First Day

So today was my first day working at the orphanage. It was me & Kathleen, my roomie. Plus the house has 3 staff people who clean, make the food, and help with the babies as well. And there are social workers and the people who run it just popping in throughout the day to play with the babies as well.

There are 8 babies right now, ranging in age from like 12 weeks to almost 2 years old. Although most of them are a lot smaller than they should be for their age due to health problems, and developmental delays and things like that. We know for sure that one of them is HIV positive. However, what I learned today is that South African law prohibits testing kids for HIV unless they are being adopted or if they are having serious health problems. Can you believe that? So really, all of them could be HIV positive and we just don't know; there's a good guess (just based on size and being sickly) that at least 6 of the 8 are infected. What's a bit scary is that we don't take any extra precautions, such as wearing gloves or anything when changing them...I may ask about this, but what I do know is that I've read that things may be different but it's the way they are here and that we can't just run in and know a better way, you know? So anyway, it's just like working in the day care again. We come in get them out of their beds, get them dressed, and start the routine of feeding, napping, and changing. At the end of the day we give them baths too and start putting them to bed for the night nurse to come in. They are all adorable and have stories. I don't know all the stores yet, but here's a few: 2 of them are brothers whose mother is a prostitute, they have an older sister in the system and the mother is pregnant again, and they both show some signs of fetal alcohol syndrome, one of them is ok developmentally but has health problems and the other, well you can tell he'll likely never recover or be completely normal. Another baby was raped. I don't know how that's physically possible, but it's a problem here. Another was left at a hospital. A couple are dustbin babies--they literally are just thrown out. Some have just been handed over as the parents knew they couldn't care for them. It's crazy. But, this is a great place for them and hopefully they'll find foster homes or be adopted.

Some funny things about this project---before I started I was just being told left and right how busy they are and how they need more volunteers and how exhausted you'll be from the 12 hour shifts.... there are 8 babies and at any given time you could have 2-5 people caring for them!! You're not that busy really :) And yes 12 hours is a long day, but we only work 2 days then we're off 2 days, etc. OR we'll work 3 days then be off 3 days...so that's very doable as well. What I figured out is 2 things: most of the people here are in college between the ages of 18-21...so they've never had full time jobs before! So yeah, it's kicking their asses. The other thing is that I did work for 5 years in a nursery...so this isn't new to me. I'm not having a hard time remembering things or learning new things or whatever. There's only very subtle differences. I found myself a little bored at times, but I'm also not complaining. It is my summer and I'd rather not kill myself you know?

So anyway, that's about it for the work stuff. Tonight there was a volunteer BBQ for all the volunteers from both houses & the staff to mingle. It was nice. Still going on actually with some, and some are going out but I'd rather type this, talk to people, and get to sleep!! I have homework to do too. I"m still in classes for another couple weeks and then they'll be done until I get back home (YAYAYAYAY!) So I work tomorrow and then am off Friday & Saturday. So I'll be meeting with our volunteer coordinator to set up all my tours and things I wanna do while I'm here!!!

Later. And be sure to email me if you have any questions or comments or whatever!

Traveling & more

**Here's the details from traveling & everything...settle in, it's a long one. Some of it's from while I was traveling and some's from today. :)

TRAVELING DAY ONE: Wow. So I don’t really know where to start. It’s only day 1, not even to South Africa yet, and I already have a lot to say. So, as we know, I made it to Atlanta. Right before getting on that flight I was pretty much a wreck. I must have told Ivan it was the last time I’d talk to him like 3 different times. I texted him and waited for a response, didn’t get one, so I texted Jeff and made him tell Ivan to give me something before I had to turn off the phone. I literally didn’t want to put the phone down because it was like my last connection you know? So I cried a little when I was settling into the plane and then it started filling up so I had to buck up. The guy next to me was Travis, an American who lives in Cape Town, has lived there for 2 years. For whatever reason that was a huge comfort to me. Someone who knew both sides, rather than a South African who didn’t understand the U.S. you know? So anyway, he just told me not to go out alone at night (duh) and avoid taxi’s. (Apparently they are run by Nigerian’s and it’s this huge crime circle or something), be careful with the food—just common sense, if the restaurant looks questionable, don’t go in because they may not be following the rules (cleaning and cooking food right). So that was the gist of our talking. Other than he likes SA better than the US because he feels people are nicer, more connected, more caring etc.
The flight itself, all 9 hours, really wasn’t that bad. I watched “27 Dresses” and “Mad Money,” listened to music, read magazines, watched TV shows, had dinner (cheese pasta…yum). Then we landed in Dakar. My first disappointment came when I learned we couldn’t get off the plane. (There was a 2 hour layover scheduled and I thought we could get off). Nope. We had to sit tight, I took my next Dramamine and fell asleep. Four hours later we were still sitting on the plane. Apparently there’s a mechanical error. They tried to fix it….but here I sit in Senegal nearly 12 hours later! So what happened was we sat on the plane for awhile (about 12 hours total at this point!!), got onto a shuttle bus, moved into the airport for about an hour, then got on a bus for 2 hours to a resort, where I sit now! Now, the resort itself is beautiful…wonderful beachfront view of the Atlantic, an oasis really of green and birds chirping. Downside…can’t drink the water in the room, sharing a room with a stranger (although she’s very nice, from South Africa but lives in San Diego now), there is no internet access (GASP!), no phones, no TV…I can’t even plug my computer in to watch my own DVD’s because there’s different outlets.
Delta was so kind as to pay for us each to make phone calls for 10 minutes. I called Ivan 3 times with no answer…which just made me cry. All I wanted was to hear his voice. But he’s sleeping. So then I called my mom to let her know what the deal is and to please call Ivan and tell him!! So now I’m trying to pass the time typing this all up, without totally killing my battery.
So, I’m not upset about all of this really. Obviously it would be nice to just get where I’m going but this “little” detour has already been quite an experience and an education.
Let me just say, as we exited the shuttle, Travis (the American in Cape Town, who travels a lot), says, “The airport in Baghdad is nicer than this.” Great. The next 2 hours of that bus to the resort were nuts. First of all, every building just looks like it’s abandoned, but it’s not. People live and work in it, although I’m sure some of them are abandoned. Everywhere is just littered with garbage, TONS of it. There’s just broken up concrete piled up here and there. Women really are walking around with buckets of water on their heads. People are shoeless. Some are wearing traditional African wear, others dress just like you and me. There are no lines on the roads, it’s just drive wherever you need to get where you’re going. There are tent like things set up with metal roofs with everyone selling the same things. There are just people everywhere. Just walking the streets, even on the freeway, just walking along it. Vans and trucks are filled with people and then there’s more hanging off the back of the truck. It’s everything you’ve seen In movies. My roomie, Yael (the South African who now lives in San Diego) asked me as we were driving through if I was shocked by seeing it…I said yes and no…yes because it’s shocking to see it really is what you’ve seen and imagined. In the midst of cars there are horses, donkeys, and goats either pulling something or just wandering around. This goes on for nearly 2 hours until we magically, finally, arrive at the resort. Which by the way, the humidity is ridiculous. I took a shower, stepped outside, and literally needed to shower again. You know the movies that take place in Africa and everyone is always sweating in them…it’s no joke. Anyway, gotta go. Thinking I’ll nap now since I’ve been up for about 30 hours, minus a couple cat naps .
TRAVELING DAY #2: Ok, so I’m finally here (Cape Town) but there is already so much to say that I’m just going to write on this same blog, and get everything down because details I knew I wanted to write are already slipping from me.

So, after my wonderful nap at the resort it was time for dinner, which I didn’t really eat because I’m terrified of the food! Yael has told me the fruit and veggies are the best here but I am waiting a week or 2 for my vaccines to kick in before I eat the fruit. At dinner I met LaQueisha, who is from New Orleans but traveling to Durban, SA on business. She’s been through Katrina and the whole bit. Very nice girl. Obviously I ate with Yael too. She and her husband (also South African) have now lived in the U.S for 16 years. She is a preschool director and has two kids, is super funny, nice & helpful. She is flying in for her sister’s wedding, and she gave me her mom’s & sister’s phone numbers in Johannesburg (Jo-burg as they call it) in case I need them for anything while I’m here. I also met Bernecie, who is from Atlanta but has been working in Zambia for the past 3 years. Her time in Zambia is almost done and will return to the states. She was a great contact to meet—she works for the CDC (Center for Disease Control) on the Global AIDS program. I debate about going into working internationally, so exchanging info with her was awesome. She is the director of the program in Zambia. She was also nice and super helpful. So, we “eat” dinner and then settle in to watch a cabaret show that the people who just served us dinner will now be acting, singing, and dancing for us!! Let me just say this was one of the cheesiest things I’ve ever witnessed. I didn’t know whether I should feel bad for them that they had to do this, or if they really thought it was entertaining or what. To top it off, it was in French. So we couldn’t even laugh at any of the jokes or anything. But while sitting there we met two more girls, Grace from Atlanta who’s on a 2 week missionary trip and Amanda, a first year med student coming to do med student stuff in a clinic somewhere. They too were nice and fun. We all exchanged email addresses so hopefully I’ll get pictures from that night from Grace. We just sat around talking until almost midnight. Then we headed back to the room—which by the way, they were actually more like individual huts, not rooms- and they had two tiny beds in them, two lamps, a bench, and a bathroom. So we showered again, and then had to meet our buses at 1:00 a.m. We head to the buses, which was a weird ordeal anyway—they were trying to organize it too much and it was chaos. Keep in mind, their speaking French and VERY broken English, so it was nuts. Finally we leave for the airport. About 30 minutes in all the buses pull over and we sit…there are locals venturing towards the buses and it’s 2 a.m.! A French man on our bus starts yelling at the driver that we’re not stopping here, keep moving! Turns out someone on another bus had left something at the resort so they stopped. Our bus ended up moving again (Thank God). So we get to the airport, go through “security” (the thing would beep as we walked through and the guy was just sitting there reading a magazine not even paying attention!) Anyway, then we sit at the airport for 2.5 hours before we start boarding again. To do this we go through security again, this time they open our bags, search through everything, take our water, and all but pat us down! In the airport I met Izzy, a guy from Cape Town on business in Houston, who assures me to stick with him when we land and he will take care of everything. So, we get on the plane and at this point, the 8 hours is nothing compared to all that’s happened, and I’m happy to sit on a plane that’s at least getting me somewhere!
Finally, we’re in Jo-Burg. I go through customs, get my luggage, find Izzy, and away we go. About 10 minutes to walk to the domestic side of the airport where, luckily, the South African Airways ticket lady was super nice and felt for us. She fixed everything and booked us on the first flight (about 30 minutes off). Then the baggage men were telling me my bag was too big…oops…but Izzy explained our situation and they took it! When we got to our gate there was a 30 minute delay. So I was FINALLY able to get online and email Ivan & mom. AHHH! Connected again! I wanted to call Ivan but I figured I’d just start crying from relief so it was easier not to. Email was enough.

