Siberia...if you would have asked me last year at this time whether I would be returning to Siberia next year, the answer would have been a "probably not, but i wish i could." God does amazing things though! and here I am. The train ride was....well, LONG! I took an overnight train from Tallin to Moscow, and then had a 3 hour layover in Moscow. I was reading one of my Economist magazines and a guy sitting accross from me asked to read it when i was finished. I let him read it and then he asked if he could buy it from me =) i told him he could just have it, sorry Todd! hopefully he understands at least half of the articles!
So then I got onto the Trans-Siberian Express. Really, I will never do that train trip again unless I have someone with me who speaks English and is fairly intelligent becuase then at least we will have the option of conversation to pass the time. I was bored out of my mind the 3rd day on the train! The guy in the bunk accross from me was named Kiril. he spoke almost no english and with my practically nonexistant russian we had some funny conversation. there is a page in my notebook that is filled with our doodles trying to explain to each other what we mean! i think i'm going to frame it. i shared my last bar of german chocolate with him the first night and from that point on he was my best friend. he brought me hot water and let me have half his tea and bough chocolate the next day just for me. I read a lot, slept as much as possible, and took in a LOT of gorgeous scenery. Going through the Ural Mtns there was as much as 6" of snow on the ground still. I love Russia.
Denis met me in Novosibirsk and it was hilariously good to see him! He had bought 3 balloons, red, green and yellow, and blew them up and wrote on them "I'm effin glad to see ya Megan!" Further, he had a RED shirt on that said the same thing in yellow letters. Now, for those of you how object to "effin" it is not actually a cuss word and for Denis, it is merely more emphasis to show me how happy he was to see me. I laughed until my sides hurt. I have the T-shirt and balloons and they will be among my most prized possessions =)
We made our way to the bus station in Novo only to find out that there were no more bus tickets to Tomsk that night. No worries though because in Russia there is always another way. There are these yellow taxi-buses that hawk their destination in the bus station and everyone bargains with they guy and they all get told different prices but in the end when everyone is in the van we all pay the same price...still a good deal for the guy. So Denis and I left Novo at 730 pm. The van was packed full but everyone was in pretty good spirits. We had an "uneventful" ride (meaning we did not crash despite driving 120-130kph on a road probably rated for 70kph and being passed and passing cars around corners and with oncoming traffic bearing down, i.e. normal russian driving conditions) until about 30 km outside of Tomsk. We were stopped by the police for "speeding" (how do they know they are speeding when there are practically no speed limit signs on the roads? got me) and when the driver showed the policeman his papers there was some minute discrepancy that the policeman took objection to. So...we waited for about 20 min while the driver discussed this discrepancy with the policeman....meaning that they bargained over how much the bribe was going to be...turned out to be not so bad 300 rubles..about $12.
Victor and Dianna met us in Tomsk with bread and salt...apparently a tradition of some sort in Russia =) we walked over to where Jim and Lavonne live and Jim met me at the door. I stayed at there place last night and it was really great to have a bed that wasn't moving. The church in Tomsk meets in house churches now and so I went to 3 different ones yesterday...just couldn't get enough! =) Jim's was at 11 and it was mostly older ladies that I didn't know but they loved me anyway and that was fun. Then I took my stuff over to the apt where I will be staying and the young people who have church there were already worshipping and i basicaly disrupted their whole worship because 3 of them were really good friends of mine when I was here last year...Alosha, Sergei, and Paulina. It was incredibly good to hug them and i hope to get to spend LOTS more time with them soon. After we were done Alosha and I went to the church at Phil Payne's place and Oxy and Max were there...lots of good discussion (can you tell i'm running out of steam, sorry =) Denis and some friends came over last night and brough cake to celebrate...they will celebrate for anything =) We played Mafia and other card games and had a great time. They are on holiday today and tomorrow for Russian Labor Day.
Being here is still kind of surreal for me, but it is SO good to see everyone and I am looking forward to the next week and a half.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
From the bay of Finland to the middle of a continent
This will be my last post for possibly 5 days. I am leaving tomorrow on the train to Moscow and then from Moscow I will be boarding the Trans-Siberian Railroad! saying that just sounds adventurous and fun! it's not exactly fast-paced adventure though, considering that i will be on a train for pretty much 3 days in a row, arriving in Tomsk on Saturday evening. At that point i will be 12 hours ahead of CST in the states!
