Time Travel

I'm realising I've never packed to go away for 4 months before. I'm trying to remember my last "big trip" and am amazed to discover that in the last 6 and a half years I've not been out of Leeds for more than 2 weeks at a time - that's madness 6 and a half years continuously in the same city! But it feels like I was away for longer so what will 4 months feel like?

I'm going to miss the winter (or thought I was until winter came early!) For the first time there won't be a bonfire night, no pre Christmas faff (yay!) Or the Christmas day I'm used to :( never mind I'll be on the beach :) I feel like I'm cheating slightly, breaking the laws of nature just a little.

I'm leaving my life where it's been dropped, stopping the world and getting off for a little while. Hopefully it'll be for long enough so that I'll know what it feels like to really go away but short enough that I can slot back into things when I get home and other people will say, it feels like you've never been away.

NB. The mystery package finally arrived from the USA. All good, just baby clothes nothing suspicious thankfully.
Oh and I added the picture to proove that eating cake really was on my to-do list (loved the mango pudding Liming - please make it again when I get back :)

Malaria & Diabetes

My second Saturday night in in a row - rock and roll. Despite some incredibly generous donations by certain people - you know who you are (thank you!!) I still think its wise to save my pennies for Kenya so I'm being very restrained and not joining my housemates and others for Chinese food tonight (I am so restrained)

So its a party for one - my last night in alone for sometime I imagine. From next week I'll be sharing a house with about 12 other people, my meals will all be cooked for me which will be nice but I won't get to choose what I eat or when I eat it. This is making me slightly nervous as I'm fairly dependent on my food. Now, half of you understand what I mean by that but for the benefit of the rest of you:
Do you know those people who always seem to interrupt everything with a snack break? The ones who say they need to eat and then get unreasonable when you suggest lunch in half an hour, the kind of fussy people who complain when there's only white bread... I think the polite term is 'sugar sensitive'. I've packed about 20 cereal bars in preparation for the "only white bread moments". I may have to share a room, being unreasonable will not be an option.

Otherwise a clean bill of health for me. I'm not allergic to anything as far as I know which really helps and so far the malaria tablets haven't given me nightmares. I chose to take the Larium ones despite all the warnings. Malarone is far too expensive to buy for 4 months and the only other option wasn't good for people with sensitive skin. I've had 2 tablets so far and the first week there were no side effects at all. This week I haven't been sleeping so well. This could be for a number of reasons of course: maybe I'm just nervous about going away, maybe I'm excited about going away! Maybe I've been drinking a lot more tea due to being at home most of the time. Maybe I think I'm a diabetic. Maybe I'm worried about not sleeping properly...

Probably being at home without a job to do doesn't help. What do unemployed people do all day?! After the last few weeks I have a lot more sympathy for those out of work. For those who're not it goes something like this:
You get up late because there's no reason to get up early. Breakfast is a major point in the day in fact all meals are - you take a long time over it. You watch BBC News 24 for a while until the same articles come round again then you realise half the morning has gone and you ought to think about doing something useful. Planning this takes a little while and then there's just enough time to fit in one activity - say a trip to the shop - before lunch.

Actually I realise I'm incredibly lucky not to have to work (I know its not fair on the rest of you). How often in life do you get the chance to take a few weeks out at home and think about things? I'm going to miss these days when they're gone but I am beginning to feel slightly without a purpose and a little crazy from all those days at home alone (or maybe thats the malaria tablets?) So what have I done this week?

Tick List
Negotiated a refund on my TV licence and generally sorted finances - yay!
Got a haircut
Learnt how to use my camera - watch out I can photoshop you all! (Pete & Barbara can testify)
Failed to see Brideshead Revisited at the cinema (I'm still annoyed!)
Bought some Christmas presents for my family
Found some really light-weight tops - thanks for the tip Joy but I was going for nearly see-through (nearly)
Saw Delirious? play on their farewell tour
Downloaded some Delirious? tracks to take away with me - I'd forgotten how good they were.
Gave some people feedback on their scripts - no nothing at all to do with my Kenya trip.

