Long Overdue - Pregnancy update

Pardon the pun. This post is long overdue (not the baby) and I apologize for taking so long to post an updated picture of how my belly size is progressing. I am constantly impressed with those expecting mothers who take weekly pictures to show how they gradually grow.

I, unfortunately, am not as dedicated, so the rest of you must therefore suffer. But, at least we're making progress and you can actually tell there's something growing in there. I still feel like I'm stuffed from Thanksgiving dinner and this whole time I thought I was able to hold quite a bit in that bladder of mine. While I am still able to "hold it" until I can make it to the restroom, when I'm done instead of feeling relieved I feel like "that's it? that's all?? that's all you had in there?????" *sigh. And I know it'll only get worse. As for everything else, I thank my lucky stars that I still haven't had much sickness, aches, or pains.... yet. And even if I do, I feel very fortunate that I've got something pretty special growing in there. Nils is funny and keeps asking the baby to come out and play with him. As time is going by pretty fast, he won't have much longer to wait.

So... here's the long awaited picture. This was taken at about 29 weeks. Nils and I are attending Bradley classes to stock up on exercises, nutrition, and general knowledge about labor. It's turned into a nice growing opportunity for the both of us as we're learning more about what's going on inside and how to best support each other. There sure is a lot to learn! :)

Not in Kansas Anymore

Looking at my last post, I guess I was just so happy to get that project done that I was done with everything else too! Well, and I was enjoying a nice vacation with my family in Kansas. :)

The first two weeks in November, I enjoyed a delicious visit with my sister in Wichita and my parents, Teddy, and John in Ellsworth. Spending time with them helped me get excited about being a 'mom' (yikes...) as well as just appreciate all the fun and funny things that moms, dads, brothers, and sisters do. Here are some highlights of my trip:

• Mom and I got to finish a new white pregnant temple dress for me, so I wouldn't have to keep squeezing my ever-growing belly into that teeny, tiny dress. I just hope I can squeeze back into it later....
• Dad took me to an auction for the first time. Boy, those guys must go through some kind of auctioneer training because that "heybidaherebidaheybidadoIhear400?steprightuphereandbidletsseeabidfor400,375?DoIhear375?Whatabout350,Ihave350doIhear375,375,375,have350,whatabout375,375!doIhear400bidaherebidanicealmostnewitem,400?400!?!Ihave375! Going once! Twice! Sold for 375!".... it's just gotta take talent to talk that fast!
• John's Boy Scout Eagle project helped us all get outside and use our muscles to beautify the landscaping of a chapel building. A lot of people came to help and the work is still going. Anyone in the Salina area on Wednesday nights or Saturday mornings should pop on over there and lend a hand :)
• Teddy's evening walks around Ellsworth were really nice. I like that you can get around and be pretty much anywhere you want to in small towns. Don't even need ta take yer car!
• Sarge and Sally, my family's new puppies are just so so cute! Animals have a way of making you feel special and important since they're always ready to play and are just so happy to see you!
• If you're a betting guy or gal, put your money on Molly. She and I had fun playing air hockey and pool at a local pool hall. And if you're looking for a fun family activity, find a local arcade or pool hall in your area and take the kids! The pool hall we went to didn't allow vulgar language, smoking, or drinking. Their only crime was the loud country music on the hi-fi.
• Mom and I had fun picking out colors for their living room and dining room. Ellen had done a great job working with Mom on the beautiful colors in the parents' room. Looking at all the pictures and seeing the fun things Mom had planned made me look forward to the time in the fairly far off distant future when Nils and I will settle down and buy a place of our own.
• Skype with Toby's family in Australia! Sorry that Toby wasn't there, but I had fun catching up with Sharole, and seeing how much my niece and nephews have grown! Can't wait to hop on a plane and give them real hugs and kisses!
• Finishing up the quilt Ellen made for my high school graduation. Thanks Ellen! It's still as beautiful as ever and it's on my bed now!
• The little things.... a scrabble game with Dad, Settler's game with everyone, chitting and chatting til I can't think of anything else to talk about (which never happens, so eventually you have to finally just say 'good nite' and go to bed), laughing, catching up with John and remembering being in high school, learning all kinds of things about the Civil Air Patrol from Teddy, getting ideas from Mom, getting into a deep linguistics discussion with Molly, getting beat by Molly (again) at air hockey, the marriage advice from Dad, the health advice from Mom.....
• There's no place like home!

Thanks family for such a wonderful vacation! And I didn't even have to wait for an official holiday to come visit!!

Hallelujah! I'm DONE!

As mentioned on previous posts, I had been working on an audio version of Romengleza. The project started sometime in March or April of this year and was COMPLETED this last week!! The picture above just demonstrates how I feel... free, happy, light, and really GOOD! It feels great having accomplished something and knowing that I didn't give up (and that no amount of procrastinating could prevent this moment from finally coming). In all, the project took over 6 months to complete, with 55 individual sound tracks and hours of editing and recording. Thanks to all the youth volunteers who were the Romanian language voices! Thanks to Oana and Catalina for translating all of the English phrases and vocabulary! Thanks to Nils for helping me out with the English language voices! And thanks for everyone's patience as I would sometimes shut out the world, trying to get the project done. YEAH!!!! It's ALL DONE!

FOM - Alien vs Human?

I'm pretty sure every first time pregnant woman has gone through some similar experience of processing the fact that there's a little person growing inside that steadily swelling belly. The baby's movements help, the ultrasounds pictures definitely help. But what if imagination takes you just a little too far?

This past week I was hard at work finishing up a major project that has been hanging over my head. As usual, I started to get pretty wrapped up in my work and, though I had eaten a light lunch (which I was proud I had remember to at least take a break for that), the clock struck 4pm, and my baby came alive. She was alive... and fighting! Bom-bom-bom-bom, one right after another, the lining of my stomach became her personal punching bag. As I sat there, kinda stunned at her energy and vigor, a thought crossed my mind... "What if she's trying to get out?" Then I started turning her into too much of a person thinking... "Maybe she's starting to feel a little claustrophobic and just counldn't stay in such a cramped space a moment longer!?" "What is she's totally freaking out and can't breathe!?! After all ... she's completely surrounded by fluid!" As my mind raced, I started to panic. I had to remind myself to breathe... I had to distract myself.....

I had to realize that she's just a growing baby, and she's probably hungry. Yeah... come to think of it, my stomach was growling a little... *Sigh. Well, we got past that one. Note to self... don't make the baby too much into a full person that you put all kinds of thoughts and feelings into her head while she's probably perfectly content in her nice warm space.

Then.... (Totally unrelated, but still weird)
The other night I was laying on my back, casually talking to Nils when we both paused for a moment to admire my stomach. As I looked down however, the nice smooth typical baby bump had morphed into this strange protruding round thing sticking out of one particular part of my belly. For anyone who's seen a scene in the movie Alien (though I'm thinking of Spaceballs) when the alien pops out of a guy's stomach... that's what it started to look like to me. It was like a little alien head starting to rise up out of my stomach. I seriously tried not to freak out, but it looked so WEIRD!

Of course, I didn't want to make a complete fool of myself so I looked away and cautiously looked back to see if the alien head was still sticking out. Whew! My belly was back to normal.

