?Como se dice "Oy vey."? A gringa in Ecuador.

Welcome home!

2011-06-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

So after a long two flights, and sitting in the middle of a high school Christian mission group traveling to Ecuador, I finally made it. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to find my host family so I wanted to make sure I looked like a gringa and put on my GW medicine sweatshirt so they could recognize me. Afterwards, I realized that the sweatshirt probably wasn't necessary. My host sister, Susy, was waiting for me with a sign with my name. They are amazing people. My host parents are Ana or Abuela (grandma) and Luis or Abuelo. Susy a grown daughter lives with us and her son, Marcelo who is 8. There are often several other grandkids over the house at different times. Another grown son and his family live in an adjoining house. We also have Jordana, a medical student from Argentina who studies in Holland living with me, Elaine and Carlos. More to come.

I'm Alive

2011-06-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were worried, I am alive and well. Mom... I'm sorry it took so long to contact but we literally arrived in Ecuador and hit the ground running. My host family couldn't remember how to use the internet and we had to wait for their kids to come home which was 2 days later. I also have no cell phone yet, and no phone cards. I also can't get any of the needed items because I literally can't speak to a single person in this country. But no fear tomorrow Espagnol classes will commense. I will update about my weekend adventure, host family, and the Ecuadorian ways in my next post. Until then...

Mistake #1 When Ana (host mom) gives you a roll of toilet paper in your room, you should bring it with you to the bathroom or you are SOL.

With love and maybe Leishmaniasis,
Alissa

New country... New Adventure

2011-06-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

So everything below this is from my last adventure/work in Israel with Save a Child's Heart in 2009. It's old news. The new adventure starts here in Ecuador.

really long post

2009-11-21T03:21:00.001-08:00

So as usual I am really behind on everything that is happening here. We have had to say many goodbyes and hellos in the past week. Denis, the Romanian baby was the first to go. His mother was so excited and so grateful to all the people at SACH. She even bought a heart to be put up on the "Wall of hearts" as a donation for children to come in the future. Next we had the arrival of two little girls from Romania, Briana and Daria, 2 and 3 years old. Briana also has Down Syndrome so she is a challenge as she likes to wander outside the house and is always getting into things. But she, as well as Daria, is very lovable. Shortly after that we a large group of 6 children from Zanzibar and one from Nigeria. Three of the kids from Zanzibar came without mothers because they were over the age of three and as long as they come in a group they come without family. They also came with a nurse who speaks English which is a big help since the mothers and kids only speak Swahili. If you don't know where Zanzibar is... it is a small island off the coast of Tanzania and is part of the country although culturally it is very different. All of these families are Muslim, unlike those in the house now. When the little girls arrived they were wearing gorgeous dresses in bright colors with lace and satin. Ian was also a great help and talked to the Zanzibars in Swahili when we needed something while the nurse was away.

Sadly, Ian left the next day as did Magda. It was very bittersweet. I couldn't be more excited for them to go home and see their families and friends, however, I will really miss them and in just a few weeks I have become so attached to them all. I am so happy they are well enough to go home but in the back of my mind I know that I will never see them again. A few of the mothers have email addresses so we exchanged or I took down the mailing address but who knows how the post works in Angola? So far I've cried every time someone leaves but I think I am getting better. After a while you must get used to it. Living in the house I have such an amazing bond with both the mothers and the children, much different from the volunteers that just come during the day for a few hours.

The next to go was the Ghanians. Both families were able to go together which was really great for the mothers giving them support for the long flight. Almost all of the flights to Africa go through Europe so they all have a layover. Queenie and Edmond left at 2am on friday. They woke me up to say goodbye and everyone got up and went out to the gate by the curb to see them off as the cab drove away. They were dressed in their best clothes for the trip, like all the others. I guess they didn't realize how long and tiring the trip was going to be for a 2 and 6 year old. Edmond was even wearing a little suit and tie.

That same day we also had the arrival of a 10year old boy from Eithiopia. He came completely by himself. There was no mother, sister, aunt, nurse, or group with him. He got on an airplane alone to go to a country where he knew no one and didn't speak the language. He doesn't speak any English but seems to understand through pointing and gestures. His name is Tamru. He is very small most likely due to the heart defect and has had a very hard life at home. He was living on the streets by himself. An Australian organization found him and was helping him when they discovered the heart defect and contacted Save a Child's Heart. They found his mother to try and bring her over with him but she was ill herself and living in horrible conditions so SACH decided to bring him over by himself.

