The Last Supper(s)

Writing this post, I’ve just returned from my last appointment of injections and as a treat I’ve got myself my last fish and chips for the next 3 months. This last week has been filled with “Last Suppers”. Takeaways with friends, mac & cheese and as my final FINAL supper on Tuesday night, a Tuesday roast (it’s not actually my last supper, but I think I’ll be too nervous to eat anything the night before).

Having returned from Tunisia, last Friday, Saturday was a rush of throwing sun creams, insect repellent, antibacterial hand gel and various medicine in the shopping basket in Boots, travel towels, sleeping bag liners, water purifiers and padlocks in the basket in Cotswolds and Cup’a’Soup and Malteaser hot chocolate in the basket in Tesco. Trying to work out how many insect repellent sprays I’ll need for the next 10 weeks is actually harder than it sounds - I went for 9 cans just to be safe - and I’ve not spent so much time contemplating between chicken, chicken noodle or mushroom Cup'a'Soup - I went for a selection of all three. The dining room has been converted into a packing room, all of Saturdays toiletries shopping on the right, clothes on the dining table, shoes, hats, and miscellaneous on the chairs. It's now time to start packing.

My nerves have amplified as my final days in the UK disappear and then constantly fluctuate between nerves, impatience and excitement. I feel very weird, as if I’m in no mans land. Not enough time to really do anything but so much time to fill before my flight on Thursday. Deflation is the word I think I’d use. I’ve been so busy the previous couple of months and now I have nothing else to say or do except get on the Liberia bound plane. I could try and find something else to buy or get to be ready but there comes a point when I have to just stop. 

Say goodbye. 

And leave.

Vaccinations, Viscose and Volunteering

To whoever comes across this blog, you may or may not know what I’ll be doing over the next few months. At the start of this year, I applied for a once-in-a-lifetime experience to volunteer for three months in Africa or Asia with VSO ICS (Volunteering Services Overseas International Citizen Service) where there are so many projects that desperately need people to help continue the fantastic work that they do. I was then told that I would be joining the YCare International team and will be working in Liberia on various projects alongside local volunteers to help young people get themselves out of poverty. I could be informing them on neglected health issues, helping them obtain skills to gain employment or encouraging them to campaign for better living standards.

I have to admit, when I was told that I’d be going to Liberia, I was slightly terrified that I was going to a country that’s civil war only really ended in 2003 and the news of the spread of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia's neighbor, did worry me. Dad’s comprehensive fact file on the Ebola virus and its current spread didn’t particularly help either. (Love you really Dad!) But since then, I’ve researched further, watched documentaries, read other traveler's blogs in Liberia and I feel excited to visit this amazing country that I feel I will be warmly welcomed into.

At the time of writing this first post, according to my countdown app, my departure to Liberia (and from home comforts) was 23 days, 7 hours and 4 minutes. AAAAAH! Nerves are kicking in and preparations are really starting to begin. I have myself a nice long checklist in my head for everything I need to get/do and I feel like a million miles from reaching the end of it when the airport is merely about 200 miles and 23 days away.

The last few weeks have been a scramble of visits to London, fundraising, sharing of my JustGiving page (which as it happens is www.justgiving.com/Olivia-Lamb1) and phone calls to the GP surgery. I’ve had to get so many vaccinations, I now feel like a pincushion. I really should’ve gotten sponsored to get all these injections, Hepatitis B vaccine especially. #Ow.

And from my shopping list for Liberia, I can now honestly say that I know the pros and cons of all types of fabric – viscose, cotton, linen, etc. I’ve never gone shopping and been so practical in my whole entire life. Too short. Too thick. Wrong fabric. Too posh. Inappropriate. Too expensive. Literally NEVER been this sensible. And who knew there were so many different choices and features of a rucksack. Too many choices!

But the training weekend in London has calmed a lot of my nerves (or as much as it can). I now know where I might find myself in a month’s time, who I might be with in a month’s time, what I might be doing in a month’s time. Knowing I’m not in it alone makes it a lot easier and now I’m just excited to get started with the projects and discover and explore my new home for the next 10 weeks.

But for now I still have my checklist to finish and multiple injections to be stabbed by, so my new home will have to wait a couple more weeks.

P.S. Here's a nice cheeky photo of me in my new YCare International T-Shirt!