A struggling idealist

I had an epiphony in a dusty van on a way to a village a couple summers ago in Afghanistan. Someone had the book "Please Understand Me!" for the Myers-Briggs test. Well, as we had about 7 hours to get to this village I had time to pillage the pages that told me all about myself. For those who are interested in those things I am an ENFJ. Although when I took this three years before that, I was an INFJ....maybe proof that environment and necessity can change your personality. I don't know. So, in other words, I'm now more extroverted than I was before.

Moving on...
So, I was looking through this book and there was a lot of information but one thing that was like a light bulb going on was that I am an idealist. I'm actually an Idealist (with a capital "I"). I had never verbalized this or formed a thought about it, but it was so true. I realize that most of the time I have a running image in my head about how I feel things should be, how I should be, even sometimes how others should be. After further contemplation I realized that with idealism, comes great disappointment. No one lives up to how I think they should be, and I'm the primary failure of my own expectations. I had grand images of myself before I moved to Af...making instant friends, impressing them with my language, leading people to the L'd, changing the face of the nation.

And I fell short of those expectations. And I learned so much about my humanity and my dependence on God and his using "the weak things to shame the strong."

So, now I'm trying to figure out how I manage my idealism as it can be a strength (let's put the term VISIONARY on it and now it looks like a positive thing). But, then I need to come down off my cloud and have real expectations of myself.

Like today. It's my first day back at Wheaton. I have these visions of grandeur of me really digging into my studies and soaking up every minute for all it's worth. I have dreams of me making amazing new friends and initiating social activities that everyone loves. I have dreams of being the right blend of intelligence, wit, and beauty to attract someone's eye from across the campus and have him asking his friends "who is that girl and how do I get to know her?" I have dreams of me volunteering with some of the Muslim students in neighborhood and striking up life-changing conversations, and being the student that the professors talked about for years to come and all the amazing impact I am having in the nations and in missions.

Sigh. But I'm just Danika. Sometimes I can do really impressive things. Most days I'm just down to earth. In need of grace. My own efforts don't produce much but my efforts, anointed by God and led by his spirit can produce much more.

I think on days like today where idealism, pride, insecurity and all my humanity run together, I need to remember, I'm loved. That God....loves....me. Full stop. My mind needs to stop racing and just rest in the fact that I am loved by the God of the universe. Selah.

Some photos from the summer

These are all the students who did the TESOL class with me. They are from USA, Canada, Switzerland, Thailand and Brazil. We had a great school but were very happy to be done because it was exhausting!


For the course we had to teach a total of 26 hours. We had an English course for internationals at a church in Kalispell. The last night we did a "cultural exchange party" where people brought their ethnic foods and did some dancing and such. Lots of fun! This photos is of us teachers and students chowing down on some amazing food!


And really, the bigger the Bible, the greater the holiness. What can I say?


My friend Kelly and I tackled a 10.5 mile trail in Glacier National Park. We looked so cute that day I just had to share it with everyone else!


And this is us being attacked by mosquitos at the lake that we hiked to. They were seriously scarier than even the mosquitos in Minnesota. They were nasty!


This lake was so deep and so blue it took your breath away. We could see the fish swimming around in it. It was totally worth the uphill 5.2 mile hike to get up here!

Finishing up in Montana

Early Monday morning I'll fly out of Montana and back to Chicago. These last few weeks have been pretty busy and full. So full in fact, my inbox is full of unanswered emails and my blog is collecting virtual dust.

Two weekends ago my friend Kelly and I got ambitious and hiked 10.5 miles in Glacier National Park to see this beautiful, crystal clear mountain lake. We realized on the way back as our knees were pounding into the path that it was pretty much uphill the entire way to the lake. That's why we were so out of breath the entire time!

Last weekend I went with a few other TESOL students and went camping in Idaho. It's a beautiful drive there although our campsite was a bit close to the highway and near a gas station with some incredibly cranky women that worked there. So, it took away from the natural beauty of the area! However, we had a great time hanging out, laughing like crazy and enjoying nature.

