Home again, Home again,

Wow. I'm home. It is such a crazy feeling to be back home and have so many things be the same. I am back living with my parents and my mom still bugs me about the same things, my room is the same, my friends are the same. It is like I never left. But I am not really the same, but I haven't yet figured out exactly what it is that is different.

To catch up a little, Rome was fun. We got lost a lot, spent lots of time in the sun and in line and in line in the sun. Florence was BEAUTIFUL and we met lots of really great people. It was perfect timing too since Mel and I were starting to really get on eachothers nerves. I LOVED Venice, but Mel didn't like it since we spent most of the time not knowing where we were or where we were going, but I thought that was part of the fun. Great shopping in Italy :) We also spent a day in Verona before going back to Paris. Mel's last night is Paris we went for a boat tour on the Seine and then had wine under the Eiffle Tower at 11:30 at night. It was great!

And now I am home. Doing house work, catching up with friends, writing a resume and looking over the classifieds. This is like a whole different world and I have to figure out what my place is in it. It seems impossible that only a month has passed since I left South Africa, six short weeks, but at the same time it seems so far away and so long ago. I feel a little like Alice dropped in an upsidedown world, but its a world I know. It is all just to wierd to explain or describe. Pictures of Europe to come.

Flying Fun

Well, bunjee jumping didn't happen. Apparently it is out of season or something, so we couldn't go. Instead we went paragliding. It was sooooo great!! I got strapped into a harness, attached to a guy named Robi and ran off a cliff, 2600 ft up!! It was so exilerating. Not the crazy adrenaline rush of bunjee jumping, more of a quiet excitment. I could see all of Interlaken and the mountains and the lakes. We went around in circles through thermals, went up and then down and then back up again. I even got to steer!! It was so great. They warned us before we started that it was addictive, and they were right! I would love to go again. Landing scared me before we started, but it was very easy and mine at least was even graceful. Melissa, my sister, ran into some turbulance on her way down so ended up falling over as she landed. Not very graceful, but funny!

Now we are in Rome after an all night train that did not consist of much sleep. We are hanging out at our 'hostel' which is really a campground with a pool and it is great. We needed a relaxing day after the stress of arriving in Italy! Not a very clean place so far and it gets very confusing when you can't understand ANYTHING!! I should be used to that, but it doesn't make getting around the city any easier.

Tomorrow we are going to explore the ancient eternal city. It will be great!!

Fun in Europe

I am now in Europe and it is a little embarassing that I havent posted for so l0ng but I blame the outrageous prices of internet here. I am having a great time. I spent two weeks wandering around by myself in France and visited my exchange family from 8 years ago. It was fun and relaxing but I got a little clausterphobic at Mt St Michel with all the people. Culture shock is slowly wearing off but it still gets overwhelming sometimes. Now my sister is here and after a couple fun days in Paris we are now in Switzerland. We are in Interlaken and it is beautiful!!! My crazy sister has talked me into going bungee jumping - we go tomorrow¨! I am a little freaked but excited too. We will see how it goes.
That is all for now since this is bloody expensive!!!

A Good week

I have had a really great week!! No sign of the horrible flu that so afflicted me last week and things went really well with my classes. The reading competition that I am running is now officially over and so now I just have to choose a winner. It is really neat to see how many of the kids participated. It is sort of depressing to see that several of them cheated - they didn't actually read the book but just copied off the book jacket. But I am proud of the other kids who did read and tried hard. On thursday night I was supposed to give a test to my oldest class but it was postponed because we had a huge party that night instead! It was a joint farwell to our social worker and happy birthday Somnci party. (Somnci is me) So it was a lot of fun. I got a huge towel as a present, as well as a cute box of bubble bath and soap and stuff from my superintendant. I don't know how I am taking all this to Europe with me, but I'll figure something out :)

Sisana, our social worker got a new job with the Department of Health so this friday was her last day. This is sad because she has been one of the most open and friendly people on staff and when she was around she made sure I knew what was going on. Fortunately her replacement seems to be even more friendly and open and loves talking english. She is going to be moving into the staff cottage with me so I have a new friend!! She is already sad that I am only here for two and a half more weeks, but we make the most of the time we have.

Two and a half weeks!! This just blows my mind. I still cannot see past living here and working with my kids. It all doesn't really seem real. I am sad that time is going by so quickly but am really excited about Europe and all the fun I will have there. This is probably one of the last posts i will make in SA. So sad!