in London for the Jubilee

Whilst it wasn't my reason for being in London, I was happy that my visit coincided with the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend.  In my twenty years of living in London I never once saw the Trooping of the Colour, and the jubilee seemed like the perfect time.

So on the Thursday morning I wandered out to the tube, only to hear the announcement that Green Park station was closed due to over-crowding ... a warning as to what was to come.  Enormous crowds.  Everybody in good humour, fortunately - no pushing, no complaining, no risk of a stampede - but what seemed like millions of people packed tightly along the streets.  It became clear that there was no way I would get anywhere near The Mall, nor into Green Park where there were apparently screens showing the events (people had been camping out overnight to get their slots), but I managed to get a slot three rows back from the barriers on Horse Guard's Parade.  So I wouldn't see the Queen, nor the actual ceremony, but I could see other members of the royal family setting off in open-top coaches and a few guys in fancy uniforms.  Camilla and Kate waved in our direction but there was no chance of a photographic souvenir with all of the waving hands and mobile phones held up in front of me.  A little while later we had the fly-past, however, and no-one could block my view of that!

I didn't bother making any attempt to see the Saturday evening concert in front of Buckingham Palace - clearly the crowds would be just as big again - but on Sunday I finally chose to miss the local street party (free food and drink!!) and try instead to see the pageant.  Which was not too difficult, as I found a place in The Mall with a great view, and the only blocks to photography were the policeman standing guard and the waving arms of the man standing next to me - he'd been there since 6am to ensure a good spot, and was determined to whoop, holler and wave at all of the participants.  It was good of him - nicer for the participants to be cheered and waved at than just to face a sea of mobile phone cameras - but slightly irritating at times!

It was a great show - particularly, for me, all of the uniformed men and women from different regiments (representatives from all countries which have the Queen as head of state) who started things off - and this part included the State Gold Coach in the picture above, with a hologram of a younger Queen waving from the window, as the coach (dating from 1762) has no suspension and apparently is too uncomfortable for a 96-year-old woman to ride in for three miles.

What followed that was a bit strange, although quintessentially English in its quirkiness.  A showcase of British culture during her reign, from open-top buses with past and present stars (those I recognised included Tony Blackburn, Esther Rantzen, Chris Tarrant, Mo Farah and Chris Wickes) waving to the crowds, people riding the various forms of transport from the 70 years of her reign (different bicycles, mopeds, classic cars ... even a group jumping along on spacehoppers), representations of her favourite animals (corgis and horses being the obvious ones, but also mute swans - maybe many people don't know that all mute swans in British waters officially belong to the Queen! - and some from Commonwealth countries including zebras, gazelles and giraffes), some cultural icons such as Basil Brush, wombles and Paddington Bear, and a few seemingly random scenarios such as an Indian wedding.  Some a bit amateurish when compared to the great carnivals around the world but all great fun, and I was very happy to have been in London during this period.

moving on from Senegal

As per my last post, events kind of pushed me into an earlier departure from Senegal than I had planned for.  It was a difficult last few weeks, in part from the practical difficulties of living in a friend's front room, in part from having to say goodbye to people when I wasn't ready to, and also due to my inability to make the most of my last few weeks as Ramadan meant there were no concerts taking place and I was in any case spending a great deal of time trying to reduce my possessions to the minimum whilst at the same time trying to chase my former flatmate to recover some possessions that had been taken from the street and put in storage.  Ideally I would have spent a week or so in the south of the country re-visiting the initiation ceremonies, and perhaps some time down on the coast south of Dakar, but I was too busy getting things done as well as 'being there' for the friend I stayed with who is currently going through a hard time.

I was, however, even more aware than usual of the little things one takes for granted in Dakar that I knew I would miss once I left.  The neighbourhood cattle, for example - apparently protected by some form of magic so nobody takes one - but nobody feeds them either so they wander from one pile of rubbish to the next as they make their way round and round our little part of town.  Sometimes one gets left behind and moos pitifully until the others come to find him again.  I got quite fond of them.

I also knew I'd be leaving behind the many horses and carts that ply the streets, the horses usually done up with decorated bridles (often covered with cowrie shells) but also some with coloured leather tassels, glittery pom poms - and a recent fashion for incorporating a teddy bear somewhere amongst all the decoration.  I asked one of the owners what the teddy was for and he just told me it was 'the driver'! 

Of course I knew I'd miss some of the local food and drink, so made sure to eat a mango for my breakfast every day and to drink as many glasses of baobab juice as I could get my hands on.

I didn't really question myself as to why I was leaving.  Despite all the things I would miss - and some of the people there - I would, as a single, childfree older white woman, always be an outsider, plus it wasn't a great base for someone who enjoys travelling as the flights from Dakar are very expensive.

So I packed as much as I could into one rucksack and one suitcase, sold or gave away the rest, said goodbye to my friends and bought myself a flight back to the UK, where I planned to get a few administrative things done before setting off into a different part of the world.