In between hiking and camping I actually have been working like crazy to fulfill the requirements for TESOL certification. We taught a total of 26 hours. The practicum teaching was challenging but really enjoyable. I had the advanced level and really enjoyed interacting with the students. I've also realized that my teaching as well as my empathy for my students has changed since having to learn a second language myself. I understand the frustration of having a fully developed adult brain but only being able to communicate things like a child. It can be very frustrating. I miss my students already and hope to stay in touch with at least a few of them.

So, yesterday we had our Love Feast (a traditional event in most YWAM schools!) and we had our graduation today. I'll be staying through the weekend, resting a bit and then heading back to Chicago in order start grad school on the 27th of August. Whew! So, now I'm officially certified to teach English to second language speakers. It's been really great to put another tool in my belt. I really learned a lot especially in the area of assessment and being able to figure out where people are at in their language ability and to help them accordingly. I also learned how to teach grammar so it's not so dry and boring. This month has been a huge blessing and I'm looking forward to seeing how God will use it in the future.

The end of the second week

So, Friday is here and I'm breathing a sigh of relief. This weekend I have two days that will not be 12 hour days of class/lesson planning/teaching. Whew. It has been pretty intense.

This week we began our practicum which means that in addition to being in class, I am also teaching a group of students in a nearby town. My class is the advanced class which means they know quite a bit and can sometimes outdo me in what they know about grammar. Still, I think it's going well. We are having some interesting conversations and interactions. I have students from Mexico, Japan, Columbia and Brazil.

Last weekend I was able to go out to Glacier National Park and experience the vast beauty there. It is breathtaking! Unfortunately, my camera lens is having an issue (I talked to a camera shop this week and they estimated it will cost about $120 to fix!!) so these pictures are borrowed from others that went on the trip. (so on that note, pray for wisdom about what I should do with my camera!)


Some fellow members of the TESOL class and myself.


Some mountain goats


Glacier is BEAUTIFUL!!!! A picture barely does it justice.

A week into TESOL

So, I had fully intended to take pictures of the incredibly beautiful place that I am living in for a month. However, my life has been so full that I haven't even had time to think about it! So pictures are to come.

I got to the YWAM base on Saturday night and was so jet-lagged that I wanted to go direct from the plane to my bed. However, in YWAM fashion I met a ton of people on that journey so I finally collapsed into my lofted bed in my dorm room late that night. I'm only now beginning to get over jet-lag.

So, I've been in class eight hours a day every day this week learning linguistics, grammar, speaking activities, lesson planning, etc, etc, etc. It's been pretty intense but also a lot of fun. As many of you know, I am a bit of a grammar geek and as we were going through things like "syntax" and "present continuous" I couldn't help but give a little shout-out to all my past English teachers, especially Dr. Black. She taught advanced grammar and I was her teacher's assistant for three years. Good times.

Tomorrow is a day off so a bunch of us are going to drive up into Glacier National Park and hike around a bit and see the beauty of the area. I'm sooooo looking forward to it, especially after staring at nothing but dirt all summer! On Monday I will start the practicum part of the course and I will be teaching ESL to internationals in the Kalispell area each night for two and a half weeks.

Things I'm thankful for...

Traveling back and forth between two cultures that are the complete opposites of eachother (ie. Af.stan and the USA, if you hadn't guessed by now), does not come without its difficulties and adjustments. I had to work really hard to learn the Afghan customs and become Danika in a place that is so different from whom I have become. Some people may assume that when you return to your home culture, it's like breathing a sigh of relief. But, it's not all the time. You get to experience what some term "reverse culture shock" when your own culture becomes difficult to deal with. I also notice things that I once took for granted and find great joy in them and get crazy excited about these little things. To let you in on my current re-adjustment process, here is a list of things I am over-the-top excited about:

