travel wall

Today I spent my day off creating this travel wall. Not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed with it.

I decided a few days ago it was time that I (a) start actually printing hard copies of my photos, rather than just keeping them all just on my laptop to look through, and (b) put more things up on my walls that remind me of the good times I've had the past few years.

And boy, as I was putting all these photos up I realised just how blessed I am to have had the adventures that I've been on, and the friends that I have.

But it did also make me just want to buy a plane ticket somewhere...anywhere...and just travel some place new.

*sigh*

Ahhh, I just want to travel. Meet up with old friends, make some new ones, take more photos to put on this wall, live somewhere different for a week, two weeks, a month...gosh, maybe even a whole year!?

Who knows what adventures are ahead of us huh?!

eipc week

Why was it an epic week?!

Well, just check it out...

 

Skiing in the Swiss Alps with great friends and awesome banter, all topped off with a good amount of delicious Swiss hot chocolate...how could it be anything but epic?!

Take me back please.

$5

Today I received a very nice card and $5. Obviously, right now this $5 is kind of useless to me. I mean, I don't think any shops here in England would accept it as a form of payment. 

However, they sure will in AMERICA! Only one solution then I guess, I'll go to America. And I plan on spending this $5 at a coffee shop with the beautiful girl who sent it to me :) Ahh, I'm excited for this trip. Hurry little savings pot and fill up please.

Turbulence

After a ridicules 12 hour journey I’m finally back to the Bode. OK, so my journey here was quite epic, I feel the need to share it haha!

So myself and Erin travelled back together. Erin is another girl from school who was in London the few days before Bode started, so she decided to come up north so see me and travel back together which was really nice.

We got the airport in plenty of time, but the website I booked my tickets through this time were totally crap and basically the flight ended up way more expensive than they should have been. Anyways, we sorted that out, got all checked in and boarded the plane. We get the majority of the way, I’ve read about 30 odd psalms trying to catch up on the bible reading that I seem to have got way behind on during the Christmas holls, and suddenly we get some turbulence.

OK, so a little bit of turbulence I can handle. But I have never experience turbulence like there was on this flight. For what seemed like forever the place was bouncing around all over the place. I tried to put my bible back into my bag and even that turned into a bit of a challenge because of the turbulence. Seriously, it felt as though we were on a rollercoaster. I remember turning to look at the air hostess (...do you call male air hostesses that?! Or are they male hosts?! ...anyways...) sat at the back of the plane behind us and he was sat on this like crate this sorting out the rubbish bags and he literally nearly fell of this stool, he laughed, and then a door swung open and pretty much hit him in the face. Because he was laughing at the situation my nerves kind of calmed, but I really hope I never have a flight where it’s that bad again! The captain then came on the speakers, sounding rather stressed I might add, and said we were going to start the descent into Zurich, and I was like THANK GOODNESS!!

We do safely get our feet onto solid ground, find our bags, and head to the train station. We had around 40 minutes until our train left so we sat and grabbed a drink and chocolate bar. 10 minutes before our train came we head down onto the platforms. It’s getting minutes before our train should arrive and I’m looking around and see this number 4 on our platform! “Wait, we are on platform 4, we need to be on platform 1!” I look over at platform 1 and there is a train sitting there! So we start heading over to the right platform, are going down the escalator and Erin says, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that train that’s leaving is ours!” It was. And it actually wasn’t that funny. Luckily there was another train going in an hour, so we wait for that one on the right platform and finally we are on the move again, one step closer in getting to Friedrichshafen.

We get off at Konstanz, were we are due to catch a ferry across the lake. OK, so we are each carrying a significant amount of luggage with us, and we have 3 minutes to get to the ferry, which out train ticket said would take a 6 minute walk. We are running towards the harbour, scanning the boats to see where ours is. More than 3 minutes goes by and we don’t find it. Ferry = missed. One hour later again we get the next one. And FINALLY we reach our second home. After a 20 minute walk to our hostel, we get changed and head out for some much needed pizza.

