not everyone gets to meet their hero

        

(Julia and I in 2005 and now in 2012. Someone has grown and it's not me... )

My apologies on the absurd delay on this post. I have written it several times and still it's not quite right, but at last, here is the update on the work being in done in Vienna as promised.

It didn't hit me that I was going to Vienna or in Vienna until I walked past a large illuminated billboard for "the perfect Weinerschnitzel" in the airport between the arrival gate and the exit for baggage and ground transportation. I realize that sounds silly, but it is true. It's no secret, these past weeks have been crazy. A schedule I created and was so incredibly excited about the entire thing that it wasn't until each individual trip was practically already in progress that I could fully grasp where I was and what I was doing.

I got to the new place really late via taxi. After giving Reggy some sunflowers I had brought with me, hugs, and a glass of water, I collapsed into bed and woke up to the smell of freshly baked muffins in the morning. Though still groggy, I was jolted awake when I realized the huge outpour of God's blessings before my eyes. The new place is a MANSION. It is HUGE. It's INCREDIBLE. I couldn't stop thinking that all weekend.
As always, things are changing in Vienna and Reggy's direction and ministry is continuing to evolve as she tries to match needs and follow God's will. As you may recall, in the first few years of my trips to Vienna, Reggy had a room in a large building for what was essentially government subsidized housing. She used this room mainly for hosting activities for the children of the families living there and then began helping a small number of refugees from Africa on the side. In the most recent two years, Reggy had her apartment where several children were living with her at any particular time and she also had a youth center where several of the African guys lived full time and events were hosted regularly. Now, Reggy has moved into a house on the outskirts of the city where she is living full time with several girls. Since this is her home, there is quite an adjustment to be made on her behalf and as well as those who would attend bible studies etc. This new home will host "house church" every few weeks, but will also be large enough to host other events, though those invited will require some precautions unlike the "free for all" that was the youth center. All of the Africans are living on their own now, though some are still using aid from Reggy financially. This is amazing to me.
To see how these kids have grown... its ridiculous. For some perspective, my first trip, Michelle was 5. Now she is THIRTEEN!!! I know I have been "growing" too, but... jeez. It doesn't seem like that much time has passed!

The new house has great potential and I am incredibly thrilled to see what great things will happen there. I just closed my eyes and thought about this tiny room where we barely had sufficient room to sing VBS songs that required motions to a house with enough rooms to comfortably sleep ten people! WOW, our God is good.

Of course, there are still problems. Daniel is still not out of the woods with his immigration papers, so continue to think of him. One of the girls that I love the most from all the trips is pregnant, so that was shocking news. Reggy is taking care of her though and donations have been made for supplies for the coming baby. There are some other sensitive things going on that I will discuss in person when I am home. There are still kids and teens in real danger and a list as long as Santa's to being praying about, but what I want you to get out of reading this post is that God has been ridiculously gracious to this ministry. I am more confident than ever that God is doing amazing things in that place and I am honored and thrilled to be have seen it with my own two eyes.

As I worked furiously on my law school applications this year, I had a lot of essays to write. Tough questions were thrown at me and I had a word limit to explain why I wanted to go to law school, who I am, what inspired me, what diverse perspective I would bring to the law school classroom, etc. When working on these essays, it became clearer to me than ever how my mission trips have shaped who I am and what I want to do. I wrote about my relationship with Daniel, how we met, his struggles with immigration after his family was persecuted in Nigeria for their faith. It was a really amazing moment to be able to tell him in person how thankful I am for him in my life. Usually it is the other way around, when he sends his thanks for my Dad and my support. But this time, I got to tell him, through tears that I think a huge reason why I am going to law school is because of how much he touched my life. I was able to have a similar conversation with Reggy. One of the other Nigerian women asked me what my next step was and I was able to tell her I want to go to law school and she said, "so you can help people like us one day." And I told her, "yes, that is the plan!"It was a REALLY cool thing and all else aside, worth the trip. Reggy is certainly a hero to me and I guess its a pretty cool thing that not only have I met her and watched her work, but I've had this opportunity 7 times. These people are part of my heart and I intend to be dedicated to them the rest of my life.

If you would like to donate or help support this great work, please do not ignore that feeling. Let me know and I will be overjoyed to give you all the right information.

Of equal importance, please continue to pray for this incredible ministry and for all the lives they are touching daily.

  

Daniel and I in 2006 and then in 2012

at the best ice cream place in the whole wide world... 

the living room of the new place!

Jennifer and I in 2007 and this year, I was there when her and her sister were reunited after not seeing each other for 8 years. The last photo is of her son and I. She is pregnant with another one now! Hero is seriously the cutest thing ever. 

*Disclaimer: The details and facts provided are only as I have observed and interpreted them. There is still MUCH that I do not know about these individuals lives or about what is going on. If there are areas lacking clarity or leaving you with questions, ask and I will be certain to find the answer or look for more details.

an English lesson

what is a countable or uncountable noun?

