Making a Difference With the Life You Are Given

Sometimes it can feel like life can move at an overwhelming pace. But it only feels like that when I'm not in control of the events around me that are changing. And that pretty much describes the last 6 weeks of my life.
In a nutshell, I am mostly unemployed, but very actively pursuing 2 unrelated fields, preparing to move (again, but permanently this time), applying to graduate schools, and gearing up for a major humanitarian trip.
It's the humanitarian trip I want to talk about today.

As soon as my job became a thing of the past, I became depressed. It's common and normal to get depressed after losing your livelihood, and having no control over the situation. (It's depressing even when you do have control over the situation.)
But I didn't want to stay depressed. I have a good life. Not having a steady paycheck isn't actually the worst thing ever. I have a good support system. And I have ideas about what I want in the future.
And I also very firmly believe that God is in control of the details. The situation around losing my job was so unexpected and strange that I have to believe it was divinely guided.

Losing my job was God's Will?

Yes. Trust me, it isn't always easy to believe or think that. But I believe that it was. He led me right to this place in life. His Hand was in everything that brought me to Utah and to that job. I have to trust that His hand is in everything that has happened since.
It doesn't mean that everything has been perfect and easy since that day. It's been anything but.
I did have the wonderful and surprising blessing of a great side gig landing in my lap exactly 2 hours after the job ended. I took it. It has been a great situation for me. I've been working as an extra on TV shows and movies. How's that for unexpected and random? Very few people in my life these days were around 20+ years ago when I did that sort of thing before. It was more of a hobby or source of amusement back then. And now somehow it's paying me decent money.
I've been blessed. I've been very fortunate that I haven't hit rock bottom.

The day after I lost my job I started thinking about what it is I really want to do with my life. (I loved my job, and it paid well, and was a good professional experience. But it wasn't fulfilling.) If I had the freedom to do and be anything I want, what would it be?
And the answer came to me very quickly- humanitarian work. Get your hands dirty, make a difference, work to exhaustion, save the world, humanitarian work.
If you know me, you know I've always been deeply involved in different aspects of humanitarian work. But I haven't done something tough or in-depth in several years. I do plenty of volunteer work, but nothing like the work I miss doing. The kind of work I did back in Haiti and Cambodia.
And that's when it hit me. I know where I am needed, I know who I want to serve, and I know how to make it happen.

My dear friend Katie runs a group called Humanitize Expeditions that takes medical teams to various places to do good. Usually it's either Guatemala or Haiti, but this year, for the first time, she's taking people to Greece to serve in a refugee camp.
And she's invited me to go with them.
Specifically I'm going with the team to do some unusual things. First, I do have a medical service background. Many moons ago I was an EMT. I can still take a BP, pulse, and do a quick triage assessment. (Those are skills you don't forget or lose. In fact, when I go to the doctor now, I almost always try and take my BP myself, or at least guess what it is if they won't let me touch the sphygnometer.) So I will be able to support and assist the real medical staff. But I'll also get to put my writing skills to work. I will be interviewing the refugees, taking video, and pictures of them, and sharing them with the world. I want to share the plight of the refugee in an unbiased and true way.
It is so important that we all understand what the refugees are really going through. We don't learn the unbiased truth from the media. They are telling a different story about the situation. They aren't telling the stories of the individuals. And I want to share the personal stories.

Preserving the truth and their stories is so important for all of us to learn from. In the future do we want the next generations to know what CNN or Fox said about the aid or bombs regarding the refugees? Or do we want them to know what led the people to leave their homes and risk their lives just to end up in a tent city thousands of miles away? I believe it's the personal stories that matter. Those are the ones we can learn from.
One special thing I will be doing on this trip is taking a camera that prints instant photos to share with the refugees. If there is one thing I have learned from humanitarian work, and traveling around the world, it is that small children love to take pictures with you. But usually that pictures ends up on your phone, and the child gets nothing. So I'm bringing my instant camera and film so that the children can take a picture home with them.
Earlier in July I was in Germany with Clog America. The group performed for refugee families that have resettled in Germany. I took my camera with me and went through 60 pictures in less than 20 minutes.

When I would first take the picture and hand it over the children didn't understand what was happening. (It was just a white picture.) But once it developed, the kids loved it and would run to show their parents. And nearly every single parent would come up to me with their whole family and ask, "family photographia?" These families that have lost everything as they traversed the world, don't have old family photos with them. The tiny little Polaroid picture I could hand them made them so happy.
The pictures interspersed here are the refugee children from that experience. They were so darling. And they became our instant friends for life. Any time they would see us in town after that they were so happy. I got many spontaneous hugs from small children for several days, all because I took their picture.

