Valentine's Day!

This year I had a really good Valentine's Day!  

The day before I did a very special package pick-up with my class!  To view pictures, you can click here.  I made these cookies totally from scratch (first time ever) for my kiddos!

Here are the funniest Valentine cards I got from my students!  Click on them to make them bigger! 

And turn your head for this one... sorry!

Then for dinner, I was invited to a bonfire on the beach!  What fun was that!  There was a full moon and it was absolute gorgeous weather!  Spending Vday with friends is a great way to spend this holiday!

I love you all very much!

My dearest friends in Tunisia

I have been very blessed with some great friends who I can go to with anything, be real with, laugh about everything with, cry with, come to in a panic, and just enjoy spending time with them!  Below are my closest friends in Tunis!  I don't know what I would do without these people!

This is my family here that I truly feel a part of: The Basus: Michele, Roshan, Romen, Tito

I babysit for them whenever they need me and I love their two boys so much!  But more than anything, I feel like I am a part of their family!  I stay and chat with Michele and Tito after they get home when the boys are in bed.  I know that they would be there anytime I needed them and for that I am very grateful!

Joni is the one who is always willing to do anything with me!  She lives in Lac 2- her apartment building is across from mine.  She rides to school with me, we go to the market and Carrefour on the weekends, have sushi and movie nights on Fridays after a long week, and much more fun adventures (like Dougga).  She is so good with Zoe and that means the world to me! 

Oh Cheryl!  She is the one I can go to with anything and everything!  She is a great listener and gives the best advice.  She also lets me come to things on my own.  We are so real with each other and I truly appreciate her friendship.  She is also my Wednesday swimming buddy!   Her dog Zelda and my dog, Zoe are good friends and actually get along quite well!  I don't know what I would do without her!

Laura lives in the apartment building right near mine and her library (she's the librarian) is right across the hallway from my classroom!  Therefore we see each other a lot and go to each other with qualms, rants, funny stories, gossip, advice, tears, and just plain old friendship!  She is my go-to and real friend!  We have been friends since our first day in Tunis (plus we both turn 30 this year so we are growing "old" together! hehe!)!

Angie is our music teacher at school whose friendship I really cherish!  We are very similar in our humor and can be totally real with each other!  She does not judge but is honest.  We have so much fun together and can be totally silly together.  I appreciate how she will always share her true feelings with me no matter what hard times she is going through.  Angie's humor is my favorite!

A Day in Dougga

Today I went to Dougga with some friends from ACST!  I love these people so much so it is always so much fun to spend time outside of work (where we are stress free and a bit more relaxed)!  Dougga is Roman ruins located about 2 hours from Tunis.  It was an easy drive up there and I look forward to going again in the Spring time when the wildflowers are in bloom even more!  The ruins were just breathtaking as were the fields around them!  It reminded me a lot of Ireland!  Oh and I brought Zoe too and she did GREAT!  She loved climbing on everything (the stairs did not scare her one bit) and was great with my babysitting boys!  I was very impressed and very proud of her!  Great views with great friends made this a great Sunday! 

Me and my babysitting boys 

(I was blessed to spend most of my time with them and loved every minute of climbing around with them!)

Romen so tall!

Tito (the dad of the boys I babysit for), Joni (my weekend buddy who lives in the Lac with me), and Susan (from NC and the director of learning)

Roshan climbing on fallen pillars

Our ACST crew on the steps of one of the ruins

Joni and the pillars

The hole down into the aqueducts 

 

What remains of the aquaducts

See where the carts rolled down (you can even see their tracks)

Joni and Zoe (they are becoming buds)

Joni, Cheryl and Zelda, Me and Zoe

Katie, Lauren (Katie's mom who is in town visiting... and she reads my blog), and David

Lauren made it to the top of the amphitheater!

A window up in the amphitheater 

Laura and Jeff in their picnic hiding spot

Sheep and their shepherd 

Romen and Roshan with the ruins

Roshan in an arch

Sweet lambs

Katie at the bottom of the amphitheater

A mosque we stopped to see on our way out of town

Relaxing and Rejuvenating Weekend

This weekend was just what I needed after a very rough work week!  There were no huge adventures or out of town trips but I got to spend time with friends and feel productive!  I was able to get things done that I have been wanting to do for quite some time!  I feel well rested and ready (prayerfully) for a week ahead! Here are some random pictures of the weekend!

This view of the Mediterranean Sea in La Marsa never gets old

Laura and I ate at a restaurant in La Marsa for lunch on Saturday.  We explored the other levels and found they had a whole floor where no smoking was allowed!  That is unheard of in Tunisia!

So I have a new obsession... blood oranges!  They are in full bloom this season and cost about a dinar (60 cents) per kilo.  So I stock up!  While I bake with them some or make smoothies, my current favorite thing is fresh orange juice!  I got an electric juicer and use it at least once a day!  There is nothing like fresh squeezed orange juice!

The inside of a blood orange (some are redder than others)

View of my school from the US Embassy

Today I swam laps (my new favorite exercise) at the US Embassy pool