About 18 months ago I listened to a really fascinating lecture given by Beth Darnell, on compassion-based health interventions, and the potential role of love and forgiveness in reducing pain. This was really interesting to me, so I thought I would write an article about it for my, then non-existent blog. I did not write …
Funnily enough, I learn a lot about the English language while sitting in an Arabic lesson. Our language teacher often confronts us with the question ‘do you say that in English’ and it is weird how hard it is to decide in the moment whether you would say things in that way in English. Explaining …
Education has many roles in society. For example, education is often viewed as the most significant agency of secondary socialisation, especially for the first few years of a child’s education. The reason for this is that it is one of the first times in a child’s life that they have to interact so regularly with …
Darius’ letter to Alexander in Arrian, book 2, and the reply Alexander gave, shows the reader a lot about the character of each of these powerful men. It also serves to demonstrate the political standing at that precise point in Alexander’s campaigns both in the eyes of Alexander and Darius. The thing that stands out …
Ephesus, the world of my textbooks and the Bible come to life. Only 10% of Ephesus has been excavated, my friend told me. You look around, up to the hills, and can imagine the city sprawled out so much further than the ruins around you. How crazy that what seems like so many different buildings, …
I have just relocated semi-permanently back to England. Leaving Egypt was a lot harder than I expected it to be, and that’s saying something because I knew it would be hard. I think living away from my mum, sister and brother is what is hitting the hardest. Dad is with me and we’re spending time …
April happened, but I can’t remember what I did. Apparently I was too busy to write down what happened. I don’t remember being busy… I’m just going to write about two days in May for this update. They left me tired and happy. This story includes not one, but two food disasters. What more can …
The weathers of March were as inconsistent as my moods. It’s been all sunshine and blustering winds. I’ve really been excited this month, I think mainly because we decided we were going to go to the Red Sea and I constantly think it is sooner than it is. I’ve been saying it is two weeks …
February has been a really nice month. The routine I’m developing is balanced and life-giving. Arabic is going well and I’ve been learning an hour in my private, one-on-one lesson once a week. So far I have learned a wacky verb that roughly translates to ‘became’ but seems to morph every time I look at …
Drumming. The highlight of my January has been drumming. Liv and I went to church early with our dad. Now, over zoom in the summer there had been a ‘bring your own percussion instruments’ Friday. This Friday was a repeat of that, but in person. The worship leader invited me to join a four-person cajon …