Oh, The Places I Went

      Boy, oh Boy what a fast two years it has been in the Middle East. The days left of school are dwindling down to a mere 35 and I take a look back on my past two years teaching abroad. Being back “home” for me has been wonderful. I feel so comfortable and connected with the culture and the people. I felt at ease going into the school year and meeting all of my colleagues. I also started my Master program which quickly kicked my butt into gear. I have been able to travel to so many wonderful places. 

I love to travel. I love flying on airplanes, seeing historic sites, going shopping, and of course eating traditional food. Since moving abroad, I have been to about 13 countries and have loved every second of my travels. Don’t get me wrong I have had my bad days when traveling (which you will read about soon) but I like to focus on the positives. I am going to tell you a little bit about some of my favorite places I went during my first two years abroad. 

When first moving to the Middle East, my family, friend and I went to Egypt over a short holiday and I was finally able to see the pyramids. Okay, I am going to be honest here, I was expecting them to all be massive but some of them were as tall as a two-story building. It really needed to be able to go inside some of the pyramids and see where people were buried as well as the hieroglyphics on the walls. I was also able to see the famous sphinx unclose and personal.  During our short three days, we were also able to see the newly renovated Choir Historical Museum. Inside the museum, there were a TON of mummies (young and old), old ruins from building throughout the year, and many more awesome things. Our group was also able to get dressed up and take a boat cruise on the Nile for dinner one night. Needless to say, Egypt was a BLAST and I was able to cross that country off my list!

Pyramids in Egypt

Another trip to cross off my list was to Switzerland. My entire family and another close friend of mine all went for two weeks and traveled around Switzerland. We visited the Cailler Chocolate Factory, saw St. Peter’s Cathedral, saw the United Nations building, took pictures with Jet d’eau Geneve and saw so much more. I have to say one of my favorite things about the trip was seeing the Matterhorn in Zermatt. We stayed in a cute little condo a little bit away and took a train to Zermatt for the day. We rode another train to the top of the Matterhorn Mountain and I was blown away. I decided not to ski this trip and so I just walked around and enjoyed the views. It was so SWEET to spend New Years in Switzerland. 

Matterhorn in Switzerland

This past summer, I was able to spend time with my best friend in London, England. I have been to London many times as a kid, but this trip was one for the books. Going back to London as an adult was great but experiencing it with my best friend was something special. Lauren had never been to London and is a huge Harry Potter fan so of course, we had to add platform 9 3/4 to one of our stops on the trip. We were able to see two Broadway shows (Wicked and Mama Mia), take the subway, see the crown jewels, Buckingham Palace, and do a three-day bus tour. We experienced so many amazing things this trip and learned a lot as well. I cannot wait for our next adventure summer 2019

Buckingham Palace in England

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One trip that I was able to take was a family girls trip to New York. My mom, aunt, cousin and I met in New York City for a fun few days to kick off Christmas vacation. We had some New York pizza, walked around China Town, took some subways, bought some gifts, saw a few comedy shows, went to Times Square and visited Carlos Bakery and saw the massive Rockefeller Tree. My all-time favorite thing about the trip was seeing the Radio City Rockettes. It has always been a dream of mine to see the Rockettes live since I was a little girl. I grew up dancing and watching the Nutcracker but had never seen the Rockettes. It was fun to get dressed up and walk down the streets to our spot. Sitting up close and watching these amazing women dance was phenomenal and the highlight of my Christmas vacation.

Rockefeller Tree in NYC

This year I have been blessed with taking a group of students to Amman, Jordan for a week at the 2019 Compassion Summit. During the Compassion Summit, our students discovered ways to bring compassion to our schools. They developed ways to share what they learned with their classmates and thought about ways that could prevent them from living out what they wanted to do. I am so proud of our students during this week and opening up to all of the teachers about things we would need to fix. We rewarded the students’ hard work through a fun {wet} night of play. Students and staff played bubble soccer and laser tag and were able to bond even more. Our last day in Jordan we went to the city of Jerash. Jerash is an old Greek city of ruins that shares a story. We were able to take a tour and learn all about this city while we walked around the ruins. Jordan was a great place to go back to and I can’t wait to go again. 

Greek Ruins in Jordan

No matter all of the places I had traveled the first two years abroad, everyone always has their favorite place. My favorite place to visit was another dream come true which was Santorini, Greece with my parents. The Mama Mia in me was going crazy the entire time I was there. Now it was not a walk-in-the-park getting to Greece. Our bags were left in another country for most of the trip but it gave us an excuse to buy new clothes. Everything about Greece that you see in the movies is true. Greece had breathtaking sunsets and sunrises, delicious food, great shopping, amazing scenery, and friendly people. Our time on Santorini Island was great. We stayed in a cute little cave home for our first few days and walked everywhere. The second half of our trip, we stayed at a resort on the other side of the island and went to two of the three styles of beaches. We also were able to visit a few wineries, go parasailing, and learn about some Greek history. 

Nightlife in Greece

As I have said in my first blog, I am a TCK. Traveling is in my blood and is a way of life for me. Everyone who knows me personally knows that I have a huge travel itch whether it is going to a new country or taking a road trip in Texas. These first two years abroad have allowed me to live out my dream to be able to travel. I have been blessed with the opportunity to do so with my friends and family. Now these are not all the places I have been and I have so much more to say but you will just have to ask me one day. From now on, I will be posting about all of my trips and adventures in life so STAY TUNED!