Most of the shadows of life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Crunch time

After much job hunting, a few fruitless interviews, getting advice from many people, a lot of "pros and cons" lists and quite a bit of crying and stress, we've decided to stay here for another year. We had hoped to have jobs and maybe a house picked out, but the economy didn't cooperate.

I'm sad about it. And I'm somewhat relieved just to have a decision. But I'm still sad. So we're going to go out this Saturday night and go swing dancing and eat crepes in Philadelphia. Also, Michael might let me by a crepe maker. And we'll probably go on vacation to Mexico this summer. So those are my consolation prizes. That and having a summer off again, which was really nice last year.

Without the heavy depression this winter my life has been much better. And I can imagine living through another Pennsylvania winter, which I couldn't imagine at this time last year. I really didn't think I would make it. But now I can see coming through it. Plus every year flies by faster than the one before. We will have lived here for four year. Shocking. And we'll finish with the class that were Freshman when we started. It's like going through high school all over again.

So that's the big news. I'm also going off my anti-depressant and feeling pretty fantastic. We found a great little creperie in Lancaster, PA last weekend and indulged. It was amazing. We were in Nashville for Spring Break and enjoyed family time, wedding planning and beautiful weather. Now Pennsylvania is just starting into spring and it will last a lot longer here than it does down south, one of the other highlights of PA, I guess. Also, I cut my hair. It had gotten down past my shoulders and I got it cut just around my chin with a lot of layers. I love it. Every time I cut my hair I wonder why I ever let it grow out. So I think I'll keep it short this time (I say this every time).

Angela=Tired

This past weekend was Junior Presentation. We are Junior sponsors. This made for much exhaustion. The weekend included Friday night vespers put on by the Juniors, most of the church service put on by the Juniors and a nice meal, auctioning gift baskets, skit selection, song and banner presentation and marching on Saturday night. Michael and I were mostly involved with the skits and song stuff. What added to our nightmare was that last Wednesday three boys who were in six skits between them were suspended. So we had to find people to fill in, sometimes that person filling in was Michael. I mostly did backstage stuff, pulling the curtain, telling people when to go on and off stage, getting props on and off stage, fixing costumes. That stuff. During the meal I also helped get food back and forth. It was ultra stressful. Pratices every night last week. But it all came off really well. One of the girls' deans told me that it was the best one she'd been to since she's been here (11 years). And we've never done this before! So we felt pretty ecstatic. I hurt all over and am still exhausted, but I feel like now I can do anything.

Michael played a bully in a nerds vs. bullies dance off skit, which was the favorite of many people. He danced to Soldier Boy. If we get a video, I'll post it. It was pretty hilarious.

So that's taken up our lives for the last couple of weeks. And two weeks from today begins spring break. I could use it a little sooner, but I'll take what I can get. We'll be in Nashville, hopefully interviewing and applying for more jobs. No serious bites yet, but we're still praying and hoping. How does one know how to make such a huge decision? I feel like maybe this just won't happen for us. Maybe we're supposed to stay here forever. But that makes me sad, so I'm still trying to keep hope alive.

Billy Elliot

Homeleave began Wednesday, and we left a little early to be sure to get to New York in time. We checked into our hotel and then set off for The Daily Show. We got there early, there were only about 15 people in line ahead of us, so I headed off to get some hot chocolate and a newspaper. It was freaking cold. I don't know. Somewhere in the 20s. So the hot chocolate kept us relatively warm for a few minutes. Then I tried to do The New York Time crossword puzzle with gloves on. Much more difficult to write neatly with gloves on. The guy standing next to us in line was pretty impressed with how much of the crossword we completed. I'm a crossword junky, but yeah the NYT is definitely a tough nut to crack. Anyway, we enjoyed the show, and definitely enjoyed being warm for a while. If you want to see the show that we saw live, it was Wednesday, February 4.

