Scotland was LEGEND...wait for it...DARY!

Haaave you met Stefan? So, our theme of the Scotland trip was formed in Edinburgh by this German, Stefan. I guess it is not his fault that he looked so much like Neil Patrick Harris from How I met your Mother. We may have almost punished him for it. We met Stefan after the Free walking tour when we all went to a pub to eat. He happened to be in town because he had come for an interview for grad school and stayed through the weekend because flights were cheaper on Mondays. We got to entertain him though for much of the weekend, and that is what we did. At least I hope he was amused by our craziness...Sometimes you couldn't tell. I think that was the best part of him, you never knew what he was thinking of you. Many times he would give the "you have got to be the most ridiculous person in the world look", but the way I look at it, he must have liked us because he kept hanging out with us!
Now, because he looked so much like Neil Patrick Harris, we made him say one of his famous lines, but of course Stefan has a German accent and says it with much confusion. So funny! Legend...dary!

A wee bit o' Scotland- Edinburgh

Edinburgh is such a great city! Once we figured out how to say it without sounding like an American, or like a Brit, we fit in like a glove. We encountered such wonderful people there, starting with our bus driver who drove us to Edinburgh. I think he was amused by us and when I asked if he could just tell me when we had crossed over into Scotland, he replied, "Is this your first time? I can do even better. We'll pull the bus over and take pictures with a rock that sits on the border with ENGLAND on one side and SCOTLAND on the other." We really did appreciate this even as we walked back on the bus wind-blown to a bunch of people that I am quite certain were annoyed that they just wasted a minute of their life. 

The hostel that we stayed at was on the Royal Mile, which is the mile between the Edinburgh castle and Holyrood, which is where the Queen stays when she comes to visit. This was very convient because it was easy to walk around to all of the sights. Our hostel was very cosy and nice especially compared to the awful one we stayed at in London. We met some fun Germans, Miri and Thany, that stayed in our room and ended up spending a few evening out with them. 

For most of the trip we had the philosophy that if it wasn't free, it wasn't happening. Now, this sometimes resulted us in the People's Museum-yikes- but other times we got lucky and had a great time like the Free Walking Tour we went on. Our guide Mark took us around on a 3 hour tour around Edinburgh to historical things and we really learned a lot. Since he was working on tips, I think that he was much more committed than a guide normally would have been. Here are some of the places we saw...

This is Edinburgh Castle, probably the most recognizable building in Edinburgh.
Our hostel was not too far away, so we saw it a lot, sometimes at night.

During our tour we learned that wear this heart is used to be
a tax building. This is why there is a tradition to spit on it when
walking past. Our guide did tell us that many people don't know
this and end up thinking it is a cute heart and kneel down to
propose to their girlfriends. Little do they know they are kneel in a
bunch of spit! It was fun to see random locals walk by and spit!

This is one of the streets in the old part of Edinburgh. Back in the day this was considered the bad part of town. I really enjoyed the architecture there, and everything was so much cleaner than I am used to.

This is the cafe' that the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling used to go to write back in the day when she couldn't afford to have heating in her house on. They claim that she wrote the first two books while sitting in there. Funny to, is the school that the cafe' overlooks. It looks a bit like Hogwarts and her kids even attend this school now. The cemetery across the street also may have been the inspiration behind some of the character names. That, or it is a very huge coincidence many names are the same. 

This picture still cracks me up when I look back at it for many reasons. First of all, it is a statue of a dog- the MOST famous dog of all Edinburgh. Now, this dog, "Bobby" was famous because when his beloved owner died, he sat at his owners grave stone for 8 years. People loved this dog and he was treated like a celebrity. So much, that he has his own statue and children books. The second reason that I smile at this picture is because I am starting a new trend of rubbing the dog's toe or "paw" for good luck. One of the other statues on Royal Mile gets his toe rubbed by people for good luck. I really wanted to start and new trend, so that when I went back to Edinburgh in the years to come I can go and watch people rub Bobby's paw for luck. Sounded like a good idea to me, so every time we passed it Bobby got a good rub! 

Some of our new friends...Anna who happens to be Norwegian, Anna from Illinois, and Alex who is Canadian. Add German Stefan to the mix and you have a party!

This is St. Giles Cathedral. It was free to tour this, so of course we did. It was really pretty inside and it had a "Scottish" feel to it. There was even a carving of an angel playing the bag pipes which was cool. Though it was so small we had to ask someone where it was...

Well if you remember the 90's you most likely remember Dolly, the first cloned animal. Poor Dolly has since been stuffed and put on display...Remember how Leigh likes to try to touch things....another prime example!

