Morning devotionals on Thursday were out of another Max Lucado book (they are big fans of Max Lucado, I think I should get some of his books, I've never read very much of his stuff) "Grace for a Moment". It described all the things hands do, and how everything your hands do should be ministry.
Cultural experience for the day would be the largest open air market in Bucharest (possibly in all Romania, I don't remember). We were informed that this would be the most likely day we would get pickpocketed, were that to happenon the trip. Thankfully it did not. Since a group of 15 Americans would draw too much attention, and we would inevitably get separated anyway, we divided into smaller groups. I was with Amanda, Andrea, and Sanda (our translator and guide).
The market reminded me a lot of the ones I've been to in Mexico. Jim mentioned later that most open air markets are the same no matter what part of the world you're in. A difference I noticed between the Romanian one and Mexican ones really surprised me though. The Romanians don't barter over prices. I tried on a lot of cute skirts, but didn't buy any because most were way too small for me. It didn't matter much that there wasn't price negotiating because everything was so cheap. I bought 2 mugs and a wooden spoon for 10 lei (about $3.50 American).
After lunch at the team house, it was back to Peris for more lessons. The classrooms are a surprising contrast to the rest of the orphanage. The orphanages receive funding from two departments: child protective services, and the department of education. The department of education does a lot more for the children than the child protective services do. The classroom was small, but clean with desks and a chalkboard and several computers.
We taught the same lesson to two classes: 1st and 2nd grade and 5th and 6th grade. There's a pretty wide age range in the classes though. For our lesson we introduced the children to the clarinet and taught them about musical tempos. Katie Feher made up this amazingly cute story to teach the lesson through, kind of like Peter and the Wolf. It was about a little girl who met a bird (flute) a cat (clarinet) and a bear (saxophone) while walking through the forest. The animals taught her about music, and through what she learned she was able to wake up the queen who had been put under a sleeping enchantment.
I got to be the queen, though I didn't do much, because the little girl didn't yet know enough music to wake her. The kids gave lots of suggestions to try to wake me. The cutest one was to ask nicely, and the little boy came up and asked me very nicely (in Romanian) to wake up. The funniest came from a 12 year old boy named Aline. Aline and his twin Florine are two of the more difficult children at the orphanage, they get themselves into a lot of trouble.
The previous day, when the queen didn't wake up, Aline suggested that they kiss the queen. Fairly standard method of waking sleeping royalty. Well, Katie asks "are you volunteering?" Wrong child to make that suggestion to. Aline got up, walked over, and gave Rachel (the queen on Wed) a very long kiss on the cheek. This story at Night Light Wed night prompted Jim to make the new rule: No making out with orphans.
In any case, since we were a different group of ladies on Thurs, Aline thought he should make that suggestion again. "Perhaps we should kiss the queen" As soon as Sanda translated that I began panicking, oh snap, I'm about to get kissed by a 12 year old Romanian orphan. Luckily Amanda was looking out for me and quickly said "oh, but you tried that yesterday and it didn't work, remember?" Thank goodness for friends! haha
We played several clarinet quartets for them, which they loved and kept asking for more. Florine even told us that he wanted us to play forever so they could fall asleep to music. Then we handed out tambourines we had made from paper plates and popcorn for them to decorate and play with.
After lessons we had more playtime outside with the kids. This was the day I met little Ana. Adorable little 6 year old who's favorite thing is piggy back rides. She doesn't do much talking, the staff said she gets some amount of speech therapy and they think she has some developmental issues. A very sweet little girl though. I also got my hair done by Alina and by Flori (Ana's older sister) and played a very vigorous game of tag with a blonde boy of about 12 (I think) named Alexandre.
When it came time to leave we had a bit of excitement. As we got back to the vans we noticed there was someone in the driver's seat of one: oh, it's Aline, surprise surprise. We all start yelling and running to get him out, and as Amanda and I pull open the side door, he manages to unset the parking break and put the van in neutral. Great. The van starts rolling down the hill towards the lake.
Luckily Stephen had already been in the van and was able to save the day. He pulled Aline out of the driver's seat, jumped into it himself. His eyes near about popped out of his head when he put his foot on what he thougt was the break and the van didn't stop. It was the clutch, he tried again, and this time succeeded in stopping the van. Whew!
This was actually the second time that Aline nearly sent the van into the lake. Several years ago he managed to get it rolling, but with no Stephen there to save the day, the only thing that saved the van from the lake was the tree it ran into.
Anyway, we certainly had a lot to talk about at dinner and Night Light. Ho Seat was fantastically amusing thanks to Elayne. Pretty much everything she says is hysterical, but the winning quote of the night was "I dig guys who don't have all their teeth."
Classic
A random note I included was that our "This is the day the Lord has made" devotional in the morning, really helped me think about my issues with change. *This* is the day the Lord has made. Not just yesterday, or 3 months ago, today, no matter what today holds, I will rejoice and be glad in it.
The trip itself really helped me transition from Biola into the next thing. I had great fellowship with everyone, but it really helped me see that God still does great things and brings great people into my life regardless of where I am.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
5-27 People's Palace and Baby Hospital
Breakfast was extra special Wed morning, we had some very yummy french toast. It was also surprising. I was the first to crack open a (what we thought to be) hardboiled egg. I very quickly discovered that it was not in fact hardboiled, but raw. They had put out the wrong basket of eggs, woops. haha Breakfast also began Erin's and my day of helping with kitchen clean up, which wasn't too bad.
