Bangalore 2nd Branch

It was that time of year again, the Bangalore 2nd branch activity. It was decided that we would go to Yellagiri, a "mountain" about 150 kilometers away. Since 150 kilometers is about 90 miles, you would think that it would take about 2 to 2.5 hours. We got to the church at 6:30am to get packed into the buses and start the drive out of Bangalore. Much to my discomfort, the bus didn't have air conditioning and 5 of us sat on a bench made for 3. 3 adults and 2 8 year old boys on our laps. The young adults sang Indian songs, the teenage girls payed excessive attention to the missionaries and the children ran up and down the aisles.
6 hours after we left, we arrived at the park. Yes, that's right. 6 hours. Either I can't do math or someone is under the delusion that 6 hours is an acceptable amount of time to go 90 miles. But, we arrived. I was covered in sweat, but I was there.
We ate lunch, which consisted of some unknown meat and 5 cups of rice...for each of us. If I had any foresight, I would have taken an eating utensil. Instead, I ate with my hands and become one with the people. There were activities and Bollywood dancing. There were families and children and stray dogs. There was even a cow living at the park, but I didn't approach it due to my last experience with such things.
We finally got back to the church at 10:30pm. For a couple hours there, I was sure that I had died and that this was my hell. But, then we made it back the church and back to my air conditioner. Even though it was a day of heat, sweat and eating rice with my hands, it was great to be with the ward members. The kids are so cute and the women are hilarious. Only 4 more weeks with them.

Fights

so in my month of travel here in Europe I have been a witness to a number of fights. There was the fight between the bus controller and the Italian man as to why the man hadn't stamped his bus ticket and whether or not he deserved a ticket. There was a fight between a woman and a Greek couple on the ferry because the woman thought the couple was taking up too much room on the bench. There was a fight between the 2 boys of the family we stayed with in Sardinia about which cartoon to watch. There was a fight between a Spanish woman and a taxi driver because she thought she was overcharged for her taxi ride. There was a screaming fight between a couple in Greece that I have no idea what it was about.

But none of these fights compare to the bull fights I witnessed last night (none of my pictures of the fight turned out, so this is one from the internet, but it's exactly like what we witnessed). After seeing it, it's not a surprise that this sport hasn't caught on like soccer across the world, however it was quite an experience. Maren and I found ourselves in a rather large stadium surrounded with men, mostly in their 60s smoking cigars and chewing on sunflower seeds. We saw a total of 6 bulls be killed. I found myself at one time almost cheering for the bull to buck the matador.....I don't think it's a fight I really want to witness again, but it was fun to be part of a Spanish tradition.

Compete with this!

I love my life. True, it'd be even better if I were independently wealthy and Erin W., Sarah, and I could just sleep out on the back deck on love sacs and grill salmon and go for Harley rides every night, but as it is, it's really great and I'll take it. There's not a whole lot going on with me--just getting ramped up with the old HP and still pulling all-nighters. Oh, the good times we've had.

But the best time so far this summer was tonight...when I was at Ann Taylor and the super nice lady who owns Classy Cuisine next door came over and brought us two sandwiches as a gift to our friend Susan who happened to not be at work this evening. Luckily for me, the sandwiches were pulled pork. Even luckier, my friend Juliet who was working with me is a vegetarian. I used to be one of those things. And then I got very lazy. Even most luckiest of all lucks for Sarah, the pulled pork fanatic, was that she was on her way to Provo as I was taking my first bite of my two sandwiches I had just been given and as I bit into the lusciousness of a pulled pork sandwich from Classy Cuisine (the nice lady who owns it is Brett's aunt, by the way), I decided to text Sarah and to tell her to come by the good old AT.

Sarah stopped by after a 3-hour bike ride. Seriously, Sarah always looks beautiful, but for the sake of the story, let's say she looked like she'd just gone on a 3-hour bike ride. She stopped in, I gave her the sandwich and her face lit up and she said, "I'm so glad you thought of me!" For those of you who have spent time with Sarah recently and have seen her eat three pulled pork sandwiches on three separate occasions and then also saw her make "pulled chicken" for BBQ chicken sandwiches, you know what my answer was. "Who else was I going to think of?"

So while we were in the store I convinced Sarah to try on some clothes. Ever the efficient one, she tried the first one on over her long-sleeve t-shirt. The next item wasn't as conducive to this method, so she stripped off her t-shirt and tried the next item (which was a silk shell) on over her sports bra, pausing to take a few bites of her sandwich as we talked. Sarah is normally the picture of sophistication and professionalism, so I loved the opportunity this gave me to envision Sarah's youth in the double wide. It was awesome. Work out pants, sports bra, silk shell, messy ponytail, sunglasses on her head...and a pulled pork sandwich.

This, my friends, is my life and I love it. Sarah, Erin W., and I have had some good times lately. We've watched a couple of really lame movies, slept out on the deck, hauled love sacs up and down stairs, gone out to dinner, barbecued, had awkward moments with ex-roommates, had anatomy lessons courtesy of the internet, gone on long walks at the base of the mountains, talked about bike rides (some of us have actually gone), ridden on Harleys, made oreo-pudding parfaits (tell me that isn't blog worthy), and learned to see Katherine Heigl in a new light...our lives are so normal. And so fabulous.

