Well, almost. Two weeks today I will be in Nigeria (I hope, passport and visa permitting!) Although it feels like the whole process started a loooong time ago now.
I've almost finished everything on The To Do List from Hell. I've moved house, finished work, been jabbed, dentisted, bought the entire contents of Boots and the travel shops, and attended all the UK based VSO training. My one final hurdle (other than saying goodbyes, which I'm not yet letting myself think about) will be working out how I am going to pack everything I want to take. I actually get a 3 bag luggage allowance, but then VSO also say that we need to be able to carry our own luggage. I can't really see myself being able to carry 3 x 23kg bags, hand luggage, motorbike helmet, and a laptop around Abuja. I might need to give it a go though. Surely a small amount of intense weight training has to be better than a year without mascara, night cream and my hair dryer.
Having never been much of a writer I can guarantee this won't be the most interesting thing you've ever read. But if you are reading it you're probably related to me anyway. In which case you have to love me and show an interest in what I'm doing!
For anyone that isn't related to me, the only background you really need to know is that I'm a VSO volunteer headed to Nigeria (Calabar, to be precise) to work in monitoring and evaluation for an HIV and AIDs NGO. What that actually means in practice remains to be seen. But I can't wait to find out.
12 sleeps!
