Fund For Teachers

Fund For Teachers is to be applauded for having such wonderful programs that avail teachers of the opportunity to go to wonderful places.

I intended a very long time ago to put this post here, and got caught up in the packing and sightseeing and never did it.

I am so very grateful to them for the opportunity that Sarah and I have had to take such a fantastic journey.

If you know of a teacher in the Houston area that would like to pitch a wonderful idea for learning, please have them see the Fund for Teachers website - you can Google their organization and get the most wonderful items.

Thank you, Fund for Teachers. I had an absolutely wonderful time in Greece. :)

Kindness Reigns Everywhere

I have found that my one saving grace this trip has been the use of kindness. It hasn't gotten me to the front of the line, and I have not received anything free, well, not technically. I have observed it is universal. I begin with a "Kali Spera" or a "Shalom" or a "Hello" and a smile and all is well. An Israeli taxi driver bought me an Armenian lemonade because I looked like I was burning. He and I had some wonderful discussions. I was finally able to ask how the Ultra-Orthodox Jews can wear coats, black head to toe, and a fur hat in 100 degree heat. He asked man once that very question and the Jew replied that they are "calm and cold in side like no one else" and that heat didn't even register to the Jews. We both don't understand that. The kindness of a Grecian taxi driver prompted me to call him again to come and take me to the airport the other day. You can never be too nice!

Searching for a Special Bible

I found a bookstore on the Internet called "Immanuel Bookstore" inside of Jaffa Gate in the old city.

For years now, I have desired a Hebrew to English Bible and this bookstore claimed to have it.

I had to rest at Jaffa Gate and then began to inquire as to where it could be.

I was directed to check by a site called Christ Church around the corner, and there it was!

The owner was a very learned gentleman and had the one Bible that I was searching for.

I purchased my new Bible for 200 shekels, which is about $33 dollars, and went back out into the heat, and back to the hotel.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre - The Holiest of Holies

Stops #11, 12, and 13 are here.

#11 - Jesus is nailed to the cross.
#12 - Jesus dies.
#13 - Jesus is taken down off the cross and prepared for burial.

After two wrong turns, I decided to follow a Spanish tour group. I could understand the tour guide, so that wasn't hard, but I'm glad I tagged along!

We went though a small Coptic Sanctuary for Coptic Monks and came out to the front of the church. What luck!

I have to admit, this church was intense and almost too much to take in. You are kind of stunned at first, and by degrees, the light comes upon you.

The first thing you see is a flat piece of stone with candles lit eternally over it. This is the place where Jesus' body was taken down off of the cross and lovingly prepared for burial. People bend over and touch the stone, and I did too. It's indescribable.

To the right of the door is Golgatha - "place of the skulls". The steep stairs almost did me in. Golgatha is the rock Jesus was crucified upon and is 20 feet higher than the floor of the church.

I was able to crawl into a space and reach my hand into a hole and touch the top of the rock where the cross was imbedded.

To the left inside the door, downstairs, is the site where supposedly Jesus was first buried in a "donated" tomb of Joseph of Arimethea. The line was huge! I'm not always claustrophobic, but that was too much. It was 100 degrees outside and worse within the church. There were over 10 tour groups there and so I just went to watching the people, watching the priests spread stinky incense everywhere, and taking pictures.

I would love to go again. It was a struggle, but an awesome and rewarding one.

"I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked..." - the Via Dolorosa