Jen led devotionals from Max Lucado's book Give a Day a Chance. "Diary of a Dog" and "Diary of a Cat". The difference is a dog comes across everything saying "oh boy, my favorite!" and a cat finds the bad in every detail (at least in Max's analogy). The point is to try to keep a good attitude about all things and stay open to the seeing the good that God is doing in each day.
Each of the 3 days (Wed-Fri) that it was just us woodwinds, we would go do a sightseeing/cultural immersion thing in the morning, and then go to Peris in the afternoon, since the kids are in class in the morning. Wednesday we were to go to the People's Palace.
Nicolae Ceausescu (pronounced "Nee-co-lai Chow-chess-coo"), the communist dictator from 1974-1989, had the People's Palace built to house his office. The building is GINORMOUS and very extravagant. Building it drained the Romanian treasury and put the country into severe foreign debt, which was paid through the country's agricultural resources while the people starved. Present day, the building houses many government offices and has rooms that can be rented for private occasions.
It took us quite a while to get there. Bucharest traffic makes LA traffic look like a nice Sunday drive. Plus, traffic laws aren't exactly the same. Oh goodness, people seemed so polite when we got home, haha On the way there though, we passed time by sharing summer romance stories, very entertaining.
Unfortunately, due to the heavy traffic we were late for our tour time, and were told we would have to come back another day. Several of us took advantage of the gift shop anyway, and did a little exploring of the outside. Stephen (one of our saxophones and the only guy woodwind) later told us how thoroughly amused he was in watching a group of European guys check out the group of 13 American girls.
We made an equally long drive back to the team house for lunch and then split up: the flutes and saxes to Peris for the first day of lessons, and the clarinets to the baby hospital.
The impact of the baby hospital didn't come until later in the trip and now, but more of that later. The baby hospital ministry involves holding, feeding, and changing these babies. It's a section of a children's hospital in Bucharest, children that have been abandoned, many of whom will end up in the orphanages later. Romania is so economically unstable that many families just do not have the money to care for their children.
The saddest part is how uninvolved the nurses are with the children. They feed and change them, and that's about it. That's why we're there. I spent 3 hours straight holding and rocking babies. I get choked up now thinking about it, those precious little things who, if it weren't for H2H and other missions organizations, wouldn'would have barely any physical touch.
The hospital conditions were definitely a lot better than I had expected. It was clean and the babies each had plenty of space. It was cute, the door to each room had a different Bambi character on it. Amberly and I were inthe Flower room. Oh goodness those babies were so adorable. Andrei, Rafael, Domi (he didn't have a first name, his last name was "Domitreanu" so Corny, a Romanian H2H member, calls him Domi), Catalin, and Mihai. 4 of the babies were about 3 months, Rafael and Andrei were older.
Apparently Rafael has a cleft palate that will be fixed soon, he had a feeding tube for the time being. Domi is being adopted, which was very exciting to hear. And oh goodness, Catalin had the most hair I've ever seen on a baby! A sad part of the hospital trip was seeing the nurses not do much, they spent most of the time we were there sitting in the break room smoking.
Once the babies had been fed their dinner, we went back to the team house and had our dinner. Then Night Light and Hot Seat. My turn for hot seat, awkward, thanks to being asked to tell the ENTIRE story (including the details I leave out) about how Tad and I started dating. However, I'm thankful I went then and not after the brass go back, Matt Fell sure knows how to ask awkward questions.
Jen led devotionals from Max Lucado's book Give a Day a Chance. "Diary of a Dog" and "Diary of a Cat". The difference is a dog comes across everything saying "oh boy, my favorite!" and a cat finds the bad in every detail (at least in Max's analogy). The point is to try to keep a good attitude about all things and stay open to the seeing the good that God is doing in each day.
Each of the 3 days (Wed-Fri) that it was just us woodwinds, we would go do a sightseeing/cultural immersion thing in the morning, and then go to Peris in the afternoon, since the kids are in class in the morning. Wednesday we were to go to the People's Palace.
Nicolae Ceausescu (pronounced "Nee-co-lai Chow-chess-coo"), the communist dictator from 1974-1989, had the People's Palace built to house his office. The building is GINORMOUS and very extravagant. Building it drained the Romanian treasury and put the country into severe foreign debt, which was paid through the country's agricultural resources while the people starved. Present day, the building houses many government offices and has rooms that can be rented for private occasions.
It took us quite a while to get there. Bucharest traffic makes LA traffic look like a nice Sunday drive. Plus, traffic laws aren't exactly the same. Oh goodness, people seemed so polite when we got home, haha On the way there though, we passed time by sharing summer romance stories, very entertaining.
Unfortunately, due to the heavy traffic we were late for our tour time, and were told we would have to come back another day. Several of us took advantage of the gift shop anyway, and did a little exploring of the outside. Stephen (one of our saxophones and the only guy woodwind) later told us how thoroughly amused he was in watching a group of European guys check out the group of 13 American girls.
We made an equally long drive back to the team house for lunch and then split up: the flutes and saxes to Peris for the first day of lessons, and the clarinets to the baby hospital.
