Currently, I’m sitting on a train typing this on the way from Bratislava going to Kosice. We just passed a large castle in a place called Trencin, I write that mainly to remember it if I ever want to stop off again. But also, to highlight the fact that passing castles on trains is normal now. We’ve been traveling for over a week now. Last week we went to a conference in Senec, Slovakia which is somewhere near Bratislava. I don’t attempt to know, I just usually get on a train and pray that I have a seat. Which, funny you should ask, on this train we didn’t have seat reservations. Not only that, but we somehow bought a train ticket for the wrong type of train and so, here we are on the train, and ticket lady comes by telling me we have a reservation for the wrong train (all in Slovak). How am I supposed to know what to do in a situation like this? Apparently you pay the difference and get another type of long receipt ticket. Life is adventure here, everyday.
This train ride is the last leg of our travel, we’ve been to Bratislava, Senec, and Rome. One of these cities is not like the other. We hopped a plane to Rome, which got us there in about 2 hours. My team met up with some friends from the Sweden team, Lindsey and Ryan. Their holiday travels include Rome (with us), Paris, and London. I’m not quite sure I could pack all of that into one trip.
I loved Rome. There is so much history crammed into that one city that I can’t even attempt to take it all in during one visit. Being there made me wish I had retained more from History and Latin class.
Our first day we saw the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps, Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Emperor’s Palace. This is a good traveling tip, take tours whenever you go somewhere with this much history. We payed something like 19 Euros (27 dollars) for a tour of the Colosseum , the Forum, and the Palace, which was incredibly worth it. We learned a lot about spectators in the Colosseum, and our tour guide even invited us to see his personal butterfly collection when it was all over. I can’t say that we took him up on his offer.
That night, I ventured with Matt, Ryan, and Aaron to the Pantheon to see it at night. During our trip we ran across the American Embassy which inspired us to sing a medley of Patriotic songs through the streets of Rome all the way to our hostel. The second day we went to the Pantheon to see it in the day-time, and actually go inside. The Pantheon is an immense building with huge columns guarding its entrance. Inside there is a huge hole in the ceiling and when it rains, the water drains into 22 tiny holes in the marble floor. Then we went to one of the famous Piazza’s to enjoy the market and to eat outside in a café! This was a delight to me because we were outside, in December, in a café, eating real Italian Pizza, in Rome! It was too much to take in at times that we were really there. That night we headed back to the Trevi fountain where there was filming going on, the type of thing us Wilmingon-ites are used to. We then went to another Piazza with yet another market. It felt like home! We said goodbye to Lindsey and Ryan hopefully to see them later in our STINT year (a girl can hope).
And then there were 5. We went to Vatican city during our third day. This was quite an adventure. I got the audio guide during my tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. I could hardly believe all of the statues, the history, the Egyptian sarcophaguses and the culture that has collected over the years. Once again an audio guide for only 5 euros, made the 13 euro entrance into the Vatican completely worth it. Sure, without it, it would have been really cool, but just having a bit of information makes these types of visits come alive for me. Inside there are elaborate paintings by Van Gogh, Michelangelo (his most famous Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel) as well as Rafael. In this picture you can see Rafael’s talent at making paintings come to life, these are paintings on the wall, not statues.

There is so much to learn about these frescos and I tried to do it as fast as I could by staring at them overtaking the chapel. To me, it’s so amazing that when Pope Julius commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo didn’t feel confident in his painting ability and told the Pope that he would rather sculpt. It took him 6 years to finish the ceiling and 4 to finish the Last Judgment. I think we have a lot to learn from this. In fact, I think we have a lot to learn from the Catholic church in general. Sure, there may occasionally be doctrinal issues, but the way the Catholic church (at least then) embraced culture and art, I think really ministered to society of the time. I think it still does today, that’s why things like Solarium, Story of the Soul, and sharing our “stories’ works well today. It’s not a new idea, the church has been doing it for thousands of years. Not only this, but we could all stand to try new things, and discover new talent, to not be afraid of the unknown and to learn from Michelangelo’s perseverance.
After our visit to the Vatican Museum we went to St.Peter’s basilica, this is where the Pope speaks, in that really big square, with fountains, and marble, and even very large screens and a sound system that would rival any sound stage today.
In all of these visits to these historical places I really enjoyed the privilege of being able to see these places in real life. My team spoke about how amazing it is that you see these places in textbooks, but when you see them in real life, it makes you crave knowledge, it makes you want to know everything about all of these places. Which is unfortunately impossible in one trip, but is doable over time.
During our travels (and in less than a week) I read 2 books, To Own a Dragon by Donald Miller and The Big Love by Sarah Dunn. It really makes me wonder if I would always read like that if I didn’t have the internet to distract me.
Our flight to Bratislava got in just late enough that we couldn’t make the last IC (fast train) back to Kosice, so we stayed the night in Bratislava at John and Amy Russell’s home. They have a beautiful home and 2 really cute children. This morning we got up and took a commuter train from the train station near their home to the main train station, where we bought tickets to travel on the train that I’m currently on typing this blog.
Up next we’re having Christmas in Kosice, and we’re planning to make a big feast, things to that will make us feel like it’s really Christmas. We’ll also head to Brad and Karla’s, two missionaries here, with their kids for a family meal! Then, on the 28th we’re going to our Winter Conference in central Slovakia. It will be a joyous time. Our theme mirrors that of the Midsouth’s, Encounter, except ours is “Tvarou v Tvar” which is the closest translation of Encounter in Slovak but literally means “face to face.” I am excited about that time which I am praying will propel the movement here forward.
On January 12th, Jeremy and Dara will get married in the huge church on Hlavna in Kosice and the next day (the 13th) we’ll head out to go to our STINT midyear conference and then to the last of the 4 conferences, Area of Affairs conference. Both of these conferences are in Hungary, somewhere near each other. I’m praying for refreshment during these times even though travel can be somewhat wearing especially by train.
Enjoy these videos and pictures that I’ll put on facebook and flickr for your viewing pleasure.
If you learn anything from reading this blog, I would say this, travel as much as you can (get a tour guide), travel as cheaply as you can, bring a good book and pack light. It’s worth it. Anyone can be comfortable, anyone can stay home, but you were made to fly. So spread your wings.

