Well I've made it to the last city on my trek before meeting up with my family. I'm leaving Mayrhofen now after leaving Matt, McLean and Anna up in the Alps - I'm sure they'll manage to find a place to sleep for the night. On Tuesday morning I took a train from Fussen, Germany down to Innsbruck, Austria where I was meeting up with the gang. After arranging a hostel for the four of us, I then went to the train station a few times to pick everyone up and take them back to the hostel. Anna arrived first and then Matt and McLean showed up on a midnight train. Our hostel was an awesome find - it was in an old historic building in the middle of the old city in Innsbruck. We managed to get a private room for four which included a kitchen stocked with pasta and all kinds of cooking/eating items. So that took care of dinner for the night. The hostel was so old that they didn't even have machines for processing credit cards, so I am now officially out of all euros (although I'm still stocked on swedish kronas, swiss franks, and us dollars, none of which do me any good).
After everyone arrived into town, we hung out for a bit that night before getting some rest for the next day. The following morning we woke up and were treated to breakfast at the oldest cafe in the town (turns out we were not only in a hostel but a bed and breakfast, even better!). After some food, we packed up and headed for the train station where we caught a train to Mayrhofen, a small town about 1.5 hours outside of Innsbruck. Once we arrived, we glanced at a map, stashed some gear in lockers, grabbed a few key grocery items (bread, meat sticks and chocolate) and took off for the mountains. We spent the afternoon hiking up the mountain to Wasserfall, a one-building stop with a lake and lots of small waterfalls falling off the alps into the lake. It was a great hike and we managed to pass by numerous cows along the way (I'm not sure why, but there was kissing of the cows involved at one point...). Once we arrived at Mayrhofen, I found a bus that would take me back down the mountain towards the train station and the rest of the gang kept hiking off into the valley where they were hoping to stay at one of the hostel huts along the path. They will be hiking the alps for the next four days before McLean has to fly back to the US on Sunday. I'm now waiting in the train where I will eventually be arriving in Rome in the morning to meet the fam, where the real fun begins :) I'm fairly certain my mom will be bringing along a month's supply of underwear for me which will sufficiently overflow my backpack for the summer. So for now, my time in the alps is up and I'm off to see other parts of Europe, however I have a sneaky suspicion that I will find myself back here at some point in the near future, they're too addicting.
Words can get pretty boring, so I apologize for the misproportion of text to images - so here's a few to hopefully make up - there's plenty more to come at some point though. The pictures below are from Amsterdam (and Oasis) and Interlaken. I still have some editing and uploading to do on the others.
I was reading a good friend of mine's blog the other day and he was talking about the importance of putting God in control of our plans, rather than always relying on our own plans. I think this is one of those ideas that sounds so simple but we rarely implement in our own lives. After reading his post, God demonstrated for me the power of sitting back and letting him plan things by leading me straight into the middle of a transformed medieval city - let me explain...
At the beginning of the summer, I had come up with a detailed plan of what cities I wanted to visit and which trains I would need to take to get to all of those places. It seemed like common sense to make sure that I actually had a place to sleep for the many nights ahead of me before my family arrived at the end of June.
Well turns out things didn't quite go according to my plans...
There were many times when my plans were changed or switched up - trying to find a place to stay last minute in Amsterdam around midnight, loving Switzerland so much that I canceled most of the other cities I had planned to travel to, and luckily finding a way to ride the Glacier Express because my Swiss time was extended. Now those change in plans meant that I arrived in Germany a day later than I had originally expected, which didn't seem like a big deal, turns out it worked largely in my favor though :)
So I arrived in Stuttgart on Friday, just in time to watch the Germany world cup match. Sadly they lost the game but it was still a crazy experience to hang outside with thousands of germans watching the game together. After strolling around Stuttgart for a little bit, I jumped on the train towards a small town called Reutlingen where I was staying with a good friend of mine from MSLS, Tilman. Tilman made an awesome dinner (and I am sufficiently caught up on any lack of butter I may have been experiencing due to traveling and a limited budget, butter, butter and more butter!) and then I managed to steal his internet for awhile to catch up on some work.
