Hello, Portugal, Soy Sydney

I didn't expect Portugal to be quite so awkward. By this, I mean that I didn't expect to feel so awkward in Portugal. The only reason I say this is because whenever I was spoken to in Portuguese, my natural reaction is to respond in any language but English (the language that they apparently prefer). Luckily, I broke myself of the habit of responding in Spanish by the end of the first day. (Reasons for why this is such a good thing are to follow.)
Anyway, for the nitty gritty details: overnight buses, no better than overnight planes. No worse, but no better... actually maybe they are worse: the buses going from Granada to Lisboa do not have onboard restrooms. Gah! So that means that we had to get out at the coldest bus stop in the world (an exaggeration, I know) while our driver had a smoke and coffee.
At one point the change in the veolocity of the bus alerted me that we were stopping. It was dark, I had been sleeping, was not wearing contacts, and was curious about where in the world (Iberian Peninsula) I was. I looked out the windows, saw some buildings, and couldn't read the signs. So, I put on my glasses, looked out the window, saw some buildings, and still couldn't read the signs. We had arrived in Portugal.

Huelga General = Grand Stink

I know that updates have been thinner than Twiggy, but I have a fantastic explanation that will be given after I have updated all of you about the life and times of Sydney Fogle.
So, the 29th of September, the entirety of Spain went on strike (or so we thought). In actuality, the numbers that the government give and the numbers that the press give when talking about the number of strikers differ (Qué sorpresa - my host mom tells me that this is not uncommon). The program was telling us that we should be prepared for strikers outside of our internships and even that the bus systems would be unreliable. All of this was true, but not to the extent of other places. As soon as midnight struck on the 28th and began the 29th it seemed like a completely different place (even Kabab King closed its gate!). There were very few people in the streets and walking home felt very strange. The morening of the 29th came and I had never realized how smelly trash can get, especially when the afternoon heat comes in and makes life miserable. Yes, we had picketers. Yes, it smelled. Yes, there was graffiti. No, we did not have random outbreaks of violence like in Barcelona (and now in France).

UIM

During my time here in Spain I have an internship at La Unión Iberoamericana de Municipalistas. Honestly it seems like the organization does everything under the sun. Mostly though, it is promoting better communities. They have departments that range from schools with English classes to urbanism and sustainable development research. Mostly I've been doing office work (understandable since it was my first week), but the director recently asked if I wanted to help with the English Immersion courses. Of course I said yes! ONe of the more interesting things about Spain is the amount of breaks they take during the day. This is not to say that Spaniards are lazy. On the contrary, they work just as many hours as we do per day, but they get breaks where they can shake the stress off during the day. For instance, second breakfast does exist. It tends to occur between 10:45 and 11:45 (sometimes noon). I normally just have a coffee or bring a piece of fruit from home, but many people go out, get a coffee and toast and relax for about 10 - 15 minutes. Then there's the best descanso (break) of them all: the lunch hour. This term is misleading since it lasts between 2 and 3 hours and also includes a 10 - 40 minute siesta (doctors say that 30 minutes is best). However, work goes on here until 8 in the evening. Oh, my life is just so hard right now.

Fight Songs and Social Gaffes

Last Sunday I was given the chance to attend the local soccer team's game. Los Cármenes are ranked fourth in the Second Division. Translation: they're not that great, but they're also not the worst. I had heard that they did not have many fans, but there were about 15,000 people at the stadium and about 12,000 of them knew some pretty awesome fight songs. I wound up telling my host sister and her boyfriend that sometimes the fans were more exciting than the game itself. I could even spot the "student" cheering section thanks to the flags and rude chants.

I'm going to start this next section by saying that in Spain it is customary to greet someone with two air kisses to the cheek, starting on the left. Now I'm going to tell you that it is not typically my first reaction to air kiss my sister's boyfriend. Having said this, I met him today and was on the way to extend my hand when he leaned forward slightly to his left and after a long-enough pause for the two of them to realize that I had forgotten social niceties we exchanged greetings. Then we all had a good laugh at my expense... luckily, I thought it was kind of funny, too.