So after The Daily Show we hurried on over to Broadway and got a quick bite of mediocre food before going to see Billy Elliot. Which was amazing. Also, I was sitting about 2 feet from the stage. I ordered Orchestra, Partial View, which apparently means that you're off to the side, but so close that the actors spit on you. It was fantastic. Also, they had these little windows beneath the stage so that you could see the people in the orchestra pit. One of the lady trombone players was doing Sudoku on her time between songs. Another guy was reading. It was pretty cool to see them. Anyway, the show was awesome, but sitting that close to the speakers was a bit deafening. But still amazing. Maybe my very favorite. The dancing was fabulous. So if you're ever in New York you should go. For real.

So we stayed in our hotel that night, which was really nice, we booked it on Priceline, by the way. The Wellington, on 7th avenue at 55th street. It was a block down from Carnegie Hall, pretty cool. And across the street from the Park Central Hotel. So the next day we got up and had some nice hummus and crepes at a cute little French-ish restaurant, where our waiter was actually French. Then we decided that it was too cold to enjoy the day, and too cold to want to stay for another play, so we bought some lovely desserts and went home.

Today I'm applying for jobs and relaxing at home. It's a good homeleave. There will be some pictures to follow.

Update

So we've been busy. Being Junior sponsors has taken over our lives. Dress checks, skit rehearsals, planning committees... it will be good when Junior Presentation is over. Maybe I'll see my husband some evenings... I can dream at least. So besides that I'm off to a good start so far this year with my resolution to read more books. I've read six so far. Not bad for four weeks. And I've almost completed a really great scarf. Very soft and fuzzy.

Next week we get our first homeleave of the new year and we're going to spend the night in New York, a first. We'll leave here around noon on Wednesday, and hope to get to New York in time to see the Daily Show. Then get a bite to eat and see Billy Elliot! I'm super excited about that. This trip is my birthday present, and I've wanted to see Billy Elliot since I heard it was coming to New York. It's supposed to be amazing. So then we'll spend the night and find something to do on Thursday and then come home.

We've also been doing some job hunting in hopes of moving to Nashville this summer. No bites yet, but we've been sending out the resumes. We need to decide by mid-March, so please keep that in your prayers as we struggle to make this decision. If we don't move we might go to Europe again, just to give me something to look forward to. I guess we're Europe junkies now.

So that's the main stuff that's going on, besides all the little things, like coordinating Children's Story, being greeters at church, being on supervision, teaching and doing song service at church this week. I get tired just reading this.

Also, there's been a lot of snow. I'm done. I don't even think it's pretty anymore. It's just in the way. Spring can not come fast enough.

A peek at last year

Here are some random pictures from last year, just thought I'd put them up for fun and to remember the good times.

Me and Leslie at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens (Christa's future wedding site) from last July when we were both home for a bit.


Also at Cheekwood, my mom and Dino.


Justin and Shelli with some wonderful crepes we ate in D.C.


Justin and Shelli at the Jefferson Memorial.


Me and Michael near the Capitol Building.


In October we played card games by the lake near Shelli's building during Phillip and Crystal's wedding weekend.


Also by the lake.


At the wedding.


After Christa found "the dress" we got freshly made popsickles at this little place near downtown Nashville where they make the popsickles fresh every day. Yum.


Pounce loved the Christmas tree very much.


All the kids.


On Sabbath of our Gatlinburg Christmas. It was beautiful up in the mountains.


The church in Cade's Cove where we sang lots of Christmas hymns. Great acustics

Year in review (a little late)

1) What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Taught Business Math, went to Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome, met Barack Obama and Dan Rather, went to the National Zoo, paid off our car, saw Brian Regan live, saw Mary Poppins on Broadway.

2) Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year (this year)?
I don't remember making any resolutions last year.
This year I want to lose some weight and move to Nashville.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Linsey Bailey

4) Did anyone close to you die?
My grandmother

5) What countries did you visit?
England, France, Italy, Austria

6) What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More time with family, a house and job in Nashville, more joy.

7) What date(s) from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
January 18-the day my grandmother died.
June 22-the beginning of our European adventure.

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
A lot of days it feels like just surviving is a big achievement. But probably, I feel like I am a better teacher all the time, and I am keeping up with my grading better than the last two years, and over all, I just feel more competent in my job, and that's a pretty big accomplishment.

9)Did you suffer illness or injury
No, just the usual maladies...

