Thursday, May 29, 2008

3 sleeps to go...

The pressure is on...my very first blog...but I figure it's time to let go of my inhibitions. It's time to open up and share my life with someone. I hope you feel lucky that I chose you!

Je m'excuse mes amis francophones, mais je crois que la plupart de mes blogs se feront en anglais. J'espère que vous arrivez à les lire pareil. Surtout n'hésitez pas de m'écrire en français!

So as many of you already know (and are possibly sick of hearing about) I'm going to Mali, West Africa, for the summer. I am a Project Supervisor with a Canadian ngo and in this role I will be leading a group of 9 "youth" (18-28 years). We will be working with a Malian ngo in three villages to build community gardens - the goal of which is to earn money for the schools in these communities. This work has already proven interesting and challenging, as over the past few months I facilitated training for my group in order to prepare them for this adventure.

I just returned to Montreal from 3 weeks of holidays down the East Coast of the US, and then to BC (the picture above was taken over Vancouver), and I am now feeling ready for my departure June 1st. I am looking forward to the new smells, sounds and people. I am looking forward to all the unexpected situations that lie ahead. I think this could be my favourite part about traveling - waking up and having no idea what your day will look like!

I will be using this blog to share my experiences with you and I welcome your comments. Please keep me up to date on your life too!

More to come from Mali...