Doesn't this little girl's story deserve to be heard and preserved?

I can't do this trip alone. If there is one downside to unemployment it's the limited funds. If I am to make this trip a reality, I must raise more money in order to go. The funds will go to travel expenses for the medical and support teams, and more importantly to medical supplies.
I'm already taking a full suitcase of clothing and towel donations. (My clothes for the trip will have to fit in my backpack.) I have easily 5 more suitcases worth of clothing and supplies I could take with me. But I have to raise the money to pay for the baggage fees. I'm working with the airline to work something out, and I'm working with Best Buy to see if I can get more film donated. But even after their help, I still need to raise more money to make it all happen.

The money raised really and truly goes right to a refugee family. And in return you get to see the pictures of the families they go to. You'll get to see video and hear their stories first hand. What other charitable donation can do that for you? Your donation no matter how big or small will make a difference, and you will get to see the person it benefited.

You can donate through my GoFundMe account here. Or if you prefer, you can send it via PayPal.me to me directly. Donations large or small are welcome. If you want to make a specific donation, the film for the camera is $16 a packet. And I want to take 20 packets or more if possible.
At the risk of sounding like a Sally Struthers commercial, for just $16 you can make a huge difference in the life of a refugee.

(forgive the shakiness of the video- I was also holding a kid on my hip as I filmed it)

Nevertheless, She Persisted

I remember the first time I experienced true sexism. I was in college and wanted to apply for acceptance into my major program. My (female) adviser told me not to bother. I was a borderline student, and there was a limited number of spots available. "And since this is a career path major, it will go to a man who could use this major to get a real job and support a family."

I was so angry. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair. I could live with the verdict if I applied and got rejected because I wasn't competitive enough based on the merits. But to be told not to bother because men deserved the career track more than I did? That really bothered me. I knew what I wanted to major in. I knew what field I wanted to work in. I didn't want to take her advice to go "major in something more friendly, like English or Family Sciences."

So I looked up all the universities in the country that had the specific program I wanted to major in. There were exactly 7 schools with my program, and one of them was back in Virginia in my hometown where I qualified for in-state tuition. It took little more to convince me to apply there and transfer schools. I've never regretted it. I majored in Political Communications and Broadcast Journalism at the Edward R. Murrow School of Communications at George Mason University, and loved every minute of it.

It was while I was attending GMU that I experienced my second serious case of sexism. I had a job working on a political campaign as a fundraising associate. I was pretty good at my job, and got promoted a few times through the ranks. One day I made a comment to the male receptionist about my paycheck. We quickly came to discover that he got paid $3/hr more than I did. He was the receptionist. He was new. I had rank and experience over him. Why did he make more? I asked and got the straight answer. "Men need the money more than girls do."

Back then I believed that sort of thing. I accepted that he made more money than I did because he had to pay for dates, and I didn't. (Really, that was the argument I was given.) Even though I did more work and had more responsibility and experience, I believed it was okay for him to make more money that I did because he was male. Today I know better.

Those first few years out of college every job I had wanted to turn me into a secretary, but I didn't want that. I persisted in being seen as a planner and creator. I forced employers to not expect me to be their assistants or secretaries, but to let me create programs and step out and do something more.

I'm 42 now. I'm glad I wasn't held back by the first university that told me a man deserved my career more than I did. I'm good at what I do. I love what I do. I persisted and broke out of the "secretary track" that my career started me down. I'm a marketing director for a national bank now. I've written 6 books and hundreds of articles. I've planned huge events, and fundraised thousands of dollars. All things I could never have done if I had listened to the people that told me a man deserved my job more than I did.

I don't agree with the politics of Senator Elizabeth Warren. She's not my cup of tea. But last week she tried to read a letter on the Senate floor, and was shut down by Senator Mitch McConnell (who's politics I also don't agree with). In so doing, he said the following, "“Sen. Warren was giving a lengthy speech. She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”

He then went on to let two more men give lengthy speeches, reading the same exact text Senator Warren had tried to read.

And the words, "She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted." suddenly became the rally cry for every woman who has ever been held back by sexism. (Whether or not they consider themselves feminists.)

I was warned in college [that I wasn't good enough for the major]. I was given an explanation [that a man deserved it more]. Nevertheless, I persisted, found a different school, and got the degree I wanted anyway.

I remember clearly sitting in a team meeting where I pointed out that the plan in front of us was the same plan we had tried the month before, but it had failed - badly. My boss snapped at me and told me (verbatim) to shut up. Minutes later a man made the same observation. He was given the opportunity to create a new plan for us the next month. Because girls are supposed to sit still and look pretty, and not think critically or speak up out of turn. We're told we're bossy, but boys have leadership skills if they command a room.

