I am going to go to Kenya in October\November. It will be with a group of people who will be helping out in clinics, orphanages and schools. As I may have mentioned before, it is a desire I have had since a very young girl to do something like this but as a young girl the opportunity never presented itself and I never pursued it. Now I have the opportunity and think I’d be a fool to pass it by.
I truly believe that I have taken a great deal these past 53 years from this planet and those around me. I hope that I have given back some and my friends kindly tell me I definitely have, but I am a true believer that you just can’t give enough, and so when this opportunity did present itself I could not pass it by. Thing is, I was considering a side trip to Egypt while on the continent but since our government has agreed to help the United States in Iraq, Canada has lost it’s status as just a peace keeping nation and by some cultures are being considered as yet just another enemy to add to their list. And in recent light of the arrests made in Toronto this weekend it would seem we have become another target on a map for those who believe that killing is a resolution to the state of our world.
I am not a politician, nor do I like to take sides when it comes to those who choose to argue that the only way to solve world issues is through the telescope of a gun or detonator of a bomb. I prefer the God-like way of dealing with others and that is to do onto others as you would have done to you. But since our world is totally diverse in it’s cultures and beliefs it would seem that not everyone is in agreement with that particular philosophy.
Revenge is a dangerous road to travel; yet how do you deal with those who believe they can take the lives of others to avenge those who choose not to believe in their principles? To respect another’s culture we must learn about that culture. We do not have to agree with their ways but we can respect that they think differently than we do. It’s when we think our way is the only way that we begin to slide that slippery slope.
Egypt sounds so exotic and rich with history, yet modern in many ways and to experience the eclectic difference between middle east and western culture would be an incredible experience I am sure. But Egypt also resonates in deep cultural traditions and for a woman traveling on her own, I think that a wiser decision would be to come back to visit when I had a traveling companion.
There is being fearless and then there is being just plain stupid.
It was a very busy weekend. Nick took me to dinner Friday evening, Mom and Dad’s for breakfast Saturday morning (it is so cool to interact with my mom and dad now that I am a grown adult and see them through that perspective not as a compliant child). Shopping and yard maintenance yesterday, movie last night with Nick and most of the day today was spent with my friends J&G and the African information session. Whew!
YIKES! I never got any laundry done!!!! Well I have a flex day to take this month, I think I shall take it tomorrow.
I truly believe that I have taken a great deal these past 53 years from this planet and those around me. I hope that I have given back some and my friends kindly tell me I definitely have, but I am a true believer that you just can’t give enough, and so when this opportunity did present itself I could not pass it by. Thing is, I was considering a side trip to Egypt while on the continent but since our government has agreed to help the United States in Iraq, Canada has lost it’s status as just a peace keeping nation and by some cultures are being considered as yet just another enemy to add to their list. And in recent light of the arrests made in Toronto this weekend it would seem we have become another target on a map for those who believe that killing is a resolution to the state of our world.
I am not a politician, nor do I like to take sides when it comes to those who choose to argue that the only way to solve world issues is through the telescope of a gun or detonator of a bomb. I prefer the God-like way of dealing with others and that is to do onto others as you would have done to you. But since our world is totally diverse in it’s cultures and beliefs it would seem that not everyone is in agreement with that particular philosophy.
Revenge is a dangerous road to travel; yet how do you deal with those who believe they can take the lives of others to avenge those who choose not to believe in their principles? To respect another’s culture we must learn about that culture. We do not have to agree with their ways but we can respect that they think differently than we do. It’s when we think our way is the only way that we begin to slide that slippery slope.
Egypt sounds so exotic and rich with history, yet modern in many ways and to experience the eclectic difference between middle east and western culture would be an incredible experience I am sure. But Egypt also resonates in deep cultural traditions and for a woman traveling on her own, I think that a wiser decision would be to come back to visit when I had a traveling companion.
There is being fearless and then there is being just plain stupid.
It was a very busy weekend. Nick took me to dinner Friday evening, Mom and Dad’s for breakfast Saturday morning (it is so cool to interact with my mom and dad now that I am a grown adult and see them through that perspective not as a compliant child). Shopping and yard maintenance yesterday, movie last night with Nick and most of the day today was spent with my friends J&G and the African information session. Whew!
YIKES! I never got any laundry done!!!! Well I have a flex day to take this month, I think I shall take it tomorrow.
So much to do, so little time to do it in.
What about you? Did you have a great weekend? I sure hope so!
2 comments:
I think Africa and Egypt both sound intriguing. . .not sure about the arrests in Canada this week. . .I am woefully underinformed now that it is summertime and we are normally outside or doing something fun when the news comes on. . .I want you to be SAFE--but I know it would be really hard to pass by Egypt once you've traversed half a world already.
I have rented Serendipity and am going to watch it tonight. . .Tony is going to play Quake. . .but we will be within seeing distance of each other--and we will both enjoy the other's company while engaging in completely different activities.
R--
That is WONDERFUL for you to have the oppertunity! WOW. An experience that will no doubt leave a lasting impression on you. During our lives we spend so much of ourselves giving to our family and work and you are right, it still never really feels like enough.
It's nearly impossible for me to analyze the current affairs of the world without compating the them's and the us' to a bunch of children on a schoolyard. I know it's more complicated... maybe, but peel away all the layers and I think we're left with fear and, as you mentioned, 'lack of understanding' on "all sides."
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