Starting Again.

So I took a break from blogging there for a while, but I'm going to try to start again.

To start out, this last weekend I took an amazing class on photography. It was an Honors Colloquium, and we stood in a camera obscura, (we made our classroom into one), then we made pinhole cameras out of basic cardboard boxes with construction paper shutters. We got to go out and take pictures with those cameras (cardboard boxes), and then we developed those photos in a darkroom. So from very start to very finish, the photo I produced is mine. I made the camera, I took the picture, I developed the negative, created a positive, and then developed that too. Granted, I didn't make the photo sensitive paper, or create the developing chemicals in a lab, but other than that, this picture is mine.

Here's the negative - the paper that came out of the camera that I developed:













Here's one of the test strips - trying to get the right exposure for the positive:











And here's the finished result:














Also in the class we made Cyanotype prints from negatives of pictures we took of ourselves on a digital camera printed on transparencies.

Here are some of those:


Also recently, I had the cool opportunity to hear Brian McLaren speak, and I also got to meet him. He came to ACU for Summit, and I went to three of his different sessions. They were all really good. It was pretty exciting.

The End of My Time in Mexico

Okay, Wednesday through Saturday.

Wednesday - We got up and went to prayer time, and then went to Starbucks with Alex and Whitney. They spelled her name on her cup Whiky. After Starbucks, we went to tutoring, and then came home and relaxed for a while. That evening I went with Morelia to Sam and Ann's cell, but Sam wasn't there because he's in the States, and it ended up being only four of us. But it was still a good discussion. Me and Morelia also talked (in Spanish) all the way there and all the way back.

Thursday - We woke up a little late, and were late to our bible study, but we got there, and it was good. Then we went to tutoring, and Celene was at the ONE THING conference and couldn't be there, so Juan tutored me. After that, we all went to El Mago for lunch (SO yum.) Then we got ice cream at the mall, and rented August Rush from Blockbuster. It was the day for 10 peso rentals. When we got back to Sara's house, they watched the movie, and I took a nap. After that, we watched a little TV, and then got tacos and played the card game golf. Jeovel (Guinto) came over because all of his family was gone, and he played with us, and then he offered to drive us home (he lives three houses down, we live across town). So he did. We think he just didn't want to go back to his quiet empty house.

Friday - We woke up, walked a little, and went to tutoring. Me and Celene (my tutor) talked for a while (I explained the card game golf, and apples to apples in Spanish), and then we started hearing strange noises. There would be knocks on the door with no one there, and whistles. Eventually we went to go see what was going one, and we walked into the classroom, and everyone was in there (Marisa, Emily, Sara, Nadia, and Montse) and they had a surprise party for me! It was fun. After that, we went over to Ann's house where we had lunch, and then went back to Sara's house until youth cell. At youth cell we played games (spoons and a game like signs), and then after that we went back to our house. We hung out at home for a while, and then late late in the evening we went to go hang out with Montse and her friends. We got home very late, and I slept very well.

Saturday - Today I slept in REALLY late, woke up, took a shower, packed, and then we had our Carne Asada (cookout). It was sooo good, as always.

(TO BE CONTINUED TONIGHT)...

Comercial Cinépolis Verano 2008

This is the preview that they show before the all the movies at Cinépolis (the main theater) here in Mexico. Why can't we have cool commercials like this? I really just love it. Sorry the video is unclear, but it's really wonderful.

Almost a Week.

Okay, again, a lot to tell you. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Woo.

Thursday - We woke up, went to our intern meeting/bible study (Ann was there, yay!), and then went to tutoring. After that, me and Marisa went to Chili's while Emily and Sara went to lunch. We had really good food, and ate too much. After we got back, we hung out for a while, played some cards, and then we went to buy Sara a new fishbowl, cause hers was too small. That evening we met up with our tutors and bought some really nice delicious bread and hot chocolate and sat and ate it downtown. We also took a walk down Romance Lane. It's really a street. Then we went home and to bed.

Friday - On Friday we woke up, went to tutoring, planned a kids lesson for the cell groups, went to youth cell, and then went to the Guinto's (one of our Mexican family friends) house, played cards with them (you may remember they're the cheaters), and then afterward they took us out for tacos. It was funny because it was late, and it was way past Jeovel Jr.'s bed time, so he fell asleep at the table and didn't even eat his food.

Saturday - We slept in a little, and the other two walked across town while I caught a taxi later. We met at Starbucks and then went to Sam's house to meet with the gringas and Jamie Atchley. Her husband, Rick, is the preacher at Richland Hills Church of Christ, and he's in for the weekend. We also met Whitney, Alex's girlfriend. She flew in this morning, and everyone except for Alex knew. We all told him that Emily's sister was flying in, and he almost made her a poster. But anyway, it was exciting for her to finally be here. A whole group of us (with friends visiting as well), went to Santino's for lunch, and it was really good. After that we all went downtown, and did some sightseeing, and went to the market. We had some churros, and then met the gingo boys who had been at the church cookout, and went to eat some dinner/dessert on the terrace of a popular place called Onix. Sara has connections for everything it seems...she's the one who got us in. Another bonus is that there are fireworks at the Cathedral every Saturday night, and we got to have the terrace view of them. It was wonderful. And after some really good food, we headed home.

Sunday - Sunday morning we took at taxi to church, heard Rick preach (he's really wonderful), and it was my last Sunday, so they prayed for me, and I cried (kinda a lot), and everyone hugged, and I'm going to miss these people SOOO much. After church we walked over to the office where we had a beautiful catered lunch, and afterward we prayed for everyone. Then we went with Sara to her house, used her phone and computer, and I think we watched some TV (weird). Then we went to another church, Filidelfia, because Rick was preaching there too. Again, it was wonderful. Sam as translator and Rick make a really wonderful team. It was an amazing service. After that we went with Sara to Starbucks (I think), where we had our girl talk time that we love so much. And after that, home and bed.

Monday - Our free day, and it was just the three of us girls, because Sara went with all the adults to do touring of Patzcuaro and area, and Alex was off with Whitney. So we slept in, then went to the market and shopped some more, had lovely lunch at Sanbournes, and the went to Sara's house. We left her creepy notes, and changed her desktop to a picture of us. After we hung out there for a while, we walked over to Sam's house for a little bit, where we said goodbye to the Atchley's, and I said goodbye to Sam. He left today for the States to pick up his other two daughter, and won't return until after I leave. So we said goodbye, and went to Sara's for a little before heading home.

Tuesday - Woke up, washed clothes, went to tutoring, and then went to the wonderful VIP to see Hancock. It was good. I love the VIP. Then after that Marisa and Emily went back to the house, and I stayed with Sara to make copies at the office and chat. Then I went home, and went with the girls to Morelia's cell group. Here's the highlight of my day: Two of the younger girls came with their mom (their names are Ana and Sofia). Ana, for some reason has taken a liking to me, and last Sunday drew me a picture. She found out I was leaving and gave me a hug, and then took off the neckalace she was wearing, and gave it too me. Sofia also gave me a sticker. I just can't get over that. A lot of hugs later, we left, and I am going to miss those precious little girls. So we came back, and here we are!

Fuimos a la playa!!!

We went to the beach! And I have so much to tell you about (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and now Wednesday. wow.)

Saturday: We slept in a little, and went to Sara's house around noon, and then drove about an hour outside of town to do some mountain hiking. It was lots of fun, and a little muddy. I slipped and got a whole side of me muddy. But it was still good. After that we drove back home, and me, Emily, Marisa, Sara, and Alex came back to our house where we had a cook-out for Miguel's birthday, which was Monday. Their son, Chema, came home and cooked, and we all had a lot of fun and ate way too much. The party went very late.

