29. really confusing contest

so there is this contest that someone told robby about. apparently its a combination of modeling, singing, dancing, acting, hosting, and some other stuff. basically its really really confusing and we cant figure out how it works.

but the thing is, robby uploaded two videos last night (one of him singing in narnia from last year and one of him pretending that he's a model) and at the moment it says he is ranked 1st and 2nd locally, and 6th nationally.

i don't get it at all, but if you are bored, you can go to - www.bigshotlive.com - and try to vote for him. i think you maybe have to register, or maybe can only vote on certain days or maybe the whole thing is a hoax. not really sure.

but if you need a break from work, go for it. we still havent really figured out what he would even win. probably some free samples of toiletries.

- j(w)s

26. pictures.

I posted some pictures from the trip over on facebook. here's the public link - http://samford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045507&l=27346&id=41801096 - hope it works.

Here's a couple of my favorites...






- j(w)s

Don't worry...

I'm still here. And have I got some stories for you!!! Wait. No... no, I actually don't have anything too exciting. I've just been working again, while Jeremiah was over in Africa occasionally providing some entertainment on this little blog. I did, however, get to work at a school full of nuns. Yeah. It was incredible. Nuns are some of the nicest, most encouraging people I've ever been around. A little known fact about nuns that I learned while working is that they're all required to memorize the lyrics to the song "Tiny Dancer" and must emotionally recite it to themselves in the mirror just before going to bed each night. Strange, I know.

Oh. I got an interview with UAB Med School scheduled for Feb. 28. I'm both excited and terrified at the possibility of actually going to medical school. Still deciding if thats a good thing.

If you're ever approached by someone and they say "Hi Gretchen!" You should probably correct them, and let them know that they are unfortunately mistaken and must have you confused with someone else (apparently someone named Gretchen). That is, of course, unless your name actually is Gretchen. Then you'll just have to fend for yourself.

Man vs. Wild is so much better than Survivorman. But you probably already knew that.

This weekend I'm hoping to make yet another video for an online competition. I'm sure we'll post something ridiculous about it, and it should be really fun. There's many different categories for video submission including modeling, acting, singing, dancing, tv hosting/ broadcasting, comedy, and sports tricks (everybody loves those sports tricks!). I'll be attempting to enter videos for every category. Why not go for it all? YOU! Yes, YOU have the opportunity to help me win! Excited? We'll send more details soon.

Ok. I'm done. You're all great.

Getting more and more random with each post,
Robby

23. I'm Back

I haven't posted in a week or so cause internet was nearly impossible to get over there...especially once I started traveling. But I made it back safely and I'm back in Birmingham. The flight back from Frankfurt took 11.5 hours and it only took 9 on the way over. The only difference was which way the wind was blowing. Just thought that was interesting for some reason.

Here's a picture I took while over there. I have a few decent ones but haven't had the chance to edit any of them yet (including this one...I left it tilted just for Bryan and Josh and Caleb), but I should put more up soon.



glad to be back.

- j(w)s

17. The Lake

Got up early this morning and took a boat out on the lake to see one
of the island monasteries. It was relatively unexciting, but we did
get to see some hippos and that was pretty sweet. then we (we being me
and two canadians i met yesterday...they are really cool) got these
mango, papaya, pineapple fruit drinks and sat in a sidewalk cafe in
the middle of the city with phil collins' 'said i love you but i lied'
(i think that was phil collins) blaring in the background. it made me
really happy.

I fly to Addis Friday morning and then the plan is to fly back home
late that night. if things work out i should be back saturday
evening. guess we will see.

Also, I watched the movie Montana Sky yesterday and i dont recommend
it. just a little tip.

Oh yeah, and I have been here for about 9 days now and the first day i
took 400 birr ($40) out of an atm and i still have 80 birr left. That
means that the entire trip has only cost about $30...plus flights
which were almost 100 times more. its so cheap over here.

15. Mud huts

Things are still going well where i am. spent most of today sitting
in a mud hut where a family was having some sort of gathering that i
never really understood. i still think injera is terrible. if you
ever get the chance to eat it, dont. between the fear of getting fed
more food and the hard wooden bench i spent 5 hours on, i finally went
ouside and threw lemons at the little kids for the last couple hours.
i was already so out of place there, that i dont think it would have
mattered what i had done.

oh yeah, and i took a bunch of pictures which i will post in the next
couple of weeks. uploading a picture with this internet is not an
option.

hope all is well.

