Review/Preview

2012. Year of the Queen's Jubilee. Year of the London Olympics. The year the world was, yet again, supposed to end. What did 2012 mean to you?

For me, 2012 was all about being better, doing more things, meeting more people. I feel like I accomplished all of those things. And then some. During this year I have had some of the most incredible experiences like going on safari, lying on a beach sipping cocktails in Zanzibar, watching the Rwandan Genocide trials. I've met some of the most amazing people from all over the world during volunteering and law school. I have lost a lot of weight and am sticking to the exercise plan I've drawn up for myself. I'm studying law and enjoying it.

During the past year I have grown into something different, and hopefully, something more than I was last year. I may not have achieved everything I wanted to do or be but I can look back at the past year content at my progress. There are things that I wished I had done differently, or things I would have liked to have taken a different path than they did, but I can honestly look back on 2012 and say this was the best year of my life. On 31/12/12 I am fitter, more assured, more travelled than I was on 01/01/12. I have made more friends and kept in touch with those that I have made better. I've discovered that I can be organised and that I communicate well. I've started teaching myself a new language and researching where I want to go next. Always planning for the future, instead of dwelling on the past. In my mind, this has been a successful year.

There has still been things that I haven't managed. That vacation scheme interview still eludes me and my lack of blogging since I came back from Tanzania is something I regret. However, they will just have to improve in 2013 and 2013 will be even better for it. I'm going to be fitter, more confident, going after what I want. I am gunning for that training contract, I will do well on my GDL and I am going to travel even more. I'll start blogging again, I'll learn how to fix my own car, I may even pick up my guitar again like I've always said I would. All of this because 2012 has shown me how good it can be. So to all of you who have played your part, in my studies, my work and my play, thank you and I look forward to all of you being involved in even better things to come.

Happy New Year everyone :)

I Will Be Better.

Today I turned twenty-three. Twenty-three years of my life have passed, each one better than the last. This past year, I have met some of the most amazing people I have the pleasure to know. I have done things that I never thought I would do. I have seen things I can not believe I have seen. I went to Tanzania and had the most epic four months. I went to Denmark and reconnected with some of the people that matter to me. I did all of those things and yet I still look forward to this next year.

Most people make their resolution at the turn of the year. I will lose weight. I will socialise more.

I will treat the people in my life better. I will study harder. I will be greater than I was. For me, these resolutions come now, on my birthday. Three years ago, it was quit World of Warcraft, run for JCR and be someone. Two years ago it was get that 2(i) in my degree and run for VP EWD. Last year it was get a job, earn my money and go volunteering abroad. This year...this year it is to be better. It has to be better. I want to change who I am for the better.

This has already started. Over the last week I have started running. Not the two kilometres every once in a blue moon that I was doing before but two, then four, then eight, then ten within seven days. I'm going to join the gym on Thursday and get my body to a state where I am happy with it. I have spent too much time talking the talk, that I want to lose weight and slim down and bulk up. Now is the time to put my money where my mouth is.

I have to study harder than I ever have before. This is going to be the most intense academic year of my life and also the most important. Time is not on my side when it comes to applying for training contracts. I'm not getting younger and I want to get into work as quickly as possible so I can start climbing that career ladder. This is going to take immense effort to get the best grades I can, to put enough time into my personal study and reading to be able to pass my exams as well as answer the commercial awareness questions that will inevitably pop up. I need to put all my time, effort, blood, sweat and tears into my applications. Only the best will do for the firms I want to work for so I have to be the best. That does not only apply to academics or work related stuff. I have to be the best human being I can be to stand out from the crowd.

I need to be better at getting what I want. Too many times I act too passively and I let opportunities slip past me. The potential I see in these opportunities and myself crushes me when I realise that they are out of my reach. I need to be more decisive. I need to reach with both hands and grasp these and make the most out of my potential. In social contexts as well, I need to be better. I need to care more. I need to be less selfish. I am so lucky to be surrounded by the people I am. I need to make sure that I am a good enough person to keep it that way.

