Started to update Travel Blog

I've started to update my travel blog. You can check it out here.

Also, check out the University of IL-Urbana-Champaign photo diary here. To access the photos of each week, just click on the dates and scan down. You may recognize a few pics of me. :-)

I highly recommend checking out the other blogs listed on the U of I photo diary web page. You'll get another perspective of the trip.

Oh, the answers to the previous post were:
1) Me, of course!
2) This photo was taken in Bogoliubovo at the Monasteries, built in the 12th century. It is currently a convent. The Russian Orthodox Church requires women to wear scarves on heads and a long skirt. I look like a Polish refugee because I didn't feel like wearing a skirt all day so I threw a skirt in my bag and pulled it over my capris (as did the other American teachers in my group) and then quickly tied the scarf on my head prior to walking into the Cathedral.

Here is a group photo:

Countdown to Russia

Leaving for Russia . . .

OK folks!

All my school stuff is officially completed. Corrected projects. Corrected final exams. Entered grades into school system. Cleaned and packed up classroom. Checked out with the proper administrators. Had my last American meal in MA with two of my colleagues today for lunch.:-)

Now . . . packing! I can take two pieces of luggage and one carry-on. You should see me trying to pack everything I need for a month into a suitcase and a smaller suitcase. I think I'm going to be over the weight requirement for my domestic flight. I should be OK for the flight to Moscow. Ughy!

My brain is on overload right now - I'm trying to think of everything that needs to get done before I head out of here on Tuesday.

I won't be updating this blog while I'm in Russia. Please feel free to check out my travel blog. I will have limited access to the Internet while I'm in Russia.

Have a good month and I'll be in touch soon!

Lots of hugs and love to all!!!! :-)

Exhaustion is the word of the day!

What can I say? I'm tired. I'm exhausted. And, I'm buried with school work right now. Overworked and underpaid doesn't flow very well with me right now.

I do it to myself at the end of every school year. Only this time, I have the Russia trip to get ready for on top of everything else.

If I've been out touch with folks - it's because when I do have ONE moment to myself, I choose to sleep. So, please don't be upset with me if I've been unable to comment on blogs or email back right away. I am trying to do the best that I can right now.

I'm also working a ton more hours at the doggie store. The owner of the store has a VERY sick Dalmatian so the owner hasn't be able to work her normal hours so all of the employees have been picking up extra hours to help her out - including me. The money will be nice for my trip but it's making me a tad bit more tired than normal. For example, last week I worked over 22 hours at Paws on top of my crazy hours that I put into school. I kept track of my school hours last week - I worked over 50 hours! Ughy! No wonder I'm not feeling like myself right now.

Our union STILL hasn't negotiated our contract yet which means that we are entering into the second year that the City of Salem has saved a ton of money by NOT paying us what we deserve. I really can't afford to be making the same salary for the second year in a row.

People keep asking me if I'm excited about my trip to Russia. Of course I am excited but I have so much stuff to do before I leave that I can't even think about it right now.

Oh, the local paper did publish the story on me going to Russia. However, when you try and check it out online, it's part of the Plus edition. Here is a snippet. There was a picture of me too. If you want a photocopy of the article, let me know and I can mail it out to you.

Oh, and to add more fun to this scenario - there have been a lot of teachers out since everyone is trying to use up their personal days so that means substitute teachers. Our subs are horrible! They never do their job. Last week, I ended up having to pull apart a wrestling match (yes, you read it correctly) in a classroom as the sub was watching and laughing in the middle of a classroom. I happened to be walking by the room and heard laughing and yelling. This also happened on a day of which I teach three 90 minute classes in a row and have the last block for my prep block (I'm supposed to be making phone calls to parents, photocopying materials, correcting papers, attend meetings, etc. during this block). So needless to say, I wasn't very happy about having to do someone else's job at the end of the day. Every day last week, either myself or my other colleagues had to intervene and monitor the subs. We've all complained to administration about how incompetent the subs are but since it's the end of the school year, no one else wants the job so a bad sub is better than no sub. Nice mentality. Ughy!

So, that sums up stuff here.

I was interviewed by a reporter today for the Fulbright-Hays Grant.

