Okay I only have 18 minutes so excuse the shotty writing that will follow...
I wrote on the first day after we had arrived, slept one night, and taken an overview tour of Jerusalem.
Since then we've...
-eaten Hummus for almost every meal and just can't seem to stop.
-eaten too many Jelly doughnuts for Hanukkah.
-walked countless hours/kilometers in shoes that were not meant for walking long distances (Mom-you can say, "I told you so").
-revisited the place which is most likely the site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial. You know, the place where we were friggin' saved from death? THAT VERY SPOT (most likely).
-seen where Mary heard that she was 'bout to have a carpenter-turned-Messiah boy.
-touched the sea (of Galilee) where Jesus calmed the storm, fed 5,000, and WALKED ON WATER (I tried...it didn't work).
-sampled some wine across from the church where Jesus performed His first miracle.
-touched the floor of the cave where the baby and the manger and the animals and the momma and the poppa were hanging out when the Shepherds came for a visit.
-saw the fields where the shepherds would have heard the angels.
-floated in the Dead Sea without even trying.
-stood atop a mountain where King Herod spent his summers.
(8 minutes left)
-ridden on tour busses, sherut taxis, and regular taxis for many, many miles.
-visited the site at which the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.
-met and hung out with many new friends (it's easy to make friends on tours).
-run into SO many groups of Nigerians that we're SURE they followed us from West Africa.
-taken a gazillion beautiful pictures.
-experienced REAL ISRAELI hospitality-these people are incredibly gracious.
(4 minutes)
-tried Israeli wine and beer (both are quite nice).
-saw a camel.
-learned many new words in PLENTY of different languages.
-watched a celebration at the Wailing Wall on the last day of Hanukkah, while the Muslim call to prayer was sounding, and the Christian church bells were ringing. How fabulous.
19 December 2009
14 December 2009
We've Arrived!
No pictures posted YET, but I can promise that we've taken plenty.
Last night we arrived in Jerusalem and took a big shared taxi with other travelers to the city. We found our place for the night and sat in a LOVELY coffee shop below to chill out from our hours of travel. It was small and friendly and the worker behind the counter corrected our botched up readings of Hebrew words from our guidebook. It was exactly what we needed.
We walked around a bit to see the neighborhood, then went back to our friend's place and received some awesome educating on religious history from homegrown Israelis. :) This place is so jampacked with history that it's hard to think of how we might keep it all in our heads. After sleeping in what felt like the coldest atmostphere I've ever been in in my life ("it's all relative"), Lauren and I woke up and met up with a bunch of tourists to go on another Sademan's free tour (if you remember Elyse, Amanda, and I did this in Munich last Spring). This company is fantastic. They brought us around the Old City and gave us an overview of history that we will be able to dive fully into later in our trip. We zipped through the Old city sites but something that punched me to my core was the place of Jesus' crucifixion...are you KIDDING ME!?!?!? Our tour guide was like, "yep this is believed to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion...moving on you'll see to your left...". Lauren and I were like...WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is where our Jesus died. This is where he fricken freed us all from our stupid sins. This is the glorious "incident" that preceeded the raising...the resurrection. The BASIS of our religion...our Christianity! Granted, this is not a Christian tour, so they're not going to sit us down and give us reflection time, therefore, we decided we'll have to go back. I'll let you know when that happens.
That's all for now. We'll write more later.
Thank you all for your prayers for safety, because we are.
LOVE!!
Last night we arrived in Jerusalem and took a big shared taxi with other travelers to the city. We found our place for the night and sat in a LOVELY coffee shop below to chill out from our hours of travel. It was small and friendly and the worker behind the counter corrected our botched up readings of Hebrew words from our guidebook. It was exactly what we needed.
We walked around a bit to see the neighborhood, then went back to our friend's place and received some awesome educating on religious history from homegrown Israelis. :) This place is so jampacked with history that it's hard to think of how we might keep it all in our heads. After sleeping in what felt like the coldest atmostphere I've ever been in in my life ("it's all relative"), Lauren and I woke up and met up with a bunch of tourists to go on another Sademan's free tour (if you remember Elyse, Amanda, and I did this in Munich last Spring). This company is fantastic. They brought us around the Old City and gave us an overview of history that we will be able to dive fully into later in our trip. We zipped through the Old city sites but something that punched me to my core was the place of Jesus' crucifixion...are you KIDDING ME!?!?!? Our tour guide was like, "yep this is believed to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion...moving on you'll see to your left...". Lauren and I were like...WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is where our Jesus died. This is where he fricken freed us all from our stupid sins. This is the glorious "incident" that preceeded the raising...the resurrection. The BASIS of our religion...our Christianity! Granted, this is not a Christian tour, so they're not going to sit us down and give us reflection time, therefore, we decided we'll have to go back. I'll let you know when that happens.
That's all for now. We'll write more later.
Thank you all for your prayers for safety, because we are.
LOVE!!
12 December 2009
Before I go...
So I wanted to "quick" blog about a few things before I leave for my Christmas trip so that I don't leave anything out...