- a shower that can be any temperature I want it to and has super great water pressure! And....I don't have to turn my sink on to get the hot water to come out of the shower head. Beautiful.
- 24/7 electricity that doesn't surge
- coffee...strong, dark, hot and on every street corner and in nearly every home. Praise God!
- a bed, not a mattress on the floor. And a full-sized bed so I feel like an adult, not a teenager!
- I can drive a car and no one stares
- I can walk down the street and no one stares
- I can go shopping and no one stares
- I can run and no one....okay, you get the point.
- I can understand 100% of what people are saying, not just 50-70.
- my credit/debit cards work here
- I can get a whole list of things done in one day.
- Guys open doors for me and let me walk through first.
- Salads and fresh vegetables
- No dust
- My hairdryer and piles of hair products
- I can wear my hair down and it can look pretty for other people to see.
- tank tops
- eye-contact and firm handshakes
- choices and options
- privacy
- people drive within the lines on the road (most of them at least).
- paved roads
- people stand in lines and take turns
- everything is SO green and beautiful.
- diversity and uniqueness is valued, not questioned.
- I have the freedom to be myself

The list could go on.

And here are a few of the things that take me by surprise, overwhelm me, or downright bother me about American culture. I won't tell you which ones cause which reactions. :)
- Americans are so loud! The stereotype really is true!
- We have WAY too many choices. Have you ever noticed just how many kinds of toothpaste there are?!?
- If you have to wait one extra minute, everyone gets impatient.
- People talk about money and their stuff an awful lot.
- There are lots of very overweight people in this country.
- It can be a bit lonely transitioning from a very community-oriented culture. No one stops by just to say hi here. Or, people only have 5 minutes to talk, not an hour or two over tea. I miss that.
- Everyone is so busy, too busy. and we all think that it's a good thing to be so busy.

So, for those of you who work with or are friends with or are family members of people who travel be it for business, for "M" work, or whatever, don't assume that their returning home is all roses but be a listening ear, ask about their experiences and really be interested in what they have to say, and don't force them to go to Walmart the first day they are back. Those things can be a bit too much to face when you've been face-to-face with poverty, injustice, simpler lifestyles, and cultural diversity. And as for me...I had some great kabob earlier this week and a great cup of coffee from Starbucks today. And along the way I found good friends, had wonderful conversations, made new discoveries, and know a God that intricately understands the Af.stan Danika and the American Danika that often have to coexist.

It's a good thing I don't make decisions on days like today...

I think I woke up on the wrong side of the floor today.

After tossing and turning all night long and willing my thermometer on my alarm clock to please drop below 96 degrees, I peeled my eyes open to hear a strange water sound. Outside my window was sunny so it wasn't rain. I groaned and rolled off my mattress on the floor to realize a pipe must be leaking or the faucet was left on. Sure enough, some pipe that goes through my garden was spilling water out of it, flooding the garden. "I have to take care of this" was my thought. So, in my passive-aggressive state i went upstairs to take a shower in hopes that the problem would disappear.

Thankfully, the water did stop pouring into my garden. But I still have to call the plumber.

Then I strolled into the kitchen because I desperately needed a cup of coffee. I turned on the gas only to find the gas bottle was empty and I couldn't make coffee this morning.

My next thought was this: "Okay, I don't think I want to work in Af.stan any more."

Yep...got up on the wrong side of the floor.
So, I proceeded to get ready for the day, only to have a few fires to put out with my office staff over the phone in my 5-year-old level Dari, which I'm sure earns me great respect with the Afghan men I'm the boss over, and I leave to go to our other team house.

I put my laundry in the washer and turn the water pump on...nothing. The socket is broken and the guy who works at my house has to help jimmy-rig it so that we can stick two live wires into the wall in order to turn the water on. Just another day in paradise.

So, just thought I'd share with you what life can be like in "the hard places." Sometimes it just is downright annoying and full of the "tyranny of the urgent" and some days you do really feel like packing up and going home (it does help that I am flying out of here the day after tomorrow! he he). But, then days like these usually pass. You meet some cool people. Have opportunities for some great conversation. See God move in amazing ways. And you realize again why you are actually here. But sometimes, you have to fix the leaky pipe, challenge death when you plug things into the wall, and go without a cup of coffee or two. I guess that's just life.