On Sunday we woke up, and went to church with all of our stuff for the next few days. After church we all piled into Sara's car and made the three hour trip to the beach. We went to a private beach house owned by Sara's friend Phyllis. It's at a private beach, near Playa Azul, which is near Ixtapa. It was an adventure getting there with the gravel road through the hills and woods, and the first night we were there there was a big storm, and our generator stopped working, so we didn't have any electricity, so for a while we sat in the dark with the pounding storm. But we told stories and Alex saved us by venturing out into the storm to get us matches. The problem was fixed the next day.

On Monday it cleared up and we spent the day in the ocean and in the pool. We made fajitas for dinner, and played cards and told more stories.

On Tuesday we spent the morning in the ocean and in the pool, and then left in the afternoon and made the drive back to Morelia. (We had a lot of fun singing very girly songs to Alex on the way back.) We got in around 7, got some tacos for dinner, hung out at Sara's for a little while, then came back to the house and collapsed cause we were so tired.

This morning I woke up burnt. We went to prayer time, then went to Starbucks with Sara. Then we went to tutoring, came home, ate lunch, and slept for a while. The other two girls went to cell tonight, so I've been working on my Bible Studies and catching up on some other stuff here at the house.

Note: Morelia (the mom), is SO sweet. I've been here all night, mostly working, and she came in and brought me some apple juice because she knows I like it. She also got me grapes. SO sweet. I just can't get over her.

Okay, Thursday and Friday.

Thursday we went to Sara's house, had our bible study, and went to tutoring. Me and Emily went to the mall for lunch while Marisa went out with Sara. When we got back, we were locked out of Sara's house, so we walked around her neighborhood and took pictures for about an hour. After we finally got let in, we hung out at Sara's house (I napped), and then went to the last Let's Start Talking party. This one was a lot of fun. I mean, they all have been, but this one was really good. There were games and dancing, lots of good photos, some really good conversation, and overall a really great evening.

Today/yesterday (Friday), we woke up, went downtown to meet our tutors (and went to the wrong place first), and had a morning of history (in Spanish). After we were done with that, we went to Sam's house to celebrate Independence Day! All the Americans we know here were there, and we had a lot of fun eating (the guys grilled hamburgers) and talking, and playing cards, and holding the baby, and lots of other fun as well. When we finally left Sam's house, we went and hung out at Sara's house for a while, where I had some REALLY good food that I don't know how to spell the name of. But I really want to learn to make it. Mmmm.

Getting to Know This Place

Wow, I'm getting really bad at posting.

Okay, Monday we had an adventure. We lost our phone, and then tried to meet Sara for lunch but misunderstood and it took a lot time to sort out because we didn't have a phone, but eventually it did. We were going to go to the market, but we didn't get to because it was raining. So instead we played cards and made cookies and cake at Sara's, and brought them to Brisa's as a housewarming gifts. We also looked at some leather purses she sells, but we didn't get any.

On Tuesday we walked for two hours to meet our Spanish tutors at the Starbucks across town. We met Sam there (he really likes Starbucks), and then met with our tutors for almost two hours. After that we came back to the house and ate with our family, and then after some rest, we went to have coffee with Amy and Larissa from the youth cell group. It was kinda hard, because Spanish is still hard for us, but I'm really glad that we did, I thought it was fun...probably because I was the one mostly listening. And after that, we came back, and we were surprised by Sara and Montse with tacos for dinner and a movie! It was lovely.

Then today/yesterday, Wednesday, we woke up, went to prayer time, went to tutoring, had a combi/walking/taxi adventure getting home, had lunch with the family, did some more planning for church stuff, and later met Sara and went to Sam's Club to get some things we needed, then to Starbucks for more "bonding time".

Interesting thought of the day though: it's still so strange that you can get prescription drugs over the counter here.

It's nice to be here, now that we're actually getting to know people. At church we have friends, and we even met someone walking down the street that we knew! That's really exciting, because one of our main goals is to build relationships.

Time Passes

So it's been a while. So I need to update you on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and today, Sunday.

On Thursday we went and served breakfast and the school that a mission team with the church restored the week before we got there, then went to tutoring, then I had lunch with Sara (we each take turns for one on one lunch), and had my first sushi! And it was actually good! There was also this really, really wonderful fried cheese ball that I always forget the name of. After lunch we met with Marissa and Emily and had our Bible Study, and then went to the Let's Start Talking party, which was a talent show. All the interns (Me, Marissa, Emily, and Alex) plus Sam and his kids Victoria and Sopie sang a song, and there were lots of other acts. After the show, there was karaoke, and lots and lots of dancing. It was a lot of fun.

On Friday we went to Fernanda's school for her last day. At schools here they have lots of graduations and presentations. So in her class they went through presentations of all the different subjects. When they got to English, her teacher looked at me and said, "We have some friends with us who speak very good English who are going to help us with our games." So I had to go up to the front where I read vocab words and numbers and in boys vs. girls format the kids competed. It was pretty fun. After that we walked around downtown for a while before heading to tutoring. After tutoring we went home and ate, and after a nap, we went to the youth cell group. And after cell we went with Sara to rent a movie, but we didn't get to watch it that night. But we did go to Sara's house and order pizza and talk for a while, before heading home to sleep.


On Saturday we woke up and went to the cell leaders meeting (which we were early to and locked out of), and then to the mall for a little while, and then to Sara's house where we finally got to watch our movie, and we ordered from El Mago, witch is a really wonderful restaurant. After the movie we walked down the street to go to a six year old's birthday party, which is not the same as in the States. The kids were all in the kitchen, while the adults took up the living and dining room. We talked, had some cake, and were awkward for a while. But after a few hours, we started playing spoons. Most people had left by this time, so it was just us and the family. So we decided to play spoons, but the thing about this family is that they all cheat at cards. Even the grandpa. So it was really funny. People had to be pat down every round to see who was hiding cards, and a water gun was brought out and used. It was loud and a whole lot of fun. And then after that, we had a surprise. Sara had told us we were doing something, but she didn't tell us what (this was Thursday), so we were all excited. We got dressed up, and went downtown, where Sara took us to this really cool restaurant (kinda like a coffeehouse...but not so much about the coffee). There were singers and bands playing that were very enjoyable, and at 12:30, there was the dance of the little old people (La Danza de Los Viejitos). I love this dance, we've seen it around, but in this one, it was even cooler because one of the dancers was really a 75 year old little old person. Often their in their teens or twenties because the dance is really intense. But it is sooo much fun. And so we got home really late.


(The Dance of the Little Old People)

And this morning we woke up and went to church at a church called Filidelfia. It was really cool, because we were talking about Unity in the church, and both churches were their and everyone hugged everyone and everyone was welcoming one another and it was a really wonderful show of Jesus' Love and unity within the one body of Christ.

Picture: Sam preaching.

After church we went with Miguel and Fernanda to lunch. So later, we went back to the house, slept for a while, and then went to Starbucks where we talked with Sara, and then went back to her house and talked until after midnight.

Day of Firsts

So today was a day of firsts. First combi ride, and first solo taxi ride.


(I like this picture. We're Asian tourists.)


But anyways, today we went to prayer time, prayed, went to Sara's house and learned how to use the LiveWorship program that the church uses, and then went to tutoring (by combi). After that we came back and had lunch and rest time, and then I got the first turn going to Sam's cell group by myself, hence the first solo taxi ride. We switch out ever week, so I'll get to go again in three weeks. Which is kinda sad, because I really enjoyed it. A lot. Anyways. It was fun.

Lifehouse's Everything Skit

I'm sure many of you have seen this video...but if you haven't, you should now. It's beautiful and it makes me cry almost every time I watch it.