So Tallinn is such a gorgeous city! Even though yesterday it rained ALL day and was freezing cold, it couldn't take away the fact that Tallinn has been here for centuries, accumulating vastly different styles of architechture and urban planning in various sections of the city. In Tallinn, the changes are fairly abrupt, you can cross a street from Old Town with its cobblestone streets and ancient buildings, to Soviet era constructions and then again to modern commercial business districts and it can be really disorienting sometimes. The views from church towers are also great because you can look out over the city and then the water starts and stretches, and yet somehow you can tell that there is an end to it, even if you can't see Helsinki.
Today i spent a majority of my time with Ron and Judy Warpole, two missionaries here in Tallinn. They are crazy fun people and Ron is SO proud of their home just outside the city. it was built in the soviet era and from the outside is typical of that time...looks like a cement block and basically, that's what it is. BUT, they have remodeled the entire interior of their side of the duplex and it is really gorgeous. both are artistic and you can tell when you walk into their house. Then Anna, the girl that let me use her internet on Sunday, came and we all went out to eat. We had a great time laughing at the English descriptions on the menu which never fail to be entertaining when trying to describe local dishes in a language that doesn't really have the words they need. "barbeque prune sauce" was the most interesting today =)
After we ate, i went with Anna to her basketball practice and then right after that to a game between 2 of the professional teams here in Estonia. basketball might be bigger than soccer in the baltic states in a few years, and is definitely more popular in certain communities.
Well, that's about all for now. I will hopefully be able to post late Saturday or Sunday sometime.
Til then,
So Tallinn is such a gorgeous city! Even though yesterday it rained ALL day and was freezing cold, it couldn't take away the fact that Tallinn has been here for centuries, accumulating vastly different styles of architechture and urban planning in various sections of the city. In Tallinn, the changes are fairly abrupt, you can cross a street from Old Town with its cobblestone streets and ancient buildings, to Soviet era constructions and then again to modern commercial business districts and it can be really disorienting sometimes. The views from church towers are also great because you can look out over the city and then the water starts and stretches, and yet somehow you can tell that there is an end to it, even if you can't see Helsinki.
Today i spent a majority of my time with Ron and Judy Warpole, two missionaries here in Tallinn. They are crazy fun people and Ron is SO proud of their home just outside the city. it was built in the soviet era and from the outside is typical of that time...looks like a cement block and basically, that's what it is. BUT, they have remodeled the entire interior of their side of the duplex and it is really gorgeous. both are artistic and you can tell when you walk into their house. Then Anna, the girl that let me use her internet on Sunday, came and we all went out to eat. We had a great time laughing at the English descriptions on the menu which never fail to be entertaining when trying to describe local dishes in a language that doesn't really have the words they need. "barbeque prune sauce" was the most interesting today =)
After we ate, i went with Anna to her basketball practice and then right after that to a game between 2 of the professional teams here in Estonia. basketball might be bigger than soccer in the baltic states in a few years, and is definitely more popular in certain communities.
Well, that's about all for now. I will hopefully be able to post late Saturday or Sunday sometime.
Til then,
Sunday, April 22, 2007
well folks, this is going to be a long one...sorry it has been a few days! i've also realized that my posts are a bit bland without pictures but again, sorry, you will just have to wait until i get home and even then, i don't take many pictures so you will just have to ask me about it =)
so...Leaving Poland amid fireworks and celebrations, i thought that perhaps i should have stayed, especially because the overnight bus ride to Vilnius wasn't the most comfortable trip i've ever experienced. Seeing Vilnius' old town spread out down the hill toward the river and getting to experience what that city has to offer were well worth any discomfort i might have had! Vilnius is a great city and I really hope to go back not just to see the city but to see other parts of Lithuania that a great guy, Andrius, told me about. Andrius spent several hours yesterday showing me around the city and we had such intelligent, honest, fun conversation! He showed me his favorite places in the city, from an excellent lithuanian restaurant, to the hill no one else knows about. I had already been up the hill that Vilnius' fort sits on, and the view was great but Andrius, of course, knows the secrets.
