SV07 #6

At long last DAY 6:

Okay it is time to get back to my incredible journey that took place last summer. I have just received the pictures from the day that will allow me to finish this day and continue with the rest of the vacation.

This was one of the best days and one that I had been looking forward to since we planned this trip. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD. I was up very early because I was so excited. I wanted to make sure that I picked up Cheryl and Grace early enough that I could get to the park just as it opened. You know, growing up with a father that has an amazing concept of time is a wonderful thing, and I have since inherited his innate ability to judge time. I have the whole park laid out in my head. I got there and they were all set to go. I was so very happy because I knew that Grace knew how special this day was for me. We piled in the car and headed to the park. We got there just fine…all of those times I had been there before were coming back to me. We stopped to pay for parking and since this was a special occasion I paid for the parking that would put us right next to the door. It was great even though the girls offered a little protest. We got out and got to the gate just as they opened them for the day…what a treat. I know the routine, and have done it several times. Some times I did it on my own when I lived out here.

We headed first to the tram ride. If you do this first there should be very few people on it and it takes about an hour to take the ride. Not only that, but when we get done, people that are just getting there themselves are heading to the tram while we are now finished and ready to ride other things and see different things. The tram was just like always. I sat in the middle between Grace on my right and Cheryl on my left. I liked sitting in the middle because I knew what was coming up and could watch the expressions of each as they experienced each thing. For example the flood…that comes down from the left and gets the people on that side of the tram very wet. I remember videoing it and towards the end Cheryl stands up and almost jumps over me to get out of the way of the water. The other water section comes from the right. That was during the Earthquake adventure. The tram sits in the middle of this subway type scene and as the earthquake begins things rumble and then the ceiling falls in while a subway comes through. Towards the end it stops shaking and from the stairway to the right comes a rush of water. That was where Grace slid right into me pushing me into Cheryl. This was a lot of fun. I enjoyed watching them freak out. Several things were new on the tram including a huge cave set that was being used to film the new National Treasure. They also have the set from The Grinch that stole Christmas. There is only one part of the tram ride that even I can’t stand and that is towards the end they drive through a tunnel. It is round all the way through and once inside it starts to roll, but the tram stays level. It is totally an optical illusion, but one I can’t do. I get dizzy very easy, and so I had to put my head in my lap and just wait till we were through it. We got off and Cheryl desperately needed to use the restroom, but that was not on the schedule…we had to get to the bottom of the hill and do several things. The first of which was the Backdraft experience. This is from the movie of the same name obviously. They show you the making of the movie, and then let you stand behind this rail as the set fire to this building. Towards the end the scaffolding you are standing on drops about two inches, scares everybody their first time. I loved it. After this we hurried next door to a place where they teach you how movies are made…this used to be Back To The Future, Hitchcock Presents, and Harry and the Henderson. To my serious displeasure this was changed since the last time I was there to The Mummy, Robotronics and Foley artist work. It was still rather fun, even though I didn’t get picked for anything. Usually I get picked for at least on thing or maybe even two. I have been used to rock the car and also did the voice over for Harry and The Henderson’s. But this time I just got to sit and watch. I felt bad because I wanted to impress Grace. Oh well maybe in some other way next time. After going from theater to theater for these three shows we left in hopes of get to the Jurassic Park ride early enough that there wouldn’t be much of a line. This is yet another water ride that sometimes gets packed as the day goes on and so I really wanted to get there, ride it and then allow Cheryl to take care of the potty business. She was a real trooper. We got there and there was virtually no line and so we just jumped in a raft and took off on our adventure. I tried to record the whole thing, but water kept dripping onto the new camera, and so I did the best I could. We got off the ride and checked out our pictures. They were SOOOO funny. Grace and Cheryl were hugging the protective rail and trying to avoid the water…from the front row…come on… hehehe. I had to buy the pictures to make sure that I would never forget this.

After this ride I thought it best to get some food and relax for a while. Just around the corner is a little café that I had always enjoyed eating at when I had the time, most of the time when I would go to Universal, I would go alone. I would just do the things I enjoyed and then leave, never stopping for food. But every now and then I would enjoy eating at this lace because it has a little something for everybody. We stood in line to get our food; it was like riding another ride, or stopping for another show. The line was long but we had fun in line just talking back and forth. Cheryl and Grace made great company. This was probably the most fun that I had at Universal, and I have been there a lot.

After lunch we headed out and before heading back up the hill I wanted them to go on the E.T. Adventure ride. This is where you would first walk through a forest and then get into a bike built for 6 and then glide over the city and through the forest. It really was a nice ride. I knew Grace would enjoy it, however, they replaced the ride with “The Mummy Adventure”. This was TOTALLY different. Grace and Cheryl read the board about the ride and Cheryl wanted to go, Grace didn’t want to go and so I went on the ride alone with Cheryl. It was good we talked a lot and just had some fun. I felt bad that Grace was sitting out on the rocks, but I know that she also had fun. The ride was seriously intense. It started out by shooting us through this tunnel and then straight up. It reminded me of Space Mountain at Disneyland. But then it would come to a point where it would stop on a dime and then take the same course but going backwards. We were screaming and loving it. We got off and then bought this picture from the ride… It was a lot of fun. We met back up with Grace and then headed back up the hill to finish the day. Usually most shows and rides are packed at this point, however, at the top of the hill is Back To The Future The Ride. This is a huge movie screen where you get to sit in a car and it shakes along with the movie. There was no line though and we were lucky enough to just walk onto this ride. I remember when it opened you would wait three hours to go on this adventure.