10) What was the best thing you bought?
Plane tickets!

11) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Various students at various times.

12) Whose behavior merited Celebration?
Michael's. He is very patient with me and is willing to do just about anything to make me happy. He's pretty amazing.

13) Where did most of your money go?
Bills and Europe

14) What did you get really, really excited about?
Europe, dancing with Shelli, a baby book that my mom made me.

15) What song will always remind you of 2008?
"Yes We Can" by WillIAm.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you?:
Wiser? Hopefully I'm getting wiser all the time. This is kind of difficult to measure.

Healthier? Emotionally? Yes. Physically? It's really a toss-up.

Richer? We have more in savings and less debt, so I suppose that we're richer, yes.

17) What do yo wish you'd done more of? More playing and time with friends and family, more reading, more exercise and more traveling.

18) What do you wish you'd done less of? Less anxious worrying and computer game time.

19) HOw much did you spend on christmas? I have no idea. Several hundred.

20)Did you fall in love in 2008? Marriage is a constant re-falling in love with someone you know better all the time.

21) What was your favorite blog post that you wrote?
Probably the series about Europe.

22) What was your favorite TV programs?
My favorite new series is 30 Rock, favorite returning series: The Office.

23) Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I sometimes hate various students. But it doesn't last for more than a day. So I guess not really.

24) What was the best book you read?
Probably my favorites were People of the Book and I Am Asher Lev.

25) What was your greatest musical discovery?
Probably Ingrid Michaelson and Eastmountainsouth

26) What did you want and get?
This sweet winter white cape jacket.

27) What did you want and not get?
This cute little dress in Paris.

28)What was your favorite film this year?
I really liked The Dark Knight and Wall-E.

29) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We ate at Uno's and saw Charlie Wilson's War. I turned 25.

30) which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?
Tina Fey.

31) How would yo describe your personal fashion concept in 2008
Comfort and cost effective with a little quirky.

32) What kept you sane?
Michael, antidepressants, Barack winning the election, trips home to see the family and dreaming of a different future.

33) Who did you miss?
My grandparents.

34) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Don't trust the stock market.

35) What did you lose this year?
My temper, several times.

36)What did you gain this year?
Hope that there can be joy again, a book club.

37) What was the best new person you met?
Maybe the new principal.

38) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
It's been a hard year, but I'm climbing out of the rubble...

Mishaps

Sunday I yelled at my students. (Yes, we were in school on Sunday.) Today I yelled at them again. It would be so nice, if when I say "Please be quiet." they paid attention. Usually, the noise gets slightly less deafening for about ten seconds. December might be the worst month to be a teacher. Check back in May for a final verdict. Sometimes I just want to punch them in the face. And simultaneously cry. I think the problem is that the weekend before last I was on supervision and this weekend we had our student worker Christmas party at our house and then Sunday school, then taking some kids into town on Sunday night... I haven't had much of a break from them lately. And I'm starting to hate them. Well, not all of them. In fact the vast majority of them I like very much. But there are about ten who I could easily do without. Christmas break begins tomorrow. I'm past ready for this one.

Good books

This year I didn't try to read a book a week. Instead, I focused on trying to read award-winning books and books that came highly recommended by others. So here is a list of some of my favorite books of the year. I hope it helps you pick a good one.

The Good Good Pig-true story of a family and their pig. Heartwarming animal story.
The Known World-novel about free blacks in the pre-civil war south who owned slaves. Pulitzer prize winner.
People of the Book-historical fiction about the Sarajevo Haggadah, a valuable Jewish book which was saved by Muslims and Christians.
Grace Eventually-the newest memoir by Anne Lamott.
Year of Wonders-Historical novel about a town in England that is hit by the plague.
I am Asher Lev-I love Chaim Potok, one of my favorites of his.
First They Killed My Father-memoir about the Cambodian genocide.
Gathering Blue-Juvenile fiction - Lois Lowry's companion to The Giver
The Center Cannot Hold-memoir about living with Schizophrenia
The Law of Similars-novel about homeopathy and the choices we make in extreme circumstances
March-historical novel about Mr. March of Little Women, Pulitzer Prize winner, don't read if you want to keep your Little Women vision intact (but a very interesting book)
So Brave, Young and Handsome-novel by the author of Peace Like a River. Adventure and redemption.
The Lost-memoir/history, the author tries to find out what happened to six of his family members during the Holocaust. Kind of heavy and fact-laden, but very interesting to me.
Messenger-Juvenile fiction - companion to The Giver and Messenger
The Almost Moon-novel about family ties and mental illness. Pretty dark, but intriguing.

