check out my new website which not only has my blog but also photos, information about my upcoming mission trip to bolivia (and how to donate!), my support letter, and a fun little poll...
So... it's been about a month since I posted last and I thought it was about time. Last time I wrote, I was in Spain and about to go home. My journey home was very long due to London fog which caused me to miss my flight to Sacramento. I had to stay the night in LA all by my lonesome. The trip was worthwhile, though, because I met a man in London who wanted a Bible and could not find one in the airport so I gave him mine since I was headed home where I had other Bibles. It was a moving experience to talk to Adam about his life and God and I am thankful for that opportunity.
I finally got home to Pilot Hill where my dad lives and spent lots of time with family and friends. My dad and I took his truck to the snow one day with the dogs which turned out to be a huge contrast to where I am now.
Just before Christmas I flew out to Hawaii to visit my mom for a month. I had a rather strange Christmas with sunshine, sundresses, and seafood. Even though it didn't quite feel like Christmas, we had a great time celebrating Jesus' birth into our world.
New year's eve was also different from any one I had previously experienced. My friend Christina came over from Maui and we hung out with other Westmonsters in North Shore. We went to the beach, had a great dinner at a friend's house and then watched kids light tons of fireworks. It was like forth of July on steroids. I have never seen so many fireworks (legal and illegal) in my life. Just driving around we could see aerials being shot into the sky lie a professional show on every block. It was really fun but I'll admit that I was concerned about everyone's safety because little kids were running around with fireworks for hours.
On new year's day, my close friend and roommate Erin came to visit for a week and just left a couple nights ago. We had an amazing time aroud the island mainly spending time at the beach, watching a hula show in Waikiki, doing a short hike, enjoying some art and downtown Honolulu. I wish she were still here with me for the last week and a half... c'est la vie!
Besides all that good stuff, I've been spending time with my mom and stepdad on their days off and at Mauka Makai church. Also, I've been reading a lot. I finished a fourth book last night and I recommend all the books I have read: The Autobiography of George Muller, The Great Divorce, The Shack, and Is That Really You, God?
I'm enjoying this little break from school and work but I will be back on the mainland soon enough. In a week and a half, I'll be with my dad in Pilot Hill then in early February I plan to move into an apartment in Santa Barbara with some of my favorite girls. God willing, I will be working as a nanny and in a fabulous Argentine restaurant. We shall see what's in store there and for my future. Now that I'm done with my undergraduate studies, I'm just praying for God to open up an opportunity for me that pleases him!
Kim and I are staying in a cute boutique hotel in Barcelona right on a main street. Yesterday, we walked around the city all day until we crashed on our beds for a late afternoon nap. Barcelona is a lot more like a big city than Granada. There are wide avenues and tall buildings with lots of people roaming around. Since Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya, Catalan is used on signs everywhere. Catalan looks a little like Spanish because it has its root in Latin but it is more closely linked to French while Spanish has been influenced more by Arabic. I´m just glad that people speak Spanish here- that makes me happy.
So we took a stroll down La Rambla which is the central street of Barcelona that leads to the Mediterrean port. We thought it was really amusing that vendors sell birds and other little critters on the street...we think we saw ferrets too. We wandered into the Boqueria market to find tons of seafood and meats. Yum...pig heads and fish everywhere. I don´t usually get too grossed out by markets but this one was a little much by the end. Somehow we still ended up eating seafood for lunch... In the market, they offered quite a variety of sea creatures. I got a picture of a swordfish´s head that I would share if I could.
We continued down to the port to Colombus´ monument and walked along the waterside before heading up towards the Picasso Museum. We almost didn´t go to the museum but we were both glad that we did afterward. The museum had a lot of work from his early years and then highlighted a couple moments later in his life. He was an amaxing artist from the time he was 15. At 16, Pablo (since we´re on a first name basis) painted an impressive realist work that really showed that he could´ve been like other artists. He got more and more unique as time went on. Towards the end of his life, he did an intensive study of Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez. I saw Velazquez´classic barroque painting in Madrid so it was really cool to see where Picasso took it. I was really impressed with his originality in taking apart such a famous work.
