Good morning!
On Saturday it was the beginning of my three-month countdown towards my departure... I am both excited and also nervous.
My mum bought me these gorgeous pants for India! They are incredibly lightweight, and will be so cooling in the heat:
They are a tiny bit too long, so we are either going to take them up or I am thinking about adding elastic to the bottoms so that they add a bit more shape. But I am just in love with them! I love the detailing on the waist!!!!
So, in terms of where I am at with preparations for India, I have just made an appointment for an interview with The Weekend Sun, our local weekly paper. Eeee! Hopefully this will work in a few ways, by raising awareness, and maybe helping with finding a job and fundraising etc. That is the hope anyway!
My arms have finally recuperated from the injection of an assortment of diseases, and I can actually sleep on my arms now - thank God!
Mum and I went and checked out Kathmandu, as we had a voucher that gets a staff discount on most items, and I bought a few travel essentials! Some travel toiletries like shampoo + bodywash sheets (you wet them and they dissolve and foam! So cool!), a travel towel, a head torch (for the sometimes dodgy power), an alarm clock, and this cool back-pack that folds down to a size that you can just put into your pocket! So it is all very exciting, and becoming so much more real...
I received an email from one of the ladies that lived at the flat that I will be staying in next year, and I have found out (with relief), that my rent is going to be so much cheaper than originally thought. Instead of 12,500 rupees (Rs) (about 320 NZD) per month, it is actually Rs 6000 (about 153 NZD)!! And around Rs 500 for food per week (around 12 NZD)... so cheap! It's crazy.
The flat has three bedrooms (2double + 1single), with a small lounge and two toilets (one western, one squatting - both flushing).
Oh! Mum and dad (and hopefully my brother) are going to make a trip to visit me for a week or something while I am in India!! Best news! It means that I wont get toooo homesick knowing that I will get to see them within the year :)
Things I need to sort out:
- renewing passport
- filling out 'In the Event of Death' form
- writing and signing my will
- look into travel insurance
- dentist/optometrist/hairdresser
- begin learning the language (Bengali)
- vaccinations
- visas
- find a job
From now on this will be my blog that I will be using for my trip next year! I may change the name, but I am not too sure just yet.
I will continue adding updates and will probably begin putting random pieces of information or facts that I learn along the way, as well as some different words in Bengali, so you can learn with me!!
First lesson - pretty much all the months of the year are pronounced the same in Bengali as it is in English!!!
x
