ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!

so i'm unable to call you on your special day...
so here's my happy birthday wish for you.
i love you
i hope you have a wonderfull day
i hope you get lots of unnecessary presents
just to make you smile
i hope you had fun at your party
and i hope you get some work done...ya know, cant have a day without work!

:) hehehe.... I LOOOOOVE YOU i'll be home soon!
and i'll come give you a big birthday hug.

To everyone who's reading this, send my grandpa rich happy birthday wishes. even if its in thoughts. thank you!!!!!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!
LOVE YOU!
Amanda

5 days....

So i'll be home in about 5 days. :) Turkey is going to be one of my best memories ever. I cant wait to tell you about it in person. there's no way that it can be described on here, it wouldnt give it justce. I will be going back someday...maybe to Istanbul. that would be nice. But for now...my thoughts are "i wanna take the marine biology class" "i wanna go scuba diving" "i wanna do the NOLS sail boat course" lol bascially i fell in love with the sea. I swam with fish...in water that was over 30 feet deep! ah!!!! it was one of my biggest fears swimming with fish and not being able to see what was going on under the water. but the water was sooooo clear that i could still see the bottom from 30feet up! We got back to belgrade today and Tara and her family are coming over to say goodbye today. They're going on family vacation tonight. I really cant wait to see everyone. I have stories galore! but now i need rest. 4 hours of sleep in 72 hours isnt holding up very well. lol kisses and miss you.
<3

quick note

life is good....missing everyone. hope all is well....

must be all for now.
kisses

So this is Bodrum, Turkey. I'm going to be there at about 10am your time tomorrow! :)

so i wont be posting for the next two weeks. enjoy life till then. and i'll be home on the 6th of aug.

i'll be jet lagged till oh about the 6th of oct. just kidding! but i'm sure i'll be sleeping for awhile.

so goodbye till i get back to serbia!

hugs and kisses,
and STOP WORRYING! i'll be fine. :-) hehehe....as i know all of you are.

Love you all,
amanda

sorry it's been so long!

Its one of those things where you're like....i need to do that...whoops forgot to blog again....and day after day more stories happen and finally you're dreading blogging....or doing whatever you're supposed to do because it's become too big! :) well i'm taking it on now....hopefully i wont forget too much.

ooooooook here it goes.
Alright it was the last few days that mom and dad were here and that was probably some of the best memories that i will ever have.
Tara's Milana's and my family all went out for a late night beverage.
I think i might have mentioned that the World University Olympic Games were going on while we were here.....anyway we see a group of chinese coaches and mom being her curious self wanted a pic of them because of them singing and laughing....she wanted a picture of everything. go mom! :) anyway...so she got her pic, then they found out she was american and wanted pics with her! hahaha, well i decided to go investigate. So i went to say hello and they wanted a pic with me. Then the band that was playing came over to our table (back w/ the rest of our extended fam) and they played and played and played! they were REALLLLLY GOOD! so finally we decided we wanted to dance. right there. in the middle of this old street with a bunch of people there having dinner. we didnt care. so all of us ladies got up and started dancing to traditional serbian folk music! it was a blast! :)

the next day we decided to go to Ada. I've been spending a lot of time at ada. Ada is a big lake that was made by damming up part of a river. The beach has rocks instead of sand which hurt my feet, but thas ok. There are a bunch of restrurants by day and clubs by night there right on the beach. So since it was during the day we decided to go get some sun. mom, dad, milana, tara and i went to relax at ada. That was nice. Later that day we decided to go on a boat ride down the Sava river. (kids see if you can find it on the map) The boat ride was a little chilly so we were all cuddled close to keep warm. we saw Gypsies washing their clothes in the river and kids waving at the boat from the train that passed on a bridge that crossed over us. There was a talking bird on the boat too!!!!!! He whistled alot. THEN!!!!!!!!!! A HUGE STORM CAME IN! We got back on land and went inside of a restrurant. and 3 mins later it started to POUR!!!! it was CRAZY how much rain was coming down. They got 3 inches in probably....oh an hour of so. some of the streets were flooded which ment that a taxi wouldnt come get us. soooo we had to climb a big hill to where the town was at and go hop on a bus.
The next day we had to take mom and dad to the airport. That was kind of sad....but in the end ok at the same time. They were ready to go back, and if any of you see my dad TELL HIM TO GO TO THE DOCTOR!!!!! His back was bothering him the entire trip and a birdie told me that he wont go get it fixed. he's so stubborn.

