One of the wonderful things discussed today when chatting about Uganda (12 days and counting!)... getting really excited now but also a bit scared, there are a lot of things that can kill/cause serious injury to you out there. I'm fully vaccinated, have my malaria prophylaxis, have immodium and rehydration sachets, a serious first aid kit, and a lovely glittery t-shirt reading "Uganda 09" - me and Kate will be the coolest girls at the airport at 5am. I realised a lot of exciting things are happening at the moment which has prompted me to revive and revamp my blog and take a different approach: write about the lovely things in life rather than bitching all the time. Life is good.
I'm currently recovering from playing my first Batala gig - it was amazing. We had about 4/5 hours of playing in rehearsal during the day, then we did three sets of an hour in town in the night, btween about half 9 and half 1. It was mental, people poured out of the clubs and bars to see us, they danced and jumped round and loved it. I kind of forgot it was an actual performance until we finished our first set and the crowd went wild, like actually screaming and cheering for us - I've never had that before. My hands were blistered, my limbs aching, my ears ringing... but it was worth it. Mummy and Daddy stayed with us for the whole parade, I'm glad. I made dad stand between me and the crowd when we were on Mathew Street - that was the only time I got a bit edgy - too many drunks getting too close, and the streets are so narrow there. The next Batala events to look forward to are the birthday weekend in June - the whole band is going to stay at a stately home in Cheshire, and the Notting Hill Carnival in August, when bands from all over the world go to London to join the parade, with Giba (the Batala founder) leading all of us. Can't wait.
Anyway, mother has returned home along with our chippy tea, then its off to the pub to lose the quiz and hopefully win play your cards right. Aces.