Free Day

So Monday's are our days off. Today we woke up, had some breakfast, and then walked all the way across town to the VIP movies. We were early, so we walked around the mall for a while, and then went to the movie with Sara, Alex, Montse, and us. We were going to go see Kung Fu Panda, but they lied when they said it was subtitled and not dubbed...so we didn't go. We went to see 21 (Black Jack) instead. But this is a really nice theater. If' you've ever been to Studio Movie Grill in the States, it's kinda like that with the service, but we each get personal recliners with cup holders and tables. And they are very comfortable recliners. I think I may see I reoccurring day off theme coming up.

After that we hung out for a while, and tried to get Montse's broken car home, even though it didn't make it. We also went up the mountain to look and the huge flag and the city during the day. Sooo pretty. And then we went out for tacos. That happens a lot. Interesting fact I learned from Sara: the crunchy taco's from Taco Bell or Bueno...those aren't Mexican. At all. Who knew?

Also, I wonder what would happen if I stopped having English conversations? I mean, I'd still need English for direction, and for times when it's just the interns, but I think when I speak in English around people who speak Spanish, I cheat both them and myself. I cheat them because I distance myself from them, and I cheat myself because I could be learning from listening to and interacting with them. So I'm going to try to use much less English. I don't know how well I'm going to do, but I'm going to try. Maybe I'll be a lot quieter, and learn to reflect better. Hopefully I'll learn Spanish. I don't really know. I do know that I have got to keep trying, and I'm not about to give up.

Unproductive fun. Or is it?

So today we went to church, that was fun. I liked the songs we sang today, and I'm getting a little better about figuring out how the Spanish words work in the songs. After church we hung out at Sara's house, ate at Chili's, took naps, made and ate cookies, watched some TV, and went to Starbucks. It was a lovely day.

I have been wondering lately though, about the differences between short term and long term mission trips. All of my past mission experience has been very short term, where you go with a lot of people and put in a lot of effort in a short period of time, and then leave, but you can see the results of whatever you've done.

But here, life is more normal. We go to movies, get coffee, live in a house, and other things like that. In longer term missions, the goal is to build relationships. Especially in Mexico/Latin America where life itself is more about creating relationships. And it takes a lot longer to see results. There are real lives invested in this, not just a week of time.

So, while it's very needed for people to reach out and do big things on a big scale for people, it's also important to live our daily lives to the glory of God, whether that be in Mexico, the States, Europe, Africa, or anywhere else that we may find ourselves. Balance.

Sometimes it feels to me like we're being unproductive (and ok, every now and then we really are...I really do like to sleep in sometimes), but a lot of the time with our family, with the church, with our tutors, with the youth, with the other interns and the missionaries, we're really being productive...but in a slower way that you have to be more patient to see the results.

I think only God knows where my life is going to go, but I'm learning and being reminded that our relationships and our lives are tools that God uses to reach out to people, whether or not our job description is "missionary". Maybe that will be my formal full time job description, and maybe it won't. But I know know that here in Mexico and wherever I go, I want to try to connect with people, and let my life reflect God's love.

And God knows I don't do that nearly as well as I want to, but I trust in His grace that He'll work through me as I am, and continue to guide me to where I'm going.

[And if you're reading this, pray that I can really put my heart into learning Spanish. Right now, that's by far the biggest barrier I'm facing in connecting with people. I really want to reach out, but I'm held back by my lack of Spanish, and by fear, I guess. Fear that my progress won't be enough, fear that I won't be understood, fear that I won't understand, and fear of something that I can't pinpoint. I want to try to really connect to the culture, but I know I'm holding back. I know that right now, I'm not giving this or God my all as I try to cling to my comfort zone of English. I don't want anything to be a barrier to God's work, and I thing that's what my fear or my holding back is.]

So I need the courage and the strength to dive into this, and not just dip my toes. Not alone, because I have wonderful support here in the other interns and Sara. And I need God's help to take these words and change them into actions. Because as much as I say it, if I don't do anything, then nothing is going to change. Doing this is going to require me to draw closer to God, and rely on Him for strength, because I don't think I have it in me. As Paul says in Philippians 4, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

So here goes. Another day is coming, another week, and many more opportunities to learn and grow in God and His grace.

Sweet Saturday

So today we woke up, had breakfast, and then walked for an hour and a half. We made it mostly across town before we ran out of time and had to get a taxi. Everyone was in shock about how far we walked. It was a really long ways.

Anyways, after we got to Sara's house, we found out that it was going to be just us, and we went to a town called Huandecareo. They have lots of little water parks. So we went to one, and played in the pool, went down the slides, tanned, played games, and had a generally very enjoyable afternoon. Then we came back to Morelia, and watched a wonderful movie called La Misma Luna, which means Under the Same Moon. SUCH a good movie. If you ever get a chance, watch it. And after that we went and got tacos for dinner. Yum.

Not much else. The end.

Perspective.

Okay, so today we woke up, planned another bible study, and went to tutoring. Then we hung out at Sara's house for a while, and then went to lunch with her. After that, we went downtown and had a photo/video scavenger hunt that Alex planned for the youth cell. And then we hung out at Sara's house some more before getting some good food at a taco place before heading home to bed.

However, the most interesting part of my day was the drive home I think. I was sitting in the taxi, feeling kind of bored, when I feel like I flipped a switch inside of me. I think I've always been able to do this, but I haven't really realized this before. Okay, this is confusing, so let me describe it, and then talk about it.

As we sat in the taxi and I was bored, I felt the wind on my face, and one moment it was annoying and making me cold, and the next it was a blessing reminding me to feel alive. I just decided to enjoy it. I looked out the window as we drove through town, and felt God's love for this place and these people. I enjoyed the realness of life.

So I started to think. This time, I was aware of the moment I made the change. So, I do have a choice in the matter. Being miserable or happy is somewhat of a choice. Perspective. It's one thing for me to look around me and get upset because I can't communicate like I want to or be frustrated with things beyond my control, and it's another to enjoy the time I have here now, and to soak up and learn as much as I can, and enjoy the relationships that I can build, whether I speak the language or not.

Picture: I found this very pretty. It's the stairs in our house with the sun coming in from the skylight.


Now, I understand that circumstances will play a role in attitude. I can just about promise that I'll be frustrated with my lack of Spanish again (and again), and I know that life is not always what we want it to be. However, it seems to me that life flows smoother when we flip the switch and enjoy the life we have. (And I am determined. I will learn Spanish).

A phrase we used yesterday was "to live in the present". To take what is right now, and be. Now, I won't always be optimistic, and sometimes I'm just the opposite. But I like myself better when I find the good in things instead of the bad. And I think that God wants us to find the good things too, because they're there. Sometimes they're hidden in a bunch of bad things that are not God's desire for us, but those things shouldn't get in the way of what God does have for us.

A lot of this is probably common sense, but it's the sense that was rekindled in me on my ride home tonight, and I hope that maybe it will encourage you too.

Finally, a thoughtful post. ish.

I got my computer back today! I was very happy.

Today we woke up, and walked to one of the main roads to get a taxi to Sara's house (we made it, even though we got lost on the way), where we had our intern meeting. We didn't have tutoring because our tutors were busy with a huge mission group (48 people) from Oregon, so instead we went home to eat with Morelia. After that we worked on some more of our bible studies for the kids during cell groups, and then after a while went to the Let's Start Talking party, where I won at Bingo! I got a Milky Way bar as my prize...yum. And on the way home Morelia offered a ride to a friend who lives in our neighborhood, so we fit 8 people in her sedan, the two ladies up front, and the three interns in back each with a child on our laps. That was an interesting ride.

So, now for some interesting aspects of Mexican culture. First, did you know that if you invite someone here, you're offering to pay? If you just want to go as a group, you should suggest, not "invite". It's a tricky line to walk.

Another cultural fact: most people don't put their bags on the floor here, because there's a superstition that your money could fall out.


