Was that all a dream?

Today marks 6 months to the date and day since I left Sierra Leone.  Time, as they always say, has flown.  It is now time for the final entry to bring matters up to date and close this chapter.

So what had happened in the last 6 months?  Well I've found myself a job working for Save the Children (UK) in Farringdon as a Finance Business Partner.  Give me another 6 months and I'll be able to tell you what that means.

So settled in a job and settled back into my flat in Surbiton.  A flat that I had forgotten how much I love. With that in mind I am starting to make all the changes that are needed.  Finally putting in central heating, refurbishing the toilet and bathroom, recarpetting, reupholstering and repainting.  It's taking time but by December it should be done.

Am I missing Sierra Leone?  Yes I am.  The people, the beaches, the sunshine, the madness that is Freetown.  Every day as I don another piece of Africana clothing I am transported back there.  This also happens when I watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory and my ipod shuffles to a P Squared song.

Life in London is great as I see lots of theatre, I'm back into regular Pilates, am seeing friends and enjoying my veg box and the huge variety of food on offer.  Reaclimatising has been helped by those I met in Freetown.  It's lovely to share memories and catch up with folk as they come through town.

So 20 months that have shaped me and are never to be forgotten but sometimes I do want to pinch myself to remind myself that it happened at all.

Here are some of my memories since I've been back (as I know a picture brightens up a blog).

Thank you for reading and if another adventure comes along I'll be back!

Salone crew in Shropshire

With my theatre going buddies Matc and Bryn

The happy couple Laura and Dave

Down on the farm with Ed, Jess, Michelle and Claire

The happy couple Tom and Heather

Sierra Leone in Surbiton

Slowly but surely unpacking and settling back into my lovely flat.  First things first though.

My wardrobe of Africana!

I am now waiting for the weather to pick up so I can make the most of it all.

One more won't hurt...

No not a drink but another theatre trip.

Since I have been back I have a bit of time on my hands as I search for a new job.  That can only take so much time in the day and I find myself drawn to the WhatsonStage website to check out the latest theatre news.  This leads me on to the individual theatre websites and temptation.  And as one of my first work colleagues, Mrs Cowie, said "I can resist everything but temptation".

What have I been seeing?  Since 1 January I have seen six shows with one more booked for Thursday.  That will be seven in one month.  It doesn't end there as I have another seven booked already for the rest of the year and that will just keep on increasing.  The plays range from the immersive "The Drowned Man", the National's epic "King Lear" to a devised piece in Turkish, "Say Your Name" at the Arcola.

So what draws me in?  Lots - I'll think "I'd like to see that actor", "that sounds an interesting idea", "I really enjoyed the last play of that playwright", "I always enjoy the productions at that venue" and a definite winner - "Nick Payne has a new play?  I'm booking that NOW!"

I'm sitting with the Globe's new season brochure in front of me marking out the productions I'd like to see.  The Globe has the best priced tickets in town as for £5 you can stand in the yard.  Not only are these the best "seats" in the house but you often become part of the performance as the actors come through the audience.  You'll find more info for Globe here but my top choices are (in no particular order):

                                      

                                     

Back to the Good Life

My Sierra Leone adventure is slowly coming to an end as I slip back into my London life. I'm searching for a job (which is going faster than expected - more about that later if all goes well) and have given notice to my tenants.

The first question that they asked was if they could buy the place.  Instead of asking "How much?" I immediately said no as I love my suburban pad.  The river is so close and the train service to Waterloo means that Covent Garden is only 45 minutes away.

So this Friday I take back possession.  I'll move a few small bits in over the weekend - thanks for the help on that Coila.  However, Monday is the big day as that's when the removal men come to empty the storage unit and lug the furniture back up three floors (no lift).  I would love to say I'll try to change the layout but I feel it will end up back looking like this - after I've done another declutter and work out where all the Africana clothing will go..

Living room

My bedroom

Kitchen - obviously

Spare room - all visitors welcome

Old friends notice the changes

I said in an earlier post that changes can be subtle.  However, some changes are the complete opposite as my friend Gay will attest to following my recent trip to Nashville.

