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[03 Jan 2010|01:46am] [ mood | refreshed ] 2 silhouettes| we'll become

attempt # 23049382049 at report writing two thousand and nine. [12 Nov 2009|08:14pm] [ mood | giddy ] just drank wayyyy too much coffee.. put on wayyyy too many scarves.. found my green floppy hat... turned on MTV and danced around the whole house/out in the warm botswana rain. yup, report writing is going great, thanks! every survival kit should include a sense of humor. ~author unknown common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. a sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. ~william james we'll become

a lindy steal! [03 Nov 2009|03:49pm] [ mood | calm ] 'When I was young a big financier once asked me what I would like to do, and I said "To Travel." "Ah," he said, :it is very expensive; one must have a lot of money to do that." He was wrong. For there are two kinds of travelers; the Comfortable Voyager, round whom a cloud of voracious expenses hums all the time, and the man who shifts for himself and enjoys the little discomforts as a change from his daily routine.' [taken from vegabonding by rolf potts] we'll become

harder, better, faster, sronger. [27 Oct 2009|06:17pm] [ mood | accomplished ] when i was in college i use to run three (or more) miles almost every day. i took the 'country route' though the fields, animals and farm houses. in the winter i use to read national geographic and harry potter in the spring arbor weight room. i've started (seriously) running again. i'm training for a half marathon (21k which is 13miles) which i hope to run early next year. although i'm surprised at how long it's taking me to 'get back into it' i feel good about myself and the difference i'm making to my body. i've been running/swimming/doing yoga 6 days a week! oh sunshine, i love you & how you make me feel! livejournal world, come run 'with me'. trust me, if i can do it - you can do it! I wish the world was flat like the old days Then i could travel just by folding a map No more airplanes, or speed trains, or freeways There'd be no distance that could hold us back. 3 silhouettes| we'll become

these days [14 Oct 2009|08:59am] [ mood | cheerful ] these days i'm feeling happy for no apparent reason. i smile all the time. i'm motivated and positive. i run in the sunshine and giggle with my students. molibi is wonderful and we laugh every day. i love my life. I LOVE MY LIFE!!! it sucks that my family & my friends are so far away & it costs sosososososo much money to get home.. but, i'll make it work. i've only got one life, this (for now) is EXACTLY where i'm suppose to be! i'm sending love and sunshine your way! all of you! 1 silhouettes| we'll become

smile! smile! smile! [14 Oct 2009|08:41am] [ mood | happy ] this week is book week at my school & we have had independent reading during the school day. today i brought in the john grisham book that i'm reading and my bookmark just so happens to be an american one dollar bill. i ask the class if they know what it is and they say 'yes' because most of them have seen one of them in Zimbabwe (who uses American currency). then i ask if anyone knows whose picture is on the bill and aisha (whose mom is hawaiian) raises her hand and answers 'yes! that's geroge clooney!!' almost aisha, almost. :) we'll become

[05 Oct 2009|08:52am] [ mood | happy ] sun is in the sky oh why oh why would i want to be anywhere else? we'll become

spring in botswana [21 Sep 2009|01:33pm] [ mood | sunny ] Yesterday my polish friend/coworker and I went on a walk and took pictures of pretty things in the sunshine. I thought I would share them with you! ( more then the just the Kalahari desert.. ) 1 silhouettes| we'll become

smile [17 Sep 2009|11:22am] while reading the gingerbread man... me: 'i don't know what i would do if i heard a little voice in MY oven!' aisha: 'i would just leave it in there.' after lunch i came in to find kevin with yellow covereing his shirt... me: 'kevin! what happened?!' kevin: 'a hot dog attacked me.' i love my job! we'll become

jack. [14 Sep 2009|08:08am] [ mood | sad ] Sometimes terrible things in life just happen. There is no rhyme or reason for them. The ‘if onlys’ crowed your mind to the point where your head is pounding from the stress of millions of tears running down your face. Yesterday Molibi and I were driving back from his farm with our dog, Jack. We usually have her ride up in the front on my lap but this particular time we thought she should learn how to be a ‘real dog’ and ride in the back. No more then 15 minutes after leaving the farm, Molibi looks back to see Jack at the edge of the truck – ears flapping, tongue hanging out and big brown eyes shining. She jumps. And lands wrong. Her little neck snaps. And as Molibi and I get out of the car.. she dies. My puppy, my best friend, my Jack. I loved this dog. Every morning when I woke up she ran up the stairs 90 miles and hour and smashed into me then sat by the tub as I showered. When I got out of the shower she would lick the water off my legs and then sit at my feet as I got ready. Every afternoon we went on a run together and then she would cuddle with me on the couch. She was such a part of my… existence. I just can’t believe she is gone. In seconds.. just gone. I’m devastated and empty feeling. Please pray that her little soul gets to dog heaven safely and they have lots of bones, expensive shoes and coco butter lotion for her to destroy. Rest in peace Jack. I love you. 7 silhouettes| we'll become

