30th Birthday Weekend in Hammamet!

Today I turn 30!  Whoa... I am 30 years old.  It does not feel as scary as I thought it would.  While it is hard to leave my 20s behind (people in their 20s just seem young) but I am ready to embrace this new decade!  I will be honest, at 30 years old, this is not where I thought I would be.  I am not married, I do not have kids, and there is no man anywhere in my future so therefore a husband and kids are pretty far off.  But you know what, that is ok.  I also did not see myself living in Tunisia (in Africa!) and teaching children from 15 different countries!  This is not what I expected but this is right where I am suppose to be!  God is in control and I am learning to trust him!  

I have been getting the question a lot from friends back home... How are you?  How are things going?  And truly, they are going great!  No, it is not all roses, but I am starting to feel comfortable here!  I am starting to get around Tunisia, travel more, and find things more easily.  I have friends I can trust and get hugs more than once a week!  Zoe loves it here and we are adjusting well!  It means the world having her here.  Tunisia is really starting to feel like home!  I mean... I just called to order sushi (to be delivered!) and she had my number saved in her phone!  She knew right where I lived and it made my day!  Tunis is my home!

Thank you for all the Voxers today!  They made my day!  It is hard not being with my family and friends today so I appreciate knowing you are still here!  I love you all tons!

Okay on to the pictures!  For my birthday, 3 of my closest friends took me to the beach for a weekend away!  It meant the world to me and we had such a good time!  We rented an apartment that was a walk away from the beach.  I loved all the talks, reading books together, eating lots and lots of food, long walks in the beach, playing in the sand, and even getting lost together!  I love you, my dear friends!

Friday night sunset walk along the beach

 

Angie, Cheryl, and Laura chatting before dinner (Laura made the banner for me... see the chevron!)

Friday night dinner (oh was that an experience...)

Saturday afternoon walk with Cheryl along the beach

Dinner Saturday night... Much better food and experience than Friday night!

Do you want a door? ;)

Sunday morning walk with Cheryl and Laura

Laura, me and Cheryl

Laura made me a cake in the sand! :)

Cheryl made me a flourless chocolate cake (so decadent and so yummy)!

Blowing out the candles!

Thank you to all of you for making my birthday special!

Oudhna!

Today Zoe and I headed with a group of people from school to Oudhna today.  Oudhna is Roman ruins.  While it was fun to see all the Romans built many years ago, the gorgeous green and wildflower fields were by far my favorite!  It was such a gorgeous drive and only 30 minutes away from Tunis!  Enjoy the pictures of the beautiful scenery!

Upcoming Trips!

I have been very blessed with some time off/ long weekends in the upcoming months!

*Last weekend in February/1st weekend in March: Girl's weekend in Hammamet for my 30th (eek!)

*Mid/end of March: Long weekend in Rome with the Boyers for Tunisian Independence Day!

*March 28: MY PARENTS ARE COMING TO VISIT!!!!!!!!!!  (slightly excited if you can't tell!)

*First full week in April: Malta for the week (half of the week my parents will be there too!)

*First weekend in May: Long weekend in England visiting the Boyers for Tunisian Labor Day (we didn't get to celebrate Labor Day with the family in September so we are going to go all out for Tunisian Labor Day... hehe!)

I am very grateful to be so close to Europe and grateful to see the Boyers twice in two months! :)

Tour of Carthage

Yesterday, I went on tour of Carthage.  There was an EAL (English as an Additional Language) consultant working with our staff the past couple of days.  On Saturday, they scheduled a tour for Bethand wanted someone to go with her.  Joni (who teaches EAL) volunteered to go and invited me along.  It was neat to see some sites I hadn't seen before and to go back to some sites I went with Aunt Jeanne to.  But I must admit, I remembered 10 minutes (ok, not even that long) into the tour that I hate history and therefore I hate tours but it was such a beautiful day and it was nice to spend time with Beth outside of school.

We started at the cisterns

and aqueduct 

Then we headed to the same Roman Ruins I went to visit with Aunt Jeanne

Then we went to the Antonnine Baths

Then off to the Punic Ports (the water was beautiful)

The wildflowers are beginning to bloom!

Paul, does this look familiar (the goodness of fertility)

The tombs of children who were murdered (didn't quite understand why)

This post is more for the pictures than anything else because I am not really sure what any of it is!  Sorry!!