April!

What happened to the month of April? I flew back from Thailand on 27 March. Nearly didn't make my flight as I woke up that morning to gale force winds and 5 metre high waves. The Sanctuary reception told me that the taxi boats might not be running and I thought I might be stuck there for another day, missing my flight. Luckily after breakfast (which consisted of some lovely pancakes) the wind had died down a bit and the taxi boats were braving the waves. My rucksack was wrapped in a large bin bag to protect it, and I took a change of clothes in a plastic bag as I reckoned I was going to get drenched. We got pushed out to sea but then the motor on the boat cut out and one of the Thai boat drivers was bailing water out the boat with a cup while the other was trying to hotwire the battery! Luckily they got the boat going and I made it back to Haad Rin to catch the ferry to Samui and then onto Bangkok.

In Bangkok airport I treated myself to one last meal which I had saved 300 Baht for. I chose wisely so that I would have enough for a tip, but when the bill came I didn't realise that they also added a sales tax on as well as service and I didn't have enough money. A Thai couple on the next table very generously added to my 300 Baht so I could pay the bill. What a lovely gesture to experience as I left exquisite Thailand.

So I've been back in Brighton for a month and have spent it catching up with friends, cooking Thai food, getting building work started on my house (scaffolding is up and the chimney has been rebuilt) and now I am volunteering for two great charities to give me an insight into the charity sector and which will hopefully lead to a job in this sector in the future.

The first charity has an office in Brighton and is called Bottletop. I'm helping them with marketing projects and also their grants programme. You can check out there website here, although we are working on a redesign of this at the moment.
http://www.bottletop.org/
I love working in Brighton as I can meet friends for coffee or lunch really easily. Dad came and met me for lunch last week and we visited the newly-opened Ginger Dog in Kemptown which was very nice. I had a delicious courgette and mint risotto. They do a bargain £10 two course lunch which is also available as an early dinner from 6 - 7pm!

The other charity I am volunteering for is a Theatre production company called Artichoke. They put on large scale, free public theatre / art spectacles which always suprise and delight.
Check out their website, you may well have seen some of their productions!
http://www.artichoke.uk.com/
I'm helping them on the development side which is a new area for me and I am loving the experience. Their office is near Spitalfields market in London and so I am up in London two days a week and hope to explore more of what London has to offer while I am up there. I'm walking part of the way to work each day so I see other sides of London. The photos above are from my walk on Friday!

Anna and Dermie are kindly letting me lodge in their box room on the nights I am up there. They live in the Portuguese quarter (Stockwell) and so I hope to report on the yummy food I sample there, although first I must cook them a Thai meal!

So that is April in a nutshell. I will start blogging more frequently again now as Brighton Festival has started and I've already seen some great shows, so I'll share these experiences here.