After Back To The Future we walked back towards the main road and saw the animal show and the Fear Factor show, but no one wanted to do either of these. They also used to have a Star Trek adventure where people would get to participate in the show. This was replaced with Shrek 3-D. It was pretty cool it was a movie that was in 3-D and they would spray water on you every once in a while along with the movie. After getting out of this we did a little bit of shopping and walking around while we waited for the Water World Stunt Show. I have the perfect place picked out because I like the end. I’ll explain more about this later, but we had to get there pretty early in line so that we could get the spot. Cheryl and Grace were real troopers. Not too many could keep up with me. It was very hot, and the shade in the waiting area was not the greatest. You can see in the picture that even shading themselves from the sun didn’t help a whole lot…the sun really drained a lot out of us. Once the gate opened I made a b-line towards my spot. It is of course in the front row and of course in the soak zone. Before the show started we watched as some of the actors took cans of pressurized water and sprayed people as the walked to find their seats…this created a little enjoyment and people got a little more energy that had been lost due to the sun. The show started and it was a lot of fun. I won’t describe the whole show, but the reason that I wanted to sit in this place was for one part when they shoot down the plane. It is shot over the back wall and directly at where we are sitting spraying water everywhere. The girls were screaming, but in a good way. They had a blast. And I think they understood afterwards why I wanted to sit here.

After that we went shopping a bit more, took our pictures in a few places on the way out of the park. After leaving the park we went shopping in a little place called City Walk…it is associated with Universal. It is a big novelty strip mall. They have all kinds of fun things to see and do. We went all the way to the back because that is where I knew that the Hard Rock was. Grace has been to several around the world and so I thought this would be a great place to have some dinner. We enjoyed a lovely meal and then headed back to the car stopping at two more stores. One of them was a retro store that had all kinds of toys and games from the 70’s. Grace picked up some bubbles that when you blow them you can actually catch them in your hands without popping them. I bought a few candies that I remembered liking…bottle caps and pop rocks. I also almost bought a football game that I used to envy from my friends. In today’s standards it would be stupid. You tried to get this red light from one end of the field to the other with out running into another light. High tech huh? But I remember just wanting to play that thing all the time. After leaving that place we came across a little shop that was doing water massages. I have had a couple and really enjoyed them. I knew that Grace’s upper back and right side of her neck is always requiring attention and so I thought this would be a great way to end the day. I think we got the ten minute massage and what they do is have you lay down on this bed face down. You put these head phones on that take away all noise, then they lower the lid that puts a plastic cover on you so that your clothes don’t get wet, and then they shoot the water down on you. You get to control the speed, pressure where you want it to concentrate on your back. It’s incredible. I had them done at a mall in Kansas City, however, I also know that these places have a tendency to go out of business rather quickly, so while we were here we needed to take advantage of them. Grace got out of the machine just wiped out. It really takes it out of you, especially after the day that we had. After the massage, it was time to leave. So we got into the shiny red car and then tootled on home. From what I remembered I just dropped Grace and Cheryl off at her brothers’ house and then I went back to my hotel. I do remember once getting in to my room I just passed out. It was a GREAT day.

I couldn't have said it any better...

This was written by Jay Leno. I don't usually cut and paste things, but I saw this and felt led to share this with as many people as I could.

With me actually living outside the U.S. I can see each part of this and can varify that it is all true.

'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe It must be true, given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just isn't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?''Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.

Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers s how up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler or intruders , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs, or militias raping and pillaging the residents, Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks are unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.

They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about 'how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way'...Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Jay Leno

Outrage

I know that I'm not read by a lot of people, but I just heard this on the news about five minutes ago.

The 2008 Olympics are just around the corner and the stadiums are still being built and events are still being planned. I love the Olympics and I enjoy watching several events and even find myself cheering for the country that I happen to be living in, along with my beloved America.

HOWEVER, this year I am at the moment planning on banning any talk of the Olympics. I usually run some sort of Olympic event at my school in our annual field day when we have classes compete against classes. The China government has decided in all it's wisdom to BAN THE BIBLE...Now let's get this straight...They are not going to allow ANY bible to be brought into the country or into the Olympic Village itself. Can you believe this. They are SOOOO worried about this book that they are banning it. That must mean that we as Christians are doing something right that they are fearing God. Now just to take this to a politically correct stand, they are not banning ANY other religious book such as the Quran. Those are okay...it is ONLY the bible that they don't want in the country.

I think it will be EXTREMELY inappropriate to send our athletes to these games. We have boycotted games before. I think it is time to do it again. Now, will it happen? Not a chance...now-a-days the games are more about money than anything else. But I have no doubt in my mind that there will be SOME athletes that make the right choice and choose GOD over sports. We need to understand that this is the new and latest attack on Christians.

I am asking those that do read these posts keep up on the news of this story. If this becomes reality I am asking that you too make the choice NOT to watch the games in any way. Turn off the tv, turn off the news, Let your government know that this is not okay. We need to make this stand. We can't allow a country to impose it's views on the world simply because they are hosting a world wide games...You choose what is more important to you...I choose Christ...who will join me....

Get the word out people. Let's make this right.

Old Journal

I thought that as we wait for the pictures for the next day of last summers vacation I would show you yet another funny entry in my old journal...please remember that as this was written, I was 20 years old... =) Enjoy...I know I did...I still can't believe that I ever felt this way.


Tuesday March 8th 1994

I started a new job today. It involves packing computers. I was putting labels on computer boxes. I had to be up at 4:30 in the morning. I also got a back brace so I won’t paralyze myself. I have to keep my mind on things like Robyn or Mary just to get through. I hope when I get home I’ll find a message on the answering machine telling me that they would like to hire me full time and pay me double what I am making here. There are some cute girls here, but not like Mary or Robyn or Katarina. Witt’s beautiful, but she’s 28 and wants a husband.

In the meantime...

Some of you that actually check this blog are probably wondering where the next day is on my journal of the vacation that Grace and I took this past summer. Well, if you see I like posting pictures that go along with this journey to help document what the things that we did look like. Well, the next day tells the story behind our trip to Universal Studios and I had the unfortunate luck to get my camera very wet. So most of my pictures turned out through what looks like fog. Our friend Cheryl has a bunch of pictures of the day since she got to go with us and so I am waiting for her to send me the pictures...but in the meantime I thought that I would post a few of the things that have been going on here. You know one thing that I like to do sometimes is grip, but usually not on here. I like saving this for the things that God is doing in my life rather than the things that I really need His help on...and that is where I am right now. This is going to be some gripping but mainly it is to be used as a prayer. If you would like to join me in praying for the things that are in this blog, believe me, I could sure use it.