There is a really neat part of town called Uzupis, which even has its own constitution, giving its citizens rights such as "everyone has the right to be wrong" and "everyone has the right to feed the dog" and other such nonsense but also "everyone has the right to love" and "everyone has the right to not have rights" and in the end it really does make sense. They also declared independence on April 1st, which is similar to our April fool's day =) Uzupis is the counter-culture area of the city and the river Vilnia runs along the edge of it. There is a thriving arts community with lots of sculpture along the river. There are two bridges that hold a unique tradition in Vilnius. Couples that get married in the nearby churches buy padlocks and attach them to the railing of the bridges and then throw the key in to the river Vilnia!
Andrius took me to another church in a different area that is decorated lavishly and intricately in the baroque style and while we were there 2 different couples got married...i think it would be so odd to get married with all these strangers looking at you, or not paying any attention to you at all. Andrius was really interested in why i thought my wedding probably wouldn't look anything like that =)
There is a KGB/genocide victims museum in Vilnius that I went to on Friday. They have lots of really neat information on the partisan resistance of the Lithuanians to the Communist takeover after WWII, but the best and creepiest part of the place was the basement. It used to be a prison and the cells still hold that musty, dank odor. There were 2 torture rooms that could be filled with cold water and prisoners were made to balance on a small round platform, each time getting drenched with cold water if they fell off. How miserable! There was also a padded room...i didn't want to imagine what went on in there. Just standing at the end of the hall and looking at all of the doors, imagining what horrible things people had to endure there...not a pretty sight.
Vilnius has all kinds of different architecture and the styles mix and swirl together in a really beautiful array of colors and shapes. The old town is pretty large and the streets are all windy and curvy and narrow. I've decided, though, that no matter how gorgeous a city is, it will always be better with people like Andrius, and like the people I have met and who have helped me so much today in Tallinn.
I came on the overnight bus with much fewer people and therefore more comfortable, although there were a couple of obnoxious brits and an equally loud and obnoxious american on there too...sometimes, i tell ya...lol...anyway, I arrived here early this morning. I had corresponded by email with members of the church and knew where the church building was so I walked there. It is such a great feeling to be in the presence of believers, even if not all of them speak your language, just knowing that everyone there loves the same God is a blessing beyond description for me! There were several people there that spoke great English, though, as well as Ron and Judy Warpole who are the missionaries here in Tallinn. They all welcomed me with open arms and hearts and great big smiles! Nickolai taught me a little Estonian, though the majority of the congregation here is Russian and the service is in Russian. Anna, Nickolai's daughter, speaks flawless American English and has generously allowed me to use this computer that I'm typing on right now. I went to lunch after services with several members of the congregation and we had a great time and some good food too. Then Anna took me to the train station and, more blessings from God, helped me buy my train ticket from here to Moscow as well as my ticket from Moscow to Novosibirsk! That makes it much easier for me because English speaking Moscow train ticket people are a rare breed indeed (that could be a poem if anyone wants to have a go at it =)
So...so far my experience in Tallinn has been awesome and hopefully the next 3 days will be just as great. I will be leaving Moscow for Tomsk on Thursday, arriving in Novosibirsk on Saturday and then Tomsk Sat night.
Love you all,
so...Leaving Poland amid fireworks and celebrations, i thought that perhaps i should have stayed, especially because the overnight bus ride to Vilnius wasn't the most comfortable trip i've ever experienced. Seeing Vilnius' old town spread out down the hill toward the river and getting to experience what that city has to offer were well worth any discomfort i might have had! Vilnius is a great city and I really hope to go back not just to see the city but to see other parts of Lithuania that a great guy, Andrius, told me about. Andrius spent several hours yesterday showing me around the city and we had such intelligent, honest, fun conversation! He showed me his favorite places in the city, from an excellent lithuanian restaurant, to the hill no one else knows about. I had already been up the hill that Vilnius' fort sits on, and the view was great but Andrius, of course, knows the secrets.
There is a really neat part of town called Uzupis, which even has its own constitution, giving its citizens rights such as "everyone has the right to be wrong" and "everyone has the right to feed the dog" and other such nonsense but also "everyone has the right to love" and "everyone has the right to not have rights" and in the end it really does make sense. They also declared independence on April 1st, which is similar to our April fool's day =) Uzupis is the counter-culture area of the city and the river Vilnia runs along the edge of it. There is a thriving arts community with lots of sculpture along the river. There are two bridges that hold a unique tradition in Vilnius. Couples that get married in the nearby churches buy padlocks and attach them to the railing of the bridges and then throw the key in to the river Vilnia!