So then a 2 hour flight to Cape Town, get my bags, walk out and see my driver, Keenan, holding the AVIVA sign. Hallelujah!

FIRST NIGHT IN CAPE TOWN 6/9: Ok, so, Keenan drives me the 30 minutes to Table View, the suburb of Cape Town where I will be staying. We get to the house and it’s exactly as the pictures showed it (yay! You know you always hope things will be how they appear). So Keenan shows me around a bit and let’s me know that Megan, the volunteer coordinator, will be going over everything tomorrow. I met a mother and daughter who were still up (at this point it’s about 1 a.m. here by the way). They are nice. The mother, Debbie, is just here for the week with her daughter, Heather, and then will be heading home. They are from New York, but Heather goes to college in Colorado. So I finally got to use the phone and called Ivan & Mom. Connected again! Yay! Now that I can be in contact anytime I want to everything is totally fine. I don’t even feel that far way, aside from the time difference.

FIRST DAY IN CAPE TOWN 6/10: So I went to bed about 2 a.m. I am in a room that is upstairs and right now there’s only one other roommate, Kathleen, who is from Boston but goes to college in upstate New York. She also will be working at Home of Hope with me. So, I got up about 7:45 (although I could have slept all day probably, I just wanted to get on their time as quickly as possible). Today was our cultural tour. So it was me, Kathleen (who’s been here for 4 weeks already), Heather & Debbie, and then we picked up 3 girls (Jennifer—Texas—she’s a teacher, Sheena—from London, and Courtney—from Canada), who all live in the other volunteer house in a different area.

So, Ursula was our driver (She and Keenan take us where we need to go all the time and are our guides as well). She was born & raised in Cape Town. First we went to “District 6,” which is a place that was really affected by apartheid. (Let me back up, I don’t know how much you all know about South Africa’s history regarding government and race and all of that—apartheid is basically when new government took over and separated Whites/Coloreds (yes that’s what they’re called, any non-white, but not black), and then blacks. Apartheid only ended in like 1994). Ok, so in district 6 there were all groups of people living. When apartheid started (I think in the 60’s) they came in and knocked down all the buildings where the coloreds/blacks were living. It was now white only. The people were moved to what are now townships. So today we went to several different townships. Some we just drove through, some we stopped. I’ll try to give you a visual. Just imagine shack after shack with hardly any space between, made of wood and covering in tin. They look like the size of our porches or bathrooms or big closets. There’s no running water, no electricity unless they’ve wired it themselves into their houses from the electric poles, and they use outhouses. On top of that, just add garbage everywhere. That’s the best I can do to explain at the mo, but there’s much more to it…I’ll send pictures sometime in the next week. We stopped in one at the community center. The government built the center but it’s now up to the people to keep it going. They go here to make crafts, learn simple trades, and do things like this to make money and keep the kids out of the streets. There a million things I wanted to buy so I didn’t buy anything! That’s the problem here. There’s so many people you want to help and so many things you want to take with you that you don’t know what to do. I could give away every penny if I wasn’t careful. So while we were there a couple of the men wanted to put on a short play for us. It was about them getting to vote for the first time and how happy they were. They were good actors by the way. and were so happy to share their experience with us. After this we kept driving through more townships, stopping at a “healing doctor” in one (yes, kinda like a witch doctor, although it’s funny because he was wearing regular ‘American’ clothes, but had a headdress on, haha). We walk into this building and it’s totally dark with dead animals, skeletons, and deer legs hanging from the ceiling….and plants just piled everywhere. I did get a pic with him—will come soon. It was interesting. Then we grabbed some lunch and went to Ursula’s house to eat it. After that she dropped myself, Debbie & Heather at the mall so we could get some groceries. Then it was a 10 minute walk home and here I sit! I needed to write this all and get organized before I could feel settled.
Oh oh oh, one more thing. We stopped at “Vicky’s Bed’n’Breakfast,” the smallest Bed & Breakfast in South Africa. She is in one of the townships---with the wooden walls & covered in tin---we went in and talked to her for a bit. Got to look around too. Oddly enough, inside the ‘house’ was pretty cozy, if you get used to the tin rattling around. Then we walked across the street to “Beauty’s Bed & Breakfast.” She was inspired by Vicky to start hers, as Vicky is very well respected in the community and does a lot of good work for everyone, and she didn’t want to disappoint Vicky so she started the B&B. However, her passion is sewing J She sews clothes to sell, and teaches other women & children to sew so they can make money for themselves. She’s also HIV positive, and has multiple medications to take a day, although they are free and provided by the clinic. At Vicky’s & Beauty’s they have boxes sitting out for donations, and at the community center too. See how you could go broke? You want to help everyone. We also went to “Gloria’s Kindergarten.” She takes in all these kids for only 50 Rand a month (which is roughly like $6), she feeds them, cares for them, and teaches them. This place I did drop some money, I had 20Rand in my pocket and have that to them. These kids were sooo cute! It was naptime when we saw them, although they weren’t asleep yet, so they were giggling, waving, and posing for the camera—then grabbing it from your hand to see their picture! This building too was the wood & tin kind and small. It had 3 rooms and a kitchen. Each of the rooms where about the size of my bedroom I’d say (12x12ish), and in one there were 35 kids lying on the floor! Another room, smaller than that, had about 15-20 kids I think. What’s crazy, is that this is a GOOD option for the kids. You know? Ursula told us if we want we can go stay at Vicky’s for a day or two and volunteer at Gloria’s if we’d like. I might. I dunno. It would definitely be interesting to stay in a township. Ursula assured us we’d all be safe with Vicky though since she’s so highly regarded in the community.

Whew. So that’s pretty much everything so far. Around 6 p.m. all the volunteers strolled in from their projects—some from Home of Hope, and some from working with the penguins. They’re all making their dinners and everything. Everyone seems really nice, the house is nice, and comfortable. So that’s all for now. We’re all caught up. I start working tomorrow, so they’re will be a post coming about Home of Hope!!

Bye!

Travel Day

The day is finally here. Yesterday when my penpal Cathy left it hit me. All my distractions were gone (Thank God for all of my distractions by the way!!) I walked back in the house, called Ivan, and started crying. I just realized I was going to miss him and the dogs so much. So after I got that out of my system I finished packing, had to get one last vaccine, and then me & Jeff went to see "Sex & the City." Which was very good by the way.

Then I came home and we all sat around passing the time, watching TV, I walked the dogs a million times it seems like yesterday, and having "last" phone calls with people. Around 10 we went to bed and then I lost it. For whatever reason it just felt like it was the last time I was ever going to see Ivan! Silly I know. We've traveled seperately enough to know that everything's fine. And I know that once I'm there, it will be. But I just needed to get it all out.

So, I got up at 2 this morning, showered, walked the dogs one more time, had some Coco Krispies, and watched "The Soup." (One more thing I'm going to miss a ton! My Saturday mornings ALWAYS start by watching my recorded episodes of The Soup and Best Week Ever.) Then Ivan dropped me at the airport around 3:45, where I stood waiting for Delta to open their counters for 25 minutes. Now I wait. I'll probably make some more phone calls and what not. I'm so tired, and I took the regular dramamine (NOT the less drowsy, because I do want some help just knocking out!!)

Okie doke...write more when I get to my next stop.

Update, 2:00 p.m., Atlanta (11:00 PHX time): I made it through the first flight! 1 down, 3 to go. I slept for a couple hours, watched some TV (thank God for TV on flights), ate some M&M's, and now I sit. I'll get up a walk around a bit. I'm in a much better mindset right now. YAY!

