Well, I'm really bad at this blog thing, apparently. I should probably apologize to all of those who I promised that I would keep up with this regularly. I had no idea just how busy I would be, and just how tired I would be when not busy. My days are incredibly full, and with so many people constantly around it is very difficult to focus on sitting down and writing on this. Hopefully I will become a little bit better about it from here on out, but I can not promise anything.
The last couple of weeks have been full of many adventures and even more fun than I could have ever imagined that I would have had. Don't get me wrong, I never doubted that this trip would be the time of my life or that I would have an absolute blast... but the fun that I have been having is so different than what I thought it would be. When looking forward to this trip, all I could think about was "I'm going to see the Eiffel Tower," "I'm going to Greece," "I'm going to Ireland," etc, etc. I have been truly blessed to see so many amazing sights and in just five days I will be on free travel, able to see whatever I want to see for 2 weeks. However, the most amazing part of this trip has been the amazing times that I have had with WONDERFUL people. It has not been so much about the places, but about the adventures. I am so blessed.
On the weekend of September 20, six of us went to Amsterdam to spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. The group was given a free weekend with the requirement to be back in time for worship on Sunday night so several people went to Berlin, Germany, some people went to Switzerland and the six of us went to Amsterdam. We were a little bit nervous about getting there and making it to our hostel, but we arrived and the only glitch that we encountered was that our hostel was 30 minutes away by bus from the city center. We were all a little disgruntled that we had to buy bus passes for the weekend, but it ended up working out because Amsterdam is very spread out so we would have needed to buy them anyway. After we dropped our stuff off at our hostel (which turned out to be a lot nicer than we thought it would-- although we had to walk down this ridiculously long hallway to get to our room... it was like The Shining or something lol) we took the bus back to the city center because we wanted to eat Chinese food and had read about a great place to eat for cheap. We arrived at the place and decided quickly that it was not somewhere we wanted to eat so we ended up going somewhere else that cost us an extra euro or two to eat at, but was REALLY good. I'm getting a Chinese craving just thinking about it.
By the time we finished eating dinner it was around 9:30 (we didn't even get into town till about 7) and so we decided to just walk around and see the sights and find things that we might possibly want to do the next day. We turned the corner and the next thing we knew, we were right in the middle of the Red Light District. The streets literally glow red because the windows were the girls are displaying themselves (I was surprised by how covered they were... really most of them just looked like they were in skimpy bathing suits) are lit up with red neon lights and it lights the whole street that color. After our run in with the Red Light District, we decided to walk more towards the City Center and found lots of shopping areas and museums and everything.
The next day, we decided that we wanted to rent pedal boats because Amsterdam is a canal city. We found out that the pedal boat place was in front of the Anne Frank house which worked out nicely because we wanted to see that too. After spending an hour on the pedal boats (those things are TIRING!!), we finally found our way back to the place where we were supposed to drop them off and then went over to the Anne Frank house. When we got there, we saw that the line was wrapped around the block-- no joke!... so we decided that we didn't care to see the house that badly and instead went to the Torture Museum across town. The rest of the day consisted of us walking around and shopping, trying to go rock climbing (it's a REALLY long story as to why it didn't work out) and eating dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We were so very excited to be eating somewhere that reminded us of home!
Sunday morning we got up and went to catch our train and made it back to the facility in time to get some laundry done before we had our worship service. It was an incredibly crazy night as we were having to get ready to leave for Greece the very next day. That's a story for the next blog though. Hopefully I will get it up here sometime later today.
I love and miss y'all very very much!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Bonjour, Paris!
I don't know that I thought I would ever be able to say that I went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but I did last night. I have been in Paris since Thursday and it seems completely surreal. When we first arrived on Thursday, I was a bit disappointed because it looks nothing like what I expected. When you see pictures of Paris, you see lots of glamour and cafes and everything, but that is not what I saw when I got off the Metro. I did have a clear view of the Eiffel tower, which was exciting, but everything else was just kind of... dirty. I went up to my hotel room and realized that I can see the Tower while laying in bed (which has been really great when I go to bed at night) and got pretty excited.
The first day that we were here, we went to the Eiffel tower and then to the Arc du Triomphe. It was really great being able to see those places and just being here. Thursday started off rough. Sara and I woke up a little late and it just seemed like nothing was going right-- and we were both cranky because we thought that we didn't like Paris. The day ended up turning for the better. The group went to Versailles, which was a little different than it normally is because they had these random and retarded pieces of "art" in a lot of the major rooms. It was really unfortunate that they were there because not only were they tacky, but they distracted from the actual palace. I don't remember most of the things that I saw, or what each room was. After Versailles, a group of about 8 of us went to the catacombs which were really cool. It was a little creepy down there because thousands of bones are throughout the whole thing and random security guards would pop up to tell us that we weren't supposed to use camera flashes. After the catacombs, the four of us girls who went to the catacombs broke off from the group and went shopping :) It was great! We spent several hours shopping and then came back to the hotel, dropped our stuff off and went to watch the Eiffel Tower light up. We sat on the wall of the Trecadora (sp??) and watch the tower become blue as the sun set and then begin to sparkle at exactly 9:00. As I sat there it all just felt completely surreal. I could not believe that I was actually sitting there looking at the Eiffel Tower.... even though I was looking at it. It was just completely insane to me. The next day a couple of girls wanted us to show them where to shop, so we did that and had another girls' day :) We went to the little shops with all the good deals and then went to the Pantheon and to the Museum of Natural History. I was pretty proud of all of us for managing our way through Paris on the Metro system with no problems! On Sunday (yesterday) we got up and went to the Musee D'Orsay which is an art museum and then we went to the Louvre. It was really neat being at the Louvre, but I did not want to stay for long because it was RIDICULOUSLY crowded. I could not walk anywhere without almost running into someone. After staying in the Louvre for a little bit, Cory and Ian and I went to look at some original street art and we all bought a few pieces. They had some really great stuff for really great prices. Then we went to look at a few souvenir shops for them because they hadn't gotten any gifts for family and everything yet and then we went to the Luxembourg gardens! They were so beautiful! It was the absolute perfect day to be there. It was a little bit chilly in the shade, but the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. At 5 we went to an English service at the local church and it was wonderful. It is so nice to have services in English sometimes, especially after struggling so much with the language barrier when trying to do everything else around town. My favorite part of yesterday, however, was the Eiffel Tower! I went with Andrea, Cory, Rebecca, Clay, Jack and Sara up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and it was so so so so amazing! The city of Paris is incredibly beautiful at night and it was so great to be able to ride up to the top with great friends :)
Today was a very long day. We left the hotel at 6:20 to catch a train to Normandy. We spent the entire day visiting the places where the D-Day invasion occurred and it was just absolutely incredible being there. I can not begin to explain how surreal it was because the beaches are so beautiful, it's hard to imagine that thousands of people gave their lives on those beaches. The American MIlitary Cemetery on Omaha Beach was beautiful. I was not fully able to appreciate today though because I was sick. There has been some kind of stomach bug going around and I felt completely miserable for nearly the whole day. The good news is that I was taken care of by someone and it was really nice. It is no fun being away from your Mommy when you don't feel well, but it helps when you have someone to take care of you :)
I hate that these blogs have to be devoid of lots of details and that they are so spread out, but it is very hard to keep up with everything when I am going from sun up to well beyond sun set and get very little time to relax. This weekend we get our first free travel time and if all works out, I think that a group of us will be going to Amsterdam :) I need to go, it's time for me to do room check. I hope that everyone is doing wonderfully and that you all know that I love and miss you very much!
