My trusty companion...

After failing to convince any friends or family to take the plunge and move to Uganda with me, I've started recruiting gadget companions in the hope they will keep me entertained while I'm trying to fit in.

The first new addition: a spanky new camera!

Once again I've proved that I am good with my money as I smashed my £200 maximum budget by some 300%. Of course, it's definitely worth it... and I'm sure I'll believe that for at least the post-purchase fortnight, but there is an awfully familiar feeling at the back of my mind: Keyboard £300, E-reader (prior to the boom) £250 and gym membership £350 all gathering dust as we speak!

Anyway, it's a pretty nifty piece of kit. An SLR (an acronym I have no intention of delving into) with some great big whopping zoom things that make me look like a professional. Nikon D3100 with some added bits and bobs.

Here are the first pics of the house in a state of disrepair:

How to say goodbye

Tomorrow is the day I tell the kids that I'm off. Dreading it!

I've been so desperate to start the next chapter of my life, the exploration of the world, that I've barely stop to consider the end of this one. As much as I have grown to despise the incompetence and bureaucracy that defines my current school, there is no doubt that the majority of my kids are little belters and will be sorely missed; I've not enjoyed the bare face denials and misleading them for so long. However, kids are resilient and I have no doubt they will get over the loss of an English teacher and I know I will be the one finding it more difficult than them... but I do hope that at least one of them mourns my departure.

Myf in Kampala has boosted my mood with the first few pics of where I may be living within the next couple of months. Okay, it's not shiny, top of the range or really what I have grown accustomed to over the past five years or so (last two in particular), but you can't tell me it doesn't look fun.