We still hadn't planned what we were going to do on Saturday but had been talking about going to see a castle for quite some time. Well at the last minute, Tilman realized that because my plans had changed and I had arrived two days later - I was actually just in time to see a yearly 'spectacle' in a small town called Horb, about an hour away. Turns out that every year the town re-enacts what the area and people used to look like back in the medieval time period and have actors re-enacting important charters that were signed and parades held throughout the town. For those Pennsylvanians out there, imagine the Renaissance Fair times 100, located in an authentic medieval german town, and with nearly every visitor dressed up as well - it was absolutely insane. There was jousting and knight fights, crazy medieval food, a bagpipe band that made the eurovision winners from Finland look pathetic, and so many random things to buy that looked like they were directly out of Hogwartz (the fact that everything was in german probably didn't help when it came to determining what those random things actually were).
As we were riding back to Reutlingen where I was going to stay the night, I just couldn't help but smile at the odds of me randomly pushing back my plans which resulted in the chance to go see Horb, a town I would never have known existed beforehand. Over the years as I travel more and more, I've got quite used to going with the flow and adapting plans as they happen - for me that is getting quite easy to do for traveling - but I need to try and apply that to other aspects of my life as well.
I like to know how things are going to, or supposed to, happen in life. Perhaps that is the control-freak part of me coming out and it is quite hard to tame down. But when we hand over our desires for how life should be run and give it to God, crazy things happen.
Well the craziness continues for my traveling and tonight I am sleeping in Fussen, Germany before heading down to Austria tomorrow to meet up with McLean and Matt. Today I went and saw Neuschwenstein, the famous german castle that Disney used as inspiration for the Cinderella castle in Florida. It was quite impressive and the first completely touristy thing I've done all trip, but it was definitely worth it! The castle itself is massive, but only 16 rooms inside have been finished because the king died unexpectedly and all construction stopped. As has been the story throughout this trip so far, it continued to rain all day but it made for some cool views as the clouds engulfed the castle on top of the hill. Now it is Sunday night and I am sleeping in a hostel and happy to have a hot shower and comfy bed to sleep in for the night. Onto Austria in the morning!
At the beginning of the summer, I had come up with a detailed plan of what cities I wanted to visit and which trains I would need to take to get to all of those places. It seemed like common sense to make sure that I actually had a place to sleep for the many nights ahead of me before my family arrived at the end of June.
Well turns out things didn't quite go according to my plans...
There were many times when my plans were changed or switched up - trying to find a place to stay last minute in Amsterdam around midnight, loving Switzerland so much that I canceled most of the other cities I had planned to travel to, and luckily finding a way to ride the Glacier Express because my Swiss time was extended. Now those change in plans meant that I arrived in Germany a day later than I had originally expected, which didn't seem like a big deal, turns out it worked largely in my favor though :)
So I arrived in Stuttgart on Friday, just in time to watch the Germany world cup match. Sadly they lost the game but it was still a crazy experience to hang outside with thousands of germans watching the game together. After strolling around Stuttgart for a little bit, I jumped on the train towards a small town called Reutlingen where I was staying with a good friend of mine from MSLS, Tilman. Tilman made an awesome dinner (and I am sufficiently caught up on any lack of butter I may have been experiencing due to traveling and a limited budget, butter, butter and more butter!) and then I managed to steal his internet for awhile to catch up on some work.
We still hadn't planned what we were going to do on Saturday but had been talking about going to see a castle for quite some time. Well at the last minute, Tilman realized that because my plans had changed and I had arrived two days later - I was actually just in time to see a yearly 'spectacle' in a small town called Horb, about an hour away. Turns out that every year the town re-enacts what the area and people used to look like back in the medieval time period and have actors re-enacting important charters that were signed and parades held throughout the town. For those Pennsylvanians out there, imagine the Renaissance Fair times 100, located in an authentic medieval german town, and with nearly every visitor dressed up as well - it was absolutely insane. There was jousting and knight fights, crazy medieval food, a bagpipe band that made the eurovision winners from Finland look pathetic, and so many random things to buy that looked like they were directly out of Hogwartz (the fact that everything was in german probably didn't help when it came to determining what those random things actually were).
As we were riding back to Reutlingen where I was going to stay the night, I just couldn't help but smile at the odds of me randomly pushing back my plans which resulted in the chance to go see Horb, a town I would never have known existed beforehand. Over the years as I travel more and more, I've got quite used to going with the flow and adapting plans as they happen - for me that is getting quite easy to do for traveling - but I need to try and apply that to other aspects of my life as well.
I like to know how things are going to, or supposed to, happen in life. Perhaps that is the control-freak part of me coming out and it is quite hard to tame down. But when we hand over our desires for how life should be run and give it to God, crazy things happen.