The impact of the baby hospital didn't come until later in the trip and now, but more of that later. The baby hospital ministry involves holding, feeding, and changing these babies. It's a section of a children's hospital in Bucharest, children that have been abandoned, many of whom will end up in the orphanages later. Romania is so economically unstable that many families just do not have the money to care for their children.
The saddest part is how uninvolved the nurses are with the children. They feed and change them, and that's about it. That's why we're there. I spent 3 hours straight holding and rocking babies. I get choked up now thinking about it, those precious little things who, if it weren't for H2H and other missions organizations, wouldn'would have barely any physical touch.
The hospital conditions were definitely a lot better than I had expected. It was clean and the babies each had plenty of space. It was cute, the door to each room had a different Bambi character on it. Amberly and I were inthe Flower room. Oh goodness those babies were so adorable. Andrei, Rafael, Domi (he didn't have a first name, his last name was "Domitreanu" so Corny, a Romanian H2H member, calls him Domi), Catalin, and Mihai. 4 of the babies were about 3 months, Rafael and Andrei were older.
Apparently Rafael has a cleft palate that will be fixed soon, he had a feeding tube for the time being. Domi is being adopted, which was very exciting to hear. And oh goodness, Catalin had the most hair I've ever seen on a baby! A sad part of the hospital trip was seeing the nurses not do much, they spent most of the time we were there sitting in the break room smoking.
Once the babies had been fed their dinner, we went back to the team house and had our dinner. Then Night Light and Hot Seat. My turn for hot seat, awkward, thanks to being asked to tell the ENTIRE story (including the details I leave out) about how Tad and I started dating. However, I'm thankful I went then and not after the brass go back, Matt Fell sure knows how to ask awkward questions.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Pause for an Update on Life Now
It has been my experience that I take forever to finish my trip updates. This fact is frustrating, but the journals are important enough to me to keep doing them anyway. However, I'd also like to keep up with my life journal now, considering I've been home from Romania nealry a month. So here goes.
It took me a good week to adjust back to life in the states. No amount of debriefing could have made me understand reverse culture shock like actually experiencing it. I don't think I'll ever feel quite the same about my country and culture. I still love America, and will undoubtedly be overly patriotic for the rest of my life, but I better understand now some of the things that frustrate people from elsewhere about here. I mean, I'm a total "J" personality on teh Myers-Briggs, and I was about ready to chuck my planner out the window, things are much too fast paced here.
It definitely did not help my adjustment that straight away we dove into apartment hunting for next year. That was a nightmare and a half, let me tell you. Everything by SDSU falls into one or more of the following categories: too expensive, too unsafe, too dirty, too far away from campus and/or public transportation, does not accomodate pet dogs. Fortunately Valencia is exempt from pet laws, but one of my future roommates Ana has an 8 pound Bischon.
Eventually, after much searching and about 8 trips down there in 10 days, we found the perfect condo. The complex is in Mission Valley in between two trolley stops, which are about a 10 minute ride from campus. It's absolutely gorgeous: 2 bedroom 2 bath, great sized living room and kitchen, patio balcony. The complex is secure and has a pool/jacuzzi and fitness center. I'm uber excited. I'll be moving in the beginning of August, but our landlord is giving us the keys in a couple weeks so we can start moving furniture.
I'll be sharing the master bedroom and bath with Anja (she was in comm disorders with me at Biola and is starting the audiology program at state). Ana and her little doggy Brady will have their own room and bathroom on the other side of our condo.
Besides that craziness, I've been hanging out with Raelene quite a bit. We went to a college group at her church the first weekend I was home, and were the oldest ones there, hahaha. We hit up the Del Mar Fair. First time for both of us going without our families. I think we did quite well though, saw pretty flowers and farm animals and shared a deep fried smore and some deep fried cheese curds. yum!
I had a party to celebrate graduation and my birthday. My and I made fruit kabobs, my dad bbqed chicken skewers, and we had a variety of salads and desserts, plus mock margaritas, mmm. Krista, Becky, and Amanda came down from LA, which was amazing to get to see them again. Elizabeth brought Matthew, and Raelene and a number of neighbors and church friends stopped by.
For my birthday on Saturday I spent the day at Disneyland with Raelene and Becky. That was pretty awesome. They give you a button that says "Happy Birthday!" and your name, and everybody in the park wishes you happy birthday all day long. I counted about 19, plus I got sung to outside the ice cream shop on main street. Amanda met us for lunch in downtown Disney, and we met Krista at Red Robin for dinner. I had my family party Sunday evening, joint with our Father's Day celebration.
This morning I finished up an online scrapbook from shutterfly.com of my Romania trip. I may be able to post some of it on here. I'm pretty excited about it, mom had a special offer so we got it for free.
Other than that, I guess next on the list is 4th of July, summer sure goes by so fast!
It took me a good week to adjust back to life in the states. No amount of debriefing could have made me understand reverse culture shock like actually experiencing it. I don't think I'll ever feel quite the same about my country and culture. I still love America, and will undoubtedly be overly patriotic for the rest of my life, but I better understand now some of the things that frustrate people from elsewhere about here. I mean, I'm a total "J" personality on teh Myers-Briggs, and I was about ready to chuck my planner out the window, things are much too fast paced here.
It definitely did not help my adjustment that straight away we dove into apartment hunting for next year. That was a nightmare and a half, let me tell you. Everything by SDSU falls into one or more of the following categories: too expensive, too unsafe, too dirty, too far away from campus and/or public transportation, does not accomodate pet dogs. Fortunately Valencia is exempt from pet laws, but one of my future roommates Ana has an 8 pound Bischon.