So those are my favorite books of 2008. There are about eight more that are in progress, you know how that goes... So I'll update if one of them makes it onto my favorites list before the end of the year. This post was especially for Kristina. =)

Negligent blogger returns to cyberspace

I know. It's been awhile. I have the semi-excuse of the broken keyboard, but truth be told, I have a work computer and Michael's computer if I really wanted to blog. Also, I can't find my camera cord, so I can't post pictures. Which is irritating me. I know it's been missing for at least two months... but where could I have put it? I've turned the house upside down, but no luck. In any case, life here continues in it's usual busy, generally good way. It all feels more routine this year, and yet I'm busier than ever with Junior class sponsorship (ugh) and Business Math. We're starting to look for jobs in Nashville for after this school year. I'm anxious to move home, and unsure that God will allow me to do that.

Some other things that have happened lately: We went to Louisville and Nashville for Thanksgiving break. I helped Michael's mom do some wedding planning, (she's getting married at the end of March), and I was with my sister when she found "the dress", (she's getting married at the end of May).

We went and bought a Christmas tree at the tree farm down the road. I decorated it and am feeling especially jolly this week. I love Christmas ever so much. Strange, for a girl who hates winter so much. Maybe it's because Christmas makes winter seem more bearable.

I've been off birth-control for a few months now and feel like maybe my depression/anxiety/sluggishness is lifting. What if that were one of the big contributing factors all along and I never knew it? I've been on birth control since shortly before I started college because of the ovarian cysts... which is right around the time I started having serious problems. I'm trying not to think about those seven years of struggles, and yet hope that it could be true, so that it would maybe ease the struggle. And no, I'm not pregnant. But yes, someone asked me again last weekend at church. That was pure joy.

This year for Christmas, my family is going to Gatlinburg. This will be the first Christmas without Grandma, and my aunt and mom were finding it a little too difficult to try to do normal Christmas without her. We're very glad to have something to look forward to this year (Christa's wedding) instead of more death, like last year.

And lastly, for this post, I'm reading The Shack right now and I would like to recommend it to all of you. I'm finding it very mind-opening and hopeful. I'll try to be a better blog friend.

Blue state

Last night the state I was born in went blue (Colorado) and the state I live in went blue. That was a first for me. I'm very happy to be in a blue state. I cried a little when the election results came in at 11 pm eastern time. Tears of disbelief and joy. As much as I've hoped for this day and campaigned and volunteered for this day, I didn't really believe it would happen. Call me jaded, but I thought the Reps would find a way to steal it. In any case, this is a new day and provides a new dream for many people who had never had this chance before. There will be a whole different kind of presidential portrait. There will be a different kind of first family. I can only rejoice and pray that he is well protected and that, along with all his other advisors, he allows God to guide. I'm very excited, and that's all I'll say. For now.

I wanna go back to Union again...

Here I sit in the UC microlab, and everything seems so familiar, and yet I don't know anyone. That's the weird part. Like a parallel universe. You go back to your house after a day of work and other people are living there, with your furniture and pets. Eating your food. And you can't come in.

We brought 25 students here for October homeleave to check out the school. Hopefully the good ones will love it and come here and help make Union the awesome place it is.

We had a long day yesterday, we left the school at 9:00 am, drove to Philadelphia, flew to Minneapolis, flew to Omaha, waited for over an hour to be picked up, and arrived at Union around 9:00 pm. And we lost an hour on the way.

Life has been crazy busy, but mostly good. This week, however, after cleaning my keyboard, I realized I had broken it. It now types "aq" when I type a or q. And "sw" when I type s or w. And so on, down the keyboard, but only for the top two lines of letters. Also, the shift key doesn't work for those letters. The apple guy was very nice, but told me it will cost $300 to fix it, since it isn't covered by applecare, because I broke it myself. So that's discouraging.

