Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Welcome to Vacation!

Sorry it has been so long, but there has been so much to do these past few weeks. I had a wonderful time on my vacation in June. I was able to take a four day cruise with my roommate. We cruised around the Greek Isles. We stopped at four islands and even had a stop in Turkey. My favorite island was Mykonos and Santorini. I really just liked being able to HIKE up to the summit of the active Volcano that makes up the islands of Santorini. Mykonos was the picturesque spot for Greece. They had the white washed walls and blue roof and shutters. It was beautiful. The other islands had this too but they were nothing like Mykonos. My other favorite spot was Turkey. My roommate and I decided to do the tour of Ephesus while we were there. We went on a three hour tour of the ancient city and loved every minute. I loved how they were able to uncover so much and do their best to reconstruct a lot of the old city. Once the tour was done our guide took us to a Turkish Rug shop where we were shown how the rugs are handmade from the silk worms all the way to the finished product. We were given the chance to buy, which I declined due to the price. They were absolutely gorgeous though. The next week we hung around Greece and meet up with several friends. It was a blast. In Athens we were able to see all the sights and take loads of pictures. I love looking at the old ruins and learning as much about the history as I can. On our way home we had a nine (I know) hour layover in Zurich, Switzerland. Here we decided to go see the waterfall instead of hanging around the airport all day. The waterfall was cool to see but definitely not worth all the money. We had a wonderful trip seeing different places.

So that took up most of June, and now we have entered into July. I have started taking Polish Language lessons full time. My teacher says I am doing wonderful but there are times I feel as though I know nothing at all. I am slow when it comes to learning a language so I just keep with it. I did get the chance to “talk” with a Polish Deaf person the other day. I “spoke” in American Sign Language (ASL) and her in Polish Sign Language (PSL), but we were understood. She had gotten soaked by a car splashing water from a rain puddle and was wondering if a certain bus had come yet. I was able to tell her the bus had not come and that I was sorry. She continued to “speak” and I just stood in amazement at her. I love signing and really want to continue to learn how. Other than language I have been busy getting ready for the upcoming school year. I will have fewer students to begin with and then add as the year goes on. I start with a 3rd and 4th full time and a 1st part time (he’s in public school too). I then gain a 6th grader in October and my second 4th grader comes back in January. It has been a lot of fun looking through and preparing their lessons that I am ready to start.
Anyways, check out the photos below of my vacation in June…I recommend everyone go it was a blast! (I don’t like uploading photo so they are in no particular order without any captions; just enjoy the views, and sorry but they are from the end of the trip to the beginning.)

Photos of Vacation...