Australia Trip: Update (continued)

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Mission Mexico’s operation is possible thanks to the wonderful generosity of our supporters and volunteers, without whom the place I and other 54 children now call home would not exist. We are greatly thankful for your continuous support and for making a difference in our lives!

During this trip to Australia I’ve had the opportunity to visit churches and schools to which I’ve been invited to as a guest speaker on behalf of Mission Mexico. It has been a great honour for me to represent such a great cause, though I must admit I always get a bit homesick every time I talk about home. But funnily enough, it is also something I enjoy doing!

However, it has somehow been a challenge too; I’ve never liked public speaking, I’m terrified of crowds and whenever I find myself in front of one my mouth never says what my brain wants it to. But recently I’ve come to terms with it; now I feel more comfortable and actually think before I speak ...most of the times.

Halfway through November 09 I was given the opportunity to fly down to Canberra so that I could speak at a church and at two schools about my life in Mission Mexico. I was very excited because I knew I’d be doing those visits with Uncle Mark (mum’s brother). I was there for a long weekend and during that time I spoke at 4 different masses and 2 schools. It was quite amazing to see how many people I spoke to were actually very interested and demonstrated a lot of sympathy, and it was good to give them an overview of what Mission Mexico really is.

However, I am now a uni kid and procrastination saw the better of me; I rocked up to the place without a written speech. I thought that because I knew the topic, the right words would just flow out of my mouth, such wasn’t the case! Swinging it isn’t always the way to go, and out of the 8 times I got up and spoke, nor two were the same. That has just taught me a lesson right there: “always prepared yourself to an extent that you know you will achieve your purpose confidently.”

The response we received was very positive; people were always willing to know more after each mass finished. They would come to me to ask me more about the orphanage and to congratulate me for my achievements; it was very uplifting and motivating for me.

In one of those cases, I had a twelve year old kid come to me and tell me that he wanted to become an ongoing supporter of the orphanage. He wanted to do that by donating part of the monthly wage he earned as a newspaper boy, I was dumbstruck!; there I was before this little kid with the biggest heart who was offering financial support and also commenting that he would love to volunteer in the future once he was old enough, little legend!. I seriously didn’t know what to say, I had never had anyone from that age come to me with such a proposition before. He even had his mother and two brothers with him so I knew he was serious. I started by saying thanks and telling him how brave I thought he was. I really learned a lot from that kid that day. We had a little chat after that, and he seem like a kid who had something very special in him.

A question that always comes up when I’m talking to people about my trip to Australia is: what is your favourite thing about Aussie? And the answer is always the same: the people, it’s got to be! Wherever I go and whatever I do it is the people I meet along the way that makes every experience so enjoyable and special! I’ve been so blessed to meet great characters on this trip and I’m deeply thankful for that. Your hospitality has made me feel right at home!

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Australia Trip: Update (continued)

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In the last couple of months of 2009; whenever I wasn’t in the office at Surfing Australia, I was getting up to a heap of other fun stuff. I went camping to places like Lake Moogerah, Noosa North Shore, Byron Bay, The Great Ocean Road, and Austinville. I went surfing to countless surf spots on the east coast from Noosa to Cronulla and scored awesome waves! I went to a cricket match in Brissy, to a footy match in Canberra and to see the V8 supercars in Ipswich (all awesome events). Moreover, I was invited to heaps of Aussie Barbies by friends and other kinds of gatherings!

I was also invited to schools and churches to speak about my life in Mision Mexico in Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney. I went to weddings and birthday parties. I went to Christian Surfers comps, to those I actually went in as a competitor and quite funnily and predictable didn’t make it past the first round in any of them. I went to Maryborough and Gympie, Geelong, Melbourne and Torquay where I visited friends and extended family! I can safely say that I know my way around the Gold Coast now, and yes I did get lost a ridiculous number of times but that’s just showed me that all roads lead home or at least most of them do. It was quite challenging getting used to driving on the other side of the road, but it is something I am proud to say that with time and patience I have been able to master!

During this trip there has been a first time for a lot of things in my life, things I never thought I would ever be able to see or to do! One of those things was my trip to the snow back in the first week of September 09. It was one of my many unique experiences during this trip; I had never seen before in my short living, and it was surely nothing like I expected even though honestly I didn’t know what to expect! It was Dad, Rohan (my brother from another mother ....and father.) and Debs, we also had Uncle Mark come over for a day (mum’s brother), I seriously couldn’t think of a better bunch to have there with me! The main goal was to snowboard as much as we possibly could each day, which meant, getting to the lifts at 9 am on the dot and heading home around 4 pm (in snowboarding time that is a long day).

Dad and Rohan had obviously done this before, and Debs and I, well, I had my surfing skills and Debs had her hopes. The place displayed one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen, it was the sort of thing I had only seen in movies and always thought of as surreal, so for a while I just stood there in awe, just appreciating the beautiful landscapes by which I was surrounded.

Once the whole pretty scene thing sank in, I knew I had yet another challenge in front of me: snowboarding! All geared up, I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task, and therefore it was great having Rohan and Dad there with me; they told me how it all worked and were extremely patient with me. I don’t think it took long for it to click so before I knew it I was on my way down the slopes on my own with a lot of speed, speed that I didn’t know what to do with. Dad and Rohan were stylishly gliding down the slopes using their speed to steer their boards, and just flying down the line. I was going nowhere as fast as they were but surely loved it as much as they did. I had a few accidents, one of which I nearly ended in tears (yup it hurts when you land on your bum on dry ice) but at the end of the day it was all fun! Those were five days of snowboarding every single day, improving little by little, with each day just finishing really tired and wondering whether I would have the strength to do it all over again the next day. And each new day I'd get up realising that that was all I wanted to do ....I was hooked!