And so it is, I LOVE the phrase, "Nevertheless, she persisted." I don't care about Senator Warren or Senator McConnell. But there is something about those words, "nevertheless, she persisted" that speaks right to my heart. And I know that it speaks to thousands of other women who have been in the same places I've been.

So I put it on a t-shirt. And I'm selling that shirt through Bonfire.com a fundraising platform. I've created it in multiple colors, sizes, and styles for men, women, and children. There's something for everyone there. It's available for another week online.

The proceeds from the sales of the shirts will go to donations for refugees in Germany. This summer I will be traveling with Clog America to Germany, the Netherlands, and England on their annual folk festival tour. As a plus, I'm bringing my nephew Tell Gresko with me. Clog America will perform at folk festivals alongside several other countries. And between shows, we take the time to make humanitarian visits to orphanages and shelters. We have become aware that in one of the towns we are visiting that the hotels are filled with refugees. I intend to bring donations with me to this town to personally hand over to the refugees, and give to the organizations at the most direct levels. (Some of the proceeds will also go to help offset the cost of Clog America's expenses so we can give more money in humanitarian donations.)

If you know me, you know that I have a love for doing humanitarian work. I've traveled to Romania, Haiti, Cambodia, Serbia, and more doing humanitarian work. If I could raise my hand and volunteer to take in a refugee in my own home, I would. The travel ban on refugees- the very victims of our enemies- breaks my heart. And so I created another t-shirt in support of the refugees. This one says, "Give Me Your Tired" on the front, and "Refugees Welcome" "#My America" on the back. It also comes in multiple styles and colors. It's only available for one more night.

Wear the "Nevertheless, she persisted" shirt in honor of every woman you know that had to work twice as hard to be taken seriously. Who got paid less to do the same job as the man beside her. Who stepped out of the shell she was put in, "because that's what girls should do."

I hope you'll consider purchasing one of these t-shirts knowing that it shows your support of a good cause, and goes to support a good cause. (If you don't want a shirt, you can still make a donation using the links as well.)

Thank you for all your support in all of my projects over the years. This pet project is near and dear to my heart. I want to show my support for the women around me, and I want to show my love for the refugees. I want to help the women in the refugee camps who need so much of our help and love, and not our hate and sexism. And I've found my own simple way to show support and raise funds all at the same time. I hope you'll consider supporting it.

Thank you!!

Nevertheless, she persisted. - https://www.bonfire.com/nevertheless-she-persisted-2017/

Give Me Your Tired - https://www.bonfire.com/support-true-american-values/

Help Me Help the Refugees

As most of my friends and readers know, I have spent some time serving, at my own expense, in some of the world's saddest, most underdeveloped places.

I have personally worked with sex-trafficking victims. I've heard their stories, and helped them find education and new job skills. I have worked in hospitals and tent cities with disaster victims. I have volunteered in orphanages. I have held dying babies who had no other family to hold them in their final moments. I have driven ambulances and fire trucks at lightning speed. I have pulled people from car wrecks. I've seen families sob as they accept the death of a loved one.

I acutely feel the pain of the refugees fleeing our common enemies. I have not yet met them. But I can imagine their circumstances and fear.

Today I find myself grateful for federal judges who had the bravery and confidence to stand up to a president (a president who likes to make threats and taunts and insults to those who disagree with him), to uphold the Constitution and American values. (When the president openly admires some of history's most vile and corrupt leaders, it must be terrifying to defy him, wondering what he might do to you in retribution.)

I have been patriotic for as long as I can remember. My earliest childhood memories involve political rallies for a party I can no longer support. I have served on Capitol Hill. I have served on presidential campaigns. I've hosted phone banks. I've canvassed neighborhoods.

I believe in democracy, free trade, capitalism, and that America was build as "one nation under God," and in "liberty and justice for ALL."

More than anything, I believe in free speech. I thank God every day for the right to express ourselves openly, without fear of punishment. I believe in free press, and that good journalism means telling every side to a story, even if and when it makes you enemies. And I believe most of all, that no one, especially no government or political leader, can or should control the press and what every they may choose to say.

And all of these reasons, held deep in my heart, and on my sleeve, are why I must do something to help the refugees. I am reminded of a scripture from the Book of Mormon, Alma 60:27-28.

"And I will come unto you, and if there be any among you that has a desire for freedom, yea, if there be even a spark of freedom remaining, behold I will stir up insurrections among you, even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority shall become extinct.