Andrius took me to another church in a different area that is decorated lavishly and intricately in the baroque style and while we were there 2 different couples got married...i think it would be so odd to get married with all these strangers looking at you, or not paying any attention to you at all. Andrius was really interested in why i thought my wedding probably wouldn't look anything like that =)
There is a KGB/genocide victims museum in Vilnius that I went to on Friday. They have lots of really neat information on the partisan resistance of the Lithuanians to the Communist takeover after WWII, but the best and creepiest part of the place was the basement. It used to be a prison and the cells still hold that musty, dank odor. There were 2 torture rooms that could be filled with cold water and prisoners were made to balance on a small round platform, each time getting drenched with cold water if they fell off. How miserable! There was also a padded room...i didn't want to imagine what went on in there. Just standing at the end of the hall and looking at all of the doors, imagining what horrible things people had to endure there...not a pretty sight.
Vilnius has all kinds of different architecture and the styles mix and swirl together in a really beautiful array of colors and shapes. The old town is pretty large and the streets are all windy and curvy and narrow. I've decided, though, that no matter how gorgeous a city is, it will always be better with people like Andrius, and like the people I have met and who have helped me so much today in Tallinn.
I came on the overnight bus with much fewer people and therefore more comfortable, although there were a couple of obnoxious brits and an equally loud and obnoxious american on there too...sometimes, i tell ya...lol...anyway, I arrived here early this morning. I had corresponded by email with members of the church and knew where the church building was so I walked there. It is such a great feeling to be in the presence of believers, even if not all of them speak your language, just knowing that everyone there loves the same God is a blessing beyond description for me! There were several people there that spoke great English, though, as well as Ron and Judy Warpole who are the missionaries here in Tallinn. They all welcomed me with open arms and hearts and great big smiles! Nickolai taught me a little Estonian, though the majority of the congregation here is Russian and the service is in Russian. Anna, Nickolai's daughter, speaks flawless American English and has generously allowed me to use this computer that I'm typing on right now. I went to lunch after services with several members of the congregation and we had a great time and some good food too. Then Anna took me to the train station and, more blessings from God, helped me buy my train ticket from here to Moscow as well as my ticket from Moscow to Novosibirsk! That makes it much easier for me because English speaking Moscow train ticket people are a rare breed indeed (that could be a poem if anyone wants to have a go at it =)
So...so far my experience in Tallinn has been awesome and hopefully the next 3 days will be just as great. I will be leaving Moscow for Tomsk on Thursday, arriving in Novosibirsk on Saturday and then Tomsk Sat night.
Love you all,
Thursday, April 19, 2007
party in Poland
Everyone was partying it up in Poland yesterday because the country got approved to host the Euro Cup in 2012...great news for them. They were showing pictures of these diplomats and official people in suits all jumping up and down and clapping each other on the back and hugging...it was hilarious. But they are a happy people right now...fireworks in the center last night and everyone having a great time. It means a big boost for their economy, because they get money from the EU and the soccer organization to build the infrastructure and services needed for the event. Good for Poland =)
I got a taste of Poland during the 80s yesterday as well. Chris took me to eat dinner at a Bar Mlezsney, at least i think that was how it was spelled. It is a kind of cafeteria place but small, where you order from a menu on the wall and it is all pre-made and they send it out of the window for you. Chris recommended tomato soup, which is not usually my favorite but this kind was delicious! and rogos which is indescribable really but something like a really thick beef stew, and mashed potatoes and then crepes for dessert filled with a kind of sweet cheese that you can't find in the states either. All of this for only 8 zloty each! that is just under $3! It is a really neat place for anothe reason: all kinds of people eat there every day, from businessmen to students to the homeless. One of the last of its kind.
I also went to the Warsaw uprising museum...SO much information but a great museum. The courage and bravery it depicts are impressive.
Road the bus to Vilnius last night...it is COLD here!! crazy person that i am, i decide to go towards the cold weather instead of going to some sunny place like Greece or Italy...ah well, fewer tourists =)
i have to meet someone in 20 min so i have to get going, more to come later
I got a taste of Poland during the 80s yesterday as well. Chris took me to eat dinner at a Bar Mlezsney, at least i think that was how it was spelled. It is a kind of cafeteria place but small, where you order from a menu on the wall and it is all pre-made and they send it out of the window for you. Chris recommended tomato soup, which is not usually my favorite but this kind was delicious! and rogos which is indescribable really but something like a really thick beef stew, and mashed potatoes and then crepes for dessert filled with a kind of sweet cheese that you can't find in the states either. All of this for only 8 zloty each! that is just under $3! It is a really neat place for anothe reason: all kinds of people eat there every day, from businessmen to students to the homeless. One of the last of its kind.