Obama Article

**A friend of mine posted this article and I thought it was encouraging, exciting, and worth re-posting!!**

Overseas, Excitement Over ObamaIn Presumptive Nominee, Many See Chance for New Direction and New Attitude
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, June 5, 2008;
LONDON, June 4 -- For much of the world, Sen. Barack Obama's victory in the Democratic primaries was a moment to admire the United States at a time when the nation's image abroad has been seriously damaged.From hundreds of supporters crowded around televisions in rural Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland, to jubilant Britons writing "WE DID IT!" on the Brits for Barack discussion board on Facebook, people celebrated what they called an important racial and generational milestone for the United States."This is close to a miracle. I was certain that some things will not happen in my lifetime," said Sunila Patel, 62, a widow encountered on the streets of New Delhi. "A black president of the U.S. will mean that there will be more American tolerance for people around the world who are different."The primary race generated unprecedented interest outside the United States, much of it a reflection of a desire for change from the policies of President Bush, who surveys show is deeply unpopular around the globe. At the same time, many people abroad seemed impressed -- sometimes even shocked -- by the wide-open nature of U.S. democracy, and the history-making race between a woman and a black man."The primaries showed that the U.S. is actually the nation we had believed it to be, a place that is open-minded enough to have a woman or an African American as its president," said Minoru Morita, a Tokyo political analyst.While Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has admirers, especially from her days as first lady, interviews on four continents suggested that Obama is the candidate who has most captured the world's imagination."Obama is the exciting image of what we always hoped America was," said Robin Niblett, director of Chatham House, a British foreign policy institute. "We have immensely enjoyed the ride and can't wait for the next phase."The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, who has extensive overseas experience, is known and respected in much of the world. Interviews suggested that McCain is more popular than Obama in countries such as Israel, where McCain is particularly admired for his hard line against Iran."Although no one will admit it, Israeli leaders are worried about Obama," said Eytan Gilboa, a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. "The feeling is that this is the time to be tough in foreign policy toward the Middle East, and he's going to be soft."In China, leaders are widely believed to be wary that a Democratic administration might put up barriers to Chinese exports to the United States.But elsewhere, people were praising Obama, 46, whose emphasis on using the Internet helped make him better known in more nations than perhaps any U.S. primary candidate in history.In Kenya, Obama's victory was greeted with unvarnished glee.In Kisumu, close to the home of Obama's late father, hundreds crowded around televisions Wednesday morning to watch Obama's victory speech, chanting "Obama tosha!" -- "Obama is enough!""I can't express the joy in me," declared Sarah Obama, the senator's grandmother, at her home. "I'm only praying for more success in the coming days."Sam Onyango, a water vendor in Kisumu, said that "Obama's victory means I might one day get to America and share the dreams I have always heard about. He will open doors for us there in the spirit of African brotherhood."Obama also has strong support in Europe, the heartland of anti-Bush sentiment. "Germany is Obama country," said Karsten Voight, the German government's coordinator for German-North American cooperation. "He seems to strike a chord with average Germans," who see him as a transformational figure like John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King Jr.His father's journey to America as an immigrant resonates with many foreigners who hope to make the same trip. Many people interviewed said that although the candidate's living in Indonesia for several years as a child doesn't qualify as foreign policy credentials, it may give him a more instinctive feel for the plight of the developing world."He's African, he's an immigrant family; he has a different style. It's just the way he looks -- he seems kind," said Nagy Kayed, 30, a student at the American University in Cairo.For many, Obama's skin color is deeply symbolic. As the son of an African and a white woman from Kansas, Obama has the brownish "everyman" skin color shared by hundreds of millions of people. "He looks like Egyptians. You can walk in the streets and find people who really look like him," said Manar el-Shorbagi, a specialist in U.S. political affairs at the Cairo university.In many nations, Obama's youth and color also represent a welcome generational and stylistic change for America. "It could help to reduce anti-U.S. sentiment and even turn it around," said Kim Sung-ho, a political science professor at Yonsei University in Seoul.In terms of foreign policy, Obama's stated willingness to meet and talk with the leaders of Iran, Syria and other nations largely shunned by Bush has been praised and criticized overseas.In Israel, Gilboa said, Obama's openness to the meetings has contributed to a sense that his Middle East policies are too soft. When a leader of Hamas, the Palestinian organization that the United States and Israel call a terrorist group, expressed a preference for Obama earlier this year, many Israelis were turned off even more.Many people in Israel said they preferred Clinton, who is well regarded because of her support for the Jewish state in the Senate and her husband's pro-Israel stance during his presidency.Obama's candidacy has generated suspicion among Palestinians as well. Ali Jarbawi, a political scientist at the West Bank's Bir Zeit University, said that even if Obama appears to be evenhanded in his approach to the Middle East, he would never take on the pro-Israel lobby in Washington. "The minute that Obama takes office, if he takes office, all his aides in the White House will start working on his reelection," Jarbawi said."Do you think Obama would risk his reelection because of us?"In Iraq, views on Obama's victory were mixed. Salah al-Obaidi, chief spokesman for Moqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite Muslim cleric who opposes the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq, said the Sadr movement favors having a Democrat in the White House on grounds that McCain would largely continue Bush's policies.But in Samarra, a Sunni stronghold north of Baghdad, Omar Shakir, 58, a political analyst, said he hoped McCain would win the election and combat the influence of Shiite-dominated Iran.In Iran, government officials have taken no official position on the race. But "the majority of Iranians feel that the Democrats support what they want: a major and drastic change in relations with the U.S. So for them the coming of Obama would be a good omen," said Davoud Hermidas Bavand, professor of U.S.-Iranian relations at Allameh Tabatabai University.In Latin America, Obama's recent declaration that he would meet with Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Raúl Castro of Cuba has been widely welcomed as a break from Bush policy. Obama, though, has declared that he is not a Chávez admirer. He recently voiced strong support for Colombia in its fight against its main rebel group, which Colombian officials say receives sanctuary from Chávez.Although Colombian officials worry that Obama will not support a free trade agreement with their country, Obama strikes a chord with ordinary Colombians because of deep resentments toward the Bush administration's policies, including the Iraq war. "My number one wish is that Bush be gone," said Salud Hernández, a popular radio pundit in Bogota. An Obama presidency, she said, would be "a positive turn because of what Bush represented to the world."Not everyone has been riveted by the U.S. election.Interviews suggested that the Chinese public, absorbed by the recent earthquake in Sichuan province and preparations for the Beijing Olympics in August, paid little attention. And Russians have proved supremely indifferent; one poll earlier this year found that only 5 percent said they were closely watching the race. Of 40 people approached Wednesday on the streets of Moscow, only five had any opinion on the race or knew who was running.Still, some Russians hope that a new American president will improve strained relations between Washington and Moscow. "Barack Obama looks like the candidate that can be expected to take the greatest strides towards Russia," Konstantin Kosachev, a member of parliament, wrote in the newspaper Kommersant. "Unlike McCain he's not infected with any Cold War phobias."Contributing to this report were correspondents Ellen Knickmeyer in Cairo; Blaine Harden in Tokyo; Stephanie McCrummen in El Fashir, Sudan; Griff Witte in Jerusalem; Amit R. Paley in Baghdad; Peter Finn in Moscow; Monte Reel in Buenos Aires; Candace Rondeaux in Islamabad, Pakistan; Juan Forero in Bogota; Rama Lakshmi in New Delhi; Edward Cody in Beijing; and Thomas Erdbrink in Tehran; and special correspondents Karla Adam in London, Shannon Smiley in Berlin, Akiko Yamamoto in Tokyo, Stella Kim in Seoul, Allan Akombo in Kisumu, and Samuel Sockol and Sufian Taha in Jerusalem.

Peace Out Email

**This is an email I sent to everyone I know pretty much, but posting here too**

Hey everyone! I've been really busy since school let out (Megan came to visit, a couple of Ivan's friends came to visit, I went to Lake Tahoe, my penpal is here visiting from Rhode Island, we went to the Grand Canyon yesterday and today we're in Sedona, then heading to Jerome---all of which has been fun, amazing, beautiful!) and....drumroll.... Saturday I leave for South Africa! So this is my "goodbye" email, although I will be blogging and posting pictures I'm thinking pretty much as things happen so you'll never know I'm gone :)

The blog address is in green at the bottom of this email, check there if you want any updates. I might mass email a couple times but I will definitely be writing on there, and putting links to pictures there too. I have Skype on my computer so I can still call for cheap, but you know, those calls will likely be reserved for Ivan & family :) I won't be using my cell, but I'll be checking messages so you can totally leave a message if you want me to call you or to be funny :) haha Here's the link to the organization I'm going with if you want to check it out www.aviva-sa.com and here's the link to the orphanage itself www.homeofhope.co.za

Anyway, I guess that's all. Wish me luck!!!

Chelsey
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"--Gandhi http://chelsbels2000.blogspot.com/

Lake Tahoe and more!

Wow, so I haven't written in awhile. Just been busy with no signs of slowing down.

Let's back up. The last day of work was May 22nd. That night we had a little get together at my co-worker's house. It was super fun. I always end up getting to know and having fun with my coworkers towards the end of the year. Usually then I'm leaving and it's too late to really get to know them and have fun, but since I'm staying I'm really looking forward to next year.

That weekend, Memorial Day weekend, Megan came to visit. That was a good time. Saturday night when she got here we went out. Sunday we just hung out I think. I really can't remember at this point! Monday we planned to go tubing on Salt River, which is like an hour drive. We get over there and the road is closed because the river is too packed! So there is a ton of people, inlcuding us, just waiting in a Walgreens parking lot. We sit there for like an hour when we're told a different road is now open. So we go the long way to get to the river. We get there and they tell us they stopped selling tubes 15 minutes ago!!! (earlier than was advertised by the way). So that sucked. Tuesday, Megan & I went hiking at the White Tanks and she left on Wednesday.

Thursday, Ivan's friends from Illinois College, Devone & Ziggy, came to visit. We knew Devone was coming but Ziggy was a surprise, so that was fun.

