Its the afternoon of 27th January and our Africa specialist has been called back there; this time to Nairobi.

 

Tai was on home standby from 6am to 6pm and the call came around 1pm; just when we thought that it could be a quiet day and time for a nice dinner tonight. Instead it will be the usual quite night at home!

 

We did at least get to go out for the day yesterday; and had a nice day.

 

But Tai was only back from Accra on Thursday morning and slept much of the day on her return. It takes one day to recover from flying and to catch up on sleep and to be able to relax together and be used to being around eachother. So that left us yesterday to go to the beach and the mall, to do a little shopping (another trip to Zara !!!!) and to eat.

 

And then she is gone again; that will be six nights out of eight that she has been away.....our holiday back in Thailand will be much needed. It also means that my Thai teacher is away too much and I am not practising as much as I should do.

 

At least I have plenty to keep me busy tomorrow ! And a run and some exercise this afternoon will help.

 

I miss her when she is away  - only good news is how happy I am when she comes back.

Tai flies home late tonight arriving back in Dubai on Thursday morning. Today feels like a long day; in part because I have no meetings to go to and in part because I want her home......

 

At least things have changed since I was at school. When my parents went to Nigeria there was simply no way to contact them other than by airmail letter. Phone calls needed to be booked a week in advance and were at best unreliable.....and the internet was not even in anyone's dreams.

 

They had no television; and the BBC world service came by short wave radio - and you constantly had to move the radio to get better reception.

 

Now I can call Tai at any time; Etisalat profits should be soaring. But it makes such a differnce to be able to talk with her at any time and to hear her voice and about her day ! And I hope it makes a difference for her as well and helps her stay connected to home and better still, to me !!

 

The good news - it is a lovely sunny day in Dubai and I really should go out. Another run around the building estate later ! And some spring cleaning and laundry to be done !!

  

 

 

 

 

Readers of www.rascott.com will know all about Tai; they will also know that I write about her, think about her, miss her when she is away, and am deeply committed to her. Home is Dubai, actually home is wherever Tai is; Tai is already working here and I am in the process of job hunting so that we may be here together. New readers to this blog can find more on my web site.

 

Tai is on reserve this month - and this was the third overnight standby this month. The wake up call came at about 4.10am this morning; the 11pm to 11am standby shift is hard. It is best to go to sleep early if possible and then hope that there is no 11.00pm wake up call.

 

The only trouble with today's call is that Tai is gone for four nights - she left on Sunday morning and returns on Thursday morning with three nights in Accra and one night working the overnight flight back to Dubai.

 

A quick geography lesson - Accra is the capital of Ghana on the West Coast of Africa; the flight goes on from Accra to Abidjan in the Ivory Coast which she will fly as a turnaround on Tuesday.

It was the first black African country to obtain independence from colonial rule. Upon achieving independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation as a reference to its ancient roots in the Empire of Ghana. 

In reality we have been lucky this week ; it is a week since Tai flew to Moscow and she has not been called up at either an airport or home standby since.

 

Accra is a long haul on an A330; today's flight will take almost 10 hours; and with a 90 minute delay on departure it is a long day.

 

This is the first long layover - it is only four nights - but will seem like a long time.

 

So to cheer up my day here are just a few pictures from the last couple of days.

 

When I was a teenager my parents lived in Nigeria; often the flights to or from Lagos would fly via Accra. Of course this is a great experience for anyone; it is unlikely that Ghana wil be high on a list of holiday destinations or even business travel destinations; but with Emirates Tai gets to see and experience first hand one of the major cities of Africa while staying in reasonable comfort and with the companionship of her crew colleagues.

 

Meanwhile, the maid, (me !!!) can clean, do laundry and also some serious job hunting !

 

 

 

 

 

Gentle reader,

 

In an effort to allow better access to the large number of photographs that I am now taking on my travels and in Dubai I have linked my website (www.rascott.com) to MSN live spaces and will continue to add new pictures here.

 

Some of my favourite pictures will also appear on my web site; apologies for the duplication.