28 Yea, behold I do not fear your power nor your authority, but it is my God whom I fear; and it is according to his commandments that I do take my sword to defend the cause of my country, and it is because of your iniquity that we have suffered so much loss."

Many times in my life this scripture has jumped out at me, inspired me, and reminded me, that it is God that I fear, and not mankind. I fear the judgment of God if I do stand up for what is right.

I am only one person. But I know my skills. I know what I have to offer the world. I know what resources are at hand for me to make a difference. And that is why I have chosen to sell t-shirts, so that others, like me, can wear our beliefs proudly. We can show others that there is still a "spark of freedom remaining." And by doing so, and selling the shirts, I can raise money to give directly to refugee organizations in Germany this summer.

I will in Germany this summer in a town where we know there are several refugees already. I know that by personally bringing the funds and donations with me, I will be able to give it to refugees at a more personal level. The money will not get lost in the overhead of large nonprofit expenses. But will go to getting clean clothes, toys, and food, directly into the hands of those who need it most.

I hope you will consider supporting the cause. Even if you don't want a t-shirt, you can make a donation. The t-shirts come in men's, women's, and youth versions and sizes.

Thank you all for your support. It means more to me than you will ever know!

https://www.bonfire.com/support-true-american-values/

My European Adventure As Told By My Travel Pillow

Do people read blogs anymore? The analytics say yes, the engagement says no.
But for you remaining readers, hello! I'm home! By now you've probably noticed I was in Europe for the last few weeks. And what a crazy few weeks it was.
I was on tour with Clog America again. Some may question the wisdom in going on a European tour whilst unemployed. But for me it was a logical thing to do. I get to network, clear my mind, find new creativity, and more importantly, do some marketing for a worthy non-profit. I took over 2,000 photos and videos while on tour, and will soon have them turned into a few articles, and a few videos they can use for fundraising and recruiting purposes.
It's always an interesting adjustment going from solo and bored to living in close quarters with 40+ people to back to solo and bored. (And coming home to less than enjoyable circumstances.) I've been home 8 days and I'm still adjusting back to civilian life.
But adjusting I am.
You've seen the pictures from the trip, so I'm not going to bother giving a full travelogue. Does anyone want to read that stuff anyway? I doubt it.
But I will hit on some highlights that didn't show up in the pictures.
First, I LOVED my new Little Cloud Nine Travel Pillow. It may look completely bizarre, but it was a life saver on more than one occasion.

I am not capable of sleeping with those horseshoe pillow things around my neck on a plane. It just doesn't work for me. And I can't sleep with my head tipped back, mouth open, etc. Normally, I try to hunch over on my tray table and sleep that way on a plane. But if the person in front of you reclines... It's hard sleeping on planes! But this funny looking pillow did the trick for me. It stands up in your lap, and you sort of tip over into it. There is a "window" for you to look out, and another one for your hands to go into.
Sometimes I used it the prescribed way. Other times I rolled it up like a log, put it by the window of the plane/bus, and leaned into it. Bus? Oh yes. It's a trademark of Clog America tours. We travel a lot by bus. And this particular tour included an unexpected 20 hour bus ride. We had expected it to be 9-12 hours. But due to the terrorist attack in Nice, France, our trip took much, much longer than anticipated. And my funny little pillow saved the day for me and others. I had the foresight to grab it and my regular pillow and pull them up into the bus when the trip started (not knowing how long we would be in there). I used it for a while, but then when a friend told me she didn't have a pillow at all, I gave her the Little Cloud Nine Travel Pillow, and I used my Tempurpedic for the next 10 hours. (She rolled it up like a log and snuggled with it.)
On my flight home I had a whole row to myself! On both flights! (It's a travel miracle!) I was so tired on my first flight from Rome to Istanbul that I fell asleep before the flight took off, and the flight attendant had to wake me up when we landed. I had stayed up for about 23 hours, and walked over 10 miles in 97 degree heat the day before. When I say I was tired, I mean it! Somewhere on that flight, which I don't remember in the least, I lied down across all three seats, and used my travel pillow in log position. The flight attendant must have covered me up with a blanket, because there was one on me when I woke up. I slept hard core for my entire four hour flight and have no memory of it.
When I got to Istanbul I was still completely exhausted, and used my pillow again. I put it in my lap, and used it in the prescribed position. I fell asleep face forward in it for two straight hours in one very loud and noisy airport. I'm not complaining.
(Of course by then I had actually had plenty of sleep and barely slept on my 10 hour flight from Istanbul to Dulles. Sigh.)
You can't do that with a horseshoe pillow! Or those dinky little airplane pillows!
So, this is my travelogue for you - get yourself one of these awesome pillows!