After soaking up Picasso, we visited la iglesia de Santa Maria del Mar- Church of Saint Mary of the Sea. It was a nice break to be inside a quiet church but we both got the feeling that it was more of a museum than a church. Nonetheless, they architecture was intriguing with its ancient rose window and repition of the number eight throughout the building.
We eventually made our way back to the hotel but without making lots of stops in little shops along the way. We called it a day at about 7pm because we were so exhausted.
Today the plan is to rent bikes and ride around in search of Gaudi´s famous architecture throughout the city. Tomorrow we´ll probably take a trip out of the city to a Monastery on Montserrat... a nice break from the city´s hustle and bustle. Saturday will be our last day in the city and then we´ll be returning home on Sunday. It is really weird to be coming to the end of such a long trip but I´m definitely looking forward to seeing family and friends...and God willing, I´ll get to be in one spot for awhile.
I got to Spain safely and soundly. My first stop was Madrid where I stayed with a friend's friend to avoid the whole hostal situation (which I was prepared to do). I was only there two days but I made the most of the time. My friend from Westmont, the lovely Karissa Young, has spent the whole semester studying in Madrid so she showed me around the city. The Christmas lights have just been put up around the city and it looks gorgeous at night!
Karissa and I went to the Reina Sofia Museum to check out some Picasso, especially his famous "Guernica" painting. We also saw some of Dali's surrealism which was pretty trippy as you can imagine. Crazier than that is that it snowed in the city while I was there! Huge snow flakes were falling and turned into slush on the ground- that's definitely a rarity in Madrid. That also means it was freezing there- a little bit of a shock going from warm Israel to cold Madrid.
I also went to Museo El Prado while Karissa was in class on Tuesday so I could see all the famous paintings. That place was huge so I didn't get to everything. Then, I met up with Karissa for lunch and some more wandering and shopping throughout the city. I decided to take a night bus to Granada that night at 1:30am... we enjoyed kebabs with Karissa, Allison and Allison's Chilean novio David. I loved talking to David about Chile! We both got to reminisce a bit...
So I left with all my stuff that I've been lugging around for 4 months- One heavy backpack(laptop!), one stuffed suitcase and a purse. I actually can't believe that all my stuff still fits in my suitcase because I've been acumulating souvenirs and such along the way. My night bus wasn't so bad but it was kind of weird to do it all alone after traveling with so many people. I actually got to sleep almost the entire 5 hours and we arrived to Granada at 6:30am. It was also freezing here. I got a local bus to April's apartment building and stood outside for half an hour trying to ring the bell that apparently wasn't working. I finally got the porter to let me in, although I don't think he wanted to let a strange girl in. I knocked on the apartment door until her roommate got up the courage to open the door not knowing that it was me. That was my little adventure getting to April's place in Granada on my own.
I went to work with April- amiga from highschool- where she teaches English and then to her worship band practice at church. We got yummy tapas with her friends at a really cheap tapas bar. It's only 1.80 euro for a drink and a free plate of tapas! It's funny being in Spain because the schedule is so different. We end up eating lunch around 3-4 and dinner doesn't usually happen until 11pm. Basically, we stay up late and sleep in.
We went out the other night and mainly encounter drunk foreigners... lots of Americans giving us a bad reputation. We went to a salsa club with a lot more locals and danced for a few minutes but the floor was really slippery and I couldn't help but slide around during every turn. We moved on to another crowded place for a bit that played techno beats.
My stepmom Kim just got here yesterday! She flew into Malaga (about 2 hours on bus from Granada) and I surprised her by meeting her at the sirport when she thought she would have to figure out how to get on the right buses to reach Granada. We went to Malaga's center for lunch and eventually headed back to Granada. I think she was glad that I was there to figure out the buses and all because she doesn't really speak Spanish. It's no fun being alone in a strange country where you don't speak the language...
I'm so glad to finally be in a Spanish speaking country after all the other places I've been. I feel much more at home here. I was worried that my Spanish abilities would be really poor because I hadn't spoken in so long. After about a day, I felt really comfortable speaking. To say the least, I'm happy to be able to practice and learn some new words from Spain. Que guay! I've especially enjoyed talking with Graciela, April's Argentine friend, and others we encounter along the way.
Well, I'm off to see the city now! Hasta Luego...
ps I would add pics but it seems that my laptop may be broken...we'll have to see about that one.