The first day that we were here, we went to the Eiffel tower and then to the Arc du Triomphe. It was really great being able to see those places and just being here. Thursday started off rough. Sara and I woke up a little late and it just seemed like nothing was going right-- and we were both cranky because we thought that we didn't like Paris. The day ended up turning for the better. The group went to Versailles, which was a little different than it normally is because they had these random and retarded pieces of "art" in a lot of the major rooms. It was really unfortunate that they were there because not only were they tacky, but they distracted from the actual palace. I don't remember most of the things that I saw, or what each room was. After Versailles, a group of about 8 of us went to the catacombs which were really cool. It was a little creepy down there because thousands of bones are throughout the whole thing and random security guards would pop up to tell us that we weren't supposed to use camera flashes. After the catacombs, the four of us girls who went to the catacombs broke off from the group and went shopping :) It was great! We spent several hours shopping and then came back to the hotel, dropped our stuff off and went to watch the Eiffel Tower light up. We sat on the wall of the Trecadora (sp??) and watch the tower become blue as the sun set and then begin to sparkle at exactly 9:00. As I sat there it all just felt completely surreal. I could not believe that I was actually sitting there looking at the Eiffel Tower.... even though I was looking at it. It was just completely insane to me. The next day a couple of girls wanted us to show them where to shop, so we did that and had another girls' day :) We went to the little shops with all the good deals and then went to the Pantheon and to the Museum of Natural History. I was pretty proud of all of us for managing our way through Paris on the Metro system with no problems! On Sunday (yesterday) we got up and went to the Musee D'Orsay which is an art museum and then we went to the Louvre. It was really neat being at the Louvre, but I did not want to stay for long because it was RIDICULOUSLY crowded. I could not walk anywhere without almost running into someone. After staying in the Louvre for a little bit, Cory and Ian and I went to look at some original street art and we all bought a few pieces. They had some really great stuff for really great prices. Then we went to look at a few souvenir shops for them because they hadn't gotten any gifts for family and everything yet and then we went to the Luxembourg gardens! They were so beautiful! It was the absolute perfect day to be there. It was a little bit chilly in the shade, but the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. At 5 we went to an English service at the local church and it was wonderful. It is so nice to have services in English sometimes, especially after struggling so much with the language barrier when trying to do everything else around town. My favorite part of yesterday, however, was the Eiffel Tower! I went with Andrea, Cory, Rebecca, Clay, Jack and Sara up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and it was so so so so amazing! The city of Paris is incredibly beautiful at night and it was so great to be able to ride up to the top with great friends :)
Today was a very long day. We left the hotel at 6:20 to catch a train to Normandy. We spent the entire day visiting the places where the D-Day invasion occurred and it was just absolutely incredible being there. I can not begin to explain how surreal it was because the beaches are so beautiful, it's hard to imagine that thousands of people gave their lives on those beaches. The American MIlitary Cemetery on Omaha Beach was beautiful. I was not fully able to appreciate today though because I was sick. There has been some kind of stomach bug going around and I felt completely miserable for nearly the whole day. The good news is that I was taken care of by someone and it was really nice. It is no fun being away from your Mommy when you don't feel well, but it helps when you have someone to take care of you :)
I hate that these blogs have to be devoid of lots of details and that they are so spread out, but it is very hard to keep up with everything when I am going from sun up to well beyond sun set and get very little time to relax. This weekend we get our first free travel time and if all works out, I think that a group of us will be going to Amsterdam :) I need to go, it's time for me to do room check. I hope that everyone is doing wonderfully and that you all know that I love and miss you very much!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Could I Be Any More Blessed?
Last week was our Germany trip. I hate that it has taken me so long to get caught up on this, but it is really difficult to find time when you get back from a week long trip where all you are carrying is a backpack. That's right, I'm officially a backpacker :) I never thought that I would be able to fit everything that I needed into a backpack for a whole week, and let me tell you, it was really difficult and I ended up wearing the same pair of jeans for like 5 days, but so did everyone else... and I'm in Europe! So who cares? :)
I never expected that I would have loved Germany so much. I knew it was going to be beautiful, but I was a little bit discouraged by the places in Germany where we had already traveled. I thought: "If they're going to be like those places, how are we gonna find enough things to do for a week??" Oh me of little faith. We spent more than 10 hours traveling to get to Freilassing, Germany which is where we slept the whole trip but spent very little actual time. Freilassing is a little bitty town on the border of Germany and Austria, and it is adorable, but there is very little to do in the town past 6 p.m. and because we were having to leave so early to get places and getting back late, we never really were able to see very much of the town. We were only a seven minute train ride to Salzburg, Austria so we spent a great deal of time there, and I loved it!
I suppose the best idea to tell about the trip is to just quickly tell what happened day by day and try to include major details. We spent forever on a train on Monday, September 1, to go to Germany. We arrived at around 8 that evening at went straight to our hotel. The owner of the hotel had dinner for us (not for free, but for cheap! And it was good dinner too!) all ready and it was frites and schnitzel (basically french fries and fried pork chops). I was so exhausted at dinner that I pretty much sat there staring at the ceiling before our food came, and even accidentally dozed off a few times :) After that we got settled into the hotel (a few of us had a room to ourselves-- it was AMAZING!) and went to bed because we were off to an early start the next morning. The next day we went to Berchtesgaden, Germany to take a cruise on Lake Konigssee which is situated in the middle of the Bavarian Alps.. GORGEOUS! We spent some time doing some shopping and then headed to Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is where The Sound of Music was filmed (well, mostly) and where Mozart's house is. Let me just tell you, the town is covered in everything Mozart. There are little chocolates with his face on the wrappers everywhere. We finally gave in and got some an they were pretty good-- ridiculously rich though. The next morning we went back to Berchtesgaden and went to Hitler's Eagles Nest and the Salt Mines. The view from the Eagles Nest was AMAZING! It was so gorgeous up there. Then we went to the Salt Mines that are there. That was pretty awesome, the tour was boring but we got to put on these jumpsuits that were like spacesuits and we went down these giant slides and on a tram to the center of the earth :) Basically, it was great. The next day we went to Cinderella's castle!!! We took like 14 hours of buses and trains and made it to Neuschwanstein and climbed a mountain to get some amazing views of the castle. It was beautiful! The next day we went to Vienna and didn't have a whole lot of time to stay there, but we were able to see Schonbrunn palace and while it wasn't as pretty on the outside as Neuschwanstein, it was WAY prettier on the inside. Saturday was one of my favorite days of the whole trip. A group of us left Freilassing at 12:30 A.M. and went to Budapest, Hungary. It was not as beautiful as Germany was, but we had a really great time walking around the city and going to the zoo!!
Sunday gets its own paragraph. We went to Dachau Concentration Camp. Dachau was the first concentration camp to open and it remained open for all 12 years of Hitler's "reign." I can not begin to explain how sobering it is to visit a places where so many souls have died at the hands of men so merciless. All I could think the whole time was the fact that these Jewish people thought that they were following God... and yet, they died for something that was not right. It was so sad to wander through the area and see places where people's ashes had been scattered. To think about the people who were so completely malnourished and ill and yet they still had to work harder than I will ever have to work. It's just impossible to imagine just what they went through. That'll really make you stop to think, huh?
We are leaving for Paris in about two hours and I need to shower and finish getting all packed. I should have internet while I'm in Paris, but I don't know how much time or energy I will have to post much on here. Hopefully I will. I'm going to the Eiffel Tower today!! :) Yay!
I love you all so very much and miss you more than you know!!
I never expected that I would have loved Germany so much. I knew it was going to be beautiful, but I was a little bit discouraged by the places in Germany where we had already traveled. I thought: "If they're going to be like those places, how are we gonna find enough things to do for a week??" Oh me of little faith. We spent more than 10 hours traveling to get to Freilassing, Germany which is where we slept the whole trip but spent very little actual time. Freilassing is a little bitty town on the border of Germany and Austria, and it is adorable, but there is very little to do in the town past 6 p.m. and because we were having to leave so early to get places and getting back late, we never really were able to see very much of the town. We were only a seven minute train ride to Salzburg, Austria so we spent a great deal of time there, and I loved it!
