Bla Bla

Quick rant...WE  are still in BELEM! the port city at the mouth of the Amazon...a chaotic, hustling town that, as I~ve found in every place so far, the passion, intensity and raw humanity that seems to pervade this nation.
Standing on the banks of the Amazon was breath taking...and last night we went to a reggae gig ON A BOAT in the river...mental! Belem is another mixture of new, old, poor and ridiculously wealthy...commerce runs with markets on its door step, beggars litter pavements walked by business men with cell phones...I will never adapt to the poverty or the smells!

I am still adapting to travel and the lessons that go with it. Lessons hang on every experience, and for all the awe and joy and elation, there is also the frustrations and homesickness that from time to time pop up...I think even the most seasoned travellers feel the same sometimes.

Realising how selfish, impatient, intolerant and reliant I am on creature comforts, that the only constant is change, and that the very things we use at home to measure life and importance, matter not on a global scale.  The facade that is wealth and success counts for nothing...I never realised how lucky, blessed and smugly content we are at home - I am confronted daily with human suffering, yet the fearless raw energy of human determination, and the joy and vibrancy that pervades, what I would have (until now) seen as being hopeless situations.  The judgemental frameworks that are so ingrained in coming from a rich country have become so glaringly obvious to me that I am now determined to immerse myself further here to really learn the places from a soul point of view...
I am re-contacting the people re volunteer work in Colombia and Peru cos I~m feeling like I~m stagnating here, I dont want to travel just to see stuff, I wanna have purpose and serve, not just take as a tourist. The arrogance of tourists astounds me here, and I am NOT going to be the same.  It is hard to know what to do - I buy food for the homeless children but I know that there is such a greater need here that I cant begin to fathom...
I am moved daily and have been mesmerised by the resolute faith of people in this country.  I have been spiritually brought to my knees witnessing the grace, compassion and love people have here...despite the danger, the crime and the poverty, there is something that underpins it all and it is the human spirit, and to look it in the eye has moved me to tears here...

ANYWAY we are leaving tomorrow to go down river to Santarem so I am not sure when I will be online again...I miss you all and love you xxx