Hong Kong

I like it here. We went to a movie last night and got out after midnight, the city was still as alive as it was at 7pm. It has quite a character about it. We're staying in a room the size of a queen size bed, not bad, not bad. Only a few days left.

It's hard to compete!

While you are all in Thailand, Egypt, Ghana, India, and who knows where else, I have chosen to spend my time in the thriving metropolis called Cedar Hills, Utah... ever heard of it?

While you are helping orphans learn how to read and write, Erin and I have been planting flowers and building rock walls in my back yard to get my house ready to sell.

While you are helping develop innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty, I've been watching expensive horses race around a track and rubbing elbows with women wearing hats that probably cost more than women in some countries make in a year.

All of this is enough to make me realize, there's someone in South America who will never have the opportunity to come to the BYU MBA program, but I did. So I should find a way to get out of Cedar Hills and give back to those who are less fortunate.

Thanks for the updates on your lives, as it's the only way I stay in touch with reality.

Miss you all!!!

More time with kids...

(after one of the trips to the internet cafe today)

(watching the soccer tournament at school last week...with about 4 kids on my lap)

(some of the girls in their room)

Today was a holiday...but I think I'm more exhausted today than I've been since coming.

Brother Johnson met with Frank and me this morning. I gave Frank a Book of Mormon last night, marked some scriptures. When he and I met this morning, he'd already done a lot of reading. We had a great discussion. He asked good questions, and I answered the best I could. Then Brother Johnson was ready to talk. We talked for a bit, then he gave Frank a blessing, then gave me a blessing. Amazing. Frank and I left, both of us in awe and feeling really blessed and humbled. I'm not sure how to describe.

It was a holiday today, so I thought I'd capitalize on the free time to take the kids to the internet cafe. We took 8 last week, and more wanted to go. I found out today that it's been almost a year since the kids have been out of the orphanage and into town. Big thanks to Casey for sponsoring their trips. So eventhough it was a holiday, Frank came with me so I didn't have to take the kids by myself. It was exhausting as it was, so I can't imagine doing it by myself--nice of Frank to give up his day off. We took 17 kids in 2 trips. This was their first time on the computer, so it was nonstop helping kids. They absolutely loved it, but it took all day, and all my energy. I loved when we got in the first taxi, all the kids were piled in the backseat. I looked in the rearview mirror, and they all had their heads bowed and one was saying a prayer, asking a blessing on the driver, and giving thanks for their opportunity to go to the cafe. It was just really cute.

I did spend a little time at the orphanage between trips. Emanuella (my fav) is upset and won't talk to me. I finally grabbed her, gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek and told her I loved her. When I let go, she ran inside. She came back out about 2 minutes later drying her eyes with her dress. Yeah, that broke my heart. The only words I got out of her today were her saying that it was her last day. :( Can I bring her home? And her brother?

I'm not going to be ready to leave on Thursday. In fact, I'm really sad just thinking about it. There's so much more I want to do.

Paradise

We've just been kickin' it in paradise this past week. Seriously, it's great. We never know what time it is, we spend all of our time on the beach, in the water, or in a restaurant. You can walk anywhere within like 10 minutes, beach can be seen in almost every direction. It is unbelievable. The water is so warm and so clear. Nanette teaches us her synchronized swimming techniques after wh ich we see how far we can throw each other by standing on each other's shoulders and shooting up into the air. Granted most people do this kind of thing with their 8-year old children, but since we're on vacation this is allowed for us as well--even if it does turn heads.

We saw 3 sharks while scuba diving! Apparently they're not dangerous, but still, slightly alarming. We also saw a harlequin shrimp, which apparently people dive for years looking for. We saw two our first day! Our guide is the only one in the shop that knows where they are. When we were on the boat the other insturctors were asking him to show them and he was laughing and telling us there are like 6 people on the island that know how to find them, and they keep it a secret...and then he showed us. I don't know why he wasn't concerned that me and Mallorie would navigate our way back and share his secret :)

Scuba Diving!!

Computer?

After school, Frank and I took 6 of the older kids into town to the internet cafe. Little did I know it would be their first time on the computer. It was a ton of fun to be there with them and see them discover the wonderful world of google. :) They were really, really cute. They got really excited about it and were sad when their time ran out. Afterward, they were going off about how they wanted to know more and how they wish they had more of an opportunity to work on computers. Frank's response was that they needed to start praying for computers at New Life. I guarantee you those kids will get computers. When they pray for something, it happens. They have SUCH amazing faith.

Mehendi!

Maybe not as hardcore as living in the jungle and maybe not as relaxing as lying on the beach in Brazil, but there's nothing like a good bridal shower to remind you of your single status. It turns out that bridal showers are the same everywhere. Lots of food, lots of talking about dating and tattooing? Ok, well maybe that last part is just in India. Good times all around though!

Not So Hardcore?

