h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i said i'd start a conversation, and so i am doing...
it's always good to find other people who don't much like fruit...and lovnig chocolate is just...well...essential to being vaguely humanoid
how come you've been to/lived in so many different places? i lvoe travelling, and i'm always interested in other people's stories/reasons etc...
^. .^
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Hello, Clelba, great to speak to you! I saw your message this morning & put you on my List as No.1 to reply to, but in my usual way I've got side-tracked & completely lost the thread!! Hence the Lists; I am totally addicted to making the damn things in a vain attempt to put some order into the hyper-active mess that is my mind!
As you've probably guessed by now, I could possibly be classed as a bit mad, but I always point out that I'm "nice mad" not the other sort that go round wielding axes etc.!
As far as the travelling goes, it's a long story -- my life so far basically! In a nutshell:
Lived under various circumstances in B'ham till 1985, then...
Got on a plane for the 1st time & went to Malawi,Africa; spent 2 years teaching there, loved Africa but due to "personal reasons" (I seem to have had a lot of those!!) had to move on... next stop...
Kuwait,Middle East.Fairly horrible place, but teaching at a brilliant school full of others of a "hootoo" mentality. Probably here that the seeds of problems with the "demon drink" were sown, as it was totally illegal & we all made our own (some was downright lethal!) & tended to get pi***d out of sheer boredom, great fun in the short term, total lunacy in the longer term! These jolly times curtailed abruptly when a certain Mr.S.Hussain decided to invade. I got out 4 days before, purely by accident, so didn't get hostaged, but know plenty who did,& yes, the horror stories you may have heard about are true.Anyway, "all" that happened to me was I lost every possession I ever had except what was in my suitcase,plus home, job, boyfriend & contacts in Kuwait. My identity basically! Grim times. Back to Brum on a mates floor, total culture shock, felt like a stranger in a strange land. Back to the Middle East; not surprisingly, jobs there easy to get at this time! So, on to...
The United Arab Emirates.(possibly the 2nd word shouldn't be taken too literally, but this is a personal opinion). Teaching again, but this time in a very small school with very limited circle of friends & the dreaded "personal reasons" looming again. One day I ran away & ended up back in UK on another mates floor till I I couldn't stand it any longer & ... you guessed it... got another job in the Middle East (honestly, it's a passport to travel, they'll take anyone if you've shown you can stick it out for at least 1 term!) This time...
Qatar. A weird school, but great social life, in the course of which I met the next "personal reason" ,whose life was even more screwed up than mine & we ended up in...
Pakistan. Wow. What a place, I really daren't even start describing it,save it for the "write a book" list! Politics intervened very unpleasantly & we had to leave or end up on a "missing, presumed dead" list, so with 10 dollars & a guitar (everything else HAD to be left behind, including my beautiful dogs,which really broke me up) took our one-way ticket to Athens & thus ended up in ...
Greece. On a wonderful island called Hydra, where the only transport is by foot or donkey; it's where Leonard Cohen wrote most of his songs (he still has a house there) & is a truly magical place -- another for the "whinge your way around the world" book list! Survived -- just-- by busking but finally rescued by a dear Brummie friend & ended up back in UK, only to discover that it was impossible to get a teaching job "You've been abroad too much, that experience doesn't count & we can't do a security check on you." Oh. "And by the way, you can't get any Social Security, 'cos you haven't paid your stamps." "And you can't get any other job 'cos you're too old." Oh.
Ended up cleaning bogs in Bedford. Didn't like it. Saw a job advertised in the jobcentre "Would you like to live in a mobile home in the South of France & look after holidaymakers?" Well, actually,yes.And no, at this stage I don't really care that you will only pay £100 per month (for 2 people!) So off we trot to...
Antibes, South of France.Probably a great place if you've got lots of money,own yacht etc; & preferably hate all things French. Nuff said. On to try other bits of France, thus ending up in ...
Chalais, South West France. Helping look after an organic farm in the middle of nowhere. Not as idyllic as it sounds, believe me, & the dreaded "personal reasons" looming yet again; ran away; ended up busking in ...
Angoulême, which is where I am NOW!! The dreaded "p.r's" are now a thing of the past, since finally meeting the Real Mc Coy & giving up the dreaded booze, & I'm now very happily settled & re-dicovering life,h2g2 and everything!

SO there you go, my life in a fairly large nutshell! Saves me having to write it out again at least!
This could probably be taken as a cautionary tale of how NOT to see the world, or bits of it, but it's definitely been interesting!!
And now, my latest project is to get back to my roots & start a h2g2 Brummies Club! Seems logical enough to me. Will you join? If so, please do so on the "New thread for would-be Brummies" conversation, then we can leave this bit for general wittering on (on my part anyway!)
OOH DEAR! totally my own fault! Off to round up fellow Brummies, hope to speak to you again, promise I won't go on so much, now the "life story" is done, not much left to say!
Your turn!!
Terri.

sorry to leave replying for so long, real life got in the way a bit...
it sounds absolutely fascinating...better than not travelling at all, anyway, at least you have some real idea of what life is about...
i was only being born in 1985...you've done far more interesting things than me in the last 17 years but hopefully i'll start getting a life sometime soon...
i'm not sure i'd qualify for the brummies club, not living in brum and all
i go there *occasionally* but apart from that...
i go to a boarding school, and there are a few people here who live in the middle east...they're the ones with rich parents though, so they don't get too many problems, i don't think
definitely interesting reading though, have you thought about writing a book about your life?
^. .^
= ' =
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