Another weekend away traveling…Hungary this time, Budapest. The other Kansas girls went to Krakow, Poland and Nikki and I traveled with another group of international students: 2 Swedes, 2 Germans, 2 Scotts, and 2 other Americans. It is fun having such diversity and a chance to get to know them. Budapest is beautiful…I didn’t expect it to be. It feels like Prague, except about 1/5 the size. It is actually two cities, Buda and Pest, which have grown into one. We spent our first day walking around the castle in the Buda side of town. That night, we...
Read MoreAnother incredible day in Egypt. We left early this morning for a day at sea. We took a boat ride out about 5 miles from land to go scuba diving and snorkeling. Once again, an unforgettable and overwhelming experience. I felt so humbled by the beauty hidden under the water. The colors of the fish were so vibrant and bright and the fish so playful, I just wanted to join them. I was also amazed by the coral that we swam around; there was such detail and intricacy in every piece, kept secret from everyone except those who venture down...
Read More...We spent the afternoon at the beach today. Because the native people here are so aggressive towards tourists, most hotels have their own private beaches away from people trying to sell things. Our lovely “Green Palace” did not have its own sea side space so we snuck into another hotel. It’s amazing what you can get away with as long as you look like you know what you’re doing and where you’re going. The water was incredible. I stood on one of the docks and just stood in awe of what I was seeing. The view is forever etched in...
Read More...We took a bus to Hurghada today, the town where we will spend the rest of our trip. We were driving through the deserts of Egypt when the Red Sea slowly came into view…I have never seen water this blue before in my life - it was truly amazing. I cannot wait to swim in it! We came to Hurghada with no plans but to enjoy it. We walked around until we found a place to stay…”The Green Palace” became our new home. After dropping our stuff off, we walked along the beach and played with the jelly fish,...
Read MoreI can’t even believe it…right now, I am laying on a rock in my swimsuit next to the RED SEA in EGYPT! I never thought I write that! Three days ago, five of us boarded a plane in Prague at 10:30pm and arrived in Cairo, Egypt the next morning at 2am. How different things were from the moment we stepped off of the plane. I have no idea what anything says, everything is written in Arabic. We have to “bargain” for everything, even a taxi to the hotel. They use the Egyptian pound here which equals six US dollars. Our...
Read More...After taking in a European soccer game today, we went to a jazz club tonight that was so cool. This bar used to house an industry long ago. It had it had a large, barrel vault ceiling made entirely of bricks. The music was incredible…I loved it! The stadium held about 20,000 fans...crazy fans! Toilet paper, confetti, fireworks were everywhere. It was awesome! Both teams were from Prague, so we had no preference who won. We did know that we would cheer for whomever the majority around us was cheering for, which was Slavia. I definitely don't think I could...
Read MoreI’m sitting here in Café Central, one of Vienna’s most famous coffee shops. ...Stephanie and I are being serenaded by a cello, violin, and piano as we sip our coffees and eat our tarts. I feel like I am in a movie. I love taking time to just sit and watch the people. It’s weird to look around and know you don’t belong in a place…to see that physically you don’t look the same and know that don’t speak the same language. Things that have happened to them are so different from the things in my life….everything is so...
Read More...Here I sit on a train through the mountains of Austria, the sound of music playing over and over in my mind. Anytime now, I expect the vonTrapp family to appear over one of the ridges… I can’t believe what I am seeing here. It seems that everything has been put in place for the moment that I would see it; like this world doesn’t really exist outside of my Kansas bubble. Life like this cannot be going on like this all over the world and I have never experienced it or tasted it before. I know this...
Read More“The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty.” - My Utmost for His Highest Today, I saw my first real castle. It was just as I imagined it to be; on the top of a green hill, made of stone, and a tower soaring above…it was so cool! We saw the torture chamber and the torture devices…not so cool for them. I just can’t believe I am...
Read MoreHere I am doing my first load of laundry at Laundry King…it’s run by a really nice American man from Alabama. Doing laundry makes things feel more permanent. They have TV here and I realized that this is the fist time I’ve watched the news since I left the US…I really don’t miss it at all. We had an international student dinner last night and dancing afterwards with a live band. Our dinner was pretty interesting: we had soup with chicken liver and the knee of a pig…definitely not something I would have ordered myself, but it was catered so I...
Read MoreYesterday was such a beautiful day…or at least started that way. We went downtown to the famous Charles Bridge. We had gone there the night before on our way to dinner, but not during the day. Saturday is one of the busiest times to be at the bridge. There were vendors everywhere selling food, paintings, toys, wine, it was so much fun! Then we walked to the old town square. In the middle, there is a clock from the 14th century. Amazing. It is the most unique clock I have ever seen. The story goes that the king gorged...
Read MoreThere are two totally different sides to Prague I have discovered so far. Everyone I talked to before I came said Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But as I went for a run earlier, I sure didn’t see that. Everything here seems dead. The buildings are so cold and the people look harsh and do not smile. Things seem dirty and uncared for. Where is this beauty I had heard about? But yesterday, Nikki and I went on a walk to explore. We were in search of the Prague Castle and our...
Read MoreI’ve officially set up residence in Prague. Things are so different here, maybe it’s because I’m living here and not seeing all of the tourist stuff I saw in London. Things seem cold and uninviting. No one smiles. I can’t read any of the signs and most people here cannot understand me. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so helpless before. We are divided up into flats of seven students. Since we arrived together, all seven of us from K-State are together. At first I had hoped that we would be living with other international students and was kind of...
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