It was quite the journey, but totally worth it. I’m now back at school, in my bottom bunk (...ooohhhhh yeahhh) and it’s great to see everyone again and catch up. I’ve missed these guys so much over the holidays.

Let term two commence....

proverbs

OK, so right now I'm meant to be writing an assignment on proverbs right now, but I've been staring at my screen for the past 2 hours or so, getting nowhere fast. And so I decided that I may as well cut my losses and just blog, then at least I'm being semi-productive right?!

This morning I did something crazy. I set my alarm for 5.45am, got up, put on my running shoes and ran. It was dark. It was pretty chilly. But it was awesome. I feel like I have pent up energy here, with no real way to get it out of my system, and so this morning I got rid of some of that energy. It felt so good to just run in the dark, seeing the stillness of the world.

I'm enjoying being back at school now, knowing that I'm here until Christmas (...and on a side note, some people here have starting playing Christmas music already. I'm sorry, but its not December yet, therefore Christmas music is not allowed yet. Just wait a little bit longer please!). The past weekend we had our travel weekend and I ended up going to Salzburg in Austria. It was nice to be away from school. Not in the sense that I was ready for a change of environment, because to be honest, I didn’t want to leave this environment because its become familiar to me now. But it was nice to have independence again, to go to bed when we wanted, have meals at times that we wanted. Choose what we wanted for meals. I didn’t realise how much I've missed that.

Anyway, Salzburg was great. The city is beautifully old. And I can cross off watching the sound of music in Salzburg off my bucket list!! We wandered around the city, did some sightseeing of castles and cathedrals, saw some sound of music places, shopped, went to an Irish pup! It was nice to be in a small group again. Just spend time with a core group for a few days and get to know them more.

This week in lectures we have Rob Whittaker from Capenwray Hall. And I know I say this every time, but I mean it even more this time, because Rob has a NORTHEN ENGLISH accent. And he keeps making references to places in England like Lancaster, and the Lake District, and I'm like 'I know these places!!'. And he uses very northern phrases and word. Mann, its great to listen to him. But not just because of his accent. He is a great lecturer, and I'm getting loads from him. Maybe I'll blog about it another time.

For now though I'll leave it there and get back to the book of proverbs.

Wanderlust:

Credo

Tiredness has set in at the Bode. Everyone is walking around looking like they just want to go and have a nap. I’m feeling that too. My eyes are heavy, my brain is tired, and I feel like a cold is setting in. Great.

As I come to write this post, I’m sat here wondering where to start. I feel as though I have so much I want to out on here, but when I think back everything about the last week is just one big blur; the days have all merged into one big one.

I spent the last week in Switzerland doing an English Camp with 20 kids (...well, I say kids. They were between like 13-17, so more teenagers than kids I guess) who wanted to improve their English. There were 6 of us from school went to help out. I loved the week, and there were so many highlights of my time there, but after a few days of being there, all of us missed the Bode. I valued my time in Switzerland, but couldn’t help feeling I was missing things back at school. I don’t think any of us expected to miss school as much as we did. The morning we set of home (yep, I have been referring to the school as home now) we were all so giddy at the thought of getting back into Germany.

...But what were the highlights Steph?! You said there were highlights before you started getting all soppy about missing school!?

OK, so just general camp life was fun. Yeah, it was exhausting, but we had so many laughs with the kids. And though the camp did feel quite long because it was a full week, it gave us more chance to get to know the kids there. We got pretty close to some of them, and it was to encouraging seeing them by the end of the week asking more questions about the bible talks, and praying for each other in small groups. And because it was a small camp, only a small group of us went to help out. Spending a whole week with just 5 other people from Bode was class; we all got to know each other so well. On the journey there none of us really knew each other. We were asking questions like ‘so, Natalie, do you have any brothers and sisters?!’. But on the way home, we were chatting away like friends do, laughing away, and generally being giddy.

What else happened?! ...A farmer near the place near where we were staying shot at us. Yep, you did read that right. Well, he maybe didn’t shoot directly at us, but he sure did shoot his gun with the intention to tell us to get of his land. Us guys from school had a free afternoon one day, we had a bit of cabin fever from being inside all day, it was raining, and so what else was there to do but put on bin bags, and slide down some hills. SO much fun. Got a few bruises and some very muddy clothes, but totally worth it.