This past week was my Fall break. We had the entire week off and several teachers got to go to other countries around the area. I have chosen to put close to $900 a month onto my student loans so taking that kind of a trip is rather tough at this point. So I had the wonderful time of spending the week working on things like my plastic canvas art, cleaning, putting my home theater together. You know the basics. But towards the end of the week I just really hit a whirlpool and struggled with just about everything. I started not feeling well and so I missed church. And I really like this church. I hope to video tape it some day so that you all can see what church I'm going to.



It really hit me that this school just has me bending over backwards and forwards just trying to keep my head above water and I'm suppose to be thankful for this. Let me try and explain...starting in Nov. we will begin putting our soccer teams together. There are both boys and girls teams in the following categories (under) 18, (under 16), (under 14). They do not pay their coaches here, and so there is very few teachers who want to give up their precious valuable free time to coach one of these teams. Which means that I get to coach all six...I also have been spared this past quarter from being on one of the curriculum teams...we are getting accredited this year and so we have to have all this information. I also am a new teacher here and so even though I have lesson plans for the whole year different school use different programs and so this school uses something called Rubicon which just takes FOREVER to do anything on. Then we also are a school that wants the students to assess themselves, and since we want the students to do that, why not the teachers as well. All teachers old and new have to fill out this long self-assessment by the end of Fall break, which I haven't even looked at yet. Then I thought you know what maybe I could do this at home during break...good thought right...WRONG. The internet connection at my house is terrible...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Most of the time it takes 10 minutes to open up a page...and sometimes certain web sites never come up. So working from home is not really an option.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord never gives us things that we can't handle, BUT, and it's a big but, it's one of the biggest buts you'll ever read about. BUT, it is really close at this point. You just got done reading about my insane schedule, but please remember that I am also still new to this country and am struggling trying to get used to being in 100+ degree heat every day. I go home to a house that is normally in the 70's back in the states, but here it is low 90's inside my house. My cable that I bought is scrambled most days and so I get worked up over not being able to watch things just to take me away. I also bought a car here and have yet to have it for an extended period of time without something wrong happening to it. Even now it is still overheating and I am just not having fun with it. I know that I will only have it till the end of next year, where I can hopefully sell it outside the school and make a good profit on it. I know this seems like a lot, and it usually is. I'm just used to being able to go to people and either talk about this stuff or vent or whatever, but there is no one here to be able to do that to. Grace, my wonderful girlfriend, and I just celebrated our one-year anniversary. I have never dated someone this long and I had to celebrate this from a long way away. The week before this splendid day we talked and decided that she will be staying in Korea for at least the next year to help out in the transition of leadership there. I am 100% behind this because this is where she feels God is leading her...doesn't help the human side of me. I already miss her a lot and making this work for another year will be hard, but I know that if the is in Gods plan He will let it happen.

It just feels as though things and events and just stuff is being piled on all at the same time. And I go to bed every night feeling guilty for my thoughts and feelings about either my reactions with Grace, or the happenings at school, and I know that it wasn't any one thing that gets to me. I know it's the heat and the life here in Khartoum that just adds to the frustration level and so my level of tension already starts out pretty high, and who ends up getting hurt or who do I end up making feel worse...the ones that I love the most. The ones that are already praying for me everyday, the ones that really miss me as well and want whats best for me. To those people I offer my deepest apology and only pray that they understand that I never mean anything personal by the things I say. I get frustrated by a computer that won't allow me to talk clearly to the people I love. I do have an amazing time of peace and solice when Grace and I have our "date nights". Grace and I send each other copies of a show called McLeods Daughters which is kind of like a soap opera that takes place in Australia on a farm...it is a great show and I have enjoyed getting into it. Grace and I would watch one or two episodes a night when we lived in Korea, but now we don't have that luxury. But on our date nights we will press play at the same time and watch an episode together...it really is nice. I will go back and watch it again just to remember those feelings. It's not the same obviously, because we are not in the same room, however, with the way things are for now...it'll have to do.

So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I try and take each of these things head on...you know I once heard someone say "Go home. Write down all the things that you worry about. Ninety percent will never happen, and the other ten percent you can't do anything about that stuff anyway." But right now it feels like the other way around...

I leave you with one of my favorite bible versus that sometimes gets me through times like this... Jer. 29:11 "For I know the plan I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to give you a future and not to harm you."

Peace out...Later on

SV07 #5

Monday I woke up really early because we had to be at the WB studio early for the Warner Brothers studio tour. I picked up Grace and Matthew and headed towards the WB tower. We had to go through the metal detector and then finally got into the main building. The main room had a big store of several different shirts, movies, dvd’s, key chains, and magnets. We waited in line for a while but since we were the first ones in the door, that wasn’t a bad thing. There was a guy who came in later and walked right in front of me while I was standing in the front of the line…as soon as the lady came out to take our order, I jumped in front of him and sort of ran him off the way to the lady. He was a little mad, but sorry, what was he thinking. We got the tickets…I wanted to pay for everybody, but Matthew wanted to do this for Grace for her birthday. So I paid for myself and he paid for Grace and himself. The tour wasn’t going to be for a while and so we left the place after we had tickets and went to try and find a store called CVS. We were on the lookout for flip flops for Grace. Grace and I had looked at SEVERAL places to find the right kind…but none seemed to meet with her approval. I picked up some circus peanuts and a root beer. Grace found a pair of flip flops that she could live with and we slowly made our way back to the WB lot. On the way back to the lot we past a few houses that seemed a little smaller than normal. Matthew informed us that these houses were built to house the midgets that were filming “The Wizard of Oz” If you look you can tell the doors and everything are just a lot smaller. We got back to the lot and just did a little looking around at the small shop they had there…also picking up another magnet. They took us into the little screening room and had us watch a bunch of movies from the past…it was really cool to try and guess the films that they showed short clips too. After we left that room, our guide, Erin, took us to a golf cart and lead us off to the rest of tour. The first stop was a little alley that looked like a New York street. The cool part of this was that she told us that this was the spot that in the first Spiderman movie that Mary Jane and Spiderman had their amazing upside down kiss. We continued on and the first major place that she had us get out of the cart was the emergency bay for the show ER. I never knew that it was mainly filmed right there. I got several pictures. A lot of the “L” train, where they go get on the subway was also right there too. One of the biggest things that Grace wanted to see was the things that had to do with the show “Gilmore Girls”. Erin, our guide, was also a fan of the show and took us to several spots where Grace was telling us what they were even before the guide told us. That was pretty cool. I think that Grace had a lot of fun seeing several of the sets from the show. There were a lot of places where they told us that they were filming there and that we had to lock our cameras under the seats of the golf cart. Some shots were sneaked and others we just have to use our memories of what we saw…for example they took us into the wardrobe building where they had several outfits and things from past shows like Friends and Harry Potter. In fact the entire upstairs was devoted to Harry Potter things and clothes. We got to sit on a seat JUST before having to get back into the car o leave where they put this hat over our head that told us what class we were suppose to be in at the Harry Potter school. Pardon me, but I’m not the biggest fan of Harry Potter. We also got to see a little garage that had harry Potters car, Batmobile, and several other vehicles from different films. The best part, at least for me was that they took us to this place that looked like it was at the end of a loading dock. The room was locked and our guide was struggling to open it and I was a little upset that we got off our cart when we could have been seeing other cool things only to find out that once she opened up this crate type door it opened to reveal the actual set from the show Friends. We couldn’t walk on the carpet, but we got some really good pictures from the set, it was so cool to be able to be that close to something that was so popular. At the end we picked up our picture that we had taken with the penguins from the movie “Happy Feet”. We gave the picture to Matthew so that he would have something to remember what we did.