writers block [31 Aug 2009|12:14pm] [ mood | peaceful ] For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move. [Robert Louis Stevenson] the weather here is getting warmer and i've been spending less time online and more time going on walks with jack & reading. my life is good. kat was just here visiting and we took the most amazing road trip north.. we went into the okavango delta and spent three days camping in the bush. we went on walks and saw so many animals (elephants, giraffes, zebras...) and we were even chased by hippos (honest). did you know that hippos are the most dangerous animals in africa? for realz. we also went to chobe and safaried it up both on land and water. we pulled up next to a leopard with two cubs which was breathtaking (literally). we also were able to go to zimbabwe to see victoria falls and we even did this insane 'gorge swing' thing that i thought was going to take my life. check out kat's pictures/videos on facebook if you can, they are pretty awesome! now i'm back to the 'norm' of just livin' it up gabs style. it's a slow town and i'm appreciating the peace and relaxation. :) i'm happy. we'll become

welcome to the 80s! [12 Jul 2009|06:27pm] [ mood | awesome ] I had an 80s party... me, molibi, leks & kat. 2 silhouettes| we'll become

top 10 beers of all time [20 Jun 2009|04:51pm] just for fun, i'm making a list of my top ten beers (in order): 1. Matilda (Goose Island) 2. Oberon (Bells) 3. Hitackino Nest 4. Summer Shandy (Leinkugel) 5. Negro Modello 6. Blue Moon 7. Killians 8. Miller Light 9. Pabst Blue Ribbon 10. Sapporo what are yours? 2 silhouettes| we'll become

yuck [03 May 2009|08:17pm] [ mood | sick ] So... my magical trip to cape town didn't turn out exactly as planned. I WAS able to climb table mountain as well as SEE AFRICAN PENGUINS (AWESOME!!!) but.. I got a terrible stomach virus/infection and had to come home (gabs) early. :( so.. let's just hope i feel better soon and don't have something serious/dangerous. bummer. p.s. i have good news as well! i have internet at home!!! now, all i need is a computer.. :) 3 silhouettes| we'll become