Eventually, after much searching and about 8 trips down there in 10 days, we found the perfect condo. The complex is in Mission Valley in between two trolley stops, which are about a 10 minute ride from campus. It's absolutely gorgeous: 2 bedroom 2 bath, great sized living room and kitchen, patio balcony. The complex is secure and has a pool/jacuzzi and fitness center. I'm uber excited. I'll be moving in the beginning of August, but our landlord is giving us the keys in a couple weeks so we can start moving furniture.
I'll be sharing the master bedroom and bath with Anja (she was in comm disorders with me at Biola and is starting the audiology program at state). Ana and her little doggy Brady will have their own room and bathroom on the other side of our condo.
Besides that craziness, I've been hanging out with Raelene quite a bit. We went to a college group at her church the first weekend I was home, and were the oldest ones there, hahaha. We hit up the Del Mar Fair. First time for both of us going without our families. I think we did quite well though, saw pretty flowers and farm animals and shared a deep fried smore and some deep fried cheese curds. yum!
I had a party to celebrate graduation and my birthday. My and I made fruit kabobs, my dad bbqed chicken skewers, and we had a variety of salads and desserts, plus mock margaritas, mmm. Krista, Becky, and Amanda came down from LA, which was amazing to get to see them again. Elizabeth brought Matthew, and Raelene and a number of neighbors and church friends stopped by.
For my birthday on Saturday I spent the day at Disneyland with Raelene and Becky. That was pretty awesome. They give you a button that says "Happy Birthday!" and your name, and everybody in the park wishes you happy birthday all day long. I counted about 19, plus I got sung to outside the ice cream shop on main street. Amanda met us for lunch in downtown Disney, and we met Krista at Red Robin for dinner. I had my family party Sunday evening, joint with our Father's Day celebration.
This morning I finished up an online scrapbook from shutterfly.com of my Romania trip. I may be able to post some of it on here. I'm pretty excited about it, mom had a special offer so we got it for free.
Other than that, I guess next on the list is 4th of July, summer sure goes by so fast!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
5-26 Orientation and First Visit to Peris
Once it was *actually* time to get up, we had a breakfast. I discovered a new favorite breakfast delight: Finetti. It's a lot like Nutella, and tastes fabulous on croissants. After breakfast we gathered and had orientation. They purposefully wait to give us all this information until we aren't completely zoned out from jetlag. To start out Jim (or "boss Jim" as we began calling him) led us in a fun and educational Romanian culture quiz game. I did fairly well thanks to some lucky guessing and some general travel knowledge.
A couple interesting Romanian culture facts:
Currents-This is the Romanian term for drafts or breezes and they are supersticious about them. In Romanian culture currents are very bad, they cause bad things and can make you deathly sick. You never have a door and a window open at the same time and in the car, you do not have more than one window open at once, if that. Most places do not have air conditioning, so you can imagine how hot it gets during the summer if you believe currents are evil.
Flowers-Romanians love flowers. There is a specific type and number of flowers for any occasion. General rule, odd numbers of flowers are for happy occasions and even numbers are for sad occasions. Also, when presenting someone with flowers, you hand them to them upside down. That way, when they turn them right side up, they catch the luck from the flowers. To hand someone flowers right side up means you're stealing their luck, which would be a terribly rude thing to do!
After our quiz game, Jen (who is absolutely amazing) talked to us about ministry specifics. She used props to show the tools necessary for successful ministry. Curiosity, forgiveness, patience, proactivity, friendship, and flexibility. Jen told us to think about what we needed to happen in order to count our trip as a success and reminded us that all we are asked to do is love God and love others.
After orientation we had lunch together and then the brass loaded up and left for Rosiori (a town about 3 hours southwest of Bucharest, pronounced "Ro-she-or"). They stayed at the boys' transition house and worked with two different groups of kids down there.
Meanwhile, us woodwinds loaded up and made our first trip to the Peris (pronounced "Pair-eesh") orphanage. Peris is a stark contrast from Bucharest. It is a small farming community with little houses and large fields. One day on our way back from the orphanage we had to stop to let a shepherd and a flock of sheep pass.
Kirsteen, one of the H2H staff members, has been teaching the children some basic music lessons. Our first day they performed some clapping rhythm songs for us. The rest of the time was spent playing with and getting to know the kids. I got to observe a cooking class that another staff member Sanda has been doing with some of the older girls. They made a lemon zest cake. Some of the girls speak Spanish, which they have learned from watching Spanish soap operas, so I was able to communicate a bit.
Oral communication, however, is not needed with these children. They are very good at using gestures, but most of the time they just grab you and drag you wherever they want. If they really want to tell you something, they take you to a translator. Once the children had worn us out entirely, we made the 45 minute drive back to the team house for dinner.
An H2H practice in the evenings is "Night Light". We sit down with Jim and talk about how our days went: things we liked, things we didn't understand, struggles during the day, etc. Then comes Hot Seat. Each person has 2 minutes to talk about themselves, and then everyone else can ask questions, any question they feel like. Suffice it to say, this got very fun by the end of the trip.