Well the craziness continues for my traveling and tonight I am sleeping in Fussen, Germany before heading down to Austria tomorrow to meet up with McLean and Matt. Today I went and saw Neuschwenstein, the famous german castle that Disney used as inspiration for the Cinderella castle in Florida. It was quite impressive and the first completely touristy thing I've done all trip, but it was definitely worth it! The castle itself is massive, but only 16 rooms inside have been finished because the king died unexpectedly and all construction stopped. As has been the story throughout this trip so far, it continued to rain all day but it made for some cool views as the clouds engulfed the castle on top of the hill. Now it is Sunday night and I am sleeping in a hostel and happy to have a hot shower and comfy bed to sleep in for the night. Onto Austria in the morning!
Well I believe I left off with me in Interlaken, Switzerland - time to catch you up on the past few days. On Thursday morning, I left my campsite in Interlaken and jumped on the train towards Brig where I just managed to catch the Glacier Express, known as the "slowest express train in the world." It has been called one of the most impressive train routes in all of Europe and after traveling on about half of it, I can easily see why.
But before boarding the train, I stopped into a local bakery to pick up some lunch for the ride. I grabbed a small sandwich and some chocolate which totaled 12 franks. With very little time to get to the train, I quickly swiped my card, signed, and bagged my purchases. For some reason, I managed to double glance down at the receipt as I started to walk away and noticed that instead of paying 12 franks, I had actually just paid 120 franks - slight difference. So after a jumbled attempt at trying to speak swiss german with the cashier, I eventually was able to get my money back with just enough time to get on the train.
Now the Glacier Express is a popular trip for older folks, and is nice for those wanting a relaxing ride through the mountains and a romantic meal along the way. My intention was slightly different, I just wanted to see glaciers and needed to get to the other side of switzerland at some point. So when I sat down in my seat, I found myself sitting across from a french couple (who spoke zero english) and found myself as the third wheel on their romantic little trip. Now typically one would buy a single seat for a single individual - not this couple. Of the four seats around our table, they bought three of the four - the two near the window and then another one so they could sit beside each other. So for half of the train they sat side by side, and then when dinner came, they sat across from one another for their romantic meal. Meanwhile, I sat in the fourth seat with my tiny sandwich in a plastic bag, a bar of chocolate, and a camera constantly shooting pictures over their shoulder. Fun times.
As their wine, full course meal, tiramisu, and a whole range of other things to keep them fed were served, I sat in awe of the sights around us (they didn't take a single picture the whole time we traveled, I'm not sure how that is possible, ha). The tracks that we traveled meandered their way through mountain range after mountain range, passing by tiny clusters of wooden homes darkened by the beating sun. A herd of cattle roam the hillside and we can hear their bells ringing as they move from patch to patch. The higher we climb, the closer we find ourselves to the glaciers that were only recently beckoning me to reach out and touch them back in Grindelwald. It's as if time has stopped - the glaciers stand so still as if they longed to be flowing down the mountain with the other waterfalls and streams trickling past us. Our train passes through a series of intricate tunnels and over beautifully-crafted bridges. A biker climbs the curving roads beneath us, just a speck in this massive landscape. I find myself staring out the window without really focusing on anything in particular.
As we pass by all the little towns beneath us, I started to think about how lucky I am to live in a place like Lancaster, or the US for that matter, where I have so many options and opportunities available to me. Now I'm sure the people who live in these towns love it, but I don't know if I could permanently live in such a solitary place. I began to notice that in many of these areas, there is typically only one church as well. Sometimes I forget how much of a privilege it is to be able to question the churches I grew up in and then have other options to choose from to find the one that fits best. We don't just have freedom of religion, but also numerous possibilities for religion.
Passing by the many small towns, we eventually arrive upon Chur, an old town in the center of the valley which consists of an elaborate network of back alleys and small squares. I decided this would be a good place to crash for the night. I left the train, leaving the french couple to actually enjoy the rest of their trip, and wandered into Chur looking for a place to stay. I eventually stumbled across an awesome hostel (with unlimited internet, got to love that) and unloaded my bags in one of the dorms. After strolling through the town for awhile, I went back to the hostel's sports bar and watched a few of the world cup games. There I met a guy from South Korea and we shared many of our stories from traveling around the world. The more I travel, the more I realize that there are so many other places to travel to - I think I'm going to have to make it a goal to every year or so go and see something new and inspiring. After the final game, I went back to my room and cleaned up a bit and got ready for the next train ride in the morning.
And that's where I find myself right now, riding on the train from Chur to Stuttgart where I am meeting a friend of mine from Sweden. It's just a few more days now until the family comes over and a whole new series of craziness ensues, as always, I'll be sure to keep you updated.