Also, I've found it interesting that most people in the United States are governed by fear, but not so in Mexico. I know that when driving in the States, I usually follow most of the rules, if for no other reason than that I know there's a good possibility that there might be a cop, and I might get a ticket. Here in Mexico, the general rule is that it's not illegal unless you get caught. While many people follow the same rule in the States, there is much less chance of you getting caught here. And if you do get caught, it's not as intimidating, because you can often bribe the police, and they won't ticket you. So traffic here is much more defensive, and it doesn't have nearly as many rules.

For the third cultural difference today, PDA, or Public Display of Affection. In the States, PDA deserves a nice "get a room!" call. Here, it's everywhere. People just walk down the street or in the mall or anywhere really and are all mushy and VERY affectionate. It's a very different sight to see.

And did you know: there are two different kinds of movie theaters here. There's the normal theater, like ones we have in the States, and then there's a VIP theater, where you pay more, and you can eat sushi.

Task of the future: I need at some point to find someone who with "tutor" (used loosely) me in the States. I really am determined to learn Spanish.


Oh, and also, it's possible that people here drink more Coke than they drink water or perhaps breathe air.

Baby!

Okay, so I was going to get my computer today, but something more exciting happened!  Ann had her baby!  Her name is Isabella Joy.  She is sooo cute.  We woke up first thing this morning and went to the hospital.  Anyways, because of that, all the cars got switched around, and I didn't get to get my computer.  

After the hospital, we went to the church, and were going to have prayer time, but I don't think the person we were waiting for showed up, so we talked, and then went back to the hospital.  Then we went to Sopie's school for a little while, and then went to tutoring.  Today with my tutor, we worked on vocabulary and tenses.  I had to tell a lot of stories.  

And after that we came back and had more delicious food that Morelia made.  We had a really good Broccoli and Poblano Chili soup today...tasty with a little bit of zing.  So good.  Afterwards we took naps.  And this evening we planned the first of the kids bible studies that we need to plan, and went for a walk with Fernanda and her friend Sofia.  And then they did yoga.  I did not.

Tomorrow, when I have my computer, I should have some interesting things to talk about, like PDA, social fear, invitations and such.  But you'll have to wait for that.

Still No Computer

My computer is still with Sara.  Really, tomorrow I'm going to get it back.

Anyways, today, we woke up, and went to Sam and Ann's house where we got some instructions from Ann as to how to plan the bible studies for the kids, and then we helped to count money.  After that, we went to Starbucks with Sam (his idea).  

Sara picked us up from Starbucks and took us to our first day of tutoring, which was actually really good, I'm excited.  I understood a lot, and it helped me some with my confidence (Marisa and Emily say that's my main problem).  

After that we came back and had lunch and the house, and I did my laundry.  Then we went downtown with Montse and I bought a belt (I forgot to bring one).  After coming back and resting for a little bit, we went with Morelia to her cell group.  That lasted a while, then we went for a walk, and now it's time for bed.

I have been much more frustrated with my inability to speak or understand Spanish tonight.  I don't know why, but it was really stressing me out.  I really almost cried.  I love this culture, I just really wish that I could participate more in it.  

EDIT:  AHHH!! okay, I'm such a creepy person.  Really.  So, I was checking facebook after I posted this, and I noticed that Sara had recently updated her facebook status to say she was babysitting Sam and Ann's kids.  This was a trigger for excitement, because Ann is going to have a baby any time now.  I figured Sam and Ann probably weren't going out for dinner.  So we called Sara, who laughed at us for being creepy stalkers, and she told us that indeed, Ann is at the hospital...no baby yet, but very soon.  Yay!  .

Day Off

So today's is going to be a short post, because I'm on Emily's computer.  I took mine to Sara's house, and when we went to a movie afterward, I left it in her trunk.  Ooops.

Anyways, today was our day off.  We slept in, and Marisa and Emily went bike riding while I did my last maymester paper.  I'm so done!! yay!!  After that we ate lunch, and hung out for a while.  We played Mexican bingo, and told stories in Spanish, the ones where you go around and everyone adds.  Well, I listened, and shared my part in English.  Then we went with Sara over to her house to hang out, and use the phone, and I got to see Jeremiah on Skype!!! 

The fiasco of the evening was that there was a rat in Sara's backyard, and she doesn't do rats.  So, that's a problem.  Anyways, we ended up going to the movies to see What Happens in Vegas, or whatever it's called, the title here in Spanish is different.  It was sooo good, but I don't think the Mexicans got it.  The subtitles must not have captured it, because the four of us laughed almost the whole way through, but we were the only ones laughing.  

Anyways, it was a good day, and tomorrow I'll get my computer back from Sara.

Feliz Dia del Padre!

Happy Father's Day!

This morning we woke up, and went to church. We were at church for three and a half hours, and I think that almost two and a half hours of that was the actual service. It was really interesting though, and the time went quicker than I thought it would. It would have been really awesome if I had understood Spanish.

(This picture is not from church, it's from our tour yesterday.)


For Father's Day, our Mexican father, Miguel, asked that we speak in Spanish. That was rough for me, but the family was really encouraging, and I'm starting to think I might be able to do this.

Anyways, when we got home from church Coco and Montse (I think it was them), had set up a table in the garage for us to eat at. Lunch wasn't ready yet, so we (me, Emily, Marisa, and Fernanda) went upstairs and played some really intense Uno for a while. And when lunch was finally ready, it was sooo good, and we all ate too much food.

After dinner we (the interns) went with Coco and Montse to the movies, where we saw the Hulk. It was a good movie...lame ending though. And after that we got back to the house and relaxed for a while before bed.

I also got to talk to my parents for the first time since getting here, so that was nice.

So, interesting thought of the day (at least I think it is). So, I've been listening to all the Spanish around me, a lot of it doesn't make sense, even though it makes perfect sense to the people speaking it. This made me think of how babies who are learning to talk. For a while, a lot of what we say must be just noise to them, even though we think that they should understand. It makes me want to understand so badly though, and to be able to communicate. I think that it must be frustrating as a child not to be able to understand or talk with anyone. Plus I have a new appreciation for people who learn English as a second language. Learning a new language is a lot of work.

Coppertown.

So today we woke up, had breakfast, and went with Morelia to the cell leaders meeting. We watched the kids, who got a little bored, and didn't really want to wait for the meeting to be over, but I remember being that age, and being antsy like that.

After the meeting was over we went with Sara and two of the Let's Start Talking people for a tour. We went out to this little town almost an hour away called Pátzcuaro where we had lunch at the Best Western and then did some shopping. This was the place that Vasco de Quiroga (you can read about him for a full story...the part about him as bishop) used as his center for commerce.


After that we went to Tzintzuntzan which was the P'urhépecha (indigenous people's) capital. They specialize in weaving and basketry. We also saw there the yácatas that were their temples and their sacrificial places. We also saw the church there with one of the oldest baptistries in Latin America. After that we went to Santa Clara del Cobre, also known as Coppertown, because they make things from copper. They're amazing. They also showed us the process, and it takes so long, and so much work to make things, it's incredible. The towns are all far apart, so it took us a long time, all day in fact. But just to make this clear, Mexico is not the desert. It rains here all the time, and today we drove through forests into the mountains.


After our long day of touring, we went back to Sam and Ann's house for delicious tacos (and pie for dessert), and we meet the new Let's Start Talking team that just got in. It was so good, and a lot of fun.

So, just for fun, we were listening to the radio yesterday, and heard some really interesting lyrics. The best was, "every time I think about you, thoughts go through my mind." Also, "every day is just another day, no doubt." We laughed because the writer pretty obviously learned English as a second language, and the song wasn't profound at all. But, for his credit, if I were to write a song in Spanish, it'd be even worse.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, my new name is Elisabet. Just wanted to clear that up.

