Friday, December 9, 2016

Isle of Wight; a place between worlds; by Jeany

Jeany:
It was so special to come to this little island off the coast of Portsmouth.
Thankfully, we were able to hop an earlier train from Gatwick and arrive in the afternoon.
Our place was so lovely.


There was a view of the white cliffs and the sea, and a view of St. John's church across the street.
We settled into the slow pace and English language like a duck to water.
After the outdoor markets in Tabora and Dar es Salaam, walking into the little country grocery store was such a privilege.  So many options, with the price clearly marked (no bargaining), and we knew we had a kitchen waiting at our place so we could make all our meals.

We feasted.

We worked as a team preparing and cleaning up, and indulged with watching movies as we ate.
Luxury.
In the day time we would walk the beach or plan our next meal and we slept really, really well.
Originally in booking this in-between stop on our journey out of Africa and almost home to Canada, I had thought we would need this time as a family to debrief, decompress, and discern what we had been through.  Or perhaps prepare for our return and all our responsibilities waiting for us back home.
Instead, what we actually did,
was rest.
And play.
That's it.
Fish and chips, sticky toffee pudding, curries and spaghetti, Halloween trick-or-treaters and McVities orange chocolate sticks...
Wonderful.
England by sea

Without the bustle of London.
We felt at home in about 10 minutes.
The weather too, was beautiful, but cool -- very Oregon familiar, and I breathed well.
I wish we could have stayed longer, but with the Southern Railway strike and an important flight from Gatwick Saturday morning, we had planned one last airbnb stay in Oxted for our final night overseas.

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