A couple interesting Romanian culture facts:
Currents-This is the Romanian term for drafts or breezes and they are supersticious about them. In Romanian culture currents are very bad, they cause bad things and can make you deathly sick. You never have a door and a window open at the same time and in the car, you do not have more than one window open at once, if that. Most places do not have air conditioning, so you can imagine how hot it gets during the summer if you believe currents are evil.
Flowers-Romanians love flowers. There is a specific type and number of flowers for any occasion. General rule, odd numbers of flowers are for happy occasions and even numbers are for sad occasions. Also, when presenting someone with flowers, you hand them to them upside down. That way, when they turn them right side up, they catch the luck from the flowers. To hand someone flowers right side up means you're stealing their luck, which would be a terribly rude thing to do!
After our quiz game, Jen (who is absolutely amazing) talked to us about ministry specifics. She used props to show the tools necessary for successful ministry. Curiosity, forgiveness, patience, proactivity, friendship, and flexibility. Jen told us to think about what we needed to happen in order to count our trip as a success and reminded us that all we are asked to do is love God and love others.
After orientation we had lunch together and then the brass loaded up and left for Rosiori (a town about 3 hours southwest of Bucharest, pronounced "Ro-she-or"). They stayed at the boys' transition house and worked with two different groups of kids down there.
Meanwhile, us woodwinds loaded up and made our first trip to the Peris (pronounced "Pair-eesh") orphanage. Peris is a stark contrast from Bucharest. It is a small farming community with little houses and large fields. One day on our way back from the orphanage we had to stop to let a shepherd and a flock of sheep pass.
Kirsteen, one of the H2H staff members, has been teaching the children some basic music lessons. Our first day they performed some clapping rhythm songs for us. The rest of the time was spent playing with and getting to know the kids. I got to observe a cooking class that another staff member Sanda has been doing with some of the older girls. They made a lemon zest cake. Some of the girls speak Spanish, which they have learned from watching Spanish soap operas, so I was able to communicate a bit.
Oral communication, however, is not needed with these children. They are very good at using gestures, but most of the time they just grab you and drag you wherever they want. If they really want to tell you something, they take you to a translator. Once the children had worn us out entirely, we made the 45 minute drive back to the team house for dinner.
An H2H practice in the evenings is "Night Light". We sit down with Jim and talk about how our days went: things we liked, things we didn't understand, struggles during the day, etc. Then comes Hot Seat. Each person has 2 minutes to talk about themselves, and then everyone else can ask questions, any question they feel like. Suffice it to say, this got very fun by the end of the trip.
5-24/25 LAX to Bucharest
During the trip I bullet pointed the day's events in the "notes" section of my Heart2Heart handbook. Apparently I was so out of everything from all the traveling, I didn't even make note of the two days we spent traveling to get to Romania. There isn't a whole lot to tell anyway.
Sunday morning (the 24th) I got up, said goodbye to Hart Hall, and headed to the music building for rehearsal. Yes, we had rehearsal the day of an international flight. It was definitely needed though. The Fellers were nice enough to pick us up lunch from In N Out after. After lunch we loaded up the buses and made it with plenty of time to the airport.
Check in and security went by without a hitch and we had about half an hour to wait at our gate. Our flight from LA was to London and from there we flew to Bucharest. The flight was, well, long. About 10 hours of sitting in a teeny tiny little space, not ideal, but tolerable. British airways has those nice personal tv screens too. I, unfortunately, slept very little on the flight, not for lack of trying. In between nap attempts I ended up watching the last 4th or so of Bride Wars, and determined I didn't need to see the first 3/4.
By the time I did finally fall asleep, it was only for about an hour before they served us breakfast. Our layover in London is entirely a blur. We had about an hour and a half to get off the plane, go through passport control, go through security, take a tram to a different terminal, and find our gate. By the time we got there, they were already boarding. This flight was quite exciting for me because there were people speaking Romanian on it, and I managed to sleep a bit more.
We finally arrived in the Bucharest airport at about 4 pm Bucharest time (6 am California time) H2H staff met us and drove us back to the team house. It took great effort not to crash in our very comfy looking beds once we got there. They fed us dinner, chicken salad on croissants chips and drinks, and gave us some needed info about the house. From there we played card games, explored, and did everything we could to keep ourselves awake until at least 10 pm.
I managed to sleep pretty well. The only thing was around 4 or 5 am I started thinking it was time to get up, so I'd sleep, and then wake up every 5 minutes. Once I checked the time though I was ok.
Sunday morning (the 24th) I got up, said goodbye to Hart Hall, and headed to the music building for rehearsal. Yes, we had rehearsal the day of an international flight. It was definitely needed though. The Fellers were nice enough to pick us up lunch from In N Out after. After lunch we loaded up the buses and made it with plenty of time to the airport.
Check in and security went by without a hitch and we had about half an hour to wait at our gate. Our flight from LA was to London and from there we flew to Bucharest. The flight was, well, long. About 10 hours of sitting in a teeny tiny little space, not ideal, but tolerable. British airways has those nice personal tv screens too. I, unfortunately, slept very little on the flight, not for lack of trying. In between nap attempts I ended up watching the last 4th or so of Bride Wars, and determined I didn't need to see the first 3/4.
By the time I did finally fall asleep, it was only for about an hour before they served us breakfast. Our layover in London is entirely a blur. We had about an hour and a half to get off the plane, go through passport control, go through security, take a tram to a different terminal, and find our gate. By the time we got there, they were already boarding. This flight was quite exciting for me because there were people speaking Romanian on it, and I managed to sleep a bit more.
