The heading on my last post
referred to the brutally hot weather we were having at the time. Well, many weeks have passed and we finally have a
break in the weather. For the last four
days it has been perfect. Highs have remained
in the low eighties with cool nights and mornings. There has even been a breeze…something that
was absent for months. While the
forecast does show more heat on the way, these past few days have been a
blessing.
I did get to take a vacation
since the last posting also. I headed to
Ireland for 11 days.
The choice of
destinations admittedly was influenced by the temperatures throughout much of
the rest of Europe. Ireland offered the
attraction of cool comfortable days. The
chance to eat some American style food was also a treat. Of course Ireland is a great place to
vacation no matter the reason and other than two nights in Dublin, we spent
most of our time exploring smaller towns with their small hotels and many
B&B’s. I think just about every
resident has a B&B license in some of the cities.
Driving on the right was an
experience. Nearly pulled directly into
oncoming traffic n day two, but from then on caution and experience resulted in
no further close calls. I was actually quite
used to it by the time we returned the car to the agency. Not willing to risk both the new view of the
road AND shifting with my left hand, I chose an automatic. That is where they get you here as it was
nearly double the price of the standard and accounted for a big chunk of my
spending.
July, August and to some extent,
September are big vacation months here just as they are back home. The difference is that the people here tend
to take much longer breaks, sometimes a month at a time. Rather than breaking up their earned
vacations, most tend to use it for a long break.
There has been nothing exciting
happening on the work front. I did
finally receive the money for the playground we will build in the village
nearby and the drawing was completed last week.
So, that should be underway and hopefully finished for the opening of
the kindergarten next door from where we will build it.
Along with a couple of other
volunteers, I hope to have some interesting work come September.
My site mate, a young lady
assigned to the local high school decided to return home after serving eleven months. She was homesick. She was a teacher but had a greater impact on
the dozen or so young ladies she had in a dance class she offered. They will miss her, but these kids are
resilient too.
Hopefully there will be a
volunteer assigned to the local elementary school this time. The younger kids could use the exposure to we
Americans and the school has a great staff that would enthusiastically welcome
the help.
The week, I will attend what is
called the COS conference for my group of volunteers, the Mk 15’s. COS is the acronym (they have lots of them in
the PC) for close of service. The
group that I arrived with in September of w2010 will be leaving soon, starting
in October and all will be gone by the end of November. I was offered the choice of attending this year’s
or next year’s conference and decided to go this year. It will give me an opportunity to say goodbye
to my group, even though I will stay for an additional nine months. There are three or four from my group who
have decided to extend their service for an additional 12 months as well. They do it for various reasons ranging from
work to complete, love interests, nothing at home, etc. I judge not and welcome the company.
I have recently decided on my
next two trips. I hope to squeeze in 5
or 6 days in Croatia at the end of this month and will spend 12 days in Greece
in mid September. That will leave me
the option of two weeks in the states around the Holidays if I decide to visit
home. I suppose that will depend on what
is going on here at the time, how much the outrageous flights are at the time,
and if I have a place to stay. Time will tell.
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