I think I need more sweaters!!!!

I woke up this morning to the gray, sad sky that you hear about in England. And it's just as sad and gray as you'd imagine. I bundled up like I would for a winter's day back home.

Amy and I went to the Charis house about 1PM after sleeping in again. We had more orientation--or induction--with Mary. I also had my first cup of British tea. Pretty sure it's an acquired taste. After a few hours at the Charis house, Tammy took Amy, Cida, and I to the center of town where the shops are. It's a lovely, typical European main street lined with coffee houses, and random stores. I instantly fell in love with it. I even found a store with some scrapbooking supplies.

Tammy left early to run some errands. Amy, Cida and I continued wandering and exploring. Cida doesn't speak much English at all, so Amy and I were trying to teach her some phrases. She can repeat very well and I think she knows more than she lets on. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for her to be here and struggling with the language on top of everything else. We had a great time though. I found a store that has some scrapbooking things. There's also a Subway restaurant and a KFC. Familiarity is very comforting!!! Cida took us to the Pavilion Gardens--absolutely gorgeous!!! We also stopped by the opera house which is currently showing The Twelfth Night and Annie.

Mich cooked us dinner--shepherds pie with gravy and cooked veggies. Exactly what I would have imagined for a British dinner. I tried a new type of soda today--dandelion and something else. A little like rootbeer but it also had a licorice taste...I'm still deciding whether I liked it or not, haha!

The House

As mentioned before I'm living with a host family in Buxton. Mich is a pastor as well as a physics teacher at the university in Buxton. Sue works at the Charis House (Good News Family Center). Their niece Tammy from Winnipeg, Canada lives in the basement. The first floor is where the dining room, kitchen, and living room are. The second floor is where Mich and Sue's room, a spare room, and the main bathroom are. On the third floor is where my room, Amy's room, Benard's room, and the second bathroom are. Each room has its own sink and t.v. I have a pretty view from my room. It's a nice room, but it doesn't feel like home yet.

Day 1

Our first full day in Buxton was Aug. 29, 2007. Amy and I both slept in until about noon then met Tammy downstairs who walked us over the the Charis house. We briefly met Sue, our host mom, before leaving. Her and her husband Mich and Benard had returned from a Christian conference late that last night.

At the Charis House (Good News Family Center) we met a plethora of people, both workers and residents. It was a little overwhelming considering I'm still extremely tired. We had a little bit on orientation (or induction as they call it) and then were sent home about 3:30.

Amy and I spent about an hour figuring out how to set up the wireless on our laptops. We were both very happy that the house has wireless and even more excited when we actually figured everything out. It's such a comfort knowing that I can access email, facebook, and myspace whenever I feel like it. It's also great knowing that I can do webcam chats with Steve and download the latest episode of Greek--my newest addiction before leaving the States!!!

At 6PM Debbie picked Amy, Benard, and I up for dinner at Tim and Beryl's house. Along the way we also picked up Cida, a woman from Brazil also working at the Charis House. Tim and Beryl have the volunteers over for dinner once a week and also take the volunteers for coffee when needed. Beryl's relationship with us is she's an outlet when work becomes too much for us. This is such a blessing since she does not work at the Charis House and will keep anything told to her confidential. Her dinner was excellent and they are a wonderful couple. Beryl is a kindergarten teacher and helps with worship at the Charis House on Sunday. Tim does construction work. This was the first time we spent any time with Benard (the volunteer from Nepal). He is great, very funny and has such an infectious laugh! Cida (the volunteer from Brazil) knows very little English. I felt so sorry for her at dinner since she wasn't included in much of the conversation. For pudding (dessert) we had a cheesecake like cake topped with blueberries (I think!). They also had cream to pour on top of it--very British. So I did and it was wonderful!!! But I probably shouldn't make a habit out of it!!!

We returned home around 9PM and spent a little more time talking with Sue. She seems wonderful and I'm excited to spend more time with her and get to know her better!!! I was proud of myself for being able to stay up until 10. I tried to watch this weeks episode of Greek but after I realized I was listening more than watching I decided to call it a night.

The Mass Exodus

Sunday night concluded our week in Chicago with worship. It was so powerful and everyone was so full of emotions that there was hardly a dry eye in the entire group including staff and alumni.

I postponed my packing until Monday morning since I really didn't have too much to pack. The international weight limit has been dropped down to 50lbs a bag and everyone was stressing about that. Luckily one of the alums brought a travel scale for us to all weigh our bags. Mine were 28.8 and 48.5.

We departed the University of Chicago dorms where we'd been staying the past week at approximately 10:30 with 33 of us on board all leaving on various flights. Checking in was such a hassle since we were all a group with visas. So someone had to verify that we all had visas. Once we were all checked in and had gone through security we still had about 3 hours to kill. I went with some kids from the UK team to Chili's for one last cheeseburger. It was divine!

We hung out at our gate for about 2 hours. When it was finally time to board they informed us that we wouldn't be leaving on time because travel conditions were too favorable and we would end up in London too soon. So we waited longer.

When we were finally on our plane I was lucky enough to have the seat next to me empty. I was hoping it would help me sleep better but of course it didn't. The food was bad, the movies were bad, and I slept badly.