I can only imagine what's going to happen when this baby actually comes out. I'll either think she's ready to express her deepest thoughts and fears, or she's going to constantly remind me of an ugly slimy alien. Thankfully I do have time to get a hold of myself before she actually arrives and can present myself to her as a normal, rational mother.... Mother? I'm going to be someone's mom? Hmm... I might have to blog about that later.

Little Trips

Nils and I have enjoyed making little weekend/day trips to various parts of the East Coast. It's amazing how many states you can cross is such a short time. So far in our travels we've driven through or visited; Virginia, DC, Maryland (of course); West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Not bad, huh?

Click here to view our pictures from the Labor Day trip

Shenandoah National Park
For Labor day weekend, we decided to go to Shenandoah National Park on that Saturday where we hiked about a mile of the Appalachian Trail. What a beautiful area! As we entered the park, we got a map and realized there was simply no way to visit the entire park in one day. The whole thing takes about 3-4 hours just to drive through. There are 75 different scenic lookouts and a variety of trails and fun things to do! We decided to stop at one of their picnic areas for lunch. We had to walk a little ways to find the picnic tables and were somewhat surprised that we shared the area with only one other family. As we ate, the other family left and we enjoyed the solitude of the open air and lush trees. Then, Nils and I noticed another family had joined the picnic area... a family of black bears. A momma bear and two little cubs had wandered into the picnic area, looking for leftovers. I was really surprised at how small the momma bear was and wondered if she was maybe just the big sister or something. Well, no time to stop, chat and find out that kind of personal information, so we decided to head back to where more people were. Nils managed to get a few pictures. After reaching our car and deciding on which trail we wanted to hike, we drove around the picnic area just to see if the bears were still there. Turns out, there was a larger picnic area with many more people on the other side of this little hill, and they had all stopped to look at one of the forest rangers redirecting the bears away from the picnickers. I took a short, short video (yeah, it's actually pretty lame) of the ranger as we passed.

The family of bears

Having had a taste of adventure, we headed further up the road to a small trail that covered a short part of the Appalachian trail. We took some really beautiful pictures and then headed back. A nice short trip with just the right amount of exercise and nature watching!

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
For another quick day trip, Nils and I headed North on Labor day up to Harper's Ferry. I didn't realize what a historical site it was. I learned that even as early as the 1890's Easterners came to Harper's Ferry for a weekend get-away. Perfectly situated at the convergence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, the town is rich with history and interesting stories.



Long Island, New York
Nils' good friends Justin and Marje got married September 19th at a beautiful vineyard on Long Island. Being close enough to drive, Nils and I decided to make it a quick trip up there to celebrate the joyous occasion with them and some of Nils' other friends from Monterey. What a gorgeous place! I tried to take several pictures, but below are just a few. Also, the header on for this blog comes from some pictures we took from the wedding.



Raleigh, NC; Litchfield Beach and Charleston, SC
To introduce this trip, I should first mention that Papa and Boo (Nils' grandparents) have this fabulous beach house right on Litchfield Beach. They share the beach house with several other families and throughout the year, each family schedules weeks where they can go and enjoy some time at the beach. Well, this past week was "Our Week" (meaning, our week to go visit the beach, which so happens to be the name of the beach house). Nils and I took off a day of work and headed down, making a stop first in Raleigh, NC where Aunt Mary lives. She hosted us for a night before we headed on down to the beach.

A short side story... our dear car has been struggling with a small oil leak. Not that the leak is anything big, but we were aware that we would need to keep an eye on it while making the 8-9 hour drive down south. At one gas station stop, Nils checked the oil to make sure it wasn't running too low. Everything looked fine, but as soon as we drove off, the engine light came on. We found a place to pull over and checked the gas and oil caps to make sure they were screwed on tight. The gas cap did feel a little loose, so we thought the gas cap probably set off the warning light. We continued to drive as I looked in the owner's manual to find out what triggers the engine light. Turns out, the engine light measures the gas and oxygen levels and if the light comes on it could be a variety of things... something as simple as a loose gas cap or something as serious as ... well, something more serious. Anyway, in Raleigh, before we continued on to South Carolina, we found a Saab place where we could get the car checked out. The mechanic plugged the car in to his machine and he said that it all checked out fine. He did say that the sensor seemed to be malfunctioning and would eventually need to be replaced. Okay... but nothing we needed to worry about right then so we continued on.

We arrived at the beach house and were greeted by Papa and Boo. Two of the most lovely people, we enjoyed a pleasant evening catching up and chatting about all kinds of things. We hadn't seen them since our departure to Romania and it was so good to see them!

The next morning, Nils had arranged for us to drive 1.5 hours down to Charleston to pay a visit to his cousin Derek. Anyone who is wondering what places they should visit in the south... you should definitely go to Charleston. A beautiful historical town with plenty of museums, colonial architecture and historical sites, we had plenty to see for the short time we were there. Unfortunately I had left the camera in our car and didn't end up taking a single picture while we were there. Nils and I will have to go again sometime, not just for the pictures... but to see all the other things we missed. Beautiful place. We also enjoyed some yummy BBQ at a local restaurant.

The same evening, we headed back up to the beach house and by that time Mary and Robbie had arrived. Nils and Robbie took out their guitars and started singing and playing for all of us. Robbie has started his own band called "Boylion" (click on the link to get a sample of his music) so he's pretty good. We enjoyed the night air, the great music, and conversation. Very nice day!

Sunday we went out to the beach and sat a while. Nils and Robbie did the typical splashing around and wrestling in the water. Entertaining, needless to say. By 2pm or 3pm Nils and I decided we had better head back home if we wanted a good night's sleep. So, we made our goodbyes, packed up the car, stuck the key in the ignition, and heard this strange noise coming from the engine. We all jumped out and looked around to see what was making the noise. After much investigation we figured out that a piece of the serpentine belt had frayed loose and was flapping to the rhythm of the engine. Nils cut off the piece, restarted the engine. Sounded good, so we decided to take our chances. Lucky for us, Mary and Robbie decided to leave at the same time and followed us to make sure we didn't run into more care trouble. Ironically, Nils had experienced car trouble in that same general area on the way to Mary's house the summer of 2006 when he had Pete with him. There were plenty of jokes about the luck of his car and the luck of having troubles again...

Sure enough, after about 30-40 minutes of driving, we heard the noise again and then a warning light came on. We pulled over and popped the hood. This time, the entire belt was gone. Strictly speaking, the belt itself is a simple fix, an inexpensive thing to replace and not at all a complicated part to find. Unfortunately, the whole thing had to happen on a weekend when all of the shops are closed, so no matter how simple and easy the fix was, we still had to have the car towed. So there we were... about 3 hours south of Raleigh and 7.5 hours from home. Luckily, Nils had just established our own insurance for the car, so we gave them a call and arranged to have it towed. On top of that, Nils found out that because we had coverage in Virginia we could have the car towed to the nearest Saab service center, which just so happened to be the very place in Raleigh where we'd had our car looked at not two days before! Imagine, full coverage for a guy to tow our car 3 hours. Cool, huh! And of course, we had Mary there to help us out with everything. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay the night since we both had work the next morning. So Nils and I decided to rent a car for the week and drive it back this coming weekend, giving the repair shop enough time to not only fix the serpentine belt, but the oil leak and oxygen sensor as well. Through our insurance we got a generous discount from the car rental company so the whole week cost just a little more than "1 day, 1 way" would have been. Pretty sweet, huh! Of course, when all was said and done, we didn't get home until 3:00am... but it's simply amazing how blessed we are to have had so many things work out in our favor. Thanks to Mary, the tow truck guy, all the people at the Saab repair shop, Hertz car rental, and USAA insurance!

A Licensed Complaint

So Nils and I are offically residents of Virginia! *sigh! It sure is nice to have that slightly settled feeling where both of us have a driver's license from the same state AND car plates to match. One small complaint... the picture.

Now I understand for most of us, we expect passport pictures and driver's licenses to basically make us look "out of it", "mug shot", "shiny", "Ugh?" and other "complimentary" looks. Because of this I normally take great pains (I don't know why I even try) to lessen the chances of a truly "uggah" photo for my government issued IDs. (Yeah, my first passport photo was a "try too hard" and I ended up looking like this. ) Either way, you're going to be stuck with however it turns out for 5-10 years. In Virginia, they put the odds against you by not letting you smile ("mug shot" here we come), making you stare at some silly sticker, and after getting mine back just this past week, aiming too high! Yep, I have no neck. After looking at Nils' photo, of course he always looks amazing... but he looks amazing in his picture! He has a neck and shoulders! Lucky for him, he's tall enough for that little camera.

So I get stuck with a big face, no neck, no smile picture just because I'm not tall enough to fit it all in where they aimed that little camera with the silly bright "ka-boom" sticker!?! No fair! I guess more fool me for even trying to beat the system.

Well, luckily I did get to keep my Maryland driver's license which includes neck and shoulders AND they let me smile! So any time I'm feeling sorry for my ugly big-faced picture, I'll just whip out my old driver's license and remind myself that I at least won once at looking decent for my driver's licence picture. *sigh

FOM - I'm starting to show!

I've been having strange sensations, increasing and fewer minutes apart, starting at my stomach and making their way to my heartbeat. I thought to time them to see if they were two minutes apart, til I realized it had nothing to do with contractions and going into labor. They had everything to do with me realizing that I'm actually pregnant and my body is changing. You might say I had a "freaked out moment of being pregnant".

Freaked OUT Moment (FOM), I'm starting to show; began probably sometime this past week. It didn't really hit me til Friday when I realized I no longer fit into my bra. I know, I know... and I thought this before too... how great it must be to be getting bigger and refining that hour-glass figure. But becoming more busty has actually started to make me feel a little uncomfortable. I mean, yes, it's probably more sexy, but I'm just not sure I like it. I find myself tempted to wear a sign that says "It's not my fault they're growing, I'm pregnant."

The other thing that's started growing lately is my belly. I have been in the habit of holding in my stomach, as if holding in would reduce the appearance of what's growing down there. I guess it's part of my struggle to overcome my denial. Anyway, below are the pictures.



I've been trying to figure out why I'm having such trouble accepting these simple and quite expected changes. Yesterday when Nils and I went to the DMV to register our car and update our driver's licenses, I found myself sometimes embarrassed to realize that people might be able to tell just by site that I'm pregnant. EEk!! I don't want that attention. Again, I have to remind myself that on the outside, people see pregnant women and think, "Aw! How cute! You have such a glow!" But in my mind when people look at me (if they even notice at this point that I'm pregnant) the thoughts that cross my mind is more like, "Ack! I'm not ready! Don't look at me like you know something I don't!!" I really need to relax, don't I?

Baby Log - Star Date 092509 - ...So I'll just call you junyah

Nils and I went in for our first real ultrasound today. Nils took a few hours off work this morning so we could see the baby together. How nice is that? :)

To give a little background, from the very beginning Nils and I had a feeling whether our baby was a boy or a girl.... and we weren't shy about it. I constantly referred to the little flutter in my belly as "she" and Nils would often share with friends and family that we thought we were having a girl. This morning when we arose to make our way for the ultrasound, we were a little nervous about being wrong and having to do a lot back-peddling (mentally and to our adoring public)... not to mention figuring out what to do with all of those bright pink and flowery cloth diapers I just purchased on Craigslist.

As an aside, the title of the post refers to the movie Junior with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Emma Thompson.... You know the part... Arnold playing the role of pregnant man 'Alex' says: "I don't know if you're a boy or a gerl, so I'll just call you junyah". Anyway... it was a joke Nils told on the way to our appointment. If we were smarter we would have just called the baby "Junior" until we were sure.

So, the lady performing the ultrasound was super nice with the cutest accent. I couldn't tell exactly where she was from, but she definitely spoke Spanish. It came up that we were going to be moving to Colombia and she asked me if I knew any Spanish. "Bano? Does that count?" She said that word was the most important. ;)

As she started looking at the baby, she kept saying how perfect the baby was. She complimented me on my fluids and skin, saying that it was really easy to see everything because of my state of health. That was definitely nice to hear. The baby was also very cooperative and kept moving so that the lady could measure and get a good look at all the necessary parts. So we're happy to report that our baby is healthy and whole. Even if our baby wasn't, we'd still be proud and happy parents, though it is nice to hear that your baby is doing well. We'll post one of the ultrasound pictures soon (the one that looks the least blobby). I'm not a huge fan of ultrasound pictures just because... well, most of them are either really ugly, hard to tell what you're looking at, or just plain alien scary. Again, we'll do our best to share one that looks the most human.

Well, having made it clear from the beginning that we were interested in learning the gender/sex of the baby (I've learned that not all parents want to know before the baby is born) we first got a glimpse of the face, and then our baby showed "the goods" right away. The lady chuckled and said, "Well, now we know the gender!"
I looked over at the screen and saw a bunch of blobs and one looked, to me, like a little boy part. So I said (thinking of those bright pink diapers at home)
"So, what is it?"
"A GIRL!"
"A girl?"
Looking back at the blobs I had to ask, "How do you know?"
She moved the wand a little more til you could see two perfect bumps... like the top of a heart.
"See that?... Those are the legs (though it looked more like the bottom to me). See that space in between?... Nothing there. "
Wow... pretty cool, huh?

So... Nils and I are psychic. We can predict the future. Of course, it helps that we had a 50/50 chance of being right. More than that, we're just so delighted to be having a girl!!

Baby Log - Star date 090109 - Can I get a lolly?

Okay, so being pregnant still hasn't really hit me. That's the only explanation I can think of for waiting this long before posting about the baby and being pregnant. I know, you'd think that occasional bouts of nausea, or the 1:30am hike to the bathroom would kinda drive it home, but when I look at all the other "really" pregnant women, I just don't see how I fit into their club, ya know? Yep, I'm still not showing even though I'm past the 4-month mark (one reason for no belly pictures yet).


That aside, I still had to discipline myself in finding a doctor and getting all the paperwork done. Finding a doctor out here didn't prove as smooth and easy as I thought. And figuring out all the paper work with Peace Corps, the Department of Labor and the Office of Worker's Compensation proved to be a little more layered and technical than I had anticipated. I'll get to that more later.

But, I prevailed and after being rejected by several doctor's offices (even though they were on the list of approved medical providers and even admitted that they were in the network), I found a great doctor and even have all the documentation and approvals I need for a fully-funded delivery!

I'd like you to meet my baby's doctor.... Dr. Shin:

Now meet Dr. Shin's Staff:

And let me introduce you to Dr. Shin's patients:

Then here's me....

Okay, fine. Those aren't really pictures of my new doctor, his staff and patients (though, that is really my 5th grade picture). Needless to say, I initially felt kinda out of place. To any of you out there who sometimes (or always) feel like you don't fit in, I'm really sorry whenever you feel that way. It can be quite uncomfortable. But I hope you stick it out and have good experiences anyway.

I did stick it out and have been very happy and grateful to Dr. Shin and his amazing staff. Everyone is very friendly and open. They joke with me and make me feel comfortable. They are professional and work with me on billing issues without making me feel like and id-ee-it. (Huge brownie points to them for that last one!)

So, I had an appointment on September 1st for a check up and blood draw.

Slight aside...

Seriously! I don't remember asking for help to overcome my fears of needles and having my blood drawn, but I must have, because this is the 5th time this year. In my whole life, I can only recall two other times having my blood drawn... So in my ENTIRE life I've had blood drawn 7 times, 71.4% of which occured just this year (one even being done in my own kitchen!). And I'm sure I haven't seen the end of it... Keep those arms bare.

Anyway, I did such a good job (well, and of course the nurse did too :). I didn't pass out, didn't flail around and squirt blood everywhere. I didn't even really feel the blood draining from my body (except a little at the end).

So to recap... I called dozens of doctors' offices, got rejected a lot, cried a little, finally found a nice doctor, scheduled a visit, went to the initial visit, felt out of place at first but found out they were very awesome, filled out and explained the payment process for the OSN-34245w323 form to the doctor's office to send in just for the initial visit, filled out the CE-130239-Z5 form for the FECA claim and included all the necessary documents, walked over (Nils was so nice to come with me) to the Peace Corps office and hand delivered all the documentation, received a letter with my claim number from Peace Corps, had a second visit with the doctor scheduled, called OWCP - the Office of Workers' Compensation to find out how payments going forward should be billed from the doctor, was told I couldn't bill anything until after my claim was approved, asked about the issue of pregnancy and that I wouldn't wait 4 weeks, was re-routed to another office, was given another phone number, decided to call Peace Corps, was given some advice about just going in anyway and worrying about billing later, went into the doctor's office - explained that the billing procedures had changed, that the OSN-34245w323 form was not the right form to use anymore and that now the TRS-234-4DR was the new form and the billing address had changed, that it was no longer under ChoiceCare insurance, had the billing lady be very nice to me, talked with the doctor, heard the baby's heartbeat, had my blood drawn, got the doctor's referral for an ultrasound in 4 weeks, paid the co-pay for the visit, went out to my car, called the other number OWCP had given me to talk to the person reviewing my case/claim, talked to him for a minute or less - had him tell me that everything would work out, and drove home.

Can I get a lolly?

Drum roll please.....

I'm thinking this post might need a little backstory before we make the grand announcement.

Let's start with Nils' job. I have been a little behind with posting on the goings on in our lives lately so for those of you who may not be aware, Nils is currently employed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a Junior Foreign Service Officer for Crisis Stabilization and Governance (DCHA/DG). He started training in mid July. On August 21st, they announced to all of the employees in his training class where their next post would be in the coming year. Some of Nils' colleagues will head to their post country within the next few months. Others may not go til early to mid next year.

Now, how does USAID decide where to send their first-year junior foreign service officers? Well, to be honest, as far as I know, decisions where to send officers for their first assignment is primarily based on what ambassador is accepting new officers into their embassy and what post is large enough to provide hands-on training without throwing the new officer into a full-throttle learn-as-you-go position. Needless to say, when the people at USAID were deciding where to send Nils, they didn't put much weight on his current language knowledge (Russian and Romanian). But, they did take into account his family situation, which was quite flattering.

So.... on August 21st, they announced where we would be sent for our first two-year assignment!
But before I go into that... Let's see, what else can I talk about? Oh, yes. So the other day we were talking to another junior officer from an earlier training class who gave me some very good advice about what to bring and some things to keep in mind when preparing for our overseas service. She had also brought with her a new born baby to her first overseas assignment (well, it was actually her husband's assignment because he is in the State department and she only just joined USAID and her son is now 4 years old, so this was a few years ago). She mentioned things like loading up on baby food and diapers.

Okay, enough of the stories and stuff... So, Nils and I will be going to.....

COLOBMIA! That's right, South America's beautiful mountainous and beachy Colombia! Personally, I had wanted to go somewhere in South America, so I got my wish!

As a follow up to this announcement, it should be mentioned here that Nils and I won't be leaving for Bogota, Colombia until after the baby is born (so sometime after February). There is, of course, a slight possibility that they will request that Nils go early, but he has a pretty good case for staying here longer. Learning Spanish at the language institute, having a heavily pregnant wife (though there's not much to see yet), and plenty to do here can all add up to being able to stay til hopefully sometime in April. Either way, I plan on staying in the US until after the baby is born.

I do intend to follow up with a post about what we think it's going to be like living overseas. I hear it's going to be drastically different from our Peace Corps experience. Anyway, feel free to ask any questions, heap praise and feelings of jealousy....

And finally, here is a little commercial I found on YouTube... For your viewing pleasure.... and maybe a little propaganda ;)

[Voice over - Nice male voice with a slight Spanish accent]

There is a place where people never believed "impossible" was a word. A place where the rivers wanted to be an ocean and the ocean grew weary of its solitude to join the waterfall, the moutain, the snow peaks, and even another ocean. A place where the past lives harmoniously with the future and the word "infinity" is written on the colors of the beach, the mountains, the jungle, and the sky. A place that challenges the imagination every single day. A place called... Colombia.

Comments in Spanish....

[Voice over]

A place where you will be surprised every day in a different way. Where reality can be magical and where happiness is just around the corner.

Colombia, Colombia, Colombia

Summing up Peace Corps - Emily

Peace Corps....
It's never exactly clear, either in your mind or in anyone else's, what exactly the Peace Corps experience will be like. Even less known is the kind of work you will end up doing. For me, I found the work as a volunteer with Peace Corps to be very personally fulfilling. I had the opportunity to stretch myself to expand my knowledge in ways I never expected.

In Peace Corps, each volunteer is given a primary organization to work with to engage projects and help identify and provide for the community's needs. My primary assignment was with Fundatia Centrul pentru Dezvoltarea Intreprinderilor Mici si Mijlocii Braila - CDIMM Braila (Literally translated: The Center for Small and Medium-size Enterprise Development Foundation). The work I ended up doing with them fell under two main categories; projects and trainings. Projects have multiple beneficiaries (people who get something out of it) while trainings primarily served CDIMM.

Projects

• CDIMM website redesign – Upon arrival, I noticed that CDIMM's website was built to be simple and functional. Being new at the organization I decided to utilize my time to learn more about the organization by researching their website and creating a new web design, with a more modern look. As I created the new design for CDIMM, I took advantage of the fact that the redesign provided a platform for an inward look at the company's past, present, and future. I began the design in September 2008 and the project was implemented April – May 2009. CDIMM’s technical support contracted professional made modifications to the original design, but the basic ideas are intact. To view the original website, go to http://www.cdimm.ro/. The new design is not currently posted.

Sample of my orginal redesign of CDIMM's website

• Romanglish/Romengleza Phrase Book – After being in Romania a few weeks I realized just how much I was struggling with the language. I occured to me that while there were plenty of tourist lanugage books available with short-cut phrases for finding a hotel or ordering at a restaurant, there really wasn't anything more practical for those working and living in Romania. So, I put together a phrase book in Romanian and in English that included phrases for talking to your landlord, engaging in conversation at work, etc. I published the first version Romanglish through the office of CDIMM Braila in October 2008. We self-printed about 30 copies. This book was sold to fellow volunteers as a fundraiser for Nils' youth organization. After this first publication I was invited by Nils' organization to print the book professionally and to redesign it to be marketed more towards high school students. So, I created a second version Romengleza, adding sections like "Dating and Pickup Lines" and "Democracy" to attract a younger crowd while also promoting the subject matter of Youth Vision for Democracy (Nils' youth organization). Through a local publishing company we published 500 copies in March 2009.

The original cover design of Romengleza. The design was later modified by the printer for higher resolution of the buildings.

Courses

• Business Start-up Course – In Nov 2008 I team-taught a course presented at the Chamber of Commerce -Braila. During this course, I had fun introducing various teaching methods and innovative styles which enhanced and improved the course.


• Entrepreneurship Course – I team-taught this course at CDIMM and helped develop a more digestable program for the 5-day course. I enjoyed teaching business concepts in an understandable way and had fun exploring business creativity with the class participants.


• Project Management Course – I assisted in creating activity material for this course taught in June 2009 by my counterpart, Dragos. It was fun coming up with scenerios and games to liven things up!
  

Trainings

• Personality Types – I had a lot of fun with this one! After a few months with CDIMM, I thought it would be educational to address the diverse personalities of the people working there. I showed CDIMM Braila’s team members the benefits of understanding different personality types. After conducting a personality survey of each team member, using a modified Myers-Briggs method, I shared the results with the entire group, and lead a discussion about strengths and resouces each personality type brought to the team which would increase efficiency and effectiveness.


• Marketing and Sales Strategy – After the 6-month mark of my service, I was approached by some of the team members about putting together a marketing strategy. So, I put together ideas and materials to help CDIMM Braila look at their marketing and sales efforts... what had been done and worked, and what new things we could try. Putting together some material for them, I then led a meeting in which everyone in the organization discussed and determined possible courses of action for a new marketing and sales strategy. Change wasn't made overnight, but the experience was very enriching.


• SWOT Anaylsis – While CDIMM is very familiar with the SWOT analysis technique, and uses it quite frequently for their own clients, I thought it would be helpful if they conducted an analysis of their own organization. As we went through each Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT), a lot of eye-opening comments were made and the beginnings of new goals came out of it.
  

COMMUNITY PROJECTS:
In addition to working with our primary organization, Peace Corps volunteers have the freedom and are encouraged to engage in additional community projects. The community projects I participated in are as follows:

Viziunea Tinerilor pentru Democratie (Youth Vision for Democracy - YVD)
So Nils organized this youth organization under the Pro Democracy Association - Club Braila, the organization he was assigned to. I got to help out with a variety of projects.

• To start the project off right, I created a logo for YVD. It took a few versions to get it right, but in the end we decided on something like this:
  
• I planned and assisted with classes taught twice a month on various subjects including: Democracy, Human Rights, Children’s Rights, Debate, Mediation, Global Economy, and Leadership. It was a lot of fun really! I think my favorite was for the Human Rights section I collected several real-life court cases involving Human Rights. Then I had the students break up into groups and take the Plaintiff or Defendant position and plead their case. After hearing both sides, the class voted on a verdict. At the end, I revealed what happened in the real life case and the rationale behind each decision. It was tons of fun!


• As mentioned before, I designed, wrote, edited, and collaborated with language translators to create Romengleza, a Romanian/English language phrase book, as afundraiser for YVD. Along with the book, I am in the process of completing a companion audio CD. I never imagined how much work an audio CD would be... I'm still working on it and hope to meet my deadline. I should have it done by the beginning of the next school year (September 2009). Here's hopin'.


• On the theme of fundraising, I provided a follow-up training on methods of local fundraising. It's amazing how creative high school students are!


• Leadership retreat, conducted in Brasov in June 2009. We had the best location! Nils found this hostel that had room for all of us to stay together so we could keep order and so that everyone could have plenty of space to have fun! A local church in Brasov also allowed us the use of their building to do leadership exercises and classes.

Women’s Organization – Sociatatea de Alinare (Relief Society) – Galati Branch
What a joy it was working with the LDS women of Galati! No matter how small their numbers, they were a constant inspiration to me and helped me develop into a more patient and giving person (I hope!).

• I had the privilege of working with organization's president, first counselor and secretary, women who taught me much about facing adversity. We worked together on budgets, goals-setting, events planning, etc.
• I was called as a Relief Society teacher and taught 2-3 times a month on various subject including honesty, self-esteem, service, respecting others, forgiveness, and more. I owe special thanks to Catalina and Tanta for tanslating for me!
• Being a strong believer in Visiting Teaching – a program where women within the organization show care and concern for each other - I worked on improving the overall system by encouraging letter writing, home visits, etc., showing that a little can go a long way when it comes to caring for each other.
• Every two months, I had the great pleasure of going with of the women of the Galati Branch Relief Society to visited a local orphanage. We brought donated snacks, clothing items, toys. We also planned activities; interacted and entertained the children.

Women’s Communication Platform
Noting that there was so much to share cross-culturally, I started a blog called “Among Women” or “Intre Noi Femeile” in Romanian. The blog engaged women from various countries in a dialogue about issues such as family vs. career, women portrayed in the media, feminism and women’s rights, etc. From this blog, a local woman and now friend approached me about the issue of domestic violence. After a few conversations, meetings were arranged and ideas put on paper to begin the process of bringing this issue out in the open. To view the blog to go: http://www.amongwomen.blogspot.com/ or http://www.intrenoifemeile.blogspot.com/

OTHER EXPERIENCE & ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Grant Writing
In June 2008, I wrote a grant for YVD through the Minnie Grants Walt Disney grant program. While the grant was not awarded (sad), the experience taught me a lot about the grant writing process.

Starting in January 2009, I wrote a PCPP grant with another volunteer, Cynthia Yeh. Along with this grant, I enjoyed creating a budget schedule and daily program for the project.

Website Committee
I redesigned and implemented a new homepage for the Peace Corps Romania website.

Here's the new homepage for Peace Corps Romania's website. I created the map of Romania, designed and did the html for the three separate sections, and simplified the overall look of the homepage.

Of course, I also got to update and improve the overall content of the website as well. While I was on the website committee we also introduced a volunteer network called "Vatra" (which means "hearth" in Romanian).

Romania Moron’s Guide Committee
While not yet an official member, I helped update and edit the Moron’s Guide (a guide issued to Peace Corps nominees prior to entry into Post Country) to get it ready to post onto the Peace Corps Romania website. Talk about a complex site! Once an official member, I continued to help with updating and editing content, assisting in small redesign elements to help simplify the site and facilitate easier edits in the future.

More Pictures??

I still have to get all of my pictures organized. I'll be sure let everyone know once additional pictures of my Peace Corps work experience becomes available.

Closing...
It's hard to know how to measure success. Did I really do all that much during the 17 months I served in the Peace Corps? Were my efforts really effective in bringing about change? While it's hard to know the true answers to these questions since results of often seen several years down the road, it's important to keep in mind that it's up to us to do something good and make positive contributions to the world around us. A lot of people have said to me they wish they could join Peace Corps. But it doesn't take an experience like Peace Corps to do good works and serve others. You have opportunities every day to do something, no matter how small, to improve the world around you. So what are you waiting for?? :)

Hold on Tight!

I know we keep disappearing from our blog and it leaves people wondering, what's going on?? To get everyone up to speed, here is what Nils and I have been doing... I'm just trying to think where I need to start!

May 2009 - My sister Ellen comes to visit us in Romania! We take her on a trip to various parts of Italy and then she and I make a 3-day trip to Paris. Peter, Nils' brother joins us in Rome.

June 2009 - We show Ellen different parts of Romania including Constanta (on the Black Sea) and Sighisoara (in the Carpathian Mountains).

June 12, 2009 - I find out I'm pregnant. Nils knows about it first and is so convinced that I am pregnant regardless of how much I or my sister tell him he is wrong. He is the one who decides to buy a pregnancy test to verify his intuition and... he is right! We notify Peace Corps and are told that I am only able to continue as a volunteer until August or September.

June 18, 2009 - Nils and I go to Brasov for a youth leadership training retreat, the final activity for Nils' project.

June 20, 2009 - On the way home from Brasov, Nils receives the much anticipated e-mail from USAID announcing his invitation to start training as a Junior Officer. Training class begins July 20th.

July 3rd, 2009 - After saying our teary goodbyes and wishing all of our newly-made friends in Romania well, Nils and I head back to the United States via Amsterdam and Minneapolis, MN. While enjoying our 6-hour layover in Minneapolis, we decide to take the metro to the Mall of America. After over 24 hours of travel, we arrive in Logan, Utah around 11:30pm MST. A funny "aside"... while boarding the plane from Minneapolis to Salt Lake City, my alarm clock goes off. I had set it for 3:00am Romania time because we had to leave our hotel via taxi at 4:00am in order to make our 6:05am plane to Amsterdam. So by the time we were on the plane at Minneapolis, it had already been 24 hours according to my Romanian clock. Funny, huh! (Btw, my alarm still works even if I've turned off my phone. It was kinda embarrassing to have it go off while on the plane. Luckily, I still had time to turn it back on, cancel the alarm and turn it off again before they closed the doors and made the announcement to turn off all cellphones and pagers.)

July 3-9, 2009 - We visit with Nils' family and get our things ready to ship to Virginia.

July 9-14, 2009 - We drive to Ellsworth, Kansas to visit my family.

July 14 - 16, 2009 - We drive from Kansas to Vienna, VA (our new home) making a short stop at the Columbus, Ohio Temple. (The Logan Temple is closed for cleaning during our stay, and the DC Temple is closed until July 27th also for cleaning.)

And so here we are, back in the USA. I'll be posting more about Peace Corps and the things we accomplished during our 17 months. I'll also post about Nils' job and what it means for our future. By August 21st we should know our next destination. Yep, as a foreign service junior officer, Nils will be receiving an overseas assignment within the next month. We won't actually leave in August.... We're hoping we'll at least be here in the United States long enough for me to have the baby. Oh, and I'll also be sure to post about the baby too!

Sofia, Bulgaria

And finally we come to Sofia, Bulgaria! For pictures, click here.

Last of our cities, Sofia had a lot to live up to. I came to appreciate stopping in Sofia, seeing it as a means to gently descend from my cloud before heading back to Romania and to work.

When we first arrived in Sofia, a man came up to me speaking in broken Romanian (which was interesting to hear) asking me if we already had tickets to where we wanted to go. We, as a group, had set the trend of buying tickets upon arrival so we could plan our day accordingly. We were planning to only stay the day in Sofia, so buying tickets was actually what we were looking to do. But I wasn't about to follow a strange guy who didn't look very official. I answered him in Romanian and attempted a mix of ignoring him and deferring to Nils. Nils started making his way to the various counters, the man "leading" the way in front of him. The man "lead" us to an agency which apparently sold international tickets. The woman behind the counter spoke some English and we explained that we were traveling on the Balkan Flexi Pass. She said we still needed to reserve seats. She punched a few things into her calculator and showed us the estimated cost for the 4 of us. Not bad... but she came across really confusing at the same time and the lack of customer service skills didn't help. Another problem was that we hadn't yet gotten any Bulgarian currency. So before we purchased tickets, Nils headed off to find an ATM, the "guide" man trailing behind him. The man directed him to the exchange counter, which Nils politely declined and continued his search for an ATM. It's interesting when people are trying to be helpful and yet come across like you have to do it their way. Nils returned and we purchased the tickets. I then asked, to make sure, whether these tickets were for a sleeper car. No, just regular seats. Then I asked how much it would cost if we wanted to return the tickets or upgrade to a sleeper. She replied that she would have to take out the 10% commission. Commission?? I didn't know we had paid commission! Then she proved to be rather flustered as she proceeded to say that out of the 30 Bulgarian Leva, we would get only 20 back. Umm... 10% of 30 is not 10. We said as much and after a few punches on the calculator she came up with a more accurate amount... 27 Bulgarian Leva back. Anyway... we decided to keep our tickets and do a little more checking before proceeding with our tour of the city. A few more inquiries proved that the agency was indeed the only place were international tickets were sold. And... to our surprise, the guy who had been guiding us around didn't even ask for a tip. Interesting.

Not having started off exactly on the right foot, but still feeling somewhat hopeful, we packed our bags into a few lockers at the train station and started off to see the sights. Sofia is a surprisingly beautiful city with many ancient buildings and plenty of history. To learn more about Sofia's extensive history, click here. We some directions and help from a local vendor and a newly purchased map. Maps sure are amazing things! We wondered for a while, sat for a while, watched pigeons in the park for a while, slept for a while.... we were all pretty tired and had slowed down considerably. But one thing I thought timely about our arrival was the fact that it was Orthodox Easter weekend. With the countless churches in the city, we saw masses of people standing in line to perform a Easter ceremony which symbolizes death and resurrection. After receiving a blessing from the priest, and a kind of branch (I'm can't remember of what plant or tree), a person crouches under a table, scoots across and stands up on the other end.

I've noted in Romania as well, and having had it affirmed in my travels, that American culture is much more traditionally diverse. And with this traditional diversity, there isn't a strong traditional culture. For example, Easter in Romania has specific, not just traditions, but actual things you do (midnight candle lighting, attending church, doing the symbolic resurrection rite, etc.), say (Christ is risen/true he is risen), and eat (cozonac, eggs, lamb and anything made of lamb, wine) to honor the holiday. In America for Easter we may have an Easter egg hunt, we may wear new Spring dresses, but it doesn't have the same touch of formality, correctness, and deeply rooted tradition that exists in other places and cultures. Being somewhat familiar with Catholicism, there is a lot of similarity between the rites and religious traditions of the Orthodox but it just isn't as nation-wide as I've seen in other countries. An interesting side note since we hit upon Easter.

We continued to wander, sampled some food (very, very good, by the way) all the while enjoying the slower pace until it was time for our train. The day went slowly and quickly. As Nils looked back at the pictures he was surprise at all the things we really did see while there.

An amazing trip... a good ending. I enjoyed it thoroughly though I have to admit I was happy to be back in Romania where I could finally understand most of what people were saying!

Greece - Thessaloniki, Mount Olympus, and Meteora

Greece!! It really is just as beautiful as movies and postcards say it is! Don't believe me? Look at these!

Again, rather than posting a bunch of pictures into the blog itself, take a look at our pictures when you have time and I'll do my best to update descriptions and locations. In case you didn't catch the link above, or it doesn't work for some reason, the pictures can be accessed by the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/ohara.emily/GreeceApril2009#

Now for a few stories to go along with the pictures. :)

We took a night train from Istanbul to Thessaloniki, one of the best sleeper trains I've been on yet! (I've been on 5 so far). Two to a room complete with sink/mirror, places to hang and store things; the train was amazingly up-to-date and clean! The only thing that interrupted our restful sleep was the middle-of-the-night border crossings... but that was to be expected.

Once in Thessaloniki, we easily found our hotel and I was delighted to finally take a full shower. Yes, three days in Istanbul had to bear a grubby woman, virtually undetectable through the sink-washed clean hair. It's so easy to fool people :) Once showered and everyone ready to explore, we set off to accomplish a short to-do list created by Nils' cousin Tyler who had spent last summer living in Thessaloniki. The most important item was to figure out how to get to the Meteora Monasteries. Tyler had included some important key words and places to help us find our way. So, after speaking briefly with the hotel desk-guy and getting a little more help as to the where and how, we started off to find the bus station. This proved a lot more difficult than we had anticipated. First there was a lot of construction on the road where the hotel desk-guy had directed us to go. Then, we couldn't get anyone to stop and help us. After wondering around some more in a slight circle, we asked someone who pointed us to the local bus station. Not quite what we were looking for. Finally we happened upon a station with various transportation vehicles which seemed to transport people OUT of the city. We went inside the small office and asked about Meteora. After a minute of locating someone who could speak English (sorry... it was all Greek to us!) we were told that the bus station we needed was actually in a completely different part of town. To get there we would need to walk down the street to catch bus number 1, go so many stops, look for this whatever, and cross over to the something and there you are! What? We were all a little too tired and confused by that point to process and follow those instructions.

So, we decided to take a break and complete another item on Tyler's to-do list. Pizza Hut's Cyprus Lover's pizza! Now we're talkin'! Making our way to Thessaloniki's center, we walked along the water's edge, leading up to the white tower enjoying the view and hoping to find Pizza Hut (we didn't know exactly where it was). Gorgeous city! I mean, you can't go wrong spending some quality time in Thessaloniki. We found Pizza Hut, felt extremely happy once we had eaten, and continued to explore. And then it rained. And I mean... RAINED. You'll notice great puddles in a few of the pictures. That was but a few minutes after the raining had stopped, and it only rained for a few minutes. We took shelter, waited a bit, the rain stopped and we proceeded to explore. We still weren't sure what we were looking for, or if we were headed in the right direction, but everyone seemed content to just wonder for a while.

Then Cynthia noticed we were in Thessaloniki's version of China Town. Cool! We stopped into a little shop and browsed through some of their imported goods. Cynthia chatted a bit in her amazing Chinese (I think it was Mandarin). We realized we might get some better directions to Meteora by asking these friendly people for help. Cynthia was such a good sport and did an excellent job communicating and translating for us. Imagine! We're in Greece, where none of us know the language (not even remotely) and Cynthia's language skills come to the rescue. We were told that the station was a 20-30 minute walk from where we were! Awesome. We started off and sure enough, found ourselves roughly 30 minutes later at the bus station. We found the signs to Meteora and asked the guy at the desk how much the tickets would cost. 37 Euro round trip per person, including a transfer and a long walk up the mountain. Sounds reasonable, but for some reason, I found myself trying to keep calm (37 euro per person!! That's 74 Euro just for me and Nils!! See... we were on a very small budget). So I lightly suggested that we find a seat and discuss it together. I did my best not to be a party pooper and just listen to everyone's thoughts and wishes while gathering my emotions. As I did the math in my head and figured just how much it would cost for the 4 of us to go by bus, besides the inconvenience, it suddenly dawned on me that we had another option to consider. Rent a car!!! This suggestion was well-received, and having noticed a car rental agency at the train station, we agreed to head to the train station and inquire about renting a car. Stroke of brilliance, if I do say so myself, for the whole thing worked out well and we had a car reserved within minutes.

As a side, I had suggested to Nils renting a car when we were making our Italy/France trip plans. He didn't really trust the idea, thinking of all the hidden fees and extra costs that can go into renting a car. But, after this experience of actually renting a car and seeing the ease and economy of it, he is completely converted to the idea! I couldn't be prouder.

Perfect! We had a car ready for the morning to take us anywhere we wanted to go, so we finished off the evening by completing another item on the list; a lovely Greek restaurant. The day had started less than ideal, but ended with smiles and excitement.

Well, we didn't get up as early as we had hoped, but we made it to the train station to pick up the car rental at a relatively good time. Stopping to fill up on gas (well, we put in a little more than half a tank's worth) we headed off for Meteora. I took on the task of navigator and believe me, maps are hard enough to navigate without it being covered in Greek. Pete and Cynthia were actually quite a help as Pete referred to a little Greek/English book he'd purchased upon arrival. Things became more understandable and familiar as we practiced reading the Greek letters to each other. As we drove (Nils was the driver since I had left my license at home) along, noting the beautiful scenery and easy roads, Nils noticed a sign for Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus!! We simply had to stop. A perfect detour it turned out to be. The air so fresh and crisp, the mountain so lovely and green... Wow, you couldn't do that traveling by bus!

The Meteora Monasteries are situated at the top of these massive mountainous rocks. In a world of their own, these monasteries inspire meditation and reverence. We toured one of them, learning a lot about early Christian martyrs and miracles. I felt truly thankful to people who over the centuries had dedicated their lives to preserving and cherishing the history of Christianity.
As we left the monasteries there was a notable sense of satisfaction and calm. What a wonderful day!

Getting back was another story. We were all being rather thrifty at this point, figuring and estimating how much gas we would need to get back. We had given ourselves, to our best estimation, enough time to arrive at the train station well before our 9pm deadline. We put 8 more euros into the tank and I lead us through what turned out to be the "scenic route" back to the city. We drove along, enjoying a slight pause to let some goats cross the road, and kept watching the time. So far, so good. But, little by little, I started getting nervous. Finally we reached the main highway and made better speed and gas mileage. Whew... almost. Then the gas light went on. But there really wasn't a convenient place to stop. Then again, those gas lights tend to turn on when there's at least a few liters left in the tank, right? So we kept on going. Then we hit a toll booth. I seriously was so nervous, not because of paying the toll, but just thinking about how much more gas it took to slow down and speed back up. It took great effort to keep calm and relaxed. Finally we reached Thessaloniki's city limits and we hadn't run out of gas completely yet, the constant chant of prayer in my head being the only thing keeping me together. Then it hit me that I didn't know which exit to take! Before I could panic even more (if that was possible), Nils noticed a sign to the Centre and took that exit. I tried not to react and worry about it being the wrong one. As we made our way around the ramp exit, nothing looked familiar and there were no gas stations in sight. We kept going a little ways, made a right and suddenly found ourselves passing the bus station! Perfect! We knew exactly where we were. Nils, what a genius! The last thing we had to do before returning the car, we decided, was to put in a few more liters of gas. It was only right. No one should return a car COMPLETELY empty for the next person. As we drove down the main road, gas station after gas station showed dimmed lights and signs of being closed. I couldn't believe it! Closed at this early hour? It wasn't that late. Finally, when we were almost to the train station to make the drop off, we saw a still-lighted Shell station. We had to make a few turns to get on the right side of the road, my breath stopping at each stop and go, and we slid into the station around 8:45pm. I looked at the guy working, a rather cute guy, and he started making hand signals to say that they were closed. CLOSED?? Not possible. Not after making it this far. With nothing to lose, I made a pleading sign and showed the most pitiful face til he nodded and came over to let us buy some gas. Apparently they have to pump if for you (who knew?).