This year, I will be better.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, was founded in 1167 and is home to an urban population of just under two million people (Thanks Wikipedia). That's pretty much all I can tell you about the place because I spent most of my five days chilling out with the friends I made while volunteering and not doing the whole culture thing. I was really excited before the trip. You always meet people when you go abroad and, inevitably, many of the conversations end with “oh, the next time I'm in [insert your home city here], we'll definitely meet up!” which never actually materialises. Not surprisingly, as you only really spoke once or twice in a foreign country due to a common language. Living in a country for just under four months is different. I saw these people daily, went on safari, to Zanzibar and Mombasa with them. The two or three months I knew most of these volunteers meant that we spent a lot of time together and we all featured in each other's stories when we got home.

We all have that time spent in Africa in common and it acts as a link, keeping you all together. The best thing is keeping that all going after you leave. With modern communication, smart-phones and Facebook, keeping in touch has never been easier. Everyone is just the touch of a button away but it is all about making the effort. Thankfully, I have been able to keep in touch with quite a few volunteers. Maybe not as many as I would have liked but that is understandable, as it is a similar experience to keeping in touch with school friends when you head to university. Many of the volunteers are heading to university, experiencing the freedom of living away from home and making new friends. The same happened to my friends and me when I went to uni. That experience probably helps to push me to stay in touch with the volunteers. I've lost touch with some friends from school, maybe we were never that close anyway, and I don't want that to happen now. Besides, what better time to visit them than when I am employed and before I start law school.

I flew with Easyjet from Stansted to Copenhagen for just under £100 return plus booking fee. I could have got this cheaper, a lot cheaper, if I hadn't booked it only two weeks in advance but I don't really mind paying the money for trips like this. My flight left at 7 a.m. so I was up at three. The flight there was quick and simple and had, somewhat surprisingly, one of the smoothest landings I've ever experienced. From there I was picked up by one of the other volunteers, with whom I was staying. Copenhagen is very different from London, and even Watford. It is noticeably quieter due to the population. There's more space and it's quite green, especially in the outskirts where I was staying. Everyone cycles everywhere too and most roads have a dedicated cycle lane while there are huge bike racks in the centre of town to leave your bikes. This all makes for a cleaner feel to the city, even if this isn't really the case. It makes for a quieter one too. Especially compared to London or even around Watford.

Most of the first day was spent on the couch, chilling after my early morning wake-up. I had leverpostej on rugbrød, which is basically a smooth liver pate on rye bread, before heading into central Copenhagen for dinner at a very smart little café called Paludan Bogcafe with library décor and with a cosy, relaxed atmosphere. I had stegt flæsk med persillesovs, which was some sort of fried peppered back bacon with new potatoes covered generously in a parsley sauce and beetroot. The portion size was huge, about six pieces of bacon and a large portion of potatoes and beetroot too and even I was unable to finish it. I was told that it was a very Danish dish and it was tasty enough. After dinner we sat and chatted about the good old days in Tanzania, probably annoying every sat around us as we weren't the quietest bunch by a long shot. Noticing this, we headed to another bar/café where we made sure we sat away from everyone else. I think the joy of seeing each other again after a few months meant that we probably seemed drunk, even though the cocktails and beers we had there were the first of the night. I tried a Jacobson Brown Ale and it was tasty, if a little weak. We headed to a few bars, and just chilled and enjoyed each other's company. Oh, and I Gangnam Styled it up on the dance floor too.

Saturday was spent in a small and quaint little amusement park called Tivoli Gardens in the middle of Copenhagen, the second oldest amusement park in the world. It cost about £30 for a day pass allowing one to go on all rides. Compared to Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, Tivoli is really small with a few selections of rides but that's really due to space constraints and it's focus on being a family orientated attraction. It was fairly busy but the queues were not the queues you would find at either of it's British counterparts on a Saturday in the school holidays. We had a great time though, one of my friends being terrified of heights but still going on one of the tower drop rides being a highlight (think Detonator at Thorpe Park). It had been ages since I'd been on a ride of any description so the adrenaline junkie in me has been sated just enough to get me through until November when I'll hopefully be able to show these Danes Thorpe Park and some real rides.

