Day out with the lions and crocodiles

Hello everyone,

Yes there are lions in India. The lion safari park is opposite where I am staying. Their roars get carried over the lake by the wind. I have been trying to record their roars but by the time I get my camera out they always stop.

To get to the lion park we had to cross the lake on a boat. I was having a lovely time until our guide told us that there used to be crocodiles in the lake. Ahhhhhh! According to him a crocodile killed a tribal women a few years ago. Apparently there are no crocodiles in the lake now but I don’t fancy chancing that.

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Although for many people the lake is their only source of water so they have no choice. One local told me that they avoid the crocodiles by staying at the sides of the lake. Think he was joking as he was laughing away when he told me….

Locals in the village doing their washing in the lake

From what I could see the lions looked well kept and have a huge area of land. I wish I could say the same for the crocodiles, they were kept in a small enclosure which looked in very poor conditions. One of the crocodiles had been removed into an even smaller area because another crocodile has beaten his jaw off while they were fighting. Poor crocodile he now spends all his time on his own, has no tongue and all his food has to be crushed up.

Our guide explained that the park was named after Steve Irwin showing us a plaque with his picture on it. I was checking the spelling of Steves name on Wikipedia and read that in 2009 Irwin’s estate sent a legal notice to the park requesting that they take the plaque down stating that they had violated intellectual property. According to Wikipedia it is now removed……as you can see from the photo below, it isn’t!!!

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Tranquil Neeyardam

Today (Saturday  28th September) I arrived in to Neyyardam where I am staying for 3 weeks. I am here to volunteer in a charity called BGM. It is a registered charity which strives to uplift the weaker sections of society with a special emphasis on the development of basic human needs for some and children from tribal areas.

I had organised this project months ago and subsequently started to  feel unprepared on the bus journey not really knowing what to expect. Unlike the first project I had spent less time researching the area;  I couldn’t remember the details of where I would be staying, how much I would be contributing and what my role will be. I was feeling sad to leave Kovalm and was debating whether another project at this point of my travels was the right decision.

I am staying with a family, Wilson and his wife, Wilson’s daughter Alfa who is 13 and niece Lydia who is 21. The family live downstairs while I am staying upstairs with the other volunteers  Adam and Sandra, a couple from Sweden. I pay a contribution for food and board in return I get food 3 times a day which I eat with the family.

Me and Alfa

When I arrived at the families house I was met by Alfa who quickly showed me to my room. It was dark and raining when I arrived so my pessimistic feelings remained. Shortly after my arrival I met the other volunteers who both were really nice and gave me a preview of what was to come. This was followed by a delicious dinner with the family. Slowly I was starting to feel optimistic about the next part of my journey.

However,  my first night was not what I had hoped for. Due to the storm there was no power and consequently my room felt like a sauna. In addition I had fallen asleep straight after dinner, waking up at 10pm resulting in feeling a combination of feeling wired and extremely tired. The next few hours were horrific, I was stuck between feeling desperate to sleep but not . This is thanks to hypnagogic and Hypnopomic hallucinations, cataplexy and sleep paralysis – Narcolepsy at its worst.

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Hypnagogic hallucinations are a feature of narcolepsy. It is when dreams break off at wakefulness causing visual, auditory or touchable sensations. They occur between waking and sleeping, usually at the onset of sleep. In layman turns I start to dream just before I fall to sleep and therefore I am dreaming when I am awake. Dreaming implies that it is pleasant, nightmares is the better description.

Before medication I used to experience this all the time but now it is only on rare occasions. I generally have a positive outlook about my narcolepsy but I admit that I can’t help but feel sorry myself  when I have these hallucinations. My hypnagogic hallucinations mainly consist of seeing people in my room and on this night also lions at the window. The worry about lions was triggered by a conversation over lunch that a lion escaped and killed an animal. Writing about it now seems silly but at the time it feels very real and can be extremely distressing. On this occasion I it had scared me to the extent that it had triggered several cataplectic attacks where my whole body became paralysed. This is unusual for me as generally my cataplexy is only triggered by positive  emotions. I also experienced sleep paralysis where I am not able to move. This exacerbates the fear as it feels that I am unable to get away. I remember screaming but not sure how loud, luckily I wasn’t sharing a room with anyone.

To avoid further hallucinations and cataplexy I desperately tried to stay awake but it was impossible. I eventually got to sleep without the hallucinations and cataplexy.

