Proverbs 31: Portrait of a Godly Woman

For thousands of years, God-fearing women have looked to the noble, or virtuous (KJV), woman of Proverbs 31 as their ideal. We can safely conclude that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, had this role model of the virtuous woman in the forefront of her mind from earliest childhood. Most Jewish women did, for this poem was traditionally recited in the Jewish home every week on the eve of the Sabbath.

But what about todays woman? Of what value can this ancient poem be to the diverse, complex life-styles of women today? To the married, to the single, to the young, to the old, to those working outside the home or inside the home, to those women with children or without children? It is more relevant than you might at first expect.

When we examine this ancient biblical ideal of womanhood, we do not find the stereotyped housewife occupied with dirty dishes and laundry, her daily life dictated by the demands of her husband and her children. Nor do we find a hardened, overly ambitious career woman who leaves her family to fend for itself.

What we find is a strong, dignified, multitalented, caring woman who is an individual in her own right. This woman has money to invest, servants to look after and real estate to manage. She is her husbands partner, and she is completely trusted with the responsibility for their lands, property and goods.

She has the business skills to buy and sell in the market, along with the heartfelt sensitivity and compassion to care for and fulfill the needs of people who are less fortunate. Cheerfully and energetically she tackles the challenges each day brings. Her husband and children love and respect her for her kind, generous and caring nature.

But with all her responsibilities, first and foremost, she looks to God. Her primary concern is Gods will in her life. She is a woman after Gods own heart. Lets examine the characteristics of this remarkable woman a role model for Christian women today.

"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." The Hebrew word chayil, translated here "noble," or "virtuous" (KJV), means a wife of valor a strong, capable woman with strong convictions. This description of the ideal wife does not agree with those who associate femininity with weakness and passivity.

"Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value." Her husband trusts her management of their resources. Her industriousness adds to the family income.

"She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life." This woman does not do right only when it is convenient and profitable. Her actions are not based on how she is treated by others or by what others think. Her character is steady. She is reliable and dependable.

"She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands." This woman enjoys working so much that she plans ahead for what she needs in order to accomplish her responsibilities.

"She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar." The trait not to settle for the mediocre is portrayed by a woman who goes the extra mile for quality items.

"She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls." Though the woman described here has servants to take care of many of the household duties, she sets the pace. She understands that good managers have a responsibility to take care of those under their authority. That is one of her top priorities.

"She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard." Every woman doesnt have to go into real estate and horticulture -- the principle here is that this woman uses her mind. She does not act on a whim, but logically analyzes a situation before making a decision. Her goals are not only short term -- she envisions the long-range benefits of her decisions.

*** (Okay, this whole section is hilarious because my last two jobs really have been real estate and horticulture)

"She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks." We get a picture of a woman who vigorously goes about her duties. She keeps herself healthy and strong by proper health practices good diet, adequate rest and exercise. Many people depend on her.

"She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night." She knows that her merchandise is good and takes pride in doing a good job. Night or day, no one worries that her responsibilities are not taken care of.

"In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers." The example she sets is one of skill and industriousness. Whether this woman would be a computer programmer, a concert pianist, a mother of several children or all three, she develops her talents and hones her skills through education and diligent application.

"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy." Although its good to donate to needy causes, this means far more than writing a check. This woman shows personal concern. She visits the sick, comforts the lonely and depressed, and delivers food to those in need.

"When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet." Providing clothing for the family is one of her responsibilities. She takes this seriously. and plans ahead. She does not advocate crisis management.

"She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple." This woman has high standards and dresses properly for the occasion.

*** (I could also make several comments about this one... I love it)

"Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land." This man does not have to spend half his time trying to straighten out problems at home, and his success in the social world comes partly from her support, just as her success comes partly from his support. The original woman of Proverbs 31 couldnt phone her husband for his opinion on matters. She made many of the day-to-day decisions about their property and goods. He trusted her to manage the home estate efficiently.