Some background, I have known Gay since my first trip to Nashville in 1992.  It never ceases to amaze me that two girls born so far apart (me in the North East of Scotland, her in Tupelo, Mississippi) could be destined to be such close friends.  Close friends who despite not having seen each other since December 2010 and have corresponded about three times in those three years can meet at the airport and settle into with each other's company as if we'd seen each other yesterday.  It truly is a blessing to have her in my life.

Gay and I have travelled lots together - each time we meet we spend an evening trying to remember where we went when - Savannah, Rome, Edinburgh, Paris, Aberdeen, Boston, New York..... it's quite a long list and our memories aren't improving with age - next time we must write it down

New York 2009

Grand Central Station 

On each of these trips I am the woman with the plan.  This is a moving feast and Gay has become used to the words "I've been thinking.." as we walk around a new city with map in hand.  So you can imagine Gay's shock when she met me at Nashville airport and inquired after the plan.  "I don't have one" was my reply.  I could see her physically reel and the quizzical look on her face. "NO plan, are you feeling ok?"

You see that's a change.  No more intense planning.  In Sierra Leone planning wasn't something to invest time in as circumstances constantly changed.  I see now that I embraced that more than I realised.  It's been the same about the future.  Now I'm back in London the question I hear most is "What's the plan?"  I don't have one.  I'm going to take time to investigate all the options.  I don't know what's out there so I'm going to sit back and take time to look.  No pressure, no timetable.

This is refreshing!

My skills

The first company that employed my independent services - thank you guys

I'm sitting with my revised CV in front of me.  It's the master version so I have included everything. My strategy is that each time I find a job I am interested in I shall edit the CV to include the skills and experience that are pertinent to the job specification, taking care to use the words used in the job description.  i

I haven't done a list  for a while so to fix that here are the new skills that are on my CV:

Work Skills

• Expert Excel skills – complex formulas, pivot tables, macros, lookups, data validation etc 
• Planning, creating and maintaining excel based reporting systems which aid the accurate collation and interpretation of large amounts of data
• Aptitude for reviewing existing financial processes and developing efficient solutions
• Ability to document new process and procedures in development of a finance manual
• Creating comprehensive training plan with associated training materials

People Skills

• Content to delegate tasks and displays an open-minded attitude to suggestions made by team
• Strong organisational skills in managing and delivering  workshops
• At ease facilitating workshops and training
• Capable of delivering training one on one or in group situation
• Routinely able to prioritise, multi-task and productively manage time to meet deadlines and targets
• Develop and maintain productive client relationships through clear and open lines of communication
• Able to communicate clear and consistent messages in proposals and Terms of Reference
• Comfortable negotiating rates with clients to develop client specific pricing

Self Awareness

• Comfortable working independently to use my skills as a self-starter
• Enjoys the challenge of conquering steep learning curves
• Demonstrates an ability to quickly adapt to changes in work and personal circumstances
• Secure in ability to take responsibility,  make decisions and take ownership of tasks
• Remaining professional and maintaining personal integrity in challenging situations
• Ability to work with people from all nationalities and backgrounds
• Exhibits sensitive cultural awareness in working in the developing world

Looking back

The time has come to look back over my time in Sierra Leone and how the whole experience has changed me, believe me I am not the same person who left.  It reminds me of my three years back in University in 2003-06 when subtle changes took place throughout the course.  I came out of that a stronger and more resilient person with heightened self awareness and I think the same can said of the last 21 months.

I'm tweaking (once again) my CV which is highlighting the professional changes.  So, let's start there and work towards the touchy feely stuff in the next few posts.  What new skills have been added to the skills and achievements list?

Facilitation
The VSO training covered facilitation skills and I used them far more than I anticipated.  I thought in my more technical role this wouldn't be needed.  Little did I know that the Ministry would love having me present at various workshops and the VSO country office provided their fair share of opportunities too.

Thinking on my feet
When facilitating for the Ministry I often turned up to the workshops presuming I was a recipient to be told that I was a presenter.  Quick thinking was required and my ability to stand up and present on a subject I'm not too qualified in or have had no briefing on has been honed.

Training
In my task of building capacity in local staff training played a large part.  My preference is one on one meeting the specific needs of the trainee but I also ran group training sessions.  The lessons I learnt were that nothing can be repeated too often, assume zero knowledge and talk slowly so that you are understood.  The last one is hard especially when I am fired up by the topic

More in the next post.  I think that's enough for now - another learning - short posts with a picture are more likely to be read.