Halfway there!

Absolute madness. There are no words. I still don't think it has properly sunk in that I have finished half of my fundraising, and that I now have only £2,340 to go. Sounds like a lot, but when you have to raise a total of £5,400, it's pretty amazing.

However, I would not have raised so much if I had not had my brilliant ceilidh, which raised an astonishing £1,200!! I have lived and breathed this ceilidh for weeks now, and I think this quote sums it up quite nicely.

"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success." - Swami Vivekananda

That is what I have been like. And it paid off. It was totally worth the sleepless nights full of not being sure whether there will be enough people for the ceilidh to go ahead and stressing about sandwich fillings. So, to be honest, I am glad it's over. It was a huge stress and I'm not going to lie, it took a whole lot more effort than I thought it would. To anyone else who is currently fundraising, who maybe hasn't yet raised as much as they need to - just keep going. Keep trying. If you're running a big event like my ceilidh was, DEFINITELY keep going! Because it is SO worth the effort. Halfway through my ceilidh I sat down and was like "Oh my goodness, I have been talking about this for months and...it's finally here." It was madness. It just hit me that all my hard work was finally coming together and it was all totally worth it.

Anyway, about my next event (my life consists of schoolwork, fundraising, very little free time, schoolwork, fundraising and more fundraising), I am hoping to have a concert with my parents' singing group. Which will be a smaller event (thank goodness) but will still take more organising! Gaah. I also have a quiz I'm hoping to give out pretty soon, just need to sort out the prize for that though!

And finally, for some light relief I'll leave you all with some pictures of the ceilidh! Enjoy.

The car full of all the drinks!

Filled to the brim with boxes of food, table cloths and raffle prizes!

The hall when we were setting up

The ceilidh in full swing

Us dancing  - this is one of the dances I actually managed to do (I'm in the pale blue skirt) - the first half was spent running around!

Others dancing

The band

Lorna (my sister) and Andrew showcasing the lovely painting for the raffle, which was very kindly donated by Donald Chadwick

More dancing!

And I also found some pictures from my bagpack in January which weren't uploaded onto the computer by the time I posted about it!

Our collecting buckets and leaflets!

The cringey photo my Mum took of me when I was packing bags - everyone else stopped and smiled while I just kept on going

Heather <3

Travel jags!

"To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”  - Aldous Huxley

I have travelled to many countries, from England down south to the very far away New Zealand. However, I never really felt I had experienced the real culture of these countries. We went, we stayed with relatives or in hotels or in hostels, we went and saw touristy things, the sights, you know, the Eiffel Tower and such. But I never stayed longer than a few weeks, at most. I never really felt I was experiencing the true culture of the country - I was just a visitor, was going to leave in a few days or weeks, and so there was no opportunity to become immersed in the culture. Now, a full year is a long time. 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, whatever. I have that long to get completely immersed in the country, its culture, customs, traditions, weird and wonderful bits of knowledge that I can get from nowhere other than the country itself. It's strange thinking that a large percentage of all the people in the world will never have the chance to travel far from their own country, compared to me, anyway. And I'm only 17! 

Urgh, jags. This has become a definite reality the past few days. I hadn't really thought about it much until my Mum asked me about them and I was just like oh yeah... I have to get, like, the rabies jag and stuff. Eww. Now I don't actually mind getting injections - don't get me wrong, it is not my favourite way to spend an afternoon - but I'm not scared of needles, even though I do prefer to look away. I need to get:

Polio
Tetanus/diptheria
Typhoid
Hep A
Hep B
Rabies

(Although I already have Polio and Tetanus/diptheria so it's not quite as long a list as it looks)

And I will also need to get country - specific ones when I find out where I am definitely going in May. Whoopee. So, much fun to be awaited there. I might also have to take Malaria tablets whilst I'm out there - they're daily, which would be a huge effort I can't be bothered with. Why can't they just make huge tablets that you only have to take once a week? Would be SO much easier.

Oh and also it's muy estresante at the moment because of my ceilidh...which is a week tomorrow. Eeeek. Lots of planning which we should have finalised much earlier than this, but couldn't because getting the date wasn't definite until just before Christmas-ish, has all just accumulated, along with a big huge wodge of schoolwork to do - my favourite. So there is a general feeling of there not being enough hours in the day to get stuff done and blogging is probably not helping. Although at least it does get stuff out of my head.