We arrived at Heathrow, London approximately 6AM. When going through passport control I was detained since my visa had been denied after the first application. My passport has been flagged for me to be stopped everytime I enter the country now. The woman at passport control recommended that the flag be removed however gave no guarantees. There is no way for me to check the process and will just have to hope for the best if I travel out of the UK and try to get back in. All of our luggage arrived which was a relief. We said our good-byes and headed off to our respective destinations.

While changing money at the airport since I would have to ride the underground to the train station I saw the best sign: "Give us $400 and we'll give you 181 British pounds". What a welcoming sign!

Unfortunately we were traveling on the underground at the same time the morning commuters were. I know we were hassle with our luggage, but what other option did we have? After an hour on the "tube" and having men help us carry our suitcases up staircases we arrived at the Euston train station. We were lucky enough to get to hang out here for 5 hours until our trains left! We encountered a lovely British woman and her dog Max. When she learned of what we would be doing here for the next year she bought us each a chocolate filled croissant. I've found that the British are very welcoming and friendly.

Our train ride was about 2 hours till our first stop. Amy and I both fell asleep, but I was no nervous that we would miss our stop I didn't sleep too well. We changed trains in Stockport and caught the next train to Buxton. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous passing green rolling hills, cows, and sheep. We were greeted at the train station by Tammy (the neice from Canada) and Jo (a worker from the Good News Family Center). They helped us with our luggage and took us to the Charis House (what the locals call the GNFC) for a brief tour and introduction to some of the residents.

We returned to the house to unpack and get settled. We are both on the third floor of the house with a closet that has been converted into a bathroom. Benard, the volunteer from Nepal lives up here also. I took the smaller of the two rooms with a beautiful view outside.

Around 6 we walked to the grocery store--the equivalent of an Albertson's--to buy groceries for the week. I was proud that I only spent 13 Pounds on food! For dinner the girls made us fajitas and we watched British soap operas. I went to bed around 8PM since I basically had no more energy after such a long travel day.

A Week in Chicago

and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.--Micah 6:8

We're coming to the end of our orientation week in Chicago. Tomorrow is our last opportunity for packing, laundry, buying last minute American goods, feeding any expected cravings for food and then we're off. Tomorrow is our last day for familiarity. But really how familiar is Chicago to me.

This is the first time I've spend any significant time in the mid-west portion of the U.S. And I can definitely tell the differences. The most significant difference being the weather. Being mid-August New Mexico is usually hot, dry, with afternoon rainstorms usually lasting no longer than an hour. This week has been warm, humid, with rainstorms lasting no more than 23 hours. Thursdays seminars were interrupted by a tornado warning causing us to have to move locations to the underground parking garage for about 30 minutes till the tornado had passed.

Although this week has been a great one, the highlight was easily having the opportunity to spend and hour and a half in the Art Institute of Chicago. I love art galleries and could spend hours on end looking at the artwork. I spent most of my time looking at European pieces from artists such as Lucas Cranach (cause I'm a good Lutheran) to Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Manet, and Picasso. There were also some modern pieces which looked very similar to those I received from my preschoolers. I don't understand modern art at all!!!

Most of the week was spent indoors listening. We did a lot of listening. Occasionally we broke into small groups and did some more listening with some actual speaking thrown in. I've grown to despise our meeting room. However the speakers that we've had this week have been wonderful.

Our morning Bible studies were led by a Lutheran pastor from Crenshaw, L.A., Cali. He was simply amazing and inspirational. We've heard stories from the alum team throughout the week relating to each day's Bible verse. (anyone interested in these verses, let me know!) For the late morning seminar and early afternoon seminar we've had various speakers kind enough to share their wisdom with us. We've learned about globalization, accompaniment, partnership, community building, culture shock, gender issues and racism. It's all been so intense. Great and informative, but intense.

I'm getting very excited to leave on Monday. Once in London, Amy and I will be navigating our way through the "tube" to our train station to catch our train to Buxton. Thank God we have about 6 hours to figure it out!!! Amy is from Minnesota and will be living with me in Buxton with our host family and a few other volunteers. She will also be working at the Good News Family Center, but I believe her work will have her doing different things than me.

I've loved getting to know the YAGM group better and meeting the YAVs from the PC-USA church. We're such a great group of young people and it's really inspiring to see all of us so excited to make a difference in the world and live out the Gospel rather than just discussing how we can work on living out the Gospel. I truly believe every one of us has the desire to live out the verse from Micah. Please keep all of us in your prayers. I'm lucky to be placed in a country of relative safety, and I admire those who are choosing to go to the Philippines, Mexico, Argentina, Northern Ireland, Ghana, and India where violence becomes part of everyday living.

I'll have a new blog posted as soon as I get settled into Buxton and figure out the internet situation. But in the mean time feel free to email, facebook, myspace, or comment here!

Love you all!

The beginning

Just a few more days until I leave for orientation for YAGM in Chicago.

Reminder: I'll be living in Buxton, England for the next year. I'll be working with three youth groups throughout the week and at a home for families going through some type of distress. I'll be living with a host family--the husband is a pastor and also teaches physics, the wife also works at the Good News center. There will also be four other volunteers living there. One is from Germany, one from Nepal, another YAGM volunteer and the hosts' neice from Canada.

Important Dates: August 19--I depart at 6AM to Chicago
August 27--I depart for England at 4:55PM
August 28--I arrive in London at 5:55AM
September 15--My first newsletter will be ready (hopefully!)

Now I must resume packing and other final preparations. This is pretty crazy!