We have been so excited to go 'trekking' through the jungle of northern Thailand. Trying to explain this experience would require writing skills like my mom, which I don't have. It was one of those experiences that I wouldn't give up, and I'm glad I did it, but I'm not so sure I would do it again...it made me realize I may not be as hardcore as I would have previously claimed. What can I say? Let me just say though, that before I left UT, I went to trusty REI and bought these rockin' awesome shoes which seriously saved the day. Waterproof, sturdy, fabulous.

We were in a group of 12, 6 girls from England (fabulously funny who enjoyed making fun of our American accent--and I'm not sure, but somehow Mallorie picked up a British accent?), a guy from Canada and two guys from Singapore. They piled us in the back of a truck and we took of driving for several hours until we reached "the jungle." Then they piled us into the back of another truck, this one being a 4x4 to get us up the steep, muddy, hill. I really thought I might die at this point. All 12 of us were screaming and laughing...until the truck got stuck. We all got out, the hooked a rope up to the front and asked the 3 boys to go up and start pulling. It didn't take them long before they realized that the real muscles were with the women, so we all grabbed onto the rope, got totally muddy and pulled the truck out of its muddy demise.

We then hiked through the jungle surrounded by shades of green that you forget exist until you surround yourself in it. Although surrounding yourself with these shades of green also meant that we were surrounding our feet by blood sucking creatures we like to call...leeches. That's when my hardcore-ness started to slip. I just about lost my mind. We each armed ourselves with a leech stick and our eyes were glued to our feet because they can go from shoe to skin in seconds and the thought of that really just made me want to die. We frequently screamed and flung leeches from our own and from our hiking neighbors' shoes. For the most part we were successful, but several of the creatures slyly conquered our determined effort and got what they were looking for--blood.

Both nights we slept in hill-tribe villages where several families had established dwellings. It was so neat to see how they lived. We all bunked up in one big room with mosquito nets and thin pads. This was another part of the trip where the "girly" side of me was exposed. Sleeping in the jungle exposes one to lots of big and foreign bugs and that knowledge doesn't lend itself to the sound night of sleep I am used to. The first night it started raining around 7 o'clock so we were stuck inside from 7pm-morning. Nanette had packed a pack of cards and the 3 of us started playing some games and then we realized we involve the entire gang with a good old-fashioned game of Mafia. Nobody had heard of the game and they loved it. It was amazing. We played for hours.

The trek ended with elephant rides and white water rafting down a jungle river. It was a fabulous ending to a fabulous trip. Then back in the truck, but by this time it was like hanging out with 11 of my best friends, jungle trips will do that to a group.

Italian Highlights

Here are some of the highlights of Italy:
-being called (the Italian equivalent of): beautiful, treasure, love, dearest, muffin, VERY beautiful etc.
-gelato everyday
-mozzarella di buffula (sells for about $60 a pound in the US)
-not showering for 4 days and smelling just like the Italians
-free drinks from random Italian guys
-being interviewed about the Catholic church for an Italian news station
-trying to hold up the leaning tower of Pisa
-seeing the evil city of Pompeii
-climbing 417 stairs to the top of the Florence bell tower
-having members recognize me after 5 years in Rome
-not understanding anything Italians in Napoli say to me, because they don't actually speak Italian they speak Napolitano

The list goes on and on. It's been a good time. I will try to get pictures up sometime soon, because I love all of yours!

Cliffs, beaches and boats

Most people who know me know that I love the sun, sand and beach. Don't worry...I still do and these past four days have really hit the spot. I have seen some breathtaking scenery, sweet snorkeling, fantastic boat rides, played beach volleyball and just enjoyed the sun. And I have done this with some of my favorite people in the world - my daddy, a brother and his family, another brother, and one of my sisters and her husband.

There is a picture of me on the canal at Paraty (pod-a-chee). We were walking back from a breathtaking boatride out in the bay. We saw some amazing sites - multiple homes only accessible via water. A bed and breakfast with bungalows on an island which I think would be perfect for a get away with my lover (the one I don't have, that is). I have pictures of that too but I'll not clutter the page documenting everything that I have seen. We spent a day and a half at Paraty - did some shopping, ate some good stuff, toured one of the oldest port towns in Brazil, had an amazing boat ride in the bay, etc.

The next day we went to Trindade (trin-dodg-ee). Amazing scenery!!! I just laid on the beach and smiled after hiking around the rock formations there. We spent the entire day there...I opted to soak up the sun instead of going for a long hike up to a "waterfall". I was so happy that I made that choice because my daddy said it wasn't really a waterfall...more like a sprinkling of water coming out of the mountain.

The scenery was gorgeous...jungle on the side of cliffs that just drop off into the ocean of perfectly clear green and blue. Even the wanna be SI swimsuit models don't ruin the scenery. There are some Brazilian women here that wear really skimpy thong bikinis and I must say they probably shouldn't. Then their boyfriends take pictures of them and they pose in all of these various positions that are the poses of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. It is pretty entertaining really. As my dad said today, "that boy keeps telling her she looks like a model because he knows who butters his bread." I really wish the men would quit feeding that because the cellulite is not cute...

