Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I was recently on two long tours where I was out of Internet range, and since then I have not had very good connections - the speed has been slow. Of course, most of what I want to post is pictures from my tours and now my time in Kigali, Rwanda (including pictures of the real Hotel Rwanda, a.k.a. Hotel des Mille Collines).

Anyway, I am hoping to have some time in a good cafe when I get to Uganda on Thursday (or on Friday). I promise that eventually things will get done and pictures (and video, but that will not happen until I return to Canada) will be uploaded.

Just know I am safe and having a good time. I hope everyone at home is the same way!

Time To Go

In just over two hours, I will leave my house for the airport. It's hard to believe today has come. Surprisingly I do feel mostly ready - at least as ready as I think I can be. My bags are mostly packed (just waiting to finish up some computer stuff before I pack this up and get my final bag ready to go.

I've been in this situation before (flying overseas for an extended period of time), but this is much different then when I went to Korea. For starters, there are more and bigger question marks about my living situation. Also, the nature of what I'm doing is very different. In the end though, I think this will be a good experience - even if the trip turns out horrible. Like a wise man once said: "Why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." (Bonus points if you can name the source). Though I hope not to fall (at least big falls), I know this will not be all roses and sunshine.

Anyway, this is my last entry from Canada (as long as nothing unforseen happens). As most of my fellow volunteers have stated, our ability to access the Internet might not be reliable. I hope to write at least once a week, but we'll see how much free time I have and how easy it is to get online (I'm hoping I can use the wireless on my netbook in Internet Cafe's, but who knows).

If you have any questions, feel free to post comments on here and I will try to respond to your questions (I know lots of people read this, and it's not even interesting yet).

If all else fails, I'm back in Canada on December 23rd.

See you on the other side...

Back in Steeltown (for a bit)

Despite the fact that I've been doing a lot to get ready for my trip lately, I haven't written in over a week. There is a very good reason for this.

Starting the day after my last post (August 28th) I started a 4 day string of having to say goodbye to pretty much everyone who was a daily part of my life at the time. It was a very emotionally exhausting few days and as each successive goodbye happened, it was harder and harder to handle (though I think the first and the last goodbyes were actually the hardest). Following that I flew halfway around the world (literally right after the last goodbye at a boarding gate in a Tokyo airport) and I was obviously a little physically tired.

The last few days have been spent trying to recuperate from both of those shocks and slowly but surely I started to feel much better. The task at hand right now is to complete all the final preparations for Tanzania (and the rest of my travels). In the coming days or weeks look for posts about: 1) Language learning (I've been busy this past week), 2) Buying supplies (the excitement, boredom and stress of shopping), 3) Trip planning (maybe). My departure day keeps getting closer and closer (20 days now!) and it's starting to feel a bit more real than it did when I was back in Seoul (which I miss very much right now - but I already did a sappy entry last time).

For those of you in Canada (or the U.S.) enjoy Labour Day today (and have fun in school tomorrow :D).

Note: For those of you who aren't familiar with Southern Ontario, the term "Steeltown" refers to Hamilton (my hometown) which is famously known for it's steel mills.

Je n'ai pas oublié. I haven't forgotten.

I realized it's closing in on two months without an update. Much has happened in that time (in life and in fundraising), and many things have been put on hold for at least a short while. That, however, is no excuse. There is much information to update and I am hoping to be able to do so in the next little bit (and hopefully I will also be given some pictures of a couple of fundraising events that have occured recently).

I will also try to give some updates from my time in Korea and in Seoul. Since the theme is me working around the world, I figure there may be some relevant things that have happened here.

Anyway, I apologize for the delay (미안합니다) and I look forward to continuing to write in this space.

If you want to see some updates, you can check out Michael Without Borders to see an updated list of donors (it has gotten quite long recently) as well as an update of how much money I have raised (more than $2700).

Until next time (which should be soon).