high heels and sandwiches

As I sit back on the train during my daily commute, I continually stare out of the window at the green fields that unwaveringly rush past the window. I wonder what England will look like after spending 4 months in the dramatically different landscapes of South America. One month from today I will be flying across the world and I can't really begin to contemplate how amazingly different it's not only going to be from England, but from Europe and the culture that I've always been in. Only today has the realisation and beginnings of anxiety actually start to set in, as things such as finishing work (next week!!) vaccinations and attempting and failing (I an sooooooo annoyed) to cancel gym memberships become reality.

Friday evening and the rest of the weekend sees me meeting my fellow "adventurers" who I will be spending the next third of my year with (eek!) Bit nervous, bit excited but I'm pretty confident that they will all be lovely, interesting people. All i can think about is my forthcoming trip, even though i can't actually visualise 4 whole months of my life being away from everyone and everything that I know and love. I can't plan anything for this huge gap in my year, and I'm going to miss events such as my little sister's 18th birthday and the humongous party she's having in a really great restaurant. 4 weeks to go and that seems like a long time still.. ah well i have a lot of bikini shopping to pack in before then... hee hee.

Returning from sunny switzerland to a surprisingly sunny england!! very shocked, not least at the absence of a tanned face, i was skiing for an entire week and yet my face still looks as white and pasty as ever. i'm defo going to miss speeding down mountains in the glorious sunshine with the glorious snowboarders, but i am not going to miss the food!! definitely not my thing.. weird fried potatoes with a fried egg, ham and a lump of bread was my swiss experiment on arrival which just sat like stodge in my stomach for the next 12 hours. i managed to find plenty of nice salads, helped along with plenty of my sister's plate of chips. im sure that my top class skiing (ha ha) didn't quite burn off the four course meals that the hotel gave us every night though.

managed to stupidly burn a quarter of each arm yesterday, as i decided that due to the amazing weather i would ski in a T-shirt. extreme demonstration of the importance of sun cream on the slopes; i completely forgot about my arms... very very big mistake! celebrated our last day achievement of completing our first black run as a family (we are all now more or less competent on a steep slope) with yummy alcohol. strawberry cocktails and tequila slammers later and me and my sis staggered giggling up the icy slope to our hotel.

It's official.. as of today, i am..... without chocolate!! well for the next 40 days and nights (strictly a little longer till easter??!! can someone explain why??) anyways, after polishing off a yummy scrumptious chocolate and banana pancake yesterday evening, I decided that I should take hold of my recent chocolate addiction. see I think that's what it's actually become.. an addiction, whether physically or emotionally i don't know. i thought it was the latter because i didn't think you could get physically hooked on chocolate but someone told me otherwise today.

so at the end of day one 'sans chocolate' i report that it actually hasn't been too bad, i don't know if this was because it wasn't a particularly disastrous day, i tend to desperately crave chocolate in dire situations (or any resembling anything close!), so i guess maybe it's an emotional thing. my other reason for this chocolate sacrifice is that it's my only really bad food (the others being drinks; coffee and alcohol) and that if i'm not allowed it i may lose a bit of my fat weight and get flawless, glowing skin (ha ha, i'll keep you posted on these unrealistic thoughts).

However, I am going skiing on saturday, for a week in switzerland with the folks!! hurrah!! am looking forward to much fresh air in the mountains with much alcohol to soak it all up at night. Being stuck at the top of a snowy mountain, late in the afternoon, with no energy left in your legs to get you to the bottom and feeling completely drained of energy....sometimes... requires a little bit of chocolate, very yummy swiss chocolate of course. i do feel however that this may be my downfall. only time will tell...