Last week

Well it's my last full week in the UK starting today and my last week at work (as about 20 people have pointed out) Starting to get very anxious now. Have all my stuff sorted out. Not yet managed to get it all in my bag yet which could be the challenge of a lifetime.

Saying goodbye to people is hard. I cant wait to get out there and start the adventure but leaving my loved ones behind is much more emotional than even I, the most emotional of people, was expecting.
I think in the course of the last 24 hours I have undertaken every emotion going. I know it will all be worth it, I will have an amazing time and 6 months will fly by (and all of the other cliches that I have heard) But in reality it's a little bit sad.

On a slightly different note....Coral WTF!!!!! I know we are supposed to be able to learn the names and identify them but it is going to be a real challenge for me! I just cannot get my head around any of it. Lets hope it makes sense when I am out there or it's gunna be a long old 10 weeks for me!!!

Last week

Too much choice

Well I have finally managed to get everything I need organised. I just need to get some summer clothes that fit now!!!
What I have lernt is that there is just far too much choice. Buy a mosquito net they say!!! There must be about 20 different types ranging in huge prices. I spent so long look and reading and asking advice that in the end I just bit the bullet and bought one!! The same thing with wetsuits. It has been a couple of years since I bought my UK wetsuit which is needless to say very warm and very thick. Not so usefull for the warm waters of mexico. I also think I will be leaving my gloves nd hood at home in the UK. It's going to be nice to be able to both see what I am doing and not be wearing so much neoprene I can actually move!!
My best friend has organised me a leaving party next week and so today has also been about filling pinata's and buying fancy dress costumes. Very stereotypical I know but also a bit of fun.
4 weeks left at work and getting very busy in ensuring all is sorted so I am free to run away.
Feeling a huge mixture of excitement stress and blind fear but nice to be able to chat to some others on the trip via the magic of facebook. Helps me realise I am feeling exctly the same as everyone else.
I guess it's back to the shopping for now and then back to the gym to get that fitness just a little bit higher!!

Too much choice

Sitting looking at an evergrowing list of things I need to do I really do wonder sometimes if Ive bitten off more than I can chew. I am Hannah I'm 26 and live in Hertfordshire in the UK. Most of my days are spent working for a local social services department as a social work assistant, which I describe as a paid excuse to legitamatly be as nosy as social boundaries will not normally let me. I work with adults with a variety of disabilities and older frail people. I love it but can't wait for the opportunity to spend my days doing something different. I am so lucky they are allowing me the freedom to take the break and still have a job to come back to.

I have wanted to travel to central and south america for 9 years but have always found an excuse why I couldn't possibly do it, but this time I swallowed my nerves and booked the internship. I learnt to dive nearly 2 years ago and apart from a few dives in egypt have spent most of my underwater time in a less that appealing lake in Peterborough. I love diving and it is my time to truly relax and I can't wait to learn so much more about the underwater world that has mystified us humans for so long. I want to be able to pass my passion for being underwater and the secrets and wonders it relinqushes to those that take the time to look.

Some days I do wonder as I scour ebay for yet another peice of kit for as cheap as I can get it, why quite i thought this would be fun. As my friends go out partying and I sit in saving that next £50 for the "mexico fund" as it's fondly been dubbed by my friends, if it will all be worth it, but I am sure as soon as get off the plane that every missed adventure at home will be long forgotten as the adventure of a lifetime begins.