Sunday morning was spent watching a parade through the streets and a street performer over coffee before heading to the canals for a boat tour of the harbours. I got to pass by the Little Mermaid statue which, as everyone will tell you, is tiny and some cool sand castles. That evening we were invited to one of the volunteer's house to have dinner with her parents which was delicious and a nice change from having to find a place to eat before I got to try æbleskiver a sort of Danish doughball, usually eaten at Christmas with jam and icing sugar. Monday was a chilled day of sushi buffet at Aji Sushi in Lyngby before dinner at a trendy burger joint called Cocks and Cows. Funnily enough, as we sat and had coffee we spotted another volunteer who had been in Arusha through the window, even though I had no idea she lived in Copenhagen.

Thus ended my trip to Denmark and, although I didn't get to see all the people I wanted to see, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and exhausting trip. Copenhagen is a great little city and, while it isn't the cheapest, is probably worth a long weekend visit. There's a lot of history and things to see, most of which I will hopefully be able to do if I am able to return in November. Simply spending time with the friends I had become so close to in Tanzania was enough to keep me occupied for five days. I really hope I can return in November but I have just received my schedule for law school which consists of full 9-5 days on Tuesday and Friday. More on that in my next post I think. 

Time for a holiday I think!

I've been back in the UK for just over 2 months now and I haven't written another blog post, much to my regret. However, there just doesn't seem to be anything interesting to write about when living life at home seems so mundane compared to the life I led in Tanzania. I suppose one could suggest I'm currently stuck in limbo, in a no-man's land between sorting my priorities out, beginning to live my life how I want to live it, and falling back into the same old routines that end up with me procrastinating, being lazy and playing way too many computer games.

And for the first month or so it felt like the latter was beginning to take hold. The only thing that had seemed to change was the fact that I had a tan. I was still looking for any job that would take me, while playing computer games and lazing around. Lately, though, things have looked up. I've been to some career workshops run by the College of Law and done two bits of pro bono work, both of which have been really helpful, both in terms of experience and my CV. I have been offered two jobs (like buses I tell ya), one that I kept at Sainsbury's and another at the local pub. I chose the latter because the pay is better and hours more suitable although both jobs meant giving up my weekends. But hopefully I can keep the job through law school as I start to pay my parents back for the money they spent allowing me to have the time of my life when in Tanzania.

Considering all the crappy material things that I still want, as in some ways I am a true child of the West, I think my parents are pleasantly surprised that I am paying them back the money I owe them. I still need to buy some new jeans and a coat ready for the winter and I'd like to get a new phone. All this on top of the trip to Copenhagen on Friday and another trip to the same place in November. It seems I need to get a financial advisor! I am really looking forward to my four day trip starting on Friday. I can't wait to see all my friends again. I was told by one during a Skype session that usually people you meet on holiday or while travelling will say they will, one day, come to where ever it is you live and you two can go get a coffee and catch up, but that rarely ends up being the case so it was a pleasant surprise that I was actually following up on my promise.

I think I have been pretty good at keeping in touch with the other volunteers now that I'm back in the UK. Much better than catching up with my friends back here anyway. I suppose it's extremely easy, here in the West, with our almost unlimited access to the internet and tools such as Facebook and Skype. And cheap air travel. I wish I was better at keeping in touch with some of the other volunteers I met but that's just something I'll have to work on over time.