Late Day.

Okay, so this is a post today for yesterday, because their days go later here. They also start late, which is wonderful.

We woke up this morning and had breakfast around 10 (wonderful), and then went for a bike ride. It was a lot of fun, and a good workout, and we got to meet the guards at the guardshack. We live in the Mexican equivalent of a gated community. That way, the trash truck doesn't come at 6am. Yay! Anyways, after we got back and showered, we went with Sara to a restaurant (I forgot the name) that had huge delicious sandwiches and fruit drinks made with real fruit. My strawberry drink felt like I was drinking strawberries. After lunch (around 3) we went to Sam's Club to print photos that reminded us of God for our youth cell group later, and Office Max, and we got snacks for cell group. Then we went to cell group, and had to describe our picture and how we saw God in it, and describe our favorite birthday...in Spanish. I have sooooo far to go, but I'm learning, and I survived. We also made a collage of our photos. Here was mine:


We talked for a while in cell group, and I tried to understand as much as I could (I'm getting better), and then afterward we came back to our house to wait for Montse, one of the sisters. Morelia made us some food to eat in the meantime. We waited for a long time, but after we all were home and ready, we headed up the mountain, and got to see the most amazing view of the city. You can see everything. It was so beautiful and wonderful. I loved it.

I really enjoy it here, and I hope someday (soon?) I can begin to communicate with a little bit more, and understand more. But I get a little better every day. One day at a time.

The Adventures Begin.

So today we didn't have any planned activities, so we slept in late (9), and after we ate breakfast, we went to the Morelia Zoo. It was really amazing! They had all sorts of animals....lion, tigers, bears, zebras, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, ostritches, sea lions, a polar bear, monkeys, reptiles, birds, lots of peacocks, goats, miniature horses, a huge turtle, an orangatang, reindeer, camels (1 hump and two), hippos, and so much more that I can't remember. It was one of the coolest zoos I've been to, I think better than Dallas, Fort Worth, or London. It was really amazing. Plus it was only 20 pesos, which is like, 2 dollars. Wow.


We came back to the house for lunch at 2:30 (normal time, a little early), and guess what!? I ate cactus today...in my fajita. Mmm. After lunch we had some time to rest. We finally woke up from our naps, and went with Coco (one of the sisters) into town before we went to the church office and had a Let's Start Talking party (LST is mission group). It was fun, we played pictionary and spoons and had some good food. Then we got a taxi back to the house, and our driver spoke English and lived in the states for 12 years.


It's sorta nice, I'm starting to understand more Spanish. We've pretty much been adopted into this family, but I feel like the special child who needs to ride the short bus because I have such a hard time understanding or communicating. But they're all trying to help me. They are such wonderful people, and we're very blessed to stay with them. My most used Spanish phrases now are "no se" (I don't know), and "esta bien" (I'm good). I use them a lot.

It's so nice though, everyone is so sweet and helpful to us. I'm really starting to like it here, and I think I'd be in love with it if I could speak or understand. Someday, I really hope that I will.

Finally in Mexico!

I made it to Mexico! Finally!

And so much has happened in the last 24 hours, it's crazy. I was picked up at the airport by Sara and Alex, and we drove about thirty minutes to get into town and to the house we're staying at. My first word to learn in Morelia is "tope". Morelia is apparently "topelandia". AKA "speed bump land". They're EVERYWHERE. I had a lot of fun talking with Sara and Alex...and I could tell from the start (cause I knew the other interns) that this should be an amazing group. We made it to the house, and I got to meet my host family, and was reunited with my fellow interns. I also realized I know even less Spanish than I thought I did, and had a bit of a hard time. We got in late, so I chatted with Marisa and Emily, the other interns, for a while, and then went to bed.

We woke up this morning, and had breakfast that our host mother, Morelia, made for us. It was very good....she's a great cook. Then we got a taxi to the church office, where we met for prayer time, which was all in Spanish, so I didn't understand a lot of it. After that, we went back with Sara to her house where we had orientation and some chill time. I love the other interns I'm working with, and Sara, Sam, and Ann, the missionaries. I'm so excited to work with them this summer. I really do relish the moments I spend with each of them. I couldn't be happier about the group.

Anyways, after that we went to lunch (it's around 3pm here), where I had enchiladas morelias. Or Morelian enchiladas. They were very good, but really spicy. That seems to be a theme with the food here. (I had some pico with dinner, and just about died...my mouth burned and tingled for a really long time.) And after lunch we walked around downtown. We also got to try some churros as well...mmmm. We went back to Sara's house for a while, had some more team bonding and adventures, like climbing on the roof, overcoming fears, and generally getting to know each other more.


Then we went to a cell group led by Sam and Ann...but just Sam tonight, because Ann is giving birth any day. (Their three girls they already have are soo cute.) We sang, prayed, and did a Bible study...I just tried to soak in as much Spanish as I could.

On the way home with Morelia, we were sitting with her grandaughter Fernanda. We were invited to a movie next week, and so Morelia was talking about how the "chicas" were going. Fernanda promptly replies, "esta chica!", to which Morelia goes, "nooooo". It was cute.

Also, when I came to Mexico, I was expecting it to be a hot dry desert. But no. We're in the mountains, in rainy season. And even in the dry season, the 90's are hot. I'm pretty much in love with this climate already.

And did you know: not even the locals in Mexico drink the tap water. No one does. But, it's "better than it used to be" according to the Mexican government.

See: Water bottles, everywhere.

So that's all for now. I have a lot to learn and experience, and I'm frustrated with my lack of Spanish, but I'm so excited to see where this crazy adventure goes...

So buenas noches! Via con Dios! Watch out for los topes!

Stuck.

Okay, good story.

So I woke up this morning, with the understanding that I was leaving today for Morelia, Mexico. So exciting! I did the last of my errands, finished packing, and said goodbyes. Everything seemed to be going well. All of my stuff fits in my bags, I got checked in at the airport okay, and my flight was on time. Yay!

But no. It wasn't meant to be. It was all going too well.

So, we board the plane, it's %100 full, and we taxi off to wait in line at the runway...where we waited for two hours. It just so happened that right at that time a little bitty storm moved in, and no one could take off....for two hours. So even though my connecting flight from Houston to Morelia was delayed an hour, we still arrived after it left.


(Picture: as I looked out the window on the plane, there were a good 8 planes just that I could see waiting behind us, and the pilot said that he could see fifteen in front of us. So add like twelve more planes to the picture and understand that it would only be one side of the airport, and that's what my afternoon was like. This isn't my picture, but I wanted you to have a visualization.)

And lucky for me, there's only one flight from Houston to Morelia everyday. The next one was tomorrow evening, and there was no other available way to get there faster. So, after some hastle with customer service (and a whole line of other people doing the same), I ended up getting a discounted rate to the Sheraton for a night, with 24 hour shuttle service. It's not so bad. I have a very expensive hotel room for not much money, a very comfortable bed, TV, internet, my books, and room service. Mind you, my luggage is still at the airport so I have no clothes or hair gel or things of that nature. However, the hotel has very nice smelling shampoo and lotion.

I got a lovely Italian club sandwich delivered to my room for dinner, and I'm expecting bacon, eggs, apple juice, coffee, a muffin, and breakfast potatoes to be delivered to my room in the morning. I would have gone out, but was hindered by my being a single young woman in a town I've never been to, and it was getting dark outside. So I stayed in. And it's been nice so far...time has yet to tell if I'm productive with any of my extra time.

Interesting Times

Well, this has been an interesting week. On Tuesday my sister Nicole left for job core. If it goes well, she'll be there for almost a year. And for the time being, Jeremiah is staying with us. On Wednesday a photographer from the Dallas Morning News came out to the house to take pictures of our family to go along with the story that they're doing on us. It's weird. We think that it has to do with getting positive rep for the foster care system.