We also went on a sweet hike up a mountain. And the view, not joke, was AMAZING. You could just see the Alps for miles and miles. We sat and had lunch at the top, and an eagle was flying around, soaring through the air. It was quite a sight; it was flying effortlessly though the sky. Watching it fly I couldn’t help but remember the passages in the bible where God says he will lift us up on wings like eagles. How he does not grow tired or weary. He is strong and powerful. Standing at the top of a mountain, looking out at the greatness of His creation just reminded and confirmed to me how amazing He is. He made the mountains just though speaking words. He spoke and they appeared. I mean, can you get more powerful than that?!

Honestly, I’m struggling to think of other things that we did. We played a lot of games, did general camp things. I had my first real smore at a campfire taught by North Americans and they were pretty darn good.

Anyway, I’m back at the Bode; for now anyway. Next week I’m off again with the whole of the English outreach team to lead a camp somewhere in Germany. So this week on my agenda is catching up from all the I missed from last week, doing this week’s work, writing the assignment that’s due while I’m away, and planning some English lessons for the camp. Busy?! Yes. But its all good.

                                                                                                                                                            

plane, train, ferry

Hello Friedrichshafen, my new home for the next 6 months. I’ve arrived safely, and have decided that I am defiantly a traveller. I flipping loved the journey here. The flight, train, boat...all of it, I loved being on the move, getting to somewhere new and exploring.

The flight was a short one and a half hours, felt like nothing compared to the flight back from Calgary a few weeks back. I’d barely gotten my book out of my bag and we were descending. OK, so that’s a slight exaggeration, but it did seem to go fairly fast. And it was nice to fly in daylight for a change. The past flights I’ve had have been in the dark; all my flights going to Tanzania, coming back from Calgary, and although going to Vancouver was in day light I was in the middle row so didn’t exactly get chance to look out of windows. But flying here I had a window seat, and there were hardly any clouds. It was beautiful. I sat and quite literally watch the world go by. 

After arriving in Zurich I bought myself a train ticket and off I went to catch my train...which was double decker by the way. I’d like to say I went up to the top seats but seriously, if you felt how heavy my case was you would understand why I chose to sit on the bottom. During this part journey was the only blip of my travels here. As I understand naff all German/Swiss, I wasn’t exactly sure what the announcements said as the train moved along. And as I don’t actually know how to pronounce the places I’m going to, it made knowing when to get off a tad difficult. So I thought I’d ask the guy next to me when we stopped. I was like ‘do I get off here?’ (showing him my ticket in case he didn’t understand English, and making hand gestures as if I was playing charades and asking that questions was what my card said). And he was like ‘yes, yes’ (nodding his head vigorously), so off I got. But you know when someone tells you something, and your gut tells you ‘wait, that person is wrong, don’t listen to them’ ...my gut was telling me this. And so I ran down the platform a little, caught the eye of the train lady and asked her. Random Swiss man: 0. Steph’s gut feeling:  1. Back on the train I got.

After getting off the train for a second time, this time the right time, I caught my boat across Lake Constanse which took me right to Friedrichshafen. All that I had left was to find my hotel, and oh my gosh am I glad I found it without getting lost. Lugging a 29.2kg suitcase around, with a back pack going on for another 9kg, and carrying 2 coats is pretty tough going!  I feel like I don’t need to exercise for at least a week now!

I’ve spent the rest of the day just chilling out in my new town. I kind of half expected to bump into other people going to bible school, but despite hearing out for a Canadian or American accent as I was wandering around I didn’t see anyone. Which in a way has been kind of nice; I enjoyed walking around on my own, exploring the town. I sat and ate pizza looking out onto the lake where you can see the Swiss Alps in the distance. It was pretty sweet. And on a slightly more random note, as I was walking around the town I came accross a man with a camel. Yes, a camel. Ramdom.

Tomorrow I have to get myself to the actual school. It’s a little bit out of the town I think so a bus is in order I think. I went to find the bus stop tonight so I have a bit more of an idea where I’m going in the morning. Fingers crossed I make it.