So… I’ve been the worst blogger over the past couple weeks. Honestly, I have not had the energy to write more than my personal/class journal. We have been extremely busy nearly everyday. This is my second day-off since I’ve gotten to Israel. Tomorrow is our last class trip around Jerusalem then we have a final exam on Friday.
It has been an incredible experience so far in Israel. It was an extreme contrast coming from Europe to the Middle East. Europe has nearly no religion and the Middle East is saturated with religions. Just by walking around Jerusalem, we encounter Jews, Muslims and Christians. People wear their religion on their sleeve, literally. I have been struck numerous times by how outward religion is here. Orthodox Jews are hard not to notice with their black and white suits, black hats, and long locks of hair. I have been told that the differences among Orthodox Jews include the color of socks (brown or black), type of hat (top hat or furry Russian hat), type of coat, etc. Also, there are the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox and probably everything in between. Five times a day, we hear the Muslim call to prayer but I have yet to see a pious Muslim pray. There are various groups of Christians- the Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Ethiopians, Roman Catholic and others. There are six groups of Christians fighting over who has the right to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher so they each have their own chapels. It is such a bad witness when even Christians are fighting with each other. It’s sad to see believers disagree in such a tangible way.
The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is even more profound, however. On the way back from the Western Wall (formerly the Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem, many Bar Mitzphas were being celebrated with music and dancing. As I was walking by one group of joyous Jews, the Muslim call to prayer started to sound. The Jews’ trumpets got louder and tried to compete with the sound of Muslim prayer and Quran reading. At that moment, the conflict was so obvious and it became concrete. While our focus is not on the conflict, we had a Christian Palestinian speaker talk about the issue and what his organization does for reconciliation. Coming from the US, I had only ever heard pro-Israel arguments so it was great to hear an Arab Christian give light to the Palestinian struggle. I wish I could explain everything that I learned but the conflict is so complex that it seems to get more confusing the more I learn. Neither side seems to seek reconciliation; neither will budge. The Arabs feel like they have been pushed out of their home and don’t accept that the Jews are building settlements in the land that should be theirs. The Jews feel like they have no other land while the Palestinians have other Arab countries to go to. They both want the other to leave. While the Israelis call the 1948 war the “Independence War,” the Arabs call it “Naqba” which means “catastrophe.”
I was shopping in the market with a couple friends and we ended up talking to a Palestinian shopkeeper for quite a while about the conflict. We got on the subject because one of us asked if he liked being in Israel and he insisted that we call it Palestine. As Americans, we automatically get pinned as supporters of Israel just like any stereotype. We realized how tourists’ shopping habits can have a huge affect on people forming those stereotypes. He said that people look through the pile of patches and always skip over the one with the Palestinian flag and buy the one with the Israeli flag. Those small actions actually affect people.
I think I’m beginning to understand why the Palestinians are frequent rock throwers and suicide bombers. That may be the only way they can get any attention from the international community. Otherwise, the struggle is often portrayed as one-sided, as only an Israeli struggle. Still, I have more questions than answers.
Our program has been a great way for me to learn about the Holy Land. We are taking a class with JerusalemUniversityCollege, an American institute, on the geography of the Holy Land. We’ve been learning about archeology, terrain/geology, cities and ancient/modern routes. Like our professor Carl says, knowing the Holy Land helps you to understand the Bible like having a game board helps you to play the game. It’s really true because I can picture so many places mentioned in the Bible now and I understand how ancient travel worked. We have taken tours in Jerusalem, day trips to nearby regions and 3- and 4-day trips to the south (“Negev”) and to the Galilee area. We have visited countless archeological excavations that have started to run together but that really help to understand what things were like. After two and half weeks of these antiquities, I know that archeology cannot prove the Bible but it gives it so much credibility and validity. If you turn to 1 Kings 9:15, you’ll see three city names where Solomon had building projects. We visited those cities and saw the city gates that the passage refers to. We’ve seen sacrificial altars, synagogues, tombs, and pagan “high places.” Herod the Great was so called because he had so many building projects- mainly palaces for himself and other important Romans to enjoy.
We have done a lot of fun things on our trips like: riding camels, swimming/floating in the Dead Sea, hiking to waterfalls, spotting animals like ibexes, staying in a Kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee and swimming there… We also had baptisms in the Jordan River. Eight students were baptized where our Savior was baptized by John.
