Graduation

Welp, last Friday I officially graduated with my Master's! It's been a crazy journey at times...
4 years and 4 months later!

-1 car run into the ground
-3 different jobs
-6 new nieces and nephews
-11 new languages studied
-19 countries visited (15 for the first time)
-way too many books read, papers written
-a handful of genuine, lifelong friends made

 
Praise Him for this period of my life! Looking forward to what's next!

Catching Up

A lot has happened so far in 2015...

-I had the chance to spend 2 weeks in Thailand in January finishing some coursework for my Master's and reconnecting with other friends doing the program. It was a very encouraging time!

-We opened our English center "English Together" in the beginning on February and started off with nearly 30 students

-I turned 30...how did I get so old so fast?

-I've had the chance to travel a bit, including getting to see some beautiful parts of this country

-I had friends visit me for about a week, getting to see this country up close and personal

-I've slowly but surely made progress in Arabic and my friendships are getting more solid

-I've gone through some of the most challenging days of my life, but I've seen how God is always faithful

Now I'm realizing how fast time is flying and how the next 5 months will slip away before I know it! I'm trying to be 100% here, but I am also starting to look at some options for the next great adventure...

ONE YEAR

At this hour exactly one year ago, I was heading to my new apartment in Tierra Seca. It has been a crazy adventure since that day! Also exactly 6 months ago today I had just arrived to Rio Grande. Since arriving in the  Middle East on December 28th (technically 29th), 2013 it has been one of the most interesting years of my life. As I look at 2015, I think things are only going to get crazier! But it's really late and right now I'm going to get some sleep.

Next up: reflections on and/or highlights of the past year

Getting the Hang of It

I feel like finally, after nearly three months, I'm getting the hang of things here. And slowly but surely Rio Grande is growing on me.

I had an awesome chance to travel back to the States for my brother's wedding for a week (which flew by) and then come back here, entering the country for the second time. But this time I had an apartment, knew some people, knew my way around the city a bit...but I still had little idea of what day-to-day life was like.

I'm starting to get it; I'm starting to get into a routine, make some more friends, and the new dialect has finally fully clicked- I'm speaking the Rio Grande version of Arabic as good as, or better than, the Tierra Seca version...(2.5 months later)...and I'm happy. It took me a while, but I'm starting to just be content with where I am in life, even though I don't know what the future holds. And I'm finally starting to get the hang of it.

كشرى

KOSHِARI

This stuff is a local specialty, and it is delicious. I've had it twice now, but I plan on making it a normal part of my diet.

It consists of two kinds of pasta, lentils, chick peas, tomato sauce, and sometimes rice, fried onions, and hot sauce. All mixed together. Love it.

One Month

I've been here just over a month and I still have no idea what normal life is going to be like. I arrived on Day 1 of the Month of Fasting, so life has been different for everyone. I don't have anything to compare it to yet, so I've just been going with flow. That means:

- No eating outside during the day. I wasn't participating, so I ate during the day, but it meant a lot of eating at home. I don't really know how to cook, so my food options were limited: cereal, soup, sandwiches...and when I wanted to get fancy, chicken with beans and rice.

- People stay up late. This country is very noisy as it is, but this month (though maybe always) the noise extends well into the wee hours of the morning. As a night owl myself, it didn't bother me. I just used all the activity as a reasonable excuse for staying up late and sleeping in.

- Meeting people is an interesting process. Part of the month everyone is with his or her family, part of the month they're all out and about. Fortunately the second half of the World Cup overlapped with the Fast and it was a great way to meet guys at the local cafes. It was also a great way to get humiliated if you are walking from one cafe to another wearing a Brazil jersey while they're losing 7 to 0 (then later, the not much better 7 to 1).

- It's hard to know when things are open- or if they are even do open. A bit tricky when you're in the process of moving into a new apartment.

The people here are friendly and I'm looking forward to getting a bit more into a routine. Hopefully that will help put me in contact with more guys with more chances to make new friends while we are preparing to launch our new English School.

Which, by the way, is why I'm here- I will be an English teacher for the next year or so in a new center that I'm helping some friends to open. More news to come as we get the final preparations done!

...Hello Rio Grande

I had hoped to write this blog sooner, but I haven't internet the past couple of days. I've been here for over a week now, and I'm getting settled in.

I've gotten introduced to and somewhat oriented in my new home as well as the capital city a few hours away. The look here is different than anything I've seen. Two major pluses: it's a lot greener here than Tierra Seca and the buildings have much more color. They're covered in brown dust...but underneath you can still see that at least they were more colorful!

I moved in to my new apartment with the BEST view in town, overlooking a big river.

It's the month of fasting so it's hard to know what day to day life is actually like- it will all change in about two weeks. But it's been fun going out at night and watching the World Cup in local cafes and going to bed late. And sleeping in late since nothing really happens around here early in the morning.

The people are friendly and the local dialect of Arabic is not so different from what I was speaking before, so I'm able to have conversations with people more or less.

More to come as this new adventure gets underway!