Sorry for the lack of posting. I've been sick for about a month and that has kept me in bed as much of the time as I can, what with work and responsibilities. Now I've mostly lost my voice. But I don't feel too bad, so I guess that's improvement.

So that's a peak into our lives right now. We'll be in Lincoln till Sunday at 5 am when we start the treck back to PA. I don't know why we do this to ourselves... And oh yeah, Michael will not be the camp director at Laurel Lake this coming summer. I'm happy about that. For reals. Peace out.

Things done over homeleave

My dad came to visit over homeleave. His first visit to our home. So we showed him around Philadelphia, saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We went to the old Wannemaker's, which is now a Macy's. There they have the world's largest working organ, which they play every day at noon and 5:30. So we listened to the noon concert, which was lovely. We saw a few old churches where our Founding Fathers were common visitors or members. Then we went down to the Italian Market, which was mostly closed at 6:00, but we found a great little bakery and bought a piece of chocolate raspberry ganache cake and a piece of chocolate covered cheesecake. They were delicious. Then we ate at a great little restaurant where the portions and quality were fantastic and the presentation was beautiful. I think it was called Sabrina's.

Friday we mostly hung around the house, but we did venture out into Hamburg, and we showed my dad the school. Saturday we made a lovely brunch with crepes, fruit salad and hashbrowns. Then we went to Lancaster and looked at Amish stuff. Quilts, baked goods, etc. We stopped at the big 10,000 Villages in Ephrata that has a little cafe inside and sells fair trade Persian Rugs. On Sunday we left Michael home and Dad and I explored Longwood Gardens.

Now I'm back to work. I'm pretty tired, but glad for a good visit with my dad, even though it rained and was cloudy every day he was here. Too bad you can't order up the weather for such occasions.

We may shortly have some exciting news to share. Pending the final decision... coming any day now.

Exciting news

Freerice.com now has many subjects to quiz yourself on! You can try famous paintings, your multiplication tables, world geography, chemistry, other languages... I'm having a ball this afternoon. Go get excited all over again!

Neglectful me

I have been mostly absent from the blogosphere lately. Sorry about that. I just spent most of my afternoon at work catching up on everything that's going on in everyone else's lives. I think part of the neglectfulness is the new school year and added responsibilities. I'm busy with Business Math and trying to think of new ways to explain problems that seem all too simple to me. Mostly I say, "Here's how you do it. Here's your assignment. Now do it." Then go around the classroom and answer questions. How there are questions, I don't really know. But some of the kids really love the class. I think it's because they've finally found a math class that they're good at. It builds their self-esteem. That's fun to watch. In English class today one of my students told me I looked pretty. That pretty much made my day. If a student even recognizes me as a human being it's pretty much a good thing. A human being who looks nice: even better.

We didn't have a long Labor Day weekend. Actually we had almost no weekend at all. We were on supervision Friday night and Sabbath, then had class meetings and elections Saturday night (that was as fun as jumping into a barrel of barracuda), then Sunday School, and right on into the regular school week. So I've been tired this week. Tomorrow we're going to a church two hours away to make an offering appeal for the school. So Saturday evening we're hoping to watch a movie. (What a novelty!) And Sunday I'm going to try to make it to the Farmer's Market to buy some produce. Those are my only plans.

This afternoon we're going into Reading. Michael's going to give plasma while I shop. On my list: Season 4 of The Office and bobby pins. Then we're going to Olive Garden for the never-ending pasta bowl. Can't have too much pasta, right?

Also, it's been freakishly hot and the school doesn't have central air, so I've been roasting in my office. Bleh.

Here I am today, after three weeks of school. That's the hardest part, and I survived!