I also went to the Warsaw uprising museum...SO much information but a great museum. The courage and bravery it depicts are impressive.
Road the bus to Vilnius last night...it is COLD here!! crazy person that i am, i decide to go towards the cold weather instead of going to some sunny place like Greece or Italy...ah well, fewer tourists =)
i have to meet someone in 20 min so i have to get going, more to come later
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Warsawa
Warsaw is actually a much nicer city than i thought it was going to be! It is pretty big and somewhat spread out, but there are lots of little parks and a few big parks interspersed throughout the city and that makes it much more likeable. The old town is beautiful, even if you can tell that it isn't hundreds of years old. They did a good job of rebuilding it after the war, for sure. Last night I went up to the top of the Palac cultury and the views are beautiful.
Leaving Leipzig was so hard! Caroline came to see me off and then just a couple minutes before the train left Konrad showed up on his bike...it was so great to see them both one last time. I will miss them and Mohammed and Shahid and Elfi and...oh, there are others i'm sure and i'll miss them all dearly.
My train was fun, on the last stretch i met a girl from here in poland but she is going back to the states...boston, today. the world gets smaller and smaller.
This morning i went to a park on the recommendation of a friend. This park is pretty big and has several cool buildings/monuments in it but the coolest part were the peacocks!! some of them even fanned their tails for me but the squaked horribly loud too.
tomorrow i'm going to the warsaw uprising museum. i saw the monument today and that was really cool...i'm really bad about taking pictures and stuff though, so you can see it on the internet if you are curious =)
Leaving Leipzig was so hard! Caroline came to see me off and then just a couple minutes before the train left Konrad showed up on his bike...it was so great to see them both one last time. I will miss them and Mohammed and Shahid and Elfi and...oh, there are others i'm sure and i'll miss them all dearly.
My train was fun, on the last stretch i met a girl from here in poland but she is going back to the states...boston, today. the world gets smaller and smaller.
This morning i went to a park on the recommendation of a friend. This park is pretty big and has several cool buildings/monuments in it but the coolest part were the peacocks!! some of them even fanned their tails for me but the squaked horribly loud too.
tomorrow i'm going to the warsaw uprising museum. i saw the monument today and that was really cool...i'm really bad about taking pictures and stuff though, so you can see it on the internet if you are curious =)
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Summer's come and I'm gone
I am so sad to be leaving Leipzig! Yesterday I spent 4 hours or so in the park in this gorgeous weather with Caroline and her husband Sasha, and a bunch of his Russian speaking friends. I know it sounds crazy but it was so much fun. Bizarre too for me to want to have something explained to me in German because my Russian is practically nonexistant. We had such a great time, but I can't really get to know any of them because I'm leaving Monday. Comforting to know that God is still here.
I met with Roswitha for the last time yesterday too. She gave me the coolest present! It is a little cup that is made up of concentric circles so that it can fold down to about a half inch thick circle. She said that kids in the DDR times always had one. It will be incredibly useful for my trip! How awesome =)
A friend of mine sent me a few issues of the magazing The Economist and those are also going to be so welcome during the next few weeks as I get on long train and bus rides. Thanks Todd!!
Yesterday I also spent about an hour drinking coffee at the Children's hospital down the street with the head of the radiology department. He met with Dwane at the Ronald McDonald house and a couple other people to speak English. I had taken that over for Dwane but now that I'm leaving I guess they will have to find another native English speaker. Wolfgang is his name and we had a great chat about America and Don Miller books and hospitals in Europe. I even got to watch him do an ultrasound on a little boy's head. Very cool.
I'm going to miss this little internet cafe too!
Well, off to more adventures in His beautiful creation
I met with Roswitha for the last time yesterday too. She gave me the coolest present! It is a little cup that is made up of concentric circles so that it can fold down to about a half inch thick circle. She said that kids in the DDR times always had one. It will be incredibly useful for my trip! How awesome =)
A friend of mine sent me a few issues of the magazing The Economist and those are also going to be so welcome during the next few weeks as I get on long train and bus rides. Thanks Todd!!