As for my other goals, well, they haven't really come into fruition yet. I have finally decided on which desk, bookcase and wardrobe I'm getting from Ikea so I can really get down to business once law school starts in September. That said I am really quite excited about returning to studying. I've been missing some of the intellectual challenges studying throws at you. But with the Autumn months comes the latest round of applications to research, write and send off. I must admit that sometimes the tunnel can look long, dark and endless. I'm turning 23 in 2 weeks time and I'm not getting younger. If I miss out on a training contract this year, which is a distinct possibility all things considered, then I'll have to reapply in 2013. Decisions will have to be made such as whether I will self-fund my LPC, not an option I'd like to pursue. Even if I do get offered a contract next year I'll be 26 my the time I even begin training and 28 by the time I qualify. That scares me a bit. There's not much I can do now though but study as hard as I can to stand out a bit academically, and work on these applications and really try and pick the right firm for me, even if that turns out to not be what I'd always dreamed of.

First things first, though, and I have a few lovely people to see in Denmark. 'Til then.  

So I Shagged a Tribeswoman

So here we are. Three months and three weeks ago my friend sent me a text wishing me a safe journey and that he looked forward to my blog entry entitled...well, what this blog post is called. It is almost surreal that I am leaving Tanzania. This past four months have been four of the most amazing, fun-filled, eye-opening months in my life. Anyone who has been following my Facebook or my blog will already have an idea of how much I have loved this experience. I have taught some truly adorable children at Gohechi. I have read and talked about some harrowing moments when researching FGM. I have met some of the most amazing people from all over this globe: Australia; America; Canada; Belgium; France; Denmark; Sweden; Norway; Holland; Germany; Japan; Mexico; and, most of all, Tanzania.

I have learned so much while I have been here, about myself and about the world. My bucket list has expanded far more than I have managed to tick off in this four month period. I have seen the natural beauty of Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, of Maji Moto, and Zanzibar. I have seen the beauty of the people here, the local people who try and make you feel as welcome as possible, and the volunteers who are here to really try and make a difference in the lives of the people the come into contact with.

I went on safari, I snorkelled with dolphins, I lazed around on a pristine beach in a five-star resort. I did the things that everyone can do, and usually do, when they come to this part of the world. But I also sat in front of thirty Maasai elders in their village to hold an intimate discussion about their culture, I was a guest at another Maasai village where they sacrificed a goat for our shared feast, I went to the United Nations Internations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. How many people get to say they have done these things?
I am lucky to have been given the opportunity to do these things,  blessed that I grew up in a family, in a country, where I was given the opportunity to get to where I am now, a university graduate who has taken a year to travel to a different part of the work before he heads to law school writing a blog on his £300 laptop. £300 that I can blow on a piece of unnecessary electronic luxury which could pay for two years of schooling for a child here. We have so much given to us on a plate in the West. In the UK, free education and free healthcare, huge I-max cinemas and excellent sports facilities. Here in Tanzania, they pay for school and hospital treatment and if they can not afford it, they don't go. A large number of the people can not afford luxuries like going to the movies or out to eat every fortnight. The children play football on patches of flat land littered with stones and thorns.

If you, dear reader, are thinking about doing something like this, or know someone who is considering travelling or volunteering, then don't hesitate. Do it but do your research and find the best volunteering programme and company for you. I was lucky in choosing Projects Abroad and Tanzania for my experience. You should not have to take that chance. Volunteering and living with a host family is such an awesome experience and I wish I could live these last three months again. That feeling of stepping off the plane, alone, into a foreign country where you do not know the language and gearing yourself up to call it home for a substantial period of time is a scary one but one that I will keep for eternity.

I talked about the volunteers in another dedicated post but I have to mention them again. On Friday, I was ready to go home. My friends were all leaving or had left. I was looking forward to getting back to (hopefully) working and earning some money. But then I went out on Saturday and met some new volunteers who have just arrived. And now I want to stay. I have learned over the last four years of being thrown into situations where I know no one, first at university and secondly in Tanzania, that I love meeting new people and that I am a social person. All the volunteers are similar and that is what makes it so easy to for me to be able to change my mind so quickly about leaving.

There are so many things that I miss about life at home: watching TV shows like House, Community, Game of Thrones; going to the pub; broadband internet; looking for a new phone; playing computer games. All this stuff that I look forward to doing when I'm back that really does not matter one bit. But I still want to do it. Travelling to a poor country really opens your eyes to how materialistic our lives are but that does not have to mean that one should totally abandon that way of life. I still want a good smartphone. I still want to play FIFA with my brother. I still want to catch up with the TV that I have missed while I've been away. I just hope that I will appreciate the life that I can live.