(pictures will follow, I promise) Stop #2 - the Via Dolorosa I got some quick directions and headed to the Via Dolorosa - or "Path of Sorrows" - one of the most important sites to Christians. It was ALL uphill and was a MILLION, JILLION stairs. I did a lot of resting. LOL It's also not easy to maneuver because it seriously is still just as tight, just as small as when Jesus was alive. No cars can even fit on the Via Dolorosa - I have a hard time imagining donkeys, camels, and such there. On the Via Dolorosa, there are 14 stops. Each stop has a Biblical significance that can be corroborated by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Here are the stops: #1 - Jesus is condemned at the place which is now called Madrasa el-Omariyya. #2 - Jesus takes up His cross after being beaten and crowned with thorns, and can be located at the Franciscan Monestary of the Flagellation. #3 - Jesus fell under the weight of the cross for the first time, and you see a chapel. #4 - Jesus meets Mary, his mother, on the road, and you can find this at the Armenian Church of Our Lady of the Spasm. #5 - Simon of Cyrene is ordered to help Jesus carry the cross here. #6 - Veronica wipes away Jesus' blood and sweat at this point. #7 - Jesus falls for the second time, and this can be found at a Roman column in a Franciscan Chapel. #8 - Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem that are crying over Him, and you find the Greek Orthodox Monastary. #9 - Jesus fell for the third time, and you will find an Ethiopian Monastery with a Roman column. #10 - Jesus is stripped of his clothes. The other 4 I will discuss later. As you walk, you totally get it - and take it from me - NO MOVIE has done that walk correctly. It is rugged, uphill, tight around the corners. In the movies, it is flat and on a slight incline. Wrong... all wrong. I think it was more incredible a thought that after being beaten, He could have carried anything at all. And if the cross was as large as the picture we have been painted, there's no way He could have made it easily. Another thought crossed my mind - there's no shade (and I have the burn to prove it). He would have been in full, burning sun the entire time. It's an incredible feeling to locate and follow that road. Numbers 11, 12, 13, and 14 happened at my next stop.

The Light at the End of the Border Crossing - Jerusalem!!

"Shalom."

My Israeli taxi driver put me at ease right away and became my first Middle Eastern tour guide. He was wonderful! He gave me the history of the border, showed me the Mount of Olives, and taught me how to say a little Hebrew, like the name of the street my hotel was on - Lehi - said "Lechi".

Thank you, Jamjam.

The hotel where I am is by a large Hebrew University north of the old city. It is the nicest and most accomodating hotel - the Regency Jerusalem. I hope to return one day!

I arrived at the hotel at 11:30 a.m., dropped my items in my room, and then caught a cab to Old Jerusalem - the "old city" - the "golden city".

Let me just say right here: I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF THE OLD CITY!!!

Stop #1:
I had my taxi driver drop me off at the Western Wall (or Wailing Wall). This is an open prayer area for anyone and you can write a prayer and stick it in the wall. Today, men were celebrating and the women were on chairs looking over into their area and clapping and chanting.

I approached the wall with my head covered, and put my prayer there and stood and watched for awhile. The energy was amazing. After praying, kissing on, and leaning on the wall, women and men walk backward until they are out of the area.

The reason for the title, "Wailing Wall" is because the wall used to just pour water out of its holes and it was a miracle to the Jews.... until some hoity-toity Scientists came along and discovered water under pressure beneath the surface that would shoot up through the pores of the rock. Still a miracle to me!

This is the sign that greets you out front:
Dear Visitors -
You are approaching the holy site of the Western Wall where the Divine Presence always rests. Please make sure you are appropriately and moderately dressed so not as to cause harm to this holy place or to the feelings of the worshippers. Sincerely, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Site

Maybe we should have a sign like this for each of our churches! It certainly sets a tone.

When there are too many prayers at the wall, they sweep them up and take them out to the Mount of Olives - how comforting.

There are many other stops, so I'll post a new blog. :)

The Road Not Taken for a Reason

I am going to attempt to tell this as well as I can. My mind is still kind of jumbled over this morning's events - I'll get it put in place eventually, but my brain needs a rest.

Last night I finally finished being upset and then decided that the Jordanian hotel room was too gross to deal with. I slept in my clothes and used my inflatable air plane pillow. I woke up every hour. I slept with my glasses on. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

I was up and downstairs 30 minutes before the taxi driver was to arrive. As I checked out, he walked in the door. I jumped in the car and we were off. He didn't say a word - fine with me, Mr. Screw-Everything-Up.

We arrived at the Jordanian/Israeli border at 7:45 a.m. and I'm mad because if he had listened to me, making it last night would not have been a problem. C'est la vie.

I got out of that taxi, paid him and had to ask three armed soldiers where to go. They pointed to a dumpy building and I said, "Lord, I hope you are with me." And I went in. I guess being blonde-haired and blue-eyed in a Middle-Eastern country actually means I have "Help! I don't know where to go!" tatooed on my forehead. And that's exactly what I had on!

