Okay this learning Spanish needs a serious approach. On the way to the centre this morning I bought a notebook that i can do homework in. Not sure what it is about developing countries but shopkeepers always seem to be short of change. The notebook cost 35 pesos and i handed them a 100 peso note. That's like handing someone $5 to pay for a $1.50 item. They asked me if I had anything smaller and when i showed them my wallet contained a 200 peso and 500 peso n...

Well my resolve to learn Spanish has been cemented. Arrived at the Centre to find everyone from workers to kids to EVERY volunteer speaks the language. I'm a minority of 1. So the first day was a bit challenging. Played a few cards games with some of the children who are all early primary school age and then had a crack at translating some letters that the children had written to their sponsors. Between my near zero grasp of the language and their poor spellin...

It's Day 2 in Oaxaca and i am settling in well. My host, Rosa, is a lovely woman and thankfully she speaks a little English. However my formal Spanish lessons start tomorrow and we have agreed that Espanol will be the main language spoken once i start. That should make for some interesting conversations. Also staying here and working at the same school as me is a 17 year old girl (Natalie) from Los Angeles. She is doing a 3 week stint during her summer holid...

Well today is the start of a very different adventure for me. Six weeks of volunteer work at Centro de Esperanza Infantil in Oaxaca City, Mexico. Oaxaca I know, having visited last year, but volunteering and living with a local family for 6 weeks will both be new experiences. I'm a little nervous but equally excited about what lies ahead of me. An uneventful flight to Auckland but a rather bumpy flight from there to Houston, and also one of the coldest flight...

I'm heading home today via Los Angeles. 5.30am taxi pickup and I'm at the airport in no time. Check in is a bit chaotic (no surprises there!) and disappointingly they are unable/unwilling to check my bags through to Sydney. This means I will have to collect them in LA and then recheck them. A minor inconvenience but one I would rather not have. It's a fairly uneventful 6 hour flight and we arrive in LA pretty much on time. Clear customs, collect my bag and ...