I suppose the best idea to tell about the trip is to just quickly tell what happened day by day and try to include major details. We spent forever on a train on Monday, September 1, to go to Germany. We arrived at around 8 that evening at went straight to our hotel. The owner of the hotel had dinner for us (not for free, but for cheap! And it was good dinner too!) all ready and it was frites and schnitzel (basically french fries and fried pork chops). I was so exhausted at dinner that I pretty much sat there staring at the ceiling before our food came, and even accidentally dozed off a few times :) After that we got settled into the hotel (a few of us had a room to ourselves-- it was AMAZING!) and went to bed because we were off to an early start the next morning. The next day we went to Berchtesgaden, Germany to take a cruise on Lake Konigssee which is situated in the middle of the Bavarian Alps.. GORGEOUS! We spent some time doing some shopping and then headed to Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is where The Sound of Music was filmed (well, mostly) and where Mozart's house is. Let me just tell you, the town is covered in everything Mozart. There are little chocolates with his face on the wrappers everywhere. We finally gave in and got some an they were pretty good-- ridiculously rich though. The next morning we went back to Berchtesgaden and went to Hitler's Eagles Nest and the Salt Mines. The view from the Eagles Nest was AMAZING! It was so gorgeous up there. Then we went to the Salt Mines that are there. That was pretty awesome, the tour was boring but we got to put on these jumpsuits that were like spacesuits and we went down these giant slides and on a tram to the center of the earth :) Basically, it was great. The next day we went to Cinderella's castle!!! We took like 14 hours of buses and trains and made it to Neuschwanstein and climbed a mountain to get some amazing views of the castle. It was beautiful! The next day we went to Vienna and didn't have a whole lot of time to stay there, but we were able to see Schonbrunn palace and while it wasn't as pretty on the outside as Neuschwanstein, it was WAY prettier on the inside. Saturday was one of my favorite days of the whole trip. A group of us left Freilassing at 12:30 A.M. and went to Budapest, Hungary. It was not as beautiful as Germany was, but we had a really great time walking around the city and going to the zoo!!
Sunday gets its own paragraph. We went to Dachau Concentration Camp. Dachau was the first concentration camp to open and it remained open for all 12 years of Hitler's "reign." I can not begin to explain how sobering it is to visit a places where so many souls have died at the hands of men so merciless. All I could think the whole time was the fact that these Jewish people thought that they were following God... and yet, they died for something that was not right. It was so sad to wander through the area and see places where people's ashes had been scattered. To think about the people who were so completely malnourished and ill and yet they still had to work harder than I will ever have to work. It's just impossible to imagine just what they went through. That'll really make you stop to think, huh?
We are leaving for Paris in about two hours and I need to shower and finish getting all packed. I should have internet while I'm in Paris, but I don't know how much time or energy I will have to post much on here. Hopefully I will. I'm going to the Eiffel Tower today!! :) Yay!
I love you all so very much and miss you more than you know!!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Trip Tomorrow
I don't have much time to write anything, but I just wanted to get on here real quick and let everyone know that I will be headed to Germany for a week tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to get on here a time or two while over there, but it will all depend on our internet situation.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful week! Please keep us in your prayers while we travel!
I hope that everyone has a wonderful week! Please keep us in your prayers while we travel!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Baby, Let's Cruise
Wednesday was one of my favorite days of the trip so far :) (Of course, I say that when talking about most days, but that's not the point!) It was full of train rides (7 hours to be exact!), chocolate, weird old men, a river cruise, and lots and lots of laughter.
We had to be at the train station in Verviers pretty early because our train was supposed to leave at 8, and it is always smart to get there early in case there are any changes in the schedule. Well, we got there early and our train ended up being a little bit late. We were all watching Dr. Johnson pace because we were supposed to have exactly 13 minutes to get to our platform once we arrived in Aachen and that is not a lot of time when you are trying to herd a giant pack of 37 Americans all carrying huge backpacks. Our train finally arrived and we got on, all ready to go to the chocolate factory in Cologne and halfway to Aachen the train just stops on the tracks. For a second we thought maybe there was a cow or something that we had tried not to hit, but after sitting there for about 5 minutes we started getting a little concerned. Finally, the conductor came back to our car and said that there was a problem in Germany and that we were going to have to wait a few minutes and then head back to Verviers. As he finishes his sentence, the train starts moving again in the direction of Aachen. At this point, we're all getting a bit more freaked out because we were headed directly toward the "problem." When we got to Aachen, we found out that we were NOT late for our next train, because it had also been delayed, and we found out that the problem had actually just been an electricity problem.
After a few minutes of waiting around at our platform, our train pulled up... and it was NICE. The train is called ICE and it looks like an airplane on the inside. It was the nicest plane that we have been on so far, and we were told that it will not be the nicest that we get to ride on :) We got to Cologne a little later than we were supposed to, so after stopping to get a map of the town, we headed a few blocks down to the chocolate factory. Since we didn’t have much time, we headed immediately for the gift shop, deciding to skip the factory tour. The gift shop was like a chocolate lover’s paradise. It was awesome! I ended up getting a little sampling of something for me, and a little bar for Mom (hopefully it will last 2 more months!).
Finally, it was time to head to the train station to go to Bingen and get on our cruise! The train was crowded and I ended up having to sit next to this old man who spoke English. At first I didn’t mind sitting by him, but then he started getting a little creepy. I think that probably just the culture difference was what was creeping me out (and it didn’t matter too much anyway, because I was still mostly surrounded by people that I knew). He kept asking me things like whether or not all of the guys in our group have a crush on me and everything. It was a little weird. I was pretty glad to get to Bingen. When we got to Bingen we had to wait about an hour before we could catch our boat, so we decided to sit in the shade and wait because it was hot, and most of us has prepared for cooler weather. The cruise was really neat, we got to see the countryside and lots of castle and everything. It was nice to have a day where we were seeing a lot but not walking for 14 hours. On either side of the river, there are hills and on the sides of the hills there are vineyards. It’s really neat to see the vineyards that are on such steep hills that they have to cut out switch-back roads to get to the vineyards. The cruise lasted for about two and a half hours, and it was really a lot of fun (it was especially fun playing on the playground that they had for little kids!). All in all, it was really a wonderful day.
The last couple of days have been class days. Nothing terribly eventful, but still really great days. I am having a wonderful time here, and I cannot even believe how blessed I have been to go on this trip. Today I am going to a music festival that is in town with one of my friends and then I have to work out some of my plans for free travel with the girls. It’s getting real exciting thinking about where we are going. We leave for Germany on Monday! I’m super excited about that. Ok, I think I’ve written enough. Love to all!
We had to be at the train station in Verviers pretty early because our train was supposed to leave at 8, and it is always smart to get there early in case there are any changes in the schedule. Well, we got there early and our train ended up being a little bit late. We were all watching Dr. Johnson pace because we were supposed to have exactly 13 minutes to get to our platform once we arrived in Aachen and that is not a lot of time when you are trying to herd a giant pack of 37 Americans all carrying huge backpacks. Our train finally arrived and we got on, all ready to go to the chocolate factory in Cologne and halfway to Aachen the train just stops on the tracks. For a second we thought maybe there was a cow or something that we had tried not to hit, but after sitting there for about 5 minutes we started getting a little concerned. Finally, the conductor came back to our car and said that there was a problem in Germany and that we were going to have to wait a few minutes and then head back to Verviers. As he finishes his sentence, the train starts moving again in the direction of Aachen. At this point, we're all getting a bit more freaked out because we were headed directly toward the "problem." When we got to Aachen, we found out that we were NOT late for our next train, because it had also been delayed, and we found out that the problem had actually just been an electricity problem.
After a few minutes of waiting around at our platform, our train pulled up... and it was NICE. The train is called ICE and it looks like an airplane on the inside. It was the nicest plane that we have been on so far, and we were told that it will not be the nicest that we get to ride on :) We got to Cologne a little later than we were supposed to, so after stopping to get a map of the town, we headed a few blocks down to the chocolate factory. Since we didn’t have much time, we headed immediately for the gift shop, deciding to skip the factory tour. The gift shop was like a chocolate lover’s paradise. It was awesome! I ended up getting a little sampling of something for me, and a little bar for Mom (hopefully it will last 2 more months!).
