Rambling about England

Another day in England! It has been so lovely spending time with my family, and it's so good to be back in the country that is really the closest thing I have to a home.

This is where I was born. My mum moved in with my grandparents after my father died, and they are like a second set of parents to me. We moved back to Zimbabwe when I was four, but we visited every year.

I lived here again for a few months when I was fifteen, in 2000. My parents sent me overseas when the violence against whites in Zimbabwe was at its height. They stayed behind. I had almost no notice - it was the school holidays, I remember, and I was still finishing my art portfolio for the next term. Another white farmer was murdered, someone we knew, and my parents booked a ticket to England for me the next day. I said a hurried goodbye to all my friends, was pulled out of school, and left the country. At that point, I did not think I would be coming back. I lived here with my grandparents, calling my parents whenever I could (and whenever the phone lines were working). Despite all the worry about people back home, I remember it as one of the happiest times in my life. I wrote my first 'proper book' here, the one that was published in Zimbabwe a couple of years later. I had much greater independence, as well, because it was safe for me to walk into the village and take buses (in Zimbabwe we were very much confined within our security fences, and it wasn't safe to go out on one's own). I did go back to Zimbabwe, in the end, but to the International School instead of the local one. My family stayed here again for a couple of months in 2002, when we left Zimbabwe for good. It was a chance to rest and catch our breath before we left for New Zealand.

Anyway, this country has always been a safe haven for me, and I feel more comfortable here than anywhere else in the world. Even Zimbabwe - although I spent thirteen years of my life there, it was as unpredictable as it was beautiful, and I didn't feel the same sense of security. It's really good to be back.