Hello!
A change in format from my old blog posts. Since my last official post in 2015, I've never stopped writing. I've filled multiple diaries with my excursions, food consumption, poetry, emotions and daily thoughts. Although my pen-to-paper work has been pretty good, translating this online hasn't happened. I can't promise my organisation will improve, but here are a couple of emails from the last 15 months since I left the UK that I've written to keep everyone updated! I hope you're all well and have had a grand summer! Apologies as usual my communication skills are only ever getting worse but I will try and update you now! As my time in Sri Lanka is coming to an end I thought I'd give you an overview of the last 9 months (as much for my benefit as yours!)... I've taught renewable energy, superheroes, superlatives and politics to school children and uni students; made animal masks, practised maths and perfected the cha cha slide with special needs clients; and given emotions workshops, sensory stimulation, cooking and played bowling with mental health patients to name just a few sessions! I've written teaching syllabuses, incident reports, and timetables until my arms have ached. I've been lucky enough to listen to countless psychiatrists and psychologists (I now know the difference!) give talks on anything and everything from Sri Lankan trauma to homosexuality. I've camped with 5,000 young people for 5 days, ran a 10k relay race with them and met the president and the prime minister in the process! I've survived a spider bite and a tuk tuk crash (and am definitely still pretending I'm a surfer girl!). I've ridden on hundreds of buses, tuk tuks, and the odd train! I've been a mum, grandma and great grandma to hundreds of volunteers. I've taken more volunteers to the doctors for dog bites, heat rash and mosquito bites than I ever imagined possible. I've dealt with volunteers' panic attacks, friendship fall outs, aggressive clients and psychosis. I've been to a Beatles concert to raise money for adolescent flood victims and walked 15km to raise awareness of mental health. Mum & Rosy have visited my homestay and learnt to eat rice and curry with their hands, and I even dragged them on trains, buses, tuk tuks and bikes around the country! I've had my birthday, new year, Christmas and Easter on the beaches and in the hills of Sri Lanka and made friends with tuk tuk drivers, bus conductors, supermarket security guards, beach boys, cafe owners, juice market sellers and homestay families. This is all just a snapshot of everything I've done here and im sure I will think of plenty more! My last official day with SLV is tomorrow but I have 2 weeks until my visa's up. I still haven't booked a flight out (because spontaneity is fun - and im just not that organized!) but I am preparing a Beyoncé dance for our talent show on Monday! I also managed a quick trip to Bali in April but otherwise haven't left this island pearl so its pretty daunting! I'm not going to venture too far though but am planning to head to Nepal for some trekking and exercise! Take care (and take loaads of pictures of orange leaves in my favorite season for me!)
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About meI enjoy writing and have had experience from my degree and through working on news posts. I hope to use this blog as a summary of extraordinary things I've discovered or witnessed in everyday life. Archives
March 2020
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