Mombasa

So I've spent a week in Mombasa, the place where my parents grew up. Not that I've seen much of it. I stayed at a small hostel called Mombasa Backpackers. Small but complete, with its own pool and garden area, a bar with cable TV, a foosball table and a cafeteria. I've spent most of my time lazing around by the pool enjoying the free Wi-Fi while taking occasional dips in the pool and ordering food. Our outings consisted of: going to the local shopping mall which housed a rather posh cafe/patisserie called, imaginatively, Cafesserie; a trip down to the local Nyali beach; a trip to the more distant Tiwi beach; and a tour of Fort Jesus and Old Town.

And that's about it really. Fort Jesus was quite nice but the tour of Old Town was rather short and pointless. Much of the architecture and history is pretty similar to Zanzibar. Oh, and one of my friends got mugged. We were just walking down this street and she was walking a bit behind the rest when we heard a scream as some man grabbed her before running off. It happened so quickly and, as he ran off, he let go of her bag thus leading me to believe he had given up when I had turned and shouted at him. Unfortunately, the man had been doing it for all his life and I think that the whole bag grab was a distraction from the necklace. Fort Jesus itself was impressive as we were told it had been carved out of the rock rather than assembled.

For the most part though the trip has been about chilling out and meeting other people. And that is what I have loved most about my time travelling in Tanzania and Kenya. I wrote a blog post not long ago about the fellow volunteers that I became such good friends with but in the last two and a half weeks I have also met some really interesting and awesome people while in Zanzibar and Mombasa. It's included eight Canadians, seven Brits, four Norwegians, two Germans, and two Americans among others. Staying in backpackers dorms, travelling alone, one really has to be able to be open to saying "yes" to everything. Everyone is friendly when you stay in places like these because, much like the first day of university, everyone is usually in the same boat. At Kendwa I was invited to join two Canadians and an Aussie for dinner. At Mombasa, I already knew the two volunteers I had joined up with and, although I just hung out with them for the day, on Saturday night we joined the rest of the Mombasa Backpackers crew in heading to the casino before hitting a club. The casino was a enjoyable affair and it was  here that I got to know the Canadians and the Norwegians. Oh and I also left having doubled my money on roulette after hitting three numbers in a row as we geared up to leave. Not the most culturally rich experience I've ever had in another country but fun nonetheless. We then headed to a nightclub to dance until 5am at which point we headed back to the hostel and jumped in the pool. I managed to get to sleep at 7am for a couple of hours before getting up for breakfast and heading to spend the entire day with the Canadians at the beach just chilling out.

For the most part, Mombasa was about sitting around enjoying the heat and the sun, playing the occasional game of foosball and jumping in the pool. It also served as the catalyst for helping me accept the fact that soon I will be home. Sure, I will miss all the volunteers and, even though I will want to come back to Tanzania as soon as I step off the plane at Heathrow, I now want to go home and reimmerse myself in some of the trivial first world problems that I have been away from for almost four months. Silly things, like what phone I'm going to get to replace my HTC Legend (probably a Samsung Galaxy S3) and watching TV and movies again. Staying in Mombasa, where there is not much to do, allowed me to think abuot all the things I want to do when I go home. Things like learning a new language, attempting to teach myself the guitar or relearn some piano, start building a proper fitness regime. I need to look for a job again and start applying for another round of training contracts in the Autumn. I want to go to a sushi buffet with my cousins and drink ale and go to dim sum. I want my dad to cook mussels or prawns or lobster noodles. I want to start cooking myself again. So many things I want to do, so much money I need to pay back and then save. It might turn out that there are not enough hours in the day. I know that I will need to keep myself busy when I reach London though, otherwise I will spend the entire time wishing I was back in Arusha. 

Pole Pole, except when you're on a coach...