And on Monday, I leave for Mexico. I will be spending the next six weeks in Morelia, Mexico. I'm a little nervous because I don't speak Spanish, but I hope that I will by the end of the summer.

Plus I've been cleaning my room. It's hard to keep it clean when you leave for four months, then come back with all your stuff, and leave again in a few days, and then come back with all that stuff. It just doesn't seem to have anywhere to go. But, I'm mastering the problem, and the outlook is looking good.














I bought a Spanish/English Dictionary today, plus I have a Spanish Bible, and a few fun books to read in Spanish to help to to get going. I felt sad though, because my Spanish/English Dictionary is published by Oxford...and I miss Oxford so much.

Jeremiah is certainly growing up fast. He's starting to say more and more words, even though his two favorites are still "ball" and "hot". His favorite things so far seem to be books, balls, and belts. He is such a good kid though.

Midnight Rescue Mission

This story actually starts about a week ago. My parents have a vegetable garden in our backyard, and the plants were growing well. The squash were particularly promising, with their vibrant color and blossoms. However, one morning about a week ago, my dad came in from checking the garden, and said that the squash plants looked dead. They had suddenly withered. And parts of them looked like they had disintegrated. Funny. My mom wasn't too pleased though.

Anyways, fast forward to last night. The dog had been barking outside for a while, and he didn't want to come in. I was getting ready to put Brandi to bed when my mom told me and my brother to come outside with her. I was worried she was going to show us something bad. Instead, when we went out into the garden, we found a little white rabbit...eating our plants. He was super cute though, so my mom decided not to scare him off, just to board up the hole he got in through in the morning.

However, after some more observation and approach, we discovered he wasn't scared of us at all. He even let us pet him. And when we got that close, we could tell he wasn't a wild rabbit. With that discovery, and the knowledge that a domestic rabbit probably won't live too long in the city, we decided to conduct a midnight rescue mission. My parents dug an old cage out of our garage, and my brother washed it out while I watched the rabbit, my mom ran to wal-mart for rabbit food, bedding, and a water bottle, and my dad went back to bed. After a while, we got the makeshift cage together, and brought the rabbit inside.

Once in, we discovered several things in the light.

First of all, the rabbit was albino, but he was filthy. Also, he had been attacked by something, but got away. It's not bad, but he has some scratches. He is also very much a full grown pet rabbit. There's not a bit of wild in him. So we put him in the cage, where he very quickly got started on the food and water we gave him.


So, we'll do some searching to see if anyone has lost a pet rabbit. And if not, we may have a pet rabbit of our own.

Been a While

Okay, so I know that I haven't posted in almost a month. I'm sorry. Mostly to myself, but it's okay. Anyways, I got home from Oxford okay (it was a looonngg flight), had a very little bit of time at home before going to Abilene for Maymester. Did that, I've been home for a week, and I leave in a week for Mexico. I'm going to try to start posting here regularly again, and hopefully I'll succeed. We'll see.

Last weekend in Oxford

So in the craziness of the last weekend, I forgot to post. So here is what happened on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

On Friday I woke up, and did some studying for my afternoon final. Then I took that final, which I did pretty well on. After that I did a lot of packing and cleaning.

On Saturday I slept in, and then me and Holly did some shopping and had some lunch at the Eagle and Child. After we came back, we had a graduation ceremony for one of the girls who graduated from LCU, but missed the ceremony to be here. It just so happened that our ceremony was at the same time as theirs too. It was a lot of fun. She had a blue sheet for a robe and a construction paper hat with a shoestring for a tassel. We through confetti, hummed pomp and circumstance, had a comencement speech, slideshow, presentation of the diploma. We had the whole works. It was a lot of fun, and then afterward we all went out to dinner to celebrate.

On Sunday I went to church at St. Aldate's for the last time. After that I came back to the house and did some more packing. Sunday night we had our last nine at nine, and it was sad and wonderful.

Monday I woke up early for my last final, C.S. Lewis. I wrote 8 pages, and was done with school. I got a sandwich from On the Hoof for lunch, and after lunch we had an afternoon of cleaning and packing. After we were finished, we got ready for our last group dinner. We had a group picture, and all went to a really nice italian pizza place, where we were told we could get anything we wanted, so we all had sodas and starters and sides and pizza and dessert. It was wonderful. The bill for all of us was something like almost 900 pounds. That's almost 1800 dollars, although, keep in mind, there were 40 of us. Still, it was really cool.

May Day

So, I woke up this morning at 4:45. You may wonder why, and with good reason. Today is May Day, and in Oxford, May Day is a big deal. Many of the college students spent all night April 30th partying, and early in the morning, dawn to be specific, thousands of people gather on High Street at Magdalen Tower to hear a choir sing and greet the coming summer.


So me and several friends dragged ourselves out of bed, left at 5am, got to High street at 5:30, and then waited till six for the very short but nice ceremony. It was fun, we grabbed some breakfast on the way back, and then slept a little before class.







Today I also had my last class time of the semester, for C.S. Lewis. I have two more finals, one tomorrow, and one on Monday. And then it's time to pack up and come home.

After class I started to study a little for my final, more not studying than studying, but, there was a little bit of productiveness.



And now, in the evening, I really am studying.

Finals week.

Okay, so it's the last week of school, and it's really overwhelming.

Monday I went to Oxfam for the last time, and said goodbye there, and bought some groceries on the way home. I did some homework, and went to my last KEEN session on Monday night.

Tuesday I went to both of my classes, did more homework, finished my tutorial/research paper, and baked three batches of cookies to share, all of which were gone within 12 hours. That's what happens here.

And today I slept in, turned in my tutorial, studied a little bit but mostly procrastinated, went to our last prayer group at the Wiggins (teachers), and had a game night with some girls in the other house.

I have my last class tomorrow, one final Friday, and one final Monday, and early early Wednesday morning we leave for Texas! One week from today!

And if anyone in Abilene is reading this, I'll be in Abilene on the 8th and 9th. Come find me.

For anyone in the Dallas area reading this, I'll be back around after my Maymester class in Abilene ends May 23rd, so seek me out. I will very much want to see people before leaving on June 9th for my summer in Mexico, soon after which I return to be a Junior (Upperclassman!) at ACU in the fall. CRAZY.

Busy Weekend

Okay, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And Sunday too.

Thursday, I woke up, went to class, and then met Katie and we took the train to London. It was pretty neat. We went to see Westminster Abbey, and paid too much money to go inside, so I took pictures, even though I wasn't supposed to. After Westminster, we took some telephone booth pictures, went to Tower Bridge and Tower of London, and took pictures at platform 9 3/4. Then we were heading to eat dinner, when we stumbled upon a huge crowd and wondered what it was. It happened to be the London premiere of Iron Man, and we got to see Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrance Howard, and Robert Downey Jr. on the red carpet. It was so amazing. Then, after quickly getting some pizza from a stand, we ran for 5 or six blocks to get to the theater where Phantom of the Opera was. We saw that, and it was amazing as well.

On Friday I didn't do much. I did some homework, and I slept a whole lot.

On Saturday I woke up and went with another friend, Jessica, to London again. We were going to see Les Mis, but they were sold out when we got there, so we went to the London Zoo, and the went to eat at the Texas Embassy, which has fairly authentic Tex-Mex, and had all sorts of Texas bumper stickers, like "Don't Mess With Texas", "He's not kinky, he's my governor", and almost all of the colleges (UT, Baylor, A&M, Hardin Simmons, McMurry, ACU, TCU, and the like). After a wonderful meal, we went to see Westminster again, and then caught several buses and made our way home to Oxford.