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Following an exhausting night I up woke tired and grumpy. My mood readily improved after walking out onto the balcony looking at the incredible view. Within minutes I felt calm and happy…..Neeyardam was a good choice after all.

View of the lake from my balcony

Neeyardam is an understated area of South India. It is rarely mentioned in guide books and is not prepared for tourists; but in many ways this enhances it’s qualities. If it wasn’t for this project I would have missed out on some amazing sights.

During my stay at the project I will be teaching some classes at the local school, getting involved with other projects such as women self help groups, women literacy groups, after school clubs for children and families in the local villages and building water wells.

Tomorrow I am off to see the lion safari with the other volunteers Sandra and Adam; would be rude not to given that they are my neighbours from across the lake.

Kovalm: good people, lighthouse, lovely beach and the crazy fruit lady (23rd to 28th September)

I am writing this drinking a beer looking out onto the beach in Kovalm….life is good.

I arrived in Trivandrum, Kerala’s capital after a 13 hour bus drive from Pondicherry. The bus journey went pretty quick as I slept most of the way and had two seats to myself at the front with extra leg room. Not so good for the guy who had booked that seat but being the only female on the bus, he was made to move.

After being ripped off from a Rickshaw driver in Pondicherry (embarrassingly paying 700 rupees for a 2km drive which should have only been 100 rupees) I was determined for that not to happen again and instead had a gruelling walk to the bus stop to heading to Kovalm. Finally I made it on the bus and a few hours later I was sitting on the beach watching the surf.

For 4 quid a night I am staying in a pretty nice hostel, chuffed with how clean and spacious my room is. Well it did feel like that at first until 2 Australian guys and 1 German joined my room. Ok by room I mean a 6 bedroom dormitory. Within a day my room smelt like boys but not all bad as they did the beer run and provided good entertainment in the evening. Embarrassingly I slept talk a lot and apparently on one night I was shouting “it’s your choice the sofa or the dog”.

Fitting their stereotypes the Australians followed by a German (with a South African accent) spent their days surfing so I went for a bit of sight seeing with the other guys in the hostel. Myself, Canadian Cam and northerner Mike headed off to Kanyakumari the southern most tip of India.

It is the meeting point for 3 oceans, the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Besides it’s importance as a pilgrim centre it is well known for its beautiful views…..

We had to get a boat to the two different islands. On the first boat a local man with a camera was looking our way, in unison we all turned to the camera and smiled. To our surprise and outrage the man put his camera down and waved us out of the way…..not what we expected or what we have been used to! Shortly after our western fame returned as a child was thrown into Mikes arm for a picture.

The rest of my time was spent in the beach, walking around the shops, eating good food and drinking beer from a mug as most of the restaurants don’t have licence to sell alcohol.

Kovalm is a wicked little beach resort which reminded me of home due to the light house, surfers and good waves. While thoughts of Devon and Cornwall came into my mind I was suddenly reminded of my location due to all the street sellers desperate to sell me something. So far the award to the most persistent and creative seller goes to the crazy fruit lady. Each morning she would hunt me down, I am convinced she has some super power as she could find me. On the last day I gave in and agreed to buy some, annoying I made a school girl error and didn’t agree the price before. In seconds she had chopped a whole papaya and was half way cutting through a whole pineapple. As much as I liked the fruit I have no intention buying that much. We finally agreed on 150 rupees which is still over priced for what I had.

Me with the crazy fruit lady, the man behind sells scarf, he was laughing as in the first photo he was hanging a bag of rubbish over my head….funny man.

Always an amazing sun set in Kovalm

View from the top of the lighthouse

Selfie of me and Mike

Climbing up the lighthouse

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Volunteering in Kanjanur

Hello all, I thought it was about time I shared my experiences of the first project I have volunteered with teaching children in a school.

Fresh off the flight I made my way straight to the village of Kanjunar in Tamil Nadu (South East India). This Nursery and Primary School was founded in 2004 to provide basic and global standard education to children living in underprivileged rural communities aged between 3-8 years, who cannot afford a good education. There are approximately 70 children from the neighbouring villages and 5 staff. The school is run by a local family, Bala and his wife and mother (I was there for 3 weeks but embarrassingly can’t remember the names of Bala’s wife or Mum).