Tour Life and Coming Home Again

95% of my life is spent alone. I live alone. I work solo. I'm single. I really am alone nearly all the time. I wish it weren't always that way. I'm not a loner, but circumstances have made me that way to some extent. 3 weeks of close proximity with 44 people is a big change for almost everyone, but an especially overwhelming one for me. (So many people in my space! So little control over my surroundings!)
It's a challenge, but one that I enjoy 95% of the time. (See "Serbians After Midnight" for the other 5%.) I'm grateful to be home and getting back into my routine. But missing my big, funny, tour family. And daydreaming about next year already. (Germany! Netherlands! Belgium! Ireland!)
It's a strange adjustment going back to solitary living. So quiet! I look forward to the day where I get to live in a nice happy medium.

Au Revoir, Mes Amis

In just about 24 hours I'll be in a plane bound for Europe. It's a much-needed trip to get away for awhile.
I've had all this free time to work and be creative lately, but my head has been too full of drama from the past to really be able to let go and let my creative side take over. I hate having all this free time and not putting it to good use writing! I have let my creative side out a bit with painting and refurbishing furniture. I've redone 5 tables in the past 3 weeks. I think my neighbors will strangle me if they hear me fire up my orbital sander one more time. I've loved doing something creative and different from my usual routine. It's good to exercise the design and aesthetic muscle from time to time. I've been trying my hand at sewing again as well. (I'm taking several small crafting projects with me to Europe to give to an orphanage.) I think it's in everyone's best interest if I put the sewing machine away and stop watching "Project Runway." I can't sew a straight line to save my life.
But back to Europe, and all that chocolate and cheese that's just waiting for me! I've lost 30 lbs since January 1. And I don't care if I put back on every single pound by eating chocolate, cheese, and pasta. Did I mention I'm headed to France and Italy? Yeah. Good food awaits!
And so does creative freedom. This trip is coming at just the right time for me to shake off the past, clear my head, and reboot life a little bit better. Time for a new outlook. Time for new Italian shoes. Time to visit with old friends and make some new ones. And time to twirl in the Alps and put my toes in the Mediterranean Sea. All things that will definitely be happening!
Here's a funny thought for you- this is my first trip in about 10 years that I will be able to drink the water where I'm going. I always seem to be heading off to another less developed country where I have to get shots and take medications. This will be a whole new adventure for me to be in a place where the dollar isn't high-valued, and the water is clean.
Granted, I'm traveling with Clog America again, so it's not like we'll be staying in hotels or resorts. (We're staying in hostels, a dorm, and with host families this time.) But bring it on! I'm ready for some new sights and sounds! And to listen to the sound of little clogging feet, fiddles, and banjos every night. (Not looking as forward to all of the Eastern European dances as much. But still, I love them too.) Ooh and this year there will be teams from Africa and Asia performing as well. That should bring a fun new element into the mix.
I'm trying to force myself to stay awake another 33 minutes so I can book my seats and check in online. My flight has a layover in Istanbul, and due to the bombings there last week it's guaranteed to be a jam-packed flight. (Also it's the end of Eid in Muslim countries, so a lot of families are traveling that direction.) I don't want a middle seat!!!
So look forward to lots of pictures of food, cloggers, and pretty scenes over the next few weeks! And be sure to follow our adventures at clog-america.blogspot.com. 

