Summer in the UK

Having been unable to get away last summer, I did manage 2 weeks this Summer. Whether it was really summer or not is debatable. There were a few hot days, several mediocre days and only a couple of miserable days, thankfully. 

We had a nice 8 days in the New Forest, with daily morning runs that were spectacular; regular swims in the indoor pool, a few walks in the countryside with the horses (that roam wild) and some bike rides too (though it is fairly hilly). Sandy Balls (where we rented small cottages/caravans) has good evening entertainment, Alpacas to take for a walk, Laser Tag, and various other activities that make it a great place to go. 

We found a very sweet museum in Fordingbridge, some of which was focused on items from the 19th and 20th centuries including a wonderful doll's house, and some was focused on he role of Fordingbridge in World War 2 (and how the war affected Fordingbridge). The D-Day landings left from Southampton, nearby Fordingbridge, so the area was a staging location for much of the invasion force.

We also visited the Museum in Southampton, which had some exhibits on immigration to the UK (a lot happened over the last few hundred years coming through Southampton), and a lot of exhibits on the Titanic, which had sailed from Southampton. It was interesting exploring the design of the ship, the people who staffed and sailed on the ship, and of course, the details of the sinking (and the subsequent investigation into the cause and how to prevent similar from happening again).

The rest of our week in the UK included a few good Sunday Roasts, a couple of trips to London to see friends, attend Musicals, visit Museums, and plenty of shopping. There was of course lots of Football to watch as well in the evenings, and just plenty of time with the extended family which was great.

Protests in Kenya

5 weeks ago protests erupted in Kenya, ostentiously because of resistance to the new taxes the government planned to bring in, but primarily due to a lack of trust in the government and dissatisfaction with everything happening (from corruption to the high cost of living). The protest movement caught the government by surprise and then has become tangled up with other political movements - from members of the official opposition party joining the reconstituted Cabinet to various powerful people either encouraging the protests or just taking advantage of them for political gain, economic gain or any other reason (partly by encouraging hooligans to take advantage of the protests).

The government has been in somewhat of a bind, clearly torn between multiple forces. This was demonstrated with the original hard line response, then the concessions in the following days. The President has multiple constituencies who he needs on his side --and the protestors (aka. Citizens) may not be the most important ones if his eye remains focused on re-election in 2027 (rather than focusing on the present). There are his own MPs, the opposition MPs, his political party, his financial backers, and those who could help him get re-elected. Then there are the fianciers, mostly international, and predominantly the IMF which is lending money to Kenya but expects taxes in order to ensure repayment (other lenders, particularly international ones are likely also concerned).

All the uncertainty with weekly protests and changes in government affects the economy furthering the economic challenges. The protestors's demands evolve, and they proudly declare themselves leader less - yet want the President to stand down. Maybe there will be some movement in that arena if they can recall existing MPs and force new by-elections. It is unlikely they'll get the President to resign, and they may not want the Deputy President as an alternative. The Deputy President is, it seems, at loggerheads with the President (ironic, as the current President did something similar when he was Deputy President); whilst the security forces (both he police and the military) are dragged in to things in various ways.

International actors continue to give opinions, for what it is worth; and there have been some strange escapades - from the Deputy President's accusations against the Head of the Intelligence Services (1 month on, he is still in his post) to the President's accusations against the Ford Foundations (some of who's NGO grantees seem to be involved in the protests).

Tech has been at the heart of the protest movement with protests entirely organised online (the Internet was my seriously slowed down restricting access to social media apps at the height of the protests) and discussions on how to move forward happening in X (formerly Twitter) spaces. The President joined one to answer questions from the protestors.

Meanwhile protestors/youth in other countries have been inspired by those in Kenya and begun similar movements. No doubt the success of the protests (the shelving of the taxes, the replacement of some of the Cabinet, announcement of other new measures that might reduce corruuption, for example) has inspired them. Whether the movement will achieve any significant results in the medium-term is still in the balance. The government has had to slash budgets, since it can't raise extra taxes. But it might bring back some of the taxes at some point. The announcements related to corruption or efficiencies (such as cancelling some budget items that protestors thought unnecessary, such as the Office of the First, Second and Third Ladies) may not be fully implemented, or could be undone later one. So it is too early to say.