New school building built two years ago

As I mentioned in a previous blog Kanjanur is a rural village where the locals speak limited English and live in basic conditions where access to electricity and running water is limited. Like the village school life was a massive culture shock.

The three main differences are:

1). There very little play time even for the 3 year olds.

2). There is extremely high expectations of the children

3). Physical chastisement is normalised in the classroom.

Being at this school made me realise how easy I had it at school.

Before arriving to India I tried to prepare myself for seeing a different style of teaching anticipating that the teachers would hit the children but 3 years being hit or whacked on the head for not sitting quietly (after a 1 hour lesson!!) is distressing to watch. The social worker inside was having a heart attack. Not surprisingly all the children even the little ones behaved perfectly for most of the time. For me however they were not so well behaved. On one day myself and fellow volunteer Jayne took the nursery class thirty 3 year olds. They were all amazing at first and very engaged with our activities, however like most 3 year olds after 25 minutes they progessively started to lose their concentration and misbehave. Jayne and I tried all the strategies we knew to keep them engaged but our efforts were not successful. Instead we admitted defeat and watched 30 children go crazy. We both found this highly entertaining and enjoyed watching them have so much fun, even if it was at our expense.

 

As you might have gathered I Initially felt very negative about the school however time at the school, getting to know the teachers, children and families has shifted my view. Time at the school hasn’t chased me into a child beater and I still don’t agree with hitting children but I think I need to accept the cultural differences in India and most importantly turn my attention to the bigger picture. Forgetting about how children are taught in this remote and rural village it is extremely positive that education is valued for both girls and females. Speaking to parents and grandparents a lot of them mostly females did not have the opportunity to go to school. And of course very day I saw the happiest faces walking into school. Nearly every child I asked said yes to liking school, don’t think I would get the same response in England.

My home in Kanjanur

Myself and the other volunteers stayed in the old school building, pretty basic is an understatement but after a few days it felt like home. I genuinely missed it when i went away for the weekend.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy about the shower was all the bugs that were joining me. At one time I counted 5 lizards, over 15 spiders and a ridiculous amount of ants crawling on my feet until I poured water on them. Most people who know me are aware that my showering routine is less regular than most people. However it is so hot and sticky here a cold shower felt like Christmas. I became a pro with using a bucket to throw over my head and on one weekend away in Pondicherry I chose the bucket over the shower head. I wonder if the ice bucket challenge was a help?

 

 

 

 

Some of the other volunteers initial worries on arrival were about how they were going to go to the toilet and shower. Mine was how I was going to get some food as I was starving. There was no need for me to worry as there was plenty of food to eat in the village, I had no idea what it was half the time and had to ignore the ants crawling but it was damn tasty and cheap as chips.

There was always a choice of where to eat but we always made our way to the same place owned by a local family. We really got to know this family and so far the Dad of the family in the picture below is my favorite person that I have met so far. He would do anything for you and expected nothing. Before I arrived in India lots of people told me that I should be very wary about trusting people and that nothing is done for free but so far it seems the people of Kanjanur and neighbouring villages are an exception to this.

 

I loved my time at the school, the kids we’re great and not wanting to sound too gushy BUT I feel privileged that I had the opportunity to get to know the people of Kanjanur. The kindness and warmth by everyone is inspiring. All that said I felt it was time to leave and see what the rest of India had in stall for me. I also hope that I can become involved with a project where my support can be more sustainable. I have many more in the pipeline so I will keep you posted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My drug smuggling challenge!

I firstly want to point out that I am talking about legal controlled drugs for my Narcolepsy and nothing else…don’t want to get myself in trouble particularly while I’m in a different country -;)

Getting enough medication

I take 400g of Modafinial a day and 40g of Clomipramine. Modafinil is a central nervous system stimulant and works by preventing excessive sleepiness during waking hours. Clomipramine works by repressing my REM sleep. Without these I would be sleeping my way around India and South East Asia.

Before developing narcolepsy I had always been healthy and had no need for any medication so I was completely ignorant to the complications that arise for those requiring medication abroad. Naively I thought it would be possible to get medication for a years travel. However the NHS guidelines dictate that 2 or 3 months is the longest prescription you can take, even in exceptional circumstances. This seems extremely unfair discriminating people with narcolepsy or other life long health conditions from going on holiday or travelling for more than 2 months.

Yes I have narcolepsy and yes it is a debilitating illness however with the right medication and lifestyle changes I can live a normal life (well just about).

