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Jacmel and final thoughts on our volunteer trip.

Before I get too far into Brazil, I thought I should update you on the rest of our trip to Haiti. On Feb 11th (Saturday), Mom, Naomi, Marguerite and I headed out at 5:45 am for our day trip to Jacmel, along the southern coast of the island. It had been recommended to me by a teacher at school, although she warned me that the drive was a bit nerve wracking (winding mountain roads). We had been feeling a little bit of cabin fever from staying near the guest house (and I would have been very upset if I had come to Haiti and had only seen one small section of it (which is the richer part). We had to sign a waiver with GLA, releasing them from liability, and then we hired Oz, who is Haitian born and raised stateside. He returned to Haiti about 5 years ago, and runs Haiti Tours and Translations. He gave us a fair price, and organized the driver and activities for us. It took 3 hours exactly to drive from the Main house to Jacmel board walk. We stopped once along the way for a sketchy looki...
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Fort Jacques and the Baptist Mission

So, we have had a few more days here, and unfortunately, it seems that I have caught one of the kids colds. I have a very stuffy nose and sore throat. This is also unfortunate for my roommates as I was snoring last night. Currently I am inside, as the smoke from garbage burning heaps is bothering my throat and lungs. That being said, I am nicely showered, and ready for dinner. On the topic of food, our meals have been pretty standard. Haitian fare for lunch, hot or continental breakfast, and then a variety of carb heavy dinners. It is carbs with a side of carbs. Almost nothing in the way of fruits or veggies. Last night we did have an AMAZING salad. I was dreaming of Kathryn, serving a plate of bell peppers, carrots and dip. How I miss my fruits and veggies! Mom and I have gotten a local teen to go buy us some, although our selection is papaya (yuck), very ripe bananas (delicious with PB) and lovely mangoes (licking my lips at this moment). Needless to say, our guts are not pleased w...
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First Impressions: Haiti

Well, mom and I have had our first day at God's Littlest Angels (GLA) and so far so good. We were warned that the Port-au-Prince airport could be a bit chaotic, and once we reached the baggage claim, we understood why. There were hoards of people trying to reach the Air Canada carousel in what can only be described as a free for all. I set mom up in a corner with our carry-on, and then pushed my way to the front of the line. I am pretty good at making my way through large crowds, and in no time, was at the carousel. My location was not helpful though, as our bags were no where in sight. I left my spot to check on both sides of the carousel, since people were taking bags off and leaving them to the side, but still no luck in finding ours. There were still at least 50 people waiting for bags, although many were waiting for their carry-ons (there wasn't enough space on the flight to have all in the cabin). Finally, an hour and a half after landing, our bags came, one after the oth...
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Let's Talk: Burnout

In the spirit of Let's Talk Day, sponsored by Bell to address Mental Illness. For me, it was not depression, phobias or anxiety that got me, but burnout. The thing is, it wasn't clear to me that I was struggling like this. I knew that I wasn't feeling like my normal self, but I couldn't pinpoint why I was so negative. I am normally a very optimistic and positive person, but I kept finding myself focusing on all of the negative things that were going on, and found myself complaining about everything. I had become the type of person that I don't like to be around, yet I couldn't stop myself from complaining. This is not an easy thing for me to talk about, given that physically I looked fine, and I am the type of person who does not quit or fail. Yet even though I felt like I was not achieving what I knew I was capable of, yet I couldn't motivate myself to do anything. The other thing that is hard, is that there are many people who do not believe that burnout...
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The last leg

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I'm not going to lie, my choice to stay up late last night was not so much fun this morning! But, being the last day of the tour, I knew that I would have yet another overnight bus back to London coming up. We left Morag's Lodge (Fort Augustus, Loch Ness) and headed south towards Fort William in the hopes of spotting Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest peak. Although it is not an incredibly high peak, it is a dangerous one, claiming several lives due to the drastic changes in conditions (especially the fog). In the direction of Ben Nevis Commando Memorial Our first stop of the day was at the Commando Memorial, in the shadow of Ben Nevis and overlooking the Commando Training Depot established during World War II. The memorial commemorates the men of the Commando force that fought during WWII. Although Ben Nevis towers over the area, we could only see the base of the mountain, as there was a lot of cloud cover. River Pattack After a bit of a drive, we made our n...
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Coos, trees, stones and Scotch

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I have not been very good at keeping up with my travels, so this is still from my trip to Scotland mid-September... Trees for Life Hazel tree Day 4 on the Haggis tour was a very busy one. We left our hostel near the shores of Loch Ness, and made our way to Trees For Life, "a conservation charity dedicated to the restoration of the Caledonian Forest." Here, our tour group participated in planting 2 native species of tree, a birch tree and a hazel tree. Due to time and manpower constraints, we were only able to plant 2 trees for the entire group. Many of us had hoped to plant a tree each (30 trees), but the time that it would take to dig all of the holes (the charity's volunteers pre-dig the ground) meant that it was not possible. It is something that the charity is keeping in mind, and we discovered that you can do trips specifically to plant trees. One of the volunteers was a year 2 (grade 2) teacher, who is also taking a year off to refresh himself after 20 year...
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The legends of Skye

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Day 3 brought us to the Fairy Pools, through Portree, up to the Old Man of Storr and along the Skye coastline to Kilt Rock and the Lealt falls. Sadly, at the end of the day, we had to cross back onto the mainland as we were expected in Loch Ness. Skye is full of different legends and myths, detailing stories of faeries and giants. I apologize for my story telling skills in advance, as I don't have quite the same knack of spinning the tales. If you would like to hear the stories, I encourage you to take your own trip, and hear them for yourselves! Fairy Pools This is one of the most beautiful areas that we went to! We headed out in the morning to try and beat the crowds. It was worth it, as we mostly had the pathway to ourselves, and we managed to complete most (at least half) of our walk before the skies let loose. The water is a beautiful green colour, and crystal clear. The fairy pools are set against the Black Cuillins, one of the mountain ranges here on the Isle of Skye. ...
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