The Plan

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So my flights are all booked and paid for, but thanks to the incompetence of Birmingham Uni, my flights have cost me £1060 (long story - but basically I was waiting to hear on my teacher training application and waited around for a decision and didn't want to book flights because of it...they took 2 months to tell me 'no' and now all the other places I've applied to are full...)I have paid extra on my flights to be able to change my coming home dates up to 3 times at no extra cost (woo!). I think its more likely I'll have to come home early cuz I'm skint than stay out later cuz I'm having such a good time!

I will be spending the first three weeks in Merida, Mexico, on this project Merida
I can't emphasise how important it is to do your research when it comes to voluntary projects... with STA something like that would cost about £800 but this project is only costing me £200 for 3 weeks. You have to be a bit more independent - I'll be cooking for myself and making my own way to my placement on public transport - but that's all part of immersing yourself in the local culture isn't it!

After I've finished in Merida, I will be backpacking through to Guatemala, via Campeche, Ciudad Del Carmen (party town), Palenque (ruins) Villahermosa and San Cristobal De Las Casas (hippy gringo trail town). Since those few words are all I know about those places, I should really think about buying a guide book. 10 days to go!!

Next stop is Quetzaltenango - no I don't know how you say it either, also called Xela. I was looking to either do a language course here or some voluntary work, but I found through workaway.org a really awesome organisation where I can do both.

El Nahual language school in a non-profit organisation that provides cheap Spanish lessons to visitors. They pump all the money they make from language lessons into a school for disadvantaged youngsters on the outskirts of Xela, teaching them music, arts, crafts, Spanish and English. They require that all of their visiting students spend some time volunteering in the local community or their school, at least 4 hours a week. I have chosen 20 hours of language tuition a week with 10+ hours of voluntary work, and as an added extra I will also be living with a Guatemalan family for the 2 weeks I will be there, who will provide me with all my meals. 2 weeks language tuition, voluntary work, accommodation and meals will cost me £300 - not bad - again, it pays to do your research!

After that, I head West towards Honduras, and the coastal town of La Cieba. There's a chance I might volunteer for a week at a lakeside hostel on the way but I think I'll be a bit pushed for time and maybe a bit fed up of volunteering by then - I'll never make it to Rio if I keep stopping to volunteer at places! I'll then catch a ferry to Utila, where I'm booked on a conservation project for 3 weeks. I might get to work with turtles! After that I am thinking of heading to the Island of Roatan (just a short boatride away) where there is a lady with 2 young kids that runs a small hostel where I might just stay as a customer, or stay for free and work for a week tutoring her sons and helping out. I'm hoping to get my PADI dive certificate whilst I'm in Honduras too.

Next stop is Costa Rica, but the fine details of how I'm going to get there and where my first stop will be haven't yet been finalised.

I have pretty much got the first 8 or 9 weeks sorted though, and 3 voluntary projects in that time should be fun!

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