Today we were in Angra and went on a boat ride around to lots of little islands. We went snorkeling in some beautiful coves, then we went on a short hike through a small island, then lunch on another island. All in all, we were on the boat for over six hours. When we returned from the boat ride, we played volleyball on the beach for a few hours and it was SO fun! There is a picture of all of us on the boat.

One of the funniest things today was my dad playing volleyball with us. He is 66 in July and quite the agile man. We were trying to avoid getting the volleyball wet and it got hit toward the water. My dad took off running and yelling like a banchee Indian. Right when he was about to save the ball, he fell face first into the water and totally missed the ball. It was SO funny that the other five of us playing almost fell over laughing. One of the funnier parts was that he had been trying to avoid getting wet all day long...well when you fall face first into the ocean, you pretty much get wet all over. Poor old man!!

So...I'm not saving orphans like Jess or helping women in India get businesses started like Rachael, but I sure am having fun and loving this South American sun. Maybe one day I'll travel to help people versus just enjoying the scenery and the sun. I'm off to Rio de Janeiro the city (not just the state) tomorrow and will update on Friday or Saturday.

Two kids for $10

(not these 2)

Today was an interesting day. I went to New Life today (where I volunteered last year). I taught my little class (Class/grade 2). They hadn't gone any further in their lessons than what we'd covered last week when I taught them. Apparently, their teacher hasn't been coming. I love those kids though. And I love teaching. I wish I could be with them every day and not have to go take care of the other girls in my group...but I guess it's necessary.

Sad story. At some point this afternoon, these 2 kids were brought to the orphanage. So sad. Their mom was trying to sell them both for the equivalent of $10. Her husband had died, her parents were dead, so she had no one to help her take care of hte kids. There is a 6 year old girl and a 3 year old boy. They're so darling. The little girl was being really brave, but the 3 year old boy was super scared, really quiet, and clingy to anyone who would hold his hand. I cried. Couldn't help it. It's just hard to believe that people actually do that sort of thing--sell their children...to who knows what. Someone heard her trying to sell them, said they couldn't buy the kids, but knew of New Life and asked the mom to bring them there. Good thing she did. I don' t think the mom has any intention of returning. New Life is a special place though--they're a family, and the kids take care of each other. They're taught to pray and to depend on God...and they do. Just sad. The little girl was trying her best to take care of her little brother. Ugh--breaks my heart.

After school, I went with a couple of other volunteers to take 11 kids swimming. I LOVE going swimming with them. They're just so funny. As we were in the pool, and I was having a ball with the kids, it made me really sad to realize that I have to go back to real life next week. I don't want to leave these kids. I can't even explain it.

The kids keep inviting me to come spend the night, so I think I am on Thursday. I might catch about a billion diseases, but it might be worth it. Do I really have to come home?

Thursday, I'm planning my internet field trip for the older kids. Did I tell you about that? Maybe I forgot to. The other day, I was walking by the Class 6 room, and they asked me to come in. Their teacher was out, but they were doing some self-study in their ICT book (IT, basically). They said they didn't understand. They were on page 1. It was about basic computer stuff. I asked if they knew what the internet was, and they all had blank stares on their faces. I drew a great diagram with a computer in Ghana, computer in the US, a nice globe, and did my best to explain. I asked if I could take the kids on a field trip and I got it approved, so Thursday looks like the day. I'm actually really, really excited about it.

Side note for today... I love seeing the women here with babies strapped on their backs with cloth, while carrying huge loads on their heads. Brings a whole new meaning to work/family balance. :) This one lady today had a baby strapped, and she was carrying this huge wooden slab with about 25-30 full-sized loaves of bread. Amazing. I love when taxis or tro-tros stop or pull over, and the market women swarm to the open car windows with their loads--"pure water," bread, platters of dozens of hard-boiled eggs balanced, stacked peanuts (like 8 layers--perfectly balanced), containers with popsicles, soaps, rolls, fried dough balls, oranges, all KINDS of stuff... it's really amazing.

Good day at church

My cousin Amy and me (in my African dress) with Patriarch Johnson.

Elder Nelson and me after Stake Conference today. :)

(pic of the girls in my group before church)

So I left my other memory card at home, so I dno't have the pics I want to upload, but I'll just share my stories anyway.

Saturday, we decided to go to Kakum National Park to do the canopy walk around the rainforest. When we went to catch a cab in the morning, we might have caused a street brawl. Oops. We didn't know the protocol of "first come, first serve" with taxi drivers. Two drivers were arguing about whose car we should get in, and I got bugged, so I took my group across the street to get in another car. Bad move. The driver of the car we were apparently supposed to ride in came over, and using force, kept the girls from getting in the car (I was already in). The two drivers got into it, and next thing we knew, they were throwing punches. We were escorted to another car by another driver, and watched the scene unfold. Two mins later, they were finally broken up. There was a lot of blood, and a lot of commotion. Yikes. We had a great time at the canopy walk and then went on to El Mina slave castle.

The castle is a sad experience. Hard to believe that people treated eachother so poorly. We ate there. I thought I'd be safe and order beans and fried plantain. They brought the beans and plantain out with a huge fried fish...head, eyeball, teeth, and all. I didn't eat much of any of it, but we got some good laughs.

