It's one year!!!

Until my wedding, that is! I waited until midnight last night to post that as my Face Book status, I'm so sad... :-P

Well, Matt is heading off on holidays with his folks today so I hope he has a marvellous time with them. :-) Lucky duck!! It's a really special day - it feels to me like so much has happened since we got engaged and we've really come such a long way together. I miss him a lot on days like this, of course, but never mind! It also shows that I'm more than halfway through my placement already, and MY how time has flown! Also, his sister is expecting her first baby just after I get back home in September, and I hear she's just fine :-) so that's another thing to look forward to, being an aunt-in-law-to-be... LOL...

I can't believe it's only a year! For so long it's seemed like it was forever away, and now at last it's kind of appearing on the not-too-distant horizon.

I'm not exactly going to have much time to mull on it today, though, becuase I'm heading out to Kasiya for 2 nights to do some training of local data collectors for the Basic Needs Project. Apparently my boss was concerned about how I'd cope with the rather... basic conditions, i.e. no running water, no toilets, no little rural restaurants to get decent food, no roads, probably have to bring my own blankets etc and no mosquito nets... but hopefully I'll survive for two days anyway! I'll just have to be sure to bring mosquito repellent a-plenty I guess. And deodorant, because showers won't really be an option, LOL! Still though, I will get yet another chance to experience a kind of softened version of how the mojority of Malawians live, so hey, if they can survive it I guess I can too! :-)

It's been hard doing this on my own. Most of my classmates have been placed either 2 to an organisation/area, or in the kind of setting where there are a lot of expats and other young people. So they have a lot more support in some ways, I'm very isolated. Having said that, I think it's fair to say that this means I'm getting quite a unique experience and I'm developing a certain level of independence. I think I will possibly be changed more as a person as a result of being so alone here... that's my hope at least!

Moni Anthu!

Greetings, people!

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately, I've really been incredibly lethargic the past week or two especially. Not that I've had that much to do, I just kinda feel like all my energy has seeped out through my Birkenstocks and into the floor... :-) dramatic, eh? Well, at long last I have something to look forward to, so I feel my energy returning slightly! Delighted!

As I know I've said before, I'm feeling a bit redundant here at the moment so that really affects my sense of motivation. I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to be doing, and when you role is that vague it's hard to have to put any real energy into your work. Anyway... I keep meaning to talk to the director of the centre about it, so I'll just have to get off my bum and do it I think :-) Getting off my bum is just something I haven't been great for doing lately!

BUT... last Friday I finally went into Lilongwe to find out about holidays! I have known for a while that my holidys are a tad overdue, and I need a break. I think getting out there for a little while will invigorate me and give me the motivation I need for the last few weeks. So, on Friday morning off I headed into town to find out about a safari company I've heard of with a good reputation. I know more than one person who's used it, so it's pretty trustworthy, and good value! Not exactly luxury safari now, but I don't expect that :-D as long as I get to see the animals I'll be happy out! So, this 4/5-day safari is going to set me back about €300, but I fugure it's worth it because you'd pay a hell of a lot more for going on something similar from Ireland! So I may as well seize the opportunity while I'm at it. It would involve going to Zambia, so I'd need to sort out a visa, but it's free for Irish citizens (wahoo!! I knew that harp passport would come in handy...) so I don't mind.

Apparently U.S. and U.K. citizens have to pay hefty enough visa fees, I think it has something to do with whatever Zambians are charged on entering those countries. Sort of a "if you charge us, we'll charge you" mentality. I think... oh well. No-one's worried about the leprechauns it would seem... :-P So that's me sorted! The price is all-inclusive: transport, accomodation, food, everything so that works fine for me! I get 2 weeks' holidays, so I'll need to find something else to do too - but the idea of heading to a lakeside lodge and passing out on the veranda with a copy of COSMO and a sangria sounds just fine to me :-D I'm really quite low-maintenance, LOL!

Im heading off on another field trip on Wednesday, at last! I've been vegetating in the office now for so long I don't even care that I'm apparently staying somewhere with no running water and one of the dreaded pit latrines... oh pit latrines, how do I hate thee, let me count the ways... Those things are bloody impossible to use, how the locals get used to them I'll never know! The smell!! The trying to stop things falling into them out of your pockets (I am NOT fishing it out...)!! The trying to aim!! Sorry if it's too much information, but I personally see aiming while you pee as a solely male responsibility - or at least, I did until I came here. *rolls eyes* There now, I hope you haven't eaten recently... Vile...

Other than that, I have little news... apart from being eaten alive by moquitos. Seriously, I'm starting to wonder do I taste of steak or what... I am liteally covered in bites, the itching is driving me insane. My right leg isn't fit to be seen, it looks like some psychadelic game of dot-to-dot. When I get home you can all get biros and have fun trying to form patterns by joining up the bites... 1st prize goes to whoever can make a donkey!

I can already see its' face appearing under my knee...