Safety First.

So. We leave for Zambia on Friday. It's been an odd week so far, and I think it may get stranger over the next couple of days. I know that I really have to get organised, but I keep thinking that maybe I should go and watch German arthouse films, or drink overpriced cocktails, or do any of the things that I won't be able to do for the next 12 months. Then again, I'll probably regret squandering this time when I'm stranded in Mpanshya with no knickers left, so I'd better get on with it.

I'm not decisive at the best of times, but I'm finding the process of working out what to take really tricky. Clearly the crash helmets will be coming with us (if only because we both look so darn sexy in them). I've been told that skirts have to be below the knee for work, so I spent ages today trying on various clothes in front of a mirror to assess whether they concealed my tibial tubercles adequately. I've also managed to waste several hours fiddling with my i-Pod, just to make sure that no essential tune is left behind.

So, I'm doing a good job of being busy without actually achieving much, and it's all a wonderful distraction from the scary stuff (i.e. leaving everyone here and going to a strange country where people may have inflated expectations of our limited abilities). But let's not talk about that. Must go and sort through my socks...