Habari,
Hey folks. I’m finally back. I’m sorry for the long delay. Thanks to all of you who reached out with concern for my welfare. I’m doing fine; I was just going through a little something. For a moment there it looked like my assignment was going to come to an abrupt end. I think I was subconsciously distancing myself in preparation for the end of the assignment. The good news is that the Kenyan government approved my work permit the week of May 28th. I returned to Kenya last week and am on target to be completely official by the end of the month.
In the middle of all of this, I had the unique pleasure of vacationing in Marmaris, Turkey with my dear friend Carol and over 70 Fit and Funky British citizens. Fit and Funky (www.fitandfunky.com) is a group of fitness trainers and fitness junkies who travel the world once a year for a fitness holiday. Now those of you, who know me, know that I could never be accused of being fit, but I can get funky with the best of them when I feel like it.
My girl Carol had signed up for this trip on her own, but then decided she wanted to have someone go with her. You all know my motto, “have passport, will travel.” She assured me that I could do as much or as little as I wanted to do in terms of the fitness stuff. These folks were hard core though. You had your choice of fitness classes every hour from 9am until 12pm. Some of the diehards took a class each hour. That’s four hours of fitness! Now I would have to recuperate for the rest of the day if I was crazy enough to even attempt that much exercise in one day. But, these people would eat, shower and shop or sit on the beach for the rest of the afternoon.
That’s not where the day ends though. Almost every night they went out to the clubs. You will notice that I said CLUBS, because the group went to at least two clubs a night. The really cool part was the fact that they travel with their own DJ. Now that is hot. It was prearranged with the hosting clubs to let their DJ take control of the club while the Fit and Funky crew was there. The clubs definitely became livelier while the Fit and Funky group was there.
I didn’t make it to most of the fitness classes (okay I only went to one), but I made it to the clubs. Now there was a difference in the type of music Londoners like to play at a club and what Americans like to dance to. Don’t get me wrong, the music they like to listen to makes you say, “Aw damn that’s my jam,” but you sort of nod your head to it and maybe pop your fingers. It’s what you would do if you heard your song on the radio. Now in America you would hear songs in the club that guarantees your presence on the dance floor, like Mary J’s remix of “Just Fine” or old school joints like, “I Know You Got Soul, “ by Eric B and Rakim. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the time out with them.
The funny thing is, the early bus came to pick people up at 2am. Yes, that was the early bus. After hours of listening to heart pounding music and inhaling cigarette and manmade smoke, I was ready for the early bus. I couldn’t hear anything and my throat was destroyed from yelling all night. The subtle reminders that I wasn’t 20 years old anymore were quite annoying.
Usually when I travel with Carol she is the one travelling with a group of Americans and trying to understand our slang and humor. I never thought it would be so difficult to understand a group of people who claim to speak the same language. Carol warned me that I would have particular trouble understanding the East Enders, but good lord! There were times when I actually thought they were speaking a different language. SMH. I felt bad when I had to ask people to repeat themselves, especially when they were so passionate about what they were saying. Sometimes I just nodded in agreement or laughed with them to keep the momentum. LOL. Carol was an interpreter for some of the slang when she was around to hear it. I will never take Carol’s experience for granted when she is traveling with us Americans again. Carol you are a real trooper.
All and all, I had a great time hanging out with the Fit and Funky crew. Next year they are going to Cyprus next year. I’m thinking very seriously about going. This time I will do a better job on the fit part. LOL. There is a part two to this adventure that I like to call, “A Tale of Two Men.” I will continue my Turkish drama next week. Thanks for tuning back in folks. I promise no more disappearing acts. See you next week.
Asante Sana,
Della Rochelle
Copyright © 2012 by Della Rochelle Williams
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