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 flights/planes I have ever been on. Spent most of the flight not only with my jacket on but also snuggled up in a blanket. And I wasn't alone. Pleasingly, clearing US Customs was a breeze. Not so pleasing was dropping my bag and seriously damaging one of my camera lenses. Hopefully it's still usable. 5 hours in Houston and then it was on to Oaxaca. Uneventful flight and was picked up at the airport by my host Rosa, who speaks a little English and her daughter who speaks none. So learning Spanish is a priority. There is also a young high school student, Natalie,from Los Angeles. She will be staying at Rosa's for 3 weeks whilst she also volunteers at the same place as me. She has studied Spanish for 3 years so I think she will be my unofficial interpreter for a while. Quite warm here but lots of rain. Sounds like we will do some orientation over the weekend and then get serious about our work on Monday. I wonder what the weekend has in store?