Yesterday I also spent about an hour drinking coffee at the Children's hospital down the street with the head of the radiology department. He met with Dwane at the Ronald McDonald house and a couple other people to speak English. I had taken that over for Dwane but now that I'm leaving I guess they will have to find another native English speaker. Wolfgang is his name and we had a great chat about America and Don Miller books and hospitals in Europe. I even got to watch him do an ultrasound on a little boy's head. Very cool.
I'm going to miss this little internet cafe too!
Well, off to more adventures in His beautiful creation
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Chili
I had the yummiest Chili last night at the Moritz Bastei, a really neat restaurant here in Leipzig. It is a fortress that was excavated in the 70s by some university students and now it is a restaurant/performance hall. Last night there was a soccer game on TV and you couldn't move for all the people where there was a place to see the tube. Soccer fans...crazy people =). Brielle, her mom Debbie who is here for 2 weeks, Konrad, his girlfriend Julia, and I went and then Mohammed came a little later which was really great cause he got to meet them. We had a great time and some good food.
Yesterday I went to the Leipzig zoo. It is a really neat place and the way they have the park laid out is interesting and engaging and they have a wide variety and large number of animals. Yesterday, though, there were entirely too many people there! Strollers and little kids screaming and cameras and all sorts of things. Not my favorite experience but I would go again if I knew there would be fewer people there.
Tuesday night I went over to Konrad's and he gave me some German music, which was awesome! I can't listen to it until I get home though because he doesn't have iTunes and so I could just put it on the hard drive but not in the interface...wierd iPods. We went and played on the jungle gyms in the park after and that was hilarious and fun!
That's all I have time for right now but hopefully tomorrow or Saturday I can write more
Yesterday I went to the Leipzig zoo. It is a really neat place and the way they have the park laid out is interesting and engaging and they have a wide variety and large number of animals. Yesterday, though, there were entirely too many people there! Strollers and little kids screaming and cameras and all sorts of things. Not my favorite experience but I would go again if I knew there would be fewer people there.
Tuesday night I went over to Konrad's and he gave me some German music, which was awesome! I can't listen to it until I get home though because he doesn't have iTunes and so I could just put it on the hard drive but not in the interface...wierd iPods. We went and played on the jungle gyms in the park after and that was hilarious and fun!
That's all I have time for right now but hopefully tomorrow or Saturday I can write more
Monday, April 9, 2007
EASTER!!!!
I had an awesome Easter! Konrad invited me to his family's house for Easter so we left after worship yesterday and arrived at his house at about 1pm and ate a DELICIOUS dinner of schnitzel and all sorts of yummy german foods. Konrad's family is quirky and wonderful and fun!! I had such a great time there and we colored easter eggs in a very different way from anything I have ever done. We heated wax and then applied it to uncooked eggs with little metal things in designs and then you let the wax dry and then heat them in a pot full of onion skins to dye the shells brown but where the wax is it stays white but then the wax melts off too...beautiful! I am going to get some home somehow.
We went to the F60 which is a massive piece of mining machinery you can look it up on wikipedia and translate it or follow this link, which i don't know if it will work : http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fde.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FF60&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
we took a tour at dusk and so we got to see beautiful scenery and the big thing lit up at night...it was really interesting.
This morning we went to a miniature town and saw a real windmill and the wind was blowing so hard that the whole place was shaking from the wheel going round...it was really neat but they had to stop it because it was going too fast. We grilled for lunch and it was again delicious. It was so nice to have easter with a family away from my own family--harder to miss them then.
The train back was packed with students and people coming back from Easter holidays and Konrad and his sister Fredericka had to sit on the floor in the passageway but we had a great time playing cards and just talking.
My last week in Leipzig begins...there is so much I want to do still and lots of people to spend time with before I leave.
We went to the F60 which is a massive piece of mining machinery you can look it up on wikipedia and translate it or follow this link, which i don't know if it will work : http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fde.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FF60&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
we took a tour at dusk and so we got to see beautiful scenery and the big thing lit up at night...it was really interesting.
This morning we went to a miniature town and saw a real windmill and the wind was blowing so hard that the whole place was shaking from the wheel going round...it was really neat but they had to stop it because it was going too fast. We grilled for lunch and it was again delicious. It was so nice to have easter with a family away from my own family--harder to miss them then.