My first hurdle was getting enough medication to last my travels. After being very persistent with my doctor he eventually agreed to give me 5 months of medication. Six  months prior to flying I began re-ordering my medication a few weeks earlier each time. Altogether I had just under 2 months worth of additional medication. I was pretty happy with this and figured that I had plenty of time to plan for any additional medication that I may need.

With a sufficient amount of medication I then had to make sure it fitted in my bag (not an easy task).

Getting medication abroad

My options are to either get medication in India or to ask my parents to apply for my repeat prescription and get them to send it over.

Out of the two I think the first one will be the most likely as I don’t have a fixed address and I think it is likely that the package could be stopped at customs.  I have been in India for 3 weeks but my first task was to go to a reputable pharmacist and request Modafinil.  I showed the pharmacist my Doctors letter and within a day I had a packet of Modafinil. In the UK it costs 70 pounds I paid just over 1 pound.

A big worry was whether this medication is safe to take and if it actually works.  With a friend I decided to try 2 tablets to see the effect, I have had no unusual side effects and it seemed to work fairly well. When I get to a bigger city I am gong to make an appointment with a Doctor to confirm that it is the right medication.

Getting through Customs safely

My next mission was to make sure I was be allowed to take it into India and avoid fines, prison and it being confiscated. I am predominately referring to the Modafinil as it is a controlled drug. However I took the same precautions for the Clomipramine given the quantity.

On the way to the airport I was feeling anxious about getting my medication through customs. To my surprise this was not a concern for the security staff who were only interested  in ensuring that I had no liquids over 100ml.  However to ease my anxiety and to justify my time spent preparing  I demanded that they saw my medication and relevant documents. I got the feeling that they thought I was pretty odd as I’m guessing most people would be relieved….

With the UK customs going so smoothly I was convinced that I may have trouble getting into India. I had images of my face being in the Sun with the headlines ‘British Social Worker arrested for drug laundering’. However again I had no problems although with hindsight his is probably because I didn’t declare it. I planned to but was advised by security staff that I did not need to.

I have only been in India for 3 weeks and have further flights and border crossings to get through so I will keep you posted with any other issues that might come up on the way. Fingers crossed it will be fine.

My top tips for travelling abroad if you have Narcolepsy:

1). Always carry medication in the correct packaging with the prescription stapled to the side.

2). Have a multiple copies from your Doctor confirming your itinerary, what medication you take, how much and why.

3). Declare the medication when you go through customs.

4). Keep your medication in hand luggage and under your control during travel.  Narcolepsy UK recommended that the medication could be damaged or lost if kept in the aircraft hold.

5). Ask your Doctor to write a letter explaining Narcolepsy and Cataplexy (keep lot of copies).  My Doctor wrote that I may collapse suddenly. I also spoke to the air stewards to inform them about my health.  I wasn’t too worried about my Cataplexy , however I was worried that I could miss meal times due to being asleep so I asked staff to make sure they wake me up when food comes.

6). Bring several leaflets explaining Narcolepsy from Narcolepsy UK. I gave some to give to the airport and security staff but I have also   given it to people I have met along the way.

7). Licence from the home office confirming authoristation to import large medication of controlled drugs for my use only. I didn’t have this letter from the home office but I have now requested it and hope to have it with me for my next flight. The Home Office Drug Licensing and Compliance Unit or DLCU can be contacted on 0207 035 0792 for information on licenses for exporting medication for your use; a license costs up to £24.

8). Pre planning  – I cannot stress this enough, it really reduce any worries.

(Please note my advice relates to my prescribed  medications, refer to the websites below for advice about any other medication).

Information and advice from Narcolepsy UK and the Home Office has been invaluable. If you are considering going on a holiday or longer adventure check out the websites below:

Narcolepsy UK – http://www.narcolepsy.org.uk/living-with-it/holidays-with-narcolepsy

The Home Office website –  https://www.gov.uk/travelling-controlled-drugs.

Jolly in Pondy, the Europe of India (12th to 15th September, 2014)

Hello all,

On my second weekend in India I made my way to Pondicherry with fellow volunteer Jayne. Jayne is 19 which made me feel like a right granny, but we we made the most of the age gap – I was introduced to snap chat while Jayne learnt what a shell suit is.