Friday morning I left for Lake Tahoe for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. The team flew into Reno, then there was an hour long shuttle ride to South Tahoe. Let me know just say, it was gorgeous!!!!!! The weather was in the 60's, which at first I thought was too chilly, but I got used to it and it was pretty nice actually. So, Friday was a free day to just hang out. Saturday morning we all got up for a short ride, which was the first 15 miles of the course. Oh wait, I forgot I hadn't even mentioned this part. I didn't actually do the ride. I just wasn't ready, plain & simple. So after discussing it with my coaches, I decided to still go with the team to support them during their ride. I'm so glad I still went. I had an amazing time and they are just an awesome bunch of people. So anyway, Saturday was the pasta party which is always fun, you cry, you're proud of yourself for raising the money, and you get pumped for your event the next day. And it was so fun to watch all the newbies go through the experience for the first time. One of the guys on our team was the #5 fundraiser of all the cyclists-- he raised like $33,000!!!!!! Can you believe that?! By the way, thank you all so much again for the donations. Although I didn't end up particpating in the ride, the bigger purpose of the fundraising was to get the money to the people who need it, and we did it!!! SO YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!

Ok, Sunday morning was the big day. The riders headed out & started at 6:15, and so did we, the SAG crew. SAG stands for "Support And Gear." So basically our job (which was me, our head director, a participant's mom, a coach's daughter, and one of our coaches) was to stop along the course every 15-20 miles and just give the riders whatever they needed. We had water, gatorade, made PB&J, had oreo's, an air pump to pump up their tires, cheer them on, and take pictures. They were all on such a high!!! So fun to watch, and they all did SO well. They were awesome. Our coach wasn't really supposed to be SAG'ing, she should have been in the ride with everyone, but she hurt her back moving luggage our first day in Tahoe!! She was in and out of the ER and doped up to high heaven that day just to sit in the van, but she too did very well!! She was a riot (but didn't know it!) and was so upset she couldn't be with her riders. But it was great having her in the van too.

So that night was the victory party. After that we went to a little bar for some drinks too with one of the coaches & all the newbies who had just finished their ride. It was so funny to watch it happen: all they talked about was their next season with Team In Training! I'm telling you this stuff is so addictive. Even though I didn't participate I too was thinking, "what's next?" I still want to do a ride, and eventually a triathlon. But I also told Ivan to make me take a break!! If I wasn't ready for this ride then I know it's time to take a break. I've done 3 seasons in the past year and a half you know? But, don't fret! If I do another I specifically want to try and do it without asking everyone for money, and just with events & things like that.

Anyway, this morning I had to get up at 2:30 a.m., to get a taxi to the bus stop in South Tahoe, to take the shuttle to the Reno airport. Then I switched planes in Vegas. Finally got back to Phoenix around 11:00. Came home, took a nap, and then the shuttle brought my penpal, Cathy, to the apartment!! She has another friend who lives in the area so she met up with her tonight. While she was doing that I did the laundry, unpacked, cleaned, homework, and all of that stuff. Tomorrow morning she & I are heading to the Grand Canyon. We're going to stay the night and swing by Sedona & Jerome on Wednesday. That night a friend of hers that we know who lives in California now is going to come out for a couple days too. They'll both leave on Friday, then I'll pack and head to Africa on Saturday!!!!!! I can't believe it!

Anyway, gotta get to sleep. Long day again tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to Me!

So my birthday was Thursday. Good times. Ivan put a lot of thought into the gifts this year, although he's actually a very good gift giver most of the time anyway. So, he got me a camo colored hat and had the continent of Africa embroidered on the front in red and the South African flag embroidered on the back, some Armani Exchange sunglasses for the "African sun," a Leona Lewis CD because I like her, Michael Jackson's 25th Anniversary Thriller CD because "Africans love Michael Jackson," and a silver AIDS awareness bracelet where all the proceeds go to fighting AIDS, and then also sent me flowers. I was really happy. Definitely got things I can use and have to do with things that are important to me. Plus he put this all in a teal & lime colored bag, which are the colors I decorated the spare room in, and the card had a martini on it, which is my favorite drink! So that was cool. That night we had some Olive Garden, of course :) Friday night me, Ivan & Jeff went to the comedy club and saw Bob Marley, who was hysterical. It was a really good time.

Oh, and my coworker Nan gave me the absolute sweetest card. I have to tell you what the card said because it was just amazing! So, on the outside it said:

"Some people will always be special. Some people don't wait to be asked to help out, to listen, to be there, to care...Some people just know how to give from the heart--yet somehow, aren't even aware how selfless, how thoughtful, how needed they are--how many lives that they touch. Those people will always be special--and will always mean so very much."

So then inside the card says:

"For all the ways you're special, for the joys you share and the love you give, may your day be filled with all that's special to you."

And then Nan wrote some really nice things too, but anyway, I just thought it wast the sweetest card ever.

What else...this weekend has been really lazy. I did a lot of cleaning and Ivan was in a golf tournament. I'm kinda just hanging out and soaking up time with the puppies and Ivan. I leave in just under 3 weeks now...wow! What I'm more excited about than anything at the moment is that there's only 4 days of school left!! They will be a busy 4 days, but there's only 4 of them. And then Megan will be here too, so that's pretty dang exciting as well.

Well I guess that's all for now.

No news

First, new countdowns:
3 days until my 26th birthday
8 days of work left this school year
12 days until Megan comes to visit
20 days until the bike ride at Lake Tahoe
21 days until my penpal Cathy comes to visit
26 days until I leave for South Africa

My dad always says, "Don't wish your life away," I swear I'm not! I know there's a lot of countdowns....I just have a lot to be excited about right now. I actually told someone just yesterday that if I could pause at age 26 I would. Life is just really good right now and I'd hang here for awhile. But maybe I'd pause it in about 9 days, when work is done for the school year!

Not much has been going on really. I was sick a lot last week. Sore throat, hacking cough, stuffy head! Sucked. But I feel a million times better this morning than I even felt on Saturday. Let's back up. The weekend before last we went out for Jeff's birthday. It was a GREAT time. And then I spent the entire day in bed throwing up, paying for that awesome time I had. This past weekend I spent a lot of time laying around since I wasn't feeling great. We celebrated Bailey's birthday down at the pool, but I didn't get in since I wasn't feeling good. Ooh ooh ooh, we also got a new game for the Wii which has now consumed most of my free time, Mario Kart. I have loved Mario Kart on ever gaming system Nintendo has come out with, but they have outdone themselves. You can go online and race people from all over the world. If your friends have it, you can race them too, which is fun. So my family needs to get it so we can all "hang out." I love this game! So like I said, that has been a big hit in our house.

We also watched some movies this weekend, "Untraceable" and "The Great Debaters." Both very good movies. The first about an internet killer (it's a thriller/mystery not a scary movie) and the other about the first black debate team to debate whites, with Forest Whitaker & Denzel. It was really good. I teared up a few times...

This Thursday is my birthday. Friday night we're going to the Improv (comedy club). We used to go a lot when we lived in Rancho because it was a block away from our apt. but we haven't been much and I want to go so we are! Saturday a co-worker of mine is having a housewarming cookout so we'll be doing that. And I think Ivan has a golf tournament that day too. Next week is the last week of work. So I won't be seeing any kids, just finishing up paperwork, cleaning, and packing everything away for the summer. YAY! Then Megan comes, then Ivan's friend Devone is coming. Although most of the time he will be here I will be in Tahoe. Time is flying.

I started getting nervous about my trip for the first time the other day. I was falling asleep and just started thinking about everything I would need to pack and it's the first time I felt nervous. Partly because I was like "Oh my God, when am I going to pack!" Because my penpal Cathy will be visiting up until the day before I leave (which really is still PLENTY of time!!) and I also was thinking about the other volunteers...what if I don't like them, what if they don't like me. Sounds so juvenile, but it's how I was feeling. I was talking to Celeeste about it and the conclusion is really: who cares! My priorities are the work I'll be doing, and then the list of things I want to do/see while I'm there. Relationships are icing on the cake. Not to mention, I'm sure it won't be an issue. It's so easy to make friends when everyone is in the same situation. And if you're open to it, which I am, then it's all good. I'd love to have that connection and feeling that I had when I was in Key Largo with my roommates, that would be the ideal, ultimate situation. But I'm older and different than I was then, not better or worse, but I am very different I think. So we'll see! The other realization I had was when I was thinking about the traveling I'll be doing that day. I realized that while I'm still in the U.S. in the Phoenix airport and then in Atlanta I will probably be on the phone NONSTOP! It will be the last time I'll be able to call people for free and talk as long as I want, and be in same timezones. I'm sure I will take full advanatge of that. So don't plan on sleeping in folks! I fly out of PHX at like 6:45, so at about 4:45 a.m. I will be making some phone calls! haha Ok ok, maybe I'll hold off until I'm in Atlanta. The organization I'm going with, AVIVA, has done some major updates to their website. You should check it out. They have a lot of new pictures up and tons of new information. I guess they have 2 volunteer houses now and they book like very nice! I feel kinda bad! But that is partly why I picked them. For my first major trip, and being alone, I at least wanted to be comfortable and feel safe. Anyway, the website is off to the right if you want to look.

Gotta go!

A lot to discuss..

First, new countdowns:
15 days until my 26th birthday
15 days of work left this school year
23 days until Megan comes to visit
32 days until the bike ride at Lake Tahoe
33 days until my penpal Cathy comes to visit
37 days until I leave for South Africa

Next, what should I do when I grow up? Here's where my thoughts are on this subject. I have plenty of time and my mind will change a million times before and after making a decision but it can't hurt to think about it.

Thought 1: What I've thought the last couple of years is that after I finish my bachelors in Human Service (next summer) I would like to continue into a masters program in Public Service or International Development. I love the idea of working globally on issues I care about, with the opportunity to make a difference, and hopefully, travel a lot with that job. So the traveling I want to do would already be incorporated into my career.

Downsides: This career seems SO hard to get into. Any positions I see are always WAY up the ladder, which means I would have to spend years working towards it, while possibly doing jobs I don't love just to get to where I THINK I'll love. Not to mention, I still have to get a masters. So before this climb to the top I have 3 years of school ahead of me. Also, what if I have kids? A career like that isn't the best for raising kids I don't think...as far as traveling goes.

