Under seasoned & over done

After a long weekend in Dubai, I’m fully recharged and my spirits lifted. There is nothing like a change of scenery to put things in perspective and after a week of being full of a desert cold, feeling very sorry for myself, the stark contrast of a weekend in Dubai helped a lot. Whilst I was more than happy to come back to the sandpit and normality, I find myself not as settled as usual. For the first time in a long time, I feel that I am on December escape countdown. Am I getting sentimental in my old age or are even the most seasoned Kuwait expats missing the seasons?

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Desert tribe

Ever had a day when you think what am I doing? That day when you look around at your weird, random expat existence and think to yourself WTF, how did we end up here?! I remember walking down my little Prague street, in the snow, having just survived the supermarket on my lunch hour, and suddenly out of nowhere, I  caught myself in a moment of realisation….This is my life now……and with a smile and a giggle I carried on trudging through the snow. We all have moments where the reality of our situation can make us smile, cry and laugh out loud and sometimes this can be all in one day. 

Type face

I have had many conversations with the desert girls, over the last few weeks. Whilst the conversations are varied, I made an observation. During these chats, I saw that the manifestation of emotions, showed itself in different ways to different people. How they coped, how they responded was all so different, even if the scenario was similar. This got me thinking, that whilst there are definitive emotional stages to this journey, was I right to think, there are in fact definitive expat types?

End as you mean to go on

Sorry for the absence folks, but this little thing called Christmas and family get together all got in the way of my blogging, so I know you’ll be dying to hear all about my latest adventures. For those of you that don’t stalk my Instagram account or have been living under a desert rock for the past month, you wont be aware that I had a very busy December and by the time I arrived back in the desert New Years Eve I had taken 12 flights in as little as 6 weeks! No wonder I was sick and exhausted, but do you know what I didn’t care, because in true nomadic expat style I finished the year with some fabulous travels. So at the start of 2018 I take a deep breath and reflect on the month that was.

Give peace a chance

This perhaps isn’t one of my usual posts, but after reading a post from The Expats this morning and seeing comments on twitter and in the press, I feel like I need to say something.  It is apparent, after the atrocities that the UK has seen over the last month, that we are witnessing a real shift in our world, one that is hard to comprehend and find any sense in, the news seems to fill daily with yet another attack on humanity. The sad thing is, I am also witnessing so much hate, ignorance and intolerance which is just as heartbreaking as the incidents themselves. 

On shaky ground

I’m by no means in a blip right now, but I am definitely unsettled somewhat. As I am approaching my three year mark in the sand, so too are some of the original desert girls. Those ladies that touched down within weeks on my arrival and who have been part of my social circle every since. Now, many of us  on these nomadic trails have a limited timescale and quite a few are contracted out to this random corner of the desert for a set period. Hubby and I have never embarked on a fixed term contract anywhere, allowing the decision to move on to be our own. But for many, particularly in this part of the world, they are on countdown from the moment they arrive, so as I approach three years, so too do a lot of contracts and departures are imminent.

Baby it’s cold outside

Well this is a post that I never thought I would be writing. When it comes to weather Kuwait is extreme when it comes to heat, so when moving to the hottest place on earth, I didn’t for one minute think that I would be complaining about being cold! So two and half years into life in the sandpit, we have just had four days of unseasonably cold weather and all us desert girls have done nothing but complain. What is wrong with us!?

Planning permission

I have a confession to make…. Hi my name is Jersey Girl and I am a planner! Yep there it is, I’ve said it. I am the one you find, addictively buying everything pretty in Paperchase, just so I can document every inch of my life. I have spreadsheeted Christmas! I have also been known to have a rather lovely pink Filofax, back in the day, that came everywhere and was my only comfort sitting alone in a coffee shop pondering the week ahead. So I may have moved on from my little pink book, but last week as I spent the morning colour coding my calendar on my iPhone (I know don’t judge me!) I realised that there is still a planner lurking deep down inside me. The issue now is that my expat existence doesn’t allow my wonderful gift to flourish. Now whilst I am sure that Hubby is relieved by this prospect, it had me thinking…do I still really need it?

To plan or not to plan;that is the question

Home sweet home

I am back in the motherland, which is making this Jersey girl very happy. You will be aware that I took a little blogging break last week, which was a little strange for me and seems like I’ve not written for ages, so its good to be back both in my island world and my blogging world.

The main reason for my trip back to my little isle is my new little niece. All my desert girls have lived through my sister’s pregnancy and our weekly brunches were filled with bump updates and they shared in my excitement when the little lady made her early appearance. So I was beside myself sitting in the desert knowing this little bundle of joy was waiting for her awesome auntie. So last Friday Hubby and I started that long arduous journey back to The Rock.

Why the blog not!?

People often ask me why I started this blog. It’s quite simple really, I wanted a creative outlet, a new challenge and couldn’t put the idea of writing one off much longer. I didn’t know if anyone would read it but it was something just for me and I loved it. Then slowly but surely people back home started tapping in regularly, sending me feedback and loving the insight into my life away. Then “randoms” read, commented and quickly posts were being shared with other bloggers as well as amongst  the desert girls here in Kuwait. Now some people still don’t know its me and that’s fine as I prefer an air of mystery (I’m thinking a 50’s femme fatale, in a big hat and dark glasses) plus I won’t get evil looks round the pool, if I shout someone out, when retelling my encounters!  My Insta page look like I’m incognito and as an Ozzie gal put it

I know your feet really well!

So to the outside world I’m the adventurous Jersey Girl and I can run my mouth off, lay it bear without too much come back and so my blogging persona continues.