Finally, it was time to head to the train station to go to Bingen and get on our cruise! The train was crowded and I ended up having to sit next to this old man who spoke English. At first I didn’t mind sitting by him, but then he started getting a little creepy. I think that probably just the culture difference was what was creeping me out (and it didn’t matter too much anyway, because I was still mostly surrounded by people that I knew). He kept asking me things like whether or not all of the guys in our group have a crush on me and everything. It was a little weird. I was pretty glad to get to Bingen. When we got to Bingen we had to wait about an hour before we could catch our boat, so we decided to sit in the shade and wait because it was hot, and most of us has prepared for cooler weather. The cruise was really neat, we got to see the countryside and lots of castle and everything. It was nice to have a day where we were seeing a lot but not walking for 14 hours. On either side of the river, there are hills and on the sides of the hills there are vineyards. It’s really neat to see the vineyards that are on such steep hills that they have to cut out switch-back roads to get to the vineyards. The cruise lasted for about two and a half hours, and it was really a lot of fun (it was especially fun playing on the playground that they had for little kids!). All in all, it was really a wonderful day.
The last couple of days have been class days. Nothing terribly eventful, but still really great days. I am having a wonderful time here, and I cannot even believe how blessed I have been to go on this trip. Today I am going to a music festival that is in town with one of my friends and then I have to work out some of my plans for free travel with the girls. It’s getting real exciting thinking about where we are going. We leave for Germany on Monday! I’m super excited about that. Ok, I think I’ve written enough. Love to all!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy
The last few days have been so busy and I have been so exhausted that I have had no time to write. Saturday we went to Maastricht, Netherlands; Sunday we went to Brussels; and yesterday we went to Cologne, Germany. Today we had a test in Bible (in fact, I would love to be taking a nap to make up on some sleep, but I felt if I didn't get caught up on here, I might never!) that I stayed up studying for last night and we also have a small quiz in French today. Course, we have had a quiz in French every day that we have had class. Gross :)
I don't really even know where to begin with getting caught up with everything so I guess I will try by starting with Maastricht. Until Saturday, I had only been in the Netherlands when we flew in to Amsterdam so all that I saw was the airport, some windmills and a view from the plane (and it was slightly cloudy that day) so I was really excited to go to Maastricht. It got it's name because it is right on the Maas river, which is actually called the Muse river in French and there are lots of cute little bridges and everything around the town. When we got there, they took us to a small Gothic cathedral that we looked around in for a few minutes, and while waiting on everyone else to finish looking, one of the nuns came and talked to us and asked us where we were from. She was the cutest little lady! She told us that she was from Austria, so her native language is German, but she knows Dutch and English as well (I was impressed!). She told us a little bit about the history of the cathedral and about the one that is right next to it (it sits beside another cathedral that was built after it that is of the Roman style). It was nice to talk to someone in the cathedral because usually we walk in and walk around and they tell us a little bit, but we never really know much about when they were built and all of that. After we walked through the cathedral, they walked us to the city wall (I don't really know the historic significance of it, though) and we walked around it and across it. Then, we were free to go :) So several of us walked around and went shopping. Don't worry, Dad, I didn't buy anything :) We got pretty hungry because we had been walking for a while so we walked past this cute little waffle stand and decided to get waffles... but we forgot that we weren't in Belgium anymore. Seriously, the waffles are NOT the same outside of Belgium! It was so weird because they smelled so good, but we were sorely disappointed. After our waffles, we went into a few little souvenir stores and walked around a lot. It was a very pretty, cute little town and we really enjoyed being there (Sorry for the lack of details... everything is really starting to run together. lol).
Sunday we went to Brussels, Belgium and spent the day there. It was really a very interesting and busy day. We got up and got ready and headed to the train station-- our train left at about 10:30 and we were trying to make it for church at 1 for an English service at an international church. We rode the train for about an hour and 45 minutes and then got on the subway (I have decided that subways are kind of scary and INCREDIBLY confusing. Thank goodness for smaller towns!) to get to worship. What we didn't know was that they had class starting at noon. So we arrived at the church building at about 12:45 and realized that they had already started and tried to sneak in without being noticed (in case people would not notice 30 college students carrying giant backpacks! ha!) but we more than doubled the congregation in size. They later told us that normally they have several more people, but that many people were out of town for holiday or whatever. Let me just tell you, it was so nice to have worship services in English! The church was really excited that we were there, and they gave us cookies and juice! I really enjoyed being there. After services, we went to another cathedral and then walked through Brussels. They took us immediately to what Brussels is known for. For anyone who doesn't know, the story is that Brussels had a huge fire break out and the whole city was going to be lost and then this little boy started "relieving himself" and his father found him putting out the fire. That's kind of a paraphrase, so you can look it up if you want to know more and actually read the real story. Anyway, they now have a statue of the little boy relieving himself and he is called Manneken Pis (I am NOT even joking or trying to be vulgar!... and yes, it DOES sound like it looks). Apparently other countries send him little outfits and they change his clothes every day. The day that we went, he was wearing an outfit from Ukraine. Apparently it was their Independence Day or something. After we saw the famous statue, we ate the most delicious waffles on the face of the planet. They had a little waffle stand that made like every waffle you could possibly ever dream of eating. I got strawberries and whipped cream on mine because I hadn't had a fruit one yet. It was SO messy, but it was AMAZING!
I feel like I should add that I will not weight 200 lbs when I get home from eating so many waffles, in fact, I have been having the opposite problem. Usually I can wear my jeans a few times without washing them and they still fit fine. Since arriving here, I have been putting my jeans on and they are already baggy even on the first wear, right after washing them. I have a feeling it is because of all of the walking that we have been doing, and we are not getting opportunities to snack all the time (except for the occasional Belgian waffle or ice cream cone). So despite the fact that I have been eating quite a lot, and very well (we have had some GREAT food!), my clothes are starting to get too big. Oh well.
Yesterday we went to Cologne, Germany and apparently they are known for their giant cathedral. As soon as we walked out of the train station we saw the GIANT cathedral that pretty much looked like it was about to touch the sun. I have had a hard time getting most of the cathedrals in pictures already, but this one was just ridiculously difficult to get in... I tried my best though and just took pictures of pieces here and there. It was also incredibly beautiful on the inside. There were a few specific things inside that were really neat. First, I noticed that there were tombs all over the place. I never figured out if they were tombs of former popes, or former priests because I can't read German (or maybe it was in Latin? I don't remember...), but they had carvings of the men on them. Also, they had a giant picture of the crucifix and what's really cool about this particular one is that it was made over 900 years ago and still looks to be in perfect condition. Also, during the time that it was made, most artists would portray Christ as very serene while on the cross. This one, on the other hand, showed him with his eyes closed and really looking as though he was in great agony. The final thing that we saw that was really neat, was a gold box that supposedly has the wise men's bones in it. Now, I don't really think that the wise men's bones are in that box, but it's still really neat to think about... and it was a really pretty box. One thing that I have been wanting to get since we got here, but have been holding off on is a Pashmena (sp?). It is a pretty little scarfy thing that they wear a lot over here as shawls or scarves or whatever. Well, I have seen several for pretty decent prices and finally found a REALLY good deal on them-- 3 euros! So I bought two of those yesterday (even though I already have about a million scarves), one red and one blue. They are so pretty and soft!
Anyway, today is a class day and tomorrow we are going on a cruise down the Rhine River. It should be a lot of fun, so I'm really excited about that. I got to talk to Kelli this morning which was really great. Most people I have been able to at least talk to on chat or something since I've been here, but Kelli and I have a 9 hour time difference, and apparently I have become retarded as far as e-mailing is concerned, so hopefully I will get to be better about that. Anyway, the point is, it was a nice way to start the day... even though it was after my Bible test so the day had already started. Ha. Ok, I think this blog is way past long enough. It's almost chapel time so I'm gonna go.