Thought 2: Find another career within the school environment so that I can have summers off to continue traveling and doing whatever I want to do. My thoughts were either counselor or social worker. Both of which have opportunities outside of the schools if I ended up wanting that.

Downsides: What if I don't love it? And I continue to sit there working in the schools and loving the summers & breaks, but wishing I was working internationally. Also, if I don't like it I'm left with a very specific degree that can't just be used for anything.

Thought 3: This just occurred to me this morning actually, and that is continue doing occupational therapy. Now hear me out :) I don't dislike what I do. Sometimes I just want something different. But I also know that you get what you give. What if I tried harder at what I currently do? What if I worked really hard to improve in certain areas and figure out what would make me enjoy my job more. I've heard some crazy stories about people loving their jobs again just after changing their mindset.

At the least I will be with OT for 3 more years. I can't deny the great benefits of working in the schools and the perks of being a contract therapist. That's what I will miss more than anything I think. So anyway, that's what consumes my mind a lot of the time.

I figure if I'm doing something I love (working internationally) then I won't miss the school schedule, however, I feel so lucky to be able to just know that I have 3 months a year to do whatever I want. I wouldn't be able to call up Megan and say, "Hey, let's go to Europe next summer!" Just wouldn't be able to do that...but I also go back to, would I miss it? Also, I fly home so much throughout the year and if I had a typical work schedule I wouldn't be able to do that. I dunno.

If it was up to me completely and there was no such thing as student loans...I would just keep going to school forever. Get one degree, start working in that field, and start working on another one just to plan that I'll want a career change soon!

Hunger Crisis

I always get these petitions from the One Campaign in email to sign petitions for various causes for AIDS, World Hunger, and things like that. Some of you know this as I've sent it on to you and if you've signed any petition of theirs, you will continue to get their emails. Anyway, here's a new one if you're interested in learning more!

"Hi, The world hunger crisis is all over the news this week. In just three years, the price of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice has almost doubled. If we don't do something soon, hundreds of thousands of people face starvation and a hundred million more could fall into extreme poverty.I just took action with the ONE Campaign and you can too, here: http://www.one.org/hungercrisis?rc=hctaf "

"Thank you"

So I sent this email out to pretty much everyone but I am posting it here too just because I think it's pretty important. I always want to say something when I see a soldier and never quite know what to say or do, and I always end up wishing I had, and I always tear up too. Something about soldiers makes me cry. Weird. Anyway, I'm going to try and start doing this.

One time on a flight home at Christmas we had the airlines asking us to give up our seats for some soldiers who needed to get home. A lot of people did before I even thought about it. Another time we had a soldier on board who had a close connecting flight so the flight attendant just asked us if everyone could remain seated to let him off the plane first so he could make his next flight, so when we landed everyone stood up and started clapping and everything while he ran off the plane. At the beginning of the L.A. marathon there were lines of soldiers there just cheering us on and giving high fives and my eyes just started watering! It's so crazy. Anyway, follow the link below. I'm freakin' crying right now. This is pathetic.


The Gratitude Sign
Ever wonder how to say thank you when you see a military person in uniform?See a simple way to do it from across a room or as you are passing by. http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php Please pass it on to family & friends!

Nada

Hey there. Not much to say I guess. Over the weekend Ivan went to California to see family so it was a pretty quiet weekend, not that my weekends are overly exciting anyway! Friday night I didn't do anything, got to sleep pretty early actually. Saturday morning Jeff made omelets and we drank screwdrivers...so I was kinda drunk by 9:30 in the morning! Jeff's a bad influence, as far as drinking goes, in my opinion! But I was able to then take a long nap, which was nice because I didn't sleep very well the night before. So that night me, Jeff & the kids went to the roller derby. I've been wanting to go for awhile now just because I thought it would be fun to see...and who knows maybe one day I will be out there on skates knocking women over! It was fun. I think I'm going to go again next month so Ivan can see it too. Other than that not much went on, except I rented Blood Diamond. Takes place in Africa-- Sierra Leone, Guinea, and South Africa. It's a really good movie, and Leonardo Dicaprio does a really good job in it. And it's so crazy to think that that stuff really happens. Villages get burned down, people get shot, and little kids get recruited to be child soldiers. In this movie there were kids that looked like 6years old shooting machine guns. That stuff really happens. They brainwash them. It's crazy. Jeff thinks I'm going to see some crazy stuff when I'm there. I keep telling him I will be in Cape Town, a huge modern tourist city, so it won't be like that!! Although I do realize it will be quite an experience to be with the kids and see/hear what conditions they came from...

Speaking of, I'm so excited. 43 days I think...! I'm going to get all my immunizations on Friday so then I'll be even more ready to go. YAY!

Time is Ticking...

27 days until my 26th birthday

24 days of work left this school year

36 days until Jenny & Erin come to visit

44 days until the bike ride at Lake Tahoe

45 days until my penpal Cathy comes to visit

50 days until I leave for South Africa

Time is ticking by. My co-workers, Karen & Nan, and I were talking about how fast time seems to be going. Karen's theory is that time literally is going faster. As if God has just starting spinning the Earth faster and faster and we just don't know it. It's an interesting theory, I think she might be onto something...what if an hour really just isn't what it used to be? That it's actually like a half hour or something. God is fed up with us and it's just speeding up time!

Come visit!

So, I now have a spare bedroom & bathroom! As you know, my friend Johnathan was living with me and he ended up moving back to Illinois this weekend so I now have room for people when they visit! I'm so excited about it too! haha So this weekend was spent organizing, cleaning, and decorating. We have tubs of stuff that have just moved from Heyworth to Rancho to Pasadena to Surprise, never knowing what we have or where anything is. So I went through everything, organized it, labeled it and put it in the spare room closet (out of our closet which was busting at the seams). I also got bedding and a few things for the room so now I'm just ready for someone to come and use the room. I've found myself in there just talking on the phone. It's just nice to have another space besides the living room and my bedroom. Jeff's kids have also enjoyed the room and just come over to watch TV! Ryan asked if it could be his play room...! No it's my playroom! hehe

I love it.

Another trip in the works?

The other day I was telling a co-worker about my internship in Florida, which got me thinking about all my friends from that summer, which made me realize I need to see them! Which prompted me to see what a plane ticket to Germany is running these days, relatively cheap!! I saw some between $500-700! That's crazy considering what I'm paying for my flight to S. Africa and everything. So it hit me that going to see them is definitely a reality. I texted Megan and said, "Do you wanna go to Europe next summer?" She texted back, "Yes, and I'm not kidding."

So we're in the thinking/planning stages. And I'm so excited. And I hope it really happens and nothing comes up that conflicts with this trip. So we're looking at summer 2009, likley a 4ish week trip, backpacking Europe. Our wish list at the moment is Germany, Amsterdam, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Italy, Greece. Now we just need to research and fine tune the priorities, time frames and things like that. Thank God for the internet! How the hell did people do anything prior to the internet? So we'll be staying hostels (which is cheap and supposedly a great way to meet other travelers), likley taking the eurorail all over the place, and I have already been in touch with my friends in Germany who obviously have places for us to stay and friends we can stay with if we're not in their cities. And who knows, they might even have friends in other countries we could stay with as well. We'll see! But I'm excited.

Possible plan for 2010: Egypt! This one's with Ivan though :) His dream place and seems pretty excellent to me too.

America's Most SCARY Bike Ride!

So yesterday at practice it was the first time that I thought...maybe I can't do this. I've been overly confident, having done a marathon I was in the mindset of, "you can do anything once!" Right?? Such a positive way of looking at things. But then I met hills...mountains...for the first time and they put me in my place. I ended up seeing spots and actually throwing up after getting up one of the hills (King Kong's Ugly Sister as it is so affectionately called--because she comes right after King Kong of course). I started up Usary Pass-- which leads up Usary Mountain!!!!!! This was hell, and stopping several times, as my feet were pedaling so slow I thought myself and the bike were just going to plop on over to the ground.

In my attempt to stay positive, I'm happy because I went farther than I have, got up some hills, and actually got back out to practice after company & fear had kept me out. On the other hand, I'm pretty pissed at myself for not being at practice in the first place. But I learned yesterday that if I give anything enough time I can do it-- if I need to take 10 breaks then I will take 10 breaks. I just have to remind myself that it's ok to do that, this too shall pass, etc etc etc.

Meanwhile I have my coach beside me just asking me questions to keep me occupied and to not focus on what I'm doing. Her favorite question to ask-- if you could only have 5 foods for the rest of your life and not have to worry about nutrition or anything, but you only get 5 foods...what would they be? 1-Ice Cream, 2- Mashed Potatoes, 3- Chicken Fried Steak, 4- Pizza, and 5- Pineapple. Although I have to tell you, PB&J is up there. Might even take it over pineapple. And then there's always the reminders of why you're doing this. All the people fighting cancer, and how treatment sucks, and they do it & everything. On the one hand it's motivating because you think "Hell yeah I'm doing this for them! If they can beat chemo & cancer and all this shit then I can ride a bike!" And on the other hand sometimes you're just in a selfish state and you're thinking "this HAS to be worse!" and "Ya know that sucks and I will feel for them later, but right now I am miserable!"

