I was telling some of my awesome friends yesterday about what my plans are for my future. Plans such as opening up a non-profit organization in some inner-city like Compton or someplace similar, working with the youth from the community and just trying to provide a safe-haven for them; just a place where they wouldn't be tempted by things they might be tempted by out in the streets. But after telling my friends my plans I began to really think about what I had just really done.
I was limiting God's involvement in my life by saying what my plans and desires are for my future. I put myself into a box, if you will, by saying that thats what I want to do. I don't want to do what I want to do, I want to do what God had specifically designed me to do while I was still in my mother's womb. I am pretty sure I have written in a previous post that while I was in Africa I felt a real purpose in my life, but that I wasn't sure what the exact purpose was and that it didn't matter to me because God's purpose for my life would be so much more excellent and perfect than anything my finite mind would ever be able to conjure up. Well, apparently I had lost my perspective at some point since then and yesterday. I no longer desire to outline what my future life will look like, I now want to simply put my life into God's hands, I want Him to direct my every step.
I am self-conscious, and nervous person when it comes to certain things in life (some of you know this to be true more than others), but I am confident in saying that God has a specific purpose and plan for my life and that His plan is so much more magnificent than anything I could ever want to do. But even while I say that, although I believe it, I can't help but feel some doubts rising inside of me. I guess I just need to follow the example of the Roman Centurion (at least thats what I think the guy was) that asked for Jesus to come to his house and heal his sick child. Jesus asked him if he believed that he (Jesus) would be able to heal his child, the Centurion answered "I do believe, but help my unbelief." Everytime I heard that story before I just thought that that was a truly idiotic thing to say "I believe, but help my unbelief." What does that even mean? Until yesterday, I would have been incapable of answering that question, but now I feel that I really do know what the Roman Centurion was saying and I feel exactly as he did. I believe God has something extraordinary planned for me, but there are still some doubts in the back of my mind about that. I need help with my unbelief.
I don't want my own insecurities to be what hold me back from God's true calling on my life. I don't want my doubts in God's plan for my life to make me plan my own future. My life really isn't my own anyways, since I only wake up each morning because God allows me to, so I might as well allow Him to lead my life where He wants it to go. I don't want to live my life in a box constructed of my own wants, plans, and desires. I want anything and everything God has for me in this life He has given me. I want for me what He wants for me. I want to live where He wants me to live. I want to live my life the way He wants me to live my life wherever He puts me, doing whatever He gives me to do.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Your Guess is as Good as Mine
Another night of possible insomnia. Another pointless and random blog entry. So now that the reason for this entry has been established I will begin...
Deep thoughts = confusion on my part. The deeper my thoughts tend to go, the more confusing my future plans become. Life seems to be trickier than I once imagined it would be. Why? Could it be that as one grows and matures in their life that matters once thought simple become more and more complex? Is maturity to blame? Are one's experiences in life the true culprits of complicating life? Life just becomes more and more mysterious with each new day. Things I considered to be obvious components of my future life yesterday are now suddenly doubtful in my opinion today. The more I think about what I want to do with my life, the more unsure I become about what I really want to do. I feel I have a calling, a purpose I was born into this world for, but I haven't the foggiest idea what that may be. Do I really have as much time to figure this all out as I think I do? Or am I on the fast-track to becoming a hobo? If I were to become a hobo, would that be it for me, or would there be a chance of some sort of redemption?
Onto a less melancholy subject... moving back to school. Actually, this seems to be the only thing I am quite certain about right now. I am definitely excited to head back and start this new school year. It promises to be a year for the ages. I can't put my finger on why I feel this way, but I can't help but feel that this year will be big for my life. Which I know is a complete contradiction of the paragraph above, but I can feel both ways at the same time... it is a free country after all. I am super-duper-stoked to be back at school.
Another subject that seems to bring a smile to my face... Pandora.com's Doo-Wop station. If you are a fan of oldies such as myself, it is well worth a try. The old adage of oldies but goodies is definitely applicable to this station. It is most certainly one of the best inventions EVER. PERIOD (I realize that I used an actual period after "EVER" and before "PERIOD" but I just want to really stress that point). If your opinion is contrary to my own, I do not care... you are probably a loser without friends but a million cats... just joking... but seriously...