I went in and was told by Jordanian police to provide my passport, have my luggage scanned, and have a seat. I did it.

And I sat and sat and sat... time's a wastin'. Luckily an American from Colorado came in and I watched his luggage, and he watched over me and gave me fabulous advice along our journey through the border.

He instructed me to get up, get my luggage, and purchase passage aboard a transport bus. I was lucky enough to be joined by a guy from California and four friends hiking around from Canada - North American insulation is what God sends me and it was exactly what I needed when I was truly lost.

We went through 6 to 8 check points to get to Israel. I can't remember exactly how many - it was to check passports, scan luggage, scan the bus, force us out and check passports again. I'm not easily intimidated, but this one had me.

At ever check point... a motif ... machine guns - fingers on the trigger. Talk about "GULP!" - all Jordanian and Israeli soldiers are under 25 years old... police too.

At the last check point, we got off and got herded into a luggage and passport check point... final destination.

We got off, formed a line, and waited. Slowly we went through and slowly we were sorted. I noticed a pattern - blonde-haired, light skins to the left, Muslim in the center, and all others on the right.

The one thing the immigration officer wanted to know was if I was planning to go to Gaza. I said, "Oh, heavens NO!" She wanted my itinerary, stamped my passport and I was out.

Thank you, Lord. I had arrived.

Jordan, Anyone? Not Me - Not EVER Again

From Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I'm sitting here writing this because I need to focus on something else and just try to stop crying. I've been crying for over an hour now and I'm a bit drained.

A bit drained and a whole lot ticked off. "At what?" you ask. Jordanian taxi drivers and their bosses who don't listen to me when I tell them that I need to go to Jerusalem and instead take me to two places in Amman, Jordan, with "Jerusalem" in the name of the hotel.

Oh, no - it gets better. The Israeli border closes at 9:00 p.m. and he's driven me to all of the wrong places, so now there is no time to get across.

He takes me to a hotel to stay for the night that certainly isn't the five star I have reservations with and I just can't stop crying. The hotel is supposed to be O.K., and it's not! I'm afraid to fall asleep in here and the bathroom is downright third world country.

I called the hotel in Jerusalem to tell them my predicament and cried. My $100 went down the drain for the night and I had to shell out $44 more for a crap-hole. I WANT TO COME HOME!!

I'm not only crying about the money - my dad is right that it is just money and shouldn't matter, but I worked hard for that $100 and don't take lightly to losing it. I don't like losing $1! I tutored kids or trained teachers for that money and it's gone because I'm a woman in an Arab country and what the heck do I know about where I made my reservations?

I know Dad is right there again - I planned things to run smoothly and they didn't and there is nothing I can do about it - hence, no control over squat. Dads always do hit the nail on the head.

I prayed on the plane that things would go well here, but I'm a bit miffed that of ALL PLACES in the world, God chose here to give me a lesson on being a control freak. It's a bit disconcerting and I've told Him so. I hope He's getting a good laugh so He can get it out of His system and I can move on.

I just don't know how I can even sleep in this place - the T.V.'s broken, no Internet, and my head hurts from crying so much. I haven't had a Coke in so long and no dinner. (I sound a bit like a prissy brat, don't I? Uuuugghhhh)

Tired of hearing me complain? I promise never to return to Jordan, so that can NEVER happen again.

Greek Food

Just thought I would blog a bit about Greek food (I'm in my wonderful, ultra-modern hotel with fabulous air-conditioning waiting for my taxi to come).

Since I have been here, I have wondered why I was so worried, initially, about what I would eat.

Driving back into Athens yesterday, we saw two drive-thru McDonald's and as far as "Western" food goes, that's the only chain store that I have seen.

Our breakfasts have been toast, doughnuts, fresh pastry, cheese, meat, bacon, egg, many kinds of bread, yougurt, and in some places, fresh fruit.

I just have to say that I am not a meat and cheese girl where breakfast is concerned. I like my toast and pastry and some O.J. and I'm good.

Yesterday I watched some Dutch tourists (I asked - it drives me nuts to hear people talking and I don't know where they are from - not like I understood them even when I find out, but at least I know... you know?) eat huge hunks of fresh gruyere cheese and swiss for breakfast and I thought, well, they must need plugged up for awhile. With it being so hot here, you don't want to upset your stomach because it's not like you can find a bathroom just ANYWHERE.