A reporter from our local paper came into school today to interview me for the Fulbright-Hays grant. He also brought with him a photographer to take a few pictures of me. I felt so uncomfortable having my picture taken. The photographer had me leaning up against one of the poles of the entrance of the school (please keep your mind clean). Hopefully the picture they end up using for the article is a nice photo of me.

I really hope that the article receives some positive publicity for my school. Unfortunately, we've received some negative press lately so it would be nice to portray my school in a positive light.

The reporter told me that the article would be in the paper by the end of this week or early part of next week. I'll keep everyone posted.

Excitement! :-)

What can I say??? I'm really excited and I wonder how I'm going to make it through to June 19th! I have so much to do prior to leaving . . . lots of paperwork to fill out for the trip, go to Doctor for a check-up and updates of shots, get a Travel Debt/Credit Card from AAA, read up on Russian History, PACK for five weeks, plus get all my final exams graded and grades calculated before I leave on the 19th of June. There's obviously more to do before I leave but this is the main stuff.

The director of the U of I Fulbright-Hays program has been sending us a ton of reading packets to brush up on Russia prior to our trip (she sends the readings as attachments through Microsoft Word documents). She also emailed us a form to fill out about our host families. It's a questionnaire asking us our preferences such as smoking vs. nonsmoking families, do we have allergies, special eating preferences, etc.

I had Friday off from school (Good Friday). I had made an appointment at Saturn to get an oil change and get some stuff fixed on my car. That's the disadvantage of commuting . . . I'm putting more wear and tear on my car so things are starting to go wrong with it. I correcting my school work for three hours at Saturn. $600 later - I walked out. Ughy!

I went over to Borders afterwards to check out some travel books on Russia. I found three books that I think will be great references for my trip.

I'm going to start up a travel blog soon to document my experiences. I'll be giving out the address to family, friends, colleagues, and my students. I thought it would be fun for the kids to read about M-Dawg. :-)

What are the plans for the weekend? I work today at Paws. I don't know if it will be busy or not since it's the day before Easter. Believe it or not, folks get Easter stuff for their pets too! I hope to see a few of our "regulars" come in today: Bula the English Bull Dog, Sasha the Poodle, etc. Bula is my favorite!!! She's my baby girl! :-)

Not doing too much on Easter. I bought myself a small spiral ham, making Mom's Green Rice, and some green bean casserole for my meal. I had a few invites but I really just want to relax. Carla mentioned something about seeing a movie on Sunday night so I might do that.

I have all next week in school and that following week we are on April break. Looking forward to getting some stuff done since I won't have another day off until Memorial Day.

Update on Russia Trip

Thanks to all that commented on my last post.

I also should clarify something I said about my parents and them not being proud of me. I know they are proud of me. They are not saying it to me but I know they are proud. I called my Grandma last night to tell her the good news and she told me that my Dad had called her to tell her earlier in the day. She told me how proud and excited he was in sharing this good news with her.

You'd think that after all these years that I could live my life without having to have the acceptance or approval of my parents in any of my life decisions. I guess it doesn't work that way.

And, I know that I'm not a parent yet. I know they are worried about me and that they love me.

I read the last post and realized how insensitive I was in saying that I wish my parents were proud of me. I know they are proud of me . . . I just wished that I could hear it from THEM and not other people.

I'M GOING TO RUSSIA!!!!!!

Oh my God!!!!!

I was notified this afternoon via email that the Fulbright-Hays grant was approved and I'm heading to Russia this summer!!!!!

I'm soooooooo excited!!!!!

I called my Mom today at work. My folks have many concerns about this trip:

1) My safety - the idea of me traveling that far away is freaking them out.

2)They don't want to see me get in trouble financially and overspend.

3) Leaving my cat for such a long period of time and having someone else take care of her.

I understand their concerns. But this is such a wonderful opportunity for me, personally and professionally. Everything is paid for by the grant except spending money. I promise not to get too crazy with spending. The safety issue - something could easily happen to me here in the United States too. I refuse to live my life in fear. I love traveling - I want to see the world before I settle down and get married. What's wrong with that? The Ellie the Cat issue is understandable. Mom wants to make sure that her "grandcat" is taken care of. I'm a good Mom. I will make sure she's all set.

I just wish that they would be proud and happy for me.

Is it June 18th yet??????????????