But before boarding the train, I stopped into a local bakery to pick up some lunch for the ride. I grabbed a small sandwich and some chocolate which totaled 12 franks. With very little time to get to the train, I quickly swiped my card, signed, and bagged my purchases. For some reason, I managed to double glance down at the receipt as I started to walk away and noticed that instead of paying 12 franks, I had actually just paid 120 franks - slight difference. So after a jumbled attempt at trying to speak swiss german with the cashier, I eventually was able to get my money back with just enough time to get on the train.
Now the Glacier Express is a popular trip for older folks, and is nice for those wanting a relaxing ride through the mountains and a romantic meal along the way. My intention was slightly different, I just wanted to see glaciers and needed to get to the other side of switzerland at some point. So when I sat down in my seat, I found myself sitting across from a french couple (who spoke zero english) and found myself as the third wheel on their romantic little trip. Now typically one would buy a single seat for a single individual - not this couple. Of the four seats around our table, they bought three of the four - the two near the window and then another one so they could sit beside each other. So for half of the train they sat side by side, and then when dinner came, they sat across from one another for their romantic meal. Meanwhile, I sat in the fourth seat with my tiny sandwich in a plastic bag, a bar of chocolate, and a camera constantly shooting pictures over their shoulder. Fun times.
As their wine, full course meal, tiramisu, and a whole range of other things to keep them fed were served, I sat in awe of the sights around us (they didn't take a single picture the whole time we traveled, I'm not sure how that is possible, ha). The tracks that we traveled meandered their way through mountain range after mountain range, passing by tiny clusters of wooden homes darkened by the beating sun. A herd of cattle roam the hillside and we can hear their bells ringing as they move from patch to patch. The higher we climb, the closer we find ourselves to the glaciers that were only recently beckoning me to reach out and touch them back in Grindelwald. It's as if time has stopped - the glaciers stand so still as if they longed to be flowing down the mountain with the other waterfalls and streams trickling past us. Our train passes through a series of intricate tunnels and over beautifully-crafted bridges. A biker climbs the curving roads beneath us, just a speck in this massive landscape. I find myself staring out the window without really focusing on anything in particular.
As we pass by all the little towns beneath us, I started to think about how lucky I am to live in a place like Lancaster, or the US for that matter, where I have so many options and opportunities available to me. Now I'm sure the people who live in these towns love it, but I don't know if I could permanently live in such a solitary place. I began to notice that in many of these areas, there is typically only one church as well. Sometimes I forget how much of a privilege it is to be able to question the churches I grew up in and then have other options to choose from to find the one that fits best. We don't just have freedom of religion, but also numerous possibilities for religion.
Passing by the many small towns, we eventually arrive upon Chur, an old town in the center of the valley which consists of an elaborate network of back alleys and small squares. I decided this would be a good place to crash for the night. I left the train, leaving the french couple to actually enjoy the rest of their trip, and wandered into Chur looking for a place to stay. I eventually stumbled across an awesome hostel (with unlimited internet, got to love that) and unloaded my bags in one of the dorms. After strolling through the town for awhile, I went back to the hostel's sports bar and watched a few of the world cup games. There I met a guy from South Korea and we shared many of our stories from traveling around the world. The more I travel, the more I realize that there are so many other places to travel to - I think I'm going to have to make it a goal to every year or so go and see something new and inspiring. After the final game, I went back to my room and cleaned up a bit and got ready for the next train ride in the morning.
And that's where I find myself right now, riding on the train from Chur to Stuttgart where I am meeting a friend of mine from Sweden. It's just a few more days now until the family comes over and a whole new series of craziness ensues, as always, I'll be sure to keep you updated.
Well I made it to Interlaken and am loving it here in Switzerland. Interlaken, as the name implies, is situated between two big lakes and is surrounded by the alps. If it weren't for the gigantic mountain range around me, I would think I was in the Caribbean because of the water color - it is the most clear blue/green water I've seen in quite some time.
I've been staying at the oldest privately owned hostel in all of Switzerland, and it sure has some character to it. I've been staying in their tent village which is situated a bit outside of the town out in a field - nothing like falling asleep to crickets once again. As luck would have it, as I was arriving to my tent, I was stopped by a photographer and asked to help him out for a second. Turns out he was shooting the new promotional material for the hostel and wanted to use me as the model for his shots, so for all of you coming to Interlaken in the future - don't be surprised when you roll out of the train station and see my face (well actually it's the back of my head, I was told it's my better side) and bags on many of the brochures and signs. Life is good, haha.