"She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes." This woman runs a business from her home. Her efforts and industry add to the family income.

"Strength and honor are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come" (NKJV). Not only does this woman benefit each day from her wise and diligent actions, long-term lifetime benefits and rewards lie in store for her.

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." This woman is well read and has the facts. She knows what she is talking about. Whether about her job, her personal values or her opinion on world events, she is able to express herself intelligently, tactfully and diplomatically. People come to her for good advice.

"She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." She is an organized, energetic person who carries out her responsibilities.

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." This woman is not a doormat, slavishly trying to appease and please her family, no matter how unreasonable their demands. She is honored in her home. Here we gain an insight into the character of her husband as well. He teaches their children to respect the virtues she personifies.

"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." High praise for this extraordinary woman a role model for women of all time.

"Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Here is the key to this womans effectiveness. Her priorities are determined by Gods will, not her own. She is concerned about what God thinks, rather than with what other people think. Physical beauty and clever conversation are admirable qualities. But if a womans beauty and charm are the extent of her virtues, what happens when time and the trials of life take their toll? This woman does not depend on beauty and charm for her success. She recognizes her need for God.

"Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." This woman is actively doing, not merely talking. She does not boast about her plans for the future or her successes of the past. They are obvious.

Does this woman sound too good to be true? Actually, the woman described here could be a composite of many women. After all, not all people have the same skills. Some womens strengths are in music or art. Others may be in mathematics, teaching or business. Some are better managers and organizers than others. While some women may excel at coming up with ideas, others may be more skilled at creating or producing what has been invented by someone else. No one excels at everything.

Some women work for several years after high school or college before marrying. Others, for one reason or another, do not marry at all. Does this mean that unmarried women cannot be Proverbs 31 women? No, definitely not. Although this chapter describes a married woman who is a mother, marriage and motherhood are not prerequisites for the successful Christian females life. The essential characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman can be applied to the the single woman, too.

The model woman described in Proverbs is a portrait of ideal womanhood. The focus of this portrait is a womans relationship with God, not her specific abilities or marital status. The Proverbs 31 woman realizes that regardless of her natural talents or acquired skills, or all her accomplishments, her strength comes from God.

Who is a virtuous woman today? Proverbs 31 tells you that it is the woman who puts God first. The ideal woman of Proverbs 31 should encourage all women everywhere. Cultures change, but this womans God-inspired character still shines brightly across the centuries.

This past summer I accomplished one of my dreams by traveling around the world.  My roommate 

Rabia and I hit 20 countries in 3 months.  Below are links to all of my pictures and the emails that I sent back home along the way.  Enjoy!

(sorry about the formatting- i can't figure it out)

Eastern Europe:

Eastern Europe:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.8sus0gl9&x=0&y=onznjf

Austria/Turkey :  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.8sus0gl9&x=0&y=onznjf

Greece:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.5p7eqb4d&x=0&y=7uuxj1

Africa: 

South Africa:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.7cd70n2l&x=0&y=t56ors

South Africa:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.1elq5jlx&x=0&y=-hf4b3k

Zimbabwe/Botswana/Zambia:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.9vwlb2f9&x=0&y=bxpcfy

Australia/NZ/Fiji:

New Zeland:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.4aq8mobp&x=0&y=-g83pxw

Fiji: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.9yegs1px&x=0&y=kskva6 

Australia:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.37cs452t&x=0&y=i9g90q

 South America:
Brazil:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.8dch0by5&x=0&y=jv5g22 
Chile:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.2e8335gt&x=0&y=ud5xwt 
Argentina & Uruguay:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.2hvy4hyl&x=0&y=uk9osp

 Hello from Hungary! 
We've been having such an amazing time so far on our little trek around the world.  Even after Rabia and I were on the airplane it still didn't sink in that we weren't 
coming home for three months- and even now I don't think we realize how long that really is.  We did determine when we arrived here that we probably should have 
looked at the weather for some of the countries that we will be visiting before leaving.  Despite the fact that both of our backpacks weighed about 40 lbs, I don't think 
that we thought about the fact that it will be winter in South Africa while we are there...  oh well, I guess we'll have to buy some warm clothes- or be seen in the same 
outfit every day.  Despite that I will say that if the rest of our trip is even half as fun as the past week- this will by far be the best summer of our lives. Mark said that our 
trip so far reminds him of a Junior High slumber party... except that there hasn't been any fighting or complaining yet!  I think in a silly kind of way that is pretty accurate.

