Dearest Adam
I have checked out from the hotel that I stayed in previously, and am now at another hotel. I have two hours to kill before I can check in though.
Yesterday (Saturday), I did a bit of work for half the day, and then one of my collaborators here, a local girl, took me out for a bit of sight-seeing. Travelling to new places is great; but to have a local host is always an added value. True enough, my host Katia is very passionate about the country's background and history so I managed to get a more in-depth view of Ukraine/Kiev. She took me to places that I wouldn't have gone had I been walking around on my own. Very enjoyable indeed.
Listening to Katia talk about her country reminds me of something I'd like to do myself, and I hope you'd find a similar interest - and that is in learning history. History of the world, of our homes, for we have many homes, and of our background. For example, if I am ever back in Malaysia again, I'd like to be more knowledgeable of Malaysia's history, culture and heritage. Not simply the school text-book version, or the Tourism Malaysia version. But the people's version.
Your ayah is better at this than I am. He is more diligent in reading up about places and histories whenever he travels. I want to start doing this too. We all should. Have a better sense of the world we live in. Understand peoples' similarities as well as their differences.
As it is, I want us to see ourselves as citizens of the world, and to do that we should have a strong sense of our origins, our home base - wherever that may be - and the places we go to.
Now that I've done my sight-seeing, today I have to start prepare for tomorrow and the next five days. Work is getting more complex now. Although a large part of me wants to just escape, I will need to be resilient and persist through this. Get this done, to the best that I can manage.
Still counting the days.
Love you
Mummy xxx
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