Carolina Meets España

So, this little nugget of writing is to inform everyone that I am in Granada, Spain studying Spanish and oddly enough, Arabic. Who'd have thought, right? Orientation here has been just as harrying and hectic as freshman orientation was at Wofford. So, to all of you freshies who might be reading this... it isn't over by a long shot.

After a 20 km - yes, that is 12ish miles - (many portions of which I tried to remember if I had signed a release form) we arrived and passed through many beautiful coastal views in Cabo de Gata, a national park in Almería.

Interesting fact: many of the films that you believed were filmed in the American desert... not. They were filmed in Cabo de Gata: Laurence of Arabia, Clint Eastwood films, and the Indiana Jones movie that had his father in it. Sorry, I can't remember the name, but luckily I'm too far away to hunt down with an angry mob.

The views were beautiful and very close thanks to our part mountain goat guide. Luckily, I haven't been living as on the edge since we got home... luckily. And did I mention that it's fantastically beautiful here?

"The Return of the Kangaroo King"- John's Title Choice

Have had a Marvelous past 3 weeks and so much to tell!

Where I left you last on the 29th... So the Pamper Night was not so "pampering." We ended up in a crowded room with awkward questions and conversation in the place of spoiling and great take away gifts. Jill and I ended up leaving early even before the raffle (which we did not win) and grabbed a cab home. Oh well. The poster was pretty.

May 3rd... John ARRIVED!! Got lost on the way to the airport to meet him. How many times have I made this exact trip? We got him all settled in and I took him on a great nature walk despite his subtle sighs. It was beautiful and I tried to find some great wildlife to impress him but no success. Something noteworthy did happen though on this little excursion. As we were experiencing our scenic stroll, I, feeling an adventurous whim, dared John to eat a piece of chocolate cookie that we saw on the path. Of course, he was like HECK NO! Me, employing my "knew you wouldn't do it" scheme, drove him to doing it and after about 2 small bites he made a funny face. Turns out it was a DOG TREAT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Totally made my day and I will never let him live it down.

Hey John, Remember that time you ate a DOG TREAT? bahaha.

After his appetizer, we decided to find a cool pizza place for dinner. Boy, did we succeed at Mojo's Weird Pizza. We got a great pizza topped with every random thing that your mind can conjure. One of my personal favorites, pineapple. What a great way to end Day #1!

May 4th... Early start to Queen Victoria Market where we got great food to cook for the week. I finally figured out that with guys, you must just take charge and buy whatever you want or else the whole trip is "Well what do you want?" "Well I dont know what do you want?" Therefore, I put on my charge pants and got it done! So much fun looking at all of the cool things and I practically bought every fruit in sight. Sorry for having to lug all of that back John. ALTHOUGH you refused to carry the bag on your shoulder like a normal human being because you would look 'girly.' We grabbed the tram back to LaTrobe to prepare for our sailing adventure. Sadly, I lost the pictures from it so I have nothing other than the picture of the boat that Chay provided us with.

The sailing trip was great other than it turned night and poured rain! Wish I had the wet and attractive pictures to show you of us :( John and I hung out at the back of the boat with the crew and John asked them every question known to man about the ship and such. Kinda cute. I stood there like a wet lump anticipating land and warmth. Once we arrived back at shore, I took my first train trip ever to a small suburb outside Melbourne known as Footscray, where I had my first African dish ever. We ate at a really neat African restaurant with the IES group and got some pretty interesting dishes. The bread was different and crumpet like. After dinner, we took a long cab ride back and finally arrived back at Bundoora. Tried a lot of firsts today! Can you say captain?