So right now I have had a reality check. Which is great because I now fully realize what I'm taking on---I don't care what anyone says, and I don't like running, but this is infinitely harder than a marathon! I will let you know if I still feel that way when it's all said and done, but right now I firmly believe this sucks. And I don't know what I got myself into. Oh right, the reality check. So, it's great because I have all the motivation in the world to get my ass in gear, literally--haha a little bike joke as shifting is like SOOO important. Really, you hardly ever stay in one gear for very long it's always shift shift shift-- anyway, yes, ass in gear because if I would like to come close to finishing this and/or surviving no matter how far I make it, I need to be training hard core. So that's great. The crappy thing is that I've had a reality check! hehe Maybe I can't do this. So while I'm kicking my own ass until I throw up, I do know in the back of my mind that this bad boy might take a couple tries to knock out. We'll see.

So, I invite you to check out the elevation map for Lake Tahoe(up top)...this shit is scary. I'm trying to remind myself that this is supposed to be FUN, and it's voluntary! Haha

Big Thanks!!

I just need to take a second to make some thanks for all the support I've had during my fundraising and training for the century ride so far

1-- Thank you to EVERYONE that has donated. Every bit helps and I'm always appreciative that you would give your money to a great cause, and in helping me reach my personal goals. So, thank you Rick & Joann, Mom, Gma & Gpa Beehn, Christina, Abby, Bud, Celso, Lisa, June & Charlie, Kris, Becky & Brian, Mark & Shannon, Teresa, Merit, Bloomington Meats, Tina, Ashleigh, Mary, Trisha, Donna, Matt, Megan, Jeff & Jyll, Schmid Electric, Gary & Fritzie, Erin, Judy, Bev & EJ, Gma Spaulding, Deb, Jessica, Kimberly, Tina U, Susan, and Lula!!

2-- I also wanted to mention some people individually who have gone above and beyond for me & the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

--My sister Jyll & her husband Jeff have been very supportive and giving this season! As a personal donation they gave $250, and they also put forth a corporate donation from their company, Schmid Electric, of $2300!! I don't think I need to really say more to explain how wonderful that is!!

--One of my best friends, Megan, told me she was going to give me 10% of her tips for a week. She let me know that was about $70, which that was already above & beyond. Imagine my shock when I got the email showing I had another donation and she went ahead and more than doubled that with $150! I just can't get over her genoristy and I don't know what I can do to thank her!!

--Megan's mom, Donna, has also helped me out in a great way. She took the letter I sent out and passed that along to her friends and family. Because of that, I have received 5 donations so far from people I wouldn't have reached on my own. All together from Megan, Donna, and their friends and family I have received $300!!

--Someone else who definitely was generous was Mark & Shannon Hickey. I know them from years of hanging out at Illinois College visiting Ivan & all my other friends who went to school there. They donated $100!! It's always amazing to receive a large donation and I love a response from people I don't even expect!

--Ivan has also, as usual, been a great supporter both emotionally, trying to motivate me!, and in fundraising. I organized a laser tag event and nearly all of my ticket sales sold were sold by Ivan. Which by the way this fundraiser made over $800!! Can't thank him enough for being there to back me in my crazy ideas!! He also put my bike together for me and goes riding with me on the weeknights

4--I have to mention my coaches, teammates, and my mentor Sabrina. They are the most supportive group of people I've ever met. They will not let me fail (dangit!!) and are literally right by my side every pedal of the way. Although I've been through this process and completed a marathon and a half marathon I've still struggled this season with my confidence and doubts. All I had to do was say the word and they have been right there with encouragement, advice, and basically holding my hand! I just want everyone know what a supportive and great program Team In Training really is.

So, enough with the thanks, here's a little update about how training has been going. Although I've had some minor mental setbacks I really have come a long way already. I started the season in February with my beach cruiser while shopping around for the right (affordable) road bike, although comfortable and stylish this was not going to get me much further than the 14 miles it took me! To date the farthest I've gone is 35 miles, which truthfully wasn't that bad until the end when it was all uphill, but again, I had psyched myself out before those hills. This coming weekend will be 52 miles, so wish me luck!!

Well thanks for listening. I just wanted to give a big thanks and acknowledgment to everyone who has been supporting me so far and let you know how the season is going! At this point we have raised $4145, which is AMAZING! Not much to go to ensure my spot at Lake Tahoe, but I have a personal goal of raising $5,000, so if you'd still like to donate that will always be welcome. Mostly I just want you to send some thanks and happy thoughts to everyone who has been so generous this season. And to me so I can actually get through 100 miles on a bike!! haha And also please keep those happy thoughts coming for my honored teammates who are living with blood cancers right now.

Thanks again to everyone!
Chelsey
http://www.active.com/donate/tntdms/chelsbels

Girls Gone Wild!

One of Ivan’s co-workers got us on the list for the Girls Gone Wild party in Tempe last night...we didn’t know what to expect...was it a big deal, were they filming, we even thought it might be for Joe Francis himself. Turns out it was the 2nd one, Girls Gone Wild was there filming! It definitely made the night a little more interesting. It was just entertaining to watch the cameramen walk around filming people, stop to focus on one and then basically convince them to take their shirt off. Along with the cameraman there was either a cute girl or some guy with GGW tank tops to give the girls once they showed their stuff. And early in the night (before girls were too drunk and needed some persuasion) the GGW girls with the tank tops would be dancing with the girls and just having so much fun, so duh, it must be so much fun then to go wild and flash the camera! haha It was funny to watch it happen over and over. Like these girls thinking "I’m not going to do it" and then bam, before you know it their boobies are out. Sidenote here: there are a lot of SMALL boobs in the world! haha The first girl of the night happened to be sitting right in front of us and it was EARLY in the night. Too funny. The club itself was designed for GGW. There were stripper poles/platforms throughout the place and girls dancing in cages with barely anything on, TV screens everywhere showing GGW videos, and the pictures on the walls were of barely covered body parts... where was I?! But it was a good time for me, Ivan & Jeff. Decent drinks, and the bartender was Ivan’s co-worker’s roommate, so she cut us a break a couple times, the music was good but so freakin loud. All of ours are still ringing! Fun though.

What else...I’m having a small issue with getting back on the bike, I’m just scared. And I know the only thing that will make it better is to literally get back in the saddle, I’m working on it. Ivan and/or Jeff might go with me next week to help me along because suddenly I’ve turned into such a wuss. No worries, I WILL get there. I did get on my beach cruiser today which helped a lot. I needed to be reminded that the bike is FUN! And it helped :)

Hmm...what else? Oh I got my hair whacked off and blond again. I love it. I can just wake up and literally do nothing to it because the messier the better right? So that’s fun.
That’s all I guess...peace.

My blood is boiling...

Just take a look at this link-- it's no secret how I feel about Oprah, and global issues. So you can just imagine what I was thinking as I read this. Read the article, and if you too want to be ticked off (if you feel strongly about Oprah or being American!!) read the comments from the locals (obviously not South Africans who actually need any help!!), and at the least, scroll down to the last comment :) haha

It's just amazing to me how some people who don't even need the help or benefit from aide can judge anyone for contributing to the greater good of the world. Really, stop and ask someone who actually NEEDS assistance and I bet they're not questioning who/where/why it came from. And then get off your judgemental ass and do something worthwhile if you think it needs to be done. AHH! And to be pissed off at Oprah for saying "Africa" instead of specifying South Africa? Really? She must have had to dumb it down for us hillbilly Americans :) (really, one person says we're a country full of illiterate hillbillies! Don't get me wrong, I agree we could use some improvement, but ya know, I just really don't appreciate the generalization!)

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/nicolejohnston/2007/11/12/oprahs-school-in-aaafricah/#comment-23233

Side note: This is my 200th post! Let's have a 200 party?! I started this in July 2005 and just now hit 200 posts!

Think Think

Not much to say. I'm just having some trouble focusing on anything but Africa right now. I've been trying to keep myself busy so I wouldn't think about it but to tell you truth I'm losing focus and motivation on those things! Yes, the century ride is only nearing closer and I am not motivated right now to get on my bike! Yes, I am super scared of what that means on event day, and even if I had been training like I should, I'm scared anyway. I think the realization of what 100 miles is, and especially with the dreaded HILLS, is setting in and I am scared. I have my moments where I am like, "I know I can do this! I've done a marathon, a couple half marathons, and many more things I didn't think I could do, so YES YOU CAN DO THIS!" And then I have a couple moments where I think, "But this is SOOO different! This is harder! This is scarier!" Those voices battle it out on an hourly basis. I think the problem is simply that I have been out of practice for a few weeks so I am out of the right mindset and scared of how far behind the rest of the team I am. Which on the one hand, I am no stranger to (since I'm pretty much a walker, slow jogger at best, and my teams have been runners!), and I know that especially with TNT I shouldn't worry about that because it's individual, they're super supportive, etc etc etc. And then there's the other hand...and it just sucks to be behind people and have them waiting on you, even if it's by choice because they want to see you succeed. That is such a blessing and a curse sometimes. You love hearing the encouragement and the comfort in knowing that they are there, and at the same time sometimes you wish nobody was there and you could just stroll in whenever you dang well please. Bottom line, I need to get my ass in gear. One other tiny confession...I'm afraid of going up the hills yes, that is no secret, but I might be more afraid of coming DOWN the hills! I'm a chicken and the thought of being out of control flying down a hill scares the shit out of me. I don't think I could hold in the brakes hard enough coming downhill. So there you have it. I'm afraid of going downhill and feeling out of control, panicking, and then wrecking...and even if all of that doesn't happen, the anxiety of flying down a hill with little control is bad enough.