Once we got done with the Warner Brothers tour, we figured that we would have a great chance to head to the beach. We piled into the car, and headed down to Santa Monica Pier. Matthew thought that he knew a short cut, so I followed the directions that were told to me and I think we got lost several times. It was a lot of fun…we would go up a hill and Matthew would say I think the beach is just over this road, and when we got to the top of the road we would see nothing but more roads and trees. We finally hit the freeway and then followed the 110 towards the beach. The freeway ended and veered to the right and we found ourselves right at the Santa Monica Pier. We pulled into a parking lot, which was pretty empty, got out, put our brand new beach walking sandals on and headed towards the pier. It was a pretty good hike to the pier. Our hope at this point was to find a restaurant to eat. It was getting pretty late and Grace was getting hungry. We had talked prior to coming out that I was hoping to find some good cod. My favorite fish is cod, and the reason that I was looking for some was for a couple of reasons. A few years back my father and I took a trip and we found this amazing all you can eat “Fish & Chip” place. It was right on the beach. From then on I was hooked on cod. I also wanted Grace to join me in that memory, kind of like becoming a part of that memory. But alas we couldn’t find any fish and chi places on the pier. This is part of my problem, I like to surprise people rather than discuss things, and that is what usually gets me into trouble, that and thinking I can read into things. Matthew suggested that we go up and into the city and see if there was anything throughout the small city that we could find. We walked up the huge hill, across the freeway and into the city. We were all pretty hungry by now and tempers were starting to escalate. I never meant to act like all of this searching was about finding something for me, like I said, it was more about trying to find something nice and special that I wanted to share with Grace. And for the trouble that caused you have no idea how sorry I am. We did get to walk across Santa Monica Blvd., which was something that Grace had wanted to do. I remember her saying something about the song which goes…”When the sun goes down over Santa Monica Blvd.” But back to our walking, we walked and walked but found nothing. I caught up with Matthew and basically just told him that we should find a place pretty quick, even if it meant going back to the pier. At this point we were a good 15 minute walk from the pier so that was what we did. On the way back we took a different way. We walked right along this cliff, and Grace looked incredible in front of the beach like that, so I asked her to stop so I could take her picture. I took a couple and then we crossed a small walk-over bridge that led to the other side, the side with the beach on it. We actually passed the car again and took a direct line towards a place called “Bubba Gumps” It was this cool looking shrimp place right on the beach. The reason that we didn’t stop in before was because we read the menu, and there was no cod. This time they took us down the stairs and to a table that was right near the window and the beach. We sat down and read the menu. When the waiter came to talk to us we asked him about the missing cod. He said ‘no problem’. They actually had some. So I ordered it and Grace, I believe, ordered the same thing. The food felt so good going into our bodies. We were tired and worn out form all the walking but we really enjoyed getting a bite to eat. We paid, and headed back up to the top of the pier and took a bathroom break. After that we walked along the pier playing some carnival games here and there. We started back and saw a game where you lift up the sledge hammer and slam it down, trying to lift the ball to the bell at the top of the tower. This was all electronic tough...the cheaters. Just a couple of weeks ago we had been at Everland in Korea and they had a smaller version that I also played in front of Grace and set the new record. So I felt that I could have a good chance at winning something. I took my three swings, feeling more and more stronger each time, but the lights said I was getting weaker and weaker each time. But in the end I did still win a teddy bear that I could give to Grace. Oh well, I was hoping for the huge teddy bear. But then again how would we ever get that on the plane, we still had all of our luggage from Korea with us. We headed back to the car, stopping to take a picture of Grace and her brother near the statue of a dolphin. While they were looking at a table with several craft items for sale, I headed secretly into the Bubba Gumps gift shop and bought a sprit and yet another magnet from our journey to add to Grace’s collection. This was becoming kind of a cute game. We even bought another magnet before heading back to the car.

We were getting short on time since we had to be at the Grey Hound bus terminal to pick up Ms. Cheryl Ayres at 5:00. We hopped back onto the freeway and headed back to Matthews house, the bus stop was nearby. We were running low on Gas so we got off the freeway and actually made better time on the frontage road beside the freeway. Even after stopping for gas, I think that we still were ahead of some of the cars that we were stuck in traffic with. We got to where we needed to be, but had some extra time and so we saw a costco. We pulled in and just took a quick look around. Grace was still looking at doing some serious shopping. We didn’t have a long time to look so we got back into the car and headed to the bus stop. We waited there a good time past the normal time that the bus should have been there, but then we remembered the traffic that we had just been in and figured that she must have gotten stuck in it as well. The bus finally pulled in and we all hugged and piled into the car and I took them all back to Matthews house. I didn’t stay, I figured that the girls needed some girly time and so I dropped them off and headed home. This ended my Monday.