When he first arrived he was a little nervous and was crying but the next morning he was playing with the other kids and having fun. He is a very sweet boy and takes care of all the little ones. He is especially sweet with Briana and Daria. They are little and usually play by themselves as they are the only children not from Africa. Tamru always comes over to play with them and when one of them falls he runs over to pick them up right away. When one of the little ones goes up the stairs he follows closely behind them so that they don't fall. I have never met a child so sweet in my life.

Continued from yesterday

2009-11-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

Here is the end to yesterdays adventure, but first I have to give a shout out to Ashley because she actually reads this and I didn't believe that anyone, other than my family, read this. So I went to see Anna, my Israeli soldier friend from birthright. She lives in Netanya which is a smaller city a little up the coast from Tel Aviv but not as far as Haifa. The beach was gorgeous but not in a flashy, stuck up, resort sort of way. It had much more of a local shore kind of feeling. The city is on a cliff so to get to the beach we had to walk down a huge staircase. There is also a gigantic elevator that sticks out from the cliff and goes the several story drop to the beach. It was a very relaxed evening and we had some amazing salads and margaritas and walked around.

When I came home I got the bad news that Edmond, the six year old Ghanian boy had a seizure earlier in the day. It was completely unrelated to his heart problem but it was still very serious and an ambulance was called. Apparently he has had a history of them and was on medicine but stopped it. His mother doesn't have any education and doesn't understand the seriousness of the situation. While he was lying on the floor unconcsious. She was slapping his face and pouring water on him to wake him up. Edmond also has brain damage and does not function like a normal six year old. His mother says that his father always wants to beat him for being naughty but he really just doens't have the mental abilities of other children.

I am tying this post in the living room, which I knew would be a big mistake. Whenever I go on the laptop here I am mauled by children trying to see what I am doing on the screen and wanting to press all the keys. I have also managed to have a lollipop stuck in my hair by Herman, the 2 yr old Angolan boy.

I am no longer giving titles

2009-11-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

So I am no longer giving titles to my posts because I usually type them late at night or rushed during the day and cannot be bothered with such frivolities. Good word; I know. So I thought today would be an easy- going day, being that I was supposed to take off...but of course at the SACH house it never is. I ended up working the morning shift and helped get ready for group visits for next week which I planned on doing since this was sort of an extra day off this week. In the afternoon I went to see Anna from birthright in Netanya!!!!

I was so happy that I finally figured out transportation in Israel. I took a sherut to Tel Aviv and asked the driver to drop me at the train station so i could get a train there. He said ok and when we got to the bus station he told me to get out and walk 5 minutes "that way" and I would find the train station. BS, I know. I didn't feel like getting lost so I asked him if I could get a sherut to Netanya. He said yes and pointed to a huge lot of sheruts and told me to look there. Mind you he was only speaking hebrew and pointing this whole time. And in case you forgot...I know about ten words in hebrew.

I walked to the giant mess of sheruts and found one that said Netanya on the front in hebrew writing. Hebrew school reading lessons finally paid off. Thanks Mom for all the years of torture (no offense Rabbi J.). The sherut was just arriving and there was a mass of people waiting to get on. My initial instinct was to form a line and wait behind them. Then my newfound Israeli instinct told me to push to the front like everyone else in this country because there are only ten spots on that sherut and a hell of a lot more people trying to get on. I took a deep breath as I sat down while lots of people were screaming in hebrew behind me.

Once on the bus I got smushed between two really big guys who both overflowed into my seat leaving me about 1/2 of a seat in the center. Both of them only spoke hebrew and really wanted to talk to me. I told them about 6 times using the two sentences in hebrew that i know, that I didn't speak hebrew, and I spoke only english. After about the 6th time, I pretended to fall asleep. That plan worked much better. Also everyone here keeps asking me where I'm from and how old I am. So I say New York because half the people don't know NJ...Now I just need to learn how to say 15!!!!!!!!

I just realized that it is actually really late so I will finish the story later because this is only the fun part of the day. Stay tuned for news about the kids.

2009-11-07T05:30:00.001-08:00

So I forgot to finish my last post. So I haven't really had the time or energy to post in the last week. I get so hungry and tired that once the day activities are over all I want to do is eat and sleep. Today I was so hungry at lunch after running around at the park for a while and a morning filled with crafts that I couldn't even get a fork to eat my food. All I had time to make in the morning was rice. I didn't finish the chicken or the veggie stewish meal so I just sat down with my pot of rice. I was too exhausted to get up for my fork and ate the plain rice with my fingers like all the kids. They thought it was hilarious...I on the other hand thought it was quite disgusting but I really didn't care at this point. Usually in the house food is not for enjoyment but to force something down your throat so you have the calories in you to continue the day. Then we pig out at night. It was a good thing that Yael wasn't there because I am pretty sure she would have just laughed at me.

This was an eventfull week. So, it never rains in Israel. I hear it happens just about once a year. But when it does rain, it doesn't just rain like it does in NJ or MD...it has a torrential downpour. I actually thought a hurricane might be hitting the Mediterranean or something with super powerful winds that an umbrella was useless. The day this rain started (it lasted several days) Laura went to check the storage room next to Yael and my room to see if the roof was leaking. Rain was just pouring into the room so she told me to check in the corner of our room to see if it was coming through. I opened the door expecting to see a little water in the corner and completely slid across a ginormous puddle covering the whole floor. After cleaning it up, a neighbor came over to fix the roof and we continued with the day.

Later that night, both Yael and I went out to Tel Aviv. We came home to find our room completely flooded again and the water was still coming in. We decided that no matter what we did the water would still leak in all night and that if we cleaned it up or not (at 3am) we would still wake up in a flooded room. So we just went to sleep and dried our feet with towels before getting into bed. The next day Yosef, our neighbor came and fixed it this time and it held. No more flooding, but we still had to clean it up yet again.

But that is not the end of the rain saga. We went to the hospital with most of the children the next day for echo (like ultrasound of the heart). We had to take several cabs back to the house and Yael and I took the last cab a few minutes after all the mothers and children. We were messing around a bit as we tried to stay under the umbrella in the midst of the storm. We had just walked through the front and up to the stairs when we heard a hige crash behind us. We turned around to see a huge tree laying across the front path where we had just walked only seconds before. Just another day at the SACH house...

Since the tree that almost hit us had fallen across our yard into the neighbors,we spent that afternoon in the rain carrying branches and pieces of wood out of the neighbors yard. Eventually it got too cold and Laura sent us all in and her husband came back to finish the job the next day.

recap

2009-11-07T05:05:00.000-08:00

So I officially love it here! SACH, Israel, all of it...I really do (Mom don't worry I'm not moving, anyway if I did Italy would be my first choice). So for everyone who thought I was freaking out, in culture shock, or whatever...fear no more. I just wanted to clear that up in case there was any question. And there really isn't culture shock coming to Israel. My "shock" all came from the fact that I was in a country by myself where I knew absolutely no one. Except of course Esther (but you work super late and have a husband so no time to go out and play with me). The only culture shock problem I have is figuring out how to take the bus without getting yelled at in Hebrew and then catching that bus to my destination before everything shuts down on Shabbat.

Thriller at SACH

2009-10-29T04:45:00.000-07:00

Today we received a new CD for our collection. Michael Jackson's Thriller was a big hit with everyone and we started the morning off right with an hoppin' dance party. Everyone, including Ian and Edmond was up dancing. We did our regular routine in the morning of crafts and such. And for the first time in Israel I saw it rain. But it didn't only rain...it poured. I have never seen weather like this in Israel and for once it finally started to cool down.

I didn't mind the rain much until I went upstairs to my room. I opened the door and slid accross the room which was now a huge puddle. Apparently the roof was leaking. The house seems to be falling apart sometimes with little repairs building up to be big problems. A neighbor/volunteer came over right away to help fix it.

My Portuguese is getting much better and the kids think it is so funny that I can speak to them and run around calling me amiga. It's pretty hilarious that I came to Israel and learned Portuguese. I know more now than I do Hebrew. That's all for now.

I don't know what to title this

2009-10-28T04:50:00.000-07:00

I have so much to say since my last post. I went to the hospital to visit the kids there for the first time. We saw the ICU patients and then the others in the regular surgical ward. We brought some stuffed toys that Laura, the house mom, had received as donations. One of the little girls in the ICU was from Angola and coming home to the house after the hospital and it was actually her birthday. She was turning 2. She was just staring at us with a blank expression until we gave her the toy and she finally smiled.

I was able to meet a lot of the Palestinian children from the West Bank and Gaza since thay don't actually stay at the house but go home as soon as they are released from the hospital and travel back and forth to their appointments. There was one baby from Gaza who came with his Grandmother. He was 6 or 8 months old but looked like a newborn and his arms and legs were stick thin. He was all skin and bones with his diaper barely holding on to his tiny frame that was malnurished due to heart condition as well as poverty most likely. Although we couldn't speak with any of the Palestinian mothers they were very warm and we could understand what they were saying as they introduced themselves and offered us seats. Many of the mothers just wanted someone to sit with them as it was very hard on the mothers as well. We also met Humza from Iraq. He is 11 years old and pretty much runs the surgical wing of the hospital. He knows everything and everyone and went around introducing us. He speaks Arabic but also a little Hebrew and English and Laura told us that one day she came to the hospital to see him riding around the parking lot on the back of a motorcycle.

The following day I was able to accompany Ian, the 11yr old Kenyan boy to the Safari Park in Ramat Gan. A volunteer came to drive us with his aunt. He absolutely loved it. We were able to drive through the safari where the animals were wandering around the cars, and then see the zoo area where the rest of the animals were in enclosures. He loved it so much that we went through the safari twice and actually had to stop for a rhino to cross the road. We took so many pictures and everyone is always amazed by their pictures they want to see them immediately.

Since then we have had two new arrivals. Denis, an 8 month old, and his mother from Romania, and also Edmond, a 6 yr old, and his mother from Ghana. All speak English, though Edmond will be a challenge since he has a pretty big diability and doesn't talk. Both are very sweet and fun to run around. It is also nice to have another baby around since Baby Brian has gone home. Auntie Rose has already assumed her role and has been seen carrying the baby around. She is always carrying a baby even though she is here with Ian her 11yr old nephew.

Everyone is napping now but I will try to upload some pictures before the group in the afternoon comes to do facepainting.

the Angolans are warming up

2009-10-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

I finally think that the Angolans are warming up to me, or maybe I am to them. We just had to get used to each other. Last night I was the only one here as my roomate was off. The Angolans all cook together for all the families and Mama Rosanalda (we call all the moms by their child's name because there are too many names to remember) motioned to me something about eating and then grabbed my arm and brought me to the table. Then she gave me a plate and offered me some food. The volunteers are supposed to cook for themselves but I was so happy about this warm gesture that I took some dinner as there was plenty. Then Mama Pakaka brought me a chair to sit at the table with them.

A little bit each day I feel like we are becoming closer. Today one of the mamas pointed to my pants and gave me a thumbs up. We communicate well with motions, thumbs up, waving, and a few grunts. I am learning a few Portuguese words from them so I can speak to them and especially the children. Ian, the 11 yr old from Kenya is so helpful. He speaks Swahili, fluent English, and knows a lot of Portuguese just from being around the Angolans. I am amazed that he picks it up because I can't understand or pick up anything most of the time but he always knows what is going on and can actually speak to them. He is so smart I told him he should be a translator, or foreign language teacher. Now, I am trying to teach him to read English because he doesn't know how and appently is behind in school because of that. He said most kids in his class can read already. We just started and he is doing great. It is hard, though, because anytime I try to give him some attention the little ones start getting into trouble or destroying something. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Post catch up

2009-10-24T12:38:00.001-07:00

So I am catching up on things since I haven't posted in a while. The wireless isn't so good here and I have been really tired by the end of the day. On thursday we had the international board of SACH come for a visit. It was very important so the house was cleaned that it was spotless. It was so clean you could practically eat off the floor. Although I don't think you would want to since someone had an accident on the floor that day as well. While the regular SACH kids from our house in Azur were playing outside the Iraqi children from the other house in Jerusalem came to play as well with their mothers and one father. Everyone was so excited to be there. The Iraqi mothers were so friendly and gave us hugs and wanted to take pictures with everyone even though we could not speak their language either. Our kids tended to stay together at the beginning because they are almost like brothers and sisters now since they have spent so much time together. But after a while when they saw the volunteers playing and doing crafts with the Iraqi children, they warmed up to. There were so many people taking pictures and wanting to meet the children. Some loved the spotlight...others not so much, but everyone wanted to see themselves in the pictures that were taken and everyone was excited when the visitors brought out toys.

Since I was off for the rest of the day I went into Tel Aviv again. This time I stayed in Jaffa mostly. I absolutely love this place. It has the cutest little art galleries and jewelry designers and shops. The old town is beautiful to walk through with its winding alleys and cobble stoned streets and steps which also make up the streets. It is the best place to see the sun setting in Tel Aviv. There is also a flea market that is really interesting. It has the most interesting and widest array of junk per capita. They litterally sell all kinds of junk from old sneakers to Grandma's menorah. I'm you could find something cool there but I prefer the little shops. The shops around that area also tend to be a little like junk shops but they have nice things for window shopping and buying as well. I love looking at antique menorahs, candlesticks, and things that someone's Grandparents must have thrown away. Walk one more block and there is a big shuk selling new items but much less interesting. It is fun to walk through though since the clothes and carpets and other items are hung all over that it seems as if you are walking through a forest of stuff.

While I was in the main square, where there is s historical st. peter's church and beautiful views of the old town, old port, and the sea, I saw a bride and groom taking pictures before heading off to the church. Then another couple, and another, and another. I must have seen almost ten couples that evening. Each one in a very different dress with a car decorated with bows waiting on the road. Only one or two were Jewish (wearing a kippah was the clue). And the rest were either Christian or non religious Muslim.

That is something really amazing about the town of Jaffa. It is inhabited by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. All faiths are living together in one small town in harmony. There are kosher restaurants closed on Shabbat with Hebrew writing, next to restaurants with some type of Arabic food written in Arabic that are open on Shabbat. They seem to make it work and I think that the rest of the world could learn a great lesson from the people of Jaffa about living in harmony.

Day off!

2009-10-22T02:31:00.000-07:00

So my last post was a bit exhaustive, I was stressed a bit. I had a day off yesterday and went into Tel Aviv. My roomate Yael, who is from Australia and has the best accent ever, showed me how to figure out the buses. I actually took a sherut in. It's like a mini bus that goes along some bus routes but you can also hail it like a cab and get the driver to drop you where you want.

I just walked around mostly. I went to the Carmel market which is the craziest and most chaotic place I have ever been. It follows along one pedestrian street and is covered with stalls selling anything from fruit, veggies, fresh fish and meat, to clothes, toys, and even a falafel stand or two. People are yelling and tossing things back and forth. That's the funny thing aboout the Israeli culture. Two people could be yelling and you think that a fight is about to break out and they are probably just talking about what they had for lunch that day. I guess in that way they are similar to the Italians but the culture is completely different from anything I am used to. Compared to what I am used to it seems that many people are a bit harsh and look annoyed with me, but that is just the way they are.

I walked literally almost all over Tel Aviv from North to South with almost no help from the bus system. It wasn't that bad and it didn't seem like I was walking that much. I went to the Diaspora Museum and found out about the origin of my family names. I saw Tel Aviv University, walked through Hayarkon park and then stopped for a dinner of blintzes.

While I was eating an older couple saw me sitting and eating by myself and asked if I would like to join them. The woman proceeded to ask me if I spoke English when I had only said one hebrew word to the waitress (one of the few that I know). The woman was so confused and was surprised I was American. I couldn't imagine why with my accent and the fact that I told her I went to school at the University of Maryland. Anyway they were originally from NY and moved to Florida and still had their NY accents and that ridiculous attitude about them. We were finishing up eating and while I was in the bathroom they took care of my bill as well. I circled some good shopping streets that are nice just to wander down on a map. By now I am an expert since I have doing a lot of wandering. They were looking to go see a movie and it was down Dizengoff, one of the streets I told them about. I walked to them to the street and they asked which direction I was going and if I would like to walk with them. Well, I was just going to get on a bus and go back to the house so I strolled with them. When we got to the theater they asked me to join them for a movie that their tour guide said was amazing. I ended up going and again they treated and even offered me candy and soda. It was such an unexpected but really nice evening.

Surviving in the SACH house

2009-10-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

I have actually been in the SACH house for two whole days now but I have been completely exhausted that I barely make it to my bad once everything is done and everyone is put to bed. Every child comes with either a mother, aunt, older sister, or nurse. If they don't have one they come in a group with other mothers and nurses and they take care of each other.

