Five sleeps and I'm really excited!

Kevan and Davy have just been round and I'm now so excited!  Lump aside, I'm now just desperate to be there.  Don't get me wrong, I will miss the hounds and girls (and maybe even Davie too) but it just sounds so amazing.  I have so much to do before I go - my central heating and hot water have decided to pack in so need to get that fixed asap.  I have a ton of paperwork to do. I haven't packed yet and its too cold in the house without heating to go upstairs.  Varying opinions about whether I should go due to this lump but I'm still as stubborn determined as ever.

I've got some landrover stuff to fit in my case and Davy has taken away some art stuff to put in his hand luggage. I've also got more boil in the bag food to take. We've had the conversation about spiders again and Kevan has again promised he will dispose of any spiders and will check toilet (or hole in ground as it will be) for spiders before I go.  God knows how I'll cope in the jungle!

I'm now responsible for checking us all in online on Friday.  We're leaving for the airport at around 6.30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The less hassle at the airport, the better.  I have my postponed work Christmas night out Friday night so no high heels and definitely no alcohol for me the night before.  We fly Edinburgh to Amsterdam then on to Accra from there. We'll arrive in Accra around 8 p.m. on Saturday night.

When we arrive, Neil who runs the charity Village by Village, will be there to pick us up at the airport and he'll take us to the Pink Hostel in Accra to drop our bags. Then we're heading to an Irish pub to have some beers and food.  We'll stay over night on the Saturday then on Sunday morning, we'll walk to a nearby 5 star hotel to get breakfast.  Neil will then pick us up and we'll go to a European style shopping mall to pick up beer, water, art supplies and things like Pringles etc to keep us going.  We then do the 3-4 hour drive off road to the village. We should be there before dark.

All I know at this stage is that I will be doing the baby clinics and doing art stuff in school.  I am spending at least one day helping Davy fix landrovers.  In general I'll do anything that is asked of me - with the humidity, hopefully inside!  I have said I want to go to church - am not religious even in the slightest however I do have a bit of an obsession with religion and apparently the church is the full singing and dancing type place which will be amazing!  We're heading off into the jungle on the 2nd week to live off the land. How they think a veggie will do this, I've no idea!  I have some boil in bag rice to take so I won't starve.

I meant to add last time about the instructions on what to do if we see a snake. Apparently we've to walk backwards slowly shouting snake until we are a safe distance, then we run away. I've not to be tempted to go on the "snake hunt" with the locals to catch and kill it - no chance of that! I don't mind snakes but I don't particularly want to see any be killed.  Its all about respecting other cultures though and my own beliefs are going to be compromised at times.

My to-do list is massive now.  I'm afraid I did start smoking again but have to stop very quickly because I can't smoke in Ghana - I cannot allow these kids to think smoking is cool because it isn't. I need to master staying stopped - I can stop so easily but havent' ever got past 6 months stopped.  I think the priority is getting my heating fixed and pack my bags so I can weigh them.  That may reduce the stress and I'm aiming for stopping smoking on Wednesday.

Temperature in Accra tonight is 78 degrees with 88% humidity.  Am so excited that I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight...