New Address and Renewment...

I have a new mailing address for now. It is to the right ->
So now you can mail me letters again! And thank you so much to all who have already mailed me letters! I loved them, I love them, I love you, and I am so fortunate to have amazing friends who are so supportive and loving.

These past few weeks were tough. It has been one of those busy, multi-faceted times where you just feel like you don't stop, ever. And then you hike up a mountain. So I really did hike up a mountain and I'd like to say that I am not physically what I once was...it was a sweaty, sad site. But I made it and it was a beautiful mountain and there were beautiful waterfalls and it was well worth the effort. So worth it that I might do it again. 38 Volunteer, 2 tour guides, and 1 doctor went hiking in the Balkan Range on Mt. Rila. It was two and a half hours strait up with only about 50 yards of flat-ish land. It was crazy, but beautiful and of course my camera broke right before this hike. We stayed in a hostel (called a hizha) on the mountain and then hiked to a waterfall the next day before hiking back down. It was amazing. I'm going to have to buy a tent and go backpacking up there.

These past few weeks I've had so much to do that there was (and still is) no time to think, relax, or breath. I need a pochifka (break). I have a funny story about my "pochifka" that actually: So today we had the first of our 3 "sport days" with the kids from school. It was extremely hot and sweaty but successful. Afterwards we decided to go to one of the cafes on that side of town and have a coke. I had a language tutoring session in an hour, but thought it wasn't a problem I'd just catch a cab. So about 20 mins before my language session starts I call the cab. I see one drive by about 10 mins later, but no cabs stop. So then I go stand outside the cafe for about 5 more mins and try to wave down 2 cabs but they think I'm saying "hi". At this point I call the cab company again and say that there is no cab and I'd still like one. As the guy is trying to get my info my phone dies. So I have no idea if there is a cab coming. I start walking a little and I walk about 10 feet when one of my students comes out of a building to say "hi" and talk. Right as we meet each other in the center I see a cab come speeding up to where I just was, but now I've just said hi to her and it would be rude to leave without asking how she is and what she is doing today. I turn around after taking to her for just a minute just in time to see the cab drive away. *Large sigh* So I start the 30 min walk to my apartment and then back to where I have the session. I had already played volleyball with the kids for 2 hours before this and now I'm climbing about 200 stairs and then another hill just to get my notebook. By the time I get home I'm already 20 mins late for tutoring and I have to go to the bathroom. Flushing is very different here than in the states, there is a different method for each toilet. For ours you have to turn a lever and it goes directly from the pipe to the toilet (no tank, no nothing, just the pipe and toilet). I turn the lever and the pipe blows off spreading water all over the floor and onto me from the pipe (at least it wasn't from the toilet). So now I'm standing in the apartment wet from the pipe, sweaty from the walk and sports, and generally upset because I'm so late. I finally get to the language session and I'm a half an hour late and my tutor asks if I had a nice pochifka. I laugh then explain that there was no pochifka what-so-ever and tell her what happened. Then, this is the best part, we just start laughing. Now I'm sitting in the internet cafe and I'm still sweaty and sticky and the kids that were playing volleyball with me just came in and said hi to me. I think it's turned out to be an ok afternoon, but just wait the way my luck keeps changing I'll go back to the apartment and the water will be out for the rest of the night, that would mean no shower...