The Next Big Adventure

Some pretty building and flowers in Belgrade, Serbia. Summer 2014 

In the past week I've made the unexpected decision to join Clog America on their summer tour this year. I hadn't expected to have the funds, time, or resources to make the trip this year. But with everything else in my life falling apart recently, suddenly the 2015 summer tour came together for me.
I've had to explain to a few friends how it is I became associated with a group of cloggers from Utah, and why I get to travel around Europe (again) with them. Every time I explain it, I laugh even harder. But basically the short version goes like this.
I accepted an invitation from a strange man on the internet to go to Serbia.
Seriously. That's basically what happened.
The longer version is this- a man who had read my columns for several years sent me a very nice email and explained his relationship with Clog America. And told me how they would like to invite me along on their tour as their social media person. So I said yes.
It honestly didn't hit me until I was in the Belgrade airport looking for a total stranger just what a crazy situation I had gotten myself into. I had taken a few precautions (for instance, my plane ticket was flexible. I could have left at any time.), but I really was just along for the ride.
And what a crazy ride it was. I won't say that it was fun and easy every step of the way. Joining up with 40 complete strangers, having no control or influence on what could happen next, and not really even fully understanding the situation, was really hard on me. It was definitely a learning experience in "letting go." I like to be the boss, and I like to be influential. And I really like to make my own choices. So to be at the mercy of so many unknown people for so long was really hard.
But granted, it was a hard thing to deal with in the middle of an awesome situation. 3 weeks in Romania and Serbia? Not exactly a hardship, you know?
I didn't love every minute of the trip. But I did love more hours than I didn't.
Which is why I more than willingly volunteered to join up with them again this summer as we tour Switzerland and Germany. 20 more days of folk music and dance festivals in the heart of Europe. It's going to be great!
And if you thought I posted a lot of pictures of food in Serbia and Romania, just wait till you see what happens when I'm in the land of chocolate and cheese! I can't wait! (Did I mention we are going right through the town of Gruyere? Oh yes, there will be cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. AND CHOCOLATE!!) (I have a lot of weight to lose before I go to Europe and happily gain it all back.)
(So much chocolate!)
This year I will have more responsibilities than just social media for the group. And I'm excited about the changes. I'd much rather be able to contribute more and be busy, than just be along for the ride. Patiently waiting for things to happen is just not my style! I'd rather make things happen! (And oh, will I be making things happen this year!)
Watch out, Europe, I'm coming back for more [chocolate and cheese]!

Romanian Food- a meal 13 years in the making!

13 years ago I volunteered and worked in Romania for a month. I stayed in a tiny little town called Lupeni. (It doesn't make many maps it's so small.) What I was doing there is a story for another post and time. Today we're going to talk about food, specifically my love of Romanian food.
Back in Lupeni I discovered two dishes- sarmale and papanoci. (sar-maul-eh and poppa-nosh). These were my two most favorite foods, and I ate them every chance I got in Romania. My "bunica" made them for us. Bunica means grandma, old lady, or babushka. Everyone has a bunica.
It's been 13 years since I had good sarmale and papanoci. I've tried many times to make them on my own, but it's never been as good as Bunica made it.
So you better believe I was looking forward to having it again when I got back to Romania!
In our first town, Baile Herculane, one of the first things I did was ask our hotel if they would be serving us either dish. They were impressed I knew Romanian food, and said they would try, but it never happened. Hotel Afrodita did serve us some awesome food, but it was mostly just nice hotel food, but nothing truly amazingly Romanian.

It's hard to be disappointed in really awesome food, so I wasn't too sad about the lack of authentic dishes.

Not to mention, I accidentally got the restaurant to serve us free Cokes for a few meals before the hotel caught on and made us pay for them. (How does this happen? Easy. I went up to the restaurant bar, and asked for a Coke Zero. Which reminds me, did you know Coca-Cola Light (which is served instead of Diet Coke in most other countries) has been replaced by Coke Zero? This was new to me. I quickly adapted to it. Turns out I like it. Who knew?) I tried to pay for it. The bartender didn't speak much English. And by that I mean, he was very pretty to look at, but spoke absolutely no English at all. This has a lot to do with why I re-learned how to count and all my numbers in Romanian. Bet ya didn't know I know a good 20 words in Romanian. It's a pretty easy language to learn if you know any of the other Romance languages, especially French. But I digress. So the bartender said since our meals were covered, my Coke Zero was too. At least, that's what I gleaned from our miming. I did this for 2 meals before other people caught on and started to get free drinks too. That lasted another 2 meals with 30 people getting free drinks before the hotel caught on. After that we had to pay for our drinks. A 1-liter Coke Zero was roughly 50 cents, so not exactly a hardship, you know?)

We were in Herculane for 5 days, and then moved on to the town of Timisoara. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE Timisoara. It's a beautiful, charming town. We stayed in a nice little hotel right off the town square. We ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant (which was very small), but our other meals were provided by the festival. We ate at a small school a few blocks away with the other performers. The food was... pretty typical cafeteria food. Just cafeteria food with a Romanian twist to it. In other words, a hunk of bread, gassy water, meat, with a side of meat. And sometimes a dish of pickled cabbage.

It was perfectly good food. But I wanted food like Bunica made it!

And what was I supposed to do with a beautiful, charming town square with a dozen restaurants just feet away from my hotel? Closer to me than the school? And I hadn't spent more than $3 a day in over a week! With plenty of Romanian lei in my pocket, and in a town that actually takes credit cards, I went off in search of sarmale and papanoci.

