Last days...

I can't believe I only have 3 days left in Morocco! It's crazy how fast time has gone. But at the same time it hasn't gone by all that quickly.

I spent this last weekend in Fez spending lots of time with my host family. I technically live with just two people, but my host parents kids come over with their kids all the time that it's an endless party. I realized how much I will miss each one of them. Little Mahmood and his chubby cheeks (pictures later), the sweet little granddaughters, the ever motherly Hesna, the fun-loving Selma, Dunia and Nada with their sweet soft voices and bubbling energy. My host mom and her craziness but her sweet love of Christina and I. My host dad and the constant smile he has on his face. The two daughters so opposite in personality but seeing how much they care for each other and for their families is such a blessing. I will miss them so much! I wish I could take them all home with me! It was so nice to be able to spend lots of time with them this weekend.

This weekend I also had a chance to reflect on all my experiences thus far. In looking back I realized I lived every moment to its fullest. I remember specific moments where I said to myself, "Joanna, you're in Africa, you are incredibly blessed." I remember being in the desert and being in such complete wonder at all that God is and His creativity. I remember seeing the incredible power of water as it rushed over cliffs and plunged down and thinking, "My God is even more powerful." I remember being in Spain and enjoying myself and having so much fun, and thinking of the eternal party and joy that I will be a part of when I make it to heaven. God is just so amazing in who He is! Could I really ask for more?

The next few days bring lots of studying for my Arabic final on Friday morning. Pray that I am diligent in my studies these next two days so that I do well. On Friday afternoon I head to Casablanca Airport via train and fly out at 1:45am on Saturday. I have layovers in Frankfurt and Toronto before finally arriving in Minneapolis at 3:30pm. It will be a long day but I like that it's all in one day even if I have to be up early. Pray that I have safe travels and that I am able to stay awake so that I don't miss any flights.

Thank you to all who have read my blog these last two months. I feel so blessed by the emails and facebook posts. I am so blessed by the Body of Christ that has followed me all the way to Africa via cyberspace. I hope that you have been equally blessed and encouraged! Much love to you all!

España :)

This last weekend was spent in the wonderful land of España in the beautiful city of Madrid. At the beginning of my adventures in Morocco some of the girls going through the University of Minnesota program looked into going. This weekend was good because we had no other trips planned through ALIF (Arabic Language Institute of Fez). I'm glad we chose a weekend near the end because being in Spain really made me long for America as it is very similar. We found cheap Ryan Air flights for $70 round trip and a hostel for $20 a night. We were super excited!

We left Fez Airport on Friday at 1pm and arrived in Spain around 3:30 we arrived at our hostel around 5pm, changed then hit the town! And by that I mean we found the nearest restaurant that served Sangria and that was close to the movie theater so we could see Harry Potter. It was fun to sit, relax and enjoy our drinks and food without worrying about being called at or harassed in any way. After HP we went back to our hostel and passed out.

Saturday I woke up early and was able to catch up on emails but we all headed out around noon and found the closest Starbucks then we were typical girls and went shopping. Not souvenir shopping, but a typical American shopping trip. We apparently picked the perfect time to go to Spain because they were having their twice a year sales. Most countries in Europe allow stores to only have sales twice a year for a week or two and one of those times for Spain was this last weekend. Also, who knew Madrid is the shoe capitol of Spain!! Aka I was in heaven! Such cute sandals! After this a few of the girls took a nap while a few of us went out for a late lunch and to the Reina Sofia Museum. Saw Picasso's Guernica! So amazing!

After that we met back up with everyone else and went out for dinner and drinks. The other girls wanted to go out late after dinner but I didn't want to partly because I was tired, but mostly because Jesus calls me to live a righteous life and I don't think clubs are the scene to live righteously in. I instead went back to the hostel and got into the Word.

Sunday since our plane didn't leave until 1:30 we were able to sleep a little later and get Starbucks, again :) We got back to Fez around 2:30, Christina, my roommate, and I went home and just relaxed the rest of the night. It was fun coming back to our host family and realizing I missed them a little bit, and I think they missed us too.

