Of Dancing, Rugby and Travel Tales

My belly-dance teacher has come back from her travels and predictably, she’s returned with itchy feet. Her adventures in the East have unsettled her so much that she has put her house on the market and is packing up and going off again. For good. Or at least indefinitely.

We spent a wonderful evening together this week drinking vino and catching up. Her travel tales had me spellbound. She let me take home part 1 of her travel diaries and I have to say, it reads like a Bridget Jones travelogue, only without the fluff. They had some hair-raising experiences and some very sticky moments. I lost count of the number of times I had to pick my jaw off the floor. Well, a Rough Guide can only guide a traveller so much and then I guess it’s up to the traveller to balance cautiousness with the need for adventure and excitement. But how they got through some of their *scrapes* is beyond me. I can only think that the gods were in a benevolent mood because the chances of them getting out of some of their pickles unharmed were pretty slim. They had a close call which involved some jewel exporting and a gang of faux friends who were eventually (and in the nick of time) revealed to be professional scammers.

But of course, they made many new ‘real’ friends in all the different countries they visited – a varied and diverse bunch of people. And they did lots of partying. I mean lots! Needles to say, I was very envious.

They also became very anti-American when they visited the War Remnant museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and were shocked and sickened by the images they saw. Agent orange has certainly left its legacy. They told me the locals refer to the Vietnam war as the American war. Even now, children are still being born with terrible deformities and the landmines are still injuring people, with many amputees being reduced to begging on the streets. Sigh.

Anyway, for six months they lived dangerously, stretched their minds and broadened their horizons. Certainly beats sitting on a computer writing about it. And the belly-dance classes have been knocked on the head but as timing sometimes has it, my daughter’s dance school has just started an adult jazz dance class on Wednesday nights so I am still able to fulfill my dancing desires. And it’s a great aerobic exercise.

Talking of exercise, rugby season has started again and my son has now moved onto full contact. He has all the protective gear – the padded head guard and the gum-shields. I was going to buy him a padded vest too but he protested and his dad sided with him. Sigh. I’ll bide my time and get my way soon enough. Say what you like, I’ve watched them play and they are bloody rough! It’s a full contact sport and although I wouldn’t like to see it go the way of American football, I certainly wouldn’t like him to enter the field with no protection at all. He is only eight years old after all and he only gets one body.

Anyhoo, ttfn. The weekend calls and it’s a glorious day.

Labour Party Debt gets a Pottering

I hear that J K Rowling, author of the brilliant Harry Potter books, has donated £1million to the Labour party. I have great admiration for the writer, not just because of her books, but for the way she conquered many social obstacles to achieve her success. Anyway, she has explained that her reason for donating to the Labour party was mainly in recognition of what Gordon Brown has done to eradicate child poverty. Well once upon a time, I wouldn’t have argued with that but perhaps J K is unaware that in spite of Gordon Brown’s efforts and Tony Blair’s historic pledge in 1999 . . .

Our historic aim will be for ours to be the first generation to end child poverty forever, and it will take a generation. It is a twenty year mission, but I believe it can be done.

. . . child poverty has actually increased under Labour and the poverty gap has left Britain a more unequal country than when Labour came to power in 1997.

J K said in support of her decision . . . “I believe that poor and vulnerable families will fare much better under the Labour Party than they would under a Cameron-led Conservative Party.”

Again, I can’t argue with that but it doesn’t mean much when it’s measured against a party that is widely known for its compassionately barren social policies. It would be good if we could be sure that the money will actually go to help the children in poverty but anyone with half a brain cell will know that the £1million is going to be swallowed up by the huge debts that Labour has accrued.

Perhaps Ms Rowling would have been wiser giving the money directly to a credible children’s charity but I guess it’s her prerogative. And I suspect she already donates generously to a number of worthy causes.

Keep the Promise

End Child Poverty has a campaign up and running and on the 4th of October they are holding a Keep the Promise march in Trafalgar Square. Click the banner to find out more.