Shaving my feet

I had a moment in Kyrgyzstan where I was thinking "I have to blog about this." You can tell you are really getting into blogging when you start rating your life experiences as blog-worthy or not.

So, here's the moment: A teammate and I decided we really wanted to get a pedicure before heading back to Af and destroying our feet again. So, we got a friend to schedule a time for us. We walked in to the salon, said "pedicure" with a russian accent and got seated with our feet in a tub of water and a Russian makeover show on TV in front of us. It was your typical pedicure: they soaked our feet, took my current nail polish off, cleaned around my nails, etc. Then she takes out the pumice stone to smooth away my incredibly rough, Af-stan abused feet. The pumice stone just wasn't cutting it. SOOOO, she pulls out a razor blade, attaches it to the razor and proceeds to SHAVE the dead skin off the bottom of my feet. That was when I thought, "this is a blog-worthy moment."

What was even more disgusting was the pile of dead skin after she was done. Yuck.

Never a dull moment in Central Asia

Today I woke up in Tashkent, Uzbekistan knowing that whatever happened today, I just had to get back to Afghanistan. The plan was relatively simple…catch a taxi to the airport, fly to a city in the south of the country and cross the border. No problem. Right?

So, after a light breakfast with a dear friend of mine, we got in a taxi and began to head to the airport. About 5 minutes down the road, he ran out of gas. Okay, so he helps us get another taxi and we communicate (between Russian, English and a LOT of sign lanuage) that we’ll split the fare between the two drivers. We leave the guy on the side of the road to look for gas.

We then pull up to the airport which looked like a bus station… sure enough it was. But being cool-headed we just asked around and finally enough people pointed us to the airport BEHIND the bus station. So we go in and no one is at the ticket counter. We ask and the lady nods and points but then no one shows up. So we sit. About 20 minutes later, someone shows up at the desk and checks in our luggage. Whew…bags are off and we are ready to fly.

But the day continues to get more interesting. A guy comes over and sits RIGHT next to me. He goes through the languages….do you speak Russian? me: “Niet” Do you speak Uzbek? Me: “I know only a little Uzbek.” Do you speak Tajik? Are you Afghan? Me: “yes, I know Tajik.” (It’s the same langauge family as the language of Afghanistan). So between Uzbek, Russian, Tajik and English I get the gist that he wants me to take something down to the city that we were flying and into Afghanistan. Now, I’ve been in enough airports to know how harsh the warning is about taking things from strange people. And I’m just not that stupid. So, after I say no he starts laying on the charm…. “You know, you are very beautiful.” He inches closer (which the only thing between me and him is my purse and I’m not moving it for anything!). He then shows me what he has in his bag….oh, just your average, ordinary, everyday drugs.

Awesome. I just got asked to smuggle drugs INTO Afghanistan.

The man then received a FIRM no, and we escaped his creepy clutches by going through the security check point while he was on the phone. Although, we did notice that he got someone else on the flight to agree to take his plastic bag o’ goods. We get on the flight, wait a few hours for the plane because they were waiting for all the passengers to show up and fly a nauseau-inducing flight down near the border.

We catch a taxi with a seikh from India and start the journey across the border. This has got to be one of the most laborious borders to cross as far as the time it takes and all the things you have to do just to get across. There are 4 stops along this route that is maye 2-3 kilometers long. You give your passport to one guy who writes all the information in a book (they do have computers here but they are quite attached to still writing things in books). Then you go the the health checkpoint that has a few theremometers and just tell them “no I’m not sick” and they write your name in another book. Then you go through the actual customs check where they write your name in another book and check every inch of your baggage and belongings and count each bill of money (from all 4 different countries that I had with me). Then you get your passport stamped….and they write your name in another book. The the only thing left is you have to walk across bridge on the Amo Dariyo river that separates the two countries. It was built by the Russians and ironically called the “Friendship bridge” that they built as they invaded Afghanistan.

