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Ooooh cool, new car, that will be exciting!
Ooooh potential new toy boy, that is exciting!

Retracted! :D After mr_e's well observed comment. Ahem.

I thought it was his sister, which ain't too bad. Don't know if I'd quite trust my sister, but his seems to be doing alright so far :-)

And what's the difference between the Aygo and the Yaris? They both look pretty similar, so...? You could always hold out for a cheap Chrysler, but they're pretty dear to start off with.

I'd definitely not trust my brother, heaven only knows what he'd fix me up with!

Actually, does this woman have any attractive female friends/relatives?

With that one she may start turing into a pimp. . . .

Good point, hadn't considered that!

Newstastic guys, much obliged.
Can't believe we've been here for a week and a half! Me and Helen are on house duty today which means cooking, cleaning, market shopping and a quick stop at the internet cafe!
Weather is much improved and most of us have peeling noses cos the sun's just so intense here. we're all settled into the routine now and i'm personally enjoying it much more than in the first few days. but as we all know, it does take time to adjust and if you've been away on a long trip i'm sure you've found the first few days are always a bit disjointed and strange.
Anyhoo, not much to report. we've been working damned hard. shovelling sand and ballast for cement. loading wheelbarrows, fetching water, laying foundations, digging out 36inch foundations. i'm learning a lot! and i've even got to use a machete. health and safety, health and schmafety! the scaffolding here is made of wood!!!
Spending time with the students is good. last night i went to the debate club, where - with maturity, seriousness and an impressive standard of social awareness - they discussed whether or not prostitution should be legalised. they were so good and it was great to join in. then we went to watch the mid week movie - Rocky 3, which was ace. and after that we had a sing song. Gareth's got a guitar and with some of the boys we were singing our version of Amarillo, "Thanks for inviting us to Nyeri...We'll be crying when we say Kwaheri! [goodbye in Kiswahili]" That was good.
Thanks for the updates overall guys. Christine - get that car bought girl, you're just prevarocating! Very intrigue by potential toyboy too! i'm also working on setting you up with Stuart (yes, another one!) here. he's a lay chaplain, really funny, watches/used to play rugby league (tho somewhat out of condition now) and is generally a really nice guy. anyhoo, he'll be seeing a pic of you on my MP3 player. hee hee.
bye for now pop-pickers!
ClaireXXXX
PS the new slang word for anything that's good, wicked, quality etc is "fit". get using it!
PPS sorry i've been blathering for ages

Very impressed Claire and glad to hear you're having such a fantastic time. If the career in teaching ever falls through then you'll be able to find easy work as an odd-job woman, by the sounds of it! :)

Take care with the machetes though, you could have somebody's eye out! ;)

Claire, Health and Safety is not for YOU wielding the machete it is for the other around you! I am glad that you are enjoying yourself.

ttfn
Mike

Yay, good to see all is well in Claire-world! That place should be well fit by the time you've finished building it. Can we line "boss" up as well? I remember a certain person using that quite often, it makes a change from the usual phrases. Prostitution's probably a major issue in Africa in terms of HIV (plus infidelity by husbands), so it's good to see those kids have a good handle on the facts already. And keep that machete away from the scaffolding!

BB Update:
Shock, horror, 2 evictions last Friday unbeknownst to the housemates, predictably Susie was outta there! but OMG, so was Mikey?! what's going on? and in a further twist, tonight 4 former evictees will be voted back into the house next door and 1 lucky evictee will be re-entering the big house on Friday, and in a further shock twist, that evictee will be eligable to win the ?100 000 prize money! I strongly suspect that it will be Nikki :D that will be victorious in successfully returning the main house, as ever, I will keep you updated!

You say you are suffering with a peeling nose, I hope you have been carefully applying your sunblock young lady! Glad to hear that your weather has improved however, that sounds more like Africa!

Glad to hear you are grafting hard, remember, no pain, no gain, you show the guys that girls are well fit in all areas! When you get back you can tell us architects all about it and we will explain how what you have been doing does not comply with CDM health and safety regulations but is probably more structurally stable than anything the cowboy builders in this country can cobble together.

Hows it all going with the rest of the group you went along with, all good I hope Guitar singalongs reminds me of the stories you came back with from Australia, I wonder which song will be the anthem from this Summer to go with the U2 track and Black Eyed Peas.

