DjMagra’s stuff ‘n’ stuff

Wow, that’s it, Friday November 17th 2006 has arrived. That means that in about 7 hours time I will be in the sky somewhere over Ireland heading south, to Cape Town. I can’t believe how quickly this day has come around, having been about 11 months or more in the planning (for me), it’s just been a blur to get here. I somehow managed to be all set, despite the crazyness of the past few weeks. My bags are now packed, and I’m going to catch a quick nap before heading to the airport.

I cannot relay just how excited I am about this. I cannot wait to meet up with the rest of the group, get to know people, get to hear the stories of those who’ve been before, find out peoples motivation for going, find out what exactly my week is going to entail, and generally just find out as much as I possibly can.

Do keep an eye out here, and over on flickr for updates if, as and when I can get them out!

Wowsa, November 16th….really didn’t think I’d see that come around so quick! I’m nearly there, getting organised. Have a few bits and bobs to tie off before I go, but, pretty sure I’ll get it all done. Went out shopping for some stuff I need earlier, you have no idea how hard it is to A) find, and B) want to shop for summer clothes on a pissy wet November day in Ireland. Summer was so far from reality here today it’s not funny. Speaking of summer, I’m glad to see that the temperature has tailed off a bit in Cape Town from last week, where it was hitting the 30’s all the time. Long range forecast is showing Sunday as being the only really hot day, with a predicted high of 29c. Aside from that, the rest of the week is in the early to mid 20’s, far more managable for building houses!

Anyways, time I headed for some sleep. Hopefully will get another post in before I get away, don’t know when the next update will be after that, but, it will be from SA!

Oh wow, I just thought to myself that I must do a countdown to Friday, starting at T minus 4…until I actually realised that there are only THREE days to go until I go to Cape Town. Actually, given I’ve to be in the airport at 05:30 on Friday, realistically there’s only 2 days to go! I have no idea where the time went, and I suddenly ended up with just three days to go until I left the country.

The past few weeks easily cut it as being amongst the most hectic I’ve ever had in my life, and also some of the most amazing and rewarding, and I know that next week is only going to top all that off. Over the past four weeks or so, I’ve been trying to prepare things for SA, arranging the quiz, making it happen, continue my fundraising, do interviews, get a new job, pack up my bags (after six and a half years!) in my old job, and literally pack my bags for SA. Ok ok, those of you who know me know that I’m so not going to start packing my bags before Thursday night, but, I’m at least starting to think about what I should and shouldn’t be bringing!

So, how do I feel now, three days before I go? Well, I’ve obviously had other things on my mind over the past few days with finishing up work. Now that they’ve cleared out of the way, it’s safe to say that I am genuinely excited about Builders Week, albeit slightly nervous. Why the nerves? Well, it’s somewhat of an unknown, I’m heading away to a building site 7000 miles away, for a week of labouring in 30 degrees of heat. I’m clearly not a builder. Yes, I’ve worked on a site in the past (many summers ago), but, this is still a big ask. I’m not 100% sure how this geek boy body is going to hold up to 8 hours a day of hard manual labour. The thought of hard work doesn’t phase me, it’s the though of not being physically able, and thus letting people down that I’m anxious about. I’m certainly going to give it all, I’m just not sure if my all is going to be enough.

Ok, I’ve slackened off from the blog again, I had actually been doing most of my writing over on The Dublin Community Blog because, well, because there are far more readers there than there ever are here, and I wanted to get word out about the fundraising Table Quiz that I was doing for my trip to Cape Town to as many people as possible.

So, the quiz took place on Thursday night, and thankfully, was an enjoyable night for all who turned up as well as myself. I’m always amazed when people put their hands into their pockets and dish up some cash. Yes, I know it’s an exceptionally good cause, but, people’s generosity still blows me away! Everyone’s interested in the figures, so, I raised just over EUR 800 on the night, and something like EUR 1800 from Wednesday to today (including the quiz). I still have to tot it all up, but, as far as I’m concerned, I’ve just about (if not already) passed my original target of EUR 4000, and so I’m now going to be greedy and try and go for EUR 5000 in the two weeks or so before I go away. EUR 5000 is enough to entirely fund the materials required to build a complete house. Being able to do that would be such a thrill and rewarding experience.

There are some pics from the quiz over on flickr. Barry was in charge of picture taking, and failed miserably at that job (though, he was busy doing other stuff for me I suppose) so, if you were there and got pics, please let me know.

If you’d like to contribute (or contribute more!) then do make contact with me. And as always, remember that you can donate via PayPal by clicking the below button.

And, finally, a massive, massive thank you to all those who have already put their hands into their pockets and helped me (and never mind me, helped the families in Cape Town we’re going out to help!) in what is a very, very worthy cause.