Jeff's RTW Blog: April 2012

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Best of luck to the 16th Signal Regiment!!!

Last week a fellow teacher asked if I was interested in helping him set up a going away party for the British 16th Signal Regiment which is headed off to Afghanistan. I had the day off of work, so I agreed. So yesterday, it was off to the RAF Brüggen Base on the Dutch/German border.

There we would set a PA for music and some carnival type rides for the kids, etc. Once the rides were set up and the families started to arrive, I would operate some of the different rides. I spent much of the afternoon putting soldiers on there back sides' while operating the mechanical bull.

After a few hours of carnival rides outside, the soldiers and their families would come into an old airplane hangar and eat, drink and enjoy live music. All the while I would be running around helping out where I could.

The 16th Signal Regiment is roughly 600 soldiers who will shortly be leaving for Afghanistan. It was a really fun experience to share with all of them and I wish them all the best. Thanks to Ash for the opportunity.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Back to work.

After six weeks off of work, it's back to teaching English at the BWZ. Since finishing my February month of teaching I was able to meet my mother and sister in Lisbon, Portugal and travel with them for 12 days. I flew to Barcelona on March 22, spent two days there, then flew to Lisbon and had two days there before meeting them at the airport on the 26th.

We spent three days in Lisbon and traveled to nearby Sintra before renting a car and heading to Spain. While in Spain we visited Seville, Cadiz, Benalmádena and Málaga. When returning to Portugal we spent a day in Faro and back to Lisbon before flying to the island of Madeira.

Madeira is a small Portuguese island around 500 miles directly west of Morocco in North Africa. We stayed three days in Funchal and traveled throughout the island with another rented car. We enjoyed great weather, had great food and wine and drove through some very picturesque landscapes.

It was a great trip and it was made that much better by sharing this trip with family. We covered a lot of ground and saw a lot in 12 days, and we shared an experience none of us will soon forget. Thanks mom and Jennifer for such a great time!!