Went on that date last Thursday and I was looking pretty hot if I do say so myself. Went to see the Break Up at Cineworld, an interesting film choice for a date. Nevertheless it was a good movie and Adam paid which was all good, and I bought him a drink in the bar before the movie. We weren't short of conversation, he is very chatty, I guess that comes from being a car salesman, and gave me a run for my money which is saying something. Alas however, I don't think he was my type, it turns out he is actually 21 and a bit young. If he asks me out again I'll go along as he was good company but I don't foresee romance. He told his sister at the weekend that I was a very classy lady tho, yey me!
Incidently, randomly last night the doorbell rang at about 9.00pm and who was it but Dapo, our former flat neighbour above from a year ago?! He said he was in the area and thought he'd pop by to see if I was still living there. He liked my new hair and said I looked fab, asked if I was single and asked me out!!!!!! I panicked, it was soooo unexpected and said yes. He's going to call me to arrange. Now the question is, was Fran, his ex-girlfriend that we heard some hum-dinger arguments and fighting from their flat a bunny-boiling psycho and Dapo was a put upon innocent? or is he a secret psycho too? because when he came round he was really nice. Oh well, I'll make a judgement call when he turns up again. I'll let you know what happens, but hey, 2 dates in 2 weeks, can't be bad!

Stuart sounds interesting, make sure I get to see some piccies of him too!

Can't be long now till the holiday part of your trip starts, cool! doesn't time fly! I've successfully cleaned the flat from top to bottom, but there are a few spiders that keep escaping me and if I can't see them they're not there

Take care, see you soon,
Love Always xx

I vote Chrissie for best updates ever!

Edit for clarity: that's not sarcastic either.

Phew! bonus points for clarification :D

Check you christine! i should clearly go away more often. you'll be seeing more action than me this holiday anyway! i can't believe that Dapo came round that's CRAZY. you must let me know if you go on a date with him. i can't believe he came back! he must luuuurve you! shame about the other date although he is obviously a perceptive judge if he called you classy! i think 21 is too young mind you.
Thanks for the BB update, sounds very exciting.
And now for everyone else...
What about other news tho peeps? any gossip? any pub quiz tales to tell? did we win the testmatch at headingley? i know it was looking likely? also what's happening at home today? we have only picked up the basic details from BBC world out here. que pasa? more news please.
we all can't believe that our time in Nyeri is running out! and it will be strange for this part of the trip to end, and to wave most people off on tuesday but then we'll be stayin. so it's over but it's not.
we had an excellent weekend just gone. went to Thomson Falls and the Great Rift Valley - which is spectacular - on saturday. on sunday we had tea at the Outspan Hotel which is part of the Treetops place where Elizabeth II was when she became queen. then on monday we went to the William Holden Wildlife Foundation, which is a private, non-tourist educational place. we got to go because an ex st-mary's pupils works there now and it was ace. no tourists get to go! rhino, zebra, warthog, giant tortoise. as you may imagine i loved it!!! :D
anyhoo, must go now! Cxxx

Yo! It does not seem any time at all since you left the country I bet it will be a bit of surprise to come back to the normality here. I am glad that you are enjoying yourself.

I don't have that much new at the moment. I am studying hard for the exam which is in about 5 weeks time. It is taking up so much of my time it is scary, I will be glad when it is all over and done with (touching wood frantically for good luck!). To cap it off Miss Lizzie has been away for the last three weeks or so so I have been unable to attend PQ. I don't even know if it has been going on!

On a rather nice note I went to the Lakes with Lizzie and her parents last weekend, it was an alround nice time for all with lots of food, wine and walking which excellent. After a long time away from the lakes it always amazes me how dramatic it is.

On a side note I was passing Lancaster the other day on my way to a meeting, waved in Lancasters general direction as I was passing on the M6 as a greeting to your mum, I don't know if she got it or not!

Chrissie. . . .That guy worries me, is he stalking you! Just remember, Kick Low :?

ttfn
Mike

England triumph to secure series
Third Test, Headingley, day five:
England 515 & 345 bt Pakistan 538 & 155 by 167 runs

Mahmood chose a useful day to produce his Test best
England took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series after bowling out Pakistan to win the third Test by 167 runs midway through the final day.

Asides from that, I forgot to mention that we had quite a large walk-in theft at our place two days after you left: I now have no mobile phone, headphones, and am 120 euros lighter. And someone else had an old laptop nabbed too. Chance of catching them: around nil.

I'm also off to a wedding this weekend, which should be cool, asides from the fact it's a really old friend who I haven't seen in ten months and don't know that well any more. And I'm not going to know that many people at the wedding either. I'm honestly freaking out a bit about going, which has triggered some mild depression and sociophobia again. Yay.

I do have to say...I don't know whether or not to be worried about Dapo. Maybe the arguments were because he wanted to split up with his girlfriend and date...someone else. In my classic "think the best of people" mode, it is kinda sweet, and you must've made quite an impression on him, Chrissie! The cynical response is not to be repeated here, of course, for fear of spoiling the romance or chance thereof. You go girl!