Stay strong our kid

A great meme is doing the rounds after last night's attack on the concert venue in Manchester, reminding Mancunians to keep their chins up. When I say 'kid' people in Cambridge don't have the foggiest. They're missing out.

I went to the South Sudan embassy today to submit a visa application and I wore a shirt with palm tree motifs as a good omen. All went to plan except for arriving at the usual embassy location to find it had moved and then having to trail around Marylebone looking for the new office. Visa paperwork successfully submitted.

Striding through London I was struck by the emotion of current world events and how knife-edge everything seems, more so than ever as technology makes the news so real-time and confronting. Homeless people in desperate states every few hundred metres. A Muslim woman begging with literally zero English, clearly having fled from a truly dire situation to opt for the vulnerabilities and uncertainties of life on the streets of London. An upcoming trip to South Sudan, which heightens the senses. Looming political events, a fickle public and the varying fortunes of campaigns. The ever-present threat of extremist attacks. A US president that is beyond incompetent and perhaps even more worrying, enough of an electorate that had faith in him. Political ideologies that seem separated by an ideological gulf that people cannot even debate civilly.

Evening at friends Dan and Joey's place. Much pontification and devouring of chocolate orange unthinkably still intact since Christmas. Balmy late night cycle home in evening temperatures that have taken rather a pleasant turn and taken the edge off the traumatic state of the world.