It is, though, an interesting time. Whether the protests can achieve anything significant or whether it is a turning point in the country is not known yet. But there is certainly optimism amongst the youth that their voices are being heard; they feel their core message about the need for change and not to have the typical businessmen/politicians always run the country (for seemingly their personal benefits) has come out clearly, as well as their unsatisfaction. 

In the meantime work has been disrupted - events postponed or cancelled; enagements with government leadership is difficult and there is often work-from-home during the protests (that can vary from twice a week to once a week). It also affected school before they broke up for the Summer holidays.

Disneyland Paris

For the kids Christmas presents, my mum, sister and I took them to France, to see Paris and to have 2 days at Disneyland Paris. They have always been somewhat obsessed with Paris; I think it is to do with the TV show Miraculous and Ladybug that is set there, so they were thrilled to see (and go up to the 2nd floor of) the Eiffel Tower as well as see the Louvre and some bridges across the River Seine that they also recognised. We had a wonderful Korean BBQ meal in Paris, and walked around a bit, but what with the queue for the Eiffel Tower (in the hope of getting a ticket to the top, which was not possible anyway) we didn't see anything else particularly cultural, though the Kids might not have gotten much out of that anyway.

With the train being so expensive, and having a full car, we decided to drive to Paris to save money. It worked out quite well. About 90 minutes to the train station, a 30 minute wait there before driving the car onto and inside the train and taking the Shuttle under the Channel, and then a further 3 hour drive (on the other side of the road, of course) in France. Our kids are quite used to long car journeys in Kenya as long as they can watch something on their tablets during the journey, and it was quite interesting for them to take the car onto the train.

We rented an Airbnb for 3 nights that was a 20 minute walk from Disneyland Paris which was very nice and did 20,000-30,000 steps each day walking around the park. I had come before it was over 25 years ago and I could not remember anything about it, though I remember the one from Hong Kong that we took Hannah to about a decade ago (and I faintly remember the Florida one as well). A Disney theme park is really impressive. Not a single stone is out of place from the theme; whilst every single light, fence, wall, sign and food place is impecable.

In each of the several themed areas, each has several rides, a show or two and various Disney characters hanging around. Some of the rides are more exciting roller-coasters, others are more themed simple boat or train rides as you look at something (usually focused on younger kids), and others are more interactive like ones where you have guns to shoot something and get a score (Spider man, Buzz Lightyear) or wear 3D glasses. A half dozen or so are really exciting (Hyperspace Mountain, Indiana Jones, Avengers, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Thunder Mountain, Crush's Coaster etc); a dozen or so were just stunning (It's a small world, Pirates of the caribbean, ); and another bunch were fun and cute (Ratatouille, Cars. We managed to go on all the rides we wanted to at least once, and a few of the best ones we went several times just before the park closes.

Though the rides are great, the shows are where Disney really excels. There were several that are of West End quality -- with theatres holding thousands of people and casts of dozens performing on massive complicated sets, that move, and of course lots of Disney characters. We were totally impressed with Lion King an the Mickey and the Magician; the Pixar Musical and the Christmas musical were good too; whilst the kids also liked the more children-focused interactive ones like Stitch and the Dream Factory and the Street Parade of course.

It was an exhausting couple of days that on the whole was very successful and worth going to. A few tips for others going - not really that necessary to pay for the pass that skips queues if you are willing to go in the "singles" line for some rides and use the app to select rides with shorter rides (saving the ones with longer rides until first thing or last thing during the day). It is important to get to the shows in advance to get seats too. With 2 parks (Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park) you need about 1 day for each unless you can go out-of-season (we generally didn't queue more than 20 minutes for most rides with just a couple of exceptions, because we avoided longer ones in the middle of the day, but those queues do add up).

