Summer Plans

I haven't got a lot of new things to put up on my blog yet. I do have some great news about my summer plans though!! Geoff and I are heading to Peru to a town in the Andes called Huancayo for 4 weeks to volunteer at a couple of schools. We are working with an organization called Tinkuy Peru www.tinkuyperu.com). Very excited! 5 weeks of work left!!!

Geoff's Surprise

It was a whirl wind- I had just come back from Canada and was getting over jet lag, and Geoff had just got back from a week in Turkey and then the surprise came! First a birthday dinner at Johnny Corino's (bottom picture). Shanti was nice enough to bring a sombraro, green wig, and pink boa which Geoff had no problem posing in. Then I gave him his birthday present- a trip to Dubai to stay with Dan and Rena leaving the following day. We were very tired but had a fantastic time chilling on the the beach and eating unhealthy food with Megan and Mark. It was a great time!

Jordan

Day One: Arrive in Jordan at 4am!!! Get a rented car and drive the renter 20 minutes to his car (sounds sketch, I know, but perfectly safe). Drive to Jerash where there are some awesome Roman Ruins. Sleep in the car for an hour before park opens. 6:30am- Emma throwing up violently in the parking lot. We leave Jerash without seeing the ruins as I needed to clean-up and sleep. NO big deal.... Drive to Petra... Get to Petra around noon and I crash big time, and so does Char as neither of us have slept. Got up and drove around town and went to the Movenpick for dinner (soup for me)... early night for us both

Day two: Up at 7am for breakfast and an early start to Petra- Indiana Jones style! What better way to see Petra on Donkeys, Camels, and horses! Such an incredible place to see! The treasury was incredible (no holy grail though). We took donkeys up to the monastry where we sat and had tea with the locals, listened to music, and chatted (picture of my face in the tent with the monastary outside). I have to say, Jordanians are REALLY nice people! After lots of walking, tasting local food, drinking tea, and picking up Australian guys (Charlotte, not me!), we drove to the Dead Sea

Day Three: Movenpick/ Spa experience! So we went in the dead sea, even though it was fairly cold, and floated away. Unfortunately I had left my camara in the hotel, so I only have pictures of the sea from afar. Char and I spent a chilled afternoon having full body salt scrubs, mud wraps, oriental massage, and hair oil treatments... life is hard.

Bye-Bye, Jordan!

Jordan Pictures

India- December 27-Jan 4th

Over the holidays Geoff and I got to go to Goa, India! We had an absolutely fantastic time soaking up the sun on the beach, throwing around the frisbee, scootering around town to town, volunteering at Children Walking Tall (www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com).
The atmosphere in Goa is so relaxed, and the people are so friendly. Our hotel was quite nice for Goa standards. The food is DELICIOUS and cheap- two very good things! The beaches were right by our hotel, and we spent a couple of days hanging out there. We were in a town called Anjuna, and a lot of our evenings were spent at a place called 'The German Bakery'. It is a really cool place set in the trees, with trans music, games (there was a lot of chess played), great food, and SUPER people. We met up with Tim (English) and Falcon (Maltese, but lives in England), Glenda (Ecuador), and Juniper (Glenda's daughter who lives in the States). Great people, great times.
Geoff and I also had the oportunity to go to Children Walking Tall, where Geoff volunteered last summer, and we got a tour from Robert (in a picture below the the children) through the slums. It was so fascinating. The children were very excited to see Geoff again, and I made some little friends as well.
NEW YEARS! The best ever! Picture it: On a beach, big bonfire, bar, music, waves, and fireworks for over an hour!!! We had a WICKED time!
Overall, the trip was an incredible one filled with adventure

India Photos- I know, about time!!

Dubai (again)

Being as Geoff got us both free flights to Dubai with hisLufthunsa points, we decided to have one more little getaway at a 5 star resort (fortunately it was 'low' season because of the heat). Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa- photo from our private beach!
Overlooking the beach

Enjoying the swimming pool.

Having a couple of drinks at the bar, and Geoff enjoying the view from the top of on of the hotel towers. The land that you can see in the background is the making of the Palm Tree Island, and the other photo is the view of the resort from above. Our apartment was right beside the pool!

