Time for new adventures

Well, exciting times lie ahead!  I have accepted a new job starting July 20 as a TEFL teacher trainer with Maximo Nivel based in Cuzco, Peru!  I will be start in Cuzco for 3-4 months of training where I'll likely move to La Antigua, Guatemala where I'll start my 18-month contract after my training ends.  While going through my training, my company will decide if I'll stay in Peru or move to their Guatemala location.  At this point, they are leaning towards moving me, but I'll remain flexible and see what happens.

La Antigua, Guatemala
"Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."  -- Joseph Campbell

In my position, I'll be training new English teachers interested in finding teaching jobs abroad.  This four-week accredited TEFL/TESOL class will be intense not only for the students but me as well.  I think it'll be similar to my Hall Director/Area Coordinator days in working with lots of enthusiastic and intelligent people.  I am looking forward to being able to communicate with my students again (beyond "It's an elephant").  I'm also incredibly interested in learning about the people and culture of Peru and hopefully Guatemala.  One great benefit of my job is that I get one-hour of free Spanish tutoring each day, so I'm hoping to become fluent in Spanish over my time there.

Cuzco is the base point where most people go to visit Machu Picchu.  Cuzco sits at 11,000 feet elevation, so I'll be back to my high-altitude life again.  Although, this makes Laramie look like sea level!  Laramie is at 7,200 feet.  :)  I've always dreamed of visiting Peru - especially Machu Picchu, and couldn't be more excited to have this opportunity.

Machu Picchu, Peru
"Celebrate endings, for they precede new beginnings."  -- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I'm excited for the opportunity, however find it slightly bittersweet, as I was originally planning on staying in Europe through August.  Now, my timeline for moving is shortened by about 6 weeks, but I wouldn't have it any other way at this point.  I have always enjoyed training and development work and find myself finding ways to get more and more involved with training in my current job, which I have been afforded great opportunities.  Thinking about this new job and new opportunity makes me smile, and so it must be what's right.

Some have asked what happened to moving to Costa Rica?  Well, this job was originally listed for Peru, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, as the company has branches in all three countries.  After applying and interviewing, I found out that the only openings for TEFL trainers were in Peru and Guatemala.  While I was excited about Costa Rica for many reasons, I couldn't dismiss this opportunity.  It's still in the region of the world I want to be in, and it truly is a perfect fit for what I'm interested in doing.

Others are also asking if I'll make it home before the move.  I'm not certain, but at this point it isn't looking too good.  I only have 4 weeks between the contracts and that isn't much time to wrap up everything here as well as sneak in a few more travel adventures before leaving Europe.  We shall see indeed.  The details will all fall into place...for now, I'm simply smiling and enjoying this moment.

Rock City

A couple weekends ago, some friends and I decided to visit Teplice nad Matuji in northeastern Czech Republic (very near the Polish border) to see the "Rock City" in the mountains.  We arrived on Friday evening to a very dark little village near the entrance to the park.  We took the train from Prague then transferred to a regional train to get closer to our destination.  Then we got on a tiny train that took us to our little village in the mountains.  The train stop was a small shack with no lights and when we arrived at 7:30 pm it was pitch black.  We saw a light in the distance and decided to head down the stairs towards the light.  We found our penzion (below) was the only place open!  Most things don't open for another month when the real high season starts.  Thankfully we had brought food and snacks with us and we entertained ourselves by playing cards by the fire.  It was a great escape into "the nature."

Our Penzion

Amy and Becca starting out on the trail

First signs of snow - and there was much more to come!

Stop in the name of love - or don't do whatever he's telling you not to do!

The beginning of the rock formations

Simone, Becca, and Amy - hiking partners

Cool tree roots

We hiked up 200 steps to see a great view - this is almost the top

Amy  heading up the last, very steep, steps

The view was worth it!

Czech flag - needs some paint

One view as we went down the stairs

Next we entered an area nicknamed Siberia - we learned why when we entered and the temps dropped about 15 degrees

Always having fun - and the ice tasted refreshing too!

Someone had shoveled out the path and even created steps

Ice

Cool to see ice and moss together

And the path narrows

We found a frog

Ice patterns

More interesting ice - above the creek

See the ink pot on the left?  A lot of the rock formations were named and I didn't really see them - however, I got this one!

And the path got smaller and smaller

Peek-a-boo

Tree had fallen with all its roots...never seen anything like it before

Snack time!

Water puddle

Melting snow

To show we really were in the middle of nowhere - we hiked to this nearby train station - a step above what we arrived at the night before!