On Sunday I did homework, and watched some movies online. 9 at 9 was wonderful, we just got to sing and pray the whole time. I'm going to be so sad to leave this wonderful place.

Crazy Thursday

Okay, so Thursday, yesterday, I slept in and woke up just in time for my C.S. Lewis class. That was fun and interesting as always. After class though, the real fun began.

I met one of my friends, Katie, and we went to the train station to go to London. We were late, but our train was even later, and because of that, we didn't have and stops, we just went straight to London. After we got there, we went to Westminster Abbey, and went inside to look around. They charged me 10 pounds, and that upset me, so I took pictures inside even though I wasn't supposed to. We saw lots and lots of famous dead peoples tombs, like Queen Elizabeth I, Issac Newton, Charles Darwin, Lord Byron, Lord Tennyson, Geoffery Chaucer, and more. It was crazy. We also saw the coronation chair. After that we walked by Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives, but it had lots of guards. On the way we took some red phone booth pictures.

After that we went and picked up our ticket to Phantom of the Opera, and went to see the Ritz...which is very ritzy. We went and saw the Tower of London, and the Tower Bridge, and stopped on the underground at King's Cross to take pictures at Platform 9 3/4.

After that we were on our way to dinner at Leicester Square, where we stumbled upon Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr, and Terrence Howard and their London red carpet movie premiere. Crazy! We got pictures too! That was very exciting...Katie and I had been talking all day about how so many people on our trip have seen famous people in England, but we hadn't....and now we have!














After that we got some pizza from a stand, and ran about five blocks to make it to the start of Phantom. We mad it, got our seats, and enjoyed a really wonderful show. I loved it. Afterwards we took a train back to Oxford, where we finally got to sleep.

Italy

Wow. So I have seven crazy days to write about.

Last Wednesday we left around lunch time, and caught a bus to the airport, and flew into Rome. We got in late, took a bus into the city and then walked to our hostel. It was very small, and only two bathrooms for almost 30 people, but not too bad.

We woke up on Thursday and walked to the Colosseum. We waited in line, and then got to walk around the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We saw where Shakespeare placed Julius Caesar's death, (not the actual place though), and after we saw all of that, we went out to lunch. After a long lunch (the Italians like to eat slowly), we walked across town. We got the first of many gelato, saw the Trevi fountain, and I threw in two coins. You can find out what that means if you want to. After that we saw the Spanish steps, went to several piazza's, and eventually got dinner at a little pizzeria. We ate, and then went back to the hostel and played cards.

On Friday morning we got up and took the metro to Vatican City, where we went to the Vatican Museum and to St. Peter's Basilica. The Sistine Chapel was really cool, but a lot smaller than I thought that it would be. St. Peter's was really cool, and I didn't realize that St. Peter is buried there. After we saw that, we went to see the Pantheon, which was cool, and then went to relax at the Circus Maximus. After an hour or so there, we headed back to the hostel. I met my friend Catherine who's studying in Rome this semester while everyone else had dinner at the hostel. We got to walk around and get lost in Rome, catch up, and even enjoy some really good pizza, and then she left to catch the metro before it closed. I met back up with my group at the hostel, and we went and walked around the Colosseum at night, before heading back to sleep.

On Saturday we caught a morning train to Florence, and took a bus to our hostel. After settling in, we went and walked around the town. We went to see the famous Duomo, and I went to go see Michelangelo's David, which was incredible. We went to the market, and did some shopping before dinner. For dinner we went out to a little pasta shop, and then afterwards, we walked over to the hostel that two others from our group were staying at, and swam in their swimming pool before walking up to the roof to look at the city. Becky also hit her head, and probably had a concussion. So we headed home, stopping only for gelato on the way.

The next day we slept in, which was wonderful, and then me and Karissa went to Pisa for the afternoon. I also bought some Italian sunglasses along the way. We had a beautiful train ride through Tuscany, and walked through Pisa to get to the leaning tower, which really is leaning, it's kinda creepy. We spent a couple of hours there, and took lots and lots of pictures before heading back. On the way back to the train station, I had the best and cheapest gelato I think I had in Italy. It was so wonderful. So after going to the market in Florence, we met back up with the rest of the group and went out to an Italian restaurant for dinner. After walking around a little more at night to see the town, we went back to the hostel to pack and get ready to leave in the morning.

Monday morning we got up, and walked to the train station, and took a train to Venice. The trip took longer than we thought, and we got there around 1. However, the buses had changed routes, and I found out that I can read a little bit of Italian. I let the group know what had changed, and we finally caught the right bus to our hotel, not hostel. It was outside the city, and still expensive, but everything inside the city was at least twice as expensive. Everything in Venice is expensive. We got checked in, and went to explore the town for a few hours. Venice is very confusing and we got lost several times, but we found our way eventually. We did some shopping, fed the pigeons in St. Marcos square, walked along the riverwalk, got ripped off at dinner by cover and service charges, saw the Bridge of Sighs, and most excitingly, got an evening gondola ride. It was amazing. Like everything else in Venice, expensive, but oh so amazing. After the gondola, we went back to St. Marcos square, which was flooding due to high tide. All around Venice there are raised platforms for people to walk on when it floods. Apparently Venice is sinking.

The next morning we left our bags at the hotel, as they were going to meet us in the city with our bags to take us to the airport later. So we went back to Venice, fed the pigeons again, walked around, did some more shopping, played cards in a restaurant for a while, visited a church, and slowly made our way to the place where our shuttle would meet us. Then the shuttle took us to the airport. However, our plane was 40 minutes delayed, and while they boarded both the front and back of the plane, they only let us out of the front, so we were the last ones off. Plus we didn't land at the terminal, so we had to take a train there, and there were only two people working immigration for 3 or 4 planes of people. All that combined, we missed our bus, and had to change our tickets to get back later. By making several connections and begging one bus driver, we made it back to Oxford around 5am. I got to sleep all morning, which was wonderful, but everyone else had class at 9.

Well, for the rest of Wednesday, I slept in, did some homework, went out and got some groceries and lunch, and generally relaxed. It was a lovely day.

Worship in St. Michael's at the North Gate

Wow. Okay. So today I didn't do much other than homework. I didn't go to church because I slept through my alarm. I worked on homework, and was productive. So far I've written 1400 of the 1800 that I need to have done in the next hour or so.

However, tonight was amazing. We were told that we needed shoes and jackets for 9 at 9 tonight, and without knowing our destination, we went to St. Michael's at the North Gate, the church that used to be at the North wall of the city. The church was dark and quite, and Chris Shim (who provides) somehow was given a key to the church. So we had worship there. We took communion, prayed, read scripture, and sang. And during several of the songs that we sang, I almost started crying it was so powerful. It was amazing.

My Canterbury Tale

So this morning I took a personal pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. I woke up early, caught the train, and then the other two trains, and finally made it to Canterbury around lunch. I was a little frustrated because on the underground there was a whole lot of German high school students who were screaming across the train at each other. I walked around Canterbury for a while, relaxed, and had a Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriaki sandwich, which may sound unimportant, but I've been craving it for a long time. It was so good.

After that, I went to the Cathedral. It's actual name apparently is Christ Church Cathedral, but everyone calls it Canterbury Cathedral. Another interesting fact is that the great gate into the Cathedral is bordered by a Starbucks. I got there, walked around, loved it. They had a really amazing modern stations of the cross in the crypt that I went through, and I stood in the place where Thomas Beckett was murdered, also the spot where Archbishop Robert Runcie and Pope John Paul II knelt together in prayer. I also saw the candle that marked where Beckett's shrine used to be, before it was destroyed by order of King Henry VIII.

Interestingly enough, this was also the destination of many pilgrims, as noted in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which the pilgrims were on their way to the shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.