We donned our Afghan clothing and entered back into the country that feels like coming home every time I come through it’s borders. Crazy. Just another day in Central Asia.

Greetings from Kyrgyzstan!

Well, well, well....
It's been a long while since I've posted a blog.
I'm writing from BEAUTIFUL lake Issik-kol where the mountains are tall, the lake cold (despite the fact that it's name means 'hot lake'), and the Russian pop music at the disco rings loud and clear every evening.

Our meeting times here have been wonderfully refreshing. I have missed meetings with my "company" where worship is more than just standing and singing. Worship for us is interactive and spontaneous and cultural and absolutely a beautiful expression of our relationship with a living God. I've missed these times so much and every moment with my fellow brothers and sisters has been wonderful.



I wanted to add some fun things in addition to the email update I just sent out. Here's some fun events that have happened over the last week:

--My first night here I got eaten alive by mosquitos!! I woke up the next morning to my roommate asking me if I wanted to shower first. I turned and looked at her and said, no, you go first." She looked back and me and said, "what? Why that look on your face" I reached up my hand and touched my eye that was nearly swollen shut after getting bit by a mosquito on my eye lid. She thought I was winking at her or giving her "the eye!" So, there went my chances at meeting any goodlooking guys at the conference! I mean, the Quazi-Moto (sp?) look is attractive, but it's not a look I'm going for. Thankfully, my eye is back to it's normal, non-droopy, open self.

--We ran out of toilet paper a few days ago. (and I use the word toilet paper lightly, it's more like a wide roll of grey colored streamers that you use for birthday parties). When we asked the hotel staff for more toilet paper, they looked at us like I was crazy and adamantly said, "NO! You only get ONE roll!" (and this is for a week and a half, for three girls!) Another person kindly gave us a roll from their personal stash.

--We have had oatmeal to eat at every single meal and the meat and potatoes just take on a different form for each meal, sometimes mashed, sometimes boiled, sometimes in meatballs. So, there really is a LOT of variety. And I'm not taking a break in my carb diet that I had from Afghanistan.

--and in honor of my friend who keeps posting pictures of the food she is eating in Germany I am adding my own food pictures to make you jealous:

It's been awhile since I've updated my blog....mostly because so much has happened in the last few weeks and that I hardly even know where to begin. The village project is finished and the short-term team has left and we are gearing up to head to Ky-stan for a conference. Our journey is proving to be quite eventful as there are no direct flights from this country to there so we are having to get a bit creative with all the different passports and the visas needed for our team. This will be a bit of an adventure as we journey. Right now we will be crossing the border to the north the day after tomorrow and taking the train up to the capital city, then catching a flight from there to the country we will be staying at for two weeks, then catching a ride out to the hotel area we will be at. As always, prayers are welcome!



So, this was an interesting animal that I came across. It has horns like a goat and long ears and long legs like a donkey....curious. I wasn't quite sure what to think of it, so I just took a picture with it.

As we speak the guys on the team are all at the swimming pool while us girls are at home sweating in our long-sleeved clothes in the heat of the evening. Sigh. Soon, soon there will be relief from the heat for a few weeks!

Hidalgo Moments

This evening I was sitting out in our yard enjoying the evening. It had been a busy weekend full of visiting with people and spending time with local friends here. I enjoyed all the social time but was also needing the relaxing evening. I had my book, was sitting in my chair, a couple of the other girls had just finished hanging up their laundry and were sitting nearby listening to their ipods. I glanced over my shoulder a few times to see some dark clouds in the distance. "ooh." I thought. "It might rain tonight. That would cool things off a bit." (it hardly ever rains in the summer here so dark clouds are a very rare thing and worth noting!) I turned back to my book but about 10 minutes later I heard this sound like wind behind me. It kept on going and I looked over to see clouds of dust billowing towards us and swallowing up the tops of the houses that I could see from my yard. I shouted and all of us girls jumped up and began to grab armloads of laundry off the line as fast as we could and as we got inside the dust storm hit and swirled around our house. Right now the streets are empty and there is a haze inside my house as the storm whirls around outside. That's Af-stan for you!