It's crazy to think that I will be back in the states in 12 days! Looking back, I have really lived it up. I took every opportunity I could to experience as much as I could and I'm so full of awe and wonder at how much God has blessed me with. I'm excited to come home, but I will miss life in Morocco. Especially my host family. I love them dearly, even when they're noisy while I'm trying to sleep :) Also, I was reflecting back last night on my times in the Word and how every time I open my Bible God directs me to exactly what I need to hear to feel encouraged, strengthened and full of joy at life. This whole adventure has strengthened my trust and reliance on the Lord because most of the time He is all I have who will understand exactly what I am dealing with. God is just so good all the time!

If you all could pray though that I get seriously into my studies, I have done fairly well on everything but I am getting nervous for the final exam. I know that I will do well if I discipline myself to study well. Thanks so much for reading!

The Cascades D’Ouzoud

This weekend I traveled with a few other students from Alif to go to some huge cascades south of Fez. To get there we took the 2:30am train on Saturday morning to Marrakesh, we arrived there around 10:30am had breakfast then took a Grand Taxi for two hours to the Cascades. We had 5 people cramed into 4 spaces. It was very uncomfortable but seeing the Cascades was so worth it! The are set of hug powerful water falls that are absolutely spectacular. Half of the group I went with stayed at the Cascades overnight and just walked around and were in complete awe of the beauty. We ate right next to the falls and saw monkeys climbing up the cliffs next to them. It was beautiful! We spent the night, five of us crammed into a three person room to save on money, but we all passed out easily being so tired from no sleep on the train. Our experience trying to get a Grand Taxi on Saturday was very frustrating. We went out to the Taxi drivers and the quoted us a ridiculous price. We said absolutely not, and countered with a lower offer. They said, “You are rich Americans, you can afford it!” We said, “We are students and cannot.” The thing they said next really annoyed everyone, “Well make your daddy pay for it!” I was so annoyed. Do they really think that Americans sit on their butts all day and that money just grows on trees for us. This was really frustrating for me as this does not fit my families situation at all. I wish right there and then I could tell that taxi driver just how much my family has had to go through to get to where they are today. On Sunday morning only one other girl and I wanted to try and get back to Fez at a decent time so we left the cascades around 9:30am in a grand taxi. We arrived at the station in Marrakesh around noon and took the 1pm train back to Fez. We got back to Fez around 8:30 and went our separate ways home and passed out. I was so exhausted from the whole trip and even though we spent more time in transport trying to get there, seeing that water rush over that cliff at who knows how many miles an hour was absolutely worth it! I am very glad I chose to do it. An interesting thing happened on our way to Marrakesh from the Cascades. Once we got to Marrakesh our driver was trying to ask us where we wanted to go, we told him the train station and he said he understood but then he took us to the bus station. When we go there I told him no, the train station. He proceeded to tell me that there was no train station in Marrakesh and I would have to ask a Petite Taxi to take me there if there really was one. Petite Taxis are any cities local taxi service. I said no. The girl I was with and myself each paid $40 to get to Marrakesh and we were going to get our moneys worth. Finally some other random guy was able to explain to the driver where we wanted to go and also proceeded to get in the taxi with us. He kept wanting to talk to us but I was so annoyed and tired that I was very short with him. Once we got to the train station our driver asked for more money!!! I was so disgusted with this that I just walked away. He was yelling after us but did not follow because we were in a public space and there is not much he can do about it. I do not understand this countries hunger to get as much money as they can out of Americans. Overall though, it was a good experience, even with taxi drivers and hotel owners trying to rip us off several times. I am glad I went even if it is just for the experience of getting to know what Moroccans truly think of Americans. And seeing those cascades...worth every penny.

Sahara

I camped in the Sahara, only a stones throw from Algeria. It was amazing. I left the school in Fez with a bunch of other students around noon on Friday. We traveled for about 8 hours southeast to the town of Erfoud, we stopped along the way in various places to take pictures of the landscape. I never knew how diverse the landscape of Morocco is! We arrived at Hotel Xalcua which is a five star hotel! It was beautiful! We spent one night here to just relax and sleep. Air conditioning never felt so good!

On Saturday we left and drove another hour to another hotel that organizes the camel excursions. We relaxed and swam here for the afternoon and around 6pm we went out on the camels into the desert. Riding camels is cool and all, but man does it hurt your butt! I have been so sore in such a strange place. But it was worth it. We camped right next to a giant sand dune. Had a delicious dinner and then were entertained by some African drum tunes. We all were taught how to dance like Africans and had an amazing time.