Anywho, I realize that this blog is perfectly incapable of adding to anyone's life in any way shape or form... so I'm sorry... I guess. Maybe I should have put that last sentence at the beginning of the entry as a form of warning to the reader? Oh well, I'm too lazy to change it now. So with that I will offer up my thanks to you (the readers... all 1-3 of you) for sticking it out and reading the entire thing. Unless you didn't tough it out and you aren't even reading this very sentence, in which case you receive no thanks from me. Try reading the entire thing next time, then and only then will you be granted thanks on my behalf. OK, that was a tangent of massive proportions and I apologize for it.
That is all for now... keep on the look out for more late night musings from yours truly... or midday musings... really my musings can occur at any hour of the day, so just stay vigilant in your following of this blog. Later.
Deep thoughts = confusion on my part. The deeper my thoughts tend to go, the more confusing my future plans become. Life seems to be trickier than I once imagined it would be. Why? Could it be that as one grows and matures in their life that matters once thought simple become more and more complex? Is maturity to blame? Are one's experiences in life the true culprits of complicating life? Life just becomes more and more mysterious with each new day. Things I considered to be obvious components of my future life yesterday are now suddenly doubtful in my opinion today. The more I think about what I want to do with my life, the more unsure I become about what I really want to do. I feel I have a calling, a purpose I was born into this world for, but I haven't the foggiest idea what that may be. Do I really have as much time to figure this all out as I think I do? Or am I on the fast-track to becoming a hobo? If I were to become a hobo, would that be it for me, or would there be a chance of some sort of redemption?
Onto a less melancholy subject... moving back to school. Actually, this seems to be the only thing I am quite certain about right now. I am definitely excited to head back and start this new school year. It promises to be a year for the ages. I can't put my finger on why I feel this way, but I can't help but feel that this year will be big for my life. Which I know is a complete contradiction of the paragraph above, but I can feel both ways at the same time... it is a free country after all. I am super-duper-stoked to be back at school.
Another subject that seems to bring a smile to my face... Pandora.com's Doo-Wop station. If you are a fan of oldies such as myself, it is well worth a try. The old adage of oldies but goodies is definitely applicable to this station. It is most certainly one of the best inventions EVER. PERIOD (I realize that I used an actual period after "EVER" and before "PERIOD" but I just want to really stress that point). If your opinion is contrary to my own, I do not care... you are probably a loser without friends but a million cats... just joking... but seriously...
Anywho, I realize that this blog is perfectly incapable of adding to anyone's life in any way shape or form... so I'm sorry... I guess. Maybe I should have put that last sentence at the beginning of the entry as a form of warning to the reader? Oh well, I'm too lazy to change it now. So with that I will offer up my thanks to you (the readers... all 1-3 of you) for sticking it out and reading the entire thing. Unless you didn't tough it out and you aren't even reading this very sentence, in which case you receive no thanks from me. Try reading the entire thing next time, then and only then will you be granted thanks on my behalf. OK, that was a tangent of massive proportions and I apologize for it.
That is all for now... keep on the look out for more late night musings from yours truly... or midday musings... really my musings can occur at any hour of the day, so just stay vigilant in your following of this blog. Later.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Ethiopia Trip Journal Entry #5
7-13-2009
So today was another truly awesome day. The kids were a treat to be around, like always. They come up with new ways to make me laugh all of the time, they are hilarious. The only real downer about today had to be that I felt sick for the first time all trip, but thankfully I am feeling much better now, even though I still feel extremely exhausted.
Have you ever conversed with an infant before? I ask because I never had until today. The topic of conversation wasn't anything to write home about (or journal about for that matter), but the interaction was awesome. So to answer the previous question, I can now say that I have conversed with an infant. It all started because I was feeling sick by the time we arrived at little AHOPE, so not wanting to collapse while playing with the kids, I went into the infants room. It was quite relaxing just sitting on the floor with them while they played. It was also pretty uneventful. Though that all changed when a little girl looked at me and uttered a peculiar sound, "Aaa" was basically what she said (not a hard "A" sound like Fonzy from "Happy Days," but a softer "A" sound) so naturally I said it back to her (this exchange went on for a few minutes). Then out of nowhere she changed the dynamics of the conversation by making that noise when you kind of flick your bottom lip, so of course I went along with the new topic (I didn't want to be deemed a boring conversationalist). This exchange has pretty much summed up my experience in Ethiopia. I say that because it wasn't anything fancy or forced, it just happened naturally. All of my experiences with the kids here has been something that has happened naturally and they have all been great.