I tried looking at the window menus of three different places with no luck. After going on a big walking tour of the city with the whole group-

- I decided to try one more place. I walked right into one of the nicest restaurants in town, and asked if they served either dish. They said yes, they served papanoci, but no to the sarmale. But then the manager (quite fluent in English) asked how I knew about sarmale. I explained "My bunica used to make it for me." He stopped and looked at me funny. "You know bunica?" I said yes, and she used to make the best Romanian food for me. (I took his question to be more surprise that I knew the word bunica, than anything else.) He stared at me again. "Then I will make for you sarmale like bunica." He had me bring a group of friends back with me an hour later.
Sarmale isn't on their menu. And he did have me put a deposit down on the meal, which I felt was completely fair under the circumstances.
So one hour later, I rounded up a few Clog Americans, and we ate at one of the best tables in the restaurant.

So what is sarmale? Other than a little piece of heaven in your mouth? It's boiled cabbage, wrapped around a rice and sausage mixture. It has some lemon, dill, and vinegar going on in it too. You have to like lemon and dill to love it. And oh, do I love it. 13 years of waiting for sarmale, and it didn't disappoint!
But then came the papanoci!

Papanoci is basically a big, fluffy donut, not unlike Krispy Kreme, with the donut hole on top. The center is then filled with cream and either fruit compote or hot fudge. And then more cream and fruit over top of the whole thing.
It's rich, it's heavy, and oh is it good!!!!
I can promise you not one tiny bit was left on our plates.
I even went back the next day with some other friends from our group to get the papanoci again.
I admit I was a bit nervous to take a group of soon-to-be-friends that I barely knew to try a food I feared I had over-hyped. But I'm happy to report that no one seemed to think I oversold it. They all loved it. In fact, word got around to several people in our group about our foodie excursion, and more than one group of people went in search of it the next day.
It was a meal 13 years in the making. And totally worth it! 

Serbian Boathouse Living

Forgive me the poor quality of this video. It's just for fun to give you an idea of what life was like in our little boathouse in Serbia last week.
There was much laughter, chaos, and stuff everywhere. This was taken probably around 11 pm on Sunday night. We had 4 women in a studio apartment, living above a bar/clubhouse. Our bathroom was about the size of a train or airplane bathroom (plus a shower).
There was no furniture in the room- just 3 mattresses on the floor. (You'll notice there are 5 women in the video, including me. That's because one of the dancers, Ashlynn, was visiting us for a few hours.) We did find a few small chairs in the bar that we used as shelves.
Every time there was a lot of movement downstairs or a boat would go by in the lake, our little boathouse would rock. We had clothes hanging from a makeshift clothesline, and they would sway back and forth when the room rocked. I was trying to capture it on video. If you look closely, you can sort of see how the clothes never hold still.
But mostly you can just see the complete chaos we turned the place into. It was a brand-new apartment, very clean, and a very fun and unique experience!

whereabouts

A very quick and fast attempt to explain my whereabouts-

We were in Belgrade for a few days.
And then we took a bus to Romania.
We've been here 2 days.
We'll be in this town 1.5 more days, and then go to another town.
I forget how long we'll be in that town.
And then we'll go back to a different town in Serbia for a few more days.
And then I will go back to Moscow for 1 day.
And then home.
Where I shall sleep a lot.

Orphanage Day

Today was orphanage day. We had a wonderful time visiting an orphanage in Belgrade and then a home for mentally disabled men. It was so much fun. I taught the little girl in this picture how to blow bubbles, and the joy of playing with a slinky. I may have even taught her to say slinky.
I won't be in many pictures during this trip, since I'm the one taking pictures of everyone else. There are lots of stories and pictures up on the Clog America blog and Instagram feed today.
All in all, a great day.
Stories and pictures to come when I have 5 minutes to myself. 

I'm on a boat!

Okay, maybe not a boat.
I'm on/in a floating club house on a river. But it's not a river house. It's also not a lake house, regardless of the fact that we've dubbed it the lake house. I'm in a club house owned by a dance club (Klub Talija), where they come to hang out, drink, etc. It's the base camp for this leg of our trip. Our group members are staying with host families nearby and around Belgrade. I'm staying with a few of the other older staff members (some very fun ladies), in an apartment on top of this floating party house.
More stories and pictures when I'm not quite so tired!
Be sure to follow us on Instagram.com/ClogAmerica and clog-america.blogspot.com for lots more pictures and stories.

Hello Blog, it's been a while

Wearing my Real Salt Lake team shirt to support Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando on USMNT!