Currently listening to: Love Song by Sara Barallies

Currently Reading: Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne

Hi there. I’m on the road right now. We left on Thursday as a team to head to our Country Conference, in Senec, Slovakia – which is about 30 minutes from Bratislava by train (and 6 and a half hours from Kosice by train).

On Monday, the American part of my team, will fly to Rome. I am really excited about having the opportunity to see this city with so much history. It will be my 2nd time in Western Europe, but I’m hoping to go to other countries before the year is out.

I hope everyone in the states is gearing up for Christmas, I can almost imagine the lines at the malls and parking lots, oh I hate parking lots. I hope my Wilmington friends are enjoying College Road traffic and are learning new heights of patience through it, same for you my friends in Raleigh (especially if you travel on Capital).

My team will spend Christmas in Kosice (our hometown) and will probably hang out with a missionary family in town. I think it will be good, different but good.

Ministry this past semester finally started to click for our team within the last couple of weeks. We began doing Solarium, a ministry tool with a collection of pictures with which people use to answer questions about God, life, and their spiritual journey. This tool is a helpful, non-invasive way for us to get into spiritual conversations with students. About a week ago, I sat across the table with a girl who I met one day on campus, her name is Julia, but she goes by Jules. Mirka, one of my friends on staff here, was there with me. We were able to talk with Jules about her views on life and God. It was so amazing to hear her responses to the questions. Mirka shared her spiritual journey story and I had a chance to share mine. Jules picked a picture describing her spiritual life right now as a door, she said she felt like there is something holding her back, and she knows God is on the other side, but she doesn’t know how to open the door. As we were sharing with her, we were able to give her the verse, in Revelation 3:20, which says, “behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.” For Jules, I think she had this light come on. Pray for her. I know she is probably still searching and maybe by this point she has really trusted God as her Savior. As I sat there watching Mirka share with Jules, I was teary eyed, watching the Great Commission advance, in another language that isn’t mine, and that I can’t yet speak. I am thankful.

I want to thank you for your prayers and your love of me across these miles. I’ll be sure to update you from Rome and ofcourse to post some videos and pictures! (Everyone loves those).

Merry Christmas!

today was the first time i have seen the sun in about 2 weeks. it was good to see you sun. but now, it’s 4:28pm and the sun has already set and outside my window it is complete darkness. outside my window i can see the business centrum (a large business building) and i can see straight into their windows. people are working in their offices. lights are turning off and i guess some are packing up to head home for the day.

it’s been warmer lately but it has also been raining a lot. 41 degrees yesterday, 39 today.

we leave tomorrow morning on a train to bratislava and then we go from there to a nearby town called Senec. On Monday the American portion of my team is leaving to go to Rome. I’ve never been to Italy so I am quite excited.

as i near into 4 months here, i find myself being thankful for where God has brought me. all that He has taught me. how to depend on Him more fully. my appreciation of my friends. that a year is not that long, learning to make the most of every opportunity. learning how shallow i am at times. the value of learning new culture and language. the importance of dreaming. how much i love creativity. what it means to be poor in spirit. what it means to trust God. that i have really good friends. the importance of laughter. the importance of community. this is just a short list.

tonight we have dinner as a team to celebrate the semester. i can’t believe it’s over. these past 2 months have flown by, and i can’t imagine how fast the next 6 will go. i’m almost half way through with my time here and that seems really hard to believe.

