It doesn’t seem like a month today since we all left our houses
to head to Manchester airport, and in just a week we’ll be back in England. In
essence I think everyone is beginning to get ready to head home now, with small
luxuries like chocolate, hot water and toilet paper to look forward too.
This week
has been relatively low key and somewhat run of the mill, with us being in
school Monday to Thursday for our English lessons. Classes are nearly finished now with just
Monday and Tuesday’s lessons to conclude our program, which most of the kids
seem to have got something out of. Our dream to watch England in the Euros
final on Sunday night was crushed, and we decided sleep was more important than
staying up to watch the final, despite the game sounding pretty epic. Breakfasts
have become somewhat of a mystery this week ranging from Fish curry with rice
to tuna wraps and in all (despite my moaning for the past 3 blogs) meals have
been a lot nicer and varied this week. We had the pleasure of meeting a man
from the Maldivian government this week called, Faisal, who has gone out of his
way to make our last week on the island so enjoyable. After talking with him
and finding out he lived in Sunderland for two years, he invited us to his
house for a chicken curry on Thursday, which was easily the best meal we’ve
had, equalled only by the next days lunch at Zahir’s house.
In one of
the first weeks on the island we spotted a shop selling hand painted wood and
other objects but it appeared to be closed down. This week we spotted some of
the locals clearing out the shop and they kindly gave us the rest of the stock
from the shop to give as gifts to our families in exchange for a great deal of
money. (OK, they were free really but don’t tell our parents, as they look bang
tidy)
We began
sunbathing this week in a effort to show some sort of tan when we get back to
England next weekend, and after a few days in the sun we look like bronze
goddess now (although my sister will probably say I look more like a bronzed
Buddha and unsurprising Colly hasn’t changed a bit). Tuesdays sunbathing was
somewhat eventful as we got caught up in a storm on the beach forcing us to
take shelter inside the forest until the rain slowed down enough for us to walk
across the beach. That was a perfect example of the Maldives weather and how
you can turn from glorious sunshine to tropical storms in a matter of seconds.
This weeks
sport round up is more varied than usual, with the senior football tournament
beginning, which we are pleased to report was far less eventful than the junior
final mentioned in the last blog! In cricket the Indians pulled back a game in
the series but England still won the series 2-1. We’ve also had the chance to
be taught a table tennis lesson in the youth club this week by some of the
locals. With not a lot to do on the island you can see how some of the locals
pass the time as we still got stuffed even when it was 2 vs. 1. Unfortunately
we’ve not been able to get hold of any Wimbledon courage over here, but we’re
desperately looking to find somewhere to watch the final tonight, with us all
(expect Steve) hoping Murray can claim his first major!
Before we
came to the Maldives our volunteer company gave us some money to go and buy
some football tops to give out to the locals who we became friends with, but
this has been somewhat less straightforward than we all imagined. Despite the
fact that everyone is now asking us and expects a ‘jersey’, all the ones we
have given out so far have ended up being worn by the ‘Police’ on the island,
so were not too sure what’s going on, and have decided not to give out the
remaining top and to let someone else decide what to do with them.
And that’s it from our final week
on Lhohi, this weeks plans promise not to disappoint though. Volunteer Maldives
has arranged a speedboat to take us to one of the most expensive and nicest
resorts on the Maldives on Wednesday where we will be staying over night (only
costing us about £65 each too, with special rate for volunteers). Then Thursday
night we’re hopping on a seaplane to the capital and spending the night there,
before heading beginning our long journey home on Friday. Hoping to send an
update with some pictures from the resort on Wednesday night, as we have no
idea what it will be like, just that we’re staying in a Jacuzzi Beach Villa.
Given up on becoming a bear, but
may have lost a chin
Dodge
the Adventure Spot tour as
ReplyDeleteHelicopter tour in Nepal,
Mountain Biking tour
and Mountain Flight in Nepal