This weekend some of my office staff, a couple of the short-term team members and myself went on a picnic in a nearby town. This town used to be the capital of this area and was a major stop along the silk road back in the day. Alexander the Great resided there for awhile, Genghis Khan and others also made this place home for awhile. There is a spot where there are the old ruins of the walls still partially standing and you can find pieces of broken potter and human bones mixed in with the rubble. I guess so many wars and conflicts happened there. The people I was with said they'd have a war, all the people would die, and then they'd just build a new city on top of them leaving layers of city and bone. It very well could be true. We had a picnic out there, played volleyball, climbed all over the walls and caught some frogs in a nearby stream. I also rode a horse for the first time in Af. It was pretty skinny and a little tired out so he didn't go very fast, but I felt like a true adventurer sitting on top of that horse with the ruins of the old city behind me and the fields of wheat stretched out all around me.

Our lunch for the picnic. Quite nice huh?!


The walls of the old city we visited.


History speaks...more than I want to hear sometimes.


We caught frogs in the river. I've never seen so many frogs at one time.

sick

I just got over a nice little stomach bug. It seems like that is an essential part of re-entry to this place. Fun times.

This week I'm not going to the village because I have friends in town I still need to visit, and I want to see what's going on around my office.

It is WARM here! yikes. And summer is only beginning to set in. My thermometer in my room got down to a low 88 last night but during the day is about 98-ish. That is inside, out of the sun. I'm guessing that it's up over 100 in the sun. Let me tell you, watermelon has never tasted as good as it does here on a hot day, with long sleeves and a blanket wrapped around my head.

More pictures from the village

This picture is all of us girls coming from the girls' school. I'm the second one walking up...the short one!


The donkey is bringing water to our house from the mosque.


Some of the children in the village. They are so beautiful!

Life under the burka

Within a day of returning to my city, I found myself packing a bag for a few days in a village helping with the education projects that I was running during my time here before. We have a short-term team that will be doing the teaching and activities, but I was asked to come along just to help get the teacher training seminar running.

So, we set off in our van piled high with notebooks, pens, soccer balls, jump ropes, and everything we’d need to live the next few days: cushions to sleep on, bottles of drinking water, and a gas stove (which they call a picnic here, because you just take it on a picnic, put the pressure cooker on top and bam, instant hot meal in the middle of nowhere. Let me tell you, these people perfected camping WAY before we did!).

This village project was a bit different as all of us women donned our burkas as we approached the village. It is a bit more conservative and we wanted to convey our respect for their way of life. So, I saw the streets, the few shops, and mosques of this village behind a blue screen about the size of my fist in front of my face. I got lessons from the teachers of when to pull the burka up so I could breathe a bit and have my face exposed and when to pull it down again (pretty easy…if there is a man on the street, the screen is down, no man, no screen).

And this is the fun part of cross-cultural living. There are new ways to learn of doing EVERYTHING, even wearing a burka. Just when I was thinking I had mastered wearing it and blending in on the street, one of the teachers said the whole village knows about the foreign women in burkas because they don’t walk like the local people. To top it off, I nearly walked out of the school one day with my burka on inside out, until one of the teachers called out after me and corrected it for me.

There are 12 teachers in the school and most of them are really young (one girl is 14 years old). Some of them are even still students. So, they study in 6th or 7th grade and then teach 1st grade. This is actually quite normal in the villages as there is a shortage of teachers. I absolutely love spending time with teachers because often they are the only women in the village working outside the home, and they all have a great desire to help their village. I really wish I could show you pictures, but they said they don’t want me to take pictures of them.

Next week the short-term team will be returning but I will stay in the city. There are friends I still have not been able to visit yet and want to have time to see them and I possibly want to spend some time at the university in town doing some observation and talking with them about how things run, for when I return here full-time next year and pursue working in the higher education realm.