AHH JUST 174 DAYS TO GO! According to the calendar on my Virgin MoneyGiving page, anyway. Take a look, if you want. You could even donate!

Heather <3

Quotes, other blogs and the Andes

Think I'm going to start putting an inspirational quote at the beginning of each post. First one will be the one my sister Lorna wrote on my birthday card back in December, my last birthday before my 18th in Peru.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

Feeling a bit stalkerish, but I've been looking at other people's blogs who have been to Peru with Project Trust or are there currently, and it's weird thinking that I might be in that orphanage that they're talking about, this time next year...or even in like 7 months. It's crazy. Can't believe I might even be playing with the same children they talk about, living in the same house as them...creepy as hell, I know, but it's amazing to hear about what it's actually like once you get out there. I can't imagine myself there, at all. But then again, I suppose they couldn't either, at this point last year. I'm wondering more and more where I'll be placed, because I've found two different blogs, one from a girl who was in Peru 2011 - 2012, and another who's there right now, 2012 - 2013. One really near the Amazon, one near Lima, the capital. Totally different experiences, you might think, but they'restrangely similar. I read their posts and they both seem the same, they both say the same things although I have no idea if they have a clue who each other are. Mind you, that'll probably be me next year...

Since I have no idea where I might be in Peru, and I don't have many photos up yet, here are some photos of where I could potentially be near...

Shanty town of Belen, Iquitos in the Amazon, Peru

Lima, Peru

The Peruvian Amazon

The Andes, Peru

Now, the Andes is where I would really, really, love to be for a whole year, hence the title of this blog. I will know for sure where I'll be in May, so fingers crossed until then! I know Project Trust will place me depending on what the project is like, and I don't even know if there are any projects in the Andes, but my hopes are staying strong!!

You see, I'd love to be in the Andes. It would love it! I am not a big fan of hot weather, I love going walking, I love taking pictures... Although I'm sure I will be able to do that wherever I go in Peru! I hope I'll be able to do lots of traveling within Peru or in other surrounding countries like Bolivia and Chile, and so I intend to see the Andes and hopefully Machu Picchu at some point during my year!!




Can't wait...getting more excited day by day.

Heather <3

Busy busy busy

Lots of things going on at the moment. Big stress.

I had a bagpack at tesco's on 12 January - a huge success, raising pretty much £650 exactly!!! (£649.74, but since I'm the perfectionist I felt I had to put in the extra 26 pence) Didn't expect to raise nearly that much, so a big thank you is due to everyone who helped, particularly my dear Mother who spent the whole 8 hours there with me. After how well that one went, I think I might try and get another one squeezed in before June!! Not sure how that'll go down though, what with exams and all.

Anyway, we are all in intense organisation of my ceilidh on 15 February - just 4 weeks time. Huge stress to raise awareness, make sure there will actually be enough people there to make a profit, never mind a decent amount of money. Big big stress levels right now, particularly since I have prelims this Tuesday, Thursday and Monday, and so I'm having to balance fundraising stuff with prelim revision which is not too easy. But at least I've been able to relax a little bit since I got an email from UCAS saying that "something has changed" on my UCAS page (most annoying thing ever - why don't they just tell you straight off?) and so I went on the page and lo and behold - I GOT AN UNCONDITIONAL TO MY FIRST CHOICE - Heriot Watt University!!!!! Happiest girl in the world right now, honestly. And I have a really horrendous cold so that news came just when I needed it most! Totally boosted my mood and I'm totally fine for prelims now..... I say that, but when I fail my prelims or something ghastly like that.... I'm trying not to think of the consequences. Anyway at least that lifts the stress off a little, on school terms anyway.

So, for anyone wanting to come to my ceilidh, it's at the Tom Fleming Centre at Stewart's Melville College, Queensferry Road, Edinburgh, on Friday 15 February, from 7.30 until 11pm. Tickets are £10 for adults, £5 for under 16's and it's free for under 5's. Please come along, and bring your parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, everyone you can think of - the more the merrier!!