Our group is collectively exhausted because after three months in Europe, we have had to get up early everyday and move from hotel to hostel to the next hostel the next day. We are truly nomads and savor even three days in the same place. I’m looking forward to live somewhere- Santa Barbara- for a few months in a row.
I forgot to tell a really funny story…well it’s funny in retrospect at least. We were at Caesarea Maritima touring the site on the Mediterranean when all of sudden it started to rain. It didn’t only rain but it poured down on us. The heavens opened up and a flash flood fell from the sky. We were supposed to meet our whole group at a certain building in about an hour. Not having any idea how long the rain would last, we ran for cover and the rain kept getting heavier and heavier. Somehow, many of us students ended up under the same covering and we moved from one shelter to the next to get closer to the meeting spot. I have never been so soaked through in my life. All of us were completely drenched and none of us knew where our leaders were. After an hour of sending out reconnaissance missions from our little awning, the rain died down and we found Carl. The rain had done some serious damage in about an hour- swimming pools were created in no time. While it was kind of fun playing around in the rain, it was no loner funny once we got the bus and were soaked and cold. We tried to change into dry clothes but many of us were still uncomfortably damp and cold. We just wanted to climb into a warm bed or a sauna. Things looked up after a couple hours and we got back on track. Now the flash flood story is funny but it was a major test of our group’s character. We made it and are stronger because of it! Haha…
Our group was also greatly affected by the fires in Santa Barbara. We found out that Westmont was burning one morning, when it was evening there. Apparently some students from the CityCollege didn’t put out their bonfire very well and Westmont lost seven buildings and faculty members lost 14 homes. Our leaders and professors on this trip lost their home. Ken and Kim Khilstrom and their son Kevin have lost everything. They literally have nothing to go home to in December. God has been gracious in providing peace and a place for them to live in Montecito. Please pray for Westmont and the Montecito community.
Well, Europe semester 2008 is coming to a close quickly and I am about to graduate college. I’m about to graduate college!! Madness. What’s next? Spain. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here. At least one thing is sure: God is in control. That’s all.
If you made it this far (sorry about the 1500 word essay), send me a message or an email to say hi! Love you!
I am in the airport in Athens waiting for our red-eye to Tel-Aviv... Three weeks in Israel is next!
Rome was really hard and good at the same time. We had finals for the three classes with Westmont professors (we taking a JUC class in Jerusalem) and I tried to squeeze in seeing all the main sights. The Colosseum was really cool. It's right in front of you when you get out of the metro and you can tour all around it. I think that was my favorite sight in the city. Yesterday, we took a day trip to Pompei near Naples.
Pompay was a flourishing Roman city in the 1st century but it was covered in 36 feet of ash when a volcano erupted in 79 AD. In the 18th century, some people found the city by chance. Over the next couple centuries, there were a lot of excavations of Pompay. They found an almost perfectly preserved Roman city. It was so cool to see. We walked down the same streets Romans did 2000 years ago, at the time of Jesus. Some of the frescoes were even intact. The funniest part was the brothel with scandalous frescoes inside. We also saw plaster casts of people that were killed instantly by the ash. Creepy. We took a tour of the nearly the whole city and went into one of those famous Roman baths and saw homes, bars, and the temple. That was a definite highlight!
This morning, we left Roma bright and early for the airport. We flew to Athens for a long layover so we could see the city. We barely made it to the Parthenon in time. It was closing as we reached the entrance so we hustled to the top to snap tons of pictures. The lighting was absolutely perfect! The sun was setting over the Greek beach and the buildings were glowing. The Acropolis was built in the 9th or 10th centuries BC! That is amazing to me. Then, we enjoyed a Greek dinner with live music. Opa! Now we are back at the airport and I feel delirious because it is late here and I'm coming down with something. It's the worst time to get sick because we aren't really sleeping tonight. We will arrive to Tel-Aviv at 3:30 AM and then take a coach to Jerusalem where we will wait for our hotel rooms to be ready at 10 AM... maybe I can sleep then ;)
Please pray for our journeys and time in Jerusalem! It is very exciting to be going to the Holy Land... I can't believe it!
