Saturday 7 July 2012

Last Week in Lhohi

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











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