Prague, Czech Republic:  we got into Prague last Wednesday and Mark met us there... we spent the next two days walking endlessly around the city - including a 6 hour 
walking tour of the city with Vladamir- a smelly Czech actor who continually made really awful jokes.  We sampled the local fare- goulosh and dumplings- ick!  Not a fan!  
I think that Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with it's cobblestone streets, outdoor cafes and beautiful architecture.  I especially loved the castle, huge 
cathedrals and the Jewish ghetto which is home to one of the very first Jewish synagogues.  I think that we all quickly fell in love with Mark's homeland.  

Then there were seven:  the second night we were there, we met up with the Walshs' and my friend Keyur and his new fiancee Jessica who had been travelling around 
Europe and just happened to be in Prague at the same time.  We had sooo much fun with such a big group.  On Friday afternoon we were sitting at an outdoor cafe in 
Old Town Square with the bunch enjoying some beers and a cheese plate.  When we were trying to figure out what types of cheese were on this plate, Mark said that he 
couldn't figure out what the creamy tasting one was... after a tiny sample Jessica pointed out that the "cheese" was in fact a huge stick of butter.  Mark had eaten an entire 
huge pie shaped piece of it without knowing...  nice! Thus he began his absinth diet- and it is doing wonders for his figure!

We left Prague on Saturday for Budapest, Hungary at 7:30am- where we sat next to two little Czech ladies who were probably in their late 80's.  Before 8am even hit, they 
pulled out a bottle of whiskey and were drinking straight out of the bottle.  WOW!  That's all I can say about that.  I guess it was somewhat of a precursor to Budapest as a whole.  
Our entire time in Budapest so far has been like the twilight zone...  fun but strange as all get out.  We got ripped off by a cabbie then we got a two bedroom apartment in this 
hostel near the Parliament building and the woman who runs the hostel is certifiably nuts... she was speaking Hungarian, English and jibberish and raised the price on us within 
5 minutes... Despite all of the crazies in this city, it is gorgeous!  The buildings are all huge and gothic style and there are tons of cathedrals, a beautiful castle and the Danube 
runs right through town.  Yesterday we spent the entire day walking around the Castle hill and museums then met the Walsh's in this 13th century wine cellar that sits below the 
castle.  I read about it in a book- which is the only way we found it- and there was only one Hungarian guy who worked there and we were the only people there- for the entire 
5 hours!!  It was fabulous!!   All five of us did a wine tasting of Hungarian wines- some of which were good and some that were ick but the ambiance was phenomenal...  
We spent several hours talking to the one guy working there about Hungarians perceptions of Americans and he was criticizing our perceptions of Hungarians - especially 
Hungarian women (not shaving their armpits), but according to him only 3don't know where he got that number) of Hungarian women don't shave their pits.  Besides his 
crazy statistics, he told us about the bars where the local Hungarians hang out- which of course we headed to after the wine bar.  The bar, Kultiplex, which means a 
multiplex of culture, was in an old gothic style building that had been shut down for living purposes, but the courtyard area in the center had been turned into a beer 
garden- along with some fooseball machines and picnic tables.  It was great!!  

Today the six of us (Rabia's brother Omar got in last night) went to visit the famous Hungarian baths at the Gallert hotel which was supposedly the nicest in the city.  
It was the strangest experience of my life...  the Hot Baths- which we thought were going to be like natural hot springs - were actually old swimming pools with hundreds 
of very large, naked unattractive Hungarian people sitting in them.  We didn't find the 3 tatistic to be true in this case...  