I walked around the Cathedral, enjoyed the chapels and the cloisters, and the crypt. The Kent Youth Orchestra was playing, so there was a nice sound in the background the whole time.

After walking all around the Cathedral, I walked around the outside, and enjoyed the ground. It then started looking like it was going to rain, so I headed back to the train station. Only a few minute after I had gotten to the train station, the downpour began, so I had good timing and stayed dry. Yay! After a long train ride home, I got to relax all evening. I felt a lot better, having had some time to myself, and now, there's less than a month before I come home! For a little while that is.

Motivation

Well, today was not nearly as exciting as the last few days in Paris.

But I did manage to work up the motivation to write two of my papers, search my room and find my alarm clock, and get train tickets to Canterbury. That last part was the hardest. I really don't like the 30 minute walk there and back. So I got a muffin to make me feel better. It worked.

I also watched some movies online. That was not productive. But it was entertaining.

Paris

Okay, so it's been a while, since I've been in Paris. And now you, reading this, will get to hear more than you want about it. Because it was amazing.

We left early on Saturday morning, to the bus to London, and then took the Eurostar train to Paris. It goes through the "chunnel", the tunnel under the English Chanel. After we got there and settled in to out hostel, I went with a group and walked to the Eiffel Tower, which was about 50 minutes from our hostel. We walked by Notre Dame, which was right down the street. We finally got to the Eiffel Tower (which is so much bigger than it seems), and we took pictures there, and then got food from an overpriced tourist stand, and spent the rest of our evening on the Fat Tire Bike Tour, which was amazing. It was probably the best night of the semester. We started off with a warning that we were playing sharks and minnows, we were the minnows, and buses and other traffic are the sharks. But no worries, we stayed together and had florescent vests on. We ate ice cream at this amazing little cafe, and our tour guide was a cute college grad from Texas. In fact, most of the people who work there are Texas college grads, since the founder is as well. It was interesting for the first few minuets as I had to learn to relearn how to ride a bike. On the tour we saw Pont Neuf which you may recognize from the Bourne movies, or as the oldest bridge in Paris. We rode our bikes through the outside of the Louvre, and build a human pyramid by the Louvre pyramid. We saw the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed, and the little Statue of Liberty. We saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle as it does every hour on the hour after dark. At the very end of the evening we had to race back to get to it in time to take pictures. We got to take a boat down the river and look at all of the sights. We rode our bikes through tree lined streets in Paris at nights. Amazing. After the bike tour we got crepes at a stand, and then took the metro back to the hostel late at night.

On Sunday morning I got up, and went to Notre Dame, but we misunderstood the church times, so we only caught the end of the service. But we stayed and took a few pictures, and then went to the Louvre. I saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory. We walked around for a while, but since it was Sunday, and it was free, it was hot, crowded and stuffy inside. So we left, got some sandwiches at a stand, and then went and climbed to the top of Notre Dame. We saw the Great Bell, a.k.a. Quasimodo's bell, and learned that a Chimera is an ornamental monster while a gargoyle drains rainwater. There was a great view of the city from there. However, after climbing those 400 steps, we were tired, and went back to the hostel for a nap before dinner. We had dinner at the hostel, and then went out for crepes. I had a nutella banana crepe, it was so good. Then we went back to the hostel to sleep.

On Monday we woke up, took the metro to the Arc de Triumphe, saw it, and then walked down to the Eiffel tower to see the olympic torch. I was with Becky and we were going to meet Krisann and Karissa at the bridge by the tower. But we got there and it was blocked off by police. So we walked down to the next bridge and back, and found that the road leading to the tower was blocked. I had some nice conversations with French police offices as we tried to figure out what do to. By wonderful change, we found Krisann and Karissa in the crowd that was already gathering to watch. After a few more conversations with police officers, we found a place on the other side of the road to watch the torch come by. While we were waiting, there were some fights that broke out between the human rights/tibet supporters and the Chinese who were there. It was the most police I have ever seen in my life, and they all lined up agains the crowd like you see in movies with riots. They even had to tackle some people who ran out to extinguish the torch and drag them off the street. It was rather dramatic. When the torch finally came through, it was surrounded by three levels of security. After that chaos, where we did get to see the torch (that was really cool), we went to a Chinese restaurant around the corner for lunch. After that we went to the Opera house were the Phantom of the Opera was set or created or something. The auditorium was closed, so me and Becky didn't pay to go in, but we waited for Katie and Karissa, who did. Then we walked home, did a little bit of shopping on the way, rested and then had dinner at the hostel again. After dinner me and Becky and Krisann went to get ice cream at the cafe we went to on the bike tour. As we were coming back, I was feeling a little sad and homesick. I passed a group of girls going to Sacre Cour and Moulin Rouge and thought that I wouldn't go with them, that I would just rest that night, but then I knew that resting would just be an excuse to lie in bed homesick. So I ran to my room, grabbed my bag, and caught up with them. And I'm so glad that I did. After a metro and way too many steps, we got up to Sacre Cour, took pictures of the city at night, and walked around the church, which was beautiful. After that we walked down the red light district to Moulin Rouge to take some pictures. We got some very yummy Parisian pastries on the way. And finally, after that, we went home to bed, and by that time I was tired, and reconnected to community, so I felt better.

On Tuesday, I got up, and went with a group to Versailles. We waited in line for several hours to get tickets and get in, but it was so lovely. I saw the Hall of Mirrors, the King and Queen's rooms, the door that Marie Antionette escaped through, and the beautiful gardens and fountains. On the way back into Paris, I asked for a milkshake from MacDonald's, and got a sundae, but it was delicious. I was late meeting Krisann and Becky at the Eiffel Tower, but just as I was leaving the metro, they walked by, and we got to walk there together. We got to the tower, and the other girls were going to go to the top, but having a slight fear of heights, I wasn't going to go. But I ended up going. The tower is 1,063 feet tall. According to Wikipedia, "when the tower was completed in 1889 it was the world's tallest tower — a title it retained until 1930 when New York Citys Chrysler Building (1,047 ft tall) was completed." And I went to the top of it. I think it was the highest I've ever been. We took the elevator, but I still think I almost passed out of fright. It was good once I got to the top though. And it was an amazing view. After we went down, we went to this cute little cafe for dinner, where I had roast chicken for dinner, with French fries in France, and Creme Brulee for dessert. Yum. Our waiter was so sweet too. When dinner was over, Krisann and I went to go take some more pictures, and then split up for a minute so she could go to the bathroom and I could check out a stand. When I was walking to meet her under the tower, I noticed all of the street vendors running. Apparently it's illegal for them to sell there, and they were being chased by police on bikes. Well anyways, one of the vendors dropped some of his little Eiffel Towers, and so I got one. Just one though, I was sad that the mob of other tourists noticed as well. But after that, it was starting to get late, so we went back to the hostel for the night, and I read and then went to sleep.

On Wednesday morning I went with Becky and Katie first to a really nice pastry shop named "Paul". I got a strawberry tart. Then we went and saw a bookstore Katie liked, did some shopping, and then went to see Victor Hugo's house and the place where the Bastille used to be. After that we did a little bit more shopping, and went to go get one last crepe before we left. As it was lunch time, I decided to get a savory crepe instead of a sweet one, and got a ham, egg, and cheese crepe. It was huge, and I couldn't finish it (we met one of the boys there, and he gladly helped me out), but it was so so so so good. mmmmm. After that we went back to the hostel, got our bags, and all 40 of us trouped through the metro to the train station, onto the Eurostar, on the bus in London, and back to the houses where we crashed after traveling for so long. I got nothing productive done that evening.

Today I slept in because class was canceled, and worked on homework. Slowly I'm getting everything done, but on Wedesday, I leave for Italy for a week. Oh goodness, it never stops.