For those of you who have just joined us...

It's three weeks today until I start a six day Kayak challenge here in Guatemala to raise money for local community and education projects.

If you have virtually wandered over here as a result of my Facebook message, then thanks for taking the time to look further into this, and hopefully many thanks for your kind donation to my fundraising efforts.

Usually my posts are witty at best, pretentious at worst. Today, I'm going to have to be serious for a moment.

This is Maria Angelica. She's seven years old and goes to the GVI school in Santa Maria de Jesus, about half an hour outside of Antigua where I live. Every Thursday morning I get 'realeased' from my duties in our office in town and go up to School. I work mainly with Maria Angelica as, although she's a complete character and great fun, she does struggle with basic literacy and numeracy. As well as free schooling, Maria Angelica recently had clean burning stove installed in her house as a result of GVI volunteer contributions.

These are the kinds of things that the money raised from challenges (like the one I'm doing) go towards. Yes if you check back you will get to undoubtedly see pictures of me in a silly hat looking knackered in the rain, but you will also be able to put faces to the donation that you have made.

Wish me luck! 

It never rains but it pours...

So, this time in four weeks I will be on the water! And doesn't it look like a long way?!

I'm still not fully sure what is involved in this here Kayak challenge, but I do know that we are going to be kayaking 70kms, pretty much solidly for 4 days. At first when I was told we were going to have 'floating luches' it sounded like some blissful idle; I think I had wind in the willows esque images in my head, of boaters and champagne flutes. The reality I feel, will be something alltogether different!

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The challenge is looming, and I have decided it's time to up the ante from lunch-time laps  in the pool to some full on gym action.

Gyms in Antigua are something of an experience. On one of my first trips I went with my housemate Sophie to a spinning class. We got there witha  good twenty minutes to spare before the start of the class, however, to our amazement we found that they had all already been reserved! It seems that the desire to cycle so hard and for so long that it feels like your legs are going to fall off, without ever going anywhere is way more popular than we had guessed it would be!

I've recently migrated from what we jokingly call the poor mans gym, to the 'gringo' gym. Why? Because it's closer to my house. Hypocritical? Me? Never...

Amongst the characters at this gym are the portly instructor who spends the vast majority of his time at a pace no faster than a waddle, barking intstuctions to a group of red-faced bemused followers. There is also the woman who wanders around wearing a top that could be described as minimalist to say the least. It's suprising that more dumbells haven't been dropped on feet as she strolls past the free weights section of the gym, boobs out, hair up and a full on face of make-up. She occasionally puts down her caffeinated energy drink long enough to do lunges across the middle of the room!

I suppose I can't really talk though, the most energetic thing I have done today is write a blog post about going to the gym, and listened to wimbledon on the radio....