Love you all!! :)
I don't really even know where to begin with getting caught up with everything so I guess I will try by starting with Maastricht. Until Saturday, I had only been in the Netherlands when we flew in to Amsterdam so all that I saw was the airport, some windmills and a view from the plane (and it was slightly cloudy that day) so I was really excited to go to Maastricht. It got it's name because it is right on the Maas river, which is actually called the Muse river in French and there are lots of cute little bridges and everything around the town. When we got there, they took us to a small Gothic cathedral that we looked around in for a few minutes, and while waiting on everyone else to finish looking, one of the nuns came and talked to us and asked us where we were from. She was the cutest little lady! She told us that she was from Austria, so her native language is German, but she knows Dutch and English as well (I was impressed!). She told us a little bit about the history of the cathedral and about the one that is right next to it (it sits beside another cathedral that was built after it that is of the Roman style). It was nice to talk to someone in the cathedral because usually we walk in and walk around and they tell us a little bit, but we never really know much about when they were built and all of that. After we walked through the cathedral, they walked us to the city wall (I don't really know the historic significance of it, though) and we walked around it and across it. Then, we were free to go :) So several of us walked around and went shopping. Don't worry, Dad, I didn't buy anything :) We got pretty hungry because we had been walking for a while so we walked past this cute little waffle stand and decided to get waffles... but we forgot that we weren't in Belgium anymore. Seriously, the waffles are NOT the same outside of Belgium! It was so weird because they smelled so good, but we were sorely disappointed. After our waffles, we went into a few little souvenir stores and walked around a lot. It was a very pretty, cute little town and we really enjoyed being there (Sorry for the lack of details... everything is really starting to run together. lol).
Sunday we went to Brussels, Belgium and spent the day there. It was really a very interesting and busy day. We got up and got ready and headed to the train station-- our train left at about 10:30 and we were trying to make it for church at 1 for an English service at an international church. We rode the train for about an hour and 45 minutes and then got on the subway (I have decided that subways are kind of scary and INCREDIBLY confusing. Thank goodness for smaller towns!) to get to worship. What we didn't know was that they had class starting at noon. So we arrived at the church building at about 12:45 and realized that they had already started and tried to sneak in without being noticed (in case people would not notice 30 college students carrying giant backpacks! ha!) but we more than doubled the congregation in size. They later told us that normally they have several more people, but that many people were out of town for holiday or whatever. Let me just tell you, it was so nice to have worship services in English! The church was really excited that we were there, and they gave us cookies and juice! I really enjoyed being there. After services, we went to another cathedral and then walked through Brussels. They took us immediately to what Brussels is known for. For anyone who doesn't know, the story is that Brussels had a huge fire break out and the whole city was going to be lost and then this little boy started "relieving himself" and his father found him putting out the fire. That's kind of a paraphrase, so you can look it up if you want to know more and actually read the real story. Anyway, they now have a statue of the little boy relieving himself and he is called Manneken Pis (I am NOT even joking or trying to be vulgar!... and yes, it DOES sound like it looks). Apparently other countries send him little outfits and they change his clothes every day. The day that we went, he was wearing an outfit from Ukraine. Apparently it was their Independence Day or something. After we saw the famous statue, we ate the most delicious waffles on the face of the planet. They had a little waffle stand that made like every waffle you could possibly ever dream of eating. I got strawberries and whipped cream on mine because I hadn't had a fruit one yet. It was SO messy, but it was AMAZING!
I feel like I should add that I will not weight 200 lbs when I get home from eating so many waffles, in fact, I have been having the opposite problem. Usually I can wear my jeans a few times without washing them and they still fit fine. Since arriving here, I have been putting my jeans on and they are already baggy even on the first wear, right after washing them. I have a feeling it is because of all of the walking that we have been doing, and we are not getting opportunities to snack all the time (except for the occasional Belgian waffle or ice cream cone). So despite the fact that I have been eating quite a lot, and very well (we have had some GREAT food!), my clothes are starting to get too big. Oh well.
Yesterday we went to Cologne, Germany and apparently they are known for their giant cathedral. As soon as we walked out of the train station we saw the GIANT cathedral that pretty much looked like it was about to touch the sun. I have had a hard time getting most of the cathedrals in pictures already, but this one was just ridiculously difficult to get in... I tried my best though and just took pictures of pieces here and there. It was also incredibly beautiful on the inside. There were a few specific things inside that were really neat. First, I noticed that there were tombs all over the place. I never figured out if they were tombs of former popes, or former priests because I can't read German (or maybe it was in Latin? I don't remember...), but they had carvings of the men on them. Also, they had a giant picture of the crucifix and what's really cool about this particular one is that it was made over 900 years ago and still looks to be in perfect condition. Also, during the time that it was made, most artists would portray Christ as very serene while on the cross. This one, on the other hand, showed him with his eyes closed and really looking as though he was in great agony. The final thing that we saw that was really neat, was a gold box that supposedly has the wise men's bones in it. Now, I don't really think that the wise men's bones are in that box, but it's still really neat to think about... and it was a really pretty box. One thing that I have been wanting to get since we got here, but have been holding off on is a Pashmena (sp?). It is a pretty little scarfy thing that they wear a lot over here as shawls or scarves or whatever. Well, I have seen several for pretty decent prices and finally found a REALLY good deal on them-- 3 euros! So I bought two of those yesterday (even though I already have about a million scarves), one red and one blue. They are so pretty and soft!
Anyway, today is a class day and tomorrow we are going on a cruise down the Rhine River. It should be a lot of fun, so I'm really excited about that. I got to talk to Kelli this morning which was really great. Most people I have been able to at least talk to on chat or something since I've been here, but Kelli and I have a 9 hour time difference, and apparently I have become retarded as far as e-mailing is concerned, so hopefully I will get to be better about that. Anyway, the point is, it was a nice way to start the day... even though it was after my Bible test so the day had already started. Ha. Ok, I think this blog is way past long enough. It's almost chapel time so I'm gonna go.
Love you all!! :)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Home of the Brave
Today we had to leave at 7:30 because we had lots of places to go to. It is Lauren's 22 birthday, so she was a little bit homesick because of that, and on top of being homesick, we were visiting some VERY emotional places. However, we also were able to visit some really neat places too.
The first place we visited was the American Military Cemetery where airmen from WWII are buried. It was one of the most spectacularly emotional places that I have ever visited. I knew that it would be large because the Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle for America in WWII. However, there were 4 of us that were walking ahead of the group and as soon as we turned the corner to where we could see the cemetery, we all stopped and gasped. We had a guy who talked to us for a little bit about the shape of the cemetery (it is in the shape of the Red Cross because it allows for bodies to be buried that they continue to find) and different things to do with the war. Most of it was very encouraging, but some of it was also incredibly sad. There was a monument that read "To the silent host who endured all and gave all that mankind might live in freedom and peace." It really struck me how frequently we take for granted the freedoms that we have as RIGHTS rather than PRIVILEGES. Someone gave up their life so that I can live freely. How often do I stop and think about that? Someone lost a brother, a father, an uncle, etc so that we can live in peace. I was also really struck by the unknown graves. They read "Here lies in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God." It broke my heart to read that just thinking about the fact that no one knows who this person is, but it was so comforting to know that whether or not we know who that person is, God knows all of us and loves all of us, no matter what.
After that, we went to Dinant and visited a castle there. It was a sort of boring tour because the guy was speaking in French and English and he was really dry and boring, so I don't really know anything about that castle, except that it was pretty cool looking :) Then, we went down these elevators of death called Funiculars that were these lift things that were pretty much hanging by threads (apparently they were supposed to be safe?? lol)... but not really they were actually cables. I was just scared the whole time we went down and especially when we went back up because we had like 20 people in there and the thing was swaying... and I could see way down to the ground. Awful!
Then we went to Bouillon and toured another castle and watched a bird show. The castle had about a million rooms that were all interconnected and everything. It was really cool. I can't imagine having to go through those tunnels and everything with just a candle! How insane!
After spending a little over an hour at Bouillon, we went to Bastogne which is the actual site that the Battle of the Bulge happened, and there is a war memorial there. The memorial is in honor of the United States and the help that we gave to Belgium to make it through the war. The memorial was a star and it had all of the states written around it. I got my picture made with Florida :) Anyway, I guess that's the big news for the day. Tomorrow is a class day and we have to clean our room for room check. Then I have to speak at a girl's devotional. We are planning on having them every Friday, so the other R.A. and I figured that we should go ahead and speak pretty early on in the trip so that the other girls can get more acquainted with each other and feel more comfortable speaking. I better get off here and get some work done!
