20 youth, 2 projects, 1 summer (and no Darryl Braithwaite) adds up to chaotic fun and non-stop culture shock. Catch it all here, as I sporadically update.

 
Merrrrrrrrry .... umm, what's that day again.

Well, the unreality is almost over. I'll be back in Brisbane for Christmas and New Year's but have no idea about what I'm doing. I'm actually thinking of road tripping down to Sydney a week or so after I get back, but the whole money thing is a bit of an issue. Would like to learn to surf, though.

I have had the weirdest few weeks. Good weird, but ... weird. Met lots of great people, had heaps of fun and actually learned to scuba dive. Some how I can now call myself an advanced scuba diver. BWA hahahahahahahaha!

Oh well, all good things must come to an end. It will be great to catch up with everyone. Not so great to be back in Bris so soon, but yeah, I've missed talking to you all. If I don't speak to you before then, I hope you have a great Christmas and New Years. Hope the weather isn't as humid as it has been in Cairns.

Lots of love for the festive season. See you all soon.
posted by Ads at 5:27 PM

 
Hey again.

I'm in Airlie Beach currently. Not sure if anyone's checking up on this, but I'm having a pretty good time considering, although I'm currently glowing red from sun burn. I'm not even a week in yet, I don't know if my skin will last ...

Anyway, I hope everyone's well where ever you are. Stay safe.
posted by Ads at 4:59 PM

 
Update #4.

So, the Philippines project is definitely off, and Costa Rica is out of the question, which has left me wondering what to do in Sydney. I'm thinking about getting away for a few weeks up the east coast of Oz and torturing my credit card for a while. Maybe I'll take up scuba diving. I've always wanted to give that a go ... Don't know when I'll be back. Probably before X-mas, but I'll email when I am. Hope you're all well.
posted by Ads at 9:52 AM

 
Update # 3.

Greetings from Sydney.

So, the chance of going to the Philippines if pretty close to zero now, in case things don't drastically change. India is a no goer as well, because that project is completely full. That leaves me with a chance of going to Costa Rica now. This program is run by Youth Challenge Australia and is fairly different from the AVI ones. As far as I know, we'd pretty much just be doing grunt work, so I'm of two minds on whether to postpone or just go ahead with it all. In Costa Rica's favour, I'm here and ready to do something this holiday and I don't know what my plans would be in a year's time, but in India/Philippines favour, the program is a lot broader, more in line with what I want to do as a social worker, has more variety and we'd get more independence. If I do go to Costa Rica though, that will probably screw with my Young Endeavour trip.

So yeah, maybe this project really is cursed ...

We'll get the official word tomorrow, so more news then.
posted by Ads at 4:33 PM

 
I'm sure you're all dying to hear the latest update, right? Hello?

Anyway, Georgia emailed me today (bless her), saying that the final decision will be made on Wednesday (way to leave us hanging) and that the Sydney orientation is still a goer. With 6 participants we won't be cancelling due to numbers, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. There is the possibility that they'll send us to India, the other project leaving next week, so I made end up doing ... something this holiday.

It's all very ... frustrating.

My next update will probably be from Sydney with news of the project's fate. Fingers crossed.
posted by Ads at 3:26 PM