Jayne or anyone born in the 90s this is a shell suit…..
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We also had a lot of fun. This is good news of course, but also for me the added complication is that with fun comes laughter and with laughter comes cataplexy. Luckily for Jayne she didn’t see any big cataplexies but frequently I felt the old knee jerk and eye lid flicker whilst laughing. (Don’t fret Mum In the event that cataplexy does show its self in full glory I warn everyone I meet).

On the bus to Pondicherry I couldn’t stop laughing as the bus was packed but more and more people piled on into the bus, making the London Underground appear calm and quiet. The locals made getting on and off the bus looked easy, whereas I just looked plain awkward. GeawkwardGetting off the bus was often difficult where being small and flexible is a good attribute. As my laughing developed into hysterics Jayne turned around and said “now right now is really not a good time to have one of your seizures”. I managed to keep it together but as I got off the bus my knees buckled away.

For those that don’t know Cataplexy is a symptom of narcolepsy. It is triggered by an emotional response, laughing for me but for some people it is anger or sadness. It can look like I am having an epileptic seizure but I’m not. What is actually happening is that my brain thinks I am dreaming so it paralyses my muscles as it would during REM stage of sleep. As a result I can feel my knee buckle, skirt my words or fall to the floor. Highly irritating at times….I would love to just laugh and not have to be on alert that I might collapse.

As you may have noticed I have been slack in updating you all with my posts. To save time and to stop any boredom I have made a list of my Pondy highlights:

1). Amazing food at bargain prices

2). Luxury room for half the price – bartering indian style, the cost was 9 quid a night we paid 6.

3). Many many many churches and temples

Notre Dame Des Anges

Hinduism, Muslim and Christianity are the main religions here. Pondicherry is known for big catholic and christian community. It was interesting going from a temple to a church.

On one day we were tired, hot and grumpy and randomly bumped into an elephant, of course we felt we had to follow this elephant. We were very glad we did as Laksmi the elephant was heading to the Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple as this temple is dedicated to the God Ganesh.

4). Best pancakes ever

5). Auroville

I only had a quick tour as I was due in Kerala a few days later. I regret not staying here for longer but I plan to visit in my next trip to India.

Auroville is a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity.

Below is a picture of the Matrimandir, the centre of Auroville known as the soul of the city.

Gardens surround the Matrimandir are divided into individual sections.

This is my favourite one

6). Love proposals

In the rooftop bar of our hotel Jayne broke the heart of one of the waiters, telling him a white lie that she was engaged. He genuinely looked devastated and wouldn’t leave our table for some time. Jayne even suggested that he should ask me out saying “what about Grace?”. He then turned to look at me and after giving me a good stare up and down he replied “no you are better”. Lucky for him I found it very funny and was pleased about the rejection.

It was soon my turn as the man in the shop disclosed that he would like to marry me and suggested that we started off having lunch….so lunch went well. Haha only joking we didn’t and I very quickly left the shop.

The next evening another local seemed to be very much interested…. It must have been the unwashed hair and odour of mosquito repellant that attracted these guys -;) I say ‘seemed’ as he sat next us but didn’t say much and everything he did say was incomprehensible. After not getting the hint, refusing to move and putting me off my dinner we swiftly joined a table next to us. The drunk man was not impressed and after a period of intense staring (for what felt like a very long time) he finally gave up storming out of the restaurant smashing his beer bottle on the floor along the way.

7). Kids selling candyfloss and the colourful stalls along the promenade

8). Ice cream bought for us by a local family in return for a photo

India – crazy roads, incredible people, amazing food, cows and horns!

Hello so firstly sorry for taking so long to do my first blog in India, internet connection isn’t the greatest, but please don’t worry I am here happy, safe and well.

I arrived into Chennai airport on Wednesday 3rd September. The flight went quickly thanks to narcolepsy and was enjoyable thanks to quite a few glasses of wine. I was relieved and surprised that everything went so smoothly as I was very anxious about getting my medication through customs. Neither security at Heathrow or Chennai were a tiny bit concerned with my controlled medication. In fact I think they found me slightly irritating as I insisted that they check my medication and look at my doctors note. In the end all they were concerned about was that I had no liquids in my hand luggage.

Before Samantha Slater-Persaud embarrasses me I admit that I am actually very lucky that I got on the flight at all as if it wasn’t for Sam asking for me to check I had my passport I would have arrived without one.