Tomorrow we are taking a day trip to a little city north of Budapest to visit the National Wine Museum and hope to cruise down the Danube in some sort of watercraft.  
Wednesday we'll head off to Austria for country 3 of our 15 country tour... Rabia and I still have a few days to pick out the perfect speedo and pair of man-capris for Mark 
so that he will blend in better in Turkey-  We have some awesome pictures so far that I'll try to figure out how to send in the next week or two!  I can't wait for y'all to see them!!  

Bye!!

KK

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Hello again!!  I'd actually planned on sending out updates a little more frequently, but we are in 1970 over here as far as technology goes- which I guess is just about correct 

given their feaux-hawks and attire of the people.  I can hardly believe how fast this trip is going... we are now on day 14 out of 82.... woah.. I love it!!   We are having such an 

amazing time that I think we may have convinced Mark not to go home and continue on our travels with us a bit longer.  Today we left Kusadassi, Turkey and are now in 
Samos, Greece - one of the Greek islands- waiting to catch our boat to Mykonos.  So cool!!  We have had the most action packed, amazing week filled with so many awesome 
things- so unfortunately (sorry guys) this will be a long email!  I'm feelin a little crazy today so I'm going to start with yesterday and go backwards...

Ephesus, Turkey:  Yesterday morning we flew from Istanbul to Izmir and then spent the whole afternoon in Ephesus.  This is one of the greatest ruined cities in 
the western world- and has significant meaning for Christians around the world- a little history lesson if you will:  When Jesus was crucified, he asked St. John to 
care for his mother, and together they moved to Ephesus in about 37BC- it was here that Mary (the virgin mother of Jesus) lived her last years and died, and it is 
also where St. John wrote the book of Ephesians (as in the 4th book of the bible)...  yesterday we visited the house of Mary and the Churches of St. Mary and 
St. John...  and we saw the ancient Greek city of Ephesus which dates back to 1000 BC.  It was a really amazing experience- especially seeing where part of the bible 
was written and seeing where Mary spent her last years.  Now her house is used as a place of prayer- and I lit a candle for both baby Averi Cecil who was born last 
week and baby Gaver who will be joining us shortly- and said a little prayer for each of them... I just hate that I'm not there to see them!

Istanbul, Turkey:  We spent three days in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople)- and despite one bad pickpocketing experience- Istanbul is my new favorite city!  

It was truly amazing and I can't wait to go back.  We visited the Haghia Sophia ("The church of Holy Wisdom- which is over 1400 years old and beautiful), the 
Blue Mosque, the world famous Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace (which was home to Turkish sultans for over 4 centuries) and took a boat trip down the Bosphorus 
river.   One of the pictures (see below for the link) of Rabia, Mark and I- is in front of the Haghia Sophia- and yes, Mark is playing his new Turkish flute in the photo- 

what you may not be able to see is the nice moustache that he is now sporting!  It is nice- very nice- and appropriate as Turks are famous for moustaches (so I've 
attached a picture of that too).  Anyway, there are Turkish rugs on every corner here and Mark and I both bought one- they are beautiful and many of them are decades old.  
Mark's rug is a little nicer than mine and should go well in new upscale Dallas pad.  His negotiation skills, on the other hand, despite taking the class, were severely lacking and 
we had to help him out a bit. I think that he is finally learning not to pay the first price they offer.  We had a couple of funny experiences while we were in Istanbul too:  While 
we were visiting the Blue Mosque, one Turk offered Mark 100 camels in exchange for me.  I didn't know whether to be offended or proud- and had Mark been able to quickly 
figure out how to get the camels back to the US, I think he may have made the trade.  On a few separate occasions, Turkish men asked Mark if Rabia and I were his "harem"- 

probably jokingly- but hysterical at the time.  Two of the nights we were staying in Istanbul we sat on the rooftop bar at the hotel across the street and watched the sun set over 