Remember I said I was going to share about Thanksgiving?? Well, here's a quick version of the awesome time had on the 26th.
First of all, turkey is UBER expensive here in Ghana, so we do chicken. BEER-BUTT chicken to be exact. Isn't it funny looking? I've been telling people I think they look like man-torsos with sweaters. We made three to feed our group of 13.
Our one American guy obviously had to "carve the turkey". We weren't just gonna slice up the chicken and call it good...
But the chicken was soooo fantastic and was prepared by my friends Amanda and Elyse...I'm a dish-doer on significant holidays such as these. It's important that when you're cooking for many, that you know how to cook. haha...someday. While they were preparing chicken, I was taking care of the social events. I made all of my friends, even the reluctant ones, make themselves a turkey placemat. It was AWESOME! :)
I named her Frizzy.
I made Elyse's placemat because she was busy. He's a scientist because she likes Science and his name is HERM!
Anne Clair was a reluctant, but she soon fell in love with her Turbo!
Here's the group, drooling before the meal. We had soooo much to be thankful for, and it was great to have this big family to share it with. Praise the Lord. :)
We had a Christmas party with our Bible study group. I set up my Christmas Tree-thanks Mom :-D It made it feel like Christmas up in here! :)
CHRISTMAS WREATHS!!!
My idea...they made them. I LOVED these growing up when my momma would make them with corn flakes and a red hot.
We had off brand flakes and jelly beans, but they were of COURSE SCRUMPTIOUS!
This one's for you Momma love you! :)
We had Secret Santa gifts to give. I'm easy to buy for.
A few nights ago it was my buddy Anne Clair's birthday. We went out for cheap Chinese food and it was sooooo yummy!
Earlier that day, I got wind of a surprise that was to be given to her after we got back from dinner. By the end of dinner, everyone knew what was coming and she said her stomach was in KNOTS waiting for the surprise because we had talked it up so much, she was worried that she might disappoint us with her reaction. We all wanted to arrive at her house at the same time so we wouldn't have to wait for anyone to open the surprise so all 16 of us decided to pack ourselves into an SUV that seats 9. You heard me...
It was the sweatiest, most painful ride home I've ever, ever, ever taken. BUT IT WAS ALSO THE BEST, MOST HILARIOUS RIDE I'VE EVER, EVER, EVER TAKEN!!
SURPRISE!!!! The Bens got her a goat! His name is Rudolph and he was waiting in her bathroom so patiently.
Best friends already....sort of.
She has since then, fed him bunches, played with him outside until the wee hours of the morning, listened to Christmas music with him, and cleaned up some rather unappealing situations.
THURSDAY NIGHT was the last night in Ghana for a few people until 2010 or for forever, so we thought we should do something memorable. Something that might be worthy of pictures. The perfect solution???
A PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT!!!!
We spent quite a bit of time perfecting the list, and even asked for outside help, so that we might be surprised when we opened it at GAME TIME. I've included a few pictures of the fun ones...
Underneath a tro-tro
Kissing fish
Holding a chicken
Human pyramid in front of the super market
Fun right??? It was a blast! I recommend finding a group of friends and doing this very thing because it's hilarious. We plan to do a VIDEO scavenger hunt in January, which should be even more fun. You'll hear about it.
So, the near future...
In 2 hours a car is coming to pick up my friends and I to take us to the airport. Four of them will be heading to the States and one of them will hop on a Lufthansa flight with me to Tel Aviv, Israel!!!!! I am quite itchy to get going, but also a little pressed for time as I have not yet finished packing. 'Tis the way I do things though, last minute...
Anyway, my friend Lauren and I are going to be doing our best to send updates on our respective blogs throughout our trip so that people can keep up with what we're doing. We have about 500 things on our list of attractions/places to see and about 10 days to fit it all in, so hopefully we'll be able to budget our time well! We love suggestions of places/fun things so if you have any, please send them my way! :)
On the 22nd, just before Christmas, Lauren is taking another flight to Alabama to stay with family for a week before coming back to Ghana. As I am working on my savings, I had planned to just come back to Ghana. This seemed a bit lonely to me because most all of my roommates are gone. That's when I realized that my flight takes me through Frankfurt. I asked my travel agent how much it would cost to change my 4 hour layover into a 10 day layover....she said, "NOTHING. It's the same price."
Whuuuuuut!??!?!
I then proceeded to ask my friends from Germany how they felt about me invading their Christmas. The more the merrier was the reply. I couldn't believe how fantastically I was being blessed. I booked the flight.
THEREFORE...I will be spending the week of Christmas with my friend Dori, her family, and a few more friends I met in Ghana-during my first year. The next few days will be spent in Munich with some other friends, covering some places I missed the last time 'round. I promise to try my hardest to get to internet cafes and keep you all updated. So MANY of you have already told me you will be praying and I've felt such peace about the whole trip.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT.
Please, everyone enjoy your Christmas seasons. Those friends of mine who are about to have babies or are making wedding plans or other trip plans-good luck! Keep on truckin' and keep me updated!