SV07 #4

Sunday came rather quickly. I told Grace that would be by to pick them up at around 9:00 to go to church. Their job, was to find one. When I pulled up and knocked on the door they were dressed and ready, however they still hadn’t picked a church. Matthew has gotten out of going to church and his girlfriend isn’t much of a motivator. I sat on the blue couch and just scanned the videos that the two of them had. They have a mighty nice selection of everything from Seinfeld to interesting chick flicks. Grace came down and told me that they had found a church that wasn’t too far from where Matthew lived and that it started around 11:00 or so. She also filled me in on some of the other weird church in the neighborhood, like one that was pastured by a lesbian. Could you believe that? I will never understand some of the things that are allowed in the church. Anyway, we got to church, and they had what I like to call dueling preaching. This is where one pastor would start and the other would get up and talk and then they would switch back and forth several times. I really enjoyed the church service. It was comfortable, and I got a lot out of. Not saying that this is the church that I would choose for myself, but they had good music, and not too long after sitting in a pew, we had a couple of people come up and greet us. My biggest prayer is that this might help Matthew get back into going to church. He said that sometimes he is too busy.
After church we drove Matthew home and I thought that it would be a good idea that now I had a camera that we go back to the Regan Library to take some pictures of the things that we did the day before. We figured that we would drive back and pick Matthew back up and take him out to dinner. We got on the freeway and headed towards the 101 freeway and took it all the way to the Oak Park Mall. This was a mall that I used to go to all the time growing up in the area. We stopped in there and even went into the same door. It’s funny every time that I go home and do things that I remember doing 10 years ago it is always odd to me.
They were doing major construction at the mall. One of the reasons that I took her there was to see the “Lions and tigers and bears…OH my” But once we got there we noticed that where they used to be had been totally removed and they were in the process of putting something else in its place. Needless to say I was a little bummed. We ended up just walking around the mall and taking in the sights of where the pet store used to be and where it look as though they were going to build a new parking structure. On our way out we thought it would be nice to pick up some cheesecake from the new Cheese Cake Factory. We picked up several that we thought that Matthew would like and then continued on our way. We drove through Thousand Oaks on the way back to Simi.
We pulled up to the library hoping to be able to at least go to Air Force One again. Alas we noticed that they was a different color to be able to get in, then the normal powder blue of when we were there before. We did go around the outside and took a bunch of pictures. The first one that I EVER took with the camera was one of Grace in front of the library near a statue of Ron with a cowboy hat. We also took them near the piece of the wall of Germany. They also had an area that they had gardened to look the way of the White House garden. Ronald is also laid to rest there and so I got my picture taken near his grave site. Grace also saw a sign that told us to be aware of rattlesnakes and so we did just that…but before we did she thought it would be cool to take her picture near it. After the library, I could tell that Grace was starting to get a little hungry, actually this had been happening ever since church. I was hoping that we could find a place that we didn’t normally get a chance to go to. We headed down the mountain where the library is kept and headed into the heart of Simi. Most of the things that I wanted to show Grace, had been shown on Friday, so I was more interested in finding a place to get her something to eat. I thought I would take her to In-&-Out. This was a place that I don’t really care for, but Grace had heard about it from a few people in Korea, so I thought this would be the time to take her there. The problem was that since I didn’t like to eat there, I think that I had only been there once while I lived in Simi. We took a few roads and turns and u-turns, and finally found it near the freeway onramp. We got something to eat, and then a t-shirt for her to be able to show off to John back in Korea. After getting something to eat, we got back on the freeway and hustled back to Matthews house because we were also suppose to be going to get something to eat with him. It would be about a 30 minute drive back to his house, and so we ate in the car and just again enjoyed each others company.
We pulled up to Matthews house and went inside, not really hungry anymore. But Matthew was. We kind of talked about things and came to the decision to have some home made pizza. Matthew would go get the stuff to make it, and we would head out real quick to see if I could find a normal adapter for my computer from the Best Buy that we saw driving in. We were a little late again, but we still had a great evening. We watched Casino Royale, ate some pizza and then had some cheese cake. I think I might have gained 20 pounds in just this one day of the trip…=) After the cheese cake Grace was starting to fall asleep and so we thought it was best to call it a night and pick up early the next morning…we had yet another big day to come.