After checking in to the hostel, I met up with Andrea (my roommate over the last year) for the rest of the afternoon and took a boat out to some of the little castles scattered across the lakes. We then had the best food yet on this trip in a tiny little pub and afterwards I went home and crashed after a long day of traveling. Two important things I discovered however on this day. One: Interlaken has the coolest water fountains in the world. They are all gravity fed from pure spring water running off the lake, and they flow all over the place in old stone troughs. Two: I managed to leave all of my underwear in Karlskrona, bummer. Interlaken has been a city of "inside-outing"and it's soon time that I buy myself a souvenir of some nice swiss undies.
This morning I took the train up to Grindelwald, a tiny village situated in the heart of the alps. After wandering the town for a bit, I decided to take a gondola up one of the mountains and hike back down to the town. Great decision! After arriving at the top and beginning my hike down, I quickly realized that it is a poor idea to wear flip flops when traveling to the alps, note to self, the alps are steep and sandals have no support. Oh well, it just made the whole thing more memorable.
As I wandered down the path back towards Grindelwald, I found myself passing field upon field of yellow, purple and white flowers scattered across the slopes. Surrounded on all sides, I was blanketed by an ever-stretching cloud that dwarfed the valley. I found myself in a trance down the mountain - and then I lost my breath.
As I gazed up ahead of me to see where the path turned next, a parting in the clouds was revealing the most magnificent mountain I have ever seen. It's peak silhouetted by the clouds, it beckoned me to try and touch it. The snowy caps trickled down the grooves on its face and as fast as I tried to scribble down my thoughts on a sheet of paper, the blanket consumed the peak once again.
I was left standing full of awe and found myself spinning slowly, wondering what other peaks lie hidden behind the clouds. It's amazing how such a beautiful mystery can be so easily hidden, and I have no say or control as to when I can see it.
There's been a lot of times in my life where I go looking for miracles, but it seems that it is during the moments when we aren't even looking, and can't possibly fathom that something so incredible is surrounding us entirely, that the miracle hits. God is a beautiful and miraculous god.
After sitting on the path for a few minutes I managed to catch my breath again, but words still took awhile to come back.
One of my recent prayers has been for god to continually bug me and nudge me to learn and grow and find those moments of beauty. I get excited and can't wait to think about all the moments of revealing that God has in store for me in the future, but for now, this mountain will have to suffice :) As cool as it would have been to see the entire mountain range on a clear day, I don't think I would have appreciated them quite as much.
So after making it back into Grindelwald, I decided to head back to the train and return to the hostel. On my way down, I discovered I had been sneaking onto the trains with my Inter-rail pass that in fact didn't work on these trains, go figure. Good thing I had absolutely zero swiss franks on me and was unable to pay the ticket fee to the conductor when they came around checking for tickets. I think he was ready for his shift to be over and just told me not to do it again, I think that shouldn't be a problem considering I leave tomorrow.
Once returning to Interlaken, I popped by the hostel reception area where I watched Switzerland surprisingly beat Spain in the world cup and then took an early night back to my tent. It's been a good day, even though it was filled with rain, and I am so thankful for the things I get to witness.
I've been staying at the oldest privately owned hostel in all of Switzerland, and it sure has some character to it. I've been staying in their tent village which is situated a bit outside of the town out in a field - nothing like falling asleep to crickets once again. As luck would have it, as I was arriving to my tent, I was stopped by a photographer and asked to help him out for a second. Turns out he was shooting the new promotional material for the hostel and wanted to use me as the model for his shots, so for all of you coming to Interlaken in the future - don't be surprised when you roll out of the train station and see my face (well actually it's the back of my head, I was told it's my better side) and bags on many of the brochures and signs. Life is good, haha.
After checking in to the hostel, I met up with Andrea (my roommate over the last year) for the rest of the afternoon and took a boat out to some of the little castles scattered across the lakes. We then had the best food yet on this trip in a tiny little pub and afterwards I went home and crashed after a long day of traveling. Two important things I discovered however on this day. One: Interlaken has the coolest water fountains in the world. They are all gravity fed from pure spring water running off the lake, and they flow all over the place in old stone troughs. Two: I managed to leave all of my underwear in Karlskrona, bummer. Interlaken has been a city of "inside-outing"and it's soon time that I buy myself a souvenir of some nice swiss undies.