Last night, I went down to the beach for a while, saw the sunset, and watched the waves. Pretty dang awesome. :)

Today was stake conference. Elder Nelson came to speak. There was a change in the stake presidency, so the meeting was full of testimonies. I loved it. Brother Johnson (one of the first members of the LDS church in Ghana) met with us afterward for almost 2 hours and shared his testimony/experience. Again, so awesome. Frank came with me to church today, and he wanted to say hi to the new stake pres (a friend of his) so we hung around after everyone left. He met with the mission president, then next thing we knew, Elder Nelson came up and shook our hands. He was very kind.

Friday at the orphanage was so fun. I was able to buy a bunch of medicine that they've needed, and I took it over to deliver. They were really grateful. I hung around and played with the kids. Seriously, my favorite thing to do. They're just sooo sweet.

I'm really enjoying my trip here, on many accounts. The girls in my group are awesome, and it's just been a ton of fun. I don't love being hot and sweaty all the time with constant horrible hair, but the people are just awesome. You wouldn't even believe how poor they are, but they're just so kind, happy, and Christ-like. Great examples to me.

A Camel AND an Elephant!!

Today my friends from work and I went to Mysore, a city about 130 kilometers from Bangalore. It was such a fun time! We rented a car and a driver and he took us all around the sites.

A few Hindu temples, a street market filled fruits and vegetables, flowers and jewelry and a ride on a camel and an elephant. Who could ask for more? I hope you ladies are all having a great time too. Based on the pictures, it sure looks like it :)

Some of my kids

The lighting is horrible on this, so you can't see their cute faces, but these are some of my kiddos. I LOVE them. I seriously want to bring 4 back. It's my favorite thing ever to hang out with all of them.

Good Thai Wife

Yesterday we decided to take a Thai cooking class! They told us we needed to learn how to make curry paste to become a "good Thai wife." So...I guess I did my part, now I just need to find a nice Thai man :) The class was wonderful! We learned how to make quite a few different things, and they turned out quite deliciously. Let's just hope we can find the same or similar ingredients back in the states. It makes me want to buy the cute little dishes they eat out of here so I can have rockin' awesome Thai dinner parties.

Everyday is an adventure here. We've spent a lot of time at the markets and I surprise myself how little I am buying. Last night I finally did some damage buying a cheap bracelet and a cute bag...big spender, I know.

We're found a nice little guest house to stay in and are quite happy with it. It is on a street lined with cheap places so there are travelers from all over the place. It has been so interesting to get to know them and hear about the places they've been...and it's nice to be in a place where everybody looks like they have been camping for weeks--super scruffy-- all of us.

Today we made it to an elephant conservatory. We took the public bus and it took...forever to get there. On the way back, we had to stand on the road for a good 45 minutes before a bus came and after turning down several offers we seriously thought about hitch-hiking. We thought we were going to be stuck out there.

Tomorrow we're heading out on our 3-day trek. Apparently the group that just came back had some incidents with leaches! Sick.

Brazil, OH Brazil

So, this is my first blog in history...make note of it. :) Anyhow, I have been in Brazil for over 24 hours so far. Tomorrow I leave for the coast, including Rio de Janeiro. I am really excited!

Well, I am staying at my brother's house right now which is so cute and great! This morning I ate part of a mango (and I say part because it was the size of a small football). It was the most amazing piece of fruit these lips have ever tasted. I had some papaya too...it tasted like perfume smells. All so amazing! I could get used to the fruit here...

Today we are having a traditional Brazilian barbecue which the Brazilian restaurants in the states are trying to imitate. I'm really excited about it too. We are here with my family and my sister-in-law's family. They are the cutest but smallest people I've ever been kin to. :)

After that, we are going back to the mall (which we had a fast run to last night) that is absolutely huge!!! I can't even describe it...try like ten or twelve University Mall's including a car dealership, something like a Lowe's and a grocery store along with it. I was a little surprised really. Anyway, they are supposed to have some amazing shoes and jeans so I'm going to certainly check that out.

Well, that is all for now. I'm going to go sample some more amazing fruit and who knows...I might try some meat. I'll blog again in about a week when I return from Rio. Fun but safe travels to you all! :)

Remembering old things

As I was flying from Greece to Italy I was flooded with memories. Peoples faces that I had taught a discussion to while in Italy, fields I had walked through, doors I had knocked on, gelaterias I had ate at, companions I had laughed with, members who had fed me, conversations I had with passers by. All of these memories and experiences that I didn't even know I had, and certainly haven't thought about in quite a long time. I love Italy. Coming back here was like coming home, especially coming to Pisa where I spent 9 months of my mission. (For those of you that have read Eat, Pray, Love my pattern in living seems to be P,P,P (Palo Alto, Pisa, Provo. Where next? Prague? Paris? Phoenix?) We've been staying with one of the members that I loved so much here in Pisa, which has been wonderful and we have been remembering old times together.

We went up to Genova to visit one of my Italian companions who doesn't speak any English, so I had to remember how to speak Italian. It was good practice. I felt bad for Maren, because I'm sure she was bored....