May 5th... Class ALL day. What a bummer. I took John with me to my classes and he got some extra sleep in ha. We passed notes like 6th graders and I did my best to pay attention. After class, we went to the grocery store to get even MORE food and made a fabulous dinner of steak and potatoes. Had a great desert of Tim Tams/John had a great desert of Tim Tams (Australian wafer cookie). It was a huge task ripping them from his paws. Watched Old School and then zzzzzzzz'. May 6th...Werribee Zoo today? Nope. Our plans changed and we decided to spend the day in the city instead. The weather wasn't too promising and we didn't want to risk a day at the zoo in the rain. As we were walking to lunch, I discovered a large crowd assembling to our left and ventured to see what it was all about. Low and behold we ended up seeing Olivia Newton John and she performed her greatest Greece hits! We also saw Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins and learned about the Olivia Newton John Breast Cancer Foundation and her new cancer wellness center coming to Melbourne. We saw the Fame cast perform and I even managed to make it on the news!! Such an exciting show.

After the show, we spontaneously hopped on the City Circle Tram and explored the city. This tram is the free tram that runs along the city circle and plays information on the speakers about the city throughout. It was a method of transport and tour all in one! We explored the Docklands and area around the harbor and then headed home. What a day of great luck and spontaneity! After we made it back to LaTrobe, I introduced John to some authentic Australians and we hung out Aussie style for the remainder of the night :)

May 7th... Today served as a day of rest and we decided to do laundry and work on some preparation for our Sydney trip. While we were waiting on the laundry, we played in the game room in Radford hall. I beat John AT EVERY SINGLE GAME IN THERE. EVERY SINGLE ONE. hahahaha. We played airhockey, pool, and ping pong. Anyone that is reading this... John could really use some pointers. After we finished our cleaning list, we explored campus and decided to go downtown to a great 90's spot and have some dinner and possibly a little dance. Turns out the dancing didn't work out. Think I must have 'intimidated' everyone with my moves.

May 8th...The day is Saturday. Didn't know it would turn out to be Doomsday. We rose early to head to Avis Car Rental to start our Great Ocean Road adventure. We decided to rent a car and drive along the coast ourselves would be more economically efficient and more fun so we researched car rentals and registered ourselves for a great little car. Little did we know that driving on the other side of the road is quite the contrary to fun. After soothing John's nerves, we finally made it to Avis and got our car. Of course, John wanted to be the driver. That lasted for a total of 5 minutes. As we were driving along, a lady politely tooted her horn and rolled down her window to notify us that one of our tires were going flat. GREAT. We pulled over and decided to take it back to Avis to get it fixed. After John's mental breakdown, we also determined that with this stop I would register to drive and take over. After we got the tire fixed, I stepped behind the wheel and we were off! Guys, you have to think about this. The gear shift is on the left side, blinker on the right and every single thing is BACKWARDS! I must admit that it was rather challenging. After we got out and about for a little, we began to search for the freeway. Did we find it easily? Of course not. We finally found it and headed in the wrong direction.


After we got off on the proper exit, we got lost once again around the roundabout and had to stop and ask for directions. John's job= directions. John's directions= "I think once we see this road, we turn left. or maybe right. Don't exactly remember the road." Needless to say, we never found the Great Ocean Road and John became very closely acquainted with 711's. We finally made it back to the city and I decided to take us to St. Kilda for some lunch and a relaxing walk along the beach. What a way to clear the stress from the day! We had lunch at the Stokehouse, a great oceanfront restaurant and then got great treats at Acland Street Bakery. I got baclava and John got a macadamia tart. We took them to the park and had a quaint picnic of sweets :)

While we had the car, I figured why not get some use out of it! We can take it around the city and down roads that the tram doesn't usually run on. We explored Chapel Street, a posh urban hip scene and stopped for slurpees and Gaytime bars. YUM. There were soo many luxury exotic cars around to look at and we had a great time dreaming about things that we will probably never have. There were really great shops and neat buildings.

The Place Where We Really Rented Our Car

After Chapel Street, we decided to head back to good ole' Bundoora. Once we got back, John made MASSIVE and I truly mean it cheeseburgers with mushrooms and bacon. Healthy right? They were soo delicious and a truly great end to a very adventurous day.


May 9th...Up with the birds for church! Me, John, and Jill started the day with a long awaited return of the lamborghini and John's walk of shame back to the tram.