I had a plum yesterday morning and it was from Chile, just like ours in Texas. It was delicious. In Ancient Olympia, I had watermelon and it was sweet like candy - I could have eaten it all.

Lunch is funny here - Sarah and I ordered a sandwich in Ancient Olympia and they brought it to the table with chips and inside the sandwich was the following: ham, cheese, tomatoes, french fries. I can't eat my sandwich with french fries so I took them off - that's when the waitress begins to look at you like you are an alien - with a look like, "Ohhhh, you aren't from here. HERE we all eat 'fried potatoes' on our sandwiches. I'm going to have to watch out for you." I ate the fries, but not the chips - just didn't seem right to eat both.

There's not a lot of snacking here - first, I'm too hot to snack, and secondly, you have to find an establishment that has snacks or a kiosk that sells them and sometimes you just want a water or a Coke and nothing to eat. I have snacked on cashews and that's it. Maybe I should snack the same way in America - might be helpful.

Drinks here are great - you can get them cold ONLY if you are eating dinner or supper. If you go to a kiosk, they are in a cooler, but they are NEVER cool - it's for display only. So if you come, don't be a sucker thinking that you are going to cool off with a cold drink - go eat and then you'll get one - and you'll get it in a bottle, like I used to get when I was a kid.

My favorite new drink is an orange drink that has carbonation - sounds gross maybe, but it is refreshing and I could drink them all day here. When I get home, I am going to see if maybe HEB can get them for me. The names are freaky - one is Louzade, one is Loux, one is made by Fanta - doesn't matter - they are fabulous.

Dinner / lunch here is excellent - I have not ordered anything I did not like. Yesterday in Delphi, I ordered a hamburger. Yes, I know what you are thinking - but no, that's not correct. There's no bun and no sides to go with. It's lamb meat and cheese melted on top with special herbs and then fried potatoes (round like the potato itself) on the side. It was awesome. I have grown to love lamb quite a bit.

Supper is equally wonderful. Last night I had chicken wrapped in bacon on skewers with pita bread and fried potatoes with the most wonderful tomatoes on the side. Sarah and Michael had gyros with chicken.

I really don't know what I was worried about, but I figure I have listened too much to people and let that cloud my judgment. I need to learn from that.

Stay tuned to see what food is like in Israel - I am actually looking forward to it!

All Roads Lead to Delphi

We visited the most beautiful place that I have ever been on earth - Delphi, Greece.

It's spelled various ways - Delphi, Delfi, Delfoi - referred to in the region of Fokida - no matter - all of those ways spell "A W E S O M E".

Our lodging was fabulous - Hotel Varona, overlooking olive groves and the harbor in the distance.

Delphi sits at the base of Mount Parnassus - you've read about it in Greek Mythology. Mount Parnassus was used in various important Greek battles to trap the enemy between the water and the mountain itself.

The town is charming, the townspeople friendly and accomodating, the sites incredible, and the food is just downright yummy.

Apollo's main oracle is located in Delphi - right down the road from where we stayed, shopped, and ate. If anyone wished to know something about their life, he/she journeyed to Delphi to the Oracle and would ask the priest or priestess the question, and they, in turn, would ask Apollo. Apollo wouldn't always just give the answer - at times he would equivocate. Meaning, he would tell SOME of the truth, just not ALL of the truth. Sometimes he would just tell the tidbit of a prophecy of someone's life and wait for them to return and give another tidbit.

Athena had a temple here also and quite a bit of it is still standing.

We visited an awesome Greek restaurant last night and had various traditional Greek dishes. I had pork souvlaki. Souvlaki is "skewered meat" and is marinated and herbed. I had another bit of a yougurt and cucumber mixture - delicious! And home-made fried potatoes and bread. The flies joined us for dinner, as they have each meal here in Greece, and I promptly scared all of us by shooing a fly and knocking the glass Coke bottle off of the table and shattering it into a million pieces. The flies didn't come back after that. :)

We met fabulous shop owners and bought some fabulous olive oil, honey, olive oil soap, and my new favorite drink - a sparkling orange drink. It comes in different packages, but I love it!!