Upon leaving the airport I was surrounded by lots of men trying to sell me food, give me a taxi and take me to a hotel or there ‘friends hotel’. Luckily in the distance I saw a man holding a sign saying “Welcome Grace Owen”.

I was feeling knackered and planned to sleep all the way to the village. Despite my usual ability to fall asleep everywhere I genuinely thought that this would not be possible as the car was swerving from one side of the road to the over, overtaking buses on the wrong side of the road. Of course narcolepsy was keen to prove me wrong…….. 15 minutes later I was fast asleep. According to the driver I was shouting “don’t do that” and “stand in a line”…..Who knows what I was dreaming about!

Several occasions during the journey I work up startled by the car breaking suddenly……this is when the culture shock really began; women carrying water on their heads, cows roaming free in the street, constant beeping from cars, lots of people living in very poor conditions, tiny children dodging cars and extreme HEAT.

After a 3 hour journey I arrive in Kanjanur, village in the district of Villapurum, my home for the next few weeks. I have come to this village as I am volunteering with a school to support the teachers to help children learn English (I have a lot more to say about this with some photos and videos so will do another blog).

After the second day I was feeling less shocked and started to get my head around where I was leaving. With help from the other volunteers we worked out how to get around on buses and I soon became less phased by the crazy bus drivers (who made my first driver look calm). After 10 days I have fallen in love with this wonderful little village, I love the food, the genuine friendly people and this extremely simple way of life where darkness falls at 6 and bedtime is shortly after (perfect for me).

Kanjanur is a very rural place where most people only speak their home language which is Tamil. Despite a lot of western volunteers coming to the village most locals were still very fascinated with me and the two other girls I have met. Consequently there is no such thing as a quick walk to the village for a bottle of water as on the way I am stopped lots of times. Although I won’t complain I am enjoying being the celebrity of the village (and this is without the narcolepsy showing its face).

The food in this village is amazing, what I love the most is that each restaurant (well not quite, best described as a cafe on the side of the road) only gives you an option of vegetarian or meat which means I get to try lots of different food and it’s all spicy…whooop! Someone told me that I will lose weight in India, well so far I can’t see this happening with the food as I am in food heaven.

I have had 2 weekends here now, my first Weekend getaway was a little village on the coast called Mamallapurum which i still can’t pronounce. I explored the coast with two girls Zara and Jayne I met at the school. Mamallapurum is a really lovely place, very different from the village where most people are able to speak conversational English. People still stare a lot and talk to me but this is mainly to try and sell something rather than out of pure curiosity with my white skin. I stayed in Mamallapurum for 3 days so I really should talk about the random cows on the beach, goats everywhere, cray shopkeepers and an amazing stone that balances on its own……however there is really only one thing that signifies this trip for me and that is HORNS that grew on my forehead.

These lovely horns are thanks to mosquito bites…altogether I counted 36. This is despite wearing loads of repellant…I admit I did scratch a few but by by the end of the day the bites had grown into horns on my face. Even the man in the shop told me that he has never seen anything like it….Typical I am thousand of miles away from friends and family and I still fine myself centre of jokes due to the horns. Thankfully I am now hornless!!

Given the title of my blog I should really talk a little bit more about my narcolepsy. In general it has helpfully enabled me to sleep on some bus journeys compared to my friends who I have met who have developed nervous ticks on the bus (only joking).

In general I have not been fighting to stay awake during the day and have been feeling quite energised. I put this down to taking the right medication, being able to sleep when I want (even when volunteering as I take myself off for a short nap when needed) and feeling very relaxed. Today is the only time that I have felt excessively tired falling asleep inappropriately on a boat. I think this is due to taking my lunch time mediation late in the day and going on. A full day tour which has included a lot of sitting, waiting and reading.

The cataplexy has been behaving itself to although I am not surprised by this because I generally do not have any cataplexy a with people I have just met. In the last fee days I have had what I call secret small ones where I can feel my eye lid flicker, knee jerk and face twitch but not visible to everyone else.

In the first week my sleep was amazing, I was sleeping 5 or 6 hours straight which is incredible for me. In the last week I have been having more disturbed sleep and according to Jayne who I have been sharing a room with I have been shouting a lot and moving about a lot. Luckily she has found it highly entertaining…..

That’s all for now….hopefully when I get some better internet I can share some of my photos and videos that I have taken so far.