halfway through!!

I am in Switzerland, high up in the Alps, taking 4 Master's courses. It has been challenging and fun at the same time. I'm so glad I decided to do this now before our team arrives next summer. It's really perfect timing. My class is made up of 16 students from all over the world, most of them teachers/administrators at International Schools. Although few or none of them share my same faith, we have bonded together as a group like I've rarely experienced. We have the European Gold Medalist in Ice Hockey (from Latvia), an African-American woman who started her own school in Ethiopia, a gay English teacher from South Africa, a wild young woman from Sierra Leone (American), an English horseback rider whose name is Beryl and they have coined us as the "Beryl & Cheryl show", 2 young Russians who keep us laughing with their funny accents & way of expressing things, a couple from the Int'l School in Ouagadougou and more! It has been a rich experience. The beauty of this country is beyond imagination and the coolness of the mountains is so refreshing. If we want to buy even a bottle of water, we have to walk down a steep hill (with dozens of stairs)and then of course back up. The first day I thought I was going to die before I reached the top but it's amazing how your body adjusts after just a couple of weeks. Now I can climb it like a mountain goat. Saturday we went to a wine festival in a nearby city and it was a beautiful day, picnic by the lake and walking through markets and just relaxing. I promise I only drank one tiny glass of wine all day:) Can't say that for the rest of the group!!