Bank Holiday Monday

After our late night out the night before, it was time for yet another day in a row of polo. This time we had no rides however, so I was up early to get to Paddington to catch the train.

For the first time ever, Sophie was actually early, and had beaten me to the station, already buying my ticket for me. How thoughtful! I then even had time to buy a bagel and a Diet Coke for breakfast.

For my first chukker, I was on an incredibly slow grey pony named Paloma. I had to laugh at that, given that "Paloma" (dove) was the first word I had ever learned in Spanish, and so I had been a very excitable 3-year old, running around talking about doves all of the time.

For the second chukker, I got Mariposa, the pony I'd been on the day before, who was a drastic improvement, much faster and better to play. So I had a good time finishing up the game, at least!!

After we finished playing, we then all piled into the car and went to the Swan, the local pub where apparently everyone often goes for drinks, and met a large crowd for lunch. I was surprised to be introduced to the key Argentine boss' girlfriend, who turned out to be an Indian woman from Kenya. Many of her family were there (brothers, sisters, in-laws, kids), and it was sort of fascinating, these Indian people who were yet African.

Which then brought up the topic that Fi, a girl who had been coming along to play with us for a few weeks, was actually from Zimbabwe. Given that the situation in Zimbabwe confuses me tremendously (how can a country be on the verge of economic collapse yet still have an airline?) we had an interesting chat about that, and I was surprised at her continued love of her homeland and desire to return there, given how hopeless the entire political situation there seems. Given that most white people I know are desperate to get the heck out of South Africa, a country with a lot more positive outlook, I was surprised by her optimism and enthusiasm for her homeland.

It seemed a bit silly to eat lunch when I was going to be going out to an early dinner in just a few hours, but I had a somewhat lighter meal that still filled me up. Yet, it was a nice lunch and a nice crowd (if a bit random), so I couldn't complain.

We then caught a ride back to the train station, and caught the next train back to Paddington. I then had enough time to quickly shower and change and make it out to Sloane Square for an early dinner with Doug and Sara.

It was a good catch-up with both of them, learning about Doug's decision to reverse his early retirement, and how Sara is doing with work and everything. Nice to see them both, and the meal wasn't bad either, although for once I was glad for expensive restaurants that serve tiny portions, I'd already had too much to eat for the day! Always fun to spend time with new friends and old friends in the same day, so it was a good day all around...