Saturday night we all pulled our beds out of the tents to sleep under the stars. I have never seen so many stars. So far away from cities and almost no pollution there is nothing hindering the view of the sky. It was beautiful! The Milky Way was crystal clear and I saw so many shooting stars. Just the glory and wonder of it all was overwhelming and points so directly to the creativity of my Lord. I was so overwhelmed by it all that I cried, tears of joy and wonder at the unending power and love of my Creator God who loves me so much. It was breathtaking.

At about 4:30am on Sunday a bunch of students woke up to climb the giant sand dune and watch the sunrise over Algeria. It took a while because every step I took I would slide down a little bit. But the view from the top was overwhelming. Just miles of sand and desert in every direction. Everyone was singing the song from the Lion King and we were all so loopy from lack of sleep. When the sun came up it was almost as breathtaking as the stars. Absolutely beautiful.

After the sunrise we rode the camels back to the hotel to shower and eat breakfast. People tell you that the sand will get everywhere, but you really don't believe them until it happens. It literally gets in every crevice of your body. And it's so fine! About 10am we started heading back to Fez. We made a stop along the way for lunch in Midelt. We stopped near Ifrane to feed the monkeys that live in the mountains. Then we stopped in the town of Ifrane which is like a little swiss town in the middle of Morocco. Very beautiful and so quaint. We finally made it back to Fez around 9pm.

Reflecting back on the whole weekend I just feel so incredibly blessed. I feel like God was reaching down to me and just showering me with love and reminding me how real He is. This is something I really needed to be reminded of being so far away from home and in a country that is so oppressive and averse to my faith. I'm just continually in awe of my time here. Every day is better than the one before and every day I'm learning more and more how to trust my Heavenly Father.

It's crazy to think that 4 weeks from today I will be home! This awesome adventure has gone by so fast! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!

Time flies

My how time flies. I can't believe I'm almost halfway through my second week in Fez! And I have been enjoying every minute. I have been praying that my homesickness would stop and that I would truly enjoy my time here. It was today I was sitting at home to avoid the heat, just reading a book, when suddenly it hit me, I have fallen in love with Morocco. I love the people, minus the catcalls, the food, so divine, the language, and even the heat some days. What an answer to prayer!

I have started the brunt of my language learning this week and am happy to report that much of the grammatical aspects are things I have already learned. The only thing I am struggling with is vocabulary. The book the school here uses is a different one than what I use at the U so all the vocab is different. I can't imagine being a level up and having to learn all new grammatical structures plus vocabulary. I am happy to be strongly reinforcing what I already know :)

This weekend was an awesomely hot and eventful weekend. Temperatures for the last few days have been over 100, in the shade. My roommate and I decided to head to a pool run by a hotel in Fez on Saturday and spent the entire day working on our tans. On Sunday we took a trip with the school to some ancient Roman ruins in Volubilis which are so cool, not much compared to Pompeii and Ephesus but still very impressive. It was fun when the tour guide was comparing the ruins to Ephesus and Pompeii and the basilica to Istanbul's Aya Sofia, to think "I was just there!" After the ruins we went to Moulay Driss which is a town that has a spectacular view. We then ended up at Meknes for lunch and to see the city. We went to a grain storage building that was used to hold enough grain for the entire city for up to 10 years. It was built with walls about 10ft thick to keep the place cool, it was like walking into a/c! We also saw an old underground prison, it was a bit haunting to think that people used to spend most of their lives in it, some for petty crimes. It was an overwhelming day!

My roommate and I were able to buy several pool passes for a discounted rate and plan on spending many days at the pool since we have a 6 hour break between classes every day. Enough time to get my tan on! And with the weather being so hot there really isn't much else one can do.

This weekend most of the school is taking a trip to the Sahara desert! I get to see the sun set and rise in the middle of the Sahara! So sweet! We stay in a resort like hotel on Friday then camp in the desert on Saturday. An awesome thing about going to the University of Minnesota is that both the day trip to the Roman ruins and the trip to the Sahara are covered in the program fees. And I've been finding out that I paid the least out of all the universities to come here. What a deal!

Thank you all for reading and praying for me! I've been gone over a month and I have about a month left. Over half my trip is done and it went by crazy fast, I'm hoping time slows down a bit for this next month!.