That's all for now friends, Jerusalem awaits me tomorrow. Wish me luck!

The Greek Countryside Rocks

Hi guys - pictures are finally on here!

We traveled to Ancient Olympia yesterday - home of the very first Olympics. Wow - and I mean WOW! It was really cool to see the temples that they erected to Zeus and Hera and I got to see an ancient "gym" where the wrestlers would practice before their matches.

Our hotel in Olympia is going to get slammed for massively false advertisement. They probably won't like Americans too much after we get through with them. The rooms were back from the '50s - I needed a rake to work on the shag carpet like I used to have to do at my Mema's when I visited. The bathroom was abhorrent and for the piece de resistance - NO FLIPPING AIR!!! We purposely chose hotels that had air conditioning and decent bathrooms because we wanted a break at the end of the day, sadly, what we got was crapola.

We followed a highway near the coast and friends, the water is just like what you would think - teal, blue, dark blue, aquamarine - lovely. We left the Peloponnese and crossed over a bridge in Patra and drove on to Delfi, where today we will see the main Oracle of the god Apollo (who was Zeus' son).

It's been hot here - I can't drink enough water! I drink only one or two cokes with meals only and the rest of the day it's water. I loved drinking from the artesial fountain yesterday in Olympia - I put my hands in and washed my face and then went to work drinking. What is it that they say - "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"? I was a true Roman yesterday.

We met a fabulous couple last night - she is from Denmark, he is Greek - they married and live here and own a shop. They enlightened Sarah, Michael, and myself on quite a few things. Taxes here have risen from 19% now to 21% - in July they will be 23%. School is out TODAY here in Greece and education is quite different here.

More later, friends - I'm back in Athens tonight getting ready for Jerusalem!!

Day 1 in the Greek Countryside...Oh My!!

Sarah, Michael, and I all breathed a sigh of relief when we finally left Athens yesterday morning. We are all in consensus that the archaeological sites are the best ever, but alas, the city is not! The graffitti EVERYWHERE, the people who don't speak English (we understand we are in their country, but we were told that "almost everyone speaks English - that's "bull-horse-hockey"), the general rudeness or lack of affectation of those from the city are simply off-putting.

I can attest to the charm and loveliness of not only the people of the country, but of the places we visited as well. Even if the country-folk didn't speak English, they understood us and went to whatever length possible to help us with directions. Thanks goes out to the woman at the petrol station, the man at the petrol station, the young toll booth worker, the walker with red-rimmed sunglasses, and all the others I don't seem to remember right now. God really is good, friends.

I made an international friend yesterday, too. Her name was "Jan" (can you imagine?) and she was from Australia. Poor girl fell and broke her arm in her hotel in Turkey before coming to Greece and her advice to me was never to fall in a foreign country. Amen, Jan - Amen. We met Jan and her tour group at three of the places that we visited - Sarah is a true "tour guide" - she planned all of it and in true tour guide fashion!

The pictures above are of Apollo's temple at Ancient Corinth and another highlight of our tour, the colosseum at Epidaurus. Both fabulous and worth seeing. The colosseum was heck on my feet - massive cobblestones and today my poor foot is feeling it. I found out before I left that I have "plantar fasceitis" (sp?) in my left foot and boy, do I not like it. I have said a prayer every night and every morning for not so much pain, and the ability to walk. I wasn't doing so well yesterday evening, sad to say. I have tried propping up my foot, but as any of you foot hurters know, it doesn't help much. I would love it if you would say a quick prayer today - I don't want to miss a thing!

Driving through the countryside was magical, except for our GPS, affectionately named, "Lucy." She has a British accent and we had to name her because, well, she talks to US, so we need to talk to HER. She says sweet things to us like, "Signal too low... Recalculating...Signal too low...Recalculating...Turn right...turn right...Signal too low...Signal too low...Signal too low." Do you sense the pattern here? Friends, please hear me - if you EVER travel in Greece, get a RELIABLE Lucy, and not the bumbling little fart that we have. I will give her props - she was right 1/3 of the time, when her signal wasn't "too low" and we praised her...and other times, told her she was a piece of crap and other times told her to shut up and other times just unplugged her. The Greek countryside is a force to be reckoned with and there are no I10's or I20's or I35's to go down - no 146's either.

