Maldives

The first time I left England was to go work and live in Maldives. This was some time ago and Maldives (not the Maldives, by the way in case you were wondering!) was generally considered to be a developing country. I've not been make to the country in a long time so I can't really comment on it's state now. When I was there it was a poor country. Incredibly beautiful, but poor. I went there as a Computer Teacher and had 2 excellent years.


I was able to go by applying to an organistation called VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas). The term is a bit misleading. Even though you are a volunteer, you get paid a local salary. It's not a lot of money, but you don't need a lot. You're not going there to make money - you are going to experience a life you wouldn't experience otherwise. On top of that, you are hopefully participating in a sharing experience which benefits everyone. I'll put a post about VSO later, so on to Maldives.


In the two years there I lost a lot of weight, got a great suntan, dived reefs every weekend and found out I wasn't a bad teacher. Not bad going really. It wasn't all play. I had to work very hard, putting in quite a lot of hours. It was my first job as a full time teacher and I'd never appreciated before just how much work goes into teaching. Needless to say, I loved it. The kids were generally great and keen to learn. There were some utter buggers in the classes that I had to learn how to deal with, but it taught me a lot of skills.