I'm here to work, but hey...

The weekend was a guilty holiday away treating Hannah and Si to a night over at Kokrobite Beach. We lie on the beach - a hazy harmattan view (dust and sand from the Sahara season)of palm trees, fishing boats and black bodies playing, push upsand Rasta sidlings. strange to see white people too and a sense that the sex trade thing strongly. Si takes a dip then we wander down to a busier part. Si and Han discuss whether it's safe or not for me to carry my small backpack, they were mugged here - a bag snatch. Si wins and I stuff what I can into pockets. Big Milly's is a hotel and bar, busy unlike ours, stalls of beads and crusty clothes, drums and fruit. for hotel as ours, read shackes and shared toilets. Si has a drum lesson and Han and I drink and chat. She is a truly wonderful young woman, interested and interesting, self proclaimed daughter of hippies, she has an intelligence and social responsibility made obviious by the way she talks caringly and empathetically about refugees, the Liberians here and those back in her home Norwich. She has a wisdom now that will develop her into a special individual as she ages, i'm sure. We wander for a genuine pizza by a genuine Italian (how bizzare) then back to Millies for a band; middle of the road medleys and obligatory Bob Marley. We're tierd do we head back the 5 mins walk to our place 'Andy's' We laugh and chat and my status as a brown belt in Karate comes up, H says she did Karate once for a while, then Si notices a shadow behaind us. They are so attuned, in fact H walked backwards for a while. I think he's just walking our way but Si calls to him, "go away, go away!" I think his overracting. we walk faster in a very English way which is comical in sandles and sand. Si grabs a stick - the guy is closer - "GO AWAY!" - he doesn't say anything like "It's ok! Just walking.." so H and I really click in - Si grabs a long stick but it's attached to a boat and he has to pull at it - the guy grabs at me - I'm wearing a shawl that he's mistaken for a bag - I shout but he keeps grabbing - next thing I feel his nose on my fist and he's let go and gone. I don't beleive it, I've punched hin square on the nose! all those years of drilling in karate, never had it tested out and by a pleasing miracle an instinct took over and my body reacted before my brain - and on target!! So pleased with myself. poor Han worried for me but me fine. Of course we debrief the story over a vodka and over and over again with a german drop out at 'Andy's'. I went to my room and there in the loo was another spider, I'm freaked by it. Hmn.