Training - A Reflection

Dear all,

It's coming up to a nearly a month since my training for India on the Isle of Coll, a week jam packed with every single piece of information I could possibly need, trecking up sand dunes to watch the sunset, evenings on the beach with loved ones, meeting my partner for the very first time, tears and a whole lotta' ceilidh dancing. Thus, it's also coming up to a month since I last updated you (this whole posting regularly thing is going super well, as you can see). Since then, I have completed my fundraising (finally!) and had my final round of jabs, and as I'm writing this in a Caffe Nero in Birmingham, I'm currently waiting to go and have my VISA processed.

My training week was a whirlwind of emotions which left me feeling very tearful, scared and extremely excited. Some of the sessions left me longing for the life I'm finally going to live in a months time, and some of them left me feeling like 'nope, I'm not going, cancel my plane ticket and get me back home to the comfort of my warm bed in a country I actually know.' (This was mainly after the 'physical health' power point presentation which showed us how to avoid getting ring worm in our feet. Yum.)

My dad and I made our way up to Scotland on Sunday the 12th of July, a journey which mainly consisted of stopping at five Starbucks along the way and driving my dad crazy whilst trying to do my best Scottish impression (singing the Proclaimers and reading out every road sign in a crap Scottish accent). Once we arrived in the beautiful town of Oban, we quickly realised that it was roughly twenty degrees colder in the far, far North of Scotland then it was in the West Midlands. Bracing the cold, we dumped our bags in a scary hotel which seemed to resemble Faulty Towers with 70's decor (it also had no shower, so that's good) and forced our way through the gale winds to a restaurant we visited the year before when I came to the Isle of Coll for my selection course.

Dinner with a view - Oban

I woke up the next morning with butterflies in my stomach knowing that in just a few hours I was going to meet the girl I was going to spend a year with. As Project Trust put it, the partnership is essentially like an arranged marriage. Project Trust choose you and your partner specifically for your placement and you don't get to meet until training. After the three hour ferry journey we touched down on the Isle of Coll and it was pretty much run from the word 'go'. We were suddenly thrown into an intense four days of jam packed schedules, sessions and a lot of paper work to do. Though it was sometimes stressful, it was wonderful to learn so much about my project and the country I'll be living in for a year. Every single question I had was answered, and I met the incredible people I'm going to be living with for a year, including my partner, Elena. She was staying across the hall from my dorm and I nervously approached her asking if she was going to be teaching at Devnar, scared that my happy and bubbly and downright over excited personality would intimidate her or scare her off. To my relief we clicked straight away and spent the week getting to know each other, and really hit it off. I'm so, so pleased Project Trust have placed me with such a fantastic girl, someone who I know will be a real friend and someone to rely on amidst the madness of our year in India.

Zoe and I. We climbed to the top of a scary hill to watch the sunset. And to get signal.

Lesson planning going well...

Me, Zoe and the India boys - Callum and Alex. They're the only two boys coming to India with us - brave or stupid?

Evening beach vibes - Elena's photo

Elena and I.

My India family, 2015/2016

One distinctive moment that stands out to me from training was when we went to watch the sunset one evening. I remember sitting on the top of the sand dune, surrounded by all the amazing people I had met that week, and the only thing that came into my head was - 'I just can't believe that this is my life.' There I was, nineteen years old, completely and utterly happy with life, watching the sunset with people I love and about to move to India for a year. I never, ever want to forget how I felt in that moment - I'll carry it with me through all the adventures I'm about to have.

On the way home, Dad and I played 'All in White' by The Vaccines in the car, as it was exactly a year ago when I was on my way home from the selection course listening to the exact same song, driving through the Scottish country side and I just knew something extraordinary was about to happen.

A year later and I was right.

All in all, training was a huge success and I arrived home feeling happy and content and so so ready for what's about to come. Now, with nearly everything sorted, all there's left for my to do is get on the plane and actually go.

Who knew, eh?

Stay happy,

L x

'A journey of a thousands miles must begin with a single step.'

Isle of Coll, July 2015.