Fuzzy and Harriet

After spending 12 very very long hours in Bangkok airport check waiting for our flight we finally made it to Hong Kong ('fragrant harbour'in English). We navigated the surprisingly simple bus system in Hong Kong to finally make it to our 'hotel'. Now England could learn a thing or two from the transport system in Hong Kong, the bus stops are labelled before you get on the bus and each has its price written along side it (unlike in England where it only tells you the final destination and if you haven't taken the bus before you really have no idea.... well I'm sure its written somewhere but its not clear.) and each stop is announced before you get there so you know which one is your stop. Easy peasy. I think its a bit of ... read more

The 24 hour train ride to Beijing went at the speed of light, met some really nice travelers whilst on the train (don't ask us their names though, haven't got the foggiest!) resulting in plenty of conversation and general story sharing and banter. After donning our massively heavy bags, which were well over the weight limit, we stood in the immigration queue only to spot Ruth the other side of the barrier! I'm surprised the rest of the world wasn't aware when we saw here as we jumped and I could have sworn the weight of us and our bags must have caused an earthquake somewhere in the world! We were so excited but the immigration lady didn't quite understand that, we don't quite look anything like our passport photo's anymore and she was not all ... read more

Here's one about Shia, madventurer's famous little village an hour away from Ho. So when the new volunteers arrived in Ho we (Izzy, Harriet and me) all shipped ourselves into their fancy air-con tro and headed over to Shia. We may have been a little sentimental about leaving Ho but more excited about all the new people and the crazy new project. So we were told we were to help build a new technical block for the local college. This would help the students who were training in carpentry skills. So the main part of the project for us, seeing as we were only there for two weeks was clearing the area, digging the foundations and making bricks. There were a lot of locals eager to help which meant that some of the time we weren't ... read more

Technically we went to Brenu Beach again which is near Elmina.... So this weekend we decided that as it was pretty much our last weekend travelling around Ghana we wanted it to be relaxing after quite a stressful week at the hospital. (We saw a still birth at the same time as a healthy birth resulting in me passing out, i'm going to blame the heat and well the fact that it was very distressing! The still birth baby was breeched as well and all blue, horrifying.) We left bright and early on Saturday not really sure how to get to Brenu but we knew its where we wanted to be! So got a tro to Accra and then somehow found a tro to Cape Coast. That tro was luxury! By far the safest and fanciest ... read more

This weekend we went to Accra to drop Sophie off as she was flying to Kenya! We stayed at a pretty budget hotel but it was pretty nice as there were no bugs and the bed was big enough to fit all 3 of us! 3.50 a night you can't really go wrong! We decided as it was Sophie's last day we would do all the things in Accra we would do something very leisurely, we went to Accra Mall. Accra is one of our least favourite towns as it is very very very busy (much like any other capital I guess....) and there are open drains all over the place and its very dirty. It is handy in that the food is better and its just bigger but still.... we love our little village! So ... read more

Ok its been a while again.... School: the Children are so sweet! most of them are really nice and friendly but they know we wouldn't cain them so they run circles around us! We have discovered if we threaten to sen them to Master they hush up quite quick! Although it didn't work when he went away for the afternoon..... Harriet and I are usually paired together and we start each lesson constructively but it does deteriorate into just playing and messing about! We've taught in P6,5,3,2 and 1at different times that is! At least one teacher doen't turn up everyday resulting in us taking their place but we have no clue what subject we're actually covering or how many children there are, what equipment they have and to what standard they understand English. When I ... read more

So we've been in Ho for a few days now... So here's a quick update! We got here on a very long tro-tro ride, there was a lot of traffic as supposedly friday's are funeral/wedding days so everyone goes off to celebrate (yes they celebrate funerals as well! lots of music to cheer up the family of the bereaved!). The tro was amazing though, air con! its took a good 3-4 hours but when we got to the house we were so relieved! its pretty amazing! Bunk beds, fans, a fridge, tv, stereo, loads of books, 2 showers, 2 toilets and a kitchen! couldn't wish for more! Satturday we went for a tour of the town, which i a little small but has plenty of bars and restaurants! Saturday night we went out with the crew. ... read more

Here are some random photos of what we have done so far.... I know its been a long time since we last wrote but here is a summary of the more exciting things that we've done.... We went on a boat trip that started out just cheery but then the boat began to take on a little too much water resulting in mild flooding! We had to stop by a bank whilst the driver got a jug and started bucketing out the water..... All the scary little bugs started fleeing from under the woodwork and ran across us, was not pleasant. However we did see the funny side of drowning though! Thankfully another boat came to our rescue, it was bigger and i guess it could take our weight better without drowning! (there were 13 of ... read more