SV07 #3

Saturday was to be a busy day as well and so I felt that I needed to get some rest, but I woke up again at 5:00, but hey Coach was on and needed to be watched right?
After taking a shower and having a doughnut from yesterday, I got in the car and drove to pick up Grace. You know in Korea I’m used to just walking down a street and then a little alley and turn right and I’m at her door. Driving 15 miles to pick her up is not the same. But she doesn’t know this, but I would drive 1,500 miles to pick her up.
I pulled in and knocked on the door to be greeted again by this stunningly beautiful woman. Grace was busy, hehe just kidding. From where her brother lived I wasn’t sure how to get to the Chinese Theatre. We had to look it up on-line. We got the directions and then got the directions to Griffiths Observatory as well. Her brother was gone, so we locked up and left his apartment. We got in the car and I followed the directions that Grace was giving me. We pulled into a parking garage off of a very busy street, put the car in a spot and then walked up to the main street. On this street was the Grumman's Chinese Theatre. This is where actors put their hands, feet and yes sometimes lips into concrete. We still didn’t have a camera because mine wasn’t working and I’m not sure what was wrong with Grace’s. We had to buy a disposable one so that we could take some pictures of the concrete with us putting our hands into the hands and feet. Grace had hers taken with several like Shirley Temple. The newest ones were just put there two weeks before we toured the place. The actors from Oceans 13, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and others were all together, and people were crowded, actually more people than I have ever seen there. But we did get some pictures taken and walked a few blocks down to go through the Hollywood Wax Museum. By paying for tickets into this place we also were able to go across the street and tour the Guinness Book of World Records Museum as well. I think Grace had a lot of fun in both places. At the wax museum they had Forest Gump and all the characters from the show M*A*S*H. Grace had to go to the bathroom, so while she was in there, I went and looked at the Titanic exhibit. The last set of wax figures was a little on the confusing side. It was a story of the Last Supper. They had DaVincci’s “Last Supper” done in wax, but not just the last supper, they had someone narrating the story and had three crosses as well, something that I didn’t expect to see in the middle of Hollywood. We walked across the street to the Guinness museum. It was interesting and disturbing all at the same time. Some of the feats that they accomplished were pretty good, but some of the food stuff was off the charts disgusting. As we walked from place to place along the sidewalk were these stars, on the stars were different names, hence the “Hollywood Walk of Fame”. We saw names like Billy Graham, Buster Keaton and others. We didn’t go looking for names, but we did see some that Grace wanted to see. We were pretty tired from walking around the whole time so we felt that it was time to head out. On the way back to the car we had to walk through this mall type area. On the left was a place called “Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory”. We went in and smelled the most amazing chocolate ever. We looked at a few magnets and Grace saw one with little kitty cats on it. On the way out we saw these huge dark chocolate peanut butter cups. I saw Grace drooling a little so I had the lady behind the counter wrap us up a couple. In the car she couldn’t wait as so we ripped into the package and tried eating them. I got through all mine pretty quick. Grace cutely nibbled on hers and found the inside peanut butter cream to be simply incredible. We left the parking garage and headed up the mountain to go to Griffith Observatory. But before getting to far we encountered a guard and a blocked road. I kind of got snippy with him a bit but he directed us to where we needed to go to take a bus up to the top. Apparently they aren’t allowing anyone to just drive up there anymore because of all the fires that they have been having in the area. We went back down the mountain and went to the zoo parking lot, which was next to the buses we had to take. We made it just in time to catch the next bus. It was so funny because the bus went back the way we came and the guard at the road block opened up the gate to let the bus through. At the top it was just like I remembered it. They had done a lot of remodeling that we would discover later. First we went up to the top and took some pictures of Grace sitting on the ledge over looking the Los Angeles basin. She looked so beautiful in the pictures I would later come to find out. Meanwhile we went in to the dome. This was the first time that I was there that they actually let us look through the massive telescope. Apparently they were focused on Venus which looked like a half moon to our eyes. I looked and looked but only saw my own eye. I remembered an episode of Friends where Rachel was trying to see her baby on the scan but couldn’t, but said she did anyway. I tried that, but it didn’t work. I had to be the tough smart guy who could see it, but in reality I couldn’t see anything. After that we walked down and into the building. Inside they have several experiments and rooms set up to that you can see how things work like how the moon changes shapes and the suns flares. In the center I remembered the swinging pendulum that would not move but the floor would to demonstrate the rotation of the earth. When it would swing it would knock over a little chip on the floor every ten minutes or so. Those chips were no longer there because OSHA had told them hat it was unsafe for people to get down in the pit to reset them. What a stupid politically correct world we live in. I would be willing to bet that during the what 200 years the place has been open, there hasn’t been even one near miss.
This is one place that I really enjoyed when I used to live here. When I was in high school I took a class entitled Film History, where the teacher showed us movies and then asked us questions about the movies. One of those movies was “Rebel Without a Cause”, starring James Dean and Natalie Wood. I showed the movie to Grace while we were in Korea. She really impressed me when we were walking around. She would say things like “Isn’t that the place where they had the knife fight?”, “Or isn’t that where they had the shoot out in the end?”. She really took an interest in those things and it made me feel special because it was something in which I was showing her and she was taking the initiative in asking if I wanted to be in a picture here, or there.
They had built on a new section which was really cool to go through. We got to see how much we weighed on different planets. But the other thing that we had fun with was this interactive simulator where you could pick what type and weight and speed and size of the object you wanted to smash into our planet. Then you would press enter and it would tell you the amount of devastation that you caused. After going through the new section we went to the gift shop and got a few things for the little children that we would be seeing in New York. We got a shirt that glows in the dark. Back in the main yard and took a few more pictures of Grace standing near all of the main astronomers, Kepler, Newton and the likes. It’s incredible, every single picture turned out so great. Griffith Observatory is also a great place to see the Hollywood sign. That was something else that Grace wanted to do. The sign was right across the way. We actually thought that we would have time to go horseback riding up to the sign, but we just ran out of time. Maybe next time.
We headed for the line to get back on the bus to get back to our car. It was hot and sticky, but the thought of that air-conditioned seat made things more bearable. After getting back in the car we headed back to her brothers house where we met up with his girlfriend and we all went out to a place that Matthew knew of all in our car. It was a Mexican place. We ordered lots of food and I had my usually bean and cheese burrito. As we ate I excused myself and said I was going to go to the restroom, however, I actually got the waiters attention and had him produce the check and I secretly paid the check for everybody. I used the restroom and then headed back to our table. There was a really cool table fountain that was right in the middle of the restaurant. It had colorful lights under the water, one that I would love to have on my own. I got back to the table and the conversations went on and on. Then at one point Matthew’s girlfriend started to get a little upset about the fact that the check hadn’t been brought to our table. I seemed to have forgotten to tell them that I had taken care of all that. I finally did and Dara (Matthew’s girlfriend) said that she had planned to take us out. I told her that I didn’t realize that and it was a special treat for us to take them out. We went back to their apartment and I dropped everyone off and told them that I was still a little worn out from the whole days activities and I was still jet lagged. After pulling away I thought about the fact that we didn’t have a camera, and I didn’t want to keep buying disposable ones. So I went all the way back towards the place where we ate and went to the Target that was across the street to see what they had in the way of digital cameras. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw one for only 150 bucks. I bought it and then headed back to my hotel to read the instructions and get some sleep. The camera seemed to be a pretty good one. It had 7 times the pixel rate that my old camera had. I also picked up the newest M*A*S*H season and the final episode. I put them into my computer and it made a weird noise and I had to shut it down by flicking the switch. I tried to turn it back on and nothing happened. I plugged it into the wall now hat I had an adapter, but nothing happened. I left it plugged in over night in hopes that I would have my computer back up and running the next morning.

SV07 #2

Part two is ready to be published, and I felt that now was as good a time as any...enjoy the happenings of Grace and I on our amazing vacation. This took place on the second day. Let me know what you think...

