First week

Well, to start off I can't believe it's only been a week - in a good way! It seems like so much more time has passed here, even though I've yet to start work due to a delay in the NGO I'll be working with.

Not keen to let a golden opportunity pass me by, once I found out on Sunday that I wouldn't start work until later in the week I hopped onto an overnight bus to see Agra, or more specifically the Taj Mahal. I arrived an hour too early for the Taj at 5am and passed a pleasant hour in the (unopened) restaurant of a nearby hotel, reading a book and drinking chai, before running along the park to see the Taj in the morning mist. It was worth all of the effort to get there and I spent a healthy 7 hours wandering around taking in the surroundings - tranquil despite the number of visitors, before catching a bus to my next destination, Pushkar.

Pushkar is one of India's holiest sites, containing a lake which is said to have sprung from the petals of a lotus flower dropped to the desert by the God Brahma. It is also firmly in place on the well-trodden tourist trail of India. This means that the city centre as well as containing thousands of temples is also in many parts a grand bazaar, and made taking in the sights a little tiring. Despite this though the temples were enchanting - very serene despite the chaos outside. I spent a magical afternoon trekking into the mountains on horseback, on a gorgeous Indian horse which was very sweet and full of spirit! This was when I really managed to feel the magic of Pushkar, watching herds of animals running around and passing by tiny villages and schools on the way - it was well worth the aching muscles afterwards! In the evening I wandered around the town some more, and back at my hotel an Ayurvedic therapist advised me to stop eating bananas and chocolate for the sake of my blood circulation, and also told me that eating paper fried in butter every day would cure my myopia. Oddly enough my optician told me exactly the same thing the last time I visited. Optical Express are becoming really unorthodox....

So, this weekend is to be spent doing touristy stuff in Jaipur, and I will finally start work on Monday! I've already met some of the people I'll be working with, and can't wait to get started. Until then....

Since last time...

I moved into my trainee house, only to find out that it was the home of a friend I know from AIESEC - Abishek was on AIESEC International during my term on the UK MC so was very random to run into him! Such a small world - his mum runs a trainee house so there's currently me and a Japanese girl, Shoko there.

Have spent some more time hanging out with the AIESECers who are very cool and very motivated, as well as one evening playing poker and winning then subsequently losing all my chips! I've been out to the markets to try my hand at a bit of "negotiation", and been trying to learn some basic Hindi.

I still need to find a SIM card but once I do should be pretty much set for the next couple of months. The only slight hitch is that the place I'm working at told me at the last minute that they've had urgent meetings come up, so instead of starting today I'll need to start on Friday - cue me spending today rushing around trying to organise a last-minute trip - with any luck I'll manage to get on a train to Agra tonight and spend the next few days taking in the Taj Mahal, so it's certainly no disaster!!

Will keep you posted, and hopefully be able to upload some photos soon...

It's all started!!

I've now been in India for just over 24 hours!!

After a lovely evening with some old friends in London I got through my very short seeming flight (which played Vicky Cristina Barcelona - very happy, I thought I was going to have to wait ages to see it, and it was excellent; Ms Cruz definitely deserved her accolade for it!).

Caught a bus from Delhi to Jaipur which allowed me to see a little bit of the country's legendary roads - these deserve a post all of their own which will need to follow but suffice to say, it's chaos, but it works!

Deepa, who I've been speaking to here to organise this for months came to meet me at the bus station - was amazing to finally meet, and I stayed with her and her family last night! After a delicious lunch we went off to see a beautiful temple which has the giant marble tombs of all the old kings of jaipur. We had a very calm afternoon following the shadows and breezes around there and talking about India, before going to meet the AIESECers in the office. AIESEC Jaipur has just done one of their bi-annual recruitment and has 48 new recruits! So met up with some of them and then spent the evening relaxing and chatting over more delicious food (dal, bhati and choorma!) and later on a shisha.

This is a very short post as I'm just going off to move into my trainee flat - more soon!

My new favourite blog...

...for whenever I'm feeling stupid. This is a gem of a collection of the most ridiculous statements made via the "user comments" function on a popular British news site. Visit for 5 minutes for a beautiful bit of schadenfreude, as well as to reassure yourself that there definitely are people out there with the ability put whatever daft thing you've just done to shame!

ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com

3 weeks and 2 days...

Some pictures from Vienna!

Magical Vienna and more travels!!

Lucky me spent last weekend visiting a friend in Vienna!!

Juliane studies at Vienna Business School, and I've been missing her lots since we stopped working together in the summer, so I went over to see her for the weekend.

Add to this that I'd never been to Vienna before, and that whilst I was there we were going to the University's Winter Ball (in a castle!!), and it was pretty inevitable that it would be the perfect few days.

It definitely did not disappoint. Vienna itself was full of beautiful architecture, cosmopolitan bars, clubs and shops, great sushi (!) and very warm people. The weather was perfect for most of the time - very cold with clear sunny skies, the perfect winter weather. Jule and I spent a long time catching up on everything we've missed, over several glasses of red wine, some nice days taking in the sights around the city. I got a night time tour of the city, we spent an awesome afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art, and even managed to squeeze in Sachentorte and rum hot chocolate...



Peter Kogler @Vienna Museum of Mod Art

On the Saturday evening, we went to a huge ball, and I had an awesome evening chatting to some AIESECers there, trying not to main anyone whilst learning to Waltz (difficult - and even more difficult during a polka!) and soaking up the atmosphere. The venue was huge castle in the city centre, and there were several different large rooms with bands playing everything from swing to jazz, as well as a disco downstairs, and the huge main hall which was packed with people and had an orchestra playing - I hadn't quite grasped how huge an event it was going to be but I will definitely be back!

Back to earth at home, things with my current job in sales are going well, but I'm already itching to do something new. After initially being disappointed that I wouldn't be able to get away as early as planned, I'm really lucky to be working with some people who are great fun, which has made things easier. Despite this, I've been planning my next adventure before I'm in London for 2 years with my graduate job almost since October, and over Christmas came up with the perfect plan, and booked my flights!!

At the end of Feb everything starts again, and I'll be off to live in Jaipur, India for 2 months. I'll be volunteering at a charity called Cecoedecon, running a sustainability study into their Non-Formal Education Centres in rural India - see http://www.cecoedecon.org. Following that I'll spend 2 months in Beijing China, probably teaching English - I'll keep you updated!! I then fly into Bangkok to spend 2 weeks there, then 2 weeks in Cambodia visiting some friends before making it back to the UK. To say I'm excited is a huge understatement!

The thrill of picking up and going off to a new country is something that's very quickly become addictive - I'm particularly excited to be working in sustainable development, an area I definitely want to become more experienced in, and be active in throughout my career. I've loved being at home for these months, and having the time to evaluate my plans and where I'm going. And it's refreshing to feel the direction and certainty I had about my future whilst working in London over the past year come flooding back - right now I just can't wait to start, so much so that even the crazy, scary visa applications can't get me down!!

5 weeks and 3 days to go....

Long time....

So, am now back, working in chilly-but-beautiful Edinburgh. One weekend when I have a lot of time will write about the end of my travels, and what's coming up next, for now, a friend sent me this today and I found it such good common sense that I thought I'd put it up here!

"Creativity is as important in education today as literacy"
"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original"

Full video;

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY