Yes, I'm Alive...

Where to even begin. I'm not sure who is even still looking at my blog, who hasn't given up on me yet! Thanks for reading this, whoever you are!

So much has happened since I last wrote it's tough to know what exactly to say. For starters, if you didn't know, I moved (yes, AGAIN) and am now living with Susan, the 5th grade teacher at the school. She's from England, so my cross cultural living experience continues :). I LOVED living with the Albanian girls, but I wasn't able to get a lot of work done at the apartment because there were so many people and so little space. We still see each other though, and Viola agreed to be my new conversation partner so that we would have an opportunity to see each other a few times a week! It's been working out really well! Living with Susan has been great too...we have a great time together and seem to be playing host to quite a few people each week!

We had a week off school for Fall Break, and Susan and I decided (after MUCH discussion and practically a school vote) to go to Prague and Vienna! Let me just say, they were beautiful!! We had a really great time, with many adventures along the way! We saw the Prague Chamber Orchestra as well as the opera, Carmen, at the State Opera House in Vienna. We visited 5 synagogues and 2 Jewish cemetaries in Prague, did a tour on the life of Franz Kafka (author), informal (just us) bike tour in Vienna, and did a lot of just walking around enjoying the sights and cities.

When we came home it was back to reality with a BANG…or rather a "Yuck! What’s that horrible smell?"! As Susan opened our apartment door we were greeted with an indoor swimming pool once again (it had happened 2 days before we left also) and, after investigation, found that the landlord had not added this luxury feature but, in fact, the washing machine had once again spit out a whole cycle of water! The smell was the "fragrance" of mold coming from the rugs that had been saturated by the escaping water, which must have jumped over-board the very day that we left for our break. The rugs have been cleaned and the smell is gone, so all is well again :).

School continues to be going great! This week my kids had tests in a few different subjects, and I was very pleased with how they did! Science is always the biggest challenge for me, but Carolyn, another member of the Christar team, and former nurse, has been VERY gracious in helping me out! We have a great time teaching together, and I'm sure the kids are benefiting a lot more from us together than they would from just me! Right now in class, just to give you an idea, this is what my kids are studying:

Bible - Acts 7 (we do about a chapter a week)
Geography - coasts
History - just finished significant events in England 1500-1750
Math - problem solving using algebra
Science - bacteria and immunizations
English - not sure, someone else teaches them english!
Computers/Albanian/PE/Art/Music - someone else teaches them

I am leaving on Tuesday afternoon to go to Izmir, Turkey for a Titus 2/evangelism trip. I am really excited about the trip! I am meeting up with a woman from Denton Bible, and we will be joining up with a team of about 16 people. Please pray for clarity of speech and opportunities to talk to people. This trip also falls over Thanksgiving...so I'll be spending Turkey Day in Turkey! Now how many times can you say that???

Well, now that I've written a novel, I'll let you go! I promise to try to update this more frequently!!!!! Thanks for your patience! Oh and sorry, it is still not letting me download pictures!