Hi, everyone :) This is my first time on the internet since I have arrived, it is very slow, lol. I'll just run you all though what has happened so far, starting from when I left on friday.

Friday and Saturday were very tiring days, I was up at 6.30 on friday ready to leave at 08:00. Having had breakfast I said goodbye to Oll and to the house and then left for the station. We arrived at Euston at 11:00 and after already nearly leaving my laptop behind we proceeded to Heathrow by underground. Once there we went and had a look at Terminal 4 and then went across to Terminal one for my last meal with my family. At this point I was still feeling just excitment with only slight apprehension. Following this we went back to Terminal 4 where I was leaving from and and checked in. My attempt at an upgrade didn't go as planned as apparently they don't do complementary upgrades, oh well, it was worth a try :) After a last coffee it was then time to say goodbye to Mum, Dad and Ben just before security. This was pretty emotional and although I really didn't think I would, I did shed a tear :/ It is deffinilty a moment I will never forget! After this I then had to go through security which was fun, I'd put so much stuff in my pockets that it took me forever to get through. Once I'd finshed and eventually walked the the metal detector, it went off, just my luck, then just to top it all off I got pulled over to have laptop tested for explosives, lol. Not what I needed really.

I then boared the plane at 18:00 and departed at 19:00. The plane was enormous, the biggest I've been on, 3 rows of 3 seats :) We had out own tv as well which was good, untill when I tried mine it didn't work :/ I was at next to a really nice lady which was good so we got talking which helped pass the time, as well as attempting to sleep, which didn't go well. A couple of things happened on the plane, 1st someone fell ill and there was a call from the cabin crew asking if there was a doctor on board, it was like somthing you see on tv. Then to my suprise, people just strarted passing their young children around the plane. The lady next to me seem to adopt a little boy from about 40 rows back, then when it came for him to go back, he wanted to stay with us, awww :) After a reasonably bumpy ride we arrived in Nairobi. It was so HOT, and also a pretty scary place, it made me feel quite small. I wasn't feeling anything really at this time, I was just pretty numb rom it all, so I just went and got a coffee and read my book. Then at 08:30 we boared the plane, having been through security with the alarm going off again. At 09:10 we started to get pulled out to the runway we stopped shortly aftrewards and the captain annoced that an engineer had spotted an air leak in the right engine and they we going to check if it was safe to fly. 30 min later we got pulled back in and told to get off as we needed a new plane. We got given bottles of water and pies while we waited, although and hour and a half in that heat was pretty bad. Eventually we left at 11:30. The flight to Jo'brg was one of the bumpiest I have ever experienced, and quite alot of the time had me gripping the seat handles very hard, lol.

Once I landed in Jo'berg I tried to contact everyone but my phone didn't work, so I had to buy a nw SA sim. I was picked up about 30 min later and taken to the coach station. This was quite a long ride, 7 and a half hours, so nothing compared to tour, but after the rest of the journey it was horible. I got my first reall introduction to the poorer area of Jo'berg just before the coach left, when a lady got on and started asking for money to get to Cape Town for the hospital, as she had cancer and needed treatement. I don't know whether it was truth or not but it was certainly a shock.

My phone stopped working again for some reason, just before Aliwal North where I was getting off. So when we arrived at 00:20 I asked the driver if I could borrow his phone, but they just drove off. That left me in th middle of SA with no contact and all my luggage, at midnight with no idea where I was being picked up from. I decided to start walking along the main road hoping I would bump in to someone. Thankfully, much to my delight about 10 min later a car pulled over and Johan got out, the head of drama who was picking me up.

I went back with him to his house and slept there that night. I was greeted by 5 dogs, one of which jumped up and put dog s**t on my shirt. Just what I wanted on my arrival when I was tired. I spent Sunday at Johan's just reading and sitting in the sun which was good. Sunday evening was pretty bad, and I felt quite low. It was the first time I had to really think about what had happened over the last 2 days, which ended up with me on the verge of crying again :/

We were up at 05:30 on Monday and left for the school at 06:00, picking up students on the way. We arrived at the school at 07:00, and with about 5 min to adjut we were then in the staff meeting at the start of the day, where I was introduced. Assembly was after that, all the teachers sit on the stage for this, which was quite daunting, especially when I had to stad up so they could all see me. After this I was straight into teaching as one of the music teachers is away. There are 8 45 min periods in a day, and I had 1 free. Although I only had about 2 - 4 in a class. The main school day finishes at 14:20 a it starts at 07:20, so I then had the afternon free, in which I met up with Flic another volunteer here and David, her boyfriend. He lives around here so he told me all about the area and took me on a tour of the town. Then we went to a tavern and played pool for a bit which was good. After dinner at 17:00 I then did study from 19:00 till 21:00 which is when you suppervise the other students doing their homework. By this time I was knakered so I went to bed. Tonight, again, I was pretty upset, so just listened to my music which hlped. My room at the moment is the study room, which is ok, but I'll be moving into a proper room in the next couple of weeks :)

The bell goes at 05:45 every morning signaling time to get up, then breakfast is at 06:30. This is really going to take some getting used to, especcially when they don't go to bed to half 10! it's a short night :/ Tuesday was pretty much the same as Monday, although I had an extra free period. After school I went and listened to the choir, which is amazing. In the afternoon I went up to the dam with Flic and David, it is such an amazing place. We then went fr a walk up in to the mountains a bit, which is in snake terriory, they get puff aders and cape cobras amoungst others :/ The view from in the mountiains is so beautiful, I've never seen anything like it. Hopefully we'll be going swimming there soon. We also founf a fresh mountain stream which come straight out of the side of the mountain, very nice. In the evenin gwe went out for a drink which was good and talked to some of the other staff.

So that's about all so far, sorry it's so long, I'll try and cut it down next time. I'm not sure when I'll be able to upload my photos as the internet is so slow, but I'll try :D

Cya