So...back to Africa. I can't stop thinking about it. April is almost here and then May, and then I leave! Right now my focus is on the flights. I arranged my seats better, ordered things for the computer to use in-flight, am thinking about the books, magazines, games, etc to buy before I go. Researching ways to pass the time, things to consider, and how to conquer jet lag. Apparently there is a pill called "No Jet Lag" (clever name eh?) which will do just that. Some people think it's all in your head, some people swear by it. I don't know. I have looked at my flight times and what time it will be in Cape Town on what flights so I can try and use my flights to start getting adjusted to the local time... putting too much thought into this? Maybe. I land in the evening and I'm guessing I will be ready to just collapse into a bed after 28 hours of in/out sleep on airplanes, and considering that I'm ready to die after a 3 hour flight...but a little research never killed anyone right? So, if I were to really try and get on local time before I get there I figure I need to try and sleep on my first two flights from Phoenix to Atlanta to Dakar. These would be nighttime in Cape Town. And then on flights Dakar to Johannesburg and Johannesburg to Cape Town I need to try and stay awake, so when I land in Cape Town about 8 p.m. local time, I can just get settled into bed, and wake up on local time. Done. It sounds too easy...! Haha I'm sure I'll want to sleep at totally random times just to pass the time and because there is a 12 hour time difference between Phoenix and Cape Town. In any event, I'm banking on being exhausted by the time I get there so that I just slip into the time zone without my body noticing the difference. Man I'm excited.

I asked a coworker who flew to Japan over Christmas Break if she had any recommendations to passing the time and dealing with jet lag, she had an 11 hour flight. She said that surprisingly, the time goes really fast. Which I can kinda see that point of view. I'm totally building it up right now as this like heinous horrible amount of time, so I can bet that it could end up seeming not that bad. Plus, an 8 hour flight (which I have 2 in a row of) is about 4 movies. Not too bad... :)

Did I mention I'm excited?

Whew, big breath of relief that things should start slowing down for a bit. Becky flew in Thursday night and we went out to eat at Yard House-- Yard House is the shit! It is my favorite place. I don't think I realized it until people start visiting and I take them there and all I say is I love this, and I love that. I love it! We first went there in Rancho, went to one in San Diego, had one at our mall/apt in Pasadena, and THANK GOD, we have one here in AZ.

Anyway, Friday Becky hung at the pool with Johnathan & Ivan while I was at work and then that night we just drank here until like 3 a.m. Saturday we went to the Cubs game. Supposedly it was like 85 degrees out, but it felt like a million. We had lawn seats so we just laid out basically. It was HOT but a good time. We intended to go out that night...but the sun screwed us I think and we just sat here and fell asleep. Sleep is good though right?

This morning Becky left and I went to sell beer all day. I had some anxiety about it because of giving change and counting, stuff like that. It went pretty well. I wasn't miserable the whole time and it went by fast. Got pretty good at getting beer from a keg, which I'm not a beer drinker so I honestlty don't know if I've EVER got beer from a keg before...hmm... anyway, I made some money for my fundraising and only have a couple hundred left to make! YAY!

Back to training hard core this week, just hope I haven't fallen too far behind. Alright, gotta get some sleep.

So tired!

Let's see, last week was spring "break." I put break in quotes because it was anything but a break! Maybe from work, but my parents were here and we just went went went. They flew in on Tuesday and that night was a laser tag fundraiser I had organized-- which made over $800! That was split between me and another guy. It was a lot of fun and clearly a huge success. Wednesday we went to a Cubs-Rangers spring training game and laid out at the pool. Jeff made dinner that night, oh and he made french toast that morning since this has become a staple for my out of town guests to experience! Thursday we went to Sedona which was a good time. The red rocks are beautiful and the shops were neat.

Side note: all over up there is this little Indian character for sale, as decoration, just everywhere. So all say I was in search of the right thing with him on it, his name is Kokopelli. I finally find something. We get in the car to leave and I look up the story on Kokopelli since he is obviously such a big deal...turns out there are multiple meanings for him. The most prominent is that he's a fertility god!!!!!! Whoops! I spent my whole day searching out a fertility god! Luckily there are more meanings such as that he chases away winter and brings spring. (More Kokopelli stories to come).

Friday I arranged with a friend of mine to go out to Luke Air Force Base since my dad was in the AF years ago and thought it might be cool. It was awesome. I've been out there on a tour before but for some reason it's just always so cool. I guess because we civilians cannot get to it regularly maybe? Anyway, my friend Todd is an F-16 pilot and showed us around his squadron and told us all about the jets, and we got to look inside them and everything. It was interesting. After that we went to the White Tanks, which is a park here with trails into the mountains. We walked out there for a bit and got some cactus pictures.

Another side note: Just 2.5 hours after we left Luke AFB (which is an F-16 pilot training base) a jet went down. Luckily it wasn't Todd, but the 26 year old pilot did not eject and the wreckage, although very little left of the jet, was found later that day in the mountains.

Saturday we went to Apache Junction. There is is this whole "trail" you can drive and has all these little shops and restaurants through the mountains and around some lakes. Our first stop was a little museum and a church that used to be used in Western movies all the time. Turns out there were tons of movies filmed in Apache Junction. After that we went to a ghost town called Goldfield. Everything there was exactly what the original settlers had left behind. It was kinda cool if you could really imagine what it had been like. They had the stores & restaurant (saloon) set up and working as gift shops and things. I would have preferred it to be more like museum quality where you just saw how they left it, but either way it was cool and made me wish, like I always have, that I was living in the late 1800's or early 1900's. We also went on a mine tour. You walk down these stairs and onto a simple elevator and our guide just walked us through and told us what the people did down there and how their tools worked etc. It was cool. Oh-- time for the other Kokopelli story-- so a woman in the shop there told us the "real" story. Kokopelli was a trader who came up through the west from South America trading feathers. He would always play his flute to let the tribes know he was coming in peace (all the pictures & figures have him playing a flute). The story is that if the men of the tribes weren't there he would sleep with the women! And that he was also very well endowed! Obviously as time went on and the story was passed around he evolved into a fertility god that brought women babies, when in reality he was just a slut who gave women babies by knocking them up! Nowadays though he is pretty much just a symbol of the southwest. So that's that. Eases the mind on the whole fertility thing, but now I just have a slutty south american on some pottery in my bedroom! hah

Sunday we went to eat Margaritaville for lunch and went to Cabella's (sporting/hunting store). That night we went out to eat again and they left Monday morning, only for me to return to work (yuck). So, as I was saying, I'm exhausted!

Saturday night my mom & I also cleaned Jeff's apartment. Long story short-- Jeff is helping me with my math class (he's a math teacher) and in return I clean his apartment. Also his daughter has been sick-- high fevers, not eating, took her to the ER a couple times, after a week they finally admitted her to the hospital with pneumonia, 80% of her lung filled with fluid, surgery to get that fluid out, on oxygen--just crazy stuff, SO we thought it would be nice to clean the place up and do all the laundry. So we did. She's still in the hospital, will be for a good couple of weeks but finally started eating and her lungs have been looking ok.

Tuesday night is our bowling night and Ivan had an awesome night!! First let me say, we are not good bowlers! We bowl for fun and have been in last place the entire year (since August). Not anymore! We arrived Tuesday to find that we had moved up to places! And we were playing a VERY good team, who we ended up beating 2 of 3 games...which means we will move up again most likely next week! AND, Ivan bowled a 232! He did awesome. It was so fun. And the team we played was just a really fun team as well.

Last night (Wednesday) I had to go take a test to get a food handler's card so I can work the beer tent at a spring training game for a fundraiser some of us TNT folk are doing. After that I went to the hospital to see Jeff & his daughter, which was just sad! She's doing alright but children's hospitals in general are just kinda sad. Nobody wants to see sick kids, plus you could just see how weak she was, but she's on her way :)

Side note: Fundraising is going A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-L-Y well! I have had a wonderful response to the letters I sent out (THANK YOU EVERYONE!), laser tag was a huge success, and most importantly, Schmid Electic (my sister & brother-in-law's company) provided me with a corporate sponsorship! BIG BIG BIG THANKS TO SCHMID ELECTRIC for supporting LLS!!! So I don't have much fundraising left that is required and I will be able to focus on the training.

Today (Thursday) my friend Becky is flying in for the weekend. She's a HUGE Cubs fan so she bought tickets to a spring training game on Saturday. So we'll be hanging out, drinking, and watching baseball all weekend. Sunday right when she flies out I'll be heading over to another game to serve beer to raise money (which just MIGHT meet my minimum requirement of $4200...I will let you know!).

After that...I plan on sleeping!!!!!! And getting back to training hard core. With my parents here & Becky coming I've missed some practices and haven't been on the bike much. Can we say shooting self in foot? I'll get there though. This is not the end of the world :)

What else...geez I feel like I've been typing for weeks already... today I found out that my flight to Africa will have outlets so I can plug in my computer on flight! You have NO idea how happy that makes me! Normally I could barely get through a movie without the battery dying so knowing that I can plug in on flight eases my mind SOOOOOO much. I'll be able to watch movies (although the plane has TV screens in the seats already) and work on homework (yes I'll be finishing up a class my first 2 weeks in Africa, boo! And they start back up THE day I get back, yuck!) I can only take 4 weeks off before it starts messing with financial aid. And the thing I bought to charge with will let me charge my IPod while I'm on the computer. Handy stuff! I also ordered new headphones with a microphone so while I'm in Africa I can talk to everyone back home for free through my computer. Very excited about that. Only 79 days til I leave I think!

Alrighty I'm out.

You're so Swayze!!!

Hahahaha! The other night we decided to have Swayze Night, to honor Patrick Swayze since he's battling pancreatic cancer (in case you didn't know, and he's doing well), and he kicks ass, and who doesn't love some Swayze?!

Jeff made fajitas which we called Dirty Fajitas (like Dirty Dancing) and we planned on some "Sway-Tini's." We rented Ghost (man I forgot how good that movie was), Red Dawn and Roadhouse, and of course I already own Dirty Dancing. Ivan fell sleep and Johnathan bailed, but Jeff and I had a damn good time and ejoyed Swayze night to the fullest.

