Ready for the off

After a whistlestop farewell tour of the UK (possibly more Happy Mondays than Abba in its profitability) we now reach the eve of our departure. A lot of people have rightly suggested we must be incredibly excited. However to be honest it has been such a mad rush getting everything sorted, we've barely had time to think beyond moving flats, finishing work and getting forms and innoculations all signed off.


Speaking of which, after receiving an elephant-sized cold from the ever thoughtful Colin Gordon, I was unable to get my final rabies vaccine in the usual clinical environment at my local GP. So after transporting the drug between five different fridges via Dad's cool bag, here (in the photo) is my good friend and doctor Richard Woods administering the necessary in the Pitcher and Piano in London during lunch on Monday. An odd side effect not mentioned on the box was waking in the middle of the night to find my self biting Lucy's hand. Fortunately I wasn't foaming at the mouth.
See you all in a year. Andy

Motivations

11 days to go and the reality is hitting. Insomnia has set in (Andy is sleeping like a baby) and motivations are being questioned. Without sounding glib or ludicrous, it's difficult to explain why we're leaving the relative comfort of home, friends, family and good jobs to go somewhere completely lacking in proximity to these things. Our fancy dress leaving party threw up some great quotes from Mallory (Watson dressed as the exploring legend) which are barely relevant but stick in the mind. "Why climb Everest?". "Because it is there," he said several times before losing his fake beard. That's not why we're doing it but maybe one part of going to Ghana is because it's not Glasgow and doesn't offer the comforts we've grown to love. Lucy

Homeless

We left the flat with a bit of a bang. Our fancy dress leaving party on Saturday night followed by 10 hours of packing and moving on Sunday. No point doing things the easy way. Cheerio Pollokshields. It feels so real and incredibly exciting now that we've moved out.
Seeing everyone on Saturday was fantastic, and good to see you've not forgotten the joy of fancy dress. Indiana Jones being chased by a giant inflatable boulder - incredible special effects. Marty McFly explaining the Delorean's flux capacitor to Phileas Fogg is a sight that no one should miss.
We'll definitely miss friends and family.
Andy

Packing up

After a year of saving and planning, it's hard to believe that we're leaving in just a few weeks. Our flat looks like a fancy dress emporium that's been burgled. Packing for the actual trip hasn't even begun... The thought of having to buy padded cycle short isn't helping.

Our office

We've now completed our final VSO UK training course. A very tough 4 days of self-analysis, and spongeing informaton. The courses have covered health, security, relationships, culture and working environment, dealing with your own and others' preconceptions, and negotiation and facilitation skills in some detail. VSO is pretty thorough in preparing people. Exhausting, but really worthwhile and quite inspiring to meet some of the amazing people who are heading off to some very tough placements.

We have one final training course in Accra starting on 12th September. The above photo shows the office in Koforidua that we'll both be based from.