and is seen through a different lens and now that the heavy treatment is over (and I hope I never have to go through it again) I am finally moving forward without my actions being dictated by medical things.

Life through that new lens continues on the Tail of the Unexpected!

A change of direction

So life changes, and you get surprises. This one is the biggest and most difficult challenge of my life.

I am recording and documenting what is going on in an attempt to process and share it.
It needs its own space and you can access it here:



http://feistybluegeckofightsback.wordpress.com/

Back!

To see why I have been offline and unable to blog here for a while, have a look at http://feistybluegecko.wordpress.com/

Farewell Delhi days and Incredible India!!

Finally the paperwork is complete, visas in passports and tickets being issued so that we can travel tomorrow (Wednesday) - so it is time to bid Delhi farewell. We have been here longer than anticipated and it's been good to spend time here. Memories and impressions of our stay in Delhi include:

Wonderful advertising - this medical outlet really knows how to attract attention!

Creative and appropriate motorcycle headgear..........
and colourful hair styles

Seeing how many passengers you can get into an auto

and peeking through the fancy temple like windows at the back

Cars with fitted curtains as a regular feature.

All kinds of roadside shops and stalls...........

Chaperoned driving instruction - driving lessons where your sisters and aunties can come along too.................

Pigeons having a ball - and a bath on the rooftops after a storm

and cows going about their daily work

Forget pizza delivery - what about pot plant delivery?

...............and my favourite - at the end of each day, as the sun goes down - watching people gather on the grassy islands in the middle of the busy flyovers near Safdarjung!

How on earth they get there is a mystery, but they clearly seem to enjoy relaxing there, oblivious to the lanes of speeding traffic surrounding them! Wonderful - Incredible India Indeed!

"Warthogs and children have right of way"

proclaims the marvellous sign greeting you in Nairobi National Park, Kenya! And just to prove the point, here is a warthog exercising his right of way!

We had an amazing drive through the park this morning, and I saw zebra for the first time in my life in the wild
as well as giraffe. After so many years in Asia, it was truly amazing to see such different wildlife.

History

Today is such a historic day for Sri Lanka. For us it was a very hard time to leave.

Before I post some reflections and images from the period as we prepared to depart, here are a couple of "leaving Sri Lanka" images from our last few hours on the island....

Nomads again

That's it - another chapter is about to begin. The Sri Lanka chapter has now closed - we left hot sticky Colombo and made our way to Delhi.


If Colombo was hot and sticky like a sauna, Delhi was just like walking into an oven! Apparently yesterday was the hottest April day recorded for 51 years. Every surface is hot to the touch and when the power goes off (which seems to be happening quite often) it is incredibly hot. It is hard to believe that in the winter months Delhi has a penetrating, damp cold which you feel particularly indoors.


So, what now? Unlike a book, we don't move on immediately to the next chapter. We have to wait for paperwork and other things to be in place so I guess this is some kind of limbo-in-between stage. We will have some days in Delhi taking care of some arrangements - and baking, before we probably head to Siliguri in north Eastern India to spend time with family. While we don't want to have to wait too long in this nomadic, limbo state, this will be a welcome break from the intensity of the past month and wonderful to spend time with family before we move on again.


It will also be a chance to reflect back on our Sri Lanka experience and record the experiences which I have not yet put into words here and share some of the many pictures.