Later that night the girls and i wanted to go out. so we went to a place called Splav. A Splav is a club that is on a the river...kind of like a floating building. we danced allll night!

The next day...we slept in preeeetty late. we didnt get back home till about 4:30am and so we were tired! by the time we got up it was about noon. the girls asked me what i wanted to do. And i answered with "i wanna go to the zoo" i felt like a little kid again. It was so much fun.
we saw hippos, lions, bears, tigers, cheetas, mountain lions, big kitties, wolves, raccoon....kangaroos....wambats....and so much more. :) i had a ton of fun. we went back to taras that evening for dinner.

by the way....i onlly have 2 meals a day here...one around 9 or 10 depending on when we wake up....and another at 5 or 6. if i dont loose weight while i'm here i dont know how i would! the eat sooo well! fresh food all the time. and fresh bread....eh, i'm going to miss the fresh food once i leave.


well thats about it so far. Theres probably some stuff that i forgot, but....thats all my pics reminded me of! so i'm not off to ada with tara. milana is teaching a little boy sapnish right now. so its just me and tara for the afternoon. :)

Much love
amanda

quick summary

before my night starts.... :)
1. we saw gypsy horses in the median of the highway.
2. we ate grilled fish, chicken, veggies.
3. we ate fresh bread, and veggies (homemade bread i might add)

;)

4. Tara and Milana's family gave us a picnic
5. we swam in a hot springs.
6. we had good food
7. we had really good food
8. we had really really good food and desert!!!!!!!!!!!!


to grandma and grandpa, the following:

Milana and tara love their gifts from you, thank you.
Milana wants to write but has been trying to keep up with me and me telling her to take me places. :) Adventually we'll all be able to sit down and write you a story. Tonight i'm wearing a sparkly black/gold top, gold shiny earrings and a gold bracelet.
There was a HUGE debate on what to wear tonight. lol

to sarah, josiah, and kaden.
sarah i found you something very special
and boys...i'm still looking for the perfect gift. :)
I'm saving you money from each country i go to....
So far i've been to
Austria, Czech Republic, and serbia....have mom or dad show you on the map where i'm at.
miss you!

To the PR dept.
Thanks for keeping tabs on me! Cant wait to get back to "the office" :) lol
Make a list for me...check it twice, and i'll get right to it as soon as possible. my appologies for being out on the country on a great trip while you're working. hehehe...enjoy beautiful weather if you're having it. Get some extra dairy queen! :)

Ok family and friends.
I'm going.
have a great day.
<3
Amanda

Srbski srbski srbski

This portion of my trip is much different than anything i've ever done.
It's different being surrounded by another language and not having your classmates to talk to about the different culture on a daily basis. i've only done guided tours through other countries and now i'm living the culture. Seeing gypsies on a daily basis, eating a TON of food. riding the bus, figuring out what milana and her parents are saying when they're talking to themselves.
tara's mom is so cute, she tries to speak english and she does very well! i'm very impressed. PS sorry its beens so long since i've written. Today we went to the fortress Kalemegdan. It was beautiful, on the inside of the walls its a beautiful park now. Children were running around, there was an old man sleeping on a bench while he was sitting up and leaning on a cane. Its cute how couples dont mind cuddling in public on benches...thats one thing that i find very nice. Here, even in austria and czech rep. there was so much more hand holding and spouses being openly fond of eachother. Old couples would walk down the street holding hands, laughing....you never see that in the states. this is the first time that ive been able to sit on a computer for an extended period of time and not worry about paying for internet! :D yay! both milana and tara's family is so welcoming, all they want to do is make me happy...you want coffee or tea? you hungry? you tired? wanna go on a walk? lol, its funny to see.
Tomorrow we're going to a monestary. its in the countryside which will be a good change of scenery. the college olympic games are going on here in belgrade right now so there's an extra 20,000 people here. i accidently took a 5 hr nap today at about 5:30...so now its 1:36am and i'm not tired. :P But i'll probably wrap this up and try to sleep. I hope all is well in the states, and believe me, i miss you guys a lot. I cant wait to tell you my next adventure!!! have a great evening (your time) and i'll be going to bed very soon.

