suprise

just had a lovely candle lit yoga class at the gym.
(still hurt though)
but, it's turning out not to be so bad.
also - rohan has booked tix for us to go to ireland for my birthday!
v. exciting.

physical jerks

things came to a head on sunday when kate asked if i was pregnant
(or something to that effect).
which of course i am NOT

there is nothing like a mistaken pregnancy to make you put down that packet of japanese rice cracker covered peanuts (mmm....yummm - my latest japanese addiction after i have given up fish/sushi) and haul your fat lazy arse down to the gym. quick smart.
yes, it seems that i have been enjoying rohan's home cooking (joke - that would be my home cooking) a little too much and now, for the first time in my life, i have had to join the physical jerk army. rohan has joined too, which should help - though he doesnt need to. his body seems to burn more fuel to keep warm in this cold weather while mine pads up!
i am trying not to be too cynical about it - especially as i will be spending no small amount of my hard earned money in doing so. it is a bit hard though. the only 1/2 decent, reasonably priced gym in EG is 'LA Fitness' and we haven't just joined, we have been invited to go on the 'LA Journey' - god! Also, we got a little show bag thing for joining, with a heap of goodies/promotional stuff - like cleansing wipes (good), a special K bar (ok), tampons (?) and a twix bar (?!) - talk about mixed messages - i dont even buy chocolate bars normally - but when i join the gym they give me one for free (well, if you dont count the administration charge). what kind of a gym is this?
i do need to set goals so hopefully the 'journey' thing will help. they asked me what i wanted to achieve and i said 'to not turn into a blob while i am in the uk '(or get mistaken for being pregnant i should have said). they instructor went 'uh, ok'.
anyway, watch this space - hopefully it will be getting smaller.

i am going to be spending the rest of my working week in the field which is good (staying in nice thatched cottage) and bad (crap weather/have to talk our surveyors down 15,000 pounds!) and then i am joining rohan in amsterdam for a long weekend!
and it is coming up to my birthday month! dont worry - i will be sending out instructions re: presents soon.
love & kisses
ainslie

girl's day out

last sunday my adelaide expat friends caught up in covent gardens for lunch (that turned into a pastie dinner for some). i think there is now more of my friends from adelaide in london than back in the homeland! which was a bit weird. everyone seems like they are doing well for themselves. I can't believe kate and bec have been here around 2 & 1/2 years. R & i have just been here 4 months now - although it doesnt feel like a very long time. i think 2 years will fly by.
then some of us went on to a new aussie music night with jane gazzo (?) from triplej, which was ok. i was never j.g biggest fan but she didnt talk and they played the waifs :)
i left pretty early to get back to EG so i wasnt completely braindead for the start of my working week.
here are a few photos - they are a bit blurred - no idea why ; )

burn this city

so it was guy fawkes last weekend (aka bonfire weekend) - where poms turn into pyros for a weekend. it is to do with the burning of catholics in elizabethan times and also guy fawkes & co's terror plot to burn down parliament (400 years ago).
actually i think it has been guy fawkes month judging by the amount of firecrackers that have freaking me out recently (they're not illegal here)
anyway, after a bit of deliberation (weather related-the weather people were predicting storms (there were none)) rohan and i got off our arses and headed down to lewes - the centre of guy fawkes celebrations in england (about 1/2 an hour south of us).
lewes goes to town on bonfire weekend (literally and figuratively) - all the locals get in on the action it seems. (james would love it) there are 5 'bonfire societies' (?!) that spend all year planning their bonfire bonanza. basically there is a parade through the town to the various bonfire sites. thousands of people come from all over the place. they don't actually encourage people from out of town to go (which i found out the hard way - no toilets!) but i dont know who would be there to watch it if they didnt.
we got there early cos they block off the roads, and then walked around lewes for a bit (which is actually a really sweet little town) and went to the pub before the parade started at 7pm.
when we lined up along the pavement there weren't too many people but we got up on some window ledges anyway - which was lucky cos soon enough there were thousands of people crammed into this narrow little road.
the people in the parade carried flaming torches there are marching bands and firecrackers were going off the whole time so it was pretty explosive and claustraphobic place to be in, but it was an amazing atmosphere. we then headed to a bonfire where they let off heaps of fireworks. the bonfire site was at a highish point and we could see fireworks going off along the coast and lots of little towns around the area - pretty spectacular.
it was a good night.