VACATION!!!

After weeks and months of dreaming of traveling.. the time has come. Yes, friends, tomorrow afternoon I am on a plane to Budapest, Hungary for 5 days. Three of those days are tied up in some silly conference... lol, ok, it will be very beneficial. I have two presentations to give - one on my lovely life here in Prishtina, and the other on managing multiple bosses. After that, it's R&R time. I get back from Budapest Sunday night, and I have 2 days to get it together to go to the BEACH. Oh god I can't wait to see the Ocean.

I get to stick my feet in a brand new ocean this time... the Indian. That's 3 out of 4 (or 5, depending on whose view you take on it) not bad for a mere lass of 33. Now if I can just get in two more continents before I'm 35, I'll have 6 out of 7 under my belt. Antarctica really isn't that high up on my list of things to see. Penguins in the wild would be cool, but I think you can do that in South America. Hmm....

I have finished all of my grading, I have signed everyone's grade books, and I am DONE with work for a month. NICE. Just a little side note on the University system here... The grading system is a little different from ours, as nothing is really computerized. Students don't have "transcripts" as we know them. They have these books that the professors all have to sign. I don't know what happens if these books get lost. It has every course the student has ever taken at University and all of their grades. If it were me, I would lose it within the first week. Then again, that's just one of my many talents. I'd also like to know what these kids are supposed to do if they apply for any university outside of Kosovo? Send their book? A photocopy? I don't know. Slowly, but surely I'm getting used to the way things work around here. I won't even get into University politics right now. I'm going to have a long chat with my RELO in Budapest because things are starting to get ugly. I'm not at all sure my position will exist next year. I hope it does... I think... I'm wavering on coming back right now. I think it's just the tail end of holiday homesickness though.

So today is dedicated to last minute laundry, which is a joke since it takes 3 days for anything to dry, packing, and cleaning up my apartment for a friend who is going to stay here while I'm gone. It's 6:30, have I done any of this? OF COURSE NOT. I guess I should go get started.

Ok, enough babbling for one day. I wish I had something truly important to share. I guess I could tell you that I'm feeling much better, the vertigo isn't as bad (still here but definitely better). And I really should tell you how proud I am of my students this semester. They are FANTASTIC.