We arrived at church quite early and stopped for coffee along the way. The church service was great and we learned quite a great deal about integrity and took some rocks home with us as symbolic reminders. After church, John and I rejoined everyone in the narthex for coffee and cookies. After about an hour of socializing, we went to a great lunch at a really neat rooftop restaurant. We had great fish and chips and an even better view! After lunch, we explored downtown and ventured towards Federation Square. We noticed large amounts of people in green walking in one direction and decided to check it out. We learned that there was the opening game for the Melbourne Storm rugby team that day at the new stadium



in Melbourne. It was the first time that anyone has ever played on it! We stopped at the ferris wheel and contemplated riding. Instead we made an even better decision of getting jam donuts, our new favorite.

We walked around the park with our donuts and just simply enjoyed the outdoors and watching the kids play. After we devoured every morsel,
we decided to follow the crowd and see what this opening rugby game was all about. After we saw the stadium, we decided to inquire about tickets and see if we could possibly see the game.

We got tickets and had great seats!! It was sooo much fun and we almost figured out all of the rules. GO STORM!!

The stadium was fascinating and we got to be a part of its groundbreaking. Pretty neat to stumble upon if you ask me! The game ended late

and we hopped back on a tram to LaTrobe to make a great dinner. We had chicken parm (John's ultimate Aussie obsession) and all the fixins. Very tasty. We have really turned into 2 chefs, I must say.

May 10th...Our last day in Melbourne before our Sydney trip. Do you think we took it easy and packed and rested?

Absolutely not. I was up at 6 a.m. to arrive in the city at 7:30 for a Great Ocean Road tour. Because we were unsucessful on Saturday, we decided that we must ultimately win the fight and actually experience this allusive Great Ocean Road.

For those of you that don't know, the Great Ocean Road is a road that hugs the coast of Australia starting in Torquay and ends in Warrambool. The route is known for its scenery featuring huge cliffs, ocean vistas, beaches, rain forests, and incredible rock formations. Jill and I were beginning to think it was a conspiracy because we have tried multiple times to make it to the phenomenom of the 12 Apostles (12 rock formations standing mid water- see pictures below). At least this time with a guided tour, we knew that we would see everything. After we almost boarded the wrong bus, we finally got on board and on the road! SO exciting! The first part consisted of an hour and a half drive to get on the actual road, which we chose to pass with conversation of the one and only Chick Fil A and the possibility of opening one someday ha. The first town that we arrived in on the tour was Geelong and then we headed to the world famous beach, Bell's Beach, in Torquay. In Geelong, we found some wild kangaroos!

At Bell's Beach each year, they hold the biggest Australian surfing competition. The waves were nothing that I have ever seen before and John and I watched in amazement at the surfers attempting

to ride them. At this stop, we had tea and cookies :) The next place that we traveled to was a small quaint town called Anglesea that housed a beautiful light house, which I desperately wanted pictures of and John thought was about as interesting as a boiled peanut.


We didn't actually stop here but just rode through and continued on our journey to our next stop,

which was a place called Fairhaven. In Fairhaven, the infamous "Great Ocean Road" sign lives; and I made sure to get tons of pictures! Such a tourist. We also walked down to a beach and took in the views. Next stop... Lorne Beach and the Lorne Beach Otway National Park. Before we went to the national park, we stopped for lunch and John and I ate the lunch provided and then headed off in pursuit of some gelato. John, who's ice cream was better? haha We strolled in and out of a few shops and bought some post cards. Very cute beach town and it was so hard to get John to leave all of the cute clothing stores along the way!

At the national park, we spotted around 15-20 wild koalas! I still stand by the title of being the first to spot the first koala although no one else saw it.

I promise it was there. John, you really should believe me. Just because you weren't the first to see one... Anwayyy, we had a great time walking around the park and John had an even better time with his photoshoot of the koala in the tree close to the trail. Although we had limited battery on the camera, the flashing red light sure didn't inhibit John. After his 12 photos (yes literally 12) of the koala, I managed to persuade him to continue down the path to the entrance of the rainforest.

The rainforest was fascinating. It was so green, full of life, and emitted a rather pleasant mist. We did not see any wildlife but did discover some amazing plant and vegetation. Some of the trees there were over 600 years old and were monstrously large!

