Here's a cheery thought

Here are some pretty pictures of Switzerland and the Alps to cheer you up as much as me after that last post.Sorry about the date stamp. I'm actually kinda bummed about it myself. Great pics otherwise. These were from all our hiking and walking around town. The town was no tourist stop. It has one real store and it was a grocery store. Beautiful mountins, though. Much love to you all.

A moment of silence for the departed....

I realized today that I had not shared the somber news with you all. I regret to infrom you that MacLyntock Packer (lovingly known as "Mac") has moved on to automotive heaven. *tear* We all have our stories and adventures in Mac. He has traveled all over the country with me and countless times across the state. Lots of miles, plenty of tears, and countless peels of laughter among friends. (I even remember a certain someone crawling through the sunroof a time or two...Sara....=) ) If that grey apulstry could talk... It may seem strange, but I really am sad to see that little car go. But, what this does mean is that once I arrive back in the States, I can begin down the road toward my dream Subaru Forester. Though nothing could ever replace Mac.

Church Bells and Dress-Up

Before I share about my time in Switzerland, I want to clear something up. I did have a good time in Paris. I suppose when you live in Europe and there is a centuries old building on every street corner, you kinda get used to it. And I've been told that it is an entirely different experience when you see it with a special someone. So, I plan on coming back later.

Amy and I did sample some of the best food I have had in Europe, so far, and I finally bought a decent painting! A beautifully colorful peice of a street in Paris. I can't wait to get it framed and on the wall.

That being said, Switzerland was great. I would love to go back there and see more of the country someday. I will post some pictures when I get them off my friend's camera. It was a three-day retreat with some of the bible studies in the area. I met some really great people. How encouraging to find people all the way across the world who are of a like mind and heart. The first day we got settled in our rooms-we all had single rooms with down bedding and a gorgeous view of the Alps. Nice. After that we went on a long hike to see the area. About half of the group went skiing on the second day but I opted for another hike. We ended up taking a gondola ride up to the top of a peak and then hiked further up the mountain. The view from the top of a Alpine peak was unreal. It really reminded me of home in Washington. Pine trees and mountains. Except all the sings were in three different languages. None of which were English. I'm used to that by now, though.

In fact, on the bus ride down this weekend I saw a sign in English and nearly jumped out of my seat. Sure, you see English on some labels and stuff, but not a big ol' sign naming a store. It was exciting.

There was one moment that I wish I could have bottled up. This morning we had some time between breakfast and our first seminar so I found a great vantage point to enjoy the landscape. I dangled my legs over a ten-foot drop off that sloped in lush green grasses down to another drop off to meet the lake. Ahead of me I was surrounded by mountains as far as the eye could see. They rose out of the lake like they had always been there. I just basked in the beauty of it and sang songs to Jesus. I thought it couldn't get better until I heard church bells begin to ring from a three-hudred year old church in the town below. They filled the air like the fog that was beginning to roll in over the lake. I wish I could have put it in a bottle to take home with me.

This weekend was a great opportunity to connect with the members in my bible study. It is hard to really make good friends with people when you know that you are going to be leaving in just a few months. In fact, I've kind of been dragging my feet on the whole business for that very reason. But, this weekend God finally broke through to me and I realized that I was only hurting myself. The church's logo reads, "Roots for your soul, friends for your journey." How true. God has placed people here in Heidelburg for me in my journey and me here for them. When I close myself off to relationship because I am afraid of saying goodbye, then I could be missing out on things that God has planned. I need to trust Him.

Sigh. I love it here. I will miss it when I leave. But, I am also getting excited to come back home. So, save a seat at the next party, I'll be home soon. Beginning of May, just in time to graduate and move on with that thing we call "being an adult." Does that mean I can't play dress-up anymore?=) I love you all. God bless you as you carry on your own journeys. Chaus. ("see ya'" in German)

"Ah, Paris" continued

Paris was exciting, but not quite what I was expecting. Quote of the weekend is, "sortie! Where is the sortie!?" For those of you who know fewer than my eight words of French, "sortie" is "exit" in French. Since we spent a fair amount of time navigating our way through the metro system, we were in constant search of our way out of the labrinth. I must say that I had my first experience abroad feeling...not quite safe. Don't worry, we are fine. Some traveling wisdom I've picked up along the way steered us through some interesting situations. Saturday night in the metro is not fun. We were approached by, no less than, five men and one woman grabbed my arm while she jabbered at my in French. Luckily we knew enough to keep a cool head, not respond, and walk on like we had some clue where we were going. Little did they know that we were a little lost and already been walking for ten hours so we couldn't have run if we wanted to.