We finally arrived in the Bucharest airport at about 4 pm Bucharest time (6 am California time) H2H staff met us and drove us back to the team house. It took great effort not to crash in our very comfy looking beds once we got there. They fed us dinner, chicken salad on croissants chips and drinks, and gave us some needed info about the house. From there we played card games, explored, and did everything we could to keep ourselves awake until at least 10 pm.
I managed to sleep pretty well. The only thing was around 4 or 5 am I started thinking it was time to get up, so I'd sleep, and then wake up every 5 minutes. Once I checked the time though I was ok.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Behind Enemy Lines
Part 2 of the 6.5 page journal entry.
"This has been an emotionally crazy week. I think ti can be best summarized by something Ryan Low said in the senior prayer Sunday night, something Dr. Corey said Tuesday night, and something I said 4 years ago. Chronological order ready go. When Ryan was praying for us, he described us as 'lights planted behind enemy lines'. This really struck me. We are most certainly in a war, but not only that. We are fighting amongst the ranks of the enemy. And not quietly and sneakily. What do lights do? They shine.
Yes we are not to fear. We didn't just happen to wander across the battlefield and end up in enemy territory. God planted us there, and He has his hand of protection on us.
Fast forward to Tuesday night.
Dr. Corey described our path through life through the analogy of crossing state lines and being greeted by 'welcome to ___ ' signs. He said when they had moved out to CA, after they had passed the 'Welcome to California' sign, he looked at his son Anders who had tears running down his face. Anders said 'Dad, turn around, I want to go home.'
That's how Dr. Corey said we all are when faced with something new. One chapter closes, and we see the next "welcome to" sign and panic. We want to go back to the familiar, but that chapter is over. We can never go back. We can only move forward. But we never move alone, God is always with us.
And the third piece: wisdom from myself
The final thing came with the return of a letter I had written to myself as a freshman. The entire 3x5 notecard (in very sloppy handwriting) was covered in questions. 'Am I in band?' 'Do I have friends?' 'Are they lifelong friends?' I realized that how I have felt in the last couple weeks is exactly how I felt at the beginning of my Biola career: torn in so many different directions and anxious about what to expect.
Now to tie all this together
What I have been feeling is the dread of a new life chapter. I see the 'welcome to grad school' sign, and I want to run as fast as I can back to the 'welcome to Biola' sign. But I can't. And besides, I felt the same fear of the 'welcome to Biola' sign when it appeared on my horizon anyway.
God has been with me in my time at Biola, and I have no reason to believe things will be any different at SDSU. Christians aren't supposed to live permanently bubblized.
'Planted behind enemy lines'
It's time to leave the bubble.
I think that's why my trip to Romania comes at such a perfect time. I've benefited immensely being at Biola and grown so much. It's time to share that with the world, it's time to shine."
Romania journaling forthcoming.
"This has been an emotionally crazy week. I think ti can be best summarized by something Ryan Low said in the senior prayer Sunday night, something Dr. Corey said Tuesday night, and something I said 4 years ago. Chronological order ready go. When Ryan was praying for us, he described us as 'lights planted behind enemy lines'. This really struck me. We are most certainly in a war, but not only that. We are fighting amongst the ranks of the enemy. And not quietly and sneakily. What do lights do? They shine.
Yes we are not to fear. We didn't just happen to wander across the battlefield and end up in enemy territory. God planted us there, and He has his hand of protection on us.
Fast forward to Tuesday night.
Dr. Corey described our path through life through the analogy of crossing state lines and being greeted by 'welcome to ___ ' signs. He said when they had moved out to CA, after they had passed the 'Welcome to California' sign, he looked at his son Anders who had tears running down his face. Anders said 'Dad, turn around, I want to go home.'
That's how Dr. Corey said we all are when faced with something new. One chapter closes, and we see the next "welcome to" sign and panic. We want to go back to the familiar, but that chapter is over. We can never go back. We can only move forward. But we never move alone, God is always with us.
And the third piece: wisdom from myself
The final thing came with the return of a letter I had written to myself as a freshman. The entire 3x5 notecard (in very sloppy handwriting) was covered in questions. 'Am I in band?' 'Do I have friends?' 'Are they lifelong friends?' I realized that how I have felt in the last couple weeks is exactly how I felt at the beginning of my Biola career: torn in so many different directions and anxious about what to expect.
Now to tie all this together
What I have been feeling is the dread of a new life chapter. I see the 'welcome to grad school' sign, and I want to run as fast as I can back to the 'welcome to Biola' sign. But I can't. And besides, I felt the same fear of the 'welcome to Biola' sign when it appeared on my horizon anyway.
God has been with me in my time at Biola, and I have no reason to believe things will be any different at SDSU. Christians aren't supposed to live permanently bubblized.
'Planted behind enemy lines'
It's time to leave the bubble.
I think that's why my trip to Romania comes at such a perfect time. I've benefited immensely being at Biola and grown so much. It's time to share that with the world, it's time to shine."
Romania journaling forthcoming.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Bye Bye Biola
Oh goodness, I created this entry about 3 weeks ago, better late than never though right?