Christmas in England

Back in England over Christmas tends to be the usual things. Of course a lot of time with my sister, her husband and their two kids as well as my mum, sister and dad. That usually means lots of meals, occasionally walks to the local park, and sometimes something more ambitious like going to a play or indoor playground. Ice skating led to some injuries last time so this time we went roller skating in an indoor arena without any incidents! It is usually wet and cold, so that means some board games, or nowadays more often it means playing some more physical and fun games on the Nintendo Wii, such as dance or sports, which can also be 4 players.

We went into London once, for a very long day, with my good friend Jon accompanying along with my sister's family for a visit to the Young V&A (formerly known as the Museum of Childhood) though its hard to manage a combination of 4 kids whilst also talking to a friend and possibly seeing something of the museum. But the kids found something interesting and it was indoors and free (and they actually limited entries due to over-crowding). If anything the museum is too interactive, in that the very young kids just play with various things and don't learn much.

We had a slightly more successful visit to the Museum of London Docklands, which I had been to a few years ago, and is now even better. There is a lot of information that is also well displayed and some things to keep kids entertained whilst also trying to explain more of the history and context as the area grew over the last couple of centuries. There is a lot to cover --from the early years with its important role in maritime trade (including the slave trade), through the World War periods, past the regeneration and modernisation of the docks to the more finance driven area that it is now. It covers all sorts, from transport and accommodation developments and has a good mix of short movies, interactive exhibits, very visual displays and some more kid friendly activities.

We then went across town to the Twist museum, a privately-run, paid-for, underground museum that is not really a museum, more an interactive exhibit that explores art, design, illusions and the senses particularly focused on visual trickery, but also some that use audio and touch. Mirrors come into it a lot and as well as being a lot of fun, they try to explore the science behind the trickery and the reasons why are brain might get confused or whatever. Though lunch was McDonalds, dinner was Wagamamas after seeing some of the Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights.

As a regular annual routine, it is so easy to just forget about work or the Kenyan life and slip back into a British life. It helps that work is slow over Christmas so it is easier to switch off compared to other times of the year.

Christmas in Germany

It's been a year since I was last in the UK and longer since I was last in Germany, so it was just wonderful to finally get back to what seems like a life away from life. Though it was just a few days in Germany, each day there seems to be similar - the morning run, walking the dogs with the kids (either walking, cycling or on scooters) and the lunch and dinner meals with Andrea's parents and brother. 

Of course Christmas there is the addition of presents - lots of chocolate and other small things around the Christmas Tree, and a trip to Church for some of the group. I think back to previous trips -- the Summer trips when we would go camping or to the lakes swimming, but mostly to a time when the kids were younger and Andrea's mum would always go out cycling with the kids to deliver the weekly magazine, that unfortunately was cancelled, and to when Andrea's dad was still actively farming. He'd take the kids and the dog out on the tractor, they'd walk out to the sheep's down the road to feed them, and they'd drive out to the big barn where he'd store all the grain or machines. 

I'm not sure he was every the one to outwardly smile that much, but there was no doubt the kids could spend a lot of time with him and he would enjoy having them there. I think the kids will always have those fond memories of growing up on the farm, especially when they were there for several months during COVID. Nowadays since there's no more sheep, no more tractors and no more farming due to his ill health, the kids are still able to play cards with him and Andrea's mum, but it is not quite the same. During this trip he got COVID and, like the first time, it hit him quite hard, almost like a mini-stroke, requiring an ambulance to take him to hospital. Fortunately he recovered again, and he can walk around on his own, but he doesn't go far. The doctors were quite worried, particularly with his lack of fluids that he drinks.

It might not have been a family that is full of fun and excitement during the time I have been a part of it--maybe it was different a couple of decades ago--but it is a family and there is affection underneath the routine that drives their daily lives. And the children have developed a relationship even if not that strong an attachment.  

 

The weather on this trip was quite mild, and we could go and see all the old buildings that have been abandoned on the High Street or the old industrial areas, as well as the newer houses that always spring up on the outskirts. Over Christmas, across the other side of the train tracks (the Doberlug part of Doberlug-Kirchhain), which has slightly more on its High Street, many of the shops or homes had put up a wide variety of Christmas scenes. One in particular was massive with several scenes taking up an entire room.