Now to what I have anticipated seeing all these months here in Australia... THE 12 APOSTLES! Some background for ya... The Twelve Apostles are

giant rock stacks that rise majestically from the Southern Ocean and are the central feature of the rugged Port Campbell National Park.

The Twelve Apostles have been created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland that began 10–20 million years ago. The stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs. The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated from the shore.

They were breathtaking. The absolute most picturesque thing that I have ever seen.

Our last 2 stops were Loch Ard Gorge and London Arch. Loch Ard gorge is named after the clipper ship Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island on 1 June 1878 approaching the end of a three-month journey from England. There were only 2 surivors and we learned of their survival techniques and eventual rescue. The gorge is also a visible example of the process in action and was fascinating to see and learn about.




London Arch, formerly known as London Bridge, is the arch closest to the shoreline that collapsed unexpectedly on 15 January 1990, leaving two tourists stranded on the outer part: they were rescued by a helicopter. Fortunately nobody was injured in the event. Prior to the collapse, the arch was known as London Bridge because of its similarity to its namesake. Turns out, the 2 people that were left on the land mass in the middle of the water were business partners that were supposed to be at a conference in Melbourne but were having an affair and traveling Australia. Guess with the media coverage, they were found out!

The Current London Arch After the Split

Before the Split

After all the sites, we headed back to Melbourne and stopped for dinner along the way. Experiencing the Great Ocean Road was so wonderful and something that I think both John and I will remember for a lifetime.

This ends the Melbourne portion of the trip. Next post will be filled with all of our stories from Sydney!

Life is Good

I just found the coolest place while I was on my run!! I have noticed along the tram stop going to the grocery store that there is one part of town that has very nice houses alongside the road (although the area in general isn't very aesthetically pleasing). I decided to venture there today and found some of the COOLEST houses! They were all so unique and different and some were absolutely gorgeous. I also discovered a historical home that has a gallery and cafe inside and is free to visitors! I am planning on going back tomorrow and taking a tour. I will be sure to take many pictures! Such a great workout with something great to distract me!

This past week has been great and very busy. I finally finished my essay and have gotten 1/3 of the way through my novel due next week! School is going great and I am looking forward to classes next week.

Another adventure this week that I had was on Tuesday when I had the bright idea to walk to Northland shopping center to do some light grocery shopping. The walk is 45 minutes through the trails behind LaTrobe and is beautiful and quite pleasant. As I got to Northland, my feet began to really start hurting because of course (genius me), I was wearing the cowboy boots that I wore to class. I didn't think that they would bother me but oh was I wrong. I walked around Northland and went into a few stores and then headed to the grocery store. For some reason as I walked through each aisle, the rather lengthy walk back did not enter my mind as I filled my cart up with everything imaginable above 5 pounds. As I checked out with multiple canned goods, a gallon of milk, and big soft drinks I could only pray that I would somehow get superhuman strength to make the walk back. I couldn't even make it out of the mall without breaking down for a rest. And lo and behold a cart APPEARED BEFORE ME. An abandoned Toys R Us Cart!!!!! I took my boots off (yes in the middle of the mall) and loaded the cart up with my bags. I was so thankful and began to head out of the mall. As I walked out, it began to POUR RAIN. Someone really had it out for me on Tuesday. I put on my rainjacket and started on the trek back. I soon realized that the cart was not cooperating and I had to get beside it and cradle it the entire walk back. The carts here do not just move in one direction like home but instead have the swivel wheels, which makes it really hard to push, especially if you are on slightly uphill/slanted paths. SO needless to say, I struggled the entire way back barefoot in the pouring rain. I am sure that I looked a sight. I had to navigate new paths because some were utterly impossible with the demon cart and 1.5 hours later, I finally made it back to LaTrobe. Never did I ever think I would be so happy to see Chisholm College.

On the upside, I had great fresh food this week! And tonight I am going to a special event at a local preschool called "Pamper Night." I am SO EXCITED and am bringing Jill along with me. It is an event supporting a school and with the door entry fee, you get a free massage, cake decorating class, wine tasting, manicure, Avon gift bags, and door prizes! We are going to dress up super girly of course and going to have a great time :) Can't wait!