Being here makes me wish I listened more in German lessons. Seriously, I know nothing of this language. Guten tag, danke ...and that’s it; that’s my German vocabulary exhausted. 

packing skills

My countdown is finally coming to an end. In 24 hours I’ll be in Germany ... that’s just one sleep away.  Oh gosh. This new adventure of mine has been a long time coming, so the fact that it’s actually becoming real within the next 2 days or so still seems pretty surreal. I can’t quite get my head around it.

It’s made it kinda weird to say bye to people, because I just don’t feel like I’m going yet. Also because I’ve said bye to most people twice because of the surprise gathering at mine that was organised that I had no clue at all about. (Deb, your totally right, I am pretty dippy not to have worked out what was been planned up behind my back). 

It not totally hit me that I won’t see any of my family and friends again for a few months. OK, so it’s hit me a little bit after last night reading some cards that people have given me. Let’s just say I hardly needed make up remover for my mascara after reading them, my tears did a pretty good job by themselves.

I’ve been reminded the past few days just how blessed I am to have friends like I do. Friends who have always looked out for me; friends who I know I could turn to if I ever needed advice; friends who support me. I know (or at least I hope!!) that I’ll be making lots of new friends over the next 6 months, but that won’t stop me missing the people I have here in England.

OK...let’s move away from the soppy stuff now, pull yourself together Steph yeah?!

I’m pretty much all packed now and mann am I glad I opted for paying more for the extra 9kg. I mean, my study bible alone weighs like 2.5kg... yep you did read that right, 2.5kg!! It’s a bible and a half! I think it might have to go in my hand luggage though, along with my laptop and camera. Lets flipping hope they don’t weigh that bag because there will be NO WAY that it’ll be less than the 7kg that it’s meant to be! 



my impressive packing skills



It’s hard to know what to pack. I think it’s going to be fairly decent weather when I first get there, but them it’s bound to get pretty chilly as it get to winter. The facebook group for the students going this year has a comment asking if anyone is taking two suitcases. And actually a fair few people are which I’m kind of surprised about because I doubt we will have all that much space in our rooms. So I’m pretty proud of myself for fitting 6 months of my life into just the one suitcase. Yeah OK, I know I’m cheating because I’ve paid for extra weight allowance, and I’m planning on wearing my winter coat, body warmer, and my boots (so basically all the heavy and bulky clothes I own) on the plane. But still, I only have the one suitcase. I feel this is quite an achievement. I also feel the flight is going to be a hot one wearing a substantial amount of layers. Good job it’s a short one huh.

Anyway, I think I’ll end it there for now; this post is getting longer and longer. Thanks for reading and following this blog. I’m aiming to post on here semi regularly whilst I’m in Germany to keep people updated on my happenings ect. I know some people have trouble commenting on these posts, but feel free to have a go if you want. I’m not sure if I’ll have a phone out there or not yet, probably will but may have a different number. I’ll put all my contact info on my facebook info page so you all to keep in touch *nudge nudge* ;)

and then there were 4 ...