the blue mosque and the haghia sofia (which were both just a few hundred yards away)!  I think we each said about ten times how we wished we could capture that moment- 
the smells, the sounds, the sights- so we could have it in the future.  Sooo amazing!!  One of the most interesting things that we noticed in Turkey is that young boys are 

circumcized at age 7- and there is a huge ceremony where they dress up in these elaborate outfits and all of their family and friends come to watch!  A bit scary if you ask me, 

but the little boys looked so cute in their outfits.  Turkish food is amazing- loved it, and although we only went out one night while we were there we had a blast.  Our Turkish 

waitor took us to a bar where a Turkish cover band was singing American songs in English.  I totally befriended the lead singer because I loved her sequin cowboy boots and then 

drug Rabia and Mark across the city the next day looking for a pair.   All in all, we loved Istanbul and really wished that we had more time to spend there.  It is beautiful, the 

people are friendly and there is a ton of history there.

Vienna, Austria:  When we arrived, we went to the Palace for a free Classical Music concert, which we thought would be a few hundred people sitting on the grass while some 

amateur local band played... boy were we surprised... About 50,000 other people had the same idea- but it was the craziest concert that I've every seen...It was about 40 

degrees thanks to the cold front that moved through,so we were all wrapped up like little sausages watching this concert... it reminded me of ACL- but it was all classical 

music being played- Mozart and Strauss (who are both from Austria by the way), with a guest performance by some very famous chinese pianist Lang Lang who I'd never 

heard of... Mark thinks that it is his favorite experience thus far on the trip.  Austria is famous for Freud, Mozart, Strauss, Arnold Schwartenegger and wiener schnitzel 

and boy did we get our fair share of weiner schnitzel while we were there.  Rabia impressively conquered her weiner schnitzel from the restaurant that invented it!  

The second day we were in Austria it was cold and wet- so we spent half of the day warming ourselves up in Starbucks.  Sad as it was, it was right across from the 

Opera house and was some of the best people watching ever!  About 5pm we decided that since we needed to be indoors, we may as well try to get the standing 

room only tickets to the Opera that night.  We had tried to buy tickets earlier in the day and the cheapest ones they had were $200- these were $5.  So we got in and 

packed in like sardines with about 100 other people in the back center to watch "Manon Lescaut".  I had no idea what I was in for and fell in love with the opera.  

It reminds me of the Richard Gere quote in Pretty Woman, something like "People either love the opera or they hate it- and if you love it you will love it forever"... 

well, I loved it.  Mark and Rabia didn't share my passion and left for a casino after Act 1- but Omar and I stood through the whole thing- despite an awful stench 

that was lingering the whole time!  I was mezmorized and absolutely cannot wait for my next opera!!!  Before we left Hungary, we took a day trip to this little town called 

Szventendre where we visited the National Wine Museum and National Marzipan museum, where we saw a lifesized, 170 lb statue of Michael Jackson, which was appropriately 

made out of white chocolate... We also had the pleasure of visiting a bar called Paris, Texas in Budapest- which I found quite amusing!! There we bid farewell to the Walshs' and 

headed to Vienna.   So now I am sitting in this little internet cafe on the beach in Samos- where flies will not leave me alone... urgh- so I have to get out of here.  I hope everyone 

is doing well and enjoys these pictures... I will try to upload more along the way- but this has been way more challenging than I imagined...

 http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.8sus0gl9&x=0&y=onznjf

(Oh, and several of you have said that you hate looking at pictures of buildings- unless they and prefer people pics- so I tried to upload mainly people pics!! )

Keep in touch!

KK

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Hello from Africa!!

