Hello again!

Quick update on gap year journey. Since my first post I have: passed my driving test, had all my jags, finished exams, finished school forever, been doing as much spanish as possible and writing endless lists of teaching and packing ideas.

I also have just returned from a very intense four days of training on the Isle of Coll on the West coast of Scotland. On training we were given more information about our projects and country as well as info on general issues such as insurance, health, travel, teaching and lesson planning, drugs and alcohol etc. I was also able to meet the rest of team Dom Rep including our desk officer and my partner! The group seems really lovely and I think we will make a good team!

From left to right: Fiona and Bryony who will be working in a project identical to the one which I am going to about 20 minutes from La Hoya (the village where I will be based). Fiona is the art teacher and Bryony is the English teacher
In the center is Felicity (our desk officer, based on Coll)
I am on the right with my partner, Ruth. We will be living in la Hoya where I will teach art and Ruth will teach English at the primary school which is run by the charity COPA.
Kneeling at the front are the two boys Dylan and Ben. They will be living and working in an outreach programme in Santiago in the North of the country.

Because it is such a small country (slightly smaller than Scotland) we will all be able to meet up regularly and travel together at weekends and holidays.

It will be really good having the other two girls very close by and as our projects are so similar we can share ideas and lesson plans when we meet up at the weekends as well as giving each other a bit extra support and security in the first few difficult months.

So between now and leaving (on the 14th of Aug, four days after my 18th birthday!) I will be gathering all my things together, saying final farewells and just generally panicking! However, in all seriousness though I do still feel totally terrified and have the odd (fairly frequent) wobbly moment I really can't wait to get stuck in! I can't wait to experience a new culture, meet and get to know a new community and way of life, smell new smells, taste new things, speak a new language and get to know a new country. It will be the experience of a lifetime and I fully intend to make the most of every minute!