Gosh, it feels like ages since I've written on here!
I'm back in Arusha again now! It was weird as John (our taxi driver) was driving us back to the house after picking us up from the airport. As we approached Arusha and I recognised the area, it  almost felt like I was back home! I loved Zanzibar, it was really relaxing and beautiful, but it made me so glad  that I'd chosen to do my elective in Arusha rather than the other places in Tanzania!
The house is now down to just 4 people, which is kind of weird! Its now a 2:2 ratio of Canadians: UK people. Next week I'm pretty confident we'll take the upper hand haha! The new small group is nice, it means you can have more 'me' time if you want, but there are still people to chat to if you want! I leave before like 12 people arrive. The house gets really full after this week. I told our cook,Witness, to make the most of not having as much work because she is going to be flat out as of  Sunday! She says she loves it when the house is full though!
I've now moved to a different department in the hospital, I'm now on the labour ward! Today was my first day and we (well I say we,I didn't do loads of hands on stuff, but I was there  for most of the births!) delivered...wait for it...7 babies! Amazing! They are all soooo beautiful! No joke, the women were seriously lucky that I didn't sneak one home with me, I did come pretty close at one point! They were so tiny, I'd never held a baby less than 24 hours old before, let alone less than 5 mins old! Today I mostly just weighed the babies and wrapped then up in the congas, and filled in some paperwork. Emily is there too which is great actually because  she has been there for the past 3 weeks and knows what she is doing. She helped me get more stuck in, and its nice to have someone to chat to when there is a lull.
This weekend just gone was actually nice and quiet and chilled out. I did think at one point that I might have gone on a safari, but  it was abit last minute and people kept dropping out, and it was just getting more and more expensive, so we didn't get in the end. My whole view point on it has totally changed during my time here. When I was planning my trip, going on safari was top top of my list of things that I really wanted to do while I was here. And when I arrived and found out most people were either leaving soon, or had already done a safari, I think I could have cried. I was so disappointed. But as I have spent more time here, I have realised that actually, I count myself INCREDIBLY blessed to have even had the option of going. So many people wouldn't even get that. I have decided also to give some of the money that I'd saved for going on safari to Paradiso Orphanage that we have visited a couple of times. I  cant remember if I mentioned it in a previous post, but they are currently building a bigger house so the can accommodate more children. I think it's such a great cause. I'm sad that I will only get to visit it one more time.
Yesterday  (Sunday) we went on a coffee plantation tour which was actaully really good. We made ourown coffee to drink,and I'm not gona brag, but our coffee was actually the best coffee I've ever drank! ...OK,so it was probably more down to it not being transported across continents, and having things added to it, but still, it was awesome. We has to peel the beans, then pound them, then sive out the skins, roast them, pound them, sive them, pound some more, sive some more (ect ect...) and then boil it....mmmmm! In the afternoon we took a tour around a lake, the name of which I cant rememer! Again, it was beautiful. At one point we had a view across some ofthe plains of Tanzania, with the  mountains far in the distance. It  really was breathtaking. I dont think the photos I took will do it justice.
This final week is seriously going to be jam packed. There is still so much I want to do, and I only have another, what, 4  and a half days here! Time has seriously flown.  I have loved every minuite of it here. Though I will be very sad to leave, the clock in my head that is counting down the days until I go home is  getting louder. As Saturday gets closer and closer, I'm getting more glad that home isnt to long away.