These kids are so amazing. I honestly wish I were more like them. They have been dealt an awful hand in life, but they still have fun and go on with their lives. They are so sweet and funny and full of life. No matter what has happened, is happenening, or will happen to them in life they just keep smiling their infectious smiles and laughing their contagious laughs.
So today was another truly awesome day. The kids were a treat to be around, like always. They come up with new ways to make me laugh all of the time, they are hilarious. The only real downer about today had to be that I felt sick for the first time all trip, but thankfully I am feeling much better now, even though I still feel extremely exhausted.
Have you ever conversed with an infant before? I ask because I never had until today. The topic of conversation wasn't anything to write home about (or journal about for that matter), but the interaction was awesome. So to answer the previous question, I can now say that I have conversed with an infant. It all started because I was feeling sick by the time we arrived at little AHOPE, so not wanting to collapse while playing with the kids, I went into the infants room. It was quite relaxing just sitting on the floor with them while they played. It was also pretty uneventful. Though that all changed when a little girl looked at me and uttered a peculiar sound, "Aaa" was basically what she said (not a hard "A" sound like Fonzy from "Happy Days," but a softer "A" sound) so naturally I said it back to her (this exchange went on for a few minutes). Then out of nowhere she changed the dynamics of the conversation by making that noise when you kind of flick your bottom lip, so of course I went along with the new topic (I didn't want to be deemed a boring conversationalist). This exchange has pretty much summed up my experience in Ethiopia. I say that because it wasn't anything fancy or forced, it just happened naturally. All of my experiences with the kids here has been something that has happened naturally and they have all been great.
These kids are so amazing. I honestly wish I were more like them. They have been dealt an awful hand in life, but they still have fun and go on with their lives. They are so sweet and funny and full of life. No matter what has happened, is happenening, or will happen to them in life they just keep smiling their infectious smiles and laughing their contagious laughs.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Ethiopia Trip Journal Entry #4
7-12-2009
I just finished reading "The Barbarian Way" and it has really changed my thoughts on my faith. It made me realize that I have been playing it safe in my walk with my Saviour. The author mentions that the entire "wall of faith" is comprised of believers that were more than willing to lay down their lives for Christ and in most cases put themselves into those life or death situations on purpose. I want a faith like that. One where my life is only of secondary importance and furthering my heavenly Father's kingdom takes precedence, where the needs of others become my own needs, and where my home is wherever God happens to call me to for that period of time. God's plans for my life, I feel right now, are too grand and extraordinary for me to possibly be able to fathom at this point in my life. I feel called to great things in my life, but I haven't the slightest idea what that all entails... but its a start.
Being around these children has made me very open to the possibility of adopting later on in life, like when I (hopefully) get married someday. These kids have almost nothing going for them, yet they still are so full of joy. Its something I could definitely learn from. I actually told some others on the team that I kind of selfishly hope that like 4 of the kids dont get adopted for a few years, that way I could adopt them myself... but I really hope they do get adopted soon, they would be such a blessing to whoever they go to.
My high-light for today (and maybe for the entire trip, thus far) was after leading a small church service for the kids, we were able to pray for them. It was just simply amazing. One of the boys there basically chose me as his best-friend as soon as he saw me the first day, and I was able to pray for him today. It was just a beautiful time, so much so that I wasn't able to verbalize some of my prayer for him because I was afriad of crying and I didn't want him to see me sobbing. It was a good time.
I just finished reading "The Barbarian Way" and it has really changed my thoughts on my faith. It made me realize that I have been playing it safe in my walk with my Saviour. The author mentions that the entire "wall of faith" is comprised of believers that were more than willing to lay down their lives for Christ and in most cases put themselves into those life or death situations on purpose. I want a faith like that. One where my life is only of secondary importance and furthering my heavenly Father's kingdom takes precedence, where the needs of others become my own needs, and where my home is wherever God happens to call me to for that period of time. God's plans for my life, I feel right now, are too grand and extraordinary for me to possibly be able to fathom at this point in my life. I feel called to great things in my life, but I haven't the slightest idea what that all entails... but its a start.
