Well it's been a good 5 weeks since I wrote last, and a lot had changed since then.
Well I got my trainers and started running and walking again, until (after running 4 days out of 5) I got really bad shin splints and had to stop again for a couple weeks. I have joined a different group of ladies going walking a couple times a week as they start at 7.30am which is a bit easier for my schedule. And I am starting to run again but just slowly, once a week for now.
I am still going to the orphanage every Wednesday. It is very difficult, the kids are mostly all under 2 years old and often they are wet/dirty or snotty and when they are eating they are intent on rubbing their food all over the person trying to feed them which us quite frustrating. If it was just one or two kids I'd be ok but it gets a bit overwhelming when the 40 odd kids are all looking for a bit of your attention. But hopefully the kids get something positive from us being there, and it's only a couple hours out of my time every week, it's not a lot really. I learned this last week that the local women who work there get pittance for their wage and have a fair journey to get there, and they have to watch bags of rice, clothes, toys etc being taken into the orphans when they struggle to even feed their own kids... That makes me mad. I have a load of toys and clothes to donate to the kids kindly gathered by my lovely family, so I am going to go buy a half dozen loaves of bread and get some butter too for the women that work there so they all get something. We also go to a deaf school, called Bugaruni (I think, not sure about spelling), after we've been to the orphanage and that is great. The kids there range from very young all the way up to late teens, and the most of them are so polite and sweet, and it's so nice to be there. We're going to get taught some sign language next week I think.
Well Paul and I finally got round to doing our diving. We started 3 weekends ago. Last Saturday we were officially qualified as Open Water Divers, then by Sunday we were Adventure Divers. And we just have to do 2 more adventure dives to become Advanced Open Water Divers. We have got our own wet suits, fins, snorkel and mask ordered, hopefully ready to collect this weekend, but we're having a chill out weekend this weekend, might go to Zanzibar for diving the following weekend though, we'll see. I struggled a bit with panicking when diving, mostly due to skills training to do with low air or no air, it terrifies me that me or Paul might ever actually run out of air. I have had nightmares every time I've been diving so far, but I'm hopeful that the more dives I do, the less anxious I will be about it! Last weekend on two of Paul's dives he was actually sick when he got to the surface after the dive... But that might have had something to do with the curry and 5/6 beers he had the night before. The book says do not drink the night before or after diving... There is clearly a valid reason for that!!
So we got out freight stuff in from the UK at last. It only took 10 air freight from dad's house to our apartment which was great. Thanks to everyone who helped out with that! It's great to have all our stuff here, there's no stopping me now lol. I have big plans to get baking bread and cakes but have some work to do first for a friend back home and some things to sort out for Paul. So I have now got stuff to do, I now need to start trying to manage my time better because at the moment my weeks seem to be going by at the blink of an eye and I'm really not achieving very much!
I have been horse riding now twice, yay, I'm so incredibly happy that I am able to go horse riding, it makes me a lot happier!! The first time, 3 weeks ago, I rode a mare called Pixie who was ideal for being my first horse to ride in years. She was sluggish and I kept having to get her to trot to catch up with everyone else, and I had to wear jeans n trainers as my riding gear was in my freight and hadn't arrived by then, and I'm not sure if it was because I was nervous as I hadn't ridden in years, or if it was the wrong gear, or if it was just Pixie with her head hung low and constantly needing pushed on with my legs, but I felt like I couldn't ride, I kept falling forward and in canter I was bouncing way too much and my feet kept slipping out the stirrups. But Pixie looked after me and it was still pleasant, nice just to be around horses!! Today I went again, wore my johds and riding boots, got to ride a mare called Impy who was a bit more forward going and I actually felt really comfortable with her, she was better to ride and we had lots of walks/trots/canters along the beach, which is always lovely, and through the inland areas. It was so nice, I love just being aboard a really safe horse and being able to enjoy the experience completely whilst also slipping away into my own little world in my head while the waves crash on the beach next to you, that's my paradise!! Thank you Caroline for taking me!!
Well there is a showing at the local theatre this week called "We will rock you" so we have got tickets to go on Saturday night which should be fun, I saw some rehearsals the other week when I was at the little theatre for Scottish Dance lessons... Haha yes that's right, I started going to Scottish Dance lessons on a Wednesday evening from 7.30 to 10pm. It's more of a laugh than anything else really. There are a few young boys (18yrs) that are currently volunteering at the deaf school and they are also attending this Scottish dance lessons and they are so funny, it's just great fun dancing with them or watching them do their thing haha, they leave at the start of December though so not sure if I'll go once they've gone lol, not sure if it'll be so much fun without them :-(
I started reading the Fifty Shades trilogy and am now on book number 3. I'm quite enjoying the story behind all the sex, but some of the sex sounds good too haha!! It's not the best book i've ever read but i'm sure it'll not be the worst. I now have all our other books though so have loads and loads of books waiting to be read next!
Well I gave in to Paul's requests for me to get a cleaner, so she comes every Tuesday afternoon for around 3 hours and she only charges £6 for that. She's really good, does my windows and floors and other bits n pieces. I tend to clean at the same time doing things like dishes, washing, ironing, dusting etc do that I don't feel too bad about having a cleaner!
Ok I could probably go on and on but will stop there, that's the most important things that's happened I'm sure.
Ciao for now...