Getting complicated...

Thoughts on volunteering have gone to a new blog, which, if we go, will become the blog of our two years abroad.

Volunteering

Volunteer in third world country?

Hub has applied for a volunteer position and the organization is interested since he's well qualified. They allow non-volunteering spouses to go as well. Yikes! Going to an assessment next month where they will check us both out. Been looking at profiles from several sources of the countries they send people to. I've been dismissing countries that say things like guns and machetes used on foreigners, or recent bombings, or several tourists kidnapped and/or murdered, civil unrest resulting in deaths, arson attacks on local schools...... wee things like that tend to make me just a bit uneasy. There are at least four countries I'd be comfortable going to. At present there are no vacancies for his intended position in those countries. The available positions on their website are for three of those less than safe countries. Of course, hub says I'm worrying needlessly. Two years is a long time to be away from home and it's many comforts. We'll see.

This is home

Been thinking about where I want to live. And, yes, I do love a warm climate and lots of sunshine. But what will I find somewhere else aside from that? What happens when the sandy beach, warm weather and the swimming pool are no longer a novelty? I want to stay here with Scottish people, culture, history, and the landscape and character of the country. This is my home. Spending 2 or 3 months in a warm climate during the winter is probably the best option.

Overcoming the need to be right

Well, I've extricated myself from an online *news* forum that had been taking up too much of my time for the last couple of weeks. Don't know why I want to debate unwinnable topics with people who are so ignorant....homophobes, those against smoking bans, evangelicals, bush supporters. Certainly didn't help me toward my goals of peacefulness and mindfulness. The amount of ignorance, bigotry, hate and just plain stupidity is astounding, although I don't know why it surprises me. I will admit to having a bit of fun with good sarcastic retorts. And I did enjoy reading many highly intelligent and articulate posts.

But that's it. I've logged out and won't go back on.....

Retire where?

I'm getting loads of suggestions from people on where to retire since we are looking for a warmer climate. We adore Scotland, but the weather sucks.

We're still researching South Africa but have also looked at various islands in the Caribbean, in the Pacific, off of Africa... Spain and warmer European countries. And they all come up nope, nope, nope.... When dh actually started looking online at some southern US states I was horrified. I got a weirdly unpleasant feeling in the pit of my stomach. Have I become anti-American? Or have I just become another person since being exposed to different cultures?

I was looking at photos of some beautiful islands with very white, gorgeous sandy beaches, turquoise clear water, and some had a few mountains as well. But I wondered if I'd get bored. What else was there besides this beauty and the warm/hot weather? What would be missing that I found so attractive in SA is the ancient culture - the art - the fact that it's the cradle of civilization, the chance to see wild animals and go on photo safaris.

Time waster

I've been drawn into arguing/discussing on a huge forum with many topics. I wasn't even looking for another forum, it just happened to be attached to a news item I was reading. Now I'm arguing unwinnable arguments....banging my head against a brick wall. The narrow-minded are so infuriating....Bush supporters, homophobes, fundamentalist christians, smokers who oppose bans on smoking in public places, pagan haters... Maybe I'm just trying to get even for 10 years of having evangelicals trying to shove their opinions down my throat, and having to bite my tongue when co-workers brought religion into the office.