The train back was packed with students and people coming back from Easter holidays and Konrad and his sister Fredericka had to sit on the floor in the passageway but we had a great time playing cards and just talking.
My last week in Leipzig begins...there is so much I want to do still and lots of people to spend time with before I leave.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Being Foreign
It is funny how simple things can bring people together--like just being foreign. You feel a kind of kinship with other people who are away from home...no matter where they are from =). I met a guy from Lebanon the other day and his is a sad story. Not unusual where he comes from, but sad.
He and his parents and brother lived in a house in 1990 and one night some Palestinians wanted to stay in an empty room behind where they lived. His father let them stay but told them that they should leave by morning. Early the next morning however, some men came that Mudi (this guy I met) describes as "hating the Palestinians." Whether they were Israeli or some other sect of people I don't know, but it doesn't matter. Mudi's father spoke with them for a long time, and eventually their conversation ended in threats from both sides with guns. No one was killed at that time but a few weeks later, Mudi's father had to take a trip to a nearby city...and he never made it. None of his family has heard from him since, and Mudi assumes he is dead. Besides not having a father, Mudi's brother was in an accident 10 years ago. He was refused treatment at 3 hospitals in Lebanon because he had no money to pay. He cannot walk. Mudi's mother brought his brother here to Germany 7 years ago hoping to get treatment for his brother, and as of yet, nothing has worked. Mudi has only been here 2 years and he sees no future for himself in Germany. He applied for an American visa through the lottery and hopes that he will be one of the few lucky ones. This might seem a bit fantastic to you, but this IS his story...please pray for him!
Blooming is beginning here in Leipzig and you can smell spring. I played softball for 5 hours on Saturday and actually got a little sun! Konrad and I cooked Brats and mashed potatoes and sauerkraut (how German right? =) yum! and Caroline and I had a great chat Saturday night as well.
Sunday Randy came from Dresden for worship. He and Konrad and I had soup for lunch as usual. Sunday night I ate Indian food with some new friends from the Internet cafe and it was scrumdidilyuptious! (from Charlie and the Choc Factory in case you didn't catch that :)
Just about the only worry I have right now concerns my registering for classes at the U of Ark. and it's not that big of a worry either...but I haven't been given an enrollment appointment probably because I had to re-enroll and they don't consider me a senior, instead I'm a transfer student...bleh. So if any of you reading this go to the University and have a little time, you should petition the Registrar to let me register soon =) thanks
Love conquers all
He and his parents and brother lived in a house in 1990 and one night some Palestinians wanted to stay in an empty room behind where they lived. His father let them stay but told them that they should leave by morning. Early the next morning however, some men came that Mudi (this guy I met) describes as "hating the Palestinians." Whether they were Israeli or some other sect of people I don't know, but it doesn't matter. Mudi's father spoke with them for a long time, and eventually their conversation ended in threats from both sides with guns. No one was killed at that time but a few weeks later, Mudi's father had to take a trip to a nearby city...and he never made it. None of his family has heard from him since, and Mudi assumes he is dead. Besides not having a father, Mudi's brother was in an accident 10 years ago. He was refused treatment at 3 hospitals in Lebanon because he had no money to pay. He cannot walk. Mudi's mother brought his brother here to Germany 7 years ago hoping to get treatment for his brother, and as of yet, nothing has worked. Mudi has only been here 2 years and he sees no future for himself in Germany. He applied for an American visa through the lottery and hopes that he will be one of the few lucky ones. This might seem a bit fantastic to you, but this IS his story...please pray for him!
Blooming is beginning here in Leipzig and you can smell spring. I played softball for 5 hours on Saturday and actually got a little sun! Konrad and I cooked Brats and mashed potatoes and sauerkraut (how German right? =) yum! and Caroline and I had a great chat Saturday night as well.
Sunday Randy came from Dresden for worship. He and Konrad and I had soup for lunch as usual. Sunday night I ate Indian food with some new friends from the Internet cafe and it was scrumdidilyuptious! (from Charlie and the Choc Factory in case you didn't catch that :)
Just about the only worry I have right now concerns my registering for classes at the U of Ark. and it's not that big of a worry either...but I haven't been given an enrollment appointment probably because I had to re-enroll and they don't consider me a senior, instead I'm a transfer student...bleh. So if any of you reading this go to the University and have a little time, you should petition the Registrar to let me register soon =) thanks
Love conquers all
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