For those of you who are impatient, don't like reading my blogs, or would just rather look at pictures- here are two albums- one from our time in "the bush" and the other from Greece:

South Africa:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.7cd70n2l&x=0&y=t56ors

Greece:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.5p7eqb4d&x=0&y=7uuxj1

I must say that I am in disbelief at how much time really does fly.  After 9 airplane flights, 2 trains and 5 boats, we are already several days into leg two of our trip. Europe was so AMAZING and South Africa has been pretty awesome too.  On Sunday, we bid farewell to Mark- whom after 20 days of travel became like an extra limb (or something important- I'm not feeling very creative right now) to us- we had soooo much fun with him!  He headed back to the EEUU and we headed off to South Africa.  Leaving Greece was the first sad point of our trip- besides saying goodbye to mark, I realized that this was probably the best that my tan will look until next summer... given that we are travelling to countries where it is winter- i am about as dark as rabia right now after a few days in the greek isles- i love it... and mark's moustache finally reached maturity before leaving europe.  

We've had a few twilight-zone/small world experiences in the past week too.  Given that Brownwood is just about the smallest place on earth- I was quite surprised when I ran into a family from Brownwood (Bob, Marilyn and Jay Clark) on our flight from London to Johannesburg... and we randomly ran into Beza Lemma- a friend of ours from b-school- in the airport in Capetown Wednesday.  WIERD!!!  Anyhow... here is a more detailed update for those of you who aren't bored yet (or are sitting in a cube somewhere:)

"The Bush", South Africa:  Robbie picked us up from the Johannesburg airport and we drove out to his "farm" (aka:  20,000 acre game ranch) about 3 hours north of johannesburg.  A couple of guys that Robbie played rugby with at UT were also there- and had already been out at the ranch for a few days- Matt Todd, Greg Cohen and Kiwi. I somehow made it out of Athens with bedbugs and we hadn't showered in 48 hours- so we were thrilled when we arrived in the bush and there was no electricity or hot water.  i couldn't stand it- so took the coldest shower of my life, despite the fact that robbie boiled some water in a cauldron and carried it to my room in a bucket (sweet gesture) but I couldn't figure out how exactly to make a shower out of one hot bucket of water...  Shortly after we loaded up in a big safari truck (pickup truck with 3 benches bolted in the bed) with a few beers and left the camp.  We climbed up this big cliff to watch the sunset (sundowner- they call it here) and wild baboons went running by- a whole herd of them.  They were soooo cute and I loved them.  We drove to the neighbors ranch- some family friends of robbie's- for dinner where we ate kudu, beef and giraffe-yes, GIRAFFE!  I'm still not exactly sure where the giraffe meat came from because our host said that "civilized people don't shoot giraffes"  - supposedly only German tourists do.  Funny stuff. After dinner we sat around the campfire drinking wine and talking for hours- then eventually loaded back up and went spotlighting on our way home.  This may sound strange, but so many things about "the bush" reminded me of Texas (especially our ranch in the wood).  The land looks the same, they have mesquite-like trees, fairly flat, etc.  Granted the wildlife is slightly different, but it was eerie how similar they were.  And I guess it was a little different that when we went spotlighting it was for wildebeest and kudu, not deer and varments.  I love the fact that all over the world people sit around fires with their friends and families and drink wine!  Over the next few days on the "farm" we ended up seeing hundreds of impala, some kudu, wild hogs, a pack of wildebeest, wild babboons, and three wild giraffes.  The giraffes were definitely the highlight of my trip- and I was so impressed at how fast they could run- especially once Greg started chasing them. One of the days, Robbie asked us if we wanted to go on a "walk" and said we could wear shorts and tennis shoes- it ended up being more like a rock climbing/hike straight up a mountain.  Rabia and I almost died- we weren't prepared for scaling rocks and trailblazing through thorn bushes and trees so left the bush with plenty of scratches and scrapes.  Our first experience in the bush was an amazing one!

Greece:  I wish we had about a month to spend travelling around the Greek isles.  As everyone told us- Athens was very disappointing and the islands were beautiful.  We quickly learned that getting around between the islands was much harder than we imagined, so we split our time between Mykonos and Santorini.  