- j(w)s

14. up north

got up at 4.30 yesterday to head north towards lake tana.  went to sleep about 2 the 'night' before and amazingly didnt fall asleep the entire 10 hour drive.  my right leg almost had to be amputated but besides that the ride wasnt too bad.  it was actually really beautiful driving through the african countryside.   at one point, we crossed the nile river gorge and dropped from 10,000 ft to 3,500 before climbing right back up.  probably the steepest roads ive ever been on.  the kind of roads you would not dare ride on with drew roberts.  your chances of surviving that would be 3-4% at the most.

 

once i finally got here, i had dinner and then sat down to read around 3.30.  next thing i knew it was 9.30 and i had a book laying on me and the people i was staying with had already gone to sleep.  so i basically slept for about 15 hours last night in my sweet mosquito net.  i think im gonna get one for birmingham when i get back.

 

still not sure about my plans for the future (the 'future' being tomorrow) but thats not really a surprise.  might get to hike out to some village where they are having some festival.  could be pretty cool.  im just worried i wont be able to get out of eating the food.  guess we will see.

 

i'll write more later, and send out the longer post from this weekend.  this keyboard is really hard to type on.

 

- j(w)s

12ish. Heading North

I'm headed out in a few hours.  Going north to the Lake Tana area for a week or so.  I'm excited about it except for the 10 hour drive.  It's always good to see different parts of the world though...

 

Today has been a really interesting day and a wonderful opportunity to spend hours and hours alone with the Lord.  Feel so blessed to have a chance to slow down, avoid distractions and listen for Him.  It's been really special and I would write more, I just dont want to write personal stuff on here anymore...so, if anyone wants to hear my rant about some of the things that I have been thinking about and learning the last few days, as well as more about my plans for the next week, send me a blank email (you can write stuff if you want...) at jeremiahsizemore@gmail.com and i will forward you the long/personal version next time i am online.

 

hope all is well back home.

 

oh yeah, and here's the coordinates of where i am tonight (just for you Dad) - N 08 59.774' - E038 44.160 - elevation here is 7686' and i almost passout everytime i climb the 82 stairs to the apartment here.  the view is worth it though.

 

- j(w)s

11. Strange Day in Ethiopia

The internet here still refuses to pull up the blog which is kind of frustrating because without seeing it, it's hard to imagine that other people can see what you have written and it always ends up getting far too personal.  so i will try to get less and less personal but still update enough for people to know what i'm up to.

 

Today did not end up at all how I planned...7 or 8 ethiopians spent the night at the apartment where i am staying last night and they convinced me to go with them the next day to some hot springs/swimming pool that was a couple hours south.  they said we would leave at 8, stay for a couple hours and be back by 2 or 3.  well, i just got back at about 9:15 and spent 8 or 9 hours in the back seat of a 20-year old toyota corolla with two random guys.  thankfully, i was in the empty car, the other corolla had 4 guys in the back seat.  it was quite the endurance test.  i measured my leg room and it equalled my fist...that was pretty comfy. 

 

Over all it was good, just a long drive to swim for a few minutes.  Especially considering none of the 8 Ethiopians we took could swim even a little.  they didnt leave the kiddie pool the entire time.  Apparently this is a common scenario in Ethiopia and that had a giant kiddie pool with 30 or 40 people packed in it while the Olympic-sized main pool never had more than 6...with a max of 2 ever letting go of the side at the same time.  It was kind of funny to look at this huge empty pool, and then to look closer and realize there were actually 50 people in it.

 

Anyways, I am still trying to figure out my plans...Someone offered to take me up North with them on Sunday and that may be an option.  The other thing I'm still thinking about is Zanzibar.  Of course, I'm pretty much always thinking about Zanzibar so that doesnt mean too much.

 

- j(w)s

10? made it

the internet here is incredibly not fast and it wont allow me to check the blog so i can only email updates.  we made it here and all is well.  sarah is with her people now and they are all great so im really excited for her.  still not sure what i will be up to for the next couple weeks but i would be okay just sitting and reading and writing for awhile so im not too worried.

 

also, they have a weird calendar here and so they just had the millienium celebration in september and everywhere you go there are signs celebrating the year 2000.  its pretty sweet.

 

- j(w)s