But, I don't want to let that paint the picture of Paris. My favorite part of the trip was probably the first day. We were lost that day, too, but that was half the fun. Our train brought us into the part of town that was supposed to be close to the Notre Dame cathedral, but of course, we still couldn't find it. You would think that with all the big roads heading in that direction, we wouldn't have a problem, but you all know about my keen sence of direction...=) We did find a great little local market, a beautiful cemetary, the university of Paris, and a fabulous cafe for lunch. So the time was not wasted, but we breathed a sigh of relief when we finally found those gargoils.

The Eifle Tower if beautiful at night. Every hour, on the hour, they turn on some special lights and it sparkles. Yes, it really sparkles. When you place it against the backdrop of the city, it is magical.

The Louvre Museum was amazing. The Mona Lisa was kind of blah. I'll let you form your own opinion, but it was kind of like, "okay, here it is. Now what?" The painting that really impacted me is included in my pictures above. I don't remember who painted it, but it painted a different picture of the crucifiction scene than I've seen before. It is portrayed as so humble and lonely, that I couldn't help from crying. Very impactful.

I'm sure that I will remember little details about the trip along the way, but maybe I will include those later. Overall, it was fun, but I think that I prefer my cute little walled cities orchards. I'm leaving for Switzerland in the morning, so you'll be hearing about that soon! Much love!

Ah, Paris

It may seem strange, but coming back Germany was like coming home. At home in a foreign country? I believe that you take home with you and that is what I did this weekend. My friend, Amy, and I took the three-day weekend in Paris. It was a mixture of things that I expected and those that I didn't.

We saw all the tourist attractions: Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, Notre Dame, Arc de Triumph, the Louvre, Varsailles, the site of the Bastille (kind of), fancy Parisian shopping, layed-back cafes on the street, and the Parthenon(not the one you are thinking of, that one is in Greece). We were busy girls. Amy saw Jim Morrison's grave, also. The tourist attractions were mostly... touristy. Surprise, surprise.:P Don't get me wrong, the Arc de Triumph was really cool. All the streets lead out from it, so you are looking up at this ginormous structure with some of the most amazing artwork on it and you can look half a mile down eight wide streets at the same time. Okay, honestly, I'm really tired. I give you some good details later. For now, here are some pictures.

elementary kids have no shame...kinda like their teachers

Yesterday was Valentine's Day (as if you didn't already know). Being in the most romantic corner of the world, you want to know what I did? I rocked out to hits from the 50's with a bunch of elementary school kids. Yup. Our school had a dance and a few of us interns opted for chaperoning. Chaperoning is really just a thinly disguised strategy for hanging out with our students and trying to convince them that we are cool so they will listen when we tell them to do their homework. Hey, whatever works, right? We really had a bunch of fun, though. As the pictures reveal, most of the teachers got as much into showing off their dance moves as the students. And let me tell you, the teachers who had been around for awhile, showed the interns "how it's really done." No shame, my friends. No shame.

See you at the movies

All of you know how much I enjoy movies. Especially, when I can get the full theater experience. There is a theater on my side of base and I visited it the other night and....let me tell you, it was different. First, it only cost $3.50. Yeah, I know! How exciting. Of course there is only one screen and the quality of the film reel is...a bit lower, but more on that later. When the lights first went down for the movie to begin, everyone started to stand up. Luckily someone had already prepared me for this, otherwise, I might have thought that there was some fire drill going on. The National Anthem began to play against a backdrop of footage from American wars. It was so moving that I couldn't help from crying. I was on foreign soil, recognizing those who had fought and died for the freedom of those a world away. Wow. I've had the opportunity to meet many soldiers who have been to the war in Iraq and everyone of them could name a person(s) that they did it for. Every one. It makes me wonder who we are living our lives for. I mean, who are we really living them for, not just who we say we are living for. Our families, ourselves, God? A thought to ponder.
So, back to the movie. This is where it began to get a bit lighter. I went to see a light-hearted comedy with a good friend of mine (Christina-roomate) and because the reel must have not made it through the final framing cut, we frequently got a clear picture of the microphone boom. Yeah, it was stink'n' hillarious to be watching this touching moment between two people who are in love and see the microphone tilting inches above their heads. It made the movie twice as good. So, I got a little piece of home with a local twist.=)

Just a few of my friends

Here are a few friends and me as we wait for the bus. From left to right: Diana, Katie, Megan, me, Laura, and Christina. Christina is one of my roomates and a fabulous lady. On this particular night we missed the bus and ended up calling a cab. We met some random guy who shared the cab with us and told us some great places to hear live music. Oh, yeah!

Who's there?

I love all of your responses to my postings. Keep 'em coming!=) It's good to know that I can stay connected with my friends overseas. That being said, please leave your name when you leave a comment. If you really want to be secret spy-ish, that's fine, but it's kind of a bummer when I hear from ya' all and I don't know who's speaking. Just something I noticed.=)