All confirmed

Phew! The last 24 hours have been a mixture of crazy and cool. I have gone from emailing both Centres simply discussing how and when I will come, to booking my tickets and buying supplies. Yikes! I am leaving for Uganda on the 18th October and returning on the 30th November. My trip to India is scheduled for January.

I will be staying with the School Director (John) in Uganda. They are arranging for someone to collect me from the airport so that I don't have to spend two hours sat on a "chicken bus" bumping along dirt roads with jetlag and a ton of luggage. For my Bajan friends reading this, a "chicken bus" seems to be the eqivilent of a ZR. Yeah, two hours on one of those . . . eeep.

So far I have bought a few pairs of shoes for myself that will keep my feet protected from a bug in Uganda that lives in the dirt and burrows up under your toenails and apparently rots your feet - geez!! I also now own a mahoosive backpack that I think I am going to have a trial run carrying on my trip to France next week; a double-layer mozzie net (no Malaria for me thank you!); a camping mat (apparently my bed could in fact simply be a "wooden platform"); a wind-up torch (for late night trips to the loo!); a 'day bag' for travelling between villages; a 'body wallet' for carrying my passport at all times (but hidden from sight); and a whistle - my mom made me buy that, bless her. There are so many more things I have to get and I am compiling a list as I read more on the net. I will put my full packing list on here soon. Friends have offered me various bits of equipment and advice (I have a great set of well-travelled friends, thank goodness) so I hope they will scan my list for me and point out any obvious errors. Thanks to my good friend E, I am going to be stocking up on wet-wipes, which I hadn't thought of. Duh.

So - - the flights are booked, as is the coach to Heathrow, and I am sending off my Visa application soon. They should only take about 10 days to come back to me. Tuesday is injection day at the doctor - cue very sore arms. I'm starting my Malaria tablets two weeks before I set off.

Quite a few friends have emailed asking if there is anything they can give me to take for the orphanages/schools and the answer is "yes please!". Please see below:-

- Single bed sheets
- Children's clothing / shoes (all primary school ages)
- School supplies
- SD card for a digital camera (the Centre in Uganda has specifically asked for this)

Please bear in mind that I am carrying all of this myself. If I am required to take an extra bag (which is likely) British Airways are going to charge me £70 (ever heard of charity BA?!).

Well, I have a million things to do and lots of lists to write so I'll catch you all later!