Winding Down the Year

So.... it is coming to an end; the first year in Kuwait. I have to say I have really enjoyed my first year here, and am looking forward to next year. I think that there will be a lot more going on next year. I am planning on playing netball, working at a stable once a month, dance lessons with Geoff, and hopefully soccer will pick up again.

I have some pictures of Dubai, as Geoff and I went to a 5 star resort a couple of weeks ago (free flights and low season!), so I will try and post those up in the next couple of days before I leave for Ireland... watch out Andrea, here I come! Lots of beer and football... GO ENGLAND! Then, it is off to England where there will more beer and football, and 30th birthday celebrations- John, you are getting old!

I will hopefully see everyone soon, whether in England, Ireland, or Canada... I can't wait!

Update

People have been asking me for a picture of Geoff and I. Here is a recent one, it was taken last week at a party. Everything is going well here. I bought a car. Auditioned for 'Chicago', made it, but the show has been cancelled due to the lack of males. Other than that, I have a break next week. I am not going anywhere, just relaxing. I am looking forward to Dublin and England before arriving home to see everyone!! Not long now...

The Climb to Gilman's Point!

Our trip has begun. 6 female teachers... 3 weeks in Tanzania. The first leg of the trip was Kilimajaro... the 6 day trek to the summit. What an incredibly physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting experience, but what an experience. Would I do it again? Probably not. But I would never take this experience back. We spent hours hiking each day... the least was three hours, the most, well the most was 14 hours, that was the summit climb. We trekked 4 hours to Kibo Hut, the base of the final climb to the top of Kilimanjaro. We have to sleep for as long as we could once we arrived there, only waking up to eat dinner (very difficult sleeping in the middle of the day in burning hot tents). We got up at 11pm to start our climb at midnight. We arrived back to Kebo at 10am the next morning... I only had about 15 minutes rest at the top. THEN we had to sleep for three hours, get up and hike another 4 hours! Exhuasting? I'd say! But we did it. ALL six of us. ALL kept eachother's spirits high. It was magical!

Susan, Naomi, Char, Chantele, Sarah, and I....

SAFARI- Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti

What an incredible adventure! We saw the big five (even though the rhinos were quite far). My favourite animals to see had to be the giraffes, which are so incredibly beautiful, monkeys- which are just so much fun to watch, and the leopard and its three cubs. The hippo's and zebra's were pretty cool too. The trip was quite an adventure, with our car breaking down for four hours, monkeys jumping in our truck and stealing our trail mix, a bush pig ripping through the tent beside us in the middle of the night, and almost being trampled by an elephant!

This is how close we were to the leopard.... pretty cool!

At this point we are all sitting on top of the vehicle. We could hear the lions breathing, we were that close!

Right beofre this picture was taken, this elephant (which is stroling around our campsite) tried to charge me. Char kept saying 'get closer!', when his ears went up that is when I stopped- but then I heard him make a funny noise and gave a half-assed charge. We all ran like crazy!

A cool picture of the many zebras we saw.

These Hippos were mourning the death of a little baby, no more than a week old. They actually had tears rolling down their face. It was really sad.

Aren't they beautiful?

This picture truned out qite cool, I thought. All the storks in the water. And underneath a beautiful sunset in the Serengeti.

ZANZIBAR

Our time in Zanzibar was the final leg of the trip. We stayed in Stone Town for two nights, where we did a bit of shopping, went on a tour of the town, and ate at fun restaurants. One of the days Sarah, Naomi, and I took a dolphin trip and tour of Jozani National park to see the Red Columbus Monkeys, which are only found in Zanzibar.

On the boat on the way to jump in the water with the dolphins!

Look at the beautiful beach!

The Red Columbus monkey that almost peed on my head! We could walk right up to them!

After Stone Town and our adventures with the animals, we moved up to the northern part of Zanzibar where we frolicked in the sea, soaked up the sun, went snorkling, and played frisbee. In other words... RELAXED!

Here is Char and I chillin' on the beach.

Here is a picture of where we were staying taken from a boat.