Roz goes to India

So, it's been a while since this blog has been in action, but I thought I would resurrect it for my trip to India! After graduating this summer, I thought I would stave off the dreaded answer ("Um, well I'm looking for a job) when asked "So, what are you doing next?", with a month volunteering in India. I will be heading out on the 15th September to work for four weeks in an English NGO, which provides mental healthcare to those unable to pay extortionate Indian rates. I will be running activities for patients, such as painting, music, and physical games. I'll also shadow psychiatrists and nurses, and hopefully learn a lot!

I have had a lot of time to prepare for this trip, but I have accidentally left some things to the last minute...for example my visa. I now have less than three weeks before I go, which is not enough time to be sure that I get a postal visa. Furthermore, the Indian visa website really makes you work for each bit of information, but I managed to fill out a form, and settled on Monday to go to the consulate in Birmingham to get everything sorted. I was then talking to a friend, who told me that Birmingham didn't accept visa applications from Oxfordshire, which she had found out the hard way. I instead had to trek to London. I was very thankful I had found this out before I went to Brum! So, I am now toddling off to London on bank holiday Monday (Dad is worried that the consulate will be closed as it is a bank holiday, but again the website does not show opening times, only days which the consulate is closed, and as 27th August is not on the list, I am hoping it is in fact open).

The chore of a trip to the bright lights is cheered by the prospect of spending the afternoon with Claire, who after stouting claiming for three years that she hated London, has spent the summer living there with her fiancee. Hopefully the trip will be fruitful, and I shall be allowed into India in three weeks time!