I’ll close with a few pictures from the village:

A view of the village.


This mosque is over a hundred years old. This is the view from the window of the house we are staying in.


Coming back from teaching. I think someone caught me off guard or staring or something. I'm not smiling at all...but I was happy!

Asian Arrival

This post will be short as my jet lag is really kicking in tonight. But, I made it to Asia and am hanging out with my team and catching up with all the changes that are happening around here. It has been great to be back and honestly, I feel like I'm home. That's a good feeling in a place that used to be the strangest thing to me. God really blessed me with a good re-entry here.

Here are a few pictures from our ride up from Kabul:

Just because the inside of the car is full, doesn't mean you can't ride along!


This is a picture of the Salang pass on the road north from Kabul. There is still a bit of snow and it was nice and chilly. The high was a cool 103 degrees F in the city I am in now...and it will only get hotter as summer approaches.

We made it safely despite our driver hitting a cow in the middle of the road. The car was dented and the cow just stood there in stunned disbelief but all was okay.

Heading back overseas!!

I just recently sent out a email newsletter but wanted to post on my blog as well that I am in need of prayer and financial support for this summer still. I will be leaving the country on May 8 and arriving in A-land May 10 (yes...it takes awhile to get there! But it could be worse...I could have to travel by ship and overland like in the old days!)I will be there through mid-July.

This summer is a very important one for me as I'm in a season of prayer and preparation for my long-term return in spring of next year. It would mean a lot to me if you could partner with me in prayer as I seek the Lord for guidance, timing, and wisdom in the steps that he has laid out for me. Our team also is moving forward in some new areas as well as strengthening what we are currently involved in. (Do you know we now have 1500 students registered with our resource center. That means 1500 individuals have passed through our doors to partake in learning with us! Praise God!)

For those of you wanting to give, the address you can send donations to is:
Donor Services
P.O. Box 60579
Colorado Springs, CO 80960

Checks can be written out to "YWAM" and write the number #371 on the memo line which designates it to my account.

Also, if you are interested in receiving email updates from me but you are not on my mailing list (if you ARE on the list...you would have gotten an email from me today!) please email me or post a comment on my blog letting me know.

I normally like to keep this blog for personal reflections but I can't stress enough how important your partnership is, both for financial provision but prayer, prayer, and more prayer...that is my deepest need right now. Let's seek God together to see great things happen in the nations this summer!

The latest adventures

My weekends have been quite full the last two weeks. Here's some pictures of the fun times:

April 6: Some friends that worked in the area of northern Af. with me were passing through town and we went to a Cubs game together at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures with me and my friends taken on my camera. But really, they were there.





April 12:
This weekend I was in the Los Angeles area for a wedding of two dear friends of mine, Dave and Mia McCoy. We all worked in Af-land together with the same organization but in different parts of the country. It was so exciting to share in their special day together...and 80 degrees on the sunny beach wasn't so bad either!



There were 14 of us who have been in Af-land at some point in time. We didn't all know each other but it was great to hang out and share our common bond.


Dave drove off with Mia sitting on the back of the bike, Afghan style.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. McCoy!! It was a great joy to share in your day!

A Quintessentially Chicago Weekend

This weekend, my dad and his girlfriend, Connie, flew in to spend the weekend with me here in Chicago. We had a great time exploring (and for me re-exploring) the typical touristy places of Chicago. We did everything from Chicago style pizza to the Sears Tower, a drive through the Magnificent Mile and along Lakeshore drive, and a concert at the House of Blues. As I was downloading my pictures I realized that Connie actually took a majority of the pictures of us and my dad took a LOT (as always) of the buildings and things like that). But here are a few from our little adventure:



So, our first day we drove downtown and made our way to the top of the Sears Tower. I've been living in Chicago for 8 months now and I still have not been up there (the $13 ticket price could have something to do with it!). But, I got the bird's-eye view of Chicago on a beautiful, clear day. I was amazed at how fast the elevator rockets you up to the top. Your ears can feel the pressure both going up and coming down it goes so fast! These pictures are taken of downtown (1). You can see the black Hancock building. And (2) you can see "Museum Campus" on the Lake which has the Aquarium, the Planetarium and the Field museum (which we went to the next day).