va-cay-cay [25 Apr 2009|12:55pm] [ mood | hopeful ] hello loves! sorry i haven't updated in a million years. a lot has been happening in the past month. a few days before leaving for jordan i had a break-in. i came home to find hangers (previously with my clothes on them) all over the flat, my jewelry taken, my deoderant and makeup gone and.... my wonderful macbook stolen. i usually lock up my computer but i had been working on my reports (due three days later) and had just finished so i just left it on the table with my papers... gonegonegone. it was a lot for me to comprehend.. i called my parents shaking and crying and it was awhile before i could 'get myself together'. but, the police came and fingerprinted and my school was really amazing.. they gave me the next two days off of school and i just worked in the computer lab for... i think 30 hours total and.. i finished them on time! i have NO idea how! i had been working on those reports for months and months and i managed to redo everything in a matter of days! a miracle! but, it wasn't an easy one! so, then i took off for jordan.. and it was amazing! i have never been to the middle east before so i was really excited to try something different! however... when i arrived at the airport in jordan.. NO BAG. my bag never arrived. so, all of the clothes/jewrly that wern't stolen in the break in.... were in that bag. it was a huge blow... i only had the clothes on my back and an extra pair of underwear. i'm really really upset that my bag is missing.. it had my favourite jeans.. skirt.. work clohtes.. shoes.. things for school.. one of my students portfolios... sigh. i think the bag is still in johanasburg (that darn airport is the worst in the world, i swear) so i'm going to inquire about it the next time i'm there. ANYWAYS... once we left the airport a cab took us to the hotel. the view along the way was really cool. it was the weekend so families had set up picnics all along the roadsides. the hotel we (another teacher and i) stayed at was really nice.. 5 stars.. with a beautiful view of the city (Aammon). the pyp conference that i attended was great, very helpful and i made contacts with wonderful teachers from around the world! i learned a lot about assessment and how it is implemented into the classroom using the pyp framework. very coo1! i'm thankful that i was able to attend. after the conference i was able to do a bit of traveling and i got to go to the dead sea! amazing! we jumped in and smeared mud all over ourselves! and they aren't joking... it is SALTY! i got some in my mouth and instantly started to puke. gross! so much salt! but, it was a really beautiful and touching experience. they say that this was the place where Jesus was baptized (the dead sea was previously connected to the jordan river) and i was able to see the hills where he spent his 40 days and 40 nights. i called my parents and had a little... moment.. with them. then, a few days later i went to PETRA! wow! wow! wow! i was blown away! i had no idea what i was getting myself into! it was so majestic and intricate. the patterns of the rocks and the designs of the temples... holy moly. i took about a billion pictures and i'll try to post them as soon as i can. i also was able to spend a few days walking around Aammon. The shops sell some really cool things! My favourite memory is when i was sitting in a coffee/hookah shop drinking 'turkish coffee' (strongest stuff i've ever tasted!) that overlooked an old roman-style amphitheater. wow! for the most part my 'jordan experience' was very positive. i was able to see and do a lot of amazing things, i met cool people and now i have a little bit better understanding of the middle east. and.. now i'm back in gabs, in the warm sunshine. i've been bumming around for a few weeks (i was suppose to plan a trip to south africa, but i've been lazy & loving it!) it's been wonderful to just sit at home.. planting things in my garden.. going on long runs (and i also joined a gym!) and eating out at the cool restaurants here. a nice little stay-cation. BUT, next week, i am going to... CAPE TOWN! hurray! i'm so excited! i've been wanting to go to cape town for FOREVER! it will be cold, but that's ok.. if i can survive a chicago winter, i'm sure i can survive cape town in the 'cold season' haha. anyways, that's all for now! cross your fingers that my missing luggage will show up! and, i'll try to post pictures & update again soon! tsalma sentle! 3 silhouettes| we'll become

[23 Mar 2009|09:42am] [ mood | busy ] Stress is poison. ~Agavé Powers there is so much to do before i leave for jordan! and i need to plan my trip to south africa! and my reports are due in one week! ahhhh! :] 3 silhouettes| we'll become

friends, cats, class & flat. [17 Feb 2009|10:48am] [ mood | thankful ] picture post! ( clickhereclickhereclickhereclickhere ) 11 silhouettes| we'll become

http://www.ibo.org/pyp/ [16 Feb 2009|01:49pm] [ mood | ecstatic ] OHMYGOSH!!!!!! NORTHSIDE IS SENDING ME TO LUSAKA THIS WEEK & JORDAN IN APRIL FOR PYP CONFERENCES!!! I'M THE NEW PYP ASSESSMENT CORDINATOR! I can't believe it! Northside pays for everything! I get to fly into these amazing places and get trained for FREE! THIS IS AMAZING! and... it's only the beginning! I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!! 6 silhouettes| we'll become

[02 Feb 2009|01:09pm] [ mood | amused ] so.. i'm attempting to coach under-nine cricket with tony and i'm hopelessly lost! i love sports, but this "43 laws" business is horribily confusing! i attended a meeting on saturday morning about it, but it didn't help too much! so, tony sent me this very infomative email that i thought you might enjoy as well: CRICKET (as explained to a foreign visitor) You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in, goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When both sides have been in and out including the not outs, that's the end of the game'. HOWZAT! -Acknowledgement to the Marylebone Cricket Club 4 silhouettes| we'll become

rain rain rain [29 Jan 2009|01:51pm] [ mood | soaked ] so, when i was here before in January/February Botswana was in a drought and people were crying out for rain because this, supposedly, is the "rainy season". ... it has rained for four days straight. and when i say straight i mean, it hasn't stopped. pouring.. all day long & all night long. it is suppose to rain for (at least) the next week. seven more days. rain. rain. rain. rain. and not just sprinkling.. but, POURING! i've never seen anything like this in my life! how can it just keep falling!? where is all of this coming from!? ... i miss the sun! we'll become

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