We really are leaving now. We've had the party to prove it.
Lots of our friends turned up on Saturday night to celebrate seeing the backs of us. We went to a new Brazillian bar off Drury Lane, London, called Guanabara. Quilombo do Samba - an 11-piece band consisting mainly of men smacking drums - really tested our hearing.
See some photos from the night. Mmmm... berry mojito.
Sunday 31 October 2004
Amy, Jody, Silje
Monday 25 October 2004
Corruption before we've even gone anywhere!
Saw something bad today... Bit disapointed.
For those who don't know, we've been in touch with a volunteering organisation and were planning to go there to work with homeless kids for a few months. However, we've found out (from previous volunteers) that this so-called 'charitable' organisation is corrupt and the guy running it pockets a lot of the donations, so not much money goes to the kids themselves and the running of the centres.
This is a bit disconcerting. If we want to go and see for ourselves, we'll have to try and avoid giving donations in advance (something that is apparently required). However, I can't see how many people (we've read numerous accounts on the worldsurface site) can be lying... Most have said the same thing how they felt duped and lied to, and how they all wanted to help but the place was so badly run/poor - that it was impossible.
We'll definately have to re-think as this leaves a big hole in our plans. However on a brighter note, we're still planning to volunteer at Villa Tunari (the monkey sanctuary) and we've only heard good things about that! Maybe we can stay a bit longer too...
The preparations are going well - just over a week to go. It's the final countdown....
For those who don't know, we've been in touch with a volunteering organisation and were planning to go there to work with homeless kids for a few months. However, we've found out (from previous volunteers) that this so-called 'charitable' organisation is corrupt and the guy running it pockets a lot of the donations, so not much money goes to the kids themselves and the running of the centres.
This is a bit disconcerting. If we want to go and see for ourselves, we'll have to try and avoid giving donations in advance (something that is apparently required). However, I can't see how many people (we've read numerous accounts on the worldsurface site) can be lying... Most have said the same thing how they felt duped and lied to, and how they all wanted to help but the place was so badly run/poor - that it was impossible.
We'll definately have to re-think as this leaves a big hole in our plans. However on a brighter note, we're still planning to volunteer at Villa Tunari (the monkey sanctuary) and we've only heard good things about that! Maybe we can stay a bit longer too...
The preparations are going well - just over a week to go. It's the final countdown....
Saturday 23 October 2004
Homeless
As of today, Amy and I are officially homeless. After a horrible seven days of condensing everything we own into boxes and sending them off to both our parents' houses, we've moved out and are staying with Amy's folks for the final week before we leave.
It's been such a stressful hassle that we're going to need a really long holiday to recover.
Thanks to my mum, Amy's parents and everyone else who has lugged boxes around for us.
It's been such a stressful hassle that we're going to need a really long holiday to recover.
Thanks to my mum, Amy's parents and everyone else who has lugged boxes around for us.
Tuesday 12 October 2004
Three weeks to go today
Just three weeks before we board the plane to Thailand, so I thought I'd mark the occasion with the first post on the blog.
Amy and I spent Sunday evening creating a map with the times we aim to reach each location. I'm sure it'll prove laughably inaccurate as we change our course along the way, but nailing our route down was a handy exercise (it's easy to forget exactly where we're going with everything else we're dealing with - finishing work, packing up the house, shopping for nifty zip-off trousers...).
Why do a blog? It's for family, friends and the odd stranger to read and will be a useful journal for us to look back on. But don't expect frequent updates, unless the weather is very wet.
Amy and I spent Sunday evening creating a map with the times we aim to reach each location. I'm sure it'll prove laughably inaccurate as we change our course along the way, but nailing our route down was a handy exercise (it's easy to forget exactly where we're going with everything else we're dealing with - finishing work, packing up the house, shopping for nifty zip-off trousers...).
Why do a blog? It's for family, friends and the odd stranger to read and will be a useful journal for us to look back on. But don't expect frequent updates, unless the weather is very wet.