I ended up waking up around 7:00 VERY hungry. I got in the car and traveled down Sepulveda Blvd., just looking around. It had been since 2003 for Kim’s wedding that I had been here last. I got down a ways and didn’t find anything and so I just came back after stopping by a bank and picking up a little cash. Watched a little tv and then tried to go back to sleep. Off and on I slept till about 5:00 in the morning and then I couldn’t go to sleep any more. I woke up and tried to see what was on tv. Amazingly “Coach” was on. I hadn’t see that in forever and I really enjoyed it. I waited a bit. I told Grace that I would pick her up around 8:30 and so I took a timed shower and then just relaxed until about 8:00. I got in the car and then tried to remember how to get back to her brothers house. This was Friday and the traffic getting onto the 5 freeway was crazy. Since this was a rental car and I didn’t want to trash it I had to be very careful. I pulled into her brothers’ apartment right at 8:30. I walked down the walkway to the last set of apartments and knocked on the door. Wow it was great to see Grace. But right away she seemed a little upset. She said that she was a little upset because I told her to be ready at 8:30. I looked at the clock on the wall in her brothers’ place and it said 9:05. My mind went a little crazy because I didn’t think traffic was THAT bad. She took me into the kitchen and looked at the clock on that wall to double check the clock on the wall in the family room, and it was the same. I then looked at my watch and it said 8:30. I was lost. We then picked up Matthew’s cell phone and opened it and in bright numbers it said 8:30. I was thinking I was in a twilight zone episode. But we found out later that Matthew turns his clocks forward about a half hour to stay on time.

We left Matthew’s apartment and headed back towards Simi Valley. We got off the 118 freeway at Sycamore and went down to the Park District. Suzanne was there in the front office and was working with someone else and then we waited until she was finished. She came around the counter and gave me a hug. I also introduced her to Grace…”and here’s my girlfriend, Grace”. After talking for just a bit we went to see Dale Long and Doug Gale. I introduced Grace to all the people in Dale’s building. We talked to Dale for a lot longer. Joni Chavez and Dianne came into Dale’s office while we were sitting there talking. We left his office after about an hour and got in our car and I took her past were we used to live, on the way to a place that I had told her about, Doughnut Plus. This place has the most amazing doughnuts. They are huge and so good. We got about eight or nine and nibbled on them as we headed through the rest of the valley. I took her past a few parks and then took her up to the Ronald Regan Presidential Library. The building sits atop a mountain.

We took the tour which also included something new that I had never done before. They had actually taken and put a real Air Force One plane in a building there. They took our picture as we got onto the plane. It was really a treat walking through the plane and actually being able to look around and see where the last five presidents rode. They told us that even current president George W. Bush rode on that particular plane. I got a shirt and couple of shot glasses. I got one for Matthew’s girlfriend, she collects them and I thought it would be nice, and maybe earn me a few extra bonus points with her brother. After leaving the library we went up and tried to see the new mall that I thought was built on the other side of the 118. It turned out just to be a strip mall. We were just about at the time that we needed to head out to Saugus to have dinner with my sister Kim. We were a little early and so I thought we could stop by her office, because I had no idea where she lived, since the directions that I needed were on my laptop which just so happened to be out of battery power. We went to Wal-mart and Grace looked at a few clothes as I tried to call Kim. Her office wasn’t where I remembered. I couldn’t get a hold of her or mom and dad. Then it hit me that I could get a car adaptor to plug into the laptop. At least long enough to get the directions to Kim’s house. By the way I want to take a second and tell you that Grace is an amazing navigator. As a guy you would think that there would be problems with you know who’s right and which is the REAL right way, but Grace and I worked together and it turned out to be great teamwork. We pulled into Kim’s place around 6:30 and had a nice dinner of lasagna. We then watched a few videos of when Kim and I were little kids. Grace actually watched them. I didn’t think that she would want to, but she seemed to even enjoy them as she laughed several times. Mainly at the times when I was running around as a little kid...I didn't un that manly. We left their house after loosing the keys to the car. We looked everywhere for them. I had to get my backpack out of the trunk to give Bethany a stuffed pig that when you unstrapped the velcro between the legs it turns into a pillow. So I thought that maybe I locked the keys in the trunk. I was shocked that the drivers door was unlocked, but that helped since I was able to pop the trunk from the inside. We didn’t see the keys in the trunk, but when we went to close the trunk I saw them laying along the top of the rubber liner. Whew, that was a huge relief. Richard (my brother-in-law) gave me directions on how to get back to the freeway. I followed as best I could, but didn’t catch the last couple of turns, thankfully I had the most amazing co-pilot with me. She caught the rest. We dove by a Carl’s Junior and I picked up my favorite “Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger”. I had Grace try a bite and she said she liked it. We found the freeway and I drove Grace back to her brothers’ house. After dropping her off, I turned the car around and drove back to my hotel. I pulled in pretty late and then I just crashed. This ended Friday.

More from my old diary

I really don't know if anyone likes these old diary entries, but I like to post them and let others know the thoughts that were going through my mind several years ago. Lokking back in my own mind as I read through them I really think that I could have used some serious mental help. I can't believe I waisted all that time thinking about the things that I thought about...I almost could have been called a stalker. Luckily that's not me anymore...I still hold on to the hopeless romantic, but I pray that all my days of looking are finally over. But until I write the next part of the amazing vacation, this will have to do for now.

Have a good laugh, and please remember I was young and somewhat innocent...

"Tuesday February 15th 1994

Met up with my old softball class at Moorpark. It was fun, and I’ll go back on Thursday at 11:30 – 1:00. Tonight is the Jr. High Pictionary game that I’ll lead. By the way I still like Kristin Sampson, but a new girl is on the way, her name is Robyn Powell. She is gorgeous and her eyes have that blue sparkle that makes me hot and makes my teeth sweat. I'll talk more about her later. Oh by the way, Mrs. Davis still takes drugs. Jr. High was fun but hard. More importantly I found out that Robyn Powell is available. I’m going to try for her soon but probably not tomorrow but soon, very soon."

All of this will make sense for those that continue to read this later...

Peace out...later on.

First of what should be many... SV07 #1

SV07 stands for Summer Vacation 2007...

