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!