Getting organised

The last few days have been quite strange. It's been long periods of doing nothing followed by short bursts of panicky activity. As I was going to London the day after I got the job offer (it's strange to think I got the job offer less than a week ago) I got the forms that I could fill in done so I could take them to Falkland House in person while mum arranged doctor's and dentist's appointments for me.

I had the dentist on monday which took less than 5 minutes, and was supposed to have my yellowfever vaccination, contraceptive implant (I can't be dealing with periods while out in the middle of the ocean!) and medical yesterday.

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned. It turned out my doctor couldn't give me the implant, so I had to arrange to go to the Family Planning Clinic in Bristol (arranged for next tuesday) and when I checked that my medical was still taking place I discovered that I only had a 10 minute appointment booked when I needed a half hour one. So the medical is now tomorrow. I wasn't feeling well (probably caught something when I was in London) which meant I couldn't have the jab. I thought I'd rearrange later in the week but you're supposed to get it at least 10 days before you go, which is next monday if I leave on the 26th, so I had to re-book it for friday. So I finally got my medical stuff sorted. I just need to go to the actual appointments now!

The other major thing I need to do before I go is to get a basic sea survival certificate. Given that the UK (and Bristol in particular) has a strong maritime history you'd think it would be easy to organise this. It's only a one-day course after all. No such luck. Nowhere local is doing the course until the autumn. The place I was recommended in Southampton had courses either tomorrow or on the 26th. Luckily mum has found somewhere in Falmouth which is offering the course on sunday, so we're heading down on saturday night, staying in Plymouth and then completing the drive, doing the course and then driving home on sunday. Should be fun(!).

Once all this is done (successfully) I can go.

It seems strange to think that I potentially only have two more weekends at home. It's going very quickly. I still have to buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes, without any real idea of what to get. I don't know how much will be available over there, so I'm trying to get as much before I go as possible. Hopefully it will all sort itself out in the end!



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