Final Preparations
I need to pack! Everything!
Spend a little time thinking about getting a job next year - just a little
Try out certain cosmetic purchases for the first time - and hope they work
Eat lots of cake - really its on the to-do list!
Catch up with some friends - Toby I could maybe do Tuesday morning...
Washing & Drying
Photocopying & security checking
Clear out my food cupboard
Take Susanna Marlow to diving on the bus
Learn how to write short blog entries

And finally while it may sound like I'm more anxious about this trip than excited I should think of some things to look forward to - the beach! The sun!! Mrs Simpson's House. Turtles (maybe) and blue monkeys definitely. Long haul flights are always exciting. All the people I'm going to meet for the first time. Missing the winter - yay! Then coming home and seeing everyone again aahhh (thanks to the guys who just came in with icecream and a really bad film :)

Soon...

rx

For Those Who Pray
Thank God again regarding my finances - yet more money provided (while I sit around musing the life of the unemployed...)
Pray that I will sleep better and the malaria tablets won't bother me.
Pray I can get everything done before I go and not miss my train on Friday
Pray for my parents that they're not too anxious about me going away

T minus 15 and counting

I created this blog last Wednesday but its been waiting since then (like an unpaid bill hidden in a draw) for me to write anything on it - when it came to it I couldn't think of anything to say!

I know you won't believe me because I ALWAYS have something to say but the truth is I've been writing a diary for years, a personal private journal existing for the fact that no one would ever see it. Now I'm typing this with the deliberate intent of emailing you all to tell you to look at it! Cringe.

(And you thought this was going to be about Kenya............................Don't worry it will be................................When I get there.................................

Now I feel like I've officially excused everything I'll ever write with the practicalities out of the way I can tell you what I'm doing:
In 2 weeks time I'm flying to Kenya to volunteer with Christian Conservation group Arocha http://www.arocha.org. They've got centres all over the world including in the UK (in Southall London) but Arocha Kenya take volunteers and Mwamba (their base) is 50 metres from the beach... (I nearly applied to go to Canada - I could have been about to fly out to Vancouver in the winter time - apparently the weather there is a lot like the UK - ha! ha!)

Actually I was very lucky because Mwamba normally only take people with specific conservation knowledge - in my case nil. I applied anyway and they've asked me to write reports on their projects and publish them on their website along with the photos I'll take. My knowledge of photography and publishing things on the web - nil. Oh well once I'm there and everything... (suckers!)

The voluntary placement is for 3 months and then I'll hang around a bit or maybe try and hitch a ride to Madagascar or more realistically Zanzibar (avoiding that ferry - thanks Judith) and by then I should be well practised at taking photos - excellent. Planning to be back in the UK sometime in February maybe probably to be honest I should really come back then and get a job and stop faffing around.

Preparations so far
Changed my banking to online.
Got a pin number for my credit card - have finally had to give in and use one breaking the habit of a lifetime.
Exchanged emails and phone messages with random woman in the USA who wants me to courier "baby" goods across to Kenya for her (does a blog stand up in court as evidence?)
Had 2 doctors appointments.
Attempted to learn how to use my camera.
Thought deeply about a lot of things.
Prayed.
Spent 5 hours (5!) shopping and I'm not even finished yet (does anyone know a good place to buy very light weight long sleeved cotton tops for a reasonable price? The shops are full of woolly hats and scarves) .
Oh and I started a blog..............


To Do List
Practice writing a blog.
Receive open and check mysterious parcel from the USA.
Finish reading my guide book.
More shopping.
Get a haircut ( a really good one).
Sort out mobile phone.
See Brideshead Revisited at the cinema.
Make apple cake.
Tell church what I'm doing.
solicit money from various people.
Try not to panic and enjoy the whole experience..................

BTW does anyone know what you're supposed to include in a blog? Should I have a "Thought for the Day"? Today I think it would be - where have the wine bottles that were in our kitchen suddenly disappeared to?

Acknowledgements:
Thanks for the laptop Johannes .
Claire thanks for the car.
Liming thanks for suggesting this site for a blog.


For Those Who Pray
Thank God for supplying all my finances. My last pay cheque was nearly twice as much as I thought it would be. That doesn't happen every day :)

Pray I would trust God and focus on the important things like the new people I'm going to be living with rather than factors of suncreams and styles of hats.

Pray for my sleep. I sometimes get too hot sleeping in England so that will be hard in Kenya.

Date of next blog TBC.

R