I think I have been nominated for this award three times now…so I finally found the time to officially accept the award!

Thank you to the three ladies who nominated me: One Foot in Europe, KleesButterfly, and New Teacher Life.

It is the end of the school year for me so I have been grading, doing report cards, going to goodbye parties, throwing classroom parties, trying to buy a car locally (unsuccessfully!), and packing up two years of stuff which I then drove across the country to my new school in Valencia, Venezuela! It has been a crazy past month or so!

The “Official” Liebster Rules

There is nothing really official about it. From my research this award is sorta like a chain letter for newish blogs.

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget”.

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 5 blogs that you feel deserve the award, which have a less than 1000 followers.

6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

7. List these rules in your post. (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:

8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

I have chosen to respond to some questions from each of the people who nominated me:

11 Random Facts About Me

1. I have managed to salsa dance in every country I have visited (even if it was just by myself while I showed a friend a couple of steps in my hotel room).
2. My favorite foods are dark chocolate and wine!
3. I have a cat named Pixie (even though she has been living with my mom for the past ten years or so…).
4. I am equally happy to read a book by myself in the middle of some natural spot or to be surrounded by people (preferably salsa dancing!) in a giant city.
5. I have two younger brothers, making me the oldest!
6. I probably use way too many exclamation points!!!!
7. I have currently visited 18 countries and it is my goal to visit at least one new country each year.
8. I have three passions in life: teaching, traveling, and salsa dancing.
9. I’m fiercely independent but I’m still searching for the love of my life.
10. My favorite movie is the original Dirty Dancing.
11. My favorite color is green.

Answers to 11 Questions from my Nominators:

1. Why do you blog?

I blog for lots of reasons! I had many questions when I started teaching internationally and not a lot of answers so I want to share what I’ve learned. I want to keep a record of places I’ve been. I want to keep my family and friends in the loop!

2. What’s your dream job?

I LOVE teaching internationally!! Maybe one day I will become a reading specialist/coach or a part-time admin. I want to be able to stay in the classroom, travel, and try new things.

3. Do you want children?

I often think I want to adopt a toddler (skipping all that dirty diaper business!).

4. Who is your perfect other half?

A perfect guy for me would be a man who was honest, adventurous, loved trying new foods, a fellow international teacher or someone who was willing to work internationally, and someone who knows how to salsa or is willing to take lessons!

5. In which city would you live, if you could choose freely? And why?

Barcelona is at the top of my list. It is on the Mediterranean. They speak Spanish. It is in Europe. It is warm most of the time. It is a very cosmopolitan city with lots of stuff to do.

6. What is your next planned travel destination?

This summer I am going to Lake Tahoe with my family. I think my next international trip will be to Peru and Boliva for my December break.

7. What’s the number one destination on your bucket list?

Machu Pichu has been at the top of my destination list for a long while. I have been in South America for two years and something has always prevented me from going there (mostly that getting flights when you need them from Venezuela is a pain in the butt).

8. If you could choose someone alive or dead to be your travel companion who would it be? (Famous or non)

Amelia Earhart because she would be perfectly happy flying anywhere I wanted to go.

9. Best street food you have ever tasted?

Pad Thai with shrimp made on a street corner in Thailand for about a dollar. So good!!!

1. What would you say traveling has taught you about yourself?

Travel taught me to find out what I want, work to get it, and then enjoy the hell out of it!

1. Beach, mountain or ocean?

A big beachy city would be perfect!

 

My 11 Questions for Nominees:

1. What would an ideal day look like for you?
2. If you are a teacher, what is your favorite class to teach? If you aren’t a teacher, what is your favorite part of your job?
3. Are you the oldest, youngest, middle, or only child?
4. What is your most favorite city in the world?
5. Where is your least favorite city in the world?
6. What is one hostel/hotel/posada/B&B that everyone should visit?
7. What is the next place you plan on traveling to?
8. What is one book you think everyone should read?
9. Have you ever tried salsa dancing or would you like to try it in the future?
10. What is one meal you could eat everyday (I would love to see a recipe link!)?
11. Mountain, forest, desert, beach, city- where would you rather be?

My 5 Nominees:

http://reflectionsofatokyoteacher.blogspot.com/ My friend Sarah just started her blog, but everything she writes is amazing and very helpful!

http://travelsofabrokegirl.com

http://headoutwest.wordpress.com

http://lostinwanderland34.wordpress.com/

http://lifegoneexpat.wordpress.com/