Yesterday, we went to a place that I have wanted to go since probably 4th grade - Colonial Williamsburg! Though we were only there a short time, it was everything I hoped it would be, and I cannot wait to go back. Everything was authentic - from the clothes to the bell jar mini greenhouses to the piles of firewood sitting outside some of the houses. Horse-drawn carriages drove down the streets (the horse excrement disgusting my students), soldiers drilled by the Magazine, and authentic gingerbread was sold on the street. If someone would have offered me a costume, I would have joined in without a thought! From Colonial Williamsburg, we went on to Busch Gardens, about which the students were very excited. While they made them selves sick riding roller coasters, I ate some Irish ... read more

During our morning at the Natural History Museum, the students had some time to explore on their own before we visited the Butterfly Pavilion. While they were off on their own, I went through the Written in Bone exhibit, which looked at the remains of early Jamestown settlers and the forensics behind determining age and cause of death. Then I headed down to the dinosaurs. The most interesting part was the Fossil Lab - you can watch archeologists working with actual dinosaur bones. It was amazing to see the technology they were using and watching how meticulous they need to be. Even though I haven't been "in" to dinosaurs since I was in about first grade, I was enthralled by their work and (if there had not been so many little kids trying to get close ... read more

For our Carnival week, Erin, Allison, Dereek, and I headed to Margarita Island. Only a 3 hour ferry trip (if everything is working properly - needless to say, it was not) from the mainland, Margarita seemed almost like a different country. It was clean (the garbage was picked up), the taxi cabs were marked with actual signs and they all charged about the same rate, and there were a lot more imports - I actually saw Hersey's Kisses and a kind of cookie that I bought in Kosovo and was pretty sure was from Turkey. Needless to say, we loved it from the moment we got there. Add to that the fact that we were staying at an all-inclusive hotel on the beach and we were in heaven. Our plan was to do nothing but lounge ... read more

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Marines' Birthday Ball in Caracas. Aside from being an opportunity to get our of Anaco and dress up, attending the ball made me proud to be an American. Hearing the proud tradition and heroic deeds of our men and women in uniform made me want to stand up straighter, and the playing of the national anthem sent tingles up my spine. For one night, speaking English was expected and not something to feel apopogetic about while in a foreign country. I was reminded - as I am often not - that there is more to our country than meets the eye - especially when you live abroad and hear only about your country from others. That there are men and women, both at home and abroad, ... read more

Although I realize that the term "mashup" is used mostly to refer to blended songs, I feel that it also perfectly fits the strange, but wonderful mix of experiences that made up my week in Trinidad and Tobago. Just put a bit of steel pan or reggae music on in the background... After probably the best layover ever - 6 hours spent on the beach on Margarita Island - we arrived in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the capital of the former British colony. Being once British means that they drive on the other side of the road, which made me quite happy, though slightly disoriented after a day of "travel" (laying on the beach does not really qualify as travel). After a nice and much needed dinner at the hotel, we crashed for the night. We ... read more