Overall, we both really like Edinburgh. We met some great people, enjoyed walking around the city and were excited to see how the Scots don't mind being a little "Americanized". (there was macaroni and cheese entrees and baked potatoes instead of jacket potatoes on the menus) Our three days there were thoroughly enjoyed but we were excited to move on up north...

4M Flatties around the World!

Over the past couple of weeks, I have spent many hours organizing a project for the kids of 4M. For those of you who are familiar with the Flat Stanley books you will know that it is about a boy you is flattened by a bulletin board falling on him in the middle of the night. Because of Stanley's flatness, he is able to do incredible things and go on adventures, including going in the mail to visit family members. 

We are using this as a learning tool about other countries. After the kids decorated their flat people I arranged different countries for the kids to get sent on adventures. I have some amazing people helping me out and it turns out that they are going to 5 different continents. Whew! Talk about cool! I'm really excited about this project and so are the kids!

They wrote letter to the people they are sending them too and can't wait to hear back what they get to do while in that country. They kept asking me over and over, "Are you REALLY sending them?" They were even asking me as I was putting them in envelopes today! "Of Course!" I kept saying. I think they thought I was going to try to trick them! 

Hafsah, Ammar, Liam, Aisha, Uzair,  and Fayzah are going to visit Jane, Leigh's mom in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

Zishaan, Omar, Maryam, Usaid, Ayesha, and Nafisah are going to visit Melita in Germany. Melita is the wonderful mother of 2 of my past exchange students that lived with my family.

Afshan, Ayub, Nesreen, Anees, Shumrez, and Kamran are going to China to visit Nate. Nate is on the China radical journey team that is placed over there.

Neico, Samia, Ateeqa, Shammas, Haseeb, and Zakee are going to New Zealand to visit one of the girls that I spent a semester with, Karla. Karla has since married a Kiwi and is living in Auckland.

Amman, Mohamed, Tasneem, Shaunna, Aaqib, and Fahaad are going to visit my lovely cousin Kristen in South Africa. The kids are excited because Kristen is actually coming to England in June, so she will get to meet all the kids.

Leaving for Scotland in ONE WEEK!

Leigh and I leave for Scotland in one week and we are starting to get really excited! To get in the Scotland frame of mind, we listened to some wonderful traditional Scottish songs. I am loving this one:

(Of course you have to sing it in a Scottish accent...)

Donald, Where's Yer Troosers?

Just got in from the Isle of Skye

I'm not very big and I'm awfully shy

The lassies shout as I go by

Donald where's your troosers?

• Chorus:

Let the winds blow high,

Let the winds blow low,

Down the street in my kilt I go

And all the lassies say hello

Donald where's your troosers? 

A lassie took me to a ball

And it was slippery in the hall

I was afraid that I would fall

'Cause I didn't have on my troosers

• Chorus:

They'd like to wed me everyone

Just let them catch me if they can

You canna put the brakes on a highland man

Who doesn't like wearing troosers.

• Chorus:

To wear the kilt is my delight

It isn't wrong, I know it's right.

The highlanders would get afright

If they saw me in my troosers.

• Chorus:

Well I caught a cold and me nose was raw

I had no handkerchief at all

So I hiked up my kilt and I gave it a blow,

Now you can't do that with troosers.

• Chorus:

Meaning of unusual words:

troosers=trousers (or pants in the US)

The food chain of my Life...

As I walk down the hill from church my mind starts racing. I have a few groceries in tow that I just picked up after church but the thing that gets me thinking is the fact that I am carrying them in my Susan's tote bag, "Where flowers are always special". 

I think back to when I was in Jr. High and High school on how I pictured my life back then. I must admit, back then I thought that it would be normal for me to find the love of my life in college and "life" would start then. With my big birthday coming up this year- the BIG 25…( I know many of you are probably cringing, but think back to when you were 25 and how you felt) it's hard not to reflect on the things I have done and the relationships I have made.

I am a big believer in the thought that "everything happens for a reason" and the God wouldn't give you what you couldn't handle. Because of this, I have no regrets and once I start thinking of the order of the things that have happened in my life, there is no way I could regret something. For example, if I had never come back to Wichita State, I would never had the opportunity to go to Belize on a class trip which I credit to have started my travel bug. Belize also resulted me in the friendship with Michelle who traveled Europe and Yellowstone with me too! Had I not had that awful cold sore that fall in art class, would I ever have a best friend in Sarah, and the extended family that she and her family has become?
As I glance at my Susan's bag I think about getting that job and remember that I had known one of the girls, Debbie who had just started there. I had worked with her at Dillons, but if she hadn't been there or I had never volunteered to work at her store, would I have gotten the job at Susan's and met all of those incredible people? I would have never met Nat either who I hope is a lifer (life-long friend) or Nicole who brings a smile to my face:) I think about all of the people that I met in New Zealand and my good ole' friends that I love so much. I almost didn't even go to New Zealand. I was fighting to try to go to school in England, Manchester to be exact, but they wouldn't let me study there for a semester like Wichita State was requiring me to do. Would I have grown so close to Paige, Megan, Dallas, David and the rest of you American New Zealanders if I had stayed in my original room they assigned me in the other tower? Megan you brought me frisbee and all of those great times, but would you if we hadn't added you to that trip to the Northland? Great Times!