This was a great trip and I wanted to share with everyone what happend and the things that were done. I hope to be able to insert pictures where possible. All of this was prewritten in a word document and will just be copied and pasted. Enjoy and let me know what you think...



"Well, it is about time that I write something about this trip so that my wonderful mind ill always keep in close to the front of my mind. This trip was unbelievable. I really didn’t want any of it to stop. It all started in SongTan South Korea. We got to the bus terminal early and started this whole trip sitting next to each other on the two hour bus trip to the airport. You know as we were pulling away, the only thing that I thought about was the fact that usually I would be taking Grace to the bus and then waving to her as she pulled away. I was leaving Korea for good and the only thought racing through my mind was that of who I was sitting next to. Grace slept most of the way, and I tried to get a little shut eye. E got to the airport and had no trouble finding out check in point. The problem arose once we tried to get our bags checked in. Actually Grace’s bags were fine, the trouble was with mine. I was leaving for good, but my bags were a little heavy trying to get all my stuff home. I had a little negotiating to get the bags checked in, but we finally go through, got to our gate and on the plane. One little problem with that part of the trip was that it would be a two hour flight to Narita Japan, and during those two hours, I would not be sitting anywhere near Grace. I hated it, but I also know that I would survive…barely. Landing in Narita is always fun. The flight takes two hours, but the taxi to the gate takes three. It’s unreal. I sat closer to the door and so I beat Grace off the plane. I waited just past the ramp, and then we were on to our next gate. There were really no problems at the Narita airport and we got to sit next to each other on the way back to the states. Not only that, but we go two seats with one being a window and the other being an aisle. Grace tried to get comfortable but couldn’t and so I told her that she could drape her legs over mine and then lay back against the window. She slept like that for a long time. There were several movies on the flight. I watched Ghost Rider and Wings. We landed on time about 10:00 and then headed over to Hertz to pick up our rental car. We figured that we would need a bigger car and so we upgraded to a 2008 Lincoln Town car. As Grace would later put it, “It’s a pretty shiny red”.



It was a huge car. It actually fit all of our luggage. We finally found a phone and she called her brother. It was in a not so good part of town but it was early in the morning still and most of the killers and robbers were still tugged tightly into their bed. After she hung up we looked at our mp and then found the freeway. We took the 10 to the 110 to the 405 to the 5 to Burbank and got to her brothers house pretty quickly. We had to wait for a few seconds while her brother was getting back from the local farmer market. He was picking up some cheese bread. He was really a cool guy, very open and friendly. He welcomed Grace with a hug and then me with a warm hand shake. Where was my hug? He showed us around his place and all of his toys along with his roommate/girlfriend’s Disney stuff as well. I was really starting to fade, and before I passed out I thought it was best to get to my hotel and check in. Grace would be staying there at her brothers house and I would be staying at a hotel off Sepulveda and the 118 freeway. It was 15 miles from Grace and 16 miles from my sister Kim. We stopped by Taco Bell before we headed in that direction. Grace needed her Gordita Crunch. The only place to get those in Korea is on base, but because they had just built a Chilies, and we were only on base a few times, Grace was amazing and went to Chilies because that was where I had wanted to go. On the way to the hotel, we started to play with the car. We were pushing all kind of buttons and found one that turned the heat on in the car seats. That I had seen before, what I hadn’t seen before was an air conditioner built into the seats. We also could control the air on either side of the car. I liked it cold like the Arctic where as Grace likes it closer to Amazon temp. We got to the hotel and checked in. Grace helped me get my things up to my room. I would be the last room on the end of the hallway right near the door. The hotel room looked kind of like an old peoples home that had been redone to be a hotel. But it was great for the price and I would only be there for a week, and even then I would pretty much only be sleeping there. As soon as we got all the bags up to the room, I hugged Grace and then she went and got in her brothers van, in which he followed us. I watched her leave, and then I went back upstairs and passed out. It was only 3:30 and I was nervous since I was falling to sleep rather early. I would probably wake up around 1:00 in the morning and then be wasted again the next day."

Well here I am in Khartoum now...

I want to start this by saying that I have to be very careful about what i choose to write about. Everything here is censored and I do not want to get deported just after arriving. The things that I'll be able to share with you will probably have to be very generic...sorry.

The weather here is very hot. We have a thermometer at school and in the shade it was just over 100. It is very dusty and sandy, but that is to be expected since it is a desert community, right? My apartment is huge. I have two bedrooms, one i never even open the door to. There is a huge dinning room that has a large room on one end that I have put a couch and a desk there so that I can use it as sort of a study area. I have a nice kitchen, but the apartment across the hall is nicer. But who's complaining. I really didn't know what to expect when I came over here. I didn't even know if I would have a bathroom. But I'll try and post a few pictures of my apartment. I haven't gotten then license to actually take pictures out in public, but I will do that as we get a little farther along in the school year.

This is a picture of my family room. I have since moved the desk to the dinning room. I have also added a nice looking carpet that now sits under the kool-aid table...(I don't drink coffee)

This is looking down towards the dinning room and hallway. The second bedrooms dorr is to the right of the picture. My desk now sits along the right side of the wall. And the couch is against the wall that runs diagonal. I have 8 chairs with leapord print seats...cute huh? I love the tile floor, and I just noticed that you can see the carpet that is now across my family room in the back of the picture on the right...

This is my bedroom. Yes there are yellow strips down the wall, and each yellow strip has a shinny silver line next to it. I HATE IT. I have talked to the office at school and have been give the okay to paint it. Hey the school is even going to pick up the cost of the paint when they hear that I would paint it myself. I guess they are not used to people doing heir own work over here, they just hire out. I have two night tables and am working on several things like putting tin foil over the windows. This serves two purposes, one is that I love the dark, and it gets light pretty early, and two that it will help keep the temp down inside the apartment while I am away at school.

Ohhh this is a bad picture...I didn't realize it until it came up big on the site. But as you can kind of tell there are two monkeys sitting ontop of a carport. This monkeys are just outside my window. We feed them cantalop every morning...they are really nice and sweet.

I will write more later, but I have to finish setting up my apartment still. So as always...

peace out...later on