Hello again, so I've once again fell behind in my blogging (surprise!) but I'm here to say I'm very much planning to catch up! I have devoting some time to my blog daily as part of my list this week and I think I have the time and the commitment to do it. And now I have the words written as well, which makes me accountable to more than just some ink on a paper which I can frequently talk my way out of :P Anyway, so much has happened since my last post I'll start with a general overview, because many of these deserve individual posts and I hope to give them.

So, if I'm not mistaken, my last post was pre-girls conference. We, about 15 volunteers, each took a group of girls to Mbeya for a 4.5 day girls empowerment conference. All in all we had almost 70 girls. Topics ranged everywhere from goal setting to social expectations to.......ladies health education. It's interesting to see the way culture affects the empowerment of women and while in theory girls are often "able" to achieve what they dream, the practical side of things tells a different story. I'll go through this week with its own post and pictures but for now I'll leave you with an internet scavenger hunt. There is on the internet somewhere a video of the volunteers dancing "All the Single Ladies" at the talent show.

Following the conference was a few days of downtime which included a hike of Loleza Peak, the third highest mountain in the region. I fully intend to complete the two coming in ahead of it in the future but when that occurs I'm not sure.

Then, Michael Garrett arrived taking the claim of my first international visitor. It was nice to see someone from home and share the wonderful world of southern Tanzania. I was initially unsure of what exactly I wanted to do during the week of his stay but it turned out to be highly successful as we reached the Bridge of God, climbed halfway up Loleza, saw Utengule, and finally Matema Beach. I've realized that in terms of the Mbeya checklist, I really only need a meteorite, a second crater lake, and two mountains to hit the big ones. We were fortunate to share our Matema time with friends including another PCV from Mali! I had intended to add pictures to this section/post as well but unfortunately we did not get to share photos and my camera was mostly inactive.

At the end of the week we traveled to Morogoro to see my host family. They were, as always, the most incredible hosts and went well over the top in terms of sleeping arrangements, food, and service. We got a ride back to the bus stand and then my host brother called a friend who picked us up at the main stand in Dar es Salaam and took us around for the day. But, as all luck must balance out, my attempt to leave the country that night failed. While this trip will be detailed much more (probably too much more) thoroughly in the dedicated post I can say that KLM kicked me off my flight and delayed me almost a full day because of airplane troubles, although they did try to make it up by putting me up, all food and room paid for, in the DoubleTree on the bay :P

When I finally did get out of the country and to Venice, I found myself on one of the most beautiful 10 day vacations I could imagine (locations and girl included!). For those who don't know, Katie and I went on a cruise out of Venice as a graduation gift/vacation/reuiniting endeavor. We traveled Venice to Dubrovnik, Croatia, to Venice (for those poor 3-day cruisers), to Olympia, Greece, to Corfu, Greece, to Kotor, Montenegro, to Split, Croatia, to Trieste, Italy, and back to Venice. Yes, I have been to Montenegro! Have you? :P I've heard of the beauties of Greece for many years but I never could have imagined the beauty in that region of the world, especially Montenegro. It was unbelievable and fairy-tale-esque and I thoroughly reccomend a visit. I could write on this topic forever but that's what the next few days are for.

And alas, now I am back. I'm sitting in my bed, with my three cats curled up and warming my legs. It's raining outside, as it is always here, and I'm debating a Chuck episode. So things are settling back down, which is good. I know there are any number of cliches about knowing more once you leave something, but it is true for sure. I don't know that I have things worked out yet, in fact, I probably never will, being a planner who always wants to tweak. But I do feel much more comfortable than I did 3 days ago, and intensely more comortable than I did a year ago. I think right now (as in the second I'm writing this because these sorts of feelings change every 20 seconds or so for me) I'm more comfortable with the uncertainty of the specifics. We shall see, but after one day back in the classroom, I'm feeling intensely better about the future!

So look for more updates to come. Two specific posts and then hopefully more consistent maintenance after that. Thanks for reading! May God Bless you and keep you :)