Now that our Singapore/Australia month-long vacation is over, I've already started to think about the next big trip ;o)! We had been talking about Japan, and although it is indeed a country I would like to visit soon, somehow it is South America that is appealing to me more.
I mean, we had already travelled to Asia 2 years in a row, while the last time we were in South America (Brazil) was at the beginning of 2006. If we go there around March 2009, that would be 3 years since! And I really like South America. Maybe also because I sometimes get people asking me if I'm South American, or occasionally, even more specifically, Brazilian ;o). But yeah, the good thing is that South America is WARM while it is winter season in Denmark, so perfect destination indeed :o)!
Anyway, Costa Rica and Peru are top on the list at the moment. However, if this goes through, it won't be purely vacation for us. One of our group members in the Australian outback tour had joined something called "Projects Abroad" while in Peru, so I checked out their website and well, I'm sold.
Basically, you choose a destination you would like to go to, and do some volunteer work there for 1 month, 2 months or 3 months (or more). It can be in a school, in an orphanage, or doing some environment+conservation work, or even journalism! Not only that, you can also learn the local language while you're there, be it Spanish, Portuguese, etc, depending on where you are.
Had mentioned it to Martin, and he thought it was a good idea. But well, if he didn't think so, I would consider going alone then anyway, since I really want to do something worthwhile for once. Not so that I can feel good about myself afterwards, but more to reach out and touch the life of someone less privileged than I am, and to also learn from the experience since we often do take many things in our own comfortable lives too much for granted.
So yeah, what better way to do it than to do it like this? We'll get to see a new country, learn a new language, meet and live with the local people, and contribute something to their community, and get an enriching experience out of it; so many birds killed with 1 stone!
When Martin mentioned this idea to Bil, he had this to say:
Hmm...really? That says a lot about a person's character, doesn't it? I've heard many lame things in my life, but this does not even come remotely close to the category of "lame". Since when did wanting to help the less privileged become "the lamest thing" of all that anyone has ever heard of?
In fact, small-hearted, narrow-minded people like that who sit on their @$$€$ doing nothing but sh** are part of the main reasons why this world is such a sorry place to live in. What's worse, is when these people can still find it within their already small hearts to mock those who actually want to go out there and make a difference, even if it is just a little difference.
If you want to know what's lame, I can tell you what's lame:
You have just 1 kid, are not a single parent, and yet you need the help of others to take care of that 1 kid to eg. pick him up at nursery every now and then. Well, that in itself is not exactly lame since there's nothing wrong with that, but it does become lame when you, as a kind of "needy" person/parent yourself, are so closed up in your own little egoistic planet that you don't see the many others in the common planet who need real help, if not from you, then at least from others who are willing to give that. Hypocritical, to say the least.
I can actually mention a few other lame things I have heard of, but will stop at the above in order to keep it relevant to this post.
Anyway, lame or not, "Projects Abroad" is on high consideration for us. In the end, it's not the opinion of others that matter, it's whether someone who needs real help gets real help. It only takes so little to do so much.
So yeah...I guess we should start applying for our next month-long vacation real soon then!