Mykonos, Greece:  Mykonos was the cutest little town.  It looks like someone got a big bucket of white paint and poured it all over the city.  All of the buildings were white with colored trim and even the streets were all cobblestoned and white- so cute.  The city mascots- the pelicans roamed free and you could be assured to see them at least once a day just walking down the street or hanging out near the pier.  Mykonos is known as the party island and attracts alot of younger crowd- a beer at almost all of the bars in town cost about $10-eek.  Needless to say, we didn't join the spring break-ish crowd at the bars at night.  We spent our days here walking around the city and on the beach.  Paradise beach was beautiful but was very crowded and there was techno music playing all day from the bars on the beach.  EEKKK!  We all know how I feel about techno.  Not a fan.  Between the techno music and Mark telling us every 5 minutes that he was bored- our time on the beach was less than relaxing but super entertaining.  

Santorini, Greece:  We all fell in love with Santorini.. it is one of the most unique and stunning cities I've ever seen.  It used to be a volcano and now the cities exist hundreds of meters above the water on these huge cliffs.  We watched the sunset each day we were there from a different location and were in awe each time- they were breathtaking!!  One day in Santorini we wanted to explore the island so we rented a little red Fiat and went jetsetting around.  Since Mark was the only one who could drive a stick (Rabia and I REALLY need to learn when we get back- any volunteers??) he bravely led us around the island.  The beaches in Santorini are much more different than anythink I'd ever previously imagined.  They are all made of black or red sand from volcanic ash- they aren't the long pristine white sand beaches I'd always imagined- but super cool nonetheless.  We first visited the red sand beach, then we visited two different black sand beaches- and then ended our day in Oia, the northernmost city to watch the sunset.  We were alll sooooo sad to have to leave Santorini and added it to our lists of cities where we will most definitely return.

From Santorini we headed to Athens, where we only gave ourselves one day- thank goodness.  Outside of the acropolis, we were rather unimpressed with Athens... but seeing the acropolis- the ancient agora and the parthenon was pretty amazing.  One of our favorite stories from Athens actually took place at our hotel - after Mark had already gone.  We actually got locked IN our room.  We couldn't get the door of our room unlocked from the inside and we were stuck banging on the door and yelling for help.  Finally, one of the guests heard us and went to get the owner- Nelly.  She came up and unlocked it and yelled at us for closing the door....the door to our room.  Then she proceeded to turn off the airconditioning as some sort of punishment for us trying to close the door to our own room!  NICE

This Wednesday we flew from Johannesburg to Capetown, South Africa.  Rabia and I rented a car here - and she has been an absolute pro at navigating around on the left hand side of the road.  I am not a good driver on the right side of the road, so we decided that our safety was better left in her hands.  We've spent most of our time here so far recooping from our whirlwind trek around europe and time in the bush.  We had to go to the consulate to get more pages for my passport because it is pretty much full, and we had to buy some new jackets for these cold weather countries...

After our first almost full month of travel I can say that we are getting tired of wearing the same clothes over and over again- everything still smellsa little funky- despite the fact that we finally did laundry. And, I will forever appreciate a good warm shower for the rest of my life.. one where you don't have to push a button every 15 seconds for water to come out, or flip a switch for hot water..... or just plain cold water.  Besides that I think that we are pretty content!!

Anyhoo- we are spending a few more days in Capetown- we are going to Robin Island tomorrow and on a tour of a township- then we are going to spend a few days in the wine country before we head off to Zimbabwe and Botswana.  

We miss all of you and hope that everyone is doing well!  Keep us posted on what is going on with you!!