This morning I took the train up to Grindelwald, a tiny village situated in the heart of the alps. After wandering the town for a bit, I decided to take a gondola up one of the mountains and hike back down to the town. Great decision! After arriving at the top and beginning my hike down, I quickly realized that it is a poor idea to wear flip flops when traveling to the alps, note to self, the alps are steep and sandals have no support. Oh well, it just made the whole thing more memorable.
As I wandered down the path back towards Grindelwald, I found myself passing field upon field of yellow, purple and white flowers scattered across the slopes. Surrounded on all sides, I was blanketed by an ever-stretching cloud that dwarfed the valley. I found myself in a trance down the mountain - and then I lost my breath.
As I gazed up ahead of me to see where the path turned next, a parting in the clouds was revealing the most magnificent mountain I have ever seen. It's peak silhouetted by the clouds, it beckoned me to try and touch it. The snowy caps trickled down the grooves on its face and as fast as I tried to scribble down my thoughts on a sheet of paper, the blanket consumed the peak once again.
I was left standing full of awe and found myself spinning slowly, wondering what other peaks lie hidden behind the clouds. It's amazing how such a beautiful mystery can be so easily hidden, and I have no say or control as to when I can see it.
There's been a lot of times in my life where I go looking for miracles, but it seems that it is during the moments when we aren't even looking, and can't possibly fathom that something so incredible is surrounding us entirely, that the miracle hits. God is a beautiful and miraculous god.
After sitting on the path for a few minutes I managed to catch my breath again, but words still took awhile to come back.
One of my recent prayers has been for god to continually bug me and nudge me to learn and grow and find those moments of beauty. I get excited and can't wait to think about all the moments of revealing that God has in store for me in the future, but for now, this mountain will have to suffice :) As cool as it would have been to see the entire mountain range on a clear day, I don't think I would have appreciated them quite as much.
So after making it back into Grindelwald, I decided to head back to the train and return to the hostel. On my way down, I discovered I had been sneaking onto the trains with my Inter-rail pass that in fact didn't work on these trains, go figure. Good thing I had absolutely zero swiss franks on me and was unable to pay the ticket fee to the conductor when they came around checking for tickets. I think he was ready for his shift to be over and just told me not to do it again, I think that shouldn't be a problem considering I leave tomorrow.
Once returning to Interlaken, I popped by the hostel reception area where I watched Switzerland surprisingly beat Spain in the world cup and then took an early night back to my tent. It's been a good day, even though it was filled with rain, and I am so thankful for the things I get to witness.
One city down, many more to go for this summer. I'm waiting in the Amsterdam train station to book my reservation for Interlaken, Switzerland later tonight (so I'm sorry if this post doesn't flow very well, it was typed up quite quick).
The past three days have been great and a much needed break from the student schedule of the last year. For the last two days, I have been involved with the Oasis Game, which is a process for bringing individuals together and realizing their dreams within their communities. Oasis was created in Brazil a few years ago and has since been expanding around the world. The idea is that a group of people come together (in this case, all over the world) and work alongside a community to make their dreams a reality. For our week, the community wanted to create a garden and a greenhouse, paint some murals and build soccer goals and a zipline for the kids. I was involved with building the zipline and greenhouse, and throughout the week dabbled in many of the other projects.
By far the biggest challenge was not being able to speak the language, and as a result, I had a very hard time interacting with the community and kids. Eventually you overcome that barrier and learn to interact in other means, but I was unable to go up to community members and ask them to join in or learn more about their life stories. But not being able to speak much meant that I was able to observe what was going on around me much more.
I was involved with the community for two days, but the entire event had been going on for a week before I arrived. The first day I was there, Saturday, was a bit of a learning experience for the group. We weren't able to get as much of the community involved as planned, we mostly had kids, and the organization for the different tasks that needed completed was lacking a tad. But with any project like this, you need those learning moments to know how to improve for the next time. Fortunately, we had a second day on Sunday, so at the end of the day on Saturday we talked as a group on how we wanted to engage the community more effectively and planned our working for the following day. The talk was quite helpful because Sunday was a huge improvement.
A large proportion of the community came out to help on Sunday and people were constantly bringing food and drinks if they weren't directly helping with the building, painting or gardening. In addition to the bonding with the community, it seemed that the core group for Oasis had begun to bond more tightly.