ligretto fever

It's official, ligretto has taken over! the house flipping love it! when every we have a spare like 10mins people are like, `cheeky game of ligretto?` ...and an hour later we are still there playing it. It's pretty class! And you woul think that s the owner of the game, who has known how to play for more than like 4 days, I would have the upper hand, but oh no, my friend Rachel is on fire like every game!
Anyway, moving on from Ligretto...so I'm currently sat at a computer looking out of the window into a white sandy beach which has palm trees with hammocks dotted around, an amazing turquoise sea...its actually paradise here! We (Emily, Rachel, Alice and myself) flew out here to Zanzibar on Saturday morning. The flight was awesome, it was a small plan with propellers! As we flew out over Arusha, we could see the top of Mt Kilimanjaro peeping up abouve the clouds. It was quite a sight. Then as we approached Zanzibar, you saw tiny little islands with amaing turquiose patches of sea surrounding them.The island is quite literally like what you would see on a post card; its beautiful. After landing we went on a spice tour. Zanzibar is well known for growing loads of spices, and the tour was really interesting.We saw all the plants that the spices grew, were asked to guess what they were from the smell of their leaves (...I was actually useless at this, I come to think that my sense of smell is actually pretty crap haha! I managed to work out what like none of then were!).  We also saw 'mr butterfly man' climb a coconut tree with nothing to help him but a loop of rope around his feet. There were points when he was at the top of the tree, doing like acrobatic style things that my heart skipped  beat, I was kinda scared for him! But he was quite obviously fine, he can climb up to 200 coconut trees is a day, I think he is pretty well practiced!!
So we are staying at a place called Kendwa Rocks. The rooms are pretty basic, but its linked right to the beach and is actually a really cool place! Saturday night there was a full moon party, which wasn't actually on the beach like what I was expecting but just in the bar attached to the hotel. There were a few kind of acts before the music started, some acrobatics, a Michael Jackson dancer guy...was borderline freaky, but cool to watch haha! It was kind of bizarre dancing, the African people get sooo into the music! And they have so much rhythm, its embarrassing dancing next to them, you look like you have two left feet haha! And you can by just dancing away, and you will see like 2 Masai guys wearing full on Masai gear, wander past and start dancing! There are some pretty cool people here that we have met. We had dinner today with a guy from California, we bumped into a group of people Alica and Rachel know from climbing Kili ...its nice to meet a few different people from different parts of the world.
The past two days have been really relaxing, we have literally just sat at the beach enjoying the ...well not so much sun, more clouds! It's still pretty warm, but there has no way been clear blue skys! In a way I'm kinda glad because despite the slight lack of sun, I have still managed to slightly resemble a lobster :( I noticed my legs getting sightly pink ...and then felt them getting abit hotter, and by the end of the day they were noticeably burnt, not a good luck! After going to my room though that evening, I realised I really shouldn't be that bothered because they could be semi hidden by longer shorts...my face on the other hand could not! Whoops! Its calming down now, and fingers crossed will just go nice and brown soon haha!
Myself and Emily are heading back to mainland Tanzania tomorrow afternoon, back at the hospital on Tuesday! It will be quite nice to be back at the house! It' going to be pretty quiet now, most people have left! There will only be about 6 of us I think! Small groups are nice though, less washing up after tea too!!
Anyway, this computer doesn't tell me how long I have left so I'll not risk loosing this and leave it there! I'll blog again back in Arusha!

twenty one

Oh my gosh, i feel like I have so much I want to write on here, I don't know where to start! The past week has flown by so fast, it was a pretty busy week!
Placement at the hospital is going OK, I'm finding it slightly harder to get into than placements in England but I was expecting that! The staff are all really welcoming which helps, and most speak a little English (some more than others!!). They love it when you try to speak Swahili to them though so I try my best! So I come in in the mornings are say 'shikamo! habari za asubuhi? Nzuri sana asante' and that's it...that's most of my Swahili vocab used! But after coming out with a Swahili greeting they then think you know more, and so start talking away to you in Swahili...I think when they see my blank/confused face they realise I haven't a clue what they said, and then laugh!
I'm finding the language barrier while on hospital abit of a challenge. I don't really know what is going on most of the time, and have to keep asking 'what did the patient say to me?', 'what did the doctor just say?'. It's slightly frustrating, but you just have to keep going with it.
The hospital is TOTALLY different from home. There is hardly any infection control, a serious lack of resources, and sometimes 2 people to a bed! The doctors know what they would do for a patient in an ideal world, but have to do the best job they can with the supplies that they have! Last week I spent 2 days in theater...I don't really ever get that squeamish, I can handle blood and guts pretty well, but there were a few times in theater when I got close to having to leave the operating room ...this is seriously saying something about how gruesome some of the operations have been. The other days I have just been on the ward. I'm on a surgical ward at the moment. I'm not getting to do as much hands on stuff as some of their other people in the house who are on different wards, apparent they found the same when they were on sugary! I'm hoping to move onto ob/gyn next week and that's meant to be really good. My room mate Emily is on there at the moment and she has delivered like 10 babies in 5 days!! I'm looking forward to going there!
Outside of the hospital I have been pretty busy too! The weather has been AWESOME! It's rained less than I was expecting. All the websites I checked out before I came said May was in the rainy season ...it has rained abit, but not half as much as I thought it would ...I'm not complaining, my tan is coming along nicely!
Five of us went to the local orphanage on Friday. Oh my word, I don't know where to start with this. So this orphanage was set up by an Evangelist pastor when he retired. There are 22 children I think, ranging from 6 months to 13 years. They are all so beautiful, and always smiling. They just LOVE to play with you, hold your hand ...and take your camera!! They re pretty practiced on the camera front, as soon as you get it out they ask you for it, they go around taking photo after photo, and video after video. Its slightly annoying because as they do this they also mess with the settings of your camera and delete all the photos already on there! But it great just seeing them play together, they are such a big family! All the older ones look out for the younger ones. This one little boy dropped his lolly so this older girl picked it up, went inside and washed it, and gave it back to him! It just makes you smile ...but its also really sad, because you know that none of these little kids have any family of their own. Most parents have died from HIV. It didn't hit me until we were leaving.
While you are at the orphanage playing with the kids, BaBa (their like 'grandma') makes chipati's for you to eat! This has to be the worst part of visiting there bay far ...not because they are bad, just because of the quantity of them! They are so thick and filling! You get given 7 of then, and are kinda expected to eat them all ...I'll tell you now this is IMPOSSIBLE!!! I felt so sick. The eldest girl, Naiomee, sits with you and keeps saying to you 'eat, eat!' ... We managed to eat 4 of them, sneak one and a half into our bags, and leave the rest!
Saturday was my birthday, and so I'm now officially 21 ...mann, I'm getting old haha! 5 of us went on a walk around Mt Meru which was really good! We saw a beautiful waterfall, some traditional huts ...it was nice to get out and do some exercise after all the food I've eaten (Tanzania is NOT good for getting a flat tummy at all!). When I got home I walked into a chorus of 'happy birthday' and a huge huge cake that Witness made. A few of the girls had got me a little prezzie too which was really sweet of them.
Oh pants, I only have 6 mins left of Internet! Gona have to go now! I'll try and blog again soon ish!