Being around these children has made me very open to the possibility of adopting later on in life, like when I (hopefully) get married someday. These kids have almost nothing going for them, yet they still are so full of joy. Its something I could definitely learn from. I actually told some others on the team that I kind of selfishly hope that like 4 of the kids dont get adopted for a few years, that way I could adopt them myself... but I really hope they do get adopted soon, they would be such a blessing to whoever they go to.
My high-light for today (and maybe for the entire trip, thus far) was after leading a small church service for the kids, we were able to pray for them. It was just simply amazing. One of the boys there basically chose me as his best-friend as soon as he saw me the first day, and I was able to pray for him today. It was just a beautiful time, so much so that I wasn't able to verbalize some of my prayer for him because I was afriad of crying and I didn't want him to see me sobbing. It was a good time.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ethiopia Trip Journal Entry #3
7-4-2009
Dear Diary,
I know it's been a while, so I've now decided to force myself to journal today. This week has been long, rainy, and exhausting, but it has also been truly amazing.
Monday was just a prep-day for the week, so not too much went down then. If my memory serves me right, we may have run through the "Everything" skit a couple of times, but not too many times cause the laptop ran out of power (we have the song on the laptop, so the laptop is pretty important).
Tuesday, my group went to Little AHOPE (where the smaller HIV positive children are. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before or not, but all of the children at any of the AHOPE facilities are HIV positive). It was a ton of fun. We started by putting on a show with finger puppets about Noah's Ark and the kids loved it (although, they probably loved the finger puppets themselves more than the actual production we put on with the puppets). Next, we played with them and gave them bubbles, then it was time for us to leave until the later session. We walked back to "Lil' A," as I like to call it, for the afternoon session. While there we played with them one more again (ebonics) and this time with Play-Doh, but the real story began on the walk back to our guesthouse. We walked in a down-pour, like seriously you have no idea (I saw cats and dogs falling from the heavens), we walked approximately 2 miles in the pouring rain... fun times, fun times.
Wednesday we were able to visit a couple of AHOPE run feeding centers (day-cares, really). Unfortunately, we were only able to visit with the kids for an hour each time, but they were definitely fun-packed hours. At the first feeding center, the children just swarmed us as soon as they saw us; they started grabbing our arms and putting them around them. The group of boys that claimed me played "Spider-Man" with me (we just made our hands like we were shooting webs at each other and made like a hissing noise for when the web left our hands) and luckily I caught on quickly. During the skits and stories we did for them, a couple of the boys just sat next to me the entire time holding my hands and putting my arms around their shoulders. When we left I received more hugs and kisses from the kids than I could count. It was just an amazing time from start to finish. The second place started slower, but ended the same way. Although, it was a little heart-breaking when the kids would ask us when we would be back, because we had no idea. Those kids don't really have much that they can depend on besides the feeding centers, so not being able to really answer their question was hard for me.
Thursday my group went to Big AHOPE (or "Big A")for a VBS type of day. The first class went great, we told them the Noh's Ark story and it went great (just as I said earlier in the sentence). However, all that changed with the second class; that is when we discovered that the kids in the second class were really supposed to be in the first class and all of the kids in the first class were supposed to be in either the second or third classes (the kids just sat in the room waiting for us, so we just assumed that they were in the class... but they weren't). The rest of the classes were just so-so, but playing with the kids was awesomely fun (like always). The kids also took pictures with my camera, so that was nice because I'm definitely not the best photographer in the world. The kids probablt doubled the amount of pictures on my camera's memory card, so that was a blessing (they're good photographers too).
Friday we left for a resort 3 hours away. It wasn't anything like an American resort, but it still had a certain likability about it. The water was all from a local underground hot-spring (would have been awesome if it hadn't been hot there too). It was a nice drive, in that we were able to see a different Africa than what we see everyday in Addis Ababa (meaning "New Flower" in Amharic). Zach and I also visited where the hot-spring directly comes from (many a bathing Ethiopian men were present) and it was ridiculously hot... our feet were red from the water for 20'ish minutes after we left. The one down-side of getting all the water from a hot-spring is that all of the water is hot (and I do mean all of the water is hot... the toilet water even). All-in-all, it was a decent time.
Saturday, we just got back from the resort and we are all pretty tired. Not much going on for our 4th of July except relaxing and hanging-out. I did however forget to mention that I was attacked by a cow on Friday. We stopped at a farm on the way to the resort and evidently a cow took a real shining to me. At first it came up to me so I petted it out of politeness, but then it went ninja-status on me and snuck-up on me from behind and licked my back (big wet-spot on the back of my shirt for a while). I guess there is just a raw-animal-magnetism about me.