Good night! Love you all! :)
The first place we visited was the American Military Cemetery where airmen from WWII are buried. It was one of the most spectacularly emotional places that I have ever visited. I knew that it would be large because the Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle for America in WWII. However, there were 4 of us that were walking ahead of the group and as soon as we turned the corner to where we could see the cemetery, we all stopped and gasped. We had a guy who talked to us for a little bit about the shape of the cemetery (it is in the shape of the Red Cross because it allows for bodies to be buried that they continue to find) and different things to do with the war. Most of it was very encouraging, but some of it was also incredibly sad. There was a monument that read "To the silent host who endured all and gave all that mankind might live in freedom and peace." It really struck me how frequently we take for granted the freedoms that we have as RIGHTS rather than PRIVILEGES. Someone gave up their life so that I can live freely. How often do I stop and think about that? Someone lost a brother, a father, an uncle, etc so that we can live in peace. I was also really struck by the unknown graves. They read "Here lies in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God." It broke my heart to read that just thinking about the fact that no one knows who this person is, but it was so comforting to know that whether or not we know who that person is, God knows all of us and loves all of us, no matter what.
After that, we went to Dinant and visited a castle there. It was a sort of boring tour because the guy was speaking in French and English and he was really dry and boring, so I don't really know anything about that castle, except that it was pretty cool looking :) Then, we went down these elevators of death called Funiculars that were these lift things that were pretty much hanging by threads (apparently they were supposed to be safe?? lol)... but not really they were actually cables. I was just scared the whole time we went down and especially when we went back up because we had like 20 people in there and the thing was swaying... and I could see way down to the ground. Awful!
Then we went to Bouillon and toured another castle and watched a bird show. The castle had about a million rooms that were all interconnected and everything. It was really cool. I can't imagine having to go through those tunnels and everything with just a candle! How insane!
After spending a little over an hour at Bouillon, we went to Bastogne which is the actual site that the Battle of the Bulge happened, and there is a war memorial there. The memorial is in honor of the United States and the help that we gave to Belgium to make it through the war. The memorial was a star and it had all of the states written around it. I got my picture made with Florida :) Anyway, I guess that's the big news for the day. Tomorrow is a class day and we have to clean our room for room check. Then I have to speak at a girl's devotional. We are planning on having them every Friday, so the other R.A. and I figured that we should go ahead and speak pretty early on in the trip so that the other girls can get more acquainted with each other and feel more comfortable speaking. I better get off here and get some work done!
Good night! Love you all! :)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
366 Steps to the Top
Yesterday was a REALLY awesome day. I had so much fun despite the fact that I was exhausted! I have accepted the fact that I will get very little sleep on this trip, but I have yet to adjust to just being so busy all day and then getting very little sleep at night. We spent the day in Brugge and Oostende yesterday. Brugge is a canal city and is absolutely beautiful. It had tons of cute little shops, a lace factory, chocolate stores, churches, and little boats floating down the canals.
We left at 9:30 and it was a two hour train ride. We all tried to study, but it was difficult. Finally we gave up and just hung out. When we got to Brugge, we walked around and went to a church. It was called "The Church of Our Lady" and it had one of Michaelangelo's statues. The statue is of Mary and baby Jesus and it is one of the few statues of his that made it out of Italy. I really loved being in Brugge. It was so beautiful, even while raining (yes, it rained yesterday). I am kind of sad that my pictures just can not capture the beauty of all of the places that I have been.
After lunch, we were talking about the Bell Tower (called Belfried) that is there and Andrea and I decided to climb it. Philippe went with us, thank goodness- with my fear of heights it was nice to have someone who I knew would make sure I did not fall. There were 366 steps to the top and it was tiring, but so much fun! I felt kind of like I was conquering my fear. :) When we made it to the top, there was a panoramic view of the city. It was SO gorgeous! We could see the canals, the churches, windmills, etc as far as the eye could see. We were pretty shaky when we got back down because of how far up it was.
We only had about 20 minutes left in Brugge when we were done with that, so we decided to just walk around for a while. It started pouring down rain at that point, so the rain jackets came out and our jeans and shoes got soaked. Fortunately it only rained for about 15 minutes and then the sun came out.
When we left Brugge, we caught a train to Oostende, which is on the North Sea. It was obvious as soon as we got off the train that this was a place unlike anywhere we had been so far. I do not think that it was as beautiful as Brugge (because Brugge was just gorgeous on a completel different level!) but it was just so gorgeous. There were little sailboats everywhere along the side of the river, and when we got to the sea it was just great! It was so nice to play on the beach even though it was chilly! The sand felt really different, and it was kind of brownish yellow (tan?). The water was kind of a greenish color (not like nasty algae green though) with HUGE waves. It was SO cold! The air wasn't bad, just a little chilly because of the wind, but when the water lapped up on my toes, it was like ice water!
After the beach, we got Belgian waffles and then headed to the train. I slept for a little while on the train and then we all studied together and talked. It was a really fun day, with lots of little adventures and fun times with fun people. Today has been a good day, but we have been in class all day and I have to stay up late tonight plus, I need to study so that I can stay on top of things. Tomorrow will probably be filled with less laughter because we are going to several WWII areas including the place where the Battle of the Bulge was fought and an American cemetery. When we get back, I will be able to talk to the Jordan boys on video chat because Creston will be babysitting them, so I'm really excited about that :)
Good night! Love you all!
We left at 9:30 and it was a two hour train ride. We all tried to study, but it was difficult. Finally we gave up and just hung out. When we got to Brugge, we walked around and went to a church. It was called "The Church of Our Lady" and it had one of Michaelangelo's statues. The statue is of Mary and baby Jesus and it is one of the few statues of his that made it out of Italy. I really loved being in Brugge. It was so beautiful, even while raining (yes, it rained yesterday). I am kind of sad that my pictures just can not capture the beauty of all of the places that I have been.
After lunch, we were talking about the Bell Tower (called Belfried) that is there and Andrea and I decided to climb it. Philippe went with us, thank goodness- with my fear of heights it was nice to have someone who I knew would make sure I did not fall. There were 366 steps to the top and it was tiring, but so much fun! I felt kind of like I was conquering my fear. :) When we made it to the top, there was a panoramic view of the city. It was SO gorgeous! We could see the canals, the churches, windmills, etc as far as the eye could see. We were pretty shaky when we got back down because of how far up it was.
We only had about 20 minutes left in Brugge when we were done with that, so we decided to just walk around for a while. It started pouring down rain at that point, so the rain jackets came out and our jeans and shoes got soaked. Fortunately it only rained for about 15 minutes and then the sun came out.
When we left Brugge, we caught a train to Oostende, which is on the North Sea. It was obvious as soon as we got off the train that this was a place unlike anywhere we had been so far. I do not think that it was as beautiful as Brugge (because Brugge was just gorgeous on a completel different level!) but it was just so gorgeous. There were little sailboats everywhere along the side of the river, and when we got to the sea it was just great! It was so nice to play on the beach even though it was chilly! The sand felt really different, and it was kind of brownish yellow (tan?). The water was kind of a greenish color (not like nasty algae green though) with HUGE waves. It was SO cold! The air wasn't bad, just a little chilly because of the wind, but when the water lapped up on my toes, it was like ice water!
After the beach, we got Belgian waffles and then headed to the train. I slept for a little while on the train and then we all studied together and talked. It was a really fun day, with lots of little adventures and fun times with fun people. Today has been a good day, but we have been in class all day and I have to stay up late tonight plus, I need to study so that I can stay on top of things. Tomorrow will probably be filled with less laughter because we are going to several WWII areas including the place where the Battle of the Bulge was fought and an American cemetery. When we get back, I will be able to talk to the Jordan boys on video chat because Creston will be babysitting them, so I'm really excited about that :)
Good night! Love you all!