This might be TMI

I spent part of Monday morning throwing up. For no apparent reason. No flu, no food in my belly (I mostly threw up the apple juice that I drank when I woke up). That, combined with another odd symptom or two, which I will not list here because they are too private, had me convinced for a couple of hours that I would soon be in for mommyhood. I counted back to when I went off my birth control shot. Only about a month. And now I'm on the patch. Surely I'm not that fertile, right? After consulting some internet chat rooms about the effects of going off the Depo shot and then consulting my home pregnancy test, I am not pregnant. But that was a scary couple of hours. Thank goodness for the internet to ease my fears. Apparently the effects of going off Depo can be pretty strong, although I had no such symptoms last time I went off. Then again, I was on it much longer this time.

Anyway, Tuesday was fun. Students and staff members assume that if I'm sick or have a doctor's appointment that I'm pregnant. And they feel free to ask me. I was glad that I could laugh it off. At least for now.

School is still going well. I feel much more energized and happy and just in my comfort zone than I did last year. It almost makes me wish that we weren't wanting to leave, if it just gets better every year. I'm busier, with the extra class and supervision, but I also feel more connected to the students and more fulfilled. So all around goodness. I do miss my husband, but I guess I'll see him at the end of May. And maybe it will be a little better after the Democratic National Convention is over.

And so it goes

Another school year has begun. So far classes are going well. I have fewer students in each class, which is nice, and they don't seem quite as rambunctious as last year's group. So I'm hoping for good things. So far only 16 students in my Business Math class, and I hope it stays that way. That would be amazing.

My student workers are great. Eager to learn and helpful. I have high hopes for a much less stressful year, even though I've added a class and supervision to my load. Still, I'm optimistic.

I had some crazy nightmares the few days before classes started, and there has been some difficult sleeping, but all around, much better than the last two years. Michael has about a week left of his two online courses, so he has a lot on his plate, but is glad to be teaching two Bible classes and one History, instead of three Bible. That's a lot of Bible classes to try to make interesting.

Anyway, that's the short update from here. I'm excited for a new year. Also, the weather's been beautiful, so I've been trying to soak it up before winter invades.

Here I am in my newly green office on the third day of school.

Piazza San Marco

I've been trying for weeks to upload this video. I'm sure there's a better way to do it, but Blogger didn't like it, so here's a link to it. Hope you enjoy. I did. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Video of St. Mark's Square

Goings on

It shouldn't be humanly possible to sleep as much as I have been lately. Between 10 and 12 hours a night. And I still wake up groggy and force myself not to take naps during the day, or go to bed at 8:30, which is when I want to go to bed. I hope it has more to do with my medication than my mental state. I've been slowly reducing the dosage on my antidepressant, and would like to go down a little more, but I'm afraid of impending doom if I go too low. Where is the line? The balance? I wish I knew. And also, I wish I knew whether last winter's disaster was just caused by the perfect storm of small contributing factors or whether this is something I should expect in my life. A few years of relative okay and then a year of horrendous disappointments? I guess there's only one way to find out. And having anxiety attacks about it in the meantime probably won't help. Okay, it definitely won't help.

So besides the enormous amounts of sleep, we started having pre-session meetings this week with our new principal. I like him. He's punctual, a quality I probably over-value in people. He's also into building staff relationships and he's fairly blunt. I like that. Also, he wants to pay me more. I like that. He came to me and said he was confused by my contract. I told him in the nicest way possible that I didn't think it was fair, but that I like working here, and that there are a lot of injustices in the world. He said that just because life isn't fait doesn't mean we shouldn't try to correct it. So to make a long story short, I may be making a lot more money this year. I'm excited about that.

Also, I agreed to teach one section of Business Math this year. Because I have lost my mind. And Michael's and my schedules overlap this year, so I can't have any breakdowns because he won't be able to sub for me. So here's hoping that last winter's difficulties will stay in last winter and not infect this one. Because as nice as it is to have a husband who is willing to teach for you when you can't get out of bed, it's even nicer if he doesn't have to do that for you.

And to assist in that, I painted my office a light green. The plummy-mauve was killing me. It wasn't enough that it was cold and gray outside, I had to have a dreary hole to work in? No more! Light green-a color that exists in nature, that might brighten my mood on some dark days. That's the hope, at least.

