I'm sitting in the office having just returned from an enormous repast at the home of Muftah where I was able to regale his wife and children with my encyclopaedic knowledge of Arabic, causing no small amount of adulation I might say, and I'm now winding down. All reports are finished, all procedures have been handed over to James and Salem (I think), all necessary emails have been sent, and I'm feeling very content.
The icing on the cake is that I now have a bit of spare time to write this over a fast link which allows me to add some photographs of my weekend. Be still, my beating heart, I hear you cry. Nay, nay, and thrice nay - here they are.
First of all, the infamous beach where Rajab was attacked. There's no sign of the blood here, and you'd hardly believe that such a vicious attack could have happened on such a deserted beach, but happen it did. Even paradise has its ugly side. If I had my way, dogs would be illegal - and I suspect Rajab would go along with that.
Can you believe the sea? It was such a beautiful spot. And this beach continues for a thousand kilometres until you get to Tripoli.
As I was swimming, I noticed a carvan going past - no, not the type with wheels, but a real caravan, so I rushed out of the water and managed to catch this timeless picture:
I know it's not the best picture ever seen, but you try holding your camera still when you've just rushed breathlessly from the freezing sea.
On Saturday, I had a last wander around Benghazi, and caught as many memories as I could on camera. Here's a photograph of the infamous Graziani's house where he lived during the Italian subjugation and occupation of this glorious country. It was in the news again recently when Berlosconi visited to apologise for past Italian behaviour, and to meet the son of the leader executed by his countrymen, Omar Mukhtar:
I really am in two minds about leaving. I have been made to feel so welcome, at every turn. I was told this morning that not only will the School miss me, but also the community at large. I am a well-known person round these parts, and have really been taken to this country's bosom. I feel so privileged to have spent the past year here; it was a leap into the unknown, but what a fantastic journey it's been.