Dear Diary,
I know it's been a while, so I've now decided to force myself to journal today. This week has been long, rainy, and exhausting, but it has also been truly amazing.
Monday was just a prep-day for the week, so not too much went down then. If my memory serves me right, we may have run through the "Everything" skit a couple of times, but not too many times cause the laptop ran out of power (we have the song on the laptop, so the laptop is pretty important).
Tuesday, my group went to Little AHOPE (where the smaller HIV positive children are. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before or not, but all of the children at any of the AHOPE facilities are HIV positive). It was a ton of fun. We started by putting on a show with finger puppets about Noah's Ark and the kids loved it (although, they probably loved the finger puppets themselves more than the actual production we put on with the puppets). Next, we played with them and gave them bubbles, then it was time for us to leave until the later session. We walked back to "Lil' A," as I like to call it, for the afternoon session. While there we played with them one more again (ebonics) and this time with Play-Doh, but the real story began on the walk back to our guesthouse. We walked in a down-pour, like seriously you have no idea (I saw cats and dogs falling from the heavens), we walked approximately 2 miles in the pouring rain... fun times, fun times.
Wednesday we were able to visit a couple of AHOPE run feeding centers (day-cares, really). Unfortunately, we were only able to visit with the kids for an hour each time, but they were definitely fun-packed hours. At the first feeding center, the children just swarmed us as soon as they saw us; they started grabbing our arms and putting them around them. The group of boys that claimed me played "Spider-Man" with me (we just made our hands like we were shooting webs at each other and made like a hissing noise for when the web left our hands) and luckily I caught on quickly. During the skits and stories we did for them, a couple of the boys just sat next to me the entire time holding my hands and putting my arms around their shoulders. When we left I received more hugs and kisses from the kids than I could count. It was just an amazing time from start to finish. The second place started slower, but ended the same way. Although, it was a little heart-breaking when the kids would ask us when we would be back, because we had no idea. Those kids don't really have much that they can depend on besides the feeding centers, so not being able to really answer their question was hard for me.
Thursday my group went to Big AHOPE (or "Big A")for a VBS type of day. The first class went great, we told them the Noh's Ark story and it went great (just as I said earlier in the sentence). However, all that changed with the second class; that is when we discovered that the kids in the second class were really supposed to be in the first class and all of the kids in the first class were supposed to be in either the second or third classes (the kids just sat in the room waiting for us, so we just assumed that they were in the class... but they weren't). The rest of the classes were just so-so, but playing with the kids was awesomely fun (like always). The kids also took pictures with my camera, so that was nice because I'm definitely not the best photographer in the world. The kids probablt doubled the amount of pictures on my camera's memory card, so that was a blessing (they're good photographers too).
Friday we left for a resort 3 hours away. It wasn't anything like an American resort, but it still had a certain likability about it. The water was all from a local underground hot-spring (would have been awesome if it hadn't been hot there too). It was a nice drive, in that we were able to see a different Africa than what we see everyday in Addis Ababa (meaning "New Flower" in Amharic). Zach and I also visited where the hot-spring directly comes from (many a bathing Ethiopian men were present) and it was ridiculously hot... our feet were red from the water for 20'ish minutes after we left. The one down-side of getting all the water from a hot-spring is that all of the water is hot (and I do mean all of the water is hot... the toilet water even). All-in-all, it was a decent time.
Saturday, we just got back from the resort and we are all pretty tired. Not much going on for our 4th of July except relaxing and hanging-out. I did however forget to mention that I was attacked by a cow on Friday. We stopped at a farm on the way to the resort and evidently a cow took a real shining to me. At first it came up to me so I petted it out of politeness, but then it went ninja-status on me and snuck-up on me from behind and licked my back (big wet-spot on the back of my shirt for a while). I guess there is just a raw-animal-magnetism about me.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Ethiopia Trip Journal Entry #2
6-26-2009
Today was our first full day in Ethiopia. Yesterday we landed and it was a great relief to everyone, because it signified the end of our travels... for the time being, anyways. After we made our way through visas and customs, we made our way to baggage pick-up. However, half of the team was missing at least one bag (myself included). We then went through the whole routine with the airport staff. After said routine, we were then informed that that our bags were not lost, but that they had just not made it off of our last flight. Instead of leaving the flight like us, our bags continued on to Entebbe, Uganda (our bags have now seen more of Africa than us). Long story short, we were able to pick-up the rest of our luggage this morning, which was a great thing (in our missing bags were not only clothes, but also toothbrushes and the like).
