Ejura at 10 thursday night, when I first arrived, was daunting. It was dirty, dusty and dark. Waking up in the morning and meeting the other volunteers properly and seeing everything in the morning light was all I needed to get my enthusiasm for Africa back. There are 6 of us at Namaskar house for this term- Noa from Israel, Cara and Charli from Canada, Vero from Belgium and Barbara from Germany who is the poor person who has to share a room with me! They were really welcoming as were the boys that live at the house.

In the dry season the Harmatten winds blow dust from the Sahara. Not only does this cause everything to be coated in dust but also I feel like my lungs are packed with it too!

Yesterday I went to school and sat in on a few classes to see where I could fit in. On monday I plan to teach English to the p3 class which is the oldest of the primary kids - should be interesting.

With the soccer bal that came with me on the plane myself, Noa and Viro attempted to play a game of 'football' with the boys from the area. They were soooo good! Even the ones aged around 6 have more control playing in their jandals on the uneven field than I could hope for in my boots on a pitch that doesnt have huge holes in! Feeling quite useless, very tired, super hot and with a mouth full of the lovely Sahara dust I retired.

I confess that after spending less than a week away from NZ I have already caved and splashed out on a mars bar at the 'supermarket'. The food at the house is ok although my fears about not being able to handle the spicyness came true - luckily their is always fruit; mango, pinapple (the best!!), oranges and bananas for the weak eaters like myself.

Next week is my first week of teaching so will update on how it went... it will be a challenge with some of the class not knowing the alphabet, others being able to read a few words and others quite good. Wish me luck!