I spent the entirety of finals week trying to blog, but time did not permit. I ended up journaling this by hand after my computer (and the rest of my stuff) had gone home after graduation. The first chunk is just the events, the second is thoughts and reflections. Because of length, I'm making them two separate posts. Here we go!
"I'm writing this from the inside of my wardrobe. Kind of random, but it's silly, so I like it.
I've been trying to blog since Sunday, but never found time. Honestly, maybe it's best I didn't. I've been all over the place: both excited and anticipating graduation and dreading the closing of this chapter of my life. Being my last week as a student here, however, I have not been lacking in fun events.
Last Thursday was the Comm Disorders dinner. Teri spoke about professional, personal, and spiritual advice she wanted to pass on, and Krista and I shared an amazing flan
Friday night was senior dinner. My parents and grandparents were able to come, which was great, especially since my grandparents weren't able to make it for graduation. Fred Sanders, professor of the year despite being on sabbatical, spoke, and it was a great final dinner on Metzger.
Saturday morning we put on a Clarinet Club End of the Year Recital with solo and ensemble performances as well as a few original compositions. That evening I went out to dinner with Ally and Sara to Pizza Z to catch up on life before we all scattered after graduation.
Sunday morning was my last service at Redeemer. I'm so thankful I found that church, even if it wasn't til the beginning of my final year. Teri had the girls from her classes this semester over for dessert in the evening. She had this amazing strawberry pie, chocolate cake, and coffee. We played Pass the Pigs and wii bowling. I pwned at wii bowling, I was pleased. It was nice getting to spend more time with her and get to know her husband Jacob a little. They're a great couple.
Upon returning to campus, I scurried down to our check out all hall. Hart has a tradition of praying over the seniors at the end after they share what their plans are for next year. Immediately after we went to study break.
I had my last final Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday evening was Baccalaureate. It was a beautiful service. Dr. Corey spoke about moving through chapters of life and how even though it can be hard, God always has us where he wants us. A number of seniors shared about how God had worked in their lives in their time at Biola. Then we walked from Calvary Chapel to the belltower through a path of luminaries as bagpipes played Amazing Grace. Under the belltower we took communion and sang Be Thou My VIsion. This was particularly meaningful because we began our Biola careers with a communion service under the belltower at the end of move in weekend with our families.
Wednesday I hung out one last time with Kathleen at Golden Spoon. We walked around Toys R Us, and I bought her the Star Wars action figure she picked out as an early birthday gift. That evening I got ready for Winds banquet with Becky, Jen, and Justine and rode out to Downtown Disney with Amberly, Erin, and Rachel T. Banquet was really fun as usual. I sat with Becky, Jen, Justine, Matt, and Mark. Mark kept us thoroughly entertained prior to dinner. One word: "fail!" The senior tribute was really nice, and much to my delight, even though I missed one semester of Winds, I received a Senior Service Award.
I came back with Becky, Jen, Dorothy, and Casey and Becky, Krista, Jen, and I watched Amazing Grace. Thursday afternoon I got to meet up with Emily Joynes at Commons to chat, and in the evening I went to a double composition recital for Kenny Lindsey and Dave Martina. Friday morning we sat through 1.5 hours of graduation rehearsal. Slightly ridiculous, but we got our Biola Alum license plate holders and Bye-ola tshirts. I had rehearsal and then played my (hopefully) last graduation ever.
The craziness began Saturday morning. Becky and I got up at 7 to get ready. We found her family and they fed me breakfast and took pictures. Soon after I found my own family and went to line up. I discovered that when they said it took 45 minutes to line everybody up, they really meant it took 45 minutes for everybody to show up.
The ceremony was nice, a bit long though due to the combination of hot sun and 606 graduates (only 26 more than my high school class). George Verwer gave a nice message, nothing too insanely memorable. I enjoyed it more than my high school graduation. High school was very focused on the past, while this was focused on the future. After the ceremony I made a quick stop by Calvary Chapel for a few band hugs and then made my way to McNally for the Comm Disorders reception. Raelene got to meet a lot of my Biola friends and my parents got to meet my professors.
The 6 of us had lunch at Woodranch Grill and I opened my cards and presents. That was some very good food. Mom and Raelene helped me pack up the car and then they and Valencia went home. It was really hard watching her go. We've never been apart for more than 6 hours at a time.
We had one final Hart BBQ for the people who were staying over Saturday night. I finished up my Romania packing and checked in. On my way back to Hart, I stopped by the fountain to just sit and think for a while."
Stayed tuned for the second half, and so much more :o)
I spent the entirety of finals week trying to blog, but time did not permit. I ended up journaling this by hand after my computer (and the rest of my stuff) had gone home after graduation. The first chunk is just the events, the second is thoughts and reflections. Because of length, I'm making them two separate posts. Here we go!
"I'm writing this from the inside of my wardrobe. Kind of random, but it's silly, so I like it.
I've been trying to blog since Sunday, but never found time. Honestly, maybe it's best I didn't. I've been all over the place: both excited and anticipating graduation and dreading the closing of this chapter of my life. Being my last week as a student here, however, I have not been lacking in fun events.
Last Thursday was the Comm Disorders dinner. Teri spoke about professional, personal, and spiritual advice she wanted to pass on, and Krista and I shared an amazing flan
Friday night was senior dinner. My parents and grandparents were able to come, which was great, especially since my grandparents weren't able to make it for graduation. Fred Sanders, professor of the year despite being on sabbatical, spoke, and it was a great final dinner on Metzger.
