It feels like a lot of time has passed since my last blog, so I thought I'd do a general catch up post.
Work
Work has been busy and quiet, stop start, fast and slow, but about to build into a busy period. Next week we are running another group training session on Farmer Field School techniques, groundnut growing techniques, and monitoring and evaluation at field level. That'll be my bit, so I'm preparing this week and trying to work out what to focus my session on.
Leavers workshop
At the beginning of May we had our leavers workshop, signifying the beginning of the end of my VSO volunteer experience at this time. The workshop was to prepare us for our return home or onward journey. We watched a video which made me laugh - filmed somewhere around 2002 it seemed amazingly dated. One of the tips was to save your work to a computer disk so that you could print examples to show employers when you got home. It reminded me of saving my dissertation onto a floppy disk! The past volunteers also talked of how difficult it was to reintegrate back into their old lives, after not seeing or speaking to friends and family for so long. Powered by Skype and email and Facebook I think I speak more to my friends and family now than I did when I lived a busy life in London! But, despite the dated references triggering memories of life before file sharing, cloud storage and social media, the video was a timely reminder that the next four months will flash past, and I really need to sort out my next move.
At the beginning of May we had our leavers workshop, signifying the beginning of the end of my VSO volunteer experience at this time. The workshop was to prepare us for our return home or onward journey. We watched a video which made me laugh - filmed somewhere around 2002 it seemed amazingly dated. One of the tips was to save your work to a computer disk so that you could print examples to show employers when you got home. It reminded me of saving my dissertation onto a floppy disk! The past volunteers also talked of how difficult it was to reintegrate back into their old lives, after not seeing or speaking to friends and family for so long. Powered by Skype and email and Facebook I think I speak more to my friends and family now than I did when I lived a busy life in London! But, despite the dated references triggering memories of life before file sharing, cloud storage and social media, the video was a timely reminder that the next four months will flash past, and I really need to sort out my next move.
Food
I can't blog without mentioning food! The season has been good and I'm enjoying some of the vegetables that I missed so much at the end of the rainy season. Red peppers have been a particular treat over the last few weeks. I managed to get my hands on some more beetroot and made a nice beetroot soup with flat breads the other week. And mango season is coming, slowly but surely. I've had two so far but I'm hoping to buy some in bulk when I go up country next week. I also finally opened a box of chocolates this week that Alex sent to me at Christmas. Keeping them for this long took a lot of willpower, and you can see the look of happiness on my face to open them! I have also had some special celebratory meals in the last month too, the champagne that I had saved since August was divine! Thanks Lucy and Rob!
I can't blog without mentioning food! The season has been good and I'm enjoying some of the vegetables that I missed so much at the end of the rainy season. Red peppers have been a particular treat over the last few weeks. I managed to get my hands on some more beetroot and made a nice beetroot soup with flat breads the other week. And mango season is coming, slowly but surely. I've had two so far but I'm hoping to buy some in bulk when I go up country next week. I also finally opened a box of chocolates this week that Alex sent to me at Christmas. Keeping them for this long took a lot of willpower, and you can see the look of happiness on my face to open them! I have also had some special celebratory meals in the last month too, the champagne that I had saved since August was divine! Thanks Lucy and Rob!
Exercise
Nicola and I have been trying to get back into regular exercise for months. Time after work, darkness and heat have been the typical deterrents but lately we've really gotten our act together! Starting from a pretty low position we decided to do the couch to 5k challenge to get us back into it with a bit of structure. We're now half way through week 4 and really enjoying it. Regular exercise (more than just walking and cycling to work and back) really improves my mood. We even tackled the challenge of running on sand to have a beach training session last week.
Nicola and I have been trying to get back into regular exercise for months. Time after work, darkness and heat have been the typical deterrents but lately we've really gotten our act together! Starting from a pretty low position we decided to do the couch to 5k challenge to get us back into it with a bit of structure. We're now half way through week 4 and really enjoying it. Regular exercise (more than just walking and cycling to work and back) really improves my mood. We even tackled the challenge of running on sand to have a beach training session last week.
Easter
Easter was a nice weekend. Nicola, Abdou and I met her boss for a lovely benachin and drinks, and the rest of the weekend was very relaxing. A nice long break after working so hard on the Annual Country Report.
Tailoring
And finally, as mentioned a few posts back, my wardrobe was looking rather washed out, faded and bleached so I picked up some material from Serrakunda market. The result was three new dresses, and I was really pleased with the results!
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