So, with a heavy heart, I left Zanzibar behind. I had loved my time on that beautiful island and was extremely tempted to stay in Stone Town. We took the ferry back from Stone Town in the morning and met three other volunteers going the other way. They almost convinced me to go back! Instead we parted ways, also discovering that I would see them again when I got back to Arusha, which was nice to know. The Danes and I went to a fast food joint for burger and chips before they went to pick up their stuff. And then I had to say goodbye to the second and third volunteers that I met in Arusha. Again, it sucked.

After I left them, I headed to a hotel and booked my bus ticket for the following morning to head to Mombasa, Kenya. I spent the rest of the day crashed out on my hotel bed watching re-runs of the German and Spanish domestic cup finals. Dar Es Salaam is too big to wander around like you can in Arusha or Stone Town so, knowing no one, there was not much for me to do except sit, watch TV and meditate (a.k.a. staring at the ceiling fan wondering whether if it fell, would it kill me).

The following day, I woke at five-thirty in the morning in order to make it to the bus by six. Useless, as the bus did not leave until six forty-five. The ride to Tanga was smooth enough but hot as the sun rose into the blue sky. As we pulled in to Tanga, the bus stopped to let the passengers off the bus. I was pretty tired at this point, as I had been on the bus for about six hours, so I stayed seated on the bus when I heared a loud jeering sound coming from outside. As I looked out my window, I saw a young woman attempting to get her luggage out of the coach's hold surrounded by these howling men. Unsuccessful in her endeavour, she was guided back to the bus by one of the staff members and they went to get her bags for her. Now, she was a fairly attractive lady, sporting a fairly unique hairstyle, with pretty nice clothes; I assumed she was a celebrity of some sort. When they had recovered her luggage, the porters and staff began escorting her out of the bus station to yet more boos and whistles as the mob followed her. I turned to ask one of the other passengers why that had happened and he simply told me that it was because she was wearing a mini skirt. It had never even occurred to me that the commotion was because of a simple piece of clothing. It was a stark reminder after the Westernised experience of Breezes and Kendwa that I am still in a vastly religious country that can be offended by such things that are trivial in the West.

We left Tanga behind and began our trip towards the border which, after the excitement of Tanga, was rather plain. When I reached the border between Tanzania and Kenya, I disembarked to get my visa. There were a few people ahead of me in the queue and some had problems with their Tanzanian visas expiring. Overall, it took maybe twenty minutes for me to get my visa as he refused to see me before the other troublesome people, even though I had all my documents ready and open in the right places for him to stamp. As I walked outside, there was a huge space where my bus was parked. They had driven ahead to the customs checkpoint. This was fair I thought, as baggage checks can take a long time. As we drove in another bus to the next point, there was a large billboard asking travellers to report any signs of corruption immediately. I rejoined my coach but discovered that they had already taken my rucksack to the customs office and I needed to go there to pick it up. As they checked my bags, they took me to another room to explain that I could not take the spice boats that I had boat into Kenya as they contained coriander seeds which may not have been treated. In stark contrast to the sign outside, I was immediately asked to pay a 300 Ksh bribe to be allowed to take them through. I didn't have any money at this point and for some reason he just let me through anyway. When I returned to where my bus was, lo and behold, it had left me behind and driven off towards Mombasa. I was pretty pissed off at this point. They still had my large backpack in the hold. In the end, I had to get on the bus of another company with the representative of my bus who had stayed with me. The road was bumpy and I was frustrated and worried that my stuff would be stolen. I arrived in Mombasa at seven at night. I was exhausted and needed Kenyan shillings. There was no ATM nearby the bus station so I had to exchange money with one of the bus companies who royally ripped me off. I was past caring at this point and just collected my bag from the office and headed to Mombasa Backpackers.

I arrived to find my two friends chilling out at the bar and I managed to stay awake for another hour before crashing on my bed. It was not until the next day that I realised that my hat was still on the bus that left me at the border. I booked my trip back to Arusha with a different company.