I can't believe it but my time here is coming to an end. On Thursday we had the farewell party as officially all the International Volunteers attached to my project are finishing. Due to UNICEF and the EU withholding funding - political reasons - they are still not 100% sure the project will continue, they do expect it to but there will be fewer volunteers. This means we are all going and only 5 of the present international volunteers will be returning when the ...

Moved hotel so that I was in the same one as Jan and Chas. I arrived, checked in and asked about Jan & Chas - never heard of them, asked me to look through their bookings, couldn't see them!! I said, "but my sister said the hotel was picking them up from the airport" - they replied, "are you sure it was this hotel!!" Eventually they were found and everyone agreed a taxi had been dispatched to pick them up. To celebrate I trotted off to a local bakery for a m...

I started today with a coffee in Java Cafe over looking Independence Monument. I chose it because I wanted to see the mess left by the chaos last night. This was the road where one of the largest street parties was, it was blocked off but all the roads around it were Moto parks and gridlocked. I was expecting to see rubbish everywhere. Nothing - it was spotless. An army of people must have been working through the small hours to get it to look like this. It is ...

I am now sitting in the Penthouse Bar looking down on chaos. Roads are closed all over the city and everyone is partying. The road is becoming one big Moto park so is becoming narrower for Tuk-Tuks and cars!!! Ian and I started the day by walking down to the FCC and just sitting in the bar watching the day get going. I now realise it was relatively quiet then, as all day it has got louder and busier - but, I am pleased to say, good humoured. I have enjoyed watc...

I am going to Myanmar for a short break with Ellis, a fellow volunteer, on Monday. To go there I need a visa which I got last week. As I needed it printed out I trotted around to a print shop here in PP. They could not have been more helpful and after a very short time I went up to the counter to pay for my one sheet of paper - 200 reils (5p)!! Just as I was about to hand over the vast sums asked for, a man just walked into the shop and shoved a phone at the wom...