We encountered sheep and goathearders yesterday ON THE ROAD - a windy, scary route that reminded me of when we used to visit Colorado and you had to keep your eyes on the road or you would promptly barf. Mother would be proud - I kept my eyes on the road and did not barf, but came close at times. The hearders were kind and waved at us because, well, it was either we get by or we hit their babies. Not an easy task on Michael's part, as he was driving. Michael does win the award for "Bestest Greek Countryside Driver Ever" - he was so patient.

Also, we encountered armed guards yesterday. On a road leading to Lord knows where. Scared us all to death and we promptly kicked it into reverse and got the "heck outta Dodge" - we were scared that they would pull us over or something!! We escaped and all is well, friends.

We made it to our hotel in Ancient Olympia late last night - we had reservations at the Hotel Antonios. It's on a hill overlooking some of the town. I'm about to eat breakfast and will blog more about it tonight. 'Till then, friends.

Athens, Greece - New Acropolis Museum

After the Greek Archaeological Museum, we traversed over to the New Acropolis Museum.

Sarah found out some background and this museum has been talked about and on television over the last year, as it opened last summer.

The "New Acropolis Museum" stands directly above ruins from outshoots from the Acropolis and the story is that the Greeks protested vehemently as to NOT wanting the new museum, although I enjoyed it and ranked it as one of the nicest museums I have ever been to (and folks, that is a bunch!).

It is sterile and modern, and the pieces "pop" against the sterility. As you walk around inside, the floors are see-through, so you can look at the archaeological findings of the pieces of the Acropolis. I was really impressed, although Sarah and I observed that those in skirts played "peek-a-boo" with all of those beneath them (I walked to the far right - I have nothing to show the Greeks LOL).

I met a lovely Houston couple in there and got to talk to them - the wife said that it took she and her husband over half a day to make it to the apex of the Acropolis and that I should do it because she WAS older than me. I didn't want to point out the obvious, but I should have said, "Yes, love, you have age on me, but I'm in the heavyweight division." I thought it funny, but her husband found me later and told me not to go - that it almost did him in! Sarah and I had already discussed that I didn't think I could perform the Herculean task of climbing the mountain in the intense heat of the day, so she and Michael went and took pictures.

I wasn't feeling my best at the end of the museum tour, so Sarah and Michael and I parted ways and I went to have lots of water, a Coke, and some strawberry sorbet.

I went shopping for alabaster statues on the way back to the hotel and found some lovely items to go in our "Mythology Trunk"!

Well, we are off to Corinth in the morning - wish us the best of luck! Greeks are interesting folk!

Athens, Greece - Greek Archaeological Museum

I made it to Athens last night about 11:00 p.m. Greece time (there is a massive time difference - it's made some of today difficult - :) ) and arrived to my hotel at Athens Way.

Sarah, Michael, and I went this morning to the Greek Archaeological Museum after a wonderfully proper breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel.

The walk to the Archaeological Museum was downhill (lovely!) and we made it in no time - since it is Saturday here, many were still snoozing!

The pictures from the musem are incredible and I will put one or two here - I enjoyed the museum so much! They allowed you to take pictures with no flash and boy, did we ever! They had Prehistoric pieces as well as those uncovered from temples on islands and around Athens near the Acropolis.

Sarah and I really like the museums that let you take pictures, although many don't.

I will tell more about our next stop in the next blog!

I Made it to London Yesterday

The flight to London yesterday was perilous!! I don't mean danger in the air, I mean a packed flight on a double-decker airplane, and a kid in front of me that wiggled so much I have bruises on my knees (I showed Sarah - she's my proof!)

I watched "The Blind Side" for the first time and loved every minute of it.

On my layover in London, I realised (British spelling for homage) that I would be unable to make it into downtown - Heathrow has grown so much, it made it impossible to leave as you run from terminal connection to terminal connection.

I am putting a picture in here of a lovely place I ate at the airport that served traditional English food - I had fish and chips and it was superb!

More to come on my first day in Athens!!

It's Just About that Time!

I can't believe that I am almost on my way to Athens.

Something is up with British Airway's website - I have been trying to check in online for hours.

Oh well, I'll try again tomorrow!

