Take a walk with me...

Not MY best picture, but the scenery is pretty!  HaHa!

First, let me begin by wishing my little brother, Garrett, the BEST 24^th birthday! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you.

I went out to get my laundry this morning and there was music playing from one of the other flats nearby. The first song I heard this morning was Eminem’s “Love The Way You Lie.” That has to mean it’s going to be a good day, right? HaHa!

Joanne and I decided to walk this pathway to what we were told was the top of the village. I’m not quite sure we went high enough or even went on the correct path, but we made it a little ways up & got a few decent pictures (I think). This path was very steep and was quite a daunting task, especially for someone in my shape. HaHa! J I am going to try to do this walk a couple times a week. Beautiful scenery and a little workout… can’t really complain. Anyway, we sweat our way up the mountain side (the trip down was much more pleasant, haha!) and once we hit the bottom, we went on this path next to a stream and into the trees. THIS might be the walk I take a little more regularly. I tried to take some pictures, so please enjoy. I hope they do it a little bit of justice. There were some very pretty waterfalls hidden deep into the trees. The water is very clear and pretty cold. We walked for quite a ways on a path that took us through the trees, up stairs, and over bridges. We stopped before the path ended and made our way back to the village. The paths we took were just on the south end of the village (I think that’s the direction… I’m all sortsa confused here!). I’m hoping to take it at night sometime when the sun is setting. I imagine it will be quite the view. I’ll let you know when that happens and definitely post pictures when I do.

The view from the top...

I am in olive country... there are literally thousands of trees all over this area!

Another view with the surrounding mountains

A snapshot of what I got to walk by on our walk

How pretty is this?!

I’ve been here just over a full week so far. I haven’t ventured outside the village but a couple times to Jaen. I’ve got plenty of time to explore. I’m also waiting on the whole getting paid thing. I have money and I’m doing fine, but I don’t want to run out before we start getting paid. They said it could be December before we get our first paycheck, so I need to be very aware of what I spend. Things are pretty cheap here, so it really shouldn’t be an issue, but still… you can never be too careful. I will probably wait for a steady income before I do too many trips (ones that are farther away, especially).

I miss Sunday Funday and football! I heard the Chiefs won a game! Who woulda thought?! That’s one thing I haven’t got to watch any of. There are no places in the village to watch games and there are no buses that run on Sunday in or out of the village, so I’m pretty much stuck here. Oh well, there are worse things than missing football, I suppose. J I also hear K-State is stepping their game up. I sure hope they keep it up! I will, always and forever, bleed purple, even in another country where K-State is unheard of. J (I did meet a guy at our orientation last Thursday that was wearing a Chiefs t-shirt! He’s from Missouri… thought that was kinda cool!)

I want to take a chance to give a little shout out to my bestie, Amber. She made these journals for me before I left that have pictures of my family on the front and on every single page, it says, “I am always with you. Love, A” I take one of the with me at all times for notes and reminders about my day. I love them!! And, the keychain you had made for me is on my house key for the flat I am living in. It has a picture of Mom & I on one side and Lynnon on the other. It’s a great reminder to have on me at all times! I love you, Amber DeAnna! And thank you!!

Ok, sorry, had to put that out there. J I am not sure what the rest of the day has in store. The whole siesta concept is pretty awesome. Maybe I’ll nap and then head to the ice cream shop (where they have free wireless internet). Tomorrow, we start school again. Wednesday is their labor day here, so we have a free day. I have yet to have a full week’s worth of work. Tomorrow, we have a class from 4:30 to 5:30 where we teach the teachers? English. I’m not sure how that’s going go, but we’ll see!! HaHa! I hope this entry finds you all well!

EMAW <3 J
CHIEFS <3 J