It's been about a week since the last time I posted on here. Which isn't too bad considering I've been going about 2-3 weeks between posts lately. But it's been even longer since I posted any day to day kind of stuff.
I guess my day to day life hasn't been all that interesting lately. Unemployment can be like that. I don't have the funds to go out very often. But I've been making an effort to do something fun at least once a week, to try and stave off unemployed depression. Some weeks I succeed, oftentimes I don't.
Next week I leave for my big Eastern European dance tour trip. Which, by the way, you can follow at Clog-America.blogspot.com, and on Instagram and Twitter as @ClogAmerica. I'm the social media person for the trip, so I'll be the one posting on those accounts. GO FOLLOW US!
I started packing tonight, but I started preparing for this trip weeks ago. I learned a trick before I went to Cambodia to beat jet lag, and I'm doing it again. A lot of people make the mistake of staying up all night before a big trip, and then try to sleep on the plane, and assume they can wake up at their destination, and "be on the right time zone." This usually backfires, and instead you're sleep deprived and groggy, and it takes a few days to adjust.
Because I want to be able to hit the ground running on this trip, particularly during my layover, I'm applying this little trick again. Instead of staying up all night, you plan to wake up earlier and earlier in the days prior to your trip. Since I have a 7 hour time difference ahead of me, I start 6-7 days in advance, waking up one hour earlier each day. (And hopefully going to bed earlier each night as well. This part takes a few days to kick in, I've noticed.) On the day I leave for the trip, I'll wake up at midnight (and hopefully go to bed around 4-5 pm the night before). When I get to my destination (in this case, Moscow) I will already be on their time zone, and not need to adjust or be sleepy.
Which reminds me- I'm going to Moscow!
My real destination is Belgrade, Serbia and Timisoara, Romania. But due to a lack of direct flights to Belgrade, I have a 25 hour layover in Moscow. And I land in Moscow at 6 a.m. (which would be 11 pm in Virginia). I got my Russian visa so I can leave the airport and tour around Moscow for the day. I'm very excited about getting to see Moscow. And actually, I get to see it twice because I have the same long layover on my return flight as well.
The real pressure this past week hasn't just been sleeping at strange times and packing. I WROTE A NEW BOOK! And if all goes well, and I'm hopeful that it will, it will be available on Amazon on Sunday. The title is, "Sharing the Gospel through Social Media." It's non-fiction (obviously), and is a guidebook for Mormons who wish to do missionary work online, and share the Gospel through social media. It's only about 30 pages, and fairly easy to read (I hope). It's in the hands of editors and reviewers right now. Fingers crossed that all goes according to plan.
Oh and then there is this little thing called the World Cup. (If you recall I've been a soccer fan for a very long time. How many blog posts have there been about Real Salt Lake games?) I've watched more ESPN in the past 2 weeks than I have in the past 2 (4?) years! I have to admit, I've watched more soccer than I should have. I find it very hard to multi-task or write when soccer is on the TV!
That all being said, I have to wake up in 5 hours. Time for bed!

You Can Make a Difference to a Serbian Orphan

You know me, and you my two passions in this world are humanitarian work, and orphanages. I've visited orphanages in Romania, Haiti, and Cambodia. I plan to work at an orphanage in China next year. And in just four weeks from now I will be visiting an orphanage in Serbia with Clog America. 

And we need your help!

As you may recall, I am going with Clog America on their international dance tour to Romania and Serbia in July. While they travel, Clog America makes it a point to visit different charitable organizations, and make a difference where they can. 

This year they (we) will be visiting Zdrinka Pavlovic, an orphanage in Serbia for 35-40 disabled or abandoned children. We are collecting various items to help the orphanage better serve their children. 

During the month of May, flooding caused widespread devastation in Belgrade, Serbia. Our help in this area is needed now more than ever! Your donations can help bring aid to those left homeless by these floods, and can help us bring aid to the orphanage that originally inspired this humanitarian project. Keep reading for more details. Every dollar helps!

Our goal is to raise enough money to provide the children with as many of the following items as possible:
Hygiene kits
Pajamas
Clothes for young adults
Underwear for ages 6-18
Crayons
Jump Ropes
Small Blankets (I know some of you are quilters out there! How about a small twin sized quilt or bedspread for an orphanage?) 
Soccer Balls
Sock Puppets
Bedding size 90 x 190cm
Mattress
Bed
Dishwasher
Deep Fryer


A percentage of the money raised will go towards the items listed above, and towards the relief efforts to help those affected by the floods in Belgrade. We are accepting physical donations of the above items (you can give it to me, and I can take it with me, or if you live in another state, we can arrange for shipping or a drop off with someone else), as well as monetary donations.

You can contribute towards these efforts on the GoFundMe page - http://www.gofundme.com/7aih94 . 
So far only $220 of the desired $2,500 has been raised. 


Check out this cute video of Clog America visiting a children's hospital in Poland two years ago.