It was a whirlwind to get everything finished, and the greenhouse specifically took a lot of finishing details to get up and running. One of the keys about Oasis is that it uses only donated or recycled materials from the community. Most of the projects similar to Oasis I have been involved with (Jamaica, Lousianna, Tanzania) tend to have a more planned out system for obtaining materials, but in Oasis, we simply wandered around the community looking for anything we could find to use. For example, one group went to a shipyard and after talking with some people there, were able to find a large pulley to use for the zipline. For the greenhouse, we found some large metal poles, a lot of zipties and some plastic that we were able to strap up into something that surprisingly resembled a greenhouse.
One of the key things throughout the process was to ensure that the community was involved so that they would feel ownership and pride in continuing the project in the future. I wasn't sure how exactly this would turn out but I think it was most evident in the last two hours of our build time. Suddenly, people were coming out of their homes with hanging baskets for the greenhouse, different materials to make windchimes, and even an old rabbit house to place in the garden. It was neat to see how excited they were and willing to contribute.
The beauty behind Oasis however was not in the greenhouse that was built, the zipline that was created, or the murals that were painted, but rather in the community that was formed. It's amazing how little we tend to interact with our neighbors, and sometimes we just need a common activity to unite behind and hang out on the street corners talking with one another. It was almost like creating a mini Fourth of July in the community - just another reason to throw a party and BBQ.
The past three days have been great and a much needed break from the student schedule of the last year. For the last two days, I have been involved with the Oasis Game, which is a process for bringing individuals together and realizing their dreams within their communities. Oasis was created in Brazil a few years ago and has since been expanding around the world. The idea is that a group of people come together (in this case, all over the world) and work alongside a community to make their dreams a reality. For our week, the community wanted to create a garden and a greenhouse, paint some murals and build soccer goals and a zipline for the kids. I was involved with building the zipline and greenhouse, and throughout the week dabbled in many of the other projects.
By far the biggest challenge was not being able to speak the language, and as a result, I had a very hard time interacting with the community and kids. Eventually you overcome that barrier and learn to interact in other means, but I was unable to go up to community members and ask them to join in or learn more about their life stories. But not being able to speak much meant that I was able to observe what was going on around me much more.
I was involved with the community for two days, but the entire event had been going on for a week before I arrived. The first day I was there, Saturday, was a bit of a learning experience for the group. We weren't able to get as much of the community involved as planned, we mostly had kids, and the organization for the different tasks that needed completed was lacking a tad. But with any project like this, you need those learning moments to know how to improve for the next time. Fortunately, we had a second day on Sunday, so at the end of the day on Saturday we talked as a group on how we wanted to engage the community more effectively and planned our working for the following day. The talk was quite helpful because Sunday was a huge improvement.
A large proportion of the community came out to help on Sunday and people were constantly bringing food and drinks if they weren't directly helping with the building, painting or gardening. In addition to the bonding with the community, it seemed that the core group for Oasis had begun to bond more tightly.
It was a whirlwind to get everything finished, and the greenhouse specifically took a lot of finishing details to get up and running. One of the keys about Oasis is that it uses only donated or recycled materials from the community. Most of the projects similar to Oasis I have been involved with (Jamaica, Lousianna, Tanzania) tend to have a more planned out system for obtaining materials, but in Oasis, we simply wandered around the community looking for anything we could find to use. For example, one group went to a shipyard and after talking with some people there, were able to find a large pulley to use for the zipline. For the greenhouse, we found some large metal poles, a lot of zipties and some plastic that we were able to strap up into something that surprisingly resembled a greenhouse.
One of the key things throughout the process was to ensure that the community was involved so that they would feel ownership and pride in continuing the project in the future. I wasn't sure how exactly this would turn out but I think it was most evident in the last two hours of our build time. Suddenly, people were coming out of their homes with hanging baskets for the greenhouse, different materials to make windchimes, and even an old rabbit house to place in the garden. It was neat to see how excited they were and willing to contribute.
The beauty behind Oasis however was not in the greenhouse that was built, the zipline that was created, or the murals that were painted, but rather in the community that was formed. It's amazing how little we tend to interact with our neighbors, and sometimes we just need a common activity to unite behind and hang out on the street corners talking with one another. It was almost like creating a mini Fourth of July in the community - just another reason to throw a party and BBQ.
Alright folks, let the stories begin. Everyone can rest assured as I have made it to a bed for the night and am not left wandering the streets of Amsterdam tonight. But let me explain how I managed that first. So I spent all day roaming the streets of Amsterdam with my bags looking for places to kill time. I stumbled across a few touristy sites in addition to a street of sports bars with tons of TV's outside to watch the opening match of the World Cup - can't wait for the Netherlands game on Monday, I have a feeling it's going to be a little wild :) After wasting enough time, I headed towards a place just outside of downtown where I was planning on meeting the group that I am planning on working with for the next few days, Oasis. If you haven't heard about this group yet, go check out this video for a good idea of what they do - it's quite inspiring!
