Sunday, December 7, 2008

Busy times...

It is the end of a very hectic week! Along with thirty portfolios on the way, we've also had to juggle blood tests, chest x-rays, dental appointments, full medicals and copious vaccinations at the travel doctor. I'm so lucky my principal was happy for me to take any time I needed to squeeze in these appointments to my week.

The week before last included three day in Wellington attending the VSA pre-departure briefing. Was so amazing to meet all of the other VSA volunteers heading off to other amazing places such as Tanzania, the Solomons, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Cambodia, to do equally amazing jobs: Landscape gardeners, teachers, youth workers, librarians etc.... Was great to meet the UNIVOL volunteers, graduates from Otago University heading off to Tanzania and Vanuatu. What a great opportunity for them!

At the end of each day we were all inspired and exhausted! There was so much to discuss and think about: international development, capacity building, how to keep ourselves safe from all sorts of creepy crawlies, snakes, malaria and other diseases... luckily many of these aren't on Tokelau. We do however, have to try and de-mosquito our home... we will be exposed to the beautiful mosquito that carries dengue fever. We also discussed some of the many situations we may find our selves in such as civil unrest, cyclones and any other potential disasters that mean we may have to evacuate. I think we feel as prepared as we can at this stage.... Mental note: must remember to findout cyclone emergency proceedure when we get to atoll!

Any spare time I have is spent getting quotes from jewelry suppliers and researching Dremel tools. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity to spend less time running the treadmill in the rat race and nurturing my creative side. I can't wait to learn the Tokelaun art of weaving.

All going to plan, this coming week we will get the all-clear from both of our medicals. I'm just pleased that I passed being able to touch my toes! I just can't wait to find out what our living situation will be like!

2 comments:

Swaggie said...

A good wee blogsite, keep up the information, you never know what might come up in jewelry tools.

Fievels said...

I've ordered a workshop full of tools... they arrived today. A good investment for my spare time over the next two years I'm sure! If you wanna buy me some tools just ask me what I need! A few gaps left now!