It is amazing the cultural differences between all the different groups in the house and how they raise their children. Many come from cultures where they are too busy working and taking care of everything that the older siblings help take care of them or they just do ok by themselves. Now in the house, they have everything they could need, food, clothing, laundry machines, craft supplies and toys, and most of the kids and the parents don't know what to do with it. Some just let their children run around and play and do the activities that we plan for the group, and others spend a great deal of time with them.

Right now there are children from Ghana, Kenya, and Angola. the first two groups speak english and it makes it much easier on us and helps us understand each other. The group from Angola only speaks Portuguese so it is more difficult. They have a translator come to the airport and hospital but at the house it is just us.

Two of the children went home to Angola yesterday because they were healed enough. One with her mother and the other boy was by himself so that mother was taking care of him. They put on their best outfits to go home in and we all went out to the street to wave. It was such a big deal that a Brazilian television station came to tape them and interview them. Apparently there is a Brazilian organization that helps to support the Angolans traveling to SACH. There was also a famous Israeli singer who came, but I can't remember his name, I didn't know who he was...apparently he is a big deal. The boy who went home is Fernando and he was the best friend of Ian who is from Kenya so it was bittersweet for them. They were the only two older kids at 9 and 11 yrs. and became very close. The funny thing is that they didn't speak the same language but were still so close. It seems that all the children manage to communicate without speaking the same words. They seem to know something that us adults are missing. Personally, I wish I could learn Portuguese overnight.

Today there was an event to celebrate the 1000th Palestinian child that they operated on. My roomate, the other house volunteer got to go to escort the girl and her father while I stayed home with all the kids. It's not so much that I want to go...I just need a break. The only break we took was to literally run to the supermarket and run home during nap time.

Enough for now, Pakaka is crying for no reason as usual so I am going to hop into the cold shower that I get after all the kids and mothers bathe. hahaha. Better tomorrow.

Finally made it.

2009-10-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

This has been the craziest, most stressful, but kind of fun day. After a 12 hour flight with many hassidic families and their many crying children, I though I finally made it. Was I wrong... and here comes the craziness of Israel. There were 500 people trying to go through passport check at once. Since forming a single file line is a foreign concept in Israel it was madness with all out pushing and yelling. I said goodbye to my new Israeli friend that I met on the plane and attempted the impossible; make it through a crowd of Israelis to get to the foreign passport line, or lack there of.

Once into the airport, first on the agenda was getting some shekels. I tried 4 ATMs that only spoke Hebrew (I couldn't find the English button) before I found one that would give me money. "Mah Nishma" doesn't go so far when you are trying to get money out of an ATM. So one down, next was to get to the hotel. The info desk told me not to take a cab but the train to downtown tel aviv because it was much less expensive. I asked the train ticket lady which stop t get off at and she told me, then proceeded to shortchange me. By the time I realized I was too tired to go back or really care that much. When I got off the train at the stop I was told, the next info lady informed me to get to my hotel I needed to walk 5 minutes, take a bus, then walk some more. I was done with this crap by now and opted for a taxi. The driver told me 75 shekels which I'm pretty sure was outrageous. He told me it was very far, 20km. I thought the airport was only 25km from downtown??? This was crazy. I told him it was too much, but gave up and paid 60 shekels. I couldn't believe that I had been ripped off twice and I wasn't even at my hotel yet!!!

Once at the hotel everyone was soooo nice and helpful. Only one problem... they didn't have any maps left. Neither did any store in a 3 mile radius of my hotel. I wandered to get some falafel and when I thought my day couldn't get any more ridiculous, it did. I bought my falafel from a nice man who said my hebrew was good even though I only said like 3 words in Hebrew and the rest in English. Just as I was walking out the door I see what I think is a police raid on my falafel shop. Oh lord, here we go again. Sirens, lights, and those loudspeakers type things as the police man runs in past me. I just walked out laughing.

Then the next big lesson I learned; don't eat falafel and walk at the same time. It is a bad idea and should not be a to-go food item.

After wandering for another hour or so looking for the hotel, a nice British family gave me an extra map that they had. And I'm out cub scouts.

Almost time to go!

2009-10-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post ever on my first blog ever!!!! get excited. I created this page so that everyone back home and around the US can follow with what is going on during my adventures overseas and keep in touch. I don't have too much time now as I am leaving in less than 2 days, but more to come.