JOHN COMES IN 3 DAYS! Getting really excited and can't wait to head to Sydney on the 11th!

Thats all for now :) CYA!

Faith, Friends and Newfound Fascination

Beauty. What is beauty? We all have experienced it right? I know what it is, right? Wrong. I have been a virgin to beauty until now, simply an unknowing bystander. This city, this country exposes me to this newfound beauty with each and every step. It follows me. I cannot escape it. It evades every surface and seeps around every corner. It is like a parasite and takes hold of me with no mercy. This city picks me up and carries me in its arms where she wants me to go. It is a beauty that cannot be reduced to mere words or even pictures. It is a happiness, a sadness, a passion. I question whether it is real. It is a phenomenon.

I have experienced Melbourne in a new way this past Sunday. After a week of endless essay writing and class reading, a beautiful day of rest was needless to say welcome. Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful and I awoke with a new outlook. I made the decision to try a new church in the city, Collins Street Baptist Church. www.csbc.org.au/

Little did I know, I would find a family, not just a sermon. As I read along the one hour tram ride into the city, I couldn't wait to see what this beautiful historical building and service would offer and I was truly in for a treat. I discovered upon my arrival into the city that there was a mass parade honoring Anzac Day in progress. Anzac Day is a day of remembrance of all the Australian soldiers that have given their lives to defend their country. It was amazing to see all of the military members dressed up and marching down St. Kilda road. I got the chills from hearing their national anthem while viewing the Shrine of Remembrance. What an inexpressibly special moment.

After I made it through the crowds, I arrived at Collins Street and headed for the sanctuary. I was greeted by very sweet ladies and immediately asked about my accent. I was thinking "How do they know already!" After I explained my origin, they escorted me down to a great seat and I immediately took notice of the diversity within the congregation. To my left, was a young guy from Kenya and directly behind me sat a pastoring family from Singapore. It was absolutely amazing to see everything gathered in one place, worshiping one God from all DIFFERENT places! The service was wonderful and the inside of the church was enough in itself to keep me coming back. After the service, everyone was invited to have refreshments and coffee outside the sanctuary. The announcer mentioned cake and of course, I woke up out of my morning stupor and thought CAKEEEE? haha I did have a scrumptious piece of lemon pound cake and a pipin' cup of joe, along with great conversation of course ha. I met one of the women deacons that insisted on parading me around and introducing me to each and every single member of the church staff and church (think she just wanted them to hear the accent). After my multitude of introductions and discussions of America and the great South, I was invited to lunch. These people REALLY know how to make someone feel welcome!

I headed upstairs along with 2 other college students that I met (one girl from Singapore getting her M.B.A. and a boy from Korea studying engineering). The lunch was great and I met so many people! I felt so at home and found out lots of information about the church and Australian culture. Turns out the pastor's wife was from Texas! He taught in the U.S. for a while and we discussed the differences in the education systems. Very interesting and I enjoyed every minute. You guys know any opportunity to debate, I am there! I met a very nice elderly man that told me story after story.... after story. It was nice but I will not lie and say that I couldn't wait for a new batch of dessert to come out to give me an excuse to get up. He did however offer to put together an itinerary and list of places in Sydney to visit after I told him of my traveling plans. Turns out that he was a travel agent for 20 years! Guess listening to those stories did pay off in the end...

Before I left, I exchanged numbers with quite a few of my new friends and we are planning on going to dinner this week!

After a GREAT church service and lunch, I headed back to good ole Bundoora. After arriving here, I for the first time ever noticed sheep to my left right near the tram stop! Of course this sight, being my nature, caused me to explore and good thing because I ended up finding the Melbourne Wildlife Sanctuary nestled in the woods behind the sheep pins! I have been looking for it since I have been here at La Trobe and have had no luck. It didn't cost anything to enter so I went for a quick adventure. As I was walking and thinking about how beautiful Australia was, something even better happened. I was beginning to wander if the sanctuary had any animals or if it was more of a forest type environment that sought to protect and preserve trees, forage, birds, etc. when TWO KANGAROOS jumped out in front of ME on the path! I hopped after them and had a little chat for a while. It was such a great experience and I am so thankful that I got to experience it.