After arriving yesterday and dropping our bags off at the guesthouse we are staying at, we stopped by the orphanage that we will be working with. We arrived at the orphanage after a grueling (90 ft.) walk, and were greeted with a lot of semi-shy children. We stayed for a few minutes and then made our trek into town to stop by the other orphanage that we will be working with. The orphanages are run by the same people, but cater to children of different ages. The second orphanage was for the younger children and they immediately took a shining to us. We played with them the entire time we were there (soccer turned into monkey-in-the-middle, which turned into catching them jumping off of a short wall, which turned into piggy-back rides, which finally ended in me carrying one child on my back and one child on each of my arms). We sadly left and made our way to a pizza place for dinner. After dinner we rested some and then a few of us once again went to the first orphanage (with the older children). Those that went were expecting shy kids again, but we got the exact opposite. Those kids were ready for fun and games; we played with them for about 2 hours non-stop. They were so much fun, and just couldn't stop laughing or smiling. The guys I played with really liked balancing games and arm-wrestling type games. These games started out fair until they discovered that they could beat me easier by making me play 2 of them at once or by attacking me with tickles. The latter is what really sparked the rest of the night. It soon became apparent that they really loved tickle fights (not everyone for themselves, but rather them vs. me)... quite the mismatch. Inbetween the tickling, I was responsible for throwing them onto Josh's or Zach's back (leaching, if you will). It was just an awesome time, some of the guys even helped me out by wiping my face off of sweat. It was truly a blessing to see them having so much fun... it's hard to put into words how great it really was, but it is something I'm sure will stay with me forever.
Today was our first full day in Ethiopia. Yesterday we landed and it was a great relief to everyone, because it signified the end of our travels... for the time being, anyways. After we made our way through visas and customs, we made our way to baggage pick-up. However, half of the team was missing at least one bag (myself included). We then went through the whole routine with the airport staff. After said routine, we were then informed that that our bags were not lost, but that they had just not made it off of our last flight. Instead of leaving the flight like us, our bags continued on to Entebbe, Uganda (our bags have now seen more of Africa than us). Long story short, we were able to pick-up the rest of our luggage this morning, which was a great thing (in our missing bags were not only clothes, but also toothbrushes and the like).
After arriving yesterday and dropping our bags off at the guesthouse we are staying at, we stopped by the orphanage that we will be working with. We arrived at the orphanage after a grueling (90 ft.) walk, and were greeted with a lot of semi-shy children. We stayed for a few minutes and then made our trek into town to stop by the other orphanage that we will be working with. The orphanages are run by the same people, but cater to children of different ages. The second orphanage was for the younger children and they immediately took a shining to us. We played with them the entire time we were there (soccer turned into monkey-in-the-middle, which turned into catching them jumping off of a short wall, which turned into piggy-back rides, which finally ended in me carrying one child on my back and one child on each of my arms). We sadly left and made our way to a pizza place for dinner. After dinner we rested some and then a few of us once again went to the first orphanage (with the older children). Those that went were expecting shy kids again, but we got the exact opposite. Those kids were ready for fun and games; we played with them for about 2 hours non-stop. They were so much fun, and just couldn't stop laughing or smiling. The guys I played with really liked balancing games and arm-wrestling type games. These games started out fair until they discovered that they could beat me easier by making me play 2 of them at once or by attacking me with tickles. The latter is what really sparked the rest of the night. It soon became apparent that they really loved tickle fights (not everyone for themselves, but rather them vs. me)... quite the mismatch. Inbetween the tickling, I was responsible for throwing them onto Josh's or Zach's back (leaching, if you will). It was just an awesome time, some of the guys even helped me out by wiping my face off of sweat. It was truly a blessing to see them having so much fun... it's hard to put into words how great it really was, but it is something I'm sure will stay with me forever.
Ethiopia Trip Journal Entry #1
6-24-2009
We just got off of an 8 1/2 hour flight from Charlotte, NC to Frankfurt, Germany. For an 8 1/2 hour flight, it wasn't all that bad; we were able to choose what in flight movies we wanted to watch via an in-demand option (I watched Gran Torino and some of Seven Pounds). The meal wasn't too shabby either (think a glorified TV dinner).
