Hi everyone,

I'll try to keep this slightly shorter than the last one after being told off for writing essays!

I'm now in my last couple of days teaching at the YWCA which is quite strange. I think it'll be quite weird to go off to a new project and start doing the same things again with a new group of people as we've all got to know the girls here really well and it's been so nice to be based in the centre of town. We leave on Friday and are going back to work at Cloudbreak over the weekend doing some more drama workshops and then it's a bit of a mystery where we're going next! It seems like it'll either be to a nearby orphanage or to an AIDS and HIV hospice as they want to put on performances with both places but everything's up in the air at the moment so we don't expect to find out until the weekend...

This week has been a lot less hectic than the first so I've finally had the chance to do a few more touristy things in KL. I spent a very wet afternoon wandering around the old colonial district where all the British admin used to be and where independence was declared in 1957. It's really amazing walking round there at the moment as it was the centre of the 50 year independence celebrations (Merdeka) on August 31st and so there are still decorations absolutely everywhere. All the Malaysian people seem so proud of their country it's really nice to see. Almost all the houses and businesses are still covered in flags and when I was asking the girls in my English class about what they had done the previous week almost all of them were talking about the Merdeka celebrations and what they had done and how proud they felt. It makes such a change from home where everyone only associates the national flags with football hooligans.

I've also finally tried a durian which has been on my to-do list since I arrived. For anyone who hasn't encountered it before, the durian is Malaysia's national fruit and a huge delicacy but it absoutely stinks! When I first arrived and walked past durian stalls in the markets I just thought the drains were blocked but that's actually the smell of the fruit, through cellophane wrapping! But I decided to be very brave and try one so bought it and then had to carry it home with the smell following me. I was forbidden from bringing it into our room so sat out in the corridor to try a bit to the annoyance of everyone on our floor and I have to say it was absolutely horrible! It's a really weird texture and tastes exactly like it smells so I can only conclude that it's some Malaysian trick to take the most disgusting thing they can find and see how many gullible tourists they can persuade to eat it! Luckily the season's almost over now so I won't have to come into contact with them again!

I think that's probably all the news for now. It's been really nice to just have a chilled out week and spend time wandering around the KL lake gardens which are beautiful and some of the huge shopping plazas which are also beautiful but in a slightly different way! We're hoping to catch the Chinese lantern festival tonight and then go for a ride on the Eye on Malaysia tomorrow night - it's a smaller version of the London Eye which is just here for a year to celebrate the 50 year anniversary but sounds really good as it's over a lake and gives you a view of the whole of KL so I intend to take plenty more photos!

xx