Finally...

 ...went fabric shopping.

Next stop will be the tailors.  I need some light, comfortable, art teaching clothes that I can move around in.  Now we have started to get into the teaching year and I have established the ground rules, we are starting on sculpture, larger scale work etc.  Had to keep it tame to start with!  So, I will probably go with my default clothing, dungarees.  I have dungarees for working in, painting in, walking in and going out in.  Once I pop a pair of those on, I am ready for action.  I may end up looking like an aging hippy who lost the festival but they have been my go to clothing of choice for 40 plus years.  I will probably be rocking them in the old folks home eventually.  I have made my daughters wear them, although there was a stand off in favour of football kits for a while.  Although, with my recently painted nails, I am feeling a little more girly than usual.  It is chipping slightly at the edges after a recent wire sculpting lesson and Pre K tried to mess with my shiny silver toes during carpet time.  Maybe a dungaree dress?

                                                    

This week, I have ate n' ate n' ate.  Social scenes are chats in cafes/restaurants over beers and food.  People hang out and take their time.  Most are walkable from our home, others maybe a short drive.  People with cars are generous to those without and the number of spare seats is no indication to how many you eventually stuff in.  

                                        

We went on a big payday shopping trip yesterday to get a few treats in.  Blue cheese, pate, chorizo and brown bread.  Shopping at the posh stores means being mobbed, quite rightly, by people begging or pushing tat.  You are a target as soon as you demonstrate you have the money to step through those doors.  Some of the body differences and presentation of people can be hard to take and my approach has always been to give nothing but find a programme somewhere, generally educational, where I can give my time.  Money too if I want to.  Guilt offsetting.  One of our local staff has a school that he set up in his village.  I doubt I can visit as it would be outside our safe zone but we can talk about sponsoring a student or providing some resources.  Girls, in particular, need this.  Education has a huge impact on their life choices and futures.

                                                         

The woman who I bought the fabric off yesterday, I like.  She was in the 'local market'.  This is where we have found people coming in from the countryside with home grown crops.  She asked a fair price for her goods and we stuck to it.  We had a laugh and Luke got a seat whilst I went through her stock.  This last piece is the more expensive one from the Ivory Coast, where we are going for a short holiday next half semester.  There will be sea and sand and yes, a museum, already checked!

Our school hosted a football match on Friday.  The first since covid.  We had a rousing pre warm up assembly, where the match tops were given out.  The pride was tangible; everyone is ready for events to start again.  The girls had also thrown together a cheer leading dance in 3 days, which was energetic, athletic and impressive!  Part of me would rather they had had the opportunity to field their own team but there is not an opposing girls team available, they have looked.  It was a great match.  Skill energy and audience participation on both sides.  The first goal, to us, caused an impromptu pitch invasion!  All the while, a thick cloud of dragonflies danced a meter or so above their heads.  The giant tortoise watched from the side line and we drank sugarcane juice.