KK

Well, we survived Africa... barely- despite the fact that we had several near death experiences (okay, so I'm exaggerating a little bit)- but we survived nonetheless.  We have had an amazing few weeks- since my last email we've almost been eaten by lions, hippos and crocodiles, been conquered by the Zambizi river, seen Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for almost 20 years, spent a few days relaxing in the wine country, and spent the 4th of July in Botswana on Safari- and celebrated by teaching all of the Botswanians

how to make S'mores by the campfire.  The malaria meds are making us have some insane dreams which add to the fun- one night I dreamt that a crocodile attacked me and ate my toe- and the doctors replaced it

with a red lightbulb!  Wierd, huh?  And our new bedtime is 10pm.  Africa doesn't exactly have a hoppin nightlife so I guess that is okay.  And (gasp!!) we've been getting up at 5:30-7am!!  I know that everyone who knows us will be surprised by that!!  

I've quit writing in my journal for the most part, so I'm considering these little updates my "journal" for the trip.  That being said, this is going to be a LONG email, so delete it if you wish- or just browse through our pics...  Once again, I'm attaching pictures with captions for you peeps who believe that a picture is worth a thousand words...  and in this case they really may be.  Our Africa pictures are pretty cool- especially our safari pictures.  I have hundreds more if any of you would like to see them when we get home!!

These first pictures are from Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.9vwlb2f9&x=0&y=bxpcfy

and these are from our time in South Africa:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5cq4hht.1elq5jlx&x=0&y=-hf4b3k

We had our first near death experiences here in South Central Africa.  The first one was during our whitewater rafting trip down the Zambizi river (the river between Zambia and Zimbabwe).  They are supposedly some of the craziest rapids in the world- which we discovered firsthand.  About 5 seconds after our guide pointed out a huge, fat crocodile on the side of the river- we hit the rapids and our boat flipped- tossing all 6 people out- and trapping rabia and i both under the boat.  When I finally felt my way out, i  immediately started looking for rabia- and i thought it was about 30 seconds until I finally saw her, but i think it was actually more like 5.  Our boat was still overturned, and i was in full fledged panic mode that i was going to be eaten by that crocodile, so i grabbed on to the rescue kayak and wrapped my arms and legs around it until we could get back in the boat.  NICE!!  I must have looked like a flailing idiot but I didn't care a bit!  I did not want to show up back home missing a limb.  Rabia said that that experience was the scariest in her life.  I think I agree.  This whole raft flipping incident was only fitting given that our guide's name was Titanic! Our first near death experience was followed by a nice 1000 foot hike up the gorge at the end of our trip. UGH!!  So glad that we can laugh about it now.

Our second near death experience took place while we were on safari in Botswana.  On the first night we went into our tent to go to sleep after having sat around the campfire for hours with our guides who were telling us horror stories about people getting attacked by elephants, lions and hyenas in the bush.  Last year a 12 yr old

American boy was eaten by a pack of hyenas when he left his tent in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (we ceased our liquid intake at this point of the story).  Anyhow, we were laying in bed talking about "what if...".  (me:  "what if a pack of hyenas tore through our tent and tore us apart limb by limb", rabia:  "what if an elephant pushed over the tree next to our tent, it fell on us and we lost our limbs"... you get the point).    Before we went to bed we promised each other that we would wake the other one up if we heard any animals get too close.  As we laid in bed we could hear the hyenas howling and the elephants breaking trees- getting closer and closer to our tent... needless to say, I could not sleep a wink all night long.  I just had this vision of an elephant stomping on me in my sleep.  At one point, I had to sneeze and was trying so hard to hold it in since i could hear elephants outside- but couldn't- and let out a huge sneeze.  rabia woke up and said frantically, "What are you trying to do? get us killed?!?!" Besides not being able to sleep that first night our safari was

awesome.  We totally lucked out and got this Botswanian guide who owns the company- Godfrey.  He had been in the Botswana Army and used to work for the anti-poaching unit until he discovered that his boss was

smuggling elephant tusks out of the country.  He was a wealth of knowledge and stories and quickly became our new best friend.  We went on game drives and boat trips around Chobe Game reserve and saw tons

of elephants, impala, kudu, giraffe, hyenas, lions, hippos, etc (see pictures).  At night Godfrey would cook us dinner and