Arabic Language Institute of Fez

Let me just start by saying, I love Morocco.

The girl I'm living with and I have a new home. It is mold free, we have a window in our room, a toilet and a shower! We are so blessed. We both woke up today feeling so much better. They do smoke, including the mom, which is weird because I was under the impression that it is something that is looked down on in Muslim cultures. But they are considerate of us and don't smoke in the house, or at least do it by a window. They are so nice and offered to do laundry for us right when we got there. Which when you're in 100+ degree weather every day, there's no way you want to wear those sweat filled clothes more than once. So sweet!

Every day here has been 100 in the shade! No one ever goes into the sun, the whole city pretty much shuts down between 12pm and 4pm for everyone to eat lunch and take a nap because there is literally nothing else you can do because it's so hot. I will never complain about it being hot once I get back home, and I will always love the cold weather. Because it's so hot people start coming out at around 7pm when it starts to get cooler and the whole city, especially the Medina, is alive until way late at night. The whole heat and daily schedules of Fes have been the strangest thing to get used to. They have dinner usually around 10pm, sometimes later, which is hard for us because we have to be up for class around 6:45am. But if that's the least of my worries for the next 5 weeks then that's fine.

I love my classes! My morning class has a teacher who is super nice. She's very direct and speaks almost all Arabic. My evening teacher is hilarious! Our first day we all got into a discussion about Moroccan politics and the upcoming vote on their constitution. It so interesting. The nice thing is that he's really animated so he keeps me awake during class. The classes are so much more challenging than my previous Arabic classes and I feel like I'm really learning things every day. It's wonderful!

I'm so glad I'm going to school at the University of Minnesota, the program for Fes includes all the trips in their price so I get financial aid for them instead having to pay out of pocket. We are taking a day trip to Meknes and a weekend trip into the Sahara Desert, I think I get to ride a camel! We stay overnight in hotel on Friday and then I think we camp in the desert on Saturday night. I'm so excited! I also have the opportunity to travel to Madrid Spain for a weekend with four other girls. With transportation (flying) and rooms it's only $110 for the whole weekend! Bomb! I have been just so blessed with all the places I have been able to travel to and the people I have met along the way. I am just in awe. Also, with going from moldy room to modernity, both the girl and I just wanted a non-moldy room and we got all the comforts of home. The Lord just keeps showering me with blessings.

If you could pray for one huge thing. While our new host family is really nice, it feels very spiritually dark and oppressive in their home. It's just a sense I feel from being around them and being in their home. Pray that I would trust in the Lord for my spiritual growth and that He would truly be my refuge. That I would find daily encouragement from the Word every day and from another girl who is a believer. It's strange because in our previous host family it did not feel dark at all, whereas this one does. - Huge praise though! I was able to Skype with my parents yesterday for about an hour which is the first I have talked to them in 3 weeks other than email. It was so good to be in real time with them and hear their voices! Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement.

Being in Morocco has been a real challenge but has taught me so many things. I am so thankful for the little things now. Having a toilet to use instead of a hole everyday, for cold water instead of warm, for little kids who remind me of my little brother. Just little encouragements like these have taught me that I really am blessed. I was born into one the richest countries in the world for heaven's sake! What could I possibly want! I will try so much more to be thankful for everything the Lord gives me, no matter how small. God is so good! All the time!

Fez

The city of Fez is beautiful. The Old Medina where I am staying is super confusing! And every time my roommate and I, a girl from Northwestern University, go some place our host family takes us a different way so we never know where we are. But I'm thinking by the end of 6 weeks I'll have it conquered.

I'm excited to start Arabic. I have it 8-10am and 4-6pm Monday-Friday. I'm nervous but excited to start. My host family is super sweet and loving. The only problem is our room smells like mold and the girl I'm with has asthma so it's irritating her and I've felt it irritating me even after one night. I hate to be the one who complains but every single person living in the house breathes like they have junk in their lungs. I don't want that to be me after 6 weeks. We still have to talk to the housing director of the school to figure stuff out and see if it's even possible for us to find a different home. They were limited on homes as it was, to the point that they couldn't respect requests that we put on our housing forms. Many of us wanted to be in the New town, or Ville Nouvelle, which is really close to the school so we could walk to and from the school and not have to take a taxi. It was really frustrating when they told us that we couldn't and wished they had been able to tell us earlier instead of the day of. The squat toilets are also something I'm having to get used to, they're not as bad as I thought, just interesting.

