just kidding.

i almost made it to ghana last night... and then, that didn't happen.

ill be in cairo for the next few days. again.

strike one for not planning things. apparently a pre-approved visa is kind of a big deal for getting into ghana. who knew.

phase 2: check.

and so ends the oh so cliche "post-graduation i dont know what ill do with my life so ill travel" trip. i have an afternoon in rome tomorrow and then i begin the most drawn out trip to accra ever. begining in cairo i fly through... khartoum, addis ababa, possibly lagos if im lucky and eventually/finally, accra.

we finally ended up leaving greece for croatia a couple of days ago. after a stunt at the pink palace in corfu, we took too many overnight ferries to dubrovnik. croatia was incredible and one of my favourite spots in europe thus far. we spent days poking around the old city, learning about socialist experiments and the war, kayaking/biking (injury free) around a few islands, and eating. its a funny mix in croatia of max maras, outdoor adventures and bullet holes. it was a cool spot to spend my last few days before heading back to the camp... interesting to see how tourism and reconstruction work out together.

not a lot more to be said about the past few days. suppose ive been a bit preoccupied with going back to the camp.. i think ive stocked up on all the food, relaxation and toiletries ill need for the next while and now im ready to go. next post should be from somewhere in ghana!

the big return...

I’m going back to the refugee camp…

This is a sort of a huge change of plans, but I’m confident that it’s the right thing to do. I learned a lot this past year in creating and running Eat to Feed Liberians and have had a growing list of things I’d have done differently or just simply done in the refugee camp while I still had the chance. While lying on the beach in Zanzibar, I realized that I was at a point where I could actually go back and check things off that list. So.. I’m making the plane changes tomorrow.

I’m going to need a lot of help from anyone that’s willing. This extends way beyond financial donations for the feeding program… From a boat between Mykonos and Athens, these are a few things I predict I’ll need.

-Bodies. I need people to volunteer both at home with fundraising and, if you’re interested, actually in the camp. Email me if you’re interested in any kind of project. I’ll suit it to you.
-Suggestions. Of all kinds. What do you think I should have done differently? Where could I improve? What information do you want from the camp? Anything. Seriously.
-Help registering ETFL as an actual charity, and finding out what is involved in Canada with recruiting volunteers.
-Ideas for finding steady funding. Corporate sponsorship has been tossed around (sorry DEVS students.. I know this is a touchy subject…).

There probably won’t be other international volunteers in the camp so, I’m going to need all the help I can get to build this project into something more substantial. If you have ideas, or want ideas, please email me. Greece seems to have a lot of wireless and a friend has brought my computer over to me.

My blog will make the switch from a travel journal back to the ETFL temporary site in about a week.. so check it if you want to keep involved!

As always, thanks for the help so far… After a few weeks of having no responsibility beyond catching planes, its time to get into this project more than ever before!

Oh yeah and for the trip... Greece is still going well. I've been cruising through the islands for about a week now. Hit up Crete, Santorini, Ios and Mykonos. Spent a lot of time vespaing randomly around them, eating good food and drinking more than we should...

cheese and vegetables... finally.

the first thing i ate in greece was a greek salad. fresh veggies and cheese are so overlooked in africa and it kills me. i had another one today.. equally as delicious.

we had a very rushed goodbye to devyn the other day as eric and i tried to catch a really tight connection to cairo. we made it with a whopping 5 minutes to spare, and settled into our flight through khartoum one more time. kenya airway again had delicious food and has been my favourite airline so far (quick sales pitch for them)...

in cairo, we decided to go all out with tourism. we rented the camels (theyre huge, not especially comfortable and make me sneeze) and climbed on the pyramids and into some tombs. it was very cool to be able to check that off my list of things to do in life.

that same night, we jumped on the tourist boat up the nile. saying it was weird is one of the understatements of the year. it was complete with a huge buffet, strange belly dancers, asian tourist busses and no beer in sight. ramadan strikes again. to be fair, the night finished with this crazy guy who spun for like half an hour non-stop with a massive skirt on.. its hard to explain...

the next day we went to alexandria which is up there iwth favourite cities. it looks a lot like miami but less obnoxious.. just a huge beach along the coast with cafes, sheesha and a lot of walking. way less touristy than cairo a well, which was really nice after an intense day.

were now in europe on crete and some other islands for the next few days iwth carolyn. its certainly a change of pace and im going through the usual i miss africa bout. on the plus side, im back there in just over two weeks for another few months (oh yeah.. im staying out here until christmas) so, its not so bad.