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Habari!
Now then, the last time I tried to blog the power supply got cut off so I will try and make this brief!
From Queenstown, I headed to Mount Cook Village in the hope to climb part of the mountain and stay in a little hut over night. It would have been great, but the weather was cold and very wet with strong winds so I spent most of my time indoors, venturing out for the odd wet and cold walk. Needless to say I was so happy to arrive in Christchurch and stay with 3 uni friends, Poppy, Graham and Yogi. It was fantastic to see them and relax by helping Poppy do some planting in Kaikoura for her PhD (a dedication would be appreciated!).
I must confess that the highlight arrived when I met Dave at the airport. We went to Bank Penisula with some of Poppy's friends and spent the night in two person star-gazing huts, which were amazing. It does seem like a dream to think I was in Christchurch with friends and especially Dave. We spent our days relaxing and gently exploring, with some quality Dave and Isey time that was long over due. We both savoured having time together and when it came to say good-bye again it was another teary one, where I didn' think I could actually get on the plane...!
I made it though and started my 3 day journey to Iringa via Johannesburg and Dar Es Salaam. It was a pretty scary journey, with Juma, who met me at Dar airport, warning me not to accept things from strangers as they may have spiked cokes with cocciane in the hope of robbing me! When it came to get on the day long bus journey in pitch black early in the morning I was pretty petrified, but thankfully all went well. Along the way we drove through a National Park and I glimpsed zebra, giraffe, gazzelle, monkeys and possibly even elephants, but they were so far away!
I am now settled into life in iringa. I'm staying with Beatrice, the physio, and her fiance who hope to marry before I leave, but we'll see if the timings work out. The house is very basic with a camping stove in the kitchen, more squat toilets, and a bath involving a bucket of water. I think by now I must smell, but I can't quite tell! The other day I was pretty freaked out as I used a squat toilet that was filled with maggots. It still makes me wnat to throw up even now...I'm sure I'll recover eventually though!
Anyway, despite the basic living conditions, which I am getting use to, everyone I have met in so warm and welcoming. I already have two families who have appeared to have adopted me! One of the Mothers has even made me a skirt, which was so sweet! I am having Kiswahili lessons with Alfayo, girly time with Mercy and many more friends to relax with and practice my language.
As for work, it's great. There's a good basic set up with lots of potential. I am treating babies to 7 year olds, learning lots and teaching Beatrice a few techniques and ways to improve the service. We should get news of what funding we have to play with this week and then we can see what things we can achieve. It's really exciting and I hope to halp make a difference, be it big or small, before I leave.
So in a nutshell, Africa so far is full of colour and smiles, ugali and rice, rubbish strewn streets and packed dala-dalas (public mini-buses), khangas and fabrics, sunshine filled days and mountains all around. I'm looking forward to visiting some local National Parks and possibly going to Lake Malawi for a relaxing weekend.
I'm counting down the days until I meet my family in Nairobi and most definitely until I see Dave at the airport in July, but I'm enjoying my days in the mean time.
Love to you all and keep the messages coming.
Isey
xxx
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