So we made it!... with 8 minutes to spare. Whew! Prayers answered and Nils' passport, we finished off the evening at a local restaurant before boarding the train for Sofia. Greece turned out to be a trip which opened our eyes to the beauties of the earth, and the adventures of cutting it close.

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is an amazing place. It should definitely make it on your "must see before I die" list. There is simply too much to show and tell that it's not going to quite fit on this blog post. So... I've selected a few stories and some pictures that represent some of what we saw and did while there. To go straight to our pictures, click here.

Border Crossing and Visas
Our journey started by train through Bulgaria and into Turkey. After crossing Bulgaria, around 3:00 AM, we all had to get off the train and line up for passport and visas. The first guy in line was Romanian and was speaking in broken English to the Turkish border patrol agent. The agent was explaining something about a visa and another gentleman in line behind us spoke in Romanian explaining that certain travelers had to obtain a visa somewhere else in order to enter Turkey. It was nice to understand something, even though it wasn't in our native language. So more than half of the people in line, went back outside to ask where the visas could be purchased and we were directed in a general direction of a cigarette stand and some other offices and buildings. The cute older gentleman in front stopped at the stand to ask if he could obtain a visa and it took him a minute to realize he was in the wrong place... by then everyone else had gotten ahead of him and were obtaining their visas at another window. I can't blame him, it was really hard to find out where to go and what to do... especially at 3 o'clock in the morning!

So there was this American guy traveling on the train with us. Now, the visa into Turkey is 15 euro or 20 USD. He had 13 dollars on him... a 10 and 3 crumpled 1's. He wasn't totally unprepared, carrying his trusty plastic cards. Oh, but guess what... no ATM machines handy. It's so funny how inconvenient things can be at a border crossing. And there is definitely no mercy. Luckily, Nils and I had some extra Euros to spot him so he could get safely across. We weren't sure whether we'd get paid back, but a friend in need... well, it was worth helping someone out. Besides, we've been in plenty of problems ourselves and it's nice to have someone there to help. I mean, we couldn't just leave the guy there at the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. And you know what, it definitely paid off. Once we arrived in Istanbul, the guy took our some money and not only let us keep his 13 dollars, but also gave Nils a 50 turkish lyra (worth about 34 USD).


Finding Our Hostel
Unfortunately, Nils and I had forgotten all of the information for the hostel we'd reserved. Fortunately, Nils knew which metro stop to get off of. Unfortunately, we didn't know exactly where to go from there. Fortunately, Nils knew the general direction having studied the map prior to our departure. Unfortunately, he'd never been to Istanbul before. Fortunately, we didn't have too many bags with us, so walking around was no problem. Unfortunately, bags start to get heavy after 20 minutes. Fortunately, we started seeing other hostels apprearing along the streets. Unfortunately, none of them were our hostel. Fortunately, we decided to ask the owner of Sinbad Hostel who just happened to be standing on the sidewalk where our "Budget Hostel" (yes, that's the name) was. Unfortunately, we didn't understand Turkish. Fortunately all he had to do was point.... around the corner.

Quality over Price
For anyone who's traveled using hostels, you'll know how diverse each place can me. When you "shop" online for the right place, you're never quite sure what you're getting. Nils found Budget Hostel to provide the best bang for the buck. In truth, we got free breakfast, clean sheets, and a bathroom/shower. But there are certain qualities of a hostel that go far beyond what can possibly be advertised. Our room which could hold 5 people (4 on bunk beds) was actually the room where 4 guests and the manager slept. It was also conveniently located in the basement and at a good spot for hearing the "tweeting-bird" door bell which had to be used anytime a guest wanted to come back in since no keys were actually given to guests (although I think some guests received room keys...?). Our bathroom was on the same level, but without a functioning toilet. No worries, up two flights (climbing a very narrow staircase) was another bathroom used by us and the other guests on that floor. Most of the time it was free, so it didn't cause any real inconvenience. Showering was another matter. The shower didn't really have its own spot in the bathroom and for the one on our basement level, the shower was right ontop of the toilet. The upstairs bathroom provided a little more space, but not much... and don't even think about a shower curtain. Needless to say, most of us "roughed" it.

On the very top floor of the hostel you found the eating area where breakfast was served. Pete ended up drinking A LOT of Turkish tea until Nils and I mastered the ability to say "no thank you" before our gentle hosts served us. They're really fast and just the nicest hosts! It was a really nice place to have breakfast given that the building was fairly tall and brought you up out of the mass of buildings, allowing you to see around you including a mosque and some of the bodies of water. Our hosts were so wonderful, extremely kind and friendly. Our first day we opened up a travel guide and tried to learn some of the essentials like "thank you" and "where is the bathroom" (this last one we actually used to make sure we knew which bathroom to use in the hostel). The manager spoke English very well, and of the two assistants, one spoke fairly well, the other not a word. The latter who didn't know very much English was the sweetest. An older gentleman, we often communicated with lots of smiling and nodding.

And so...
Istanbul constantly surprises you with beautiful and interesting things that hold so much history and age. It's also very much accustomed to tourists and how to attract your attention. A very wonderful 3 days!

Highlight Pictures

The inner court of the Blue Mosque (built right across from the Hagia Sophia by Sultan Ahmed in 1616 hoping to make it bigger and better mosque than the Hagia Sophia).

Hagia Sophia (locally called the Aya Sofya) and gardens. Click here to learn more about the history of this amazing biserica turned mosque.

The Topkapi Palace built during the mid-15th century

Along the harbor of the Golden Horn looking over the other European side of Istanbul.

A cool picture of Peter and Nils in the Hagia Sophia.

A bicycle race that was going on our first day

Crossing on a local ferry through the Straits of Bosphorus into Asia.
(well, actually this was taken on the return trip)

Istanbul-Thessaloniki-Sofia

Last year I got this sweet postcard from my brother and sister-in-law from Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, with the message "We have just been all over Prince Edward Island. We know you're jealous...." First of all, they are absolutely right. I am jealous. But this trip I recently took has definitely made up for it ;)

Starting on April 11; Nils, Peter (Nils' brother), myself, and Cynthia (a fellow Peace Corps Romania volunteer) all went on this amazing... and I'm talking AMAZING.... trip to Istanbul Turkey, Thessaloniki Greece (as well as Mount Olympus and the Meteora Monasteries), and Sofia Bulgaria. We traveled by train to each country using the Balkan Flexi-Pass. If you'd like any travel tips for trips you are planning, direct your questions to Nils... he's the guru.

The following posts will take each country one at a time since each place is so unique and amazing it its own way. Plus we took way too many pictures to put them all on one post. Well, we're not going to be posting all the pictures here anyway, but... well, it's just a more organized way to separate out the trip, okay!?