After leaving the sanctuary, I headed back to my room and started on my essay. Got lots of productive work done and overall had one of the best days yet in Melbourne! I found the beauty even at La Trobe. Now, I am getting sad to leave it. Australia provided me with faith, friends, and also a newfound fascination.

Preaching the Word or Preaching the World?

Having a great week so far!! Turned in all of my papers yesterday and so glad to have that officially off of my chest! Beginning to plan my Sydney trip and have a FULL day of class ahead of me tomorrow!

Church was an 'interesting' experience on Sunday. The music was so uplifting and beautiful. It was truly a great way to worship. The church was hosting a guest speaker and I was very anxious to see and hear this individual. The guest speaker turned out to be a pastor from Malaysia. After I got over the language barrier (broken English), I really 'gave a listen' as Australians would say to what he had to say. I found many things that he said, to just be flat out honest, not true and lacking support from the bible. He made multiple comments and references that were not grounded in the Word. For example, he said that "God never takes lives. He only provides miracles" in reference to Abraham's sacrifice of his only son, Issac. He then extended this biblical example to everyday life. I could only sit there and think about how God takes lives everyday. We may not know the purpose but ultimately we must have faith that it is for the good of his kingdom. Also, God is capable of miracles and also probably provides these everyday as well, but it is not his obligation to us nor something that we deserve. The pastor also spoke of Abraham as "father of our faith" and although I am aware that he is the father of many nations, he is not the father of my faith nor anyone else's if they are Christians. These are just a few things that disturbed me during his sermon. I was waiting for the pastor to possibly say something after the sermon to clarify some of the Malaysian man's assertions, but he never did. I found this astonishing seeing as it is his responsibility as pastor to provide the correct information for his church, and a responsibility that should not be taken lightly. This also caused me to wonder how many individuals there are in churches today that claim to be 'scholars' of the Bible or 'preachers of the word' that may not actually be living up to these acclaimed titles. You must truly know the word to live the word, and even more so to preach the word.

No more tangents I promise! The rest of Sunday was great and I went on a long nature walk with Jilly. We had a great time talking about life and contemplating our own lives 10 years down the road. Sure we will both end up as a Miss Havisham (all joking aside let's hope not!). Recently found out that I will officially be coming home JUNE 12TH!! WOOT WOOT! My lovely mother, uncle, and aunt arranged this for me and I am ever so thankful. You guys are the best! Looking forward to the awesome cookout Mom :)

Counting down the days until John visits and the Sydney trip. Everyone keep the Harvey family in their prayers.

G'day Mates!

Sunshine and Schoolwork

Hey guys! Had a pretty mediocre week with lots of school work and essay writing. Got some interesting grades back including one of my English papers that was marked with comments such as "Superb explication," "What deep and thorough insight" and so forth and the grade was an A+!! As I continued on the rubric sheet however I found my numerical grade; and to my dismay it was an 86! How is an 86 an A+? I do know that their grading scale is very different from ours in that an 80-100 is an A, 70-79 a B, and so on. All I can figure is that, concerning numerical grades, teachers do not utilize any numbers above 90 unless it is Peace Prize worthy. From what I can tell thus far, I am going to have to work extra hard to make all A's here. Long nights in the library and coffee in my immediate future :)

Well, today is Saturday and the weather has been absolutely gorgeous this week! It was beginning to get cold but these last few days we had a blast of summer warmth. It has been so great and I have been managing to get outside to enjoy it and go on walks for study breaks. There are really pretty places on campus to explore and great spots to sit and read. Unfortunately today I can't get outside because I have to work on 2 essays that are due Monday. Boo :(

But on the upside, tomorrow is Sunday and I am looking forward to trying out a new church! Hope everyone has a great weekend. Really excited about my upcoming Sydney trip. Leaving the 10th and staying for a week and cannot wait!!!

Mom HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!!! I miss you and wish I could be there for it!