For Eric and Jared and I, it was good to now visit a place we’re familiar with. We lived in Chiang Mai 15 years ago, and both the girls were born here, although they were very young when we left. We celebrated Gianna’s 17th birthday with a nice dinner and longtime friends. It was a …
After leaving Tajikistan, we spent one day and one night in Uzbekistan and went to Magic City. It was pretty cool. It was a big outdoor shopping mall, but all the streets and buildings were themed after different places in the world (kind of like Disneyland). We went in an upside-down room and a maze …
My mom, Jessica, Jared, and I spent most of our time here sharing in the English school classrooms. A lot of the people are trilingual or at least bilingual, usually being able to speak Tajik, Uzbek, and Russian. At the English school, we helped organize 600+ of their books according to the different reading levels. …
Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is the one of few major European cities to have survived World War 2 relatively unscathed. This, together with its rich history, makes it an architectural beauty. Centered around the Vltalva River, it is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with its …
We drove into France one day to visit a town that is said to have inspired the set for the Beauty and the Beast movie. And we could see why! Walking into Riquewihr, this old walled city from the 13th century, was certainly like walking onto a beautiful movie set, with a central fountain, brick …
Kandern, Germany is a quaint town situated right next to the borders of both Switzerland and France. We enjoyed visiting our longtime friend here, as well as her wonderful friends. One day when it was pouring rain, Jared shared that he had prayed it would rain at least once in each country we visited this …
In each country we visit, the first phrases I try to learn are a greeting, and how to say thank you. Afrikaans, the language of South Africa, has the easiest “thank you” for me to remember. Everywhere we went we told people to “buy a donkey”, because that’s how you say “thank you” in Afrikaans! …
What an extraordinary country this is! We began our stay with a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which our friends highly recommended. It’s difficult to put into words the horrific history that is portrayed here, where the ruling Hutus brutally massacred the Tutsis in 1994. It’s incredibly sobering to see humanity at its absolute …
We had the opportunity to go on the Murchison Falls Safari while in Uganda. It’s 3893 km² with only 150 lions and 50 leopards so it was crazy to see them so many times. It was such a cool experience to get to see all the animals so close and in their natural habitats. We …