Christmas Letter 2009

Merry Christmas (unfortunately it will not allow me to type the 8 different ways to say Merry Christmas from the 8 different countries I visited this year!
I had a busy year. It was been truly memorable. I did cover a lot of ground here in Greece too. Highlights were Monamvasia, Meteora, Delphi, Porto Heli, Nafplio.
For Easter I went to visit my friend Natasha (Price) Sewell in Germany. We met at St. Francis Episcopal Day School –my first job! Then I went over to Amsterdam – hit the Keuhenhof Gardens at peak time the thousands of tulips were gorgeous.
In June I went to Budapest, Hungary. I had a wonderful mud bath and thermal bath! At the end of June mom came over and we went to the island of Naxos.
Beginning of July, a friend from Costa Rica (Stefanie from OK) came over for a week and we saw Delphi and went to the island of Mykonos! Mid July my good high school friend Adele and her husband John and their 3 year old daughter came over for a week. We hit mainland places in Greece – on the Peloponnese.
August I went on my dream vacation of an African safari in Tanzania. I saw the Big Five animals (buffalo, rhino, elephant, lion and leopard) and tons more. What an experience this was – -truly unbelievable! I even went on a hot-air balloon ride – gliding over the Serengeti as the sun rises, is not too shabby!!!! Then I volunteered with the Maasai people – another fantastic experience.
I have had constant communication since I left Tanzania to help support the children attending these schools. My current students and the elementary school have raised enough money to sponsor 5 of the students. This money raised will pay for 5 girls’ room, board, supplies and education. I, myself, have also sponsored a girl.

End of August, my friend Suzanne (from Stone Ridge) came to visit for 2 weeks. The first week we went to the Miller’s place in Provence, France and then went to the Greek island Santorini.
At the end of September, I went to Munich, Germany to participate in the traditional Oktoberfest! That was a lot of beer!
For Thanksgiving, I went to Cairo, Egypt and saw the amazing Pyramids. Riding the camel was a definite highlight!
And now in 3 days I will be loading on another plane to head back to the United States! There was some doubt if I was going to make due to the threat of British Airways but hopefully now it will be smooth sailing. I am going to my parents’ house in SC. We will celebrate Christmas there but then head to Disney World where we will meet up with my sister and her family. I haven’t seen them since August 2008! I am sure I will be shocked on how much Austin and Heidi will have grown. We will do Disney for 5 days and go visit my grandmother. Unfortunately my grandfather passed away in October, so it will be a difficult time for Grandma. They were married for 63 years!
I can’t believe I am already in my second year in Greece. So the big question is what are am I going to do next year? I am attending a job fair in London at the end of January and I hope to find another job in Western Europe. I am not quite ready to move back to the states – so this may give some of you another opportunity for you to visit me! We will see what 2010 has in store for me!
I wish you all a happy holidays! I hope that 2010 brings you joy, laughter, adventure and wonderful memories.