Thanks for reading, and sorry I don't post all that often - as I'm sure you can imagine I have very little free time (gaaaaah)...but I'm hoping my year in Peru will make up for it. And as they all say.... 
The more you put in, the more you get out.

Heather <3

Hello 2013

Happy New Year!!

It has just, today, yesterday, dawned on me that in around 7 months from now, I will be on a plane, with some unknown partner (I hope I like her!), travelling halfway across the world to my place of residence for the next 12 months. This time next year I may be celebrating New Year in a very different way (apparently the tradition is to place 3 potatoes under your sofa, one with no skin, one with half a skin and one with a full skin, pick one out at random and that will determine your finance for the next year!), along with some very cute children and some alpacas leaning over our shoulders (...I dream of such things). However, I look forward to this distant yet strangely close reality that I will be taking part in in the near future! I can't wait to meet my first Peruvian alpaca. 

In other news, I have decided that I want to have all letters away to trusts by the end of the Christmas holidays. It doesn't sound like a lot, but believe me... it's a nightmare. I have spent a few hours trawling through The Directory of Grant Making Trusts in Edinburgh Central Library (scariest place I have ever been) and have so far been through H to U. I'm currently in the process of going through the few suitable trusts I have found, which there are not that many of, and writing them letters to ask for donations. It's a tedious task but I will hopefully get a bit of money from the work that  put in - one guy got £4,000 from trusts since he spent a week in the library during the holidays. I wish I knew how he did it!

Anyway, I've got a bagpack arranged for 12 January so I'm rounding up friends and family to help out. I hope you've all had a good Christmas - because I certainly did. By asking only for donations for my birthday (1st December) and sending my leaflet with the annual Christmas newsletter to various far-flung relatives around the place, I managed to raise £345 for my gap year, which I hope I'll put towards immunisations and travelling costs for when I'm on holiday in Peru! A massive thanks to everyone who has contributed so far.

Heather <3

Happy days

Okay I've not put any photos up yet so I thought I probably should! This is me at my stall at Linlithgow Christmas Street Market on 24th November, selling tablet, tiffin and rolo slice. It was absolutely freezing so I'm really glad I stuck it out and wore extra hoodies to keep warm!

It was really weird selling to the public. I also didn't like that there were no seats, so I was standing for a full 5 hours! But it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be - we were moving about constantly, even if just to keep warm!

Anyway, to wrap up (it was pretty chilly today.... hohoho) I'm really glad I was able to go and I'm pleased to say I made a grand total of £175, my biggest single amount raised yet! :D

I have also had stalls at various other events such as the Kirkliston Primary School Christmas Fair and the Kirky Krafters Fair. 

Since then I have had a few other fairs, and by 8 December I had made £367.30 so my Mum wrote a cheque to Project Trust...although we've still not sent it off... haha. But now I think we'll just write a bigger cheque for £474.15 and send it off after Christmas time.

I hope that during the Christmas holidays I'll be able to have sent off all letters to trusts! I have kindly already received £300 from the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust - a surprising and exciting early Christmas present!

Today has been a very good day indeed, finally RAISING MY TOTAL TO OVER £1000!!! A fifth of the way there, with just £4375.85 to go!

Heather <3

Tablet

The realisation of what £5,400 could buy made me feel a little dizzy. It's a massive hill to climb and I really don't know if I'll reach it in time - especially as I'm relatively late in definitely deciding I want to go on a Gap Year and going to Selection.

So, I made my first batch of tablet last week. I'm hoping I will be able to sell it in various places to raise money, and seeing as I hadn't made it since 2004, I thought I'd better try it out to see whether it would even sell!

It went well, and I have made 4 more batches since then, and my Mum made one today. I sold 3 batches worth at a local craft fair and made £43 - a small start, but you have to start somewhere I guess! And I will hopefully be able to sell it in the fish van my Mum buys from and also at the local church hall where people meet every Tuesday for lunch and to chat with other people in the community. It's good that I have some regular things going that will help me get a more steady income of money.

At least I've started.... that's always the hardest part. So I guess it can only get better from here!

Heather <3