Monday, August 18, 2008
A Castle in the Hills
Yesterday was such a busy day that I didn't have time to write. I could have stayed up late to write, but it wasn't my night to stay up till one so I thought I would take advantage of the extra sleep time. I still haven't adjusted to the time change and lack of sleep, plus we have been going, going, going since we arrived. I thought that yesterday would be a relaxing day, but I was VERY wrong. :)
Since it was Sunday, we had worship services. First we had Bible class in English upstairs and then we went to the ground floor to have worship in French. It is a very small congregation and the people are so friendly. None of us could communicate very well with them, but we could still feel their warmth and excitement over having us there. It was really encouraging. I found out that the main reason that the church is still there is because of our group coming every year. Nothing was in English, though they did write the song numbers on the board and the scriptures in English. I really enjoyed the singing because I knew most of the songs, and it was easier to learn pronunciation because they sing slower than we do. I have to admit that it was quite hard to say awake, so I tried to pick words out of the sermon that sounded similar to English or Spanish words. That made it easier to know what was going on.
At around 3 yesterday, we went to Franchimont. It is a small Belgian town in the countryside and it was beautiful. We went because there is a castle that is in ruins at the top of a very, very, very (etc.) large hill. I believe it is called Le Chateau de Franchimont. We got off at the trains station and walked 15 minutes in the wrong direction. So, we turned back around and found the correct way. Unfortunately, the correct way was about 3 miles uphill. And it was hot. So we made it to the top of the hill after much sweating, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. When we made it to the top, we saw this BEAUTIFUL castle. Granted, there were giant cannon holes in it and some of the walls had fallen down, but it was just so gorgeous. There were stairs up to the "second floor" and the views of the countryside were absolutely exquisite. I can not believe how beautiful this little country is. When I chose Belgium over Italy, I chose it because it is cheaper. However, now that I am here I can't even believe that I considered Italy. We are in the perfect place for travel, we get to go to other towns several times a week, and it's gorgeous!! I know that I will love Italy when I go there on free travel, but I am so happy that I am in Belgium right now.
Today has just been a class day, so there is not a lot to write about. We had an Apples to Apples tournament which was so much fun! I actually won one game! After a long day yesterday though, it has been nice to just relax. :)
A tout a l'heure! :)
Since it was Sunday, we had worship services. First we had Bible class in English upstairs and then we went to the ground floor to have worship in French. It is a very small congregation and the people are so friendly. None of us could communicate very well with them, but we could still feel their warmth and excitement over having us there. It was really encouraging. I found out that the main reason that the church is still there is because of our group coming every year. Nothing was in English, though they did write the song numbers on the board and the scriptures in English. I really enjoyed the singing because I knew most of the songs, and it was easier to learn pronunciation because they sing slower than we do. I have to admit that it was quite hard to say awake, so I tried to pick words out of the sermon that sounded similar to English or Spanish words. That made it easier to know what was going on.
At around 3 yesterday, we went to Franchimont. It is a small Belgian town in the countryside and it was beautiful. We went because there is a castle that is in ruins at the top of a very, very, very (etc.) large hill. I believe it is called Le Chateau de Franchimont. We got off at the trains station and walked 15 minutes in the wrong direction. So, we turned back around and found the correct way. Unfortunately, the correct way was about 3 miles uphill. And it was hot. So we made it to the top of the hill after much sweating, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. When we made it to the top, we saw this BEAUTIFUL castle. Granted, there were giant cannon holes in it and some of the walls had fallen down, but it was just so gorgeous. There were stairs up to the "second floor" and the views of the countryside were absolutely exquisite. I can not believe how beautiful this little country is. When I chose Belgium over Italy, I chose it because it is cheaper. However, now that I am here I can't even believe that I considered Italy. We are in the perfect place for travel, we get to go to other towns several times a week, and it's gorgeous!! I know that I will love Italy when I go there on free travel, but I am so happy that I am in Belgium right now.
Today has just been a class day, so there is not a lot to write about. We had an Apples to Apples tournament which was so much fun! I actually won one game! After a long day yesterday though, it has been nice to just relax. :)
A tout a l'heure! :)
Saturday, August 16, 2008
I'm not so sure about this French thing.
We went to Germany today! It was so much fun! The day started with French class at 8:#0 in the morning. I was SO tired and we were having to say the words/phrases in front of everyone. It was pretty nerve-wracking, but I feel like I already learned some. Of course, the French that we learned today didn't do us any good except at the market this morning since we spent the afternoon in Aachen, Germany.
There is a market every Saturday on the street that our facility is on. It is from about eight in the morning till one in the afternoon and there are a lot of really cute, cheap souvenirs. I have decided not to shop in the market until the end of the trip because it will be there the whole time we are here. I know that I will love the shopping in Greece :)
Aachen was so wonderful! It is a beautiful city and we had so much fun! We went to Charlemagne's cathedral and it was absolutely breathtaking. It was huge and it had ginormous (I know that's not a word, but it's the only way to describe this!) stained glass windows and everything had flecks of gold in it. They talked about his throne but we weren't actually able to see it, so I'm thinking that maybe they were talking about his bathroom throne? :) Just kidding. After that we walked around. They were having a festival for a cookie that the city is famous for. They really like celebrating over here-- we have already been to two festivals and we have only been here for 3 days! It was an all-around fun day the entire day and I just really enjoyed myself. Our group is really great, and I find myself constantly laughing and giggling... probably partially because I'm delirious from jet-lag and lack of sleep. I can not begin to explain how many times I have laughed until I was crying and my stomach was cramping. Between Sara always closing her eyes in pictures, Andrea falling over into Lauren's lap when the train jerked and Cory doing a lovely Vanna White impression we laughed a lot. Lauren and I got onto the train and laughed for about the first 20 minutes that we were there.
So none of those things are very funny to someone who was not there, but I'm cracking up just writing about it. Oh well :)
Bonne Nuit (Good Night)! Love!
<3 Me
There is a market every Saturday on the street that our facility is on. It is from about eight in the morning till one in the afternoon and there are a lot of really cute, cheap souvenirs. I have decided not to shop in the market until the end of the trip because it will be there the whole time we are here. I know that I will love the shopping in Greece :)
Aachen was so wonderful! It is a beautiful city and we had so much fun! We went to Charlemagne's cathedral and it was absolutely breathtaking. It was huge and it had ginormous (I know that's not a word, but it's the only way to describe this!) stained glass windows and everything had flecks of gold in it. They talked about his throne but we weren't actually able to see it, so I'm thinking that maybe they were talking about his bathroom throne? :) Just kidding. After that we walked around. They were having a festival for a cookie that the city is famous for. They really like celebrating over here-- we have already been to two festivals and we have only been here for 3 days! It was an all-around fun day the entire day and I just really enjoyed myself. Our group is really great, and I find myself constantly laughing and giggling... probably partially because I'm delirious from jet-lag and lack of sleep. I can not begin to explain how many times I have laughed until I was crying and my stomach was cramping. Between Sara always closing her eyes in pictures, Andrea falling over into Lauren's lap when the train jerked and Cory doing a lovely Vanna White impression we laughed a lot. Lauren and I got onto the train and laughed for about the first 20 minutes that we were there.
So none of those things are very funny to someone who was not there, but I'm cracking up just writing about it. Oh well :)
Bonne Nuit (Good Night)! Love!
<3 Me
Friday, August 15, 2008
I Might Just Move to Belgium for the Waffles
Ok so the title is not totally true, so no one get freaked out :) They are really good though. Today has been a really fun day! We had orientation in our classes, except French... which I am thinking is pretty important. I am really loving this trip. It still hasn't hit me that I am in Europe except that the food is different and people are speaking another language. Mom would have really been proud of me because of what I ate today. Our lunch was another Belgian dish that was potatoes, green beans, vinegar, cream, and bacon all mixed together and I ate it!! Not all of it... but I ate most of it!!