Gosh, this is making me think! God really has taken great care of me in my adventures. At the times, where people make me feel uncomfortable and bad for not being married with a kid on the way, I think of all the people that have been in my life. I am so truly blessed. 

I would not have been able to come to England without all of the support from my family and from my church family. I would not have met all of these people here. June, knowing you is someday going to get me to Norway, which I am excited about! And Abby, you are going to be my British lifer (British life-long friend)! 

This could go on and on, and I could write about every single person in my life that I have known. When I think back on my life like this, 25 doesn't seem that bad. I have gotten to do so many things, crossed much off of my goal list, and met some pretty amazing people! 

Polish Paper Cuts

What a wonderful workshop! I was suppose to be going on this art adventure with Angie who used to be an art teacher, but she ended up leaving town for the weekend to visit her son. Because of this I took my friend from school Abby with me to the workshop. I had no idea what to expect… All I knew was that we would be learning Polish paper cutting at Cartwright Hall in Lister Park and that was it.
It ended up being a lot of fun. When we got there we were a bit early so we had a look at the exhibition that was there on Polish Paper Cuts. That was intimidating, but exciting to see what we were going to try to do.

I most start by saying, our Instructor was legit. She was a Polish women, dressed in a traditional Polish dress, speaking Polish and no English. Lucky for us, she had a translator to help us. Apolonia was her name and she was amazing. Everything that she did she made it look easy as pie and she did it with shears! We were required to cut with tiny scissors that the kids at school use which made it more challenging, but I think we still accomplished a lot considering.
We started out by making a circular pattern that is very similar to the snowflakes we make around Christmas time, but more intricate and with better designs. My favorite translated quote of the day was, "If you have psychological problems this truly calms you down." That made me chuckle.
After that technique she showed us how to do another symmetrical cut. Of course she did hers in 5 minutes and it was perfect. Ours took much longer, and we not perfect, but she was actually very impressed. She kept saying that our class was the best class that she had had there at the museum- well, she said it in Polish… I did a lot of smiling that day because I had no idea what she was saying! ahah! She did come over at one point and ask if I was an artist. Unfortunately, I was discovered. I felt like Monica in the T.V. show friends when she goes to a cooking class even though she was a professional chef. She finally gets outed and then it is less impressive.
She had asked me what I was doing here, and after explaining through interpreter that I was here volunteering in school but used to be a florist, she was excited to show me how to make the crepe paper flowers, and I was really excited to learn how to make them. I have a list of materials that I know how to make flowers out of and I was excited to add crepe paper to that list.
She was only going to teach us a few, but we were such a good class, as the interpreter explain that she taught us 7 or so different flowers. She kept going because she didn't want to stop until we were there 30 minutes past our time. I didn't mind though! It was really funny our interpreter just kept saying, "she wants to show you another one…" and "ok, she is going to show you one that her mother used to do, but I have not even seen." I felt honored that she continued for so long and I am excited to make all of the different kinds!
Overall, I am so glad that I went and I loved the company from Abby! Afterwards she even introduced me to a Cornish Pasty and a weird cookie called a....dunno. I'm sure she will enlighten me soon! Hopefully I can go to other events like that in the future! Angie missed out, but next time I expect you to join! :)

Scrap-booking on a Large Scale

 I think that every person that participates in this year of volunteer service through Radical Journey wants to feel useful to the people in our immersion locations. Luckily, I have been blessed with a wonderful team of teachers surrounding me that I respect immensely. I always want to be helpful and never a burden. That is hard sometimes to know your boundries, to know what is expected of you, and to follow through on everything. I sometimes find myself in the way or leaving things in weird spots around the classroom. I do get worried...
BUT...
The teachers have discovered my special skills- art skills that is. Because of this, I get to do art things the majority of the time, which is the best and easiest thing for me. Art and crafty things come natural to me and if I can take that worry off of someone else, it is a win for me. Recently I have been helping Linda by doing a lot of the boards around the room. When I think about it, it is basically like I am making a giant scrapbook page.







My favorite board that I've made, was the board about Kenya. Year 4 is looking into and learning about Kenya. This past week they were writing persuasive letters on whether to vacation in Kenya or not. Much of their work has focused in some way on Kenya and the culture. What a blast! I am loving school!
...And the best part....
These board are an easy way to impress all the kids, even if it is just for a bit!