Throughout all this I'm trying to be flexible and take it in stride but it's been really hard. Homesickness set in really bad the day we got here, on my birthday, it was hard to be away from home and not have friends and family around me on a special day. Then getting to my host family and having to adjust really quickly to different things was like the icing on the cake. I've been close to tears for the past few days all day long. I'm hoping it's culture shock and I'll be able to adapt fairly quickly.

So, things you can be praying for.
- Homesickness, that I would cling to Jesus as He is always with me and in Him I am truly at home.
- The mold situation, how to go about it, whether that means we have to move or just get used to it. And if we do have to move that the family would not be offended as it can be taken the wrong way. I really love them and would like to keep in contact with them throughout my stay if I do have to move.
- That I would dwell on the special, beautiful and unique things about this experience and be reminded of how amazing this opportunity is.
- Studying Arabic, that I would be diligent in my studies.

Thank you all for your love and prayers!

Africa

I am in Africa! I just love saying that :) Julie and I arrived on Monday night an hour late because our flight was delayed. We made it to our hotel with no problem and were given a suite if sorts, we questioned this because we had reserved a simple double room. But when we went to double check and make sure, their response was, "It's the only one left" very African. 

We went to the third largest mosque in the world yesterday, Mecca and Medina having the first and second largest. It was huge and very beautiful, but it seemed built to honor men and not God. We then tried to find the main craftsmen area but few of the streets are labeled and in the end gave up and got lunch. I deboned a fish for the first time! I usually don't like fish but when it's freshly caught that morning it's so much better. 

Probably the most interesting part of the day was somehow getting pursuaded into going to this carpet making place and looking at dozens of carpets. We had no intention to buy any despite their beauty and the salesmens persistance. We did get free mint tea out of the deal and ended up having to walk out on the guy in mid sentence just to prove to him that we were not going to buy. Overall I think it was a very good experience. 

Today we will try and hopefully succeed in finding the crafts area and do some more exploring of the city. Julie leaves tonight and I meet up with my program peeps early tomorrow. 

Au revoir France!

Our stay in Toulouse has been quite lovely. Having one hostel for 4 nights in a row is the longest we have stayed in any one place and it felt good to be stationary. I am very sad to leave. I love France, the culture, the people, the food, the sights, just beautiful. I would love to live here someday. Maybe the Lord has called me to work with the Muslims in France instead of an Arab country. It would be cool to know Arabic and French :)

It was sweet to go back to Avignon and Carcassonne and remember being there a decade ago. Everything seemed a little smaller than I remember it being, perhaps because I am quite a bit bigger. A carousel ride in Montpellier was probably one of the highlights of the trip. It may almost trump going around Santorini on an ATV. Maybe. The only disappointing thing about France is that I was not able to go back and see where I used to live because transportation couldn't be figured out. I guess I will just have to come back. Bummer :)

We have the rest of today in Toulouse and then we fly to Casablanca, Morocco at 7pm. We will have two full days there and then Julie flies home at 2am on Thursday June 16, and I start my study abroad program. On my birthday by the way :) 21! Whoopa! I'm getting less and less nervous and more and more excited for my program. I think traveling before made me quite a bit more flexible and easy going. Not much really freaks me out. So studying Arabic hardcore for 6 weeks should be a breeze!!

Thank you for all your prayers! We have been so blessed!

Bonjour!

Hello from France! We arrived in France safely on Thursday morning. Found our hostel with no problem. We then went out to tour Toulouse and get food etc. Julie and I were both really tired from the hours of train travel and decided to have a really chill night and just make dinner at our hostel and watch a movie. The first movie we've seen in 2 weeks! It was lovely to just take it easy and not feel pressured to go and do nothing since our hostel was a bit out of the town center.

We went to Avignon and the Palace of the Popes which is beautiful, yesterday. It was fun to then just wonder around the city and see France. Julie said something really cool the day we got to France, she said "Paris is cool, but I feel like this, where we are, is truly French culture." I love that about southern France. It is truly French and what is really cool is I am remembering all my French that I learned almost a decade ago. Super awesome! It's easier for Julie and I to get around. I would love to come back and live hear some day. I love Gertrude Stein's quote, "America is my country and Paris is my hometown." I feel the same way but with the towns in southern France. Paris is a little too touristy for me.

