Pink's Definitely Your Colour Dad

Even if the bright pink Project Trust t-shirt didn't work on me, it did on someone else in my family..

Departure Date at Last

So my visa has finally arrived!  All the stress it caused and it's only a little bit of paper in my passport.  Now that my visa's here I can finally look at actually heading away.  So Sarah and I leave on the 5th of September, a week today.  This means I do have to get round to packing my bag. Although it may still get done on the Thursday evening.

I did a talk about Project Trust at my school today (because I'm still in the country I need to keep myself busy.  This is also going to involve a trip to Stirling Castle tomorrow.)  It was good though, apart from me having to wing it all.  I really hope that someone will want to head off and that my horrifically bright pink top didn't put them off.
It was just amazing looking at the pictures and thinking that that could be me in just a few weeks.  It's pretty crazy.  

New Project!

I've been holding off posting anything until I knew some things for sure!

My project was changed a few weeks ago due to some problems with my original project. So now I'm heading to Bangalore! I'll still be teaching English to around 5-14 year olds. I'm teaching in a school called The Sharon English School. It sounds like a really lovely school and Bangalore sounds like an amazing city. Sarah and I (I almost wrote me and Sarah - sorry Grandma) will be staying with the headmaster's daughter.

But because of this we had to change our visas, and obviously, there was a problem with mine so Sarah and I have been delayed in our departure. So instead of leaving tomorrow, we are hoping to leave in a week's time.  But these things happen and it'll all work out! Hopefully... 

I'm not sure where I'll be staying exactly and when I get the exact address of where to send letters and things, I'll post it here! 

Things I'm taking that I would never have thought of before

There's a lot of things that I'm packing that would never have crossed my mind before. All of these are adding to my weight limit which is reducing the amount of space for clothes.. 

1. A lock for my door. A proper lock, which, if needed is going to be very amusing to put on! 

2. A very attractive looking money belt to keep some money close by. 

3. A sterile first aid kit. In case I get rushed to a hospital and don't want to risk it - so I have my own cannula, needles and syringe 

4. Headlice remover kit!! I thought headlice was a thing of the past for me.. Clearly not. I even have two of the horrible combs. 

5. Clothes pegs. Not something you would take on your average holiday. I also have a washing line. 

6. Writing practice books. To practice making handwritig lovely, the kind of jotters you got in primary school with the dotted lines and big spaces. Those aren't for the kids by the way, they're for me..

And these are only a few! 

Other Amazing Blogs to Follow

There are loads of other people heading out to various countries with Project Trust who also have blogs which are all amazing and worth reading, so here are just a few and I'll try to find some more!

Other India Blogs -

sarahsyearinindiawithprojecttrust.blogspot.co.uk

www.tabsintirupati.blogspot.com

brittanygoestoindia.wordpress.com

matthewperryindia.wordpress.com

powertoindia.wordpress.com

annacormack.wordpress.com

maheshwarlive.wordpress.com

charlottegoestoindia.wordpress.com

saskiagoestoindia.wordpress.com

zoegoestoindia.wordpress.com

Other Project Trust Blogs -

alicetod.uk

christieinmalaysia.wordpress.com

emilysyearinmalaysia.wordpress.com

sophiecashell.blogspot.co.uk

livinhonduras.wordpress.com

kathryninchina.simplesite.com

www.youtube.com/channel/UCct-jWiFvQn_lB9zmeXtwBg

ginasyearinmalawi.wordpress.com

michellesyearinafrica.wordpress.com

catherineedwardsgapyear.blogspot.co.uk

fionahunt.wordpress.com

Previous Years Project Trust Volunteer Blog - 

chloechrystal.blogspot.co.uk

hugoinmalaysia.blogspot.co.uk

www.marksprojecttrust.co.uk

jennyvoyvolunteersinhonduras.blogspot.co.uk

meganraistrick.blogspot.co.uk

katiesyearwithprojecttrust.blogspot.co.uk

annaatdevnar.blogspot.co.uk

Training

So on the 13th of July I headed up to Oban to stay over to get ready for my training to head off to India!

After checking into the backpackers, I managed to find some other people from Project Trust who were also heading out to the training and among them was my partner, Sarah Little!  Sarah is absolutely lovely and I can't wait to spend the next year with her!

So after an early (kind of) night, we all woke up at crazy o'clock to catch the ferry.  Everyone from Project Trust all managed to find each other at the ferry terminal so we all boarded the ferry together and tried to find somewhere for 31 people with massive rucksacks to sit.  So a few games of Uno (which I couldn't really play) and snap (which I could) we made it to Coll.  And as well as being greeted by lovely typical Scottish weather, we were also greeted by some of the much nicer PT staff who took us up to the Herbridean Centre.

One of the first talks we got when we arrived was the travel talk, which we were all waiting for because at the end we would be told our departure date!! So, I leave for India on the 27th of August!!

I feel a lot better about that date because it gives me plenty time after volunteering at the Commonwealth Games to recover and get my head around heading off to India.

The next few days kind of rolled into one.. Lots of getting talked at, writing on poster paper, getting up early to get a shower and generally a stressful but amazing time! 

 (Yep, we're going to India but none of us noticed the flag the wrong way round)

(But we sorted it)

We had to plan two lessons, which was harder than you would think, and teach them. And it's really strange to teach 6 18 year olds pretending that they are 7... 

Now few weeks after training and I'm slowly getting sorted.. Just a few things left, like purchasing all the tablets I need! 

It's just over two weeks until I go and I'm not sure how I feel! But it is a bit weird to know that some people are already out and in their projects. 

Feeling Like an Adult Yet?

Sorting everything to go away is rather stressful...

Jags are particularly annoying.  Hep A and typhoid were sorted a wee while ago but I'm still in the process of getting Rabies, Hep B and Japanese Encephalitis.  These are not fun... I have a couple of marks on my arm which look like I've been bitten by a snake. (which hopefully won't happen when I'm away)  I also managed to get all the possible side effects as well! Which meant I felt awful for a couple of weeks.  But last jags are on Tuesday! Yay!  So hopefully that will be the end of feeling rubbish!

Banking.  It's awful.  There's so much of it as well.  Paying in money, checking that accounts are okay to use in India and sorting out internet banking (which isn't as easy as it's made out to be).

In the last month I think I've bought and given more thank you cards than I have ever done in my whole life.  It's also partly because it's the end of term so lots of things are finishing but it's still horrible to have to say goodbye to everyone.  It makes it seem real that in a few weeks I'll be heading away, not just to another country but to another continent.

Shopping is usually something I would love, but not for this.  Having to choose clothes that are suitable for the heat, suitable for the culture and suitable for avoiding mosquito bites.  I managed to buy some clothes so I think we're heading in the right direction.. Hopefully.

But still the worst thing about being an adult is making my own doctors appointments..