I recently read a book I found incredibly interesting by Bill Bryson called "The Mother Tongue." As I have struggled to explain many things in our language and have had to learn quite a bit of English myself. Why does it sound weird to say, "How much chairs?" or "How many milk in your coffee?" Thats because of countable and uncountable nouns. "How many" goes along with items, people, etc that you can physically count- chairs, groups, tickets, students, idiots, players, teachers, scoops, etc and "How much" goes with uncountable nouns, amounts etc like milk, water, sugar, flour, time, etc. The more English I have learned this year, the crazier it is to me. A highly recommended read. Here are a few of my favorite quotes (with numbers and facts slightly outdated). As I will be going to London for FIVE days this weekend for an English lesson, I thought this was appropriate. Enjoy!

I can think of two very good reasons for not splitting an infinitive.

1. Because you feel that the rules of English ought to conform to the grammatical precepts of a language that died a thousand years ago.

 2. Because you wish to cling to a pointless affectation of usage that is without the support of any recognized authority of the last 200 years, even at the cost of composing sentences that are ambiguous, inelegant and patently contorted.

 (speaking on the 1961 Webster’s Third New International Dictionary dictionary) But what really excited outrage was its remarkable contention that ain’t was “used orally in most parts of the U.S by many cultivated speakers”

 A dictionary will tell you that tall and high  mean much the same thing but it won’t explain to you that while you can apply either term to a building you can apply only tall to a person. On the strength of dictionary definitions alone a foreign visitor to your home could be excused for telling you that you have an abnormal child, that your wife’s cooking is exceedingly odorous, and that your speech at a recent sales conference was laughable, and intend nothing but the warmest praise.

At the turn of the century, words were being added at the time of about 1,000 per year. Now, according to a report in the New York Times (April, 3, 1989), the increase is closer to 5,000 to 20,000 a year.

(on British vs American English) In common speech, some 4,000 words are used differently in one country from the other.

There are more people learning English in China than there are people in the United States. The teaching of English, according to The Economist, is worth 6 billion (pounds) a year globally. 

Source: pages.mapsofworld.com via Patricia on Pinterest

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via Lillian on Pinterest

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via Shelagh on Pinterest

#YOLO

For those of you who are not in the Twitter loop, this title is a hashtag that is used to start trending topics on Twitter. It stands for "you only live once." Now, I will begin the post.

This past weekend, I took advantage of a wonderful offer to spend the weekend in Amsterdam and Maastricht, The Netherlands. My roommate, Cande, invited me to join her and her sister and her brother-in-law on their European vacation. Cande's boyfriend, Mateo, lives in a town a 3 hour train ride from Amsterdam called Maastricht. Thursday night, I landed and had no problems at all meeting Cande. We walked promptly to our hostel and crashed. We were both totally exhausted from the week and knew the weekend ahead would require substantial rest. I woke up early, had breakfast in the restaurant downstairs (EGGS and BACON!!! with toast) and headed to Anne Frank's house.
Standing in line sandwiched between a father and daughter from Atlanta and a family from Florida, we passed the time quickly by making small talk in the line. The wind from Amsterdam's canals and overcast skies made for bone-chilling weather, especially compared to the 90 degree heat I left in Madrid the day before. Once inside, I couldn't help but be surprised at how much of Anne Frank's diary came back to me. I remember the cover of the book so vividly and I remember despising having to read what I thought was just a stupid required school book. Amazing to think of my self-transformation from that girl in eighth grade to this girl, who is now going to law school in the fall with intentions of studying international human rights and humanitarian aid with an emphasis on the holocaust. Though the rooms were larger than I had expected (possibly because my Dad has always referred to this small small closet inside a closet in our house as the Anne Frank suite - ha) being in this place obviously gave all the visitors chills.
Throughout the next two days in Amsterdam, the group of us did all the touristy things- the Van Gogh museum, the famous Dutch art museum, stood to take pictures with the "I AMsterdam" sign, The Jewish History Museum, did a canal cruise and walked all over the city to truly grasp its flavor.

Friday night, we had a spectacular Argentinian meal with the best steak I've ever sank my teeth into.
We finished the night by getting ridiculously lost but finally ended up at a bar made entirely of ice, where they provided gloves and coats before entering.

