This comes a little late in the piece, but I'd like to tell you about Navidad en Bolivia!

This is a Christmas fundraising project initiated by Adrian Nickols and friends both in Bolivia and at home.

The project gives us the opportunity to directly impact the life of one of 50 Bolivian children in 3 orphanages. These orphanages rely on donations and at Christmas, it is difficult to put a gift under the Christmas tree for each child.

A series of one-off Christmas sponsorships are available, to support the children. In participating, you can choose from a list of sponsorships to either provide a Christmas present for one of the children, or assist in providing clothes, shoes, school materials, additional tuition, an eye test or speech therapy.

Sponsorships range between $16 and $130. Sponsors will receive a Christmas card to give to a loved one, containing a picture and a brief profile of the child that will receive support (a bit like the cards you can buy from TEAR or Oxfam - but professionally printed with the Navidad en Bolivia design :) ). In giving someone this card, you are also raising awareness of the needs existing in Bolivia.

It's really easy:

Step 1: Go to the Navidad en Bolivia page and browse through the list of available sponsorships.

Step 2: Contact me and let me know which one(s) you've chosen - either email renae.peters[AT]gmail.com or text/call 0439 048 202.

Step 3: I'll provide you with bank transfer details. After funds are transfered, you'll receive a card in the mail.

BUT.... Get on it soon, because sponsorships are running out (running out the door at crazy prices in actual fact). Since Navidad en Bolivia was launched about a month ago, we've raised (and this is current at time of writing) AUD $2725!!! How incredible is that! God is incredible. Our target (the total of the sponsorships) is AUD $4862. So already, we're 56% of the way there! To quote Bill Nighy from Love Actually, "It's going to be a very good Christmas."

Why I'm So Pumped About Going to Sydney!

I'm going to Sydney this weekend to work at the Sydney Adventure Travel & Backpackers Expo, on the Discover Tasmania desk. Then I get 2 days to just be at tourist. I've only been to Sydney twice before - somehow I've never had many opportunities to make it up there. The first time was farewelling Adrian in April, when we whizzed across the harbour in a ferry, and had a bit of a look at Circular Quay. The second time was a week after that, when I flew out of Sydney for Europe. I didn't see anything but the airport and a hotel. So, this weekend I finally get to see the city. Why is that so exciting, you might ask?

Well, the answer is Ruth Park. My life-long love. Since I was a little kid, I've adored Ruth Park's novels, most of which are set in Sydney. You know when a book just gets you? Something about her writing just appeals to me in a huge way - they evoke something that no other writers can! And for this reason, I am devoted to Ruth Park novels for the rest of my life. They may only be simple Australian stories, but they are my kind of story. I love them.

I particularly like the way she evokes a sense of place, and a love for her characters. After first reading the Harp in the South (my favourite) when I was a kid, I remember desperately wanting to go to Surry Hills and Narrabeen, just because I so desperately missed the people and places once I'd finished the book - it's always a sad thing to finish one of her books. They are that good. To me, anyway.

I wish I could meet her - she's still alive as far as I know. She wrote her first novels in the 1940s, when she was living in Surry Hills with her husband D'Arcy Niland (he wrote The Shiralee - and, on a bizarre note, my current boss Jen is related to him! I was so excited to find that out). So this weekend I'm going to explore the Rocks, where Playing Beatie Bow was set, and hopefully I'll get to Surry Hills as well as catch a bus to Narrabeen (where parts of Harp in the South were set). Childhood dreams come true! I'm a little obsessed, aren't I?

Something I learned when I was travelling...

What's the difference between an Australian and a piece of cheese?

After awhile you'd expect the cheese to have grown some culture.

Cafe Culture

Ok, so being a small-town girl (haha, who in Tasmania isn't - unless you're not a girl), I am intrigued by the cafe/coffee culture that is rife amongst some of my friends, particularly the ones that go to my church. I love these people. I love to observe the unspoken rules and taboos associated with buying coffee, and I wish I knew half of what there is to know about good coffee, but I will never understand it, and so I just listen and observe. I have been intrigued by this for quite some time, but tonight I had a full education in coffee connoisseurism and what is and just isn't done. So I thought I'd make a note of what I have learned:

1. There is an unspoken, but widely agreed upon 'best coffee in Hobart' - clearly Villino.
2. As for the second best coffee in Hobart - well this depends on your priorities. Do you value service first? Or is quality all that matters?
3. Villino can do no wrong. They ARE coffee.
4. Your loyalty to a cafe is of prime importance. If you change your alliegance, you should explain to the losing cafe why you are taking your custom elsewhere. Preferably put this in writing (ok I made that part up).
5. If a cafe owner goes to the effort of delivering coffee to your workplace, just for you, they really value your loyalty, and you should consider this factor when choosing where to buy coffee.
6. Service is extremely important - you have to feel like they want to be your friends. They should know your name if you regularly go there.
7. Baristas need to use the correct implement to make latte art. Like, don't use a pen.
8. If you're practising your latte art, it's important that you just use slightly older coffee - the kind that's not good enough for drinking.
9. Do not have sugar in your coffee.
10. It's important to know your tea as well. You should own at least 20 varieties of leaf tea, and know the key ingredients of each (this isn't so important - but I think it shows diversity to be versed in your tea knowledge in addition to coffee).
11. Do not even use the word "instant". That is not a real word.

I think I'm learning. Too many times I've made the faux pas of admitting that I like instant coffee. Which isn't such a bold statement, as I'm sure a lot of people do. But there is apparently some very good coffee to be had in Hobart, so maybe I will start dropping by Villino a little more often.

Facelift

I'm making over my blog! The team at Renae Across the World have decided that to increase visitor numbers, a redesign and some re-branding was required (I hope you appreciate my efforts in colour coordination!) Also, my advisors have suggested that I should write on my blog occasionally, to generate traffic. I've lost motivation to blog recently, because I have this impediment where I have to be in a 'writing mood' to write. But I'll be back here more often now, so stick around and don't give up on us yet.