I've been in Brownsville, Texas, working for the University of Texas at Brownsville teaching an Advanced Placement Summer Institute. Awesome facility, students, and co-workers here! Mel Gibson is in town shooting a movie with a woman that no one can quite figure out who she is - we have gotten the names down to two: Sharon Stone or Jennifer Anniston - we just can't get confirmation of which girl it is. :)

Well, I hope you guys are ready to follow me on a fantastic journey!

See you in Greece!

Where There's a Will, There's a Way...

Yesterday at 4:00 p.m. I experienced massive anxiety because British Airways emailed me to say that they had cancelled the leg of my flight from London Heathrow to Athens.

It's pretty safe to say that I didn't quite know what to do and went running into the hallway and hollered, "SARAH!!! They cancelled my flight!!!"

Poor unsuspecting Sarah pops out of her room hollering, "They WHAT??"

I said, "I don't know what to do! What are we going to do?"

Sarah calmed down quite well for my sake and advised me to phone the BA office as soon as I could possibly get it done.

Well, I had a lovely chat with an American BA agent who quite wonderfully got me on an earlier flight, thus letting me be in London for 5 hours instead of 9.

I was MOST appreciative of her computer skills!

So friends, it's still good.

There have been a few folks thinking that maybe Sarah and I shouldn't be heading off to Greece and Europe in general. I kind of look at it like this: when the apostle Paul was preaching throughout (what is now) Greece and Turkey, he would decide upon a place to go and preach "The Message" and God would say, "No, Paul - not there, not now." I think that some could look at what is going on as maybe God putting His hand up and saying the same to us; however, since things seem to still be working out and the path is uninterrupted for the moment, I would tend to think that He is giving His blessing to us and we will be protected. Thank goodness for Max Lucado who has taught me the most about grace. :)

Keep on praying, friends. I appreciate you all!

It's a Beautiful Morning!

Well Friends -

The end of school is upon us and I can finally feel like a chapter is closing.

I've been packing my suitcase and checking my lists five hundred times.

I can't believe that in one week I will be in the air on the way to Greece.

You all will get to see some awesome pictures of London when I have my 9 hour layover there. I'm going to Harrod's, Fortnum and Mason's, Westminster Abbey, and time permitting, the Tate Gallery. So be looking for those!

Enjoy the day!

Hallelujah!!

Good Morning All -

Had an awesome traveling dream last night and didn't want to wake up this morning. I must have been standing on the hilltop in Olympia (enter the "Gone With the Wind" music) and then the alarm went off - darn alarm. LOL

Best of news - nothing new on the ticker this morning. Prayer is good - God is good. Lovin' it!!

School is almost over and the "Hallelujah Chorus" is playing in my head! Love it!!

Have a Terrific Tuesday!!

I Know God is Good

Hi Friends -

Woke up this morning (a lovely Memorial Day) and watched the morning news and was a bit shocked at what I read on the ticker.

Item #1 was concerning British Airways - my "ride" to Greece. British Airways' workers are on strike, and I was assured by many that it wouldn't be that big a deal - just fewer people to pour me water or a Coke on my flight. Today, they began cancelling flights. I'm still not nervous, just going to pray a bit harder that the June 9th deadline brings solutions that are amicable. Remember, lovelies - I leave June 10th!

Item #2 dealt with a nasty little thing that the Isralis did to the Palestinians this morning - killed 10 of their men in a border dispute in the water and now the Gaza Strip is in a "hot mess." Now, I have been praying hard that they would not fight at least until I was back in Athens and had already visited them. (P.S. - I think Dad's more freaked out about my Israel leg of the journey than the Greek one! Prayers for him will do too!)

I don't care what other news the ticker delivers in the morning - I'm excited! With only 3 1/2 days of school left, how can I not be?!? LOL

Prayers are all I ask, Friends. Thank you in advance!

10 Days Until The Adventure Begins!!

Hi friends -
It's incredible to think that our journey to Greece will begin in 10 short days. I'm starting to get nervous as I pack my bags and am thinking of all of the things that I must remember since I will be half-way around the world. I think I truly have everything - I will keep my fingers crossed, now having said that. Hope you will keep up with me as I journey to Athens and beyond!!