A couple weeks ago I got bored, so we made a trip down south and saw first Michael's family, then spent a day at camp and remembered how good it is to be with best friends, then spent a few days with my family. The house that I was dreaming about sold, so I'll have to find a new house to dream about, I guess. We're still tentatively planning to move to Nashville after this school year. Of course we want to follow God's plan, so we're planning with hope that this is God's plan.

Students arrive next Friday. Registration on Sunday. School starts Monday. The nightmares have begun. It's the initial plunge that's painful. By October I should be fine.

I finished four books this week. But no lesson plans.

Roma - Ciao!

The drive from Florence to Rome was beautiful. We saw many fortress cities - perched on the top of a hill, surrounded by a wall. It gave a new meaning to the verse about being like a city on a hill. You can't see much of anything but hills all around, and there is this city sitting like a crown on top of the hill. Quite impressive. There were also fields of sunflowers and mountains and many other beautiful things to see.

Rome had crazy traffic, like nothing I've ever experienced. Not in Costa Rica or Jamaica or Paris. Sometimes there were no dividing lines for lanes, so the cars just filled all the space possible, bottlenecking, until it broke out into two lanes, with lines. Then all five former lanes jam into that space. And if there isn't enough space on your side of the road, and no one is coming on the other side too soon, just drive over there. No big deal. And all the scooters and motorcycles weave between the cars. It was stressful. So after finally finding the airport (signs were not very helpful) we dropped off the car and took the train back into the city. Unfortunately, we didn't remember where our hotel was. So we had to ask a lady at a tourist information booth. We only knew the name of the hotel. She helped us and we got back safely.

The next day we took a bus tour of the city and saw many sights: Circo Massimo, the oldest standing theater, the Jewish Synagogue, Saint Peter's, Vatican City, the biggest dog ever (or small horse, if you prefer), the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We also happened upon the changing of the guard at Parliament. (?) We were just walking down the street, heard a band playing, and followed the music. There were lots of soldiers with guns.

The next day it was our mission to see the Coliseum and the Sistine Chapel. The Coliseum was very interesting, and of course, huge. Looking out of it and watching the cars whiz by, I wondered what it would be like to drive by the Coliseum on your way to work every day. It was just mind boggling. There are ruins that were buildings before Christ walked on earth. It was amazing. Because of a bus strike in the city that day we had to wait a long, long time for our tour bus, but finally we found one and went over to Vatican City and made the hike to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. We really just wanted to see the Sistine Chapel, but they don't let you do that. We went through dozens of rooms filled with sculptures, tapestries, paintings and other priceless works of art. Almost every ceiling was covered with paintings or frescoes. The amount of art was stunning. I couldn't even take it all in. Finally we got to the Sistine Chapel, where there was a guard yelling, "Please be quiet! No pictures!" Most people ignored him and talked as loud as they pleased and snapped pictures (some with the flash on). I'll admit that I held my camera down by my waist, pointed up and took a couple shots. But I turned my flash off. It was amazing and beautiful. Go see it for yourself. There are no words.

So after the Sistine Chapel we ate at a creperie, had some more gelato and headed back to our hotel. We had our very best gelato that night when we were out searching for food around 9:00 near our hotel. I had ciocolato and frute de bosco (chocolate and berry). We were tempted to go back as soon as we finished. We should have.

The next day we flew back to New York.

All in all our trip was amazing. We saw amazing things and walked a lot and ate a whole lot of gelato. I recommend the limone. Yum. We got really tired of pizza and pasta. We planned the whole trip on our own, and I think it was a smashing success, if I do say so myself. And now, the final pictures from our amazing European adventure!

A city on a hill



On our bus tour


Castle San Angelo - the Papal fortress


The changing of the guard


Inside the Pantheon


Us outside the Pantheon


Some nuns outside the Piazza Venezia - there were nuns all over the place in Rome


The entrance to the largest park in Rome


Some ruins


Us at St. Peter's


St. Peter's


The Trevi Fountain


Inside the Vatican Museum


Also inside the Vatican Museum


The Sistine Ceiling


Leaving the Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museum


The Coliseum


Us inside the Coliseum


Inside the Coliseum


Piazza Venezia - where Mussolini used to give his speeches. Impressive, no?