jambo tanzania

So I`m offically in tanzania...its amazing, and so so beautiful!
I arrived sat night, my flights were fine, a little bit of turbulance but not troo bad, and they were both on time which was good! I was kinda gutted to have landed in the dark! Apparently you fly over the top of kilimanjaro, but I didnt get to see that! The programme manager Freddy met me there are we drove about 50 mins to the house!
The house is awesome, it`s sooo nice! And the people that are already here are lovely, really welcoming! I think there are about 20 or so people in the house with me! There are 8 ish people from Hong Kong, but  we dont see them much! But there is a group of like 10 gilrs who are so lovely, some leave next weekend which I`m alrealy sad about!
On sunday I had a long sleep in, I was shattered!! Then we made pancakes for breakfast...mmm! We went to a place called 'players' in the afternoon -it`s like a pool/bar, really nice place to chill out! Think I might be there a fair bit in the next 4 weeks! Walking there was the first time I really saw Arusha in day light. The roads are like big mud tracks, crazy! You can see Mt Meru from our house too which is amazing!
When we got home, another girl had arrived. She is called Emily and she is from Canada, we are sharing a room! Its nice to have someone else who is new too!
Last night we went out for food! Usually during weekdays we have a cook who makes our meals, but weekends we fend for ourselves...so we went out and had like tapas! I ate soo much, and the food and drink is really cheap (Tsh 10,000 for LOADS of food and a drink...sounds a lot but its just under ten pounds - there is no pound sign on this computer haha). The taxi there was quite a journey...so there were 8 of us girls, plus John the taxi driver, and we all fit in one taxi...which is just as nomal car! So John was obviously driving, there were 2 gils on the front seat, and then 6 of us in the back, 3 sitting on the seats, then 3 on their laps! And this is perfectly fine to do in Tanzania, no one bats an eyelid! The roads are pretty bumpy so its not the most comfortable, but hey, we all got there in one peice so its all good!
I`m currently in Arusha having my orientation around the town! Freddy and Brian (who is the assistant programme manager) are showing us how to catch the dala dala (which is a crazy full bus), getting us set up with phones, money, ect ect! There is a lot to take in, its pretty overwhelming! But there people here are so friendly! ...I've been proposed to twice already haha! I`d be flattered but its just because I`m a muzungu (white person) which is a sign of money and wealth!
Anyway, I'm going to have to go now because my time on this computer is running out! I`m having a great time so far and I think that these 4 weeks are going to fly by! I`ll try and post some more entries at some point! xxx