the next time i talk to you if i say slovak words instead of english please know it’s becoming a normal thing. the language is almost fully integrated into my vocabulary. even to the point where i am forgetting some english. i’ll need to relearn some things.

i’ll be blogging from Rome. so be on the look out.

for now, my latest pictures

On September 27th a linguistic consortium in Paris has come up with following results:

the easiest languages to learn:

10. mongolese

09. aramaic

08. greek

07. norwegian

06. italian

05. romanian

04. croatian

03. bulgarian

02. english

01. the easiest language in the world spoken by more than 300 million people is spanish

the most difficult languages: (linguists examined complexity of grammar, syntax, historical development, pronunciation, orthography, letter styles, signs, etc.)

10. german

09. french

08. chinese

07. japanese

06. korean

05. persian

04. arabic

03. finnish

02. hungarian

01. the most difficult language is Slovak

The most difficult is grammar structure. Slovak language is the only one with seven grammar cases (nominativ, genitiv, dativ, accusativ, local, instrumental, vocativ), exquisite words, soft and hard “i”, declension of adjectives and verbs, in other words almost each and every word in this language is being declinated. There are many other characteristics which are not found in other world languages. It is said, or estimated, that it takes about 12 years to learn it completely, but the linguists say, that there is no one on this earth who can speak this language perfectly knowing all the grammar rules.

I haven’t given you a real blogging update in awhile. I think that is because I’ve realized the value of making videos, you watch them, you like them. Give the people what they want! There is still a part of me that cries out to write! So here we go.

We have about 2 more weeks of ministry left. This is sad to me because things are really starting to pick up. Tomorrow night two girls are coming over to watch a movie and on Thursday afternoon after high school lets out we’re having girls over to watch Step Up which was really big here when it came out. Apparently these girls love hip hop, so watch out, I might be choregraphing some dances for them to learn, it may take me back to my college days. Hog callin’ and Stunt. Oh boy.

I challenged a girl here to discipleship in Presov. I think this will be really a great relationship to build with her, and I’m praying that God will use her on her campus to reach those around her for Christ. Yesterday was a really encouraging day because while in Presov, Matt and Aaron were together doing solarium and Carlyn and Shannon were going into the dorm to see if they could meet with a girl. Since I was by myself during this time, I decided to see if I could meet some girls on my own. I walked up to these two girls, and just asked them if they spoke english, after about 2 minutes, they said to me “don’t you want a chair?” and so I pulled up a chair and proceeded to talk with them for the next 30 minutes.

A lot of cool stuff is happening. Just this morning we were talking as a team about what we’re learning about God’s character and without a doubt I’m learning a ton about His faithfulness. I think this is helpful to know that even though I’ll go through times of difficulty, it’s all for a reason, to learn why I’ve been through that is more for character development than it is for anything else. This reminds me of Philippians 1:6, that being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

I find myself being very thankful right now for where I am, for what God has taught me, what He is teaching me, and trusting that He will lead me to the next thing that He has for me.

I will probably need to blog soon about all of the things that have happened to me, less I forget, and I really don’t want to do that. But, wow, it’s really crazy and fun. I’m only reminded of how different my life is here when I talk to my American readers. Let’s just say it’s become a running joke with my team that I’m not sure when I’ll get to go to Hungary again, since for awhile I was going once a week. I know in a few years I’ll look back on this post and laugh, or maybe be amazed. Either way, life here is different but it somehow becomes really normal. Already I’ve gotten quite used to the colder weather. It’s -4 celcius and it feels normal to me.

Before I close out this post, just know that I am thankful for each of you who read this blog, watch my videos, and comment on them. It makes me feel so loved! It also makes me realize the power of media and the likelihood that many people would rather watch a video than read a blog. If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably not the person I’m talking about.

For now, here are a few pictures of thanksgiving in praha.

my team at buffalo bills for thanksgiving dinner. (left to right) Aaron, Matt, Shannon, Carlyn, and me.

Me, Yasmin, and Katie eating my 2nd thanksgiving dinner in Prague at my hostel with friends I’d never met.
Who can even believe it’s November 28th? More on how time flies next time.

6 hours in the future.

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You’d never believe all that you can do in less than 24 hours in Prague. I’ll give you a good “swirl around” of the old town square here.

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I found this article and thought it was pretty great and funny. I’m an ex-myspace user myself, and try to convert most everyone to facebook on a regular basis. You too, should try it, go to facebook.com to set up your account today, it’s free, it’s easy, it’s for everyone. Mark Zuckerburg, you are a genius.

We were there on Krakow’s independence day. It was a glorious cold and snowy adventure. I’ll post some from Prague next week!

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walking down a Krakow lane with Jenn Prince and Jenny Rone

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