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. I can't believe how old I am getting. We spent most of the day in Florence, another city that I love, even though I never served there. I decided that I would return to eating chocolate for 1 day. So of course that included 2 chocolate gelatos, some chocolate cookies and a chocolate bar, so I think I've had enough chocolate to last me the rest of the year. We got back and met up with Maria Elisa (my friend we are staying with) and had a fun dinner and gelato. The best part of the day was walking through the streets of Pisa eating our gelato and out of no where popped up the leaning tower of Pisa. I can't express how much I love this tower, so it really was a perfect end to a wonderful birthday.

First pic

It only took me 30 mintues for this pic to load... so you only get one today. This was at the festival a couple of weeks ago with my friend Frank.

I hate Bollywood

Nobody dances in the street here and I have food poisoning. It's my fault though, I'm the one that ordered fruits and vegetables. It's a luxury hotel! I was hoping that it would not cause me to want to die, which is how I feel right now. Hopefully it will pass and maybe this is just the right amount of illness to get me to my goal weight. haha.

Buckets, Bamboo, and Bushmen

K...updates from today...

Last night, I washed my clothes in buckets on on the balcony, by the light of the moon only. It was actually kinda cool. I kept wondering how I could outsource my laundry, but realized that this is how most people in the world live, and I should suck it up and embrace the experience. :)

I had similar thoughts this morning as I was hauling water up the stairs in buckets/containers to fill our water supply in the bathroom (for bathing, "flushing", laundry, etc). 8 girls go through a ton of water each day...and that's even with us conserving.

Today, besides teaching, we hauled tons of bamboo logs up the hill for building an addition to the school. It was actually kind of cool...the parents from the village came to help. The men split the bamboo in half long-ways, and the women had machetties (sp?) and were clearing the ground.

The other day at school, one of the assignments for the class from their Ghanaian teacher was to write about their school. He told them to lie to make it interesting, to say it was a nice school building, with 20 classrooms, including a computer room. If you could see their school, and then take that comment in context, it would break your heart. We are so spoiled back home.

Also today, we were finishing up teaching, and we were interrupted by the bushmen hunting for "ground-eaters" (which are basically HUGE rodents). There were about 6 or 7 of them, with just as many small dogs, and they were running around and yelling like banchees with machetties. They would send the dogs to run the ground-eaters through the bush, then they'd run to the other side and try to corner the rats, and they hacked them almost to pieces. It was quite a distraction, to say the least...but pretty entertaining.

Drummin, Dancin, and Singin

I went to New Life this afternoon. I spent the last hour of their school day with one of the classes I taught last year. It was a fun reunion with a bunch of the kids who go to school there but don't live in the orphanage. They all wanted to know if I remembered them. :)

After school, they had a "worship service" with this lady who came to preach. She did a great job, then it was followed by drummin, dancin, and singin. Of course I joined in, and I LOVED it. Sometimes I wish we had a little more "soul" (drummin and dancin) in our church services, but I see the reasoning behind not having it. Anyway, it was fun, and the kids were super cute.

I had fun in the market today(I was by myself again--which I prefer). I talked to a lot of people. I've picked up on a little bit of the language (just basics), and they LOVE that. I had 3 marriage proposals today. Always nice. Hmph.

K. Love to you all. :)

The Land of Many Smiles...

I made it to Thailand! Coming from Egypt it is such a breath of fresh air (no offense to those Eyptian readers). The people are so sweet always smiling and laughing...especially the taxi drivers who never know where we want to go. They just look at us and laugh, but a cute laugh, not an I'm-making-fun-of-you laugh.

Mallorie and Nanette met me at the airport and it was so good to see them! How lucky I am to be traveling with two of my very best friends.

I've had two meals so far--both Phad Thai. I do love my phad thai. It is so delicious and cheap.

We're planning on staying here for one more day and then we'll go up north to Chang Mai and we'll go on a trek through the jungle, ride elephants, raft down the river, you know the drill.

Somewhere between Cairo and Bangkok my camera disappeared :( lost? stolen? who knows. It was in my checked bag and when it came along the conveyer belt at the baggage claim one of the pockets was open and my stuff was falling out of it...The good news: I had downloaded all of my photos onto a handy jump drive right before I left--so atleast I didn't lose my photos!

Showers

So the biggest challenge so far in Europe (besides not being able to find a taxi last night a midnight and having to roam the streets of Athens searching for a hotel we had no idea where it was located) is trying to figure out the showers. The first has a curtain that goes around the whole bathroom. How is that supposed to keep the water from going everywhere? The 2nd has no curtain whatsoever, but the low water pressure prevented water from spilling everywhere and almost didn't even come out. Finally this morning we were delighted to find a shower that actually had a DOOR! only to discover a few minutes later that there was only a hand held water spout and no hook on the wall. It makes sense to me why Europeans don't wash their hair very much -- it's too hard to do it one handed. I did think about sitting down on the tile and washing my hair under the faucet as I did as a child, but that was just a passing thought. We'll see what kind of showering options Italy has to offer tomorrow!