We are in Montpellier today visiting some friends of Julie who are Christians and it's so refreshing to be around the Body of Christ. We've been touring the city and doing some shopping it's super fun. We have our own tour guide too, a friend of a friend who has spent the last semester in Montpellier and knows the town so knows all the good places to go. It's super fun! We will be visiting Carcassonne tomorrow and then taking it easy on Monday before we leave for Morocco. I never want to leave although I'm really excited for Morocco!

Thanks for all your prayers for safe travel on the trains! We have had no complications whatsoever with traveling. God is so good! If you could continue to pray for us as we travel to Morocco on Sunday and Julie travels home early Thursday morning. Also, as I start my program that I would be diligent in my studies and that I will soak in everything. Thanks for all your prayers!

Also, I will continue to blog while I'm in Morocco! Continue to follow me!

Pompei!

All the places we spend very little time in are places I wish we could spend more in! The cute little town of Salerno which is near Pompei is beautiful! I need to spend months in Italy some day.

Our last day in Rome was interesting. We went to the Vatican and decided to do a tour that cost 40 euro because they boasted to have the best English speaking guides. The tour was HORRIBLE! The girl got so many facts wrong so we went back and asked for a refund and got half our money back which we were quite satisfied with. It was more than we were expecting. We rewarded ourselves with some gelato. Other than the worst tour ever, the Vatican is amazing. The Sistine Chapel is beautiful! Mom I wish you were there to explain all the artwork to me. St Peters is interesting, they seem to worship popes more than Jesus the Savior they are supposed to be serving. There are more statues and pictures of popes than crosses or other symbols of Christianity. After the Vatican we walked around Rome, hit up a Piazza or two and got some amazing views from the Spainish steps.

We then headed to the train station for our train to Salerno and got on our train but could not find our seats, so an Italian George Clooney, named Francesco, came to our rescue and was our Italian translator with the train controller. He was awesome! He told us all about his country and his profession it helped pass the time so well and what better way to learn about Italia than from an Italian. He was so wonderful and nice!

We went to Pompei today and were completely astounded by it. To have it so well preserved and to see the magnificent statues and art work still there. Not to mention the tile work. Amazing! I am hoping to have a long time on a computer soon so I can upload some pictures, it may not happen for a while yet though. But they are on their way!

For prayer, Julie and I start about 36 hours of train travel tonight to get up to Toulouse France where we will spend about 5 days then we head to Morocco. Pray for safe travels and no complications. Also, I start my study abroad in about 8 days and I am starting to get nervous. Pray for me to trust that this is the Lord's best for me and to trust in him for the knowledge I need. Thanks so much for all your prayer!

Arrivederci Italia!

Ciao Bella Roma!!

Rome is truly beautiful! At it really does seem to live up to its name the Eternal City, every few blocks there are old buildings or ruins being excavated from thousands of years ago. It's insane!

We arrived in Rome yesterday afternoon. We had no trouble in Istanbul and no trouble getting to our hostel in Rome. Our hostel is an all female hostel which is really nice, it's much cleaner than any of the other hostels we've stayed at, except for the random really nice first class resort we accidentally stayed at in Samos. Praise for finding our hostel super easily! God has been so good so far, we haven't really had any trouble at all with lodgings or transportation!

Yesterday we hit up the Colosseum right away. It's amazing! To think that they had no modern machinary to build it just astounds me. Also, to think of all the brutality that happened there with gladiator fights, animal fights and persecution of Christians was a good reality check of how blessed I am. We were true Italians last night and stayed out quite late, had gelato and pizza twice! We wandered around the city as much of the tourist places had closed by the time we left the Colosseum. The Fountain of Trevi is beautiful at night, and there are so many people around, it's a great place to just sit and watch everything.

