South America

Well I'm back in Melbourne from my trip to South America.
It really was the most amazing experience ever. The main reason I went was to do some volunteer work with kids in Brazil but I made sure I had a little time to travel before hand to see the rest of the continent.
I spent my 21st birthday and new years eve in Buenos Aires, went sandboarding and Inca trekking through Peru, stayed with a local family and toured Bolivia, spent a day sleeping at the border stuck in Chile, loved every minute, every steak and every Malbec of Argentina, lazed on the beach and drank cocktails in Uruguay, partied at Carnival, hang glided and hung out at the beach in Rio de Janiero and finally went up to Salvador de Bahia to do my volunteer work.
In Salvador I worked in a Favela with underprivileged kids who I really fell in love with during my time there.
I had a class of 6 and 7 year olds who, though a little wild at first, really turned around and became angels! Hopefully I taught them something or at least just gave them a little extra attention that they needed. The worst thing in the world was leaving these kids! I didn't realise they would have such a big impression on me but, though I will always adore Melbourne, I definitely left some of my heart in Brazil!

Brazilian Orphanage

Well I'm so excited because I have booked a trip to South America! I am going to volunteer with kids in Brazil. It's something I've always really wanted to do and hopefully I will be able to continue doing similar things for the rest of my life.
I'm going with a program called Cross-Cultural Solutions.
I spoke to mX to do an article for them and was really excited to talk about why I wanted to go and everything that I wanted to do in Brazil, but the person interviewing me just kept repeatedly asking me about hair straighteners and my 'fave celebs' which was really not the point! Haha! Well anyway the article made me sound like a bit of a bimbo so that was funny but a bit frustrating at the same time.
Another article published in my local paper made me sound like a real goodie goodie wanting to save the whole world. Haha! Well I do want to save the world but I think I'll have to take it one small step at a time...
What I really want to do first is be a good influence on the kids so that hopefully they wont enter into cycle of violence and use any education we can give them to get ahead.
Well those interviews taught me a lesson in the media for sure! Be careful what you say because people will present you in whatever light they want to!