When Jeff left he said, "Merry Swayze!" I nearly peed myself. We had gotten pretty Swayze crazy by this point!

Send Swayze some happy thoughts (I kinda just like to say Swayze...did you notice?!)

I Got My Passport!!!!

Progress in Leukemia Treatment!

Here's a link to an article about some new developments in the treatment of one form of leukemia (CLL), a vaccine!

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080217-9999-1m17leukemia.html

30 miles down...

So I got my new bike and rode it last weekend about 14 miles. I was having a super hard time getting on it and stopping. I felt like it was too high and I had to reach so far I could barely touch the brakes. The problem is, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to feel like that and I'd just get used to it, or if there was something seriously wrong with my bike! So I continued to practice but it was still a bit scary. Friday night I drove an hour and a half to meet this guy who did bike fittings for everyone on our team. Wow! I was there for 2 hours while he tweacked my bike, gave me tons of advice, new handlebars (so I wouldn't be reaching so much) and got to practice riding on the rack (so I didn't have to worry about balance too). Saturday was our long ride, 30 miles! It wasn't too bad, until maybe a few miles left. My leg cramped up so I had to stop for a minute and stretch out. Then with only about 1/2 mile left probably (all uphill) I had to stop for a few minutes. Partly because my ass was killing me! I could barely get through a pedal stroke because I was just so uncomfortable and I think I had just psyched myself out about the hills. But then we carried on, finished & it was wonderful! I guess the only way to build up my butt's tolerance is riding, so while it will never feel great it will get better, my butt will just start hurting later and later. After the practice was our honored teammate picnic where all of the people we're riding for come out and tell us their story, thank us, and encourage us. So that's nice.

When I got home I was exhausted and normally I'll take a nap or something but everyone was down at the pool. So we all spent the afternoon in the pool drinking and hanging out. It was fun. Oh we were in the pool Friday night too. Forgot about that. It's so nice to be able to be in the pool in February!!! Have I mentioned that I love it here?

After all day in the pool Ivan & I went to a hockey game-- the Phoenix Coyotes and Calgary Flames. It was fun, and I think I might be a hockey fan!? I enjoy those games more than any other games I've gone to. But the game itself kinda sucked because Phoenix did not do well.

Only one more week before spring break! yay! Looking forward to the time off and showing my parents around. The night they fly in I'm doing another laser tag event so we'll be doing that, and I think we're going to a Cubs-Rangers spring training game, the field is only like a mile from our apt. I don't know what else we're going to do, I would like to take them to the White Tank Mountains on some trails, possibly Sedona, Tombstone, and the Grand Canyon. We'll see!

How old am I?

I had a kinda funny moment earlier. I was on the phone with my sister right after work, and I made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk. Then I said, "Well I'll let you go, I gotta eat this peanut butter & jelly sandwich I made and then I'm gonna go ride my bike." Did that not sound like something a 6 year old would say? Not someone going on 26? haha And as I thought about that I thought about what else I was going to do tonight after riding my bike...play with the dogs and do my homework...again, a 6 year old. I just thought it was funny. I guess I've achieved the goal so far of not getting old. Ivan and I are convinced that if we don't get married, don't buy a house, don't have kids, and don't settle down anywhere that we won't get old...so far so good :) We'll just outrun the respsonsibility and aging as long as we can. Until we wake up someday feeling old and behind as everyone else already settled down! haha Oh well. Right now it's all good.

So, I got my road bike!! Well I ordered one anyway. I got an 07 model off ebay for like $270, instead of the $650 it would have normally been! So I am on my way now. I've still been practicing on my beach crusier, which is a joke for the mileage we've been doing but that'll make it all that much easier when I get my road bike delivered (hopefully Friday!)

What else...this past weekend at practice everyone else did 24 miles I think, I just did 14 again since I was still on the beach cruiser. And I had a low tire. Talk about the most unprepared biker...ever :) Ah well. It's fun and the team is awesome.

Ivan & I went "mountain biking" and "hiking" Monday because we were both off for President's day. We took my beach cruiser and Ivan's mountain bike on the trails at the "White Tanks," which is a little mountain/park close by. Note to everyone: beach cruisers are NOT mountain bikes. That was such a bad idea. Oh well. I survived, although gritting my teeth the whole way and getting my fat tires stuck between rocks. It was an experience. So when we got back to the car we parked the bikes and walked a trail, which was so much better than beach cruising a mountain!!!!!!! And really pretty too.

I'm done with my second job. No it didn't last very long. It would have been fine if I hadn't decided to train for the century ride but I need time to ride so I had to quit. It was a good experience but I'm relieved it's over. I get to just come home after work! YAY!

Ivan got me bowling shoes for Valentine's Day. He's an awesome gift giver; always surprises me with stuff I wouldn't think to buy myself. They are white and hav pink flames on them! haha I'm definitely the coolest bowler ever now.... :) Still have no skills, but I look good! haha

I guess that's about it. I'm ready for spring break (only 2 weeks away after this week!!!) Who doesn't love time off work? And my parents are coming so that'll be nice too.
Alrighty, later!!!!

South African Glossary

So South Africa is an English speaking country (although they actually have 11 national languages) but of course they have their slang or common phrases like anywhere else. Here's some of them...:

Arvie - short for 'afternoon'Baai - Afrikaans for 'Bay', as in Gansbaai (Goose Bay)
Bakkie - A pick up truck with an open back or canopy.
Berg - Mountain
Bergie -A vagrant that lives on the slopes of Table Mountain
Biltong - Very tasty sun-dried strips of spiced meat available in beef, kudu, springbok, ostrich etc
Boerekos - Describes Afrikaans farm food which typically cosists of meat and vegetables cooked using large quantities of sugar and butter, not good for a diet!
Boerewors - Spicy coils of coarse sausage, common fare at most braais!Braai - A South African BBQ, and probably more central to South African culture than the BBQ is to Australians!
Bredie - Meat & vegetable stew
Cape Doctor - The strong south easterly wind that blows warm air from False Bay over Table Mountain to form the famous 'Tablecloth'
Cape Dutch - White-washed, Gabled style of architecture from the 19th Century, fine examples of which can be seen around Cape Town and the Cape Winelands
Circle - A roundabout
Dagga - Marijuana
Dankie - Afrikaans for 'Thank you'
Dassie - The Hyrax, a rabbit sized rodent common on Table Mountain which is the closest living relative of the elephant!
Dof - A derogatory term that describes someone who is a little dim-witted
Dorp - A small town or village
Drankwinkel - A liquor shop
Egoli - The Zulu name for Johannesburg hich means 'city of gold'
Fynbos - Meaning 'fine-leaved bush' and refers to the unique variety of Proteas, ericas and grasses found in the Cape Peninsula's Floral Kingdom
Geen ingang - No entry
Gevaar - Danger
Howzit! - A common greeting which can mean 'How are you?'. 'How are things?', 'What's up!' and so on!
Ingang - Entry
Is it? - Confusing for non-South Africans as this is a common reply to many sentences which means 'really!?'
Jol - A party or a good time on the town!
Just now - If someone tells you they will be with you 'just now', they actually mean 'in a while'!
Karoo - Arid, desert like plateau that occupies a large proportion of South Africa's interior
Kerk - Church
Kloof - A ravine or gorge
Koeksister - A very syrupy deep-fried plaited doughnut, delicious!
Koppie - A small hill
Kraal - An enclosure of huts
Lekker - Great, really good, as in 'thanks for a lekker braai!'
Links - Left
Lughawe - Airport
Mealie - Maize
Naartjie - A tangarine
Nek - A saddle between two mountains
Nkosi Sikelel 'i Afrika - 'God bless Africa' The national anthem of South Africa
Now now - When someone tells you they will be with you 'now now', they do mean to be with you as soon as they can! See Just now above
Plakkies - Flip-flops
Poskantoor - Post Office
Protea - The national flower of South Africa
Regs - Right
Robot - A traffic light
Rondavel - A circular building based on traditional African huts
Rooibos - 'Red bush', an indigenous herbal tea that is low in tannins and is reputed to have medicinal properties
Sentrum - CentreSingel -
Crescent Snoek - Large white-fleshed fish common in local waters and recipes
Stad - City, as in Kaap Stad (Cape Town)
Stasie - Station
Stoep - A verandah
Straat - Street
Strand - Beach
Tackies - Training shoes, sneakers or plimsolls
Toegang - Admission
Verbode - Prohibited
Verkeer - Traffic
Vlei - Lake, wetland, swamp or valley
Weg - Way or road

I bought the ticket!!!!!!!!!

Magically today when I went to look for tickets there was a price & itinerary that weren't there yesterday!! It happily meets in the middle on everything.

The price was $1900, so more than the cheapest but less than the expensive. The total time traveled is 28 hours, and gets me there on Sunday instead of Monday, no long layovers anywhere and a ton of different airports. Which normally I like direct flights, but with this I wanted a lot of different changes so I was never trapped anywhere too long!

I'm a happy camper. I'm sure a better price could have rolled around if I waited...but I prefer to just have the peace of mind knowing it's all taken care of. Although it's a little scary as well...now I'm REALLY going, and that's a chunk of change to drop on just getting somewhere.

So that's it... I'll be leaving Saturday, June 7th at 7 a.m. (stopping in Atlanta, Dakar, and Johannesburg before getting to Cape Town!)

I'll head back on Monday, July 21st at 5:45 p.m. (stopping in Dakar, New York, and then Phoenix!!)

Now I need to hurry up and wait... it's 4 months to the day by the way... :) Lucky 7?!