SAWell, I’m back home now.  I don’t know how I ever survived a MN winter, because it’s only about 40 degrees now, and I’m freezing! 

 I spent about 3 weeks in Florida (1 in Miami and 2 in Ft Myers at my parent’s townhouse).  It was a fun time.  We mostly relaxed and did a bit of sun tanning and beach time.  (It wasn’t very sunny for most of the time I was in Ft. Myers, but oh well, at least it wasn’t cold.)  It was nice being able to spend time with my sister and mom. 

I will be leaving for Seoul, Korea on the 27th of December.  I’ll be doing another year of teaching, but at a different school this time.  I’m in a really good centralized locations, so I’ll be close to all of the fun bars, clubs, shopping, and restraunts, plus the theaters and museums.  It should be a good year. 

 Well, I don’t have too much interesting stuff to write about, so I’ll keep this short.  Hopefully I’ll have some fun stories to share once I get back to Korea.  (And being Korea you know that there will be bizarre things happening everyday!)

Well, I am back in the good old USA, again. It has been nice catching up with my family and friends. I spent about 2 weeks in MN, relaxing, hanging out with my family, and meeting up with my friends. (Everyone seems to have babies and spouses. I’m totally not ready for that yet, so it makes me relaize how lucky I am to be able to travel and do everything I want to do.)

Minnesota is definetly not the nicest place to be in the winter, so I palnned to spent 3 weeks in Florida, instead of dealing with freezing temperatures and snow. (I love the beach and sunshine! I can never settle down any place as frigid as MN again.) I spent 2 days with my dad at my parent’s vacation home in Ft Myers. We went to Captiva Island, and relaxed on the beach. It was great! While sitting on the white powder sand, we saw dolphins jumping out of the water right in front of us.

My parents let me borrow their car, and so on Friday I drove to Miami to spend a week with my sister, Jenny. (I haven’t driven much in the last 2 years, so I was a bit scared, but I made it alright. Miami drivers are not very nice! They would rather have you drive into a cement wall, then let you merge in front of them. I think Jenny will be driving for most of the week, so I’m very happy about that!) So far in Miami we went to dinner with some of her friends, and then spent the day tanning on South Beach. I think we’ll have a really fun week together!

(btw I’ve been adding pictures to my Africa postings on this site, so if you want to see some pictures that go with my stories you can see them now.)

I’m so excited!  I am leaving at 3:10pm today for Africa.  I will be there until November 15, so for about 3 & 1/2 months.  Yeah!  Here is my itinerary for the trip:

July 26th-August 30th: Volunteer Teaching at an elementary school in Nakuru, Kenya.  (I will be doing a few days of training in Nairobi at the beginning.)

August 31st-September 2nd: I have a few days to hang out in the Nairobi area waiting for my safari to begin.

September 3rd- 4th: Travel in Kenya.  Seeing Lake Nakuru.

September 5th- 17th: Go to Uganda. Do a gorilla trek in either Uganda or Rwanda, spend about 3 days at Lake Bunyonyi, see Queen Elizabeth National Park, go to the equator, and hang out in Kampala.

September 18th- 23rd: Back to Kenya.  Visit  a farm, see Lake Naivasha, Hells Gate National Park, Masai Mara Game Reserve, Rift Valley, and 1 more night in Nairobi.

September 24th- October 5th: Tanzania. Snake Park, Masai Museum, camel trek, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, see Mt Kilimanjaro, 4 days in Zanzibar, and Mikumi National Park.

October 6th- October 11th: Malawia.  Beach hopping around Lake Malawi, Kande Beach Resort, and Lilongwe

October 12th- 19th: Zambia. South Luangwa Valley, go to the capital Lusaka, 3 day house boat cruise around Lake Kariba, and Livingstone.

October 20th-22nd:  Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls

October 23rd- 28th: Botswana. Chobe River, Chobe National Park, salt pans of Maun, Okavango Delta.

October 29th- November 10th: Namibia. Etosha National Park, cheetah sanctuary, engravings at Twyfelfontein, seal colony at Cape Cross, Swakopmund, Namib Desert, Fish River Canyon, and Orange River.

November 11th-15th: South Africa. Stellenbosch, wine tour, and finish in Cape Town. 

I’m starting to freak out a bit about my upcoming trip to Africa!  It seems like there are so many things to do and way too many things to buy.  Plus most people that hear I’m going to Africa, immediately want to tell me how dangerous it is and about all the diseases I might get.  That really calms my nerves!

Anyways, my life is picking up a tiny bit in MN.  My grandparents are letting me use there car.  So I have a bit of freedom now, and I’m really appreciating it.  I also got a job. (I know I’m leaving in less than 4 weeks, but I was really bored sitting around the house and I need a bit of spending money in Africa.)  I’m now a food demonstrator (sample girl) at Sam’s Club.  I’ve only worked a couple of days so far, but the jobs not that bad.  When you’re handing out free food everyone likes you.  My coworkers are all 80+ year old great grandmas.  They are nice ladies, but it’s sort of weird just talking and hanging out with old people.

My aunt got married last week, so I got to see some of my extended family.  And I’m going up to St. Cloud to visit my friend, Amanda, for the 4th of July.  So far it’s been a nice relaxing break in MN.

Well I’ve been home for about 10 days.  It is very weird to be home.  It sort of feels like everything stayed the same, but I’ve changed so I don’t really fit in anymore.  It’s very bizarre!

I got really sick when I first got home.  (I think it might have been a virus or something I picked up on my travels.  Swimming in the Mekong was probably not the best idea, but who knows where I picked up the bug.)  Anyways, I spent the first 4 days at home with a high temperature and some stomache problems.  But I’m all better now.

My friend, Amanda, got married a few days after I got home.  I was a bridesmaid, so it was great spending some time with her and her family.  I’m really glad I got to be a part of her special day.  I also got to see her son, Logan, for the first time.  I still can’t believe Amanda has a baby, and he’s almost a year old already!  (It feels like everyone is married and has kids at home.)

I’ve basically been bumming around my parent’s house.  (It’s a bit hard getting around without a car.)  So it is a big change from my normal fast pace life.  But I have been able to spend a little bit of time with my friends too.  I’ve been able to hang out with Joe, Katie, and Amanda.  Plus we had a nice family bbq/swim for Father’s Day.  It was really nice being able to spend time with my parents, sisters, cousins, aunts, and uncles.

Anyways, not much has been happening, but I have been stocking up on all the fun camping stuff that I’ll need on my Africa trip.  I’m so excited! July 26th (the day I leave for Kenya) seems like a long way off, but I’m sure it will sneak up on me fast.