Love to everyone from me
Remember I said I was going to share about Thanksgiving?? Well, here's a quick version of the awesome time had on the 26th.
First of all, turkey is UBER expensive here in Ghana, so we do chicken. BEER-BUTT chicken to be exact. Isn't it funny looking? I've been telling people I think they look like man-torsos with sweaters. We made three to feed our group of 13.
Our one American guy obviously had to "carve the turkey". We weren't just gonna slice up the chicken and call it good...
But the chicken was soooo fantastic and was prepared by my friends Amanda and Elyse...I'm a dish-doer on significant holidays such as these. It's important that when you're cooking for many, that you know how to cook. haha...someday. While they were preparing chicken, I was taking care of the social events. I made all of my friends, even the reluctant ones, make themselves a turkey placemat. It was AWESOME! :)
I named her Frizzy.
I made Elyse's placemat because she was busy. He's a scientist because she likes Science and his name is HERM!
Anne Clair was a reluctant, but she soon fell in love with her Turbo!
Here's the group, drooling before the meal. We had soooo much to be thankful for, and it was great to have this big family to share it with. Praise the Lord. :)
We had a Christmas party with our Bible study group. I set up my Christmas Tree-thanks Mom :-D It made it feel like Christmas up in here! :)
CHRISTMAS WREATHS!!!
My idea...they made them. I LOVED these growing up when my momma would make them with corn flakes and a red hot.
We had off brand flakes and jelly beans, but they were of COURSE SCRUMPTIOUS!
This one's for you Momma love you! :)
We had Secret Santa gifts to give. I'm easy to buy for.
A few nights ago it was my buddy Anne Clair's birthday. We went out for cheap Chinese food and it was sooooo yummy!
Earlier that day, I got wind of a surprise that was to be given to her after we got back from dinner. By the end of dinner, everyone knew what was coming and she said her stomach was in KNOTS waiting for the surprise because we had talked it up so much, she was worried that she might disappoint us with her reaction. We all wanted to arrive at her house at the same time so we wouldn't have to wait for anyone to open the surprise so all 16 of us decided to pack ourselves into an SUV that seats 9. You heard me...
It was the sweatiest, most painful ride home I've ever, ever, ever taken. BUT IT WAS ALSO THE BEST, MOST HILARIOUS RIDE I'VE EVER, EVER, EVER TAKEN!!
SURPRISE!!!! The Bens got her a goat! His name is Rudolph and he was waiting in her bathroom so patiently.
Best friends already....sort of.
She has since then, fed him bunches, played with him outside until the wee hours of the morning, listened to Christmas music with him, and cleaned up some rather unappealing situations.
THURSDAY NIGHT was the last night in Ghana for a few people until 2010 or for forever, so we thought we should do something memorable. Something that might be worthy of pictures. The perfect solution???
A PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT!!!!
We spent quite a bit of time perfecting the list, and even asked for outside help, so that we might be surprised when we opened it at GAME TIME. I've included a few pictures of the fun ones...
Underneath a tro-tro
Kissing fish
Holding a chicken
Human pyramid in front of the super market
Fun right??? It was a blast! I recommend finding a group of friends and doing this very thing because it's hilarious. We plan to do a VIDEO scavenger hunt in January, which should be even more fun. You'll hear about it.
So, the near future...
In 2 hours a car is coming to pick up my friends and I to take us to the airport. Four of them will be heading to the States and one of them will hop on a Lufthansa flight with me to Tel Aviv, Israel!!!!! I am quite itchy to get going, but also a little pressed for time as I have not yet finished packing. 'Tis the way I do things though, last minute...
Anyway, my friend Lauren and I are going to be doing our best to send updates on our respective blogs throughout our trip so that people can keep up with what we're doing. We have about 500 things on our list of attractions/places to see and about 10 days to fit it all in, so hopefully we'll be able to budget our time well! We love suggestions of places/fun things so if you have any, please send them my way! :)
On the 22nd, just before Christmas, Lauren is taking another flight to Alabama to stay with family for a week before coming back to Ghana. As I am working on my savings, I had planned to just come back to Ghana. This seemed a bit lonely to me because most all of my roommates are gone. That's when I realized that my flight takes me through Frankfurt. I asked my travel agent how much it would cost to change my 4 hour layover into a 10 day layover....she said, "NOTHING. It's the same price."
Whuuuuuut!??!?!
I then proceeded to ask my friends from Germany how they felt about me invading their Christmas. The more the merrier was the reply. I couldn't believe how fantastically I was being blessed. I booked the flight.
THEREFORE...I will be spending the week of Christmas with my friend Dori, her family, and a few more friends I met in Ghana-during my first year. The next few days will be spent in Munich with some other friends, covering some places I missed the last time 'round. I promise to try my hardest to get to internet cafes and keep you all updated. So MANY of you have already told me you will be praying and I've felt such peace about the whole trip.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT.
Please, everyone enjoy your Christmas seasons. Those friends of mine who are about to have babies or are making wedding plans or other trip plans-good luck! Keep on truckin' and keep me updated!
Love to everyone from me
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