Oasis
So after a good hour or so of crisscrossing the streets back and forth, I was convinced that google maps had taken me to the wrong location, as it appeared I was in the middle of a strange residential community, so I turned around and headed back to the central train station where I was hoping to find internet. It turns out that my phone doesn't work here in the Netherlands, or I just haven't quite figured it out yet, which made it difficult for me to reach Sophia, another girl in my program who had been here for a day already and I was planning on meeting at the event tonight. So I started walking and after about 30 minutes, looked up and who other do I see riding towards me on a bike, but Sophia!! So I flagged her down and we rearranged some seating on the bike and headed off together with another guy, Paulo from Brazil, back to where I had come from. Turns out google maps wasn't wrong after all and I just managed to miss the exact corner that this place was on. Fortunately a bike makes things much quicker!
For the rest of the night, we danced and ate and got to know one another better. I'm really becoming a fan of these circle dances where you all face one another, it really gets the energy flowing in a room (especially when brazilians are involved). Which reminds me, at one point in the evening, I found myself dancing with a brazilian lady who commented that I was a very good dancer because of my hip action - ha, who would have guessed they heard the day where a brazilian commented on my dancing ability! Needless to say the evening was a blast, and is also where I met Inge who warmly welcomed me into her home (can't say thank you enough!). And so that is where I am now.
I need to head to bed here soon but I thought I would reflect quickly on the night. I think one of the things that stood out to me is who you can create 'spiritual' spaces in any circumstance. Regardless of how we may define spiritual, there was something different about tonight, which for me, felt very spiritual. At the end of the dancing, we all found ourselves in a big circle, exchanging smiles and thinking back on the memories we were making with one another. As I glanced around the circle, I was able to identify that feeling that emerges in all of us every now and then that this - where we are right now and what we are doing - is right! It was the same feeling I felt after leaving Karlskrona. I am blessed that God keeps leading me into so many incredible groups of community and I am amazed at how quickly some communities form. As I head off to more and more countries this summer, I hope I can take a hint of that ability to ignite and sustain the communities that have impacted me so much - people are just too cool :)
Oasis
So after a good hour or so of crisscrossing the streets back and forth, I was convinced that google maps had taken me to the wrong location, as it appeared I was in the middle of a strange residential community, so I turned around and headed back to the central train station where I was hoping to find internet. It turns out that my phone doesn't work here in the Netherlands, or I just haven't quite figured it out yet, which made it difficult for me to reach Sophia, another girl in my program who had been here for a day already and I was planning on meeting at the event tonight. So I started walking and after about 30 minutes, looked up and who other do I see riding towards me on a bike, but Sophia!! So I flagged her down and we rearranged some seating on the bike and headed off together with another guy, Paulo from Brazil, back to where I had come from. Turns out google maps wasn't wrong after all and I just managed to miss the exact corner that this place was on. Fortunately a bike makes things much quicker!
For the rest of the night, we danced and ate and got to know one another better. I'm really becoming a fan of these circle dances where you all face one another, it really gets the energy flowing in a room (especially when brazilians are involved). Which reminds me, at one point in the evening, I found myself dancing with a brazilian lady who commented that I was a very good dancer because of my hip action - ha, who would have guessed they heard the day where a brazilian commented on my dancing ability! Needless to say the evening was a blast, and is also where I met Inge who warmly welcomed me into her home (can't say thank you enough!). And so that is where I am now.
I need to head to bed here soon but I thought I would reflect quickly on the night. I think one of the things that stood out to me is who you can create 'spiritual' spaces in any circumstance. Regardless of how we may define spiritual, there was something different about tonight, which for me, felt very spiritual. At the end of the dancing, we all found ourselves in a big circle, exchanging smiles and thinking back on the memories we were making with one another. As I glanced around the circle, I was able to identify that feeling that emerges in all of us every now and then that this - where we are right now and what we are doing - is right! It was the same feeling I felt after leaving Karlskrona. I am blessed that God keeps leading me into so many incredible groups of community and I am amazed at how quickly some communities form. As I head off to more and more countries this summer, I hope I can take a hint of that ability to ignite and sustain the communities that have impacted me so much - people are just too cool :)
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