On the last day we had snowfall and I must admit it was the most magical thing I’ve ever witnessed. I remember sitting on the lift and being fully covered by snow as we were on our way up. It was so beautiful! All I could think was how great God is and how He created all these things perfect and how He has given us the opportunity to somehow enjoy and appreciate them. It was definitely a great experience and one that I have surely ticked off my bucket list, and that I would happily do again!

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Australia Trip: Update (continued)

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On the other hand living in the land down under has felt like these six months have flown by. I have seriously done so much in what has felt to be a short period of time. When I first started uni I was told that I needed to have a balance between study and fun, and I have surely committed to that. Uni has been great, a whole new challenge, it has tested me in every way in terms of study and commitment. People usually think that because I am studying Sport Management (SURFING STUDIES) all I do is to surf! But guess what!? It isn’t! I am definitely studying surfing but not only as a sport but mainly as an Industry, which also happens to be the third biggest industry in the Gold Coast, yes, there is a lot of money into surfing over here and I notice that every day!

It is amazing to see how what used to be a sport of Gods (according to Polynesian culture) and royalty has become a mainstream sport/hubby to millions of people in Australia only. It is also amazing to see how so many communities have been located on the beach fully influenced by the surfing culture e.g. Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Great Ocean Road. Did I mention Surfing remains to be one the most marketable sports in Australia? So yes my course isn’t only about paddling out and catching waves all day, even though I do a bit of that, it actually requires studying and studying hard! During the first semester I learned about Sport Business, Sport Media and Sport Marketing; these were very entertaining subjects that have given me a great overview of what it takes to start up and run a business within the sport industry.

Soon after I had finished all my assignments and my exams, I had the opportunity and time to do other things. Over a period of two months I undertook an internship with Surfing Australia. Surfing Australia is the governing body of surfing in Australia, which is in charge of guiding and promoting the development of Surfing in the country. Surfing Australia’s main activities include: organising surf competitions, camps, training coaches and judges and working with surf schools and surf clubs. It has been an exciting experience for me in which I have learned I lot!

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Australia Trip: Update.

Hi everyone,

I have been thinking about writing updates of my journey for a while now, and I really think it is something I should be doing more frequently. However, it is so easy to get dragged into the whole Aussie lifestyle (Surfing, Beach, BBQs and Camping) that I always forget to write a blog. Also there seems to be something on all the time for me; be it an important event or a fun activity, or in a few cases it may just be that I’m not in the mood. I strongly believe that you need to be in a special mood so that you can sit down and type your stories.

I must admit that I personally much rather being out there surfing some empty spot down the coast with a few mates than sitting here on my desk in front of my laptop trying to figure out how to word what’s going through my head, sometimes just thinking about it causes me a headache. The thought has always been there though, but every time I decide to sit down and do it I always get sidetracked by either the guitar or the surf, I’m sure you all understand what I mean. But this time I think I’m actually going to make it so cheer me on.

I can’t believe it has nearly been six months since I left Mexico, that is half of year people, and as much as you would think that it isn’t that long, believe me; it is, especially when half of your siblings are still toddlers growing up so much and so quick. I was completely in awe the other day when I was having a Skype chinwag with the family back home and all of a sudden I heard this unknown voice calling my name, I surely didn’t know where it was coming from or whose it was; all I could see was this little head popping in and out of the blurry laptop screen. What was my surprise when one of the kids told me it was Junior saying hello, he was jumping up to the screen and calling my name. I was fully blown away as all I could remember Junior doing was sign language and funny noises for words. I could not believe he was speaking so clear now, it was so cute!. He’s the kind of kid that always has a big smile on his face, and to know that he remembered me after six months of absence really meant a lot to me.

Not long ago Mum sent me a load of photos of the kids in which I found photos of Sammy and Ali SURFING! I couldn’t believe my eyes; they both looked so stoked to be surfing. It's funny because I can still recall those two crawling around the house as they couldn’t walk and to see them now, it was amazing, both of them standing up on their boards with huge grins on their faces whilst riding the white water, it was priceless! Also I saw a couple of photos of Jimmi, little Jimmi surfing the white water on a bodyboard all by himself, little ripper, He probably will be the next Mexican Champ! It's amazing to see how much the little ones have grown and all the things that they are able to do now.

I remember back in Mexico Sammy used to come to me on Sundays at the beach and tell me that one day he would be able to surf like Dad and I did, little legend, little did he know he would accomplish that a lot sooner than expected. And Ali, my princess, she has always surprised me with her wit and skills.

Seeing the kids doing so well makes me very happy, though I must admit that it is hard being so far away. Missing out on those special moments is what makes me realise how much I love my brothers and sisters at Mission Mexico, and to see them so big now and to hear all those stories from home makes it clear that six months is a very long time ...or at least it is in a toddler's life!

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Slackness

Gday everyone (Six months LATER!!!)

I cannot believe I haven't been able to keep up with this blog during my time here in Australia.

Before departing Mexico I thought it would be something really easy to do, but it turns out it hasn't. The reason why, well, I've been all over the shop here. I've done so much fun stuff and had such a great time that I could not put it all on written word even if I used the 4 months I have left in Oz.

There is one big blog I wrote before Christmas that I never quite finished. I will finished that and will let you know all the highlights of 2009!

Hope Everyone is Having an Amazing 2010

Cheers,

Moacir