Final thoughts

I think anyone that gets to go on a trip like this one to countries on the other side of the world, comes home with a new appreciation of life. When you see how trivial our "problems" are here in N America, how much excess we have, how much we take for granted and compare that to people whose sole purpose in the day is just to survive another day you, can't not be affected by that. I'm going to try and not belly ache the next time I have to wait more than 2 mins in line at Tim's.

I was troubled part way thru that some back home had some disparaging remarks to make about my trip. That's partially why I stopped updating my blog. Some didn't like that I got to go under the umbrella of the church. I did initially post a blog telling those people what I thought of them, but thought better of it and removed the post before anyone could see it. For the record, I paid my own way, out of my pocket, out of my vacation time from work, away from my family. People are quick to criticize without knowing the whole story mostly because they have nothing better to do.

Overall it was a great experience and I'd do it again if I could. It was interesting to experience the different cultures, now I can see where all the crazy taxi drivers come from. It was a wonderful experience of faith for me, to see people who appreciate their faith and are willing to make sacrifices for it. And of course it was a once in a lifetime experience to spend a few days with the Chief. I'm thankful that I still get excited at my age to see him and shake his hand.

This blog has at least accomplished what I hoped it would. It gave me an opportunity to keep track of what I did on the trip and to keep those memories more vivid. I hope you enjoyed reading it.

JB