Despite the relative luxury (I use that word rather loosely) of the flight, it was definitely appreciated when we finally landed. Being able to stretch out after being human sardines for 8 1/2 hours was nice (major understatement). Although, my legs were pretty weak from the lack of use (almost fell multiple times down and up stairs).
Anywho, Frankfurt's airport is pretty spacious... and void of many people (at the time of writing anyways). After entering the airport (there is probably a fancy, technical term for "entering" but it is only my second time flying, so you'll have to forgive me) we "claimed" our baggage and all was well, or so we (really just me) thought. I proceeded to grab my big, heavy bag, but unbeknownst to me,one of the handle straps ripped during the flight over. Needless to say ( but I will, because it probably isn't "needless to say"), it was quite awkward to carry around. It would be impossible to describe in words how I had to carry my luggage, so if you really need to know I will panamime it for you later.
Random trip notes thus far:
- Woke up at 3 AM to catch our 7:30 AM flight from LAX to Charlotte, NC.
- Sat in the very last row of the first flight inbetween Elise and some spacially challenged lady (she crossed the arm-rest boundary repeatedly, often initiating elbow-to-elbow contact with me, but instead of moving har arm back to where it came from, she would leave it there so our arms would be awkwardly touching until I would relent and move my arm even though mine was there first).
- I finally met someone with a real, authentic southern accent.
- Sabrina said a contestant on the Bachelorette reminded her of me (he was kicked off literally 30 seconds after she said that... plus he seemed like a loser, he was cheated 4 different times, so I guess his luch with the ladies is close to mine... similarity?)
- Somewhat related-random note, several otherssaid they should nominate me as the next Bachelor... stop the nomination. Also, Mabel said I should go on the show, because "it's possible for someone like you (meaning me) to maybe find love." Thanks for the confidence boost.
I am finally done now. Write again later, probably when we finally reach Ethiopia, but maybe when we get to Dubai. Later gators.
We just got off of an 8 1/2 hour flight from Charlotte, NC to Frankfurt, Germany. For an 8 1/2 hour flight, it wasn't all that bad; we were able to choose what in flight movies we wanted to watch via an in-demand option (I watched Gran Torino and some of Seven Pounds). The meal wasn't too shabby either (think a glorified TV dinner).
Despite the relative luxury (I use that word rather loosely) of the flight, it was definitely appreciated when we finally landed. Being able to stretch out after being human sardines for 8 1/2 hours was nice (major understatement). Although, my legs were pretty weak from the lack of use (almost fell multiple times down and up stairs).
Anywho, Frankfurt's airport is pretty spacious... and void of many people (at the time of writing anyways). After entering the airport (there is probably a fancy, technical term for "entering" but it is only my second time flying, so you'll have to forgive me) we "claimed" our baggage and all was well, or so we (really just me) thought. I proceeded to grab my big, heavy bag, but unbeknownst to me,one of the handle straps ripped during the flight over. Needless to say ( but I will, because it probably isn't "needless to say"), it was quite awkward to carry around. It would be impossible to describe in words how I had to carry my luggage, so if you really need to know I will panamime it for you later.
Random trip notes thus far:
- Woke up at 3 AM to catch our 7:30 AM flight from LAX to Charlotte, NC.
- Sat in the very last row of the first flight inbetween Elise and some spacially challenged lady (she crossed the arm-rest boundary repeatedly, often initiating elbow-to-elbow contact with me, but instead of moving har arm back to where it came from, she would leave it there so our arms would be awkwardly touching until I would relent and move my arm even though mine was there first).
- I finally met someone with a real, authentic southern accent.
- Sabrina said a contestant on the Bachelorette reminded her of me (he was kicked off literally 30 seconds after she said that... plus he seemed like a loser, he was cheated 4 different times, so I guess his luch with the ladies is close to mine... similarity?)
- Somewhat related-random note, several otherssaid they should nominate me as the next Bachelor... stop the nomination. Also, Mabel said I should go on the show, because "it's possible for someone like you (meaning me) to maybe find love." Thanks for the confidence boost.
I am finally done now. Write again later, probably when we finally reach Ethiopia, but maybe when we get to Dubai. Later gators.
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