travelling, and travelling without moving

so i've returned to Viet Nam.

after three awesome weeks in northern Laos, three stunning weeks in northern Thailand and then three even more wonderful and amazing and fun weeks in Malaysia and southern Thailand with my boy i'm ready to get back into it. i think..!

it's been a manic week already, with a couple of networking meetings and all new volunteers and trying to catch up on everything that's going on, i've been hit with a horrible cold and sore throat to boot so that's not making things any easier. plus, as you can see from my previous post, some of the volunteers have had a rollercoaster of a week and a half with poor little baby Tam, may she rest in peace.

but i'm happy to be back. it's exciting already.
while i was in chiang mai i met a guy who insisted on completely disecting my personality (a little uncomfortable it's got to be said..) he wanted to know WHY i would want to volunteer. was it a previous wrongdoing i was trying to make up for? stereotypical catholic guilt? oh and the list went on...
"eh, no, no, no, no, i don't think so, no no no, definately not...." " well, why then?"
when i really thought about it and boiled it down, it came down to everything i'm learning here. and when i told my mum about this conversation she reminded me that she did a lot of voluntary work herself back when she was a shiny young lady. and that was in her home country! (yeah, i know, i'll work on that when i get home again!) so maybe some people just want to do stuff like that. and some people like him want to hoard all their money and not give a cent to anyone. which is also perfectly fine, i didn't give him a hard time for that...grrrr!

but anyway, now that i'm here as 'assistant operations manager' or whatever it turns out to be, i'm gonna be learning heaps more than i ever thought i would!
so i reckon it's like travelling without the hassle of having to move around. and guess what, while i'm here, i'm doing some pretty good work too for kids, young adults and families that need the help.

happy days.

oh, PS - i need to give a shout out to my friend Joanne, who i do believe is currently hosting a raffle for the benefit of my work here. she's responding to the email i sent out a few weeks back about needing a bit of support. so thanks so much Jo, you're on the list for big hugs when i get home!

and i guess i might as well take the time now to mention my folks, the fabaliss Pat and Kathleen and my bud from all the way back in junior infants, Ems who have already helped out so much with getting my fundraising together while i was still at home, and they're being roped in again in the near future i hope too!
i have a plan!

and hey, if anyone else would like to help? your small efforts would help me reap massive rewards but i need your help at home. let me know if you think you can spare a few hours for me babies, would ya?!

thanks again, to everyone
ead