Love you,
Amanda

i'm aaaaalive!!! :)

Hey there friends.
All is well in Prague.
I will write more on Wednesday because that is when I will be in Serbia!
I'm very excited.
today i bought crystal from an old man in an antique shop. It had dust on it. :)
I refused to buy a piece of crystal from a shop that had a ton of crystal in it....all the same, all factory made.
Well 5 min left.
Muuuch love!
:)

Kisses

short but sweet

so basically...
i'm alive :)
i have to keep this short
cuz i'm getting charged by the min for internet
its soooo expensive!
The concert was fantastic.
Food was great
we leave for prague tomorrow morning at 8am. 1am your time. :)

its a 6hr drive...

wish me luck in finding a phone/internet where i'm going!

and maybe it'll be cheeper!
love
amanda

today and yesterday

Sorry about not blogging yesterday, i wrote a whole long thing and hit "publish post" and it didnt work and deleted my entire message. So yesterday we went to the Esterhazy Palace and played in the Hydan Hall. One of the best acousticly sounding halls in the world. I loaned my violin to a woman in a professional grom for about $50. We spent a lot of time today talking about Hyden. We went to his church where he was burried and to his Haus (house) :) My favorite was after dinner walking around, takin pics....Our hotel room is a little warm but mostly comfortable. The people on the trip are working very well together. There are some times where we get a little bitter with eachother but thats to be expected in spending so much time with eachother.

I'm tempted to tell you what the real vienna is like...or let you keep the imaginary thought of what vienna would be in your imagination. I think i wont say...Its just different. :)

*********************************************

That was yesterday, now today.

Today was more of the vienna i had expected. We went to a HUGE church that was built from 1150-1560...it took that long. it was beautiful. Schonbrunn Palace. It. Was. Beautiful. Google it. Gorgeous. Beautiful...fantastic. Then we got to go to some little shops. walk around a bit and have another great dinner.

This is all for now.
Internet is very expensice for the hour.

Love,
Amanda

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!!!!! ...oh do i have stories.

WELL! I'm safe in Vienna, Austria! But wow the stories of how i got here!

First off...
I about missed the bus from Coe to the airport. But no worries obviously i made it.
Second.
Our flight left Chicago 1hr 1/2 late. Which ment, that i missed my connecting flight in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Thennn
I spoke with a very nice ticket counter lady...who then said "if you make your connecting flight you must get on it, but if not i make resorvation for you on different flight"
....so going through the language barrier i figured out that i would forsure get to Austria on time. I was worried that I was going to be booked on a much later flight which i would THEN have to (...jetlag is making my mind not function) find my own way to the Hilton Hotel. WOOT WOOT!

But!
No worries!
I made it to Vienna ON THE SAME FLIGHT as the rest of my group! :)
then...i realized. whoops. what about my bag. feel free to think ahead, assume, and laugh a little.
yes
you're correct
i have no bag at the moment.
but!
not to worry....it will be delivered promptly between 6-9pm this evening. :)

So for tour stuff today, we went to a HUGE cemetary...where Mozart, Strauss, and Beethoven all had monuments. It was pretty darn cool.
Well it is 10 E per hour....which would be about $15 or so per hour so its not my turn anymore!
More tomorrow.
much love to all!



JOSIAH SARAH AND KADEN! I LOOOOOOOOVE YOU!
love you mom, and dad, and gma(s) and gpa(s) aunts uncle's and friends. :)
ttyl <3

aaaaand we're off!

the next time you'll hear from me i'll be in vienna!

much love till then.
Amanda


PS.
if Josiah, Sarah, and Kaden read this.....GO HAVE FUN TODAY AND I LOOOOOOVE YOU! KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS! AND LOOOOTS OF HUGS! <3

Coe Practicing

So we're all at coe practicin like crazy.
we practiced for about 5 hours today. and at 5 we have a pool party!! woot woot!
Its hot and sticky in cedar rapids...
sunny
breezy....and really humid.
We will practice another 5 hours tomorrow, a cookout.... then we're off on tuesday morning!

<3

I forgot that some of you dont know what I'm doing on my trip. and why i'm going! :)
So here's my explination....oh quick disclaimer:

i cant spell. So from here on out, excuse those small errors.

I will be in Vienna and Prague from June 23-July 1. This is with Coe College Orchestra.

http://www.coe.edu/uploads/pdfs/academics/music/haydn_orchestra.pdf

This shows you where i'll be playing and when. I think its kind of fun to look at.

I will then be flying to Serbia to see Milana and Tara (foreign exchange students that lived with me and my parents a few years ago)
Milana and her family are taking me to Bodrum, Turkey for a vacation.
I will be gone untill the beginning of august.

ok, now it should be clear what's going on. enjoy.

packing.

so i'm basically done packing.
i'm sure you dont want to hear about that except that i got it all into 1 suitcase!!!!
woot woot!
:)

well, this will be it till after i leave washington.