We had Chicago-style pizza and then headed to the House of Blues to see Big Head Todd and GB Leighton. It was a great concert. Both bands were a mixture of rock and blues, not the classically deep blues I was expecting. But, I really enjoyed it.








Our second day we took the train downtown, rather than deal with parking, and we went to the Field Museum. The worlds largest and most complete T-Rex skeleton, nicknamed Sue, resides there. They also have an amazing exhibit of Egyptian mummies, 23 in all. There's enough stuff in this museum to take a couple of days to browse through. So, we hit the highlights. I'm definitely wanting to go back though, and to the aquarium, and the Edward Hopper exhibit that they have at the Art Institute. Anyways, we explored the Field Museum, walked through Grant Park and Millennium Park where my dad paused for a deep meditative moment on top of the BP Bridge (the metal, twisty, windy one across the freeway) and counted the stories in a couple of his favorite buildings. We took our picture(s) in The Bean (a metal sculpture in Millennium Park that looks like a gigantic, shiny bean. We finished out the evening with Thai food, tea, and browsing through Borders bookstore (Where I bought The Kite Runner, the movie, finally!! I brought it home and cried through half of it! I couldn't believe how much they made China, where it was filmed, look like Kabul. It was incredible!).

Our final day we stuck around the 'burbs and went to church, saw a movie (Vantage Point...liked it for the most part despite it's few political jabs and I also get frustrated that every show, be it a movie or a tv series like 24, its nearly always a Muslim that is the terrorist. Let's all remember people that not all Muslims are terrorists. And not all terrorists are Muslims. A small percentage of the Muslim world uses terrorism to make a point. Just like the Muslim world needs to know that not all western women are prostitutes. We fail one another when we live by stereotypes and we do a disservice when we believe those stereotypes...just a small, ahem, soapbox of mine. ) We had Chicago-style hotdogs to complete our classically-Chicago weekend. It was great to meet Connie and to spend time with my dad. I don't get to see my family nearly enough, even with being here in the States.

Red River Gorge, Day 3&4

Day 3: Rock Bridge
Day 3 had me solo-hiking for part of the day until the rain really started coming down. I hiked back to this arch in the second picture which is a natural arch over the river. Right before the arch was a beautiful little waterfall, also pictured below.


After a while hiking there I headed over to another section of the gorge and was going to check out a couple arches but the rain really started to come down. I found the "hidden arch" which is pictured below. I took a (slightly out of focus) self-portrait and headed back to the dry hostel for the rest of the afternoon.



Day 4: Double Arch
A group of 5 of us did a five mile loop to check out the double arch. It was a beautiful trail as the first half of it followed the top of this ridge and you could see the gorge on either side.

This was overlooking the gorge on the top of a really high cliff. I was getting a little woozy on top of this, especially as I was running worst-case scenarios through my mind. But, I pushed all that aside and took this picture as a tribute to all the foot pictures I've seen of friends of mine sitting on the beach (usually couples mind you) to show what my life is all about: just me and the wilderness. And it's beautiful!


A light-headed smile on top of the cliff. We hiked on top of the ridge in the background and got a sweet view of the cliff we were standing on top of.


Here's a view of the double arch from the opposite ridge. We climbed up underneath the arch, which yes, meant we hiked down from the ridge we were on and back up to the other side. My calves are in enough pain to prove it!


A tribute to the cliff bar industry. These are awesome for hiking. May I recommend the Cool Mint Chocolate and the Black Cherry Almond.


And the sign of a good hike: wet, muddy shoes. Mine are in the forefront.

Tomorrow the rest of the group wants to get a couple climbs in before we head back to flat, cold Illinois so I'll probably just hang out with them. I've put in a grand total of 23 miles over the last three days. Pretty excited about that.