Kids

We went to Sankofa school today. Interesting. I was under the impression it was an orphanage with a few kids from the village. Well, it's about 300 kids from the village and 10 orphans. Regardless, they all have absolutely nothing and are starving for love and attention. So many kids' flip flops were so worn that the back half was missing. Some kids didn't have shoes. Clothes held together with a few safety pins. It was about the saddest thing ever today when a couple of the girls busted out some water. To see the looks on those kids' faces, it was sad. A couple of them were bold enough to ask for some water, and it just made me sad. Most of the kids don't speak English. Also, most of them are age 0-5. About 150 of them...with 3 teachers. The teacher for the 0-4 year olds has about 90 kids. Seriously like herding cats.

The kids are sweet. During break today, two little girls just came and plopped in my lap and cuddled up next to me and fell asleep within 5 minutes. I've been in management mode for so much of this trip, that it took me back. Kinda a tender moment.

One of the girls in my group is super sick. We tried to take her to the doctor/clinic today, but they'd already closed. She has a hard time standing up or walking. Anything other than curled up in a ball is painful for her. She's cried a lot too. I feel bad. Anyway, we have to take her first thing in the morning. Then, I'm going with Melissa to go retrieve all the stuff that was accidentally donated to the orphanage on the way. Tomorrow should be fun. :)

Tayna managed to offend Mama Charlotte today, and vice versa. Fun cleaning that one up. And I think I managed to offend Papa by making our own travel plans for our trip to Accra tomorrow (LONG story). They're nice, and protective, but TOO much. Pres Ankrah (our driver who unloaded all the stuff) has to rearrange and cancel appointments tomorrow to meet us and help make the situation right. Oh yeah, and I just remembered that I'm supposed to meet Mama Joyce at her school tomorrow morning (she's the one I offended by renigging on the hosting situation). So I guess what I'm saying is that this is not all fun and games. It's great being here, and it's gonna be a great experience, but it's difficult as well...except when I can sneak away and go to New Life to see my kids. I got there today, but had to turn around and come straight back even before going down to see the kids because of Tayna being so sick.

Internet is ridiculous here. I"ve tried to post pics twice now, and it just catches and is just...impossible. When I have more time and more patience, I"ll try again. xoxo

Congratulations!

Kara and Adam got engaged this week! This is Kara's description of what happened, "wednesday at my parents house out in my orchard among the apple blossoms at sunset." Yay for them!!
Do you think she is going to ask me to be the maid of honor?

Croc hunting at the stilt village

One of the girls in my group and I went to the stilt village (Nzulezo) out in Western Ghana. It was quite the trip. Quite the fiasco getting out there. We got off the first tro-tro in Takrodi, and the drivers swarmed "Where are you going? where are you going?" I couldn't say the name of the town, so I started laughing--so comical. I pulled out my guidebook, and none of the drivers could read. I was butchering the name, and they couldn't read, so we weren't getting anywhere. It actually freaked Penny out when they swarmed...she's still not broken in. Anyway, someone finally figured it out, we got on another tro, and sat by this sweet lady named Rita. She wrote down all the towns we had to pass through and change cars, then personally walked us to the right bus when we got off. She even called 3 times that night and twice the next day to make sure we were okay.

So the next tro stopped in the middle of nowhere, the driver got out, and told Penny and me to get out of the car and to go with this random taxi driver that was sitting there waiting. We were sitting in the back, so half the van had to empty...it was a mess. So then I thought the taxi driver was trying to rip us off, so I started going at it with him, until I realized he was quoting me a price with the old currency...he was being more than fair. Besides that, I had zero bargaining power at that point. Really, what was I thinking? So he took us the next 2 legs of our journey, then sent us to another tro (another story with that), but they finally dropped us at the wildlife office so we could arrange our trip in Beyin. It started POURING rain when we got there, so we had to wait it out, then canoed for about an hour through this marsh and jungle areas. At one point, it was kinda shallow, so our guide made us get out and walk. "So what are ya sayin, I'm fat?" :)

We got to the stilt village, and it was kinda cool. We saw some monkeys. The people I don't think loved having us there. I'm sure they're sick of people coming to gawk at them. We made plans to stay the night, so we were stuck. We caused a huge fight when our guide invited us into this town meeting of just men. What he was thinking, I don't know. Half of them wanted us to leave, the other half said it was fine for us to be there. We couldn't understand the words they were saying, it was out of control. We didn't stay.

We slept in a stilt hut. Kinda cool. We went on a crocodile hunt at night. We didn't see any crocs, but when we turned off the flashlight, we heard one roar. And we saw all their tracks in the grass. It wasn't 100 yards from where the village was. Interesting.

I found myself arguing hard over 5 cents last week. What has business school done to me? And I might have gone off about poor service at the guest house while at the stilt village...

Love y'all!

Santorini

So we left the amazing island of Mykonos and traveled to another beautiful Greek island of Santorini. Our hotel is right on the black sand beach of the island, so we spent most of the day yesterday working on our tan, but at the end of it we were still no competition for the professional tanners (that's what Maren and I call the people that are perfectly deep bronze all over their bodies -- and I do mean ALL over). Today we took a bus to the town of Thira where we wandered around and decided it would be a good idea to take the foot path to Oia, the next town over. 4 mountains, 3 suburbs and 10 miles later we finally made it to the town of Oia. The views were amazing and true to fashion around every corner was other miniature church. I wonder if these churches were ever all in operation. Has faith and religion around here really deteriorated that much? I'm still obsessed with them with their little blue round roofs. I think Maren will probably kill me if I make her stop one more time for a picture of a white washed church with blue roofs.

