Rein signing in -
" Still waiting for a call from the embassy; every time the phone rings, we jump up expectantly, but to no avail.
In the meantime, the preparations continue. Final meeting with Better Future in The Netherlands before our departure teaches us that the unknown is an essential ingredient to sabbatical and volunteering alike. We agree that the best approach will be to visit the three short listed NGO's personally to ascertain where and how each of us two can best add value to the communities they serve. So we won't know what we'll be doing exactly until we get to Bangalore.
We also discussed the upcoming projects of Better Future India and how we could be involved in these. Here too we decided to play it by ear, until we have our feet on the ground and our first volunteering experience under our belt. I in particular do not want to step into the trap of getting stuck into leadership development work immediately as I really want to use this sabbatical to be exposed to new challenges and gather new experiences in the unknown.
Logistic preparations are continuing as well. While we are winding down the things to do at our end to pack up and leave; in Bangalore our hosts are stepping up their support, including sourcing potential places for us to live while in Bangalore and booking tickets for our train journey from Delhi to Bangalore. This journey over land will take up to three days and will allow us to experience a quintessential aspect of India: the realm of its railroads!
Here's hoping that one of the next blog entries involves some definitive news on our visas!"
- Rein signing out
" Still waiting for a call from the embassy; every time the phone rings, we jump up expectantly, but to no avail.
In the meantime, the preparations continue. Final meeting with Better Future in The Netherlands before our departure teaches us that the unknown is an essential ingredient to sabbatical and volunteering alike. We agree that the best approach will be to visit the three short listed NGO's personally to ascertain where and how each of us two can best add value to the communities they serve. So we won't know what we'll be doing exactly until we get to Bangalore.
We also discussed the upcoming projects of Better Future India and how we could be involved in these. Here too we decided to play it by ear, until we have our feet on the ground and our first volunteering experience under our belt. I in particular do not want to step into the trap of getting stuck into leadership development work immediately as I really want to use this sabbatical to be exposed to new challenges and gather new experiences in the unknown.
Logistic preparations are continuing as well. While we are winding down the things to do at our end to pack up and leave; in Bangalore our hosts are stepping up their support, including sourcing potential places for us to live while in Bangalore and booking tickets for our train journey from Delhi to Bangalore. This journey over land will take up to three days and will allow us to experience a quintessential aspect of India: the realm of its railroads!
Here's hoping that one of the next blog entries involves some definitive news on our visas!"
- Rein signing out
I feel very excited for you reading this. 3 days on a train hey, what an adventure! I so can't wait to read and hear it all. All my love for ease in ending the packing and starting the travelling xxxxChris
ReplyDeleteHey Chris, thank you for yr comment. Just discovered your own blog... Pity you haven't entered anything recently.
ReplyDeleteLove, Rein