After lunch, we went to Liege (pronounced Lee-Age, the G is sort of a soft G) because today was a Catholic holiday and they were having a parade. To be perfectly honest, it was not spectacular. The town was ridiculously crowded because of the festivities and people were literally drinking EVERYWHERE (what a way to celebrate a Catholic holiday! ha!). We were walking around trying to find a place to get Belgian waffles because we were all starving. After walking around for about 45 minutes we finally found a vender selling waffles. It was WELL worth the wait! We all got ones with warm chocolate sauce poured on them and they were WONDERFUL! I never imagined that they would be that tasty!
I wish that I knew at least some French. I'm not one that expects people to speak English everywhere I go, but I just wish that I knew how to say a few simple phrases. It was incredibly difficult ordering today. I really hope that I learn at least enough to communicate some, and I'm sure that my lack of French and desire to communicate will help me learn! :)
After we returned from Liege, we ate dinner and then a few of us went down to play in these fountains that are in the town square. They are fountains that come up from the ground and are for looking pretty and playing in. The water was extremely cold and it was a little chilly out. It was so much fun that I didn't care that it was cold, nor did I care that I slipped and fell on my rear end twice! :) It was so funny! After the fountains we had tea time in the facility and sat around and talked for a while. I have really enjoyed getting to know new people.
The one thing that I want to end on is something that Dr. Johnson said in Bible class this morning. Our class is on Paul, but he said that we are really in a unique place to study the Bible. We are in a place where Catholics and Protestants have fought for years. In a place where there has been so much hypocrisy that people don't want anything to do with religion. How sad is that? Someone showed them the absolute wrong way to live and now they want nothing to do with the right way. It really gave me something to think about. I think it shows just how important our influence can be for someone's soul.
Good night all! Love you lots!
<3Me
After lunch, we went to Liege (pronounced Lee-Age, the G is sort of a soft G) because today was a Catholic holiday and they were having a parade. To be perfectly honest, it was not spectacular. The town was ridiculously crowded because of the festivities and people were literally drinking EVERYWHERE (what a way to celebrate a Catholic holiday! ha!). We were walking around trying to find a place to get Belgian waffles because we were all starving. After walking around for about 45 minutes we finally found a vender selling waffles. It was WELL worth the wait! We all got ones with warm chocolate sauce poured on them and they were WONDERFUL! I never imagined that they would be that tasty!
I wish that I knew at least some French. I'm not one that expects people to speak English everywhere I go, but I just wish that I knew how to say a few simple phrases. It was incredibly difficult ordering today. I really hope that I learn at least enough to communicate some, and I'm sure that my lack of French and desire to communicate will help me learn! :)
After we returned from Liege, we ate dinner and then a few of us went down to play in these fountains that are in the town square. They are fountains that come up from the ground and are for looking pretty and playing in. The water was extremely cold and it was a little chilly out. It was so much fun that I didn't care that it was cold, nor did I care that I slipped and fell on my rear end twice! :) It was so funny! After the fountains we had tea time in the facility and sat around and talked for a while. I have really enjoyed getting to know new people.
The one thing that I want to end on is something that Dr. Johnson said in Bible class this morning. Our class is on Paul, but he said that we are really in a unique place to study the Bible. We are in a place where Catholics and Protestants have fought for years. In a place where there has been so much hypocrisy that people don't want anything to do with religion. How sad is that? Someone showed them the absolute wrong way to live and now they want nothing to do with the right way. It really gave me something to think about. I think it shows just how important our influence can be for someone's soul.
Good night all! Love you lots!
<3Me
Thursday, August 14, 2008
First European Post :)
I honestly cannot remember the last time I was this tired. Tired isn't even the right word. I am completely exhausted. Our flight left Memphis at 7:20 p.m. and we have been going ever since The girl that sat next to me on the flight from Memphis to Amsterdam was from Poland. She liked to talk and she also liked to drink. A lot. As soon as she sat down I could smell alcohol, and I has to endure the awful stench for over 8 hours, all the way to Amsterdam. When we finally arrived in Amsterdam, I could breath fresh air again, but we were completely confused because of mixed-up communication. We ended up getting to our gate on time though, and then our flight to Brussels was delayed by about a half hour. Our flight from Amsterdam to Brussels was on a tiny little plane, barely bigger than a turbo-prop and it sounded like a flying lawn mower :)
Upon arrival at Brussels, we realized that we had no idea if someone was going to pick us up at the airport, nor did we know if our luggage had made it. One girl (Joanna) lost her luggage because of a mix-up in Memphis. Fortunately, she is close to the same size as Sara and I are, so she is planning on borrowing some of our clothes until her bag arrives. After standing around the baggage claim area for a while with no one to pick us up, we finally realized that Philippe would be waiting for us at the exit.
We immediately headed to the Eurail and boarded our train. The European countryside is so beautiful and I cannot believe that I am able to enjoy it for three months!! :) While on the train today, Philippe told me that they would like for me to be an R.A. of one of the girls' rooms. I am watching over about sixteen girls, and getting paid 50 euros a week! The only downside is that every third night, I have to stay up until one a.m. to lock up the hang out room... and considering the profit, that's not a significant downside.
I am really enjoying spending time here with some of my friends. We had Belgian food for dinner and it was so wonderful! After dinner, Philippe took several of us on a tour of Belgium and we made our first European ATM withdrawals and ate our first European ice cream! It is so silly how I want to take pictures of every little detail. I suppose I just don't want to forget anything at all.
I know that I could have so much more to write about, but I am so exhausted that I can not even think straight. It has been far too many hours since I got any decent sleep.
Good night to all! Love and miss you all very much!
-- Me <3
Monday, July 28, 2008
Just Around the Corner...
Last fall I made the decision to spend a semester abroad. When I signed up, I had nearly eleven months to wait for the greatest adventure of my short lifetime. It is amazing to be how quickly time passes, because I now have only sixteen days before I board the plane with my friends to enjoy three months in Europe.
I have always been a big dreamer, but never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that I would have the opportunity to study abroad. I love to travel, but I was not certain that I would have the chance to visit Europe. However, I am about to embark on the most amazing journey I could ever possibly imagine. I will see places where the apostles taught, great architecture that has lasted for centuries, beautiful landscapes, the list could go on an on.
After experiencing so much excitement about the trip, I have just recently begun to be nervous. The last few nights I have had nightmares about everything that could go wrong while on the way. I'm not nervous about once I get there, I have just become anxious about forgetting important things, not having enough money (though I have been working all summer and saving my money), the airline losing my luggage, etc.
I decided to start this blog because there are so many people who I wish I could take with me, but I can't... and I want all of you to experience my trip with me. I will not have time to sit down and write every detail to every individual person, so I have chosen to post a blog about my trip instead. I plan to keep a journal when I am traveling, because I will not have internet access at some places that I travel, and then when I am at a places where I have internet, I will write here. I'm definitely NOT discouraging people from e-mailing me, or writing me on facebook, or whatever. I just want to make sure that everyone knows that this is the place to really get the feel for my trip. I will be thinking about you all :)
Love! <3
Me
I have always been a big dreamer, but never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that I would have the opportunity to study abroad. I love to travel, but I was not certain that I would have the chance to visit Europe. However, I am about to embark on the most amazing journey I could ever possibly imagine. I will see places where the apostles taught, great architecture that has lasted for centuries, beautiful landscapes, the list could go on an on.
After experiencing so much excitement about the trip, I have just recently begun to be nervous. The last few nights I have had nightmares about everything that could go wrong while on the way. I'm not nervous about once I get there, I have just become anxious about forgetting important things, not having enough money (though I have been working all summer and saving my money), the airline losing my luggage, etc.
I decided to start this blog because there are so many people who I wish I could take with me, but I can't... and I want all of you to experience my trip with me. I will not have time to sit down and write every detail to every individual person, so I have chosen to post a blog about my trip instead. I plan to keep a journal when I am traveling, because I will not have internet access at some places that I travel, and then when I am at a places where I have internet, I will write here. I'm definitely NOT discouraging people from e-mailing me, or writing me on facebook, or whatever. I just want to make sure that everyone knows that this is the place to really get the feel for my trip. I will be thinking about you all :)
Love! <3
Me
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