Nothing too exciting has happened, but I have felt like I have let down a number of waiters and waitresses. They all ask if we would like coffee and when we say no they are exasperated, however a few minutes later they come back thinking they have a brilliant solution that will make us happy and offer us tea, when we turn that down they really don't know what to do. Last night our waiter brought us a drink "on the house" he said. When I asked what was in it he struggled in broken English to list the ingredients. Finally I cut him off and asked "is there alcohol?" He shook his head sternly and repeated "No, no, no. No alcohol" As I was finally convinced it was safe I lifted it up and the smell of liquor was overwhelming. So we put the drinks back down. Our waiter came back and looking completely rejected asked "you don't want anything we have to offer? no coffee, no tea, no special drink?" I just smiled and asked for the 7th time for the check. We would make lousy Europeans.

And you said I couldn't marry a cowboy...

For all of you who know and, of course, love Casey here is a tribute to him. In India the cows are sacred and allowed to roam free.

Just don't get in their path or they will run you over, hence my graceful jump out of the way.

"Welcome to Egypt"

"Welcome to Egypt" is a phrase most Cairo Egyptians seem to know how to say. Walking up and down the streets you'll often hear "hello, welcome to Egypt" being called at you from street vendors, passerbys, and from those yelling out of car windows. Tourism is the 2nd largest industry for the country so you can understand why they would want to be so hospitable...

Although English speaking tourism isn't the only kind. Because of this many of the Egyptians are multi-lingual in their attempts to sell you their goods. You'll hear "hello" and when you give them no response they will say "hola" or maybe "bonjour!" After their efforts have been exhausted they say "you speak english? italiano? espanol?"

I've added a bunch of pictures from my stay in Cairo. You can see all sorts of stuff from the local restaurants to the Egyptian-style dumpster (aka apartment stairwell).

Clay's doorman thinks I can understand him when he speaks Arabic to me. Whenever I see him on the street or when I come into the building he starts having a conversation with me. I have no idea what he ever says. I just smile and nod.

This is my last post from Egypt, my plane leaves tonight and I'll meet up with my girls in Thailand. I've so enjoyed being here!! As much as I like dodging cars in the street, I'm excited to see what Thailand has to offer :) Speaking of dodging cars...let me quote something I found in my lonelyplanet travel book.

Playing chicken in Cairo: It may sound silly, but the greatest challenge most travelers face when traveling through Egypt is crossing the street in Cairo. Roads are always frantically busy and road rules are something that the average Cairene has heard of, but only in jokes. Our advice is to position yourself so that one or more locals forms a buffer between you and oncoming traffic, and then cross when they cross - they usually don't mind being used as human shields. Basically, it's a game of chicken. ever, ever hesitate once you've stepped off the sidewalk, and cross as if you own the road. But do it fast!

Pictures of Cairo

Finally Celebrity Status!!

I have officially entered the world of celebrity. I went to Lalbaugh Botantical Gardens today and was stared at by every single individual there. A group of guys asked me for "a photo". I, of course, assumed that meant they wanted me to take a picture of them. Oh no, they wanted a picture WITH me. Then they followed me for a little bit which was awkward, but not that bad. After entering the gardens, I realized that I was quite the freak show. A man came up and asked me where I am from, after telling him the US, he bobbed his said and said, "Oh yes (bob bob) America" and kept walking.

Tons of children were waving at me, especially the young girls. They were all very cute, but it was slightly awkward knowing that everyone was looking at you. I really need a pair of sunglasses so that I can pretend like I'm not seeing them stare.

I finally know what it's like to be Britney! Yes!

Karma

I haven't traveled a ton, but I've traveled to both Peru and Mexico within the last year and in both places I was lucky enough to get sick. You know the type, stuck in the bathroom, feel like you're going to die, 24-48 hours of pure misery, and then you're back on your way to enjoy the beautiful country that got you sick in the first place. If there's anything worse than being sick, it's being sick in a 3rd-world country.

Since I've arrived in Cairo I've been so worried that I would once again be plagued with this 3rd-world country delight. I've tried to be really careful about what I will and won't eat, trying to be careful about eating at "clean" places, etc. Yesterday Clay and I went to a restaurant downtown--sort of an upper-scale hole in the wall. Not as bad as they can be, but not a wonderful place either. They brought out flat bread, salads, rice, drinks, and meat. I thought all of it looked pretty good except for the meat, which looked like it would give me a one-way ticket to 24 hours in bed. Clay was wondering why I wasn't eating the meat, and saying what I knew would offend him, I told him it made me nervous and I wasn't interested in getting sick. He spent the rest of the meal making fun of me for being paranoid and trying to explain to me that anything that's "hot" can't make you sick.

This morning I woke up to Clay puking his guts out. He's been in bed ever since.

Poor guy.