Saturday evening after a full day of sightseeing, we headed onto Maastricht.
Cande's presence in my Madrid life has been beyond a blessing. My living situation this year has been quite a roller coaster ride with four other roommates coming and going. If Cande hadn't been such a great roommate, I surely would have moved out. If Cande hadn't been such a great friend, I could have easily given up on teaching and headed back to Atlanta with my head hung low, defeated. Let me tell you a little bit about why I love Candelaria so much. Cande is one of the prettiest people I know with barely any sense of style at all, always just throwing on simple clothing, but making it look magazine-worthy. Since I met her in October, I have maybe seen her wear make-up three times total, but everyday she looks beautiful. As simple as this is, she has accidentally taught me to care a lot less about what I look like before leaving the house and that simplicity is beautiful. I've been super proud of her as she has made excellent grades, getting the highest grades in several of her classes both semesters. She's got dreams as big as I do and I am completely confident that she's going to chase them until she accomplishes every single goal on her list. We've got all kinds of things in common and definitively some of my most favorite memories in this city have been sitting right here in our apartment. Did I mention that she's an incredible cook? All this to say, this weekend together was a huge blessing because with our combined travel schedules, I will only have one more opportunity to see her and tell her goodbye.
Maastricht is a lovely little quaint town. We hung out like college students just relaxing. Our first night we had a great homemade meal while one of Mateo's friends, Mateo, Cande and I had intellectual conversations until 5 in the morning.
Certainly some of the most interesting people I have ever met with big ideas for making our future globe a better place. They are people who's futures I am as excited about as I am my own. We may very well be colleagues together in a non-profit organization or some huge NGO, who knows!



Sunday afternoon, it was time for me to pack my things and head to the train station. I was having such a good time that with a little convincing from Mateo's friends and Cande, I purchased a new plane ticket to leave at 5:50 PM instead of that morning at 6:50. Under the mantra, "YOLO" I figured I should take advantage of more great memories in the Netherlands. Monday turned out to be rather hectic and for nearly three hours I thought I was going to miss my flight. When I got to the airport, checked in, strolled through security and walked to the gate, I had 5 minutes to spare before boarding! I was thrilled.

Then... lonnnng story short, my flight was CANCELLED. I ended up spending the night at some airport hotel and getting rebooked the next morning. It was 24 hours in total from the doorstep of Mateo's to my apartment in Madrid.
Hey, you only live once, might as well have an incredible weekend and then end up stranded at an airport outside of Amsterdam and spend the night there and come back to Madrid 36 hours after you planned.

You can just kill me now, cause I do not think life gets any better...

Tenerife (May 31-June 3)

This is the image burned into my mind as my personal definition of experiencing a piece of paradise:

Heres the delayed post on my amazing trip to Tenerife. Tenerife is one of the islands off the coast of Africa that's owned by Spain. Through a Biolase connection, when Pilar and I met last year in Rome, we instantly hit it off. I was amazed that her and I had so much in common and we even share the same birthday. She had been telling me that I must come to visit her in Tenerife and it was a true blessing to finally take her up on her offer. I had heard great things about this island, but it blew my expectations away beyond words. I knew that Pilar would take great care of me, but instead I was treated like pure royalty. She went way, way out of her way to ensure that I had a wonderful trip and it really meant a lot to me. Very rarely does such generosity go unnoticed and I really felt loved and special and beyond blessed. It was an incredible weekend from beginning to end and I was confident that life couldn't possibly be any better. The landscape of Tenerife is incredible. It changes completely every few miles. The trees, the dirt, the mountains, everything looks different within 10-15 minutes of driving. It's crazy. I've never been anywhere quite like that. Pilar said even the sun changes colors depending on where you are on the island.
Since even the pictures can't describe it, I would be a fool to attempt to do so with words.

 the view from my window as we started our descent..

On Friday, Pilar drove me up to see the huge volcano, Teide

We were literally ABOVE the clouds. It was AMAZING.

Do you see what I am talking about with the drastically changing landscape? Thats the SAME 2 km drive! The SAME island, the same volcano! 

So that was Friday's daytime activity. We came home for a siesta, coffee and then went for dinner with a few of Pilar's friends... 

 Tell me this is not one of the most ridiculous things you've ever seen. Only in Spain. Only in Spain. 

Saturday, we got up early and drove to the south of the island. Where Pilar blew my socks off by checking us into this AMAZING resort. I was laying staring at the pool with the ocean to my back with a piña colada in my hand and a cabana boy making sure it wasn't melted. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I was just thinking the whole time, I would be an idiot to leave this place. I AM IN PARADISE. 

View from our room ^

We spent the day at the pool mostly, I read my book and then we moved to the private resort beach for a change of equally stunning scenery. 

That night, there was a dance show so we had a big Italian dinner all dressed up and then watched the show. To finish off the night, Pilar requested we go dancing. This lead us to a piano bar where the two of us were the only people on the dance floor a majority of the night. It was a lot of fun as you can imagine. My tan is rather spectacular if I do say so myself. 

Sunday, we enjoyed a gigantic breakfast buffet and then made the drive to the airport. After a delicious avocado/salmon salad and fish lunch, Pilar dropped me off at the airport.

 I sank into deep deep depression before boarding that flight. I did not want to leave Tenerife. I'm sure you don't blame me after seeing just a glimpse of what I enjoyed for four way too short days. YOU MUST GO!!

This was taken out of the plane window of Teide on my way back to Madrid.