Saturday morning we put on a Clarinet Club End of the Year Recital with solo and ensemble performances as well as a few original compositions. That evening I went out to dinner with Ally and Sara to Pizza Z to catch up on life before we all scattered after graduation.
Sunday morning was my last service at Redeemer. I'm so thankful I found that church, even if it wasn't til the beginning of my final year. Teri had the girls from her classes this semester over for dessert in the evening. She had this amazing strawberry pie, chocolate cake, and coffee. We played Pass the Pigs and wii bowling. I pwned at wii bowling, I was pleased. It was nice getting to spend more time with her and get to know her husband Jacob a little. They're a great couple.
Upon returning to campus, I scurried down to our check out all hall. Hart has a tradition of praying over the seniors at the end after they share what their plans are for next year. Immediately after we went to study break.
I had my last final Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday evening was Baccalaureate. It was a beautiful service. Dr. Corey spoke about moving through chapters of life and how even though it can be hard, God always has us where he wants us. A number of seniors shared about how God had worked in their lives in their time at Biola. Then we walked from Calvary Chapel to the belltower through a path of luminaries as bagpipes played Amazing Grace. Under the belltower we took communion and sang Be Thou My VIsion. This was particularly meaningful because we began our Biola careers with a communion service under the belltower at the end of move in weekend with our families.
Wednesday I hung out one last time with Kathleen at Golden Spoon. We walked around Toys R Us, and I bought her the Star Wars action figure she picked out as an early birthday gift. That evening I got ready for Winds banquet with Becky, Jen, and Justine and rode out to Downtown Disney with Amberly, Erin, and Rachel T. Banquet was really fun as usual. I sat with Becky, Jen, Justine, Matt, and Mark. Mark kept us thoroughly entertained prior to dinner. One word: "fail!" The senior tribute was really nice, and much to my delight, even though I missed one semester of Winds, I received a Senior Service Award.
I came back with Becky, Jen, Dorothy, and Casey and Becky, Krista, Jen, and I watched Amazing Grace. Thursday afternoon I got to meet up with Emily Joynes at Commons to chat, and in the evening I went to a double composition recital for Kenny Lindsey and Dave Martina. Friday morning we sat through 1.5 hours of graduation rehearsal. Slightly ridiculous, but we got our Biola Alum license plate holders and Bye-ola tshirts. I had rehearsal and then played my (hopefully) last graduation ever.
The craziness began Saturday morning. Becky and I got up at 7 to get ready. We found her family and they fed me breakfast and took pictures. Soon after I found my own family and went to line up. I discovered that when they said it took 45 minutes to line everybody up, they really meant it took 45 minutes for everybody to show up.
The ceremony was nice, a bit long though due to the combination of hot sun and 606 graduates (only 26 more than my high school class). George Verwer gave a nice message, nothing too insanely memorable. I enjoyed it more than my high school graduation. High school was very focused on the past, while this was focused on the future. After the ceremony I made a quick stop by Calvary Chapel for a few band hugs and then made my way to McNally for the Comm Disorders reception. Raelene got to meet a lot of my Biola friends and my parents got to meet my professors.
The 6 of us had lunch at Woodranch Grill and I opened my cards and presents. That was some very good food. Mom and Raelene helped me pack up the car and then they and Valencia went home. It was really hard watching her go. We've never been apart for more than 6 hours at a time.
We had one final Hart BBQ for the people who were staying over Saturday night. I finished up my Romania packing and checked in. On my way back to Hart, I stopped by the fountain to just sit and think for a while."
Stayed tuned for the second half, and so much more :o)
Monday, June 8, 2009
General Thoughts on Romania
There is much more to come, all of my journaling that I did by hand I was there, but this is from an email I sent to the organization's director this morning.
I'm still not sure where to start when summarizing my trip. Lots of people have asked about it, but I still don't think I've talked for more than 5 minutes at a time about it. My family has gotten descriptions in doses - about playing with the kids, about the culture, the baby hospital. I think they're wanting to let me have some space while I'm still getting adjusted. It hasn't helped that we jumped right into apartment hunting for next year and I haven't had much down time.
It's surprising to me that most of what I feel I learned in Romania is directly related to things God was teaching me before the trip. I expected that all of that would have gone on pause and I would have learned something totally different, and related to the kids, rather than myself. This definitely confirms for me how true it is that missions trips change you more than they change the people you're ministering to. I guess this would explain why it feels so weird to be home now.
I really appreciate all the help you've given us with reflecting on the trip, I'm not sure I would have known how on my own.
I'm still not sure where to start when summarizing my trip. Lots of people have asked about it, but I still don't think I've talked for more than 5 minutes at a time about it. My family has gotten descriptions in doses - about playing with the kids, about the culture, the baby hospital. I think they're wanting to let me have some space while I'm still getting adjusted. It hasn't helped that we jumped right into apartment hunting for next year and I haven't had much down time.It's surprising to me that most of what I feel I learned in Romania is directly related to things God was teaching me before the trip. I expected that all of that would have gone on pause and I would have learned something totally different, and related to the kids, rather than myself. This definitely confirms for me how true it is that missions trips change you more than they change the people you're ministering to. I guess this would explain why it feels so weird to be home now.
I really appreciate all the help you've given us with reflecting on the trip, I'm not sure I would have known how on my own.
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