Today we went to the Paletino, Roman Forum, Pantheon, had an amazing Italian lunch followed by gelato of course! Found the Mouth of Truth, or Bocca Della Verita, from Roman Holiday, we got so many mixed directions and after giving up on trying to find it and just going to find a place to eat, we happened to stumble upon it. It was such fun to take a picture with it :) We have done a lot of just wandering around the city and ending up wherever we end up although today we got caught in the rain and refused to spend money on a cheap street vender umbrella and instead bought gelato. Much better use of money :)

Tomorrow we plan on spending the morning at the Vatican and seeing Saint Peter's Basillica and taking the day more leisurely before heading on a train down to Salerno to see Pompeii.

Thanks for all your prayers, emails and Facebook posts. I really love the love!

Istanbul

We are on our last night in Istanbul. After a long night bus to Istanbul from Kusadasi and a guy giving us the wrong directions to our hostel just so he could walk us by his shop we made it hot, tired, and so excited to take on the day. We went to the Grand Bazaar which is truly grand and very overwhelming. We then headed toward the Topkopi Palace which was home to the many Sultans of the Ottoman empire. It was very ornate, impressive, and beautiful. The treasury was very impressive, it housed a giant 86 carate diamond which used to be a ring! That is one giant ring! Today we hit up the Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, the underground cistern which had column bases shaped like Medusa's head. The spice markets for tea, Turkish Delight and of course spices. We headed back to the Grand Bazaar to try and get some more deals but Julie and I were both on sugar crash from all the Turkish Delight we had been sampling. So decided to eat to get our energy up and then headed back to the hostel to drop off our spice market purchases. We then headed out to a bazaar that is much less overwhelming and quieter. Bargaining is much easier there and people are less pushy to have you buy something. We have had a full few days. But we've had a lot of fun :)

For prayer we travel to Rome tomorrow and getting to the Airport in Istanbul is an ordeal in itself. So pray that we have no trouble getting to the airport and that we are able to get on the airplane without any difficulties. Pray for safety in Rome and that our transporation to Salerno to see Pompeii goes well.

Thanks for all your prayers so far! We are having a wonderful time!

We're in Turkey...nbd :)

Greece was wonderful but I'm glad to be done. It's so expensive and so many hidden fees! We rented an atv and went around the Island on Sunday. Santorini is truly a beautiful place! We thought we would be on a beach the whole time we were there but there is SO much more to do! We met two girls from Canada who are Christians! God is so faithful. He keeps making divine appointments for us to meet so many awesome people. We are truly in awe. We were on ferries all day yesterday and our last ferry this morning to finally get to Kusadası Turkey. We ended up staying at a first class hotel last night on the İsland of Samos for less than half their usual price. God is so good! I wish we could have spend more time in Samos, riding the ferry away from it this morning we realized how big and beautiful it is. It even has a waterfall! Who knew?? I definetly want to come back someday. The keyboards in Turkey are all programed differently so it's a bit hard trying to type.

For safety I've never been worried about that. Athens is probably the most sketchiest place we will be in and we're already done with that. Good news! We will be spending 4 nights and five days in Toulouse!! So excited to go back to my hometown. That saying about Amerıca is my country and Paris is my home town rings so true for me. Although we won't be in Paris, Toulouse is close enough :) Also, we now have transportation and lodging fıgured out for the rest of the trip! Which is a huge relief! I'm trying not to miss home too much. İt's better when we are busy all day long.

Thanks so much for all your prayers! We have been so blessed!

Santorini :)

We are on the beautiful Island of Santorini! We went on a boat tour today. It was lovely! We went to one of the Islands that makes up Santorini that still has a semi-active volcano! I saw smoke, felt heat, and touched hot sulfurous rocks. It was awesome! We then went to hot springs that have tons of minerals in them and I put mud on my face and arms. No pictures unfortunately because we had to swim from the boats. We then went to another Island that has no cars, no sense of modern transportation at all. There are donkeys to get to the top but we bypassed the 5 euro price and decided to walk off the ice cream we just got. I think the walk made it so much more worth it! We valued the view and the beautiful town at the top so much more! We then boated around the Caldera, a body of water caused by a volcano erupting and the land collapsing to form the water basin, a little bit more. So beautiful!

A huge praise! We have almost all of our hostels and transportation booked for the rest of the trip! Hallelujah! We only have one night where we would stay on Samos Island for about 6 hours so we have just decided to stay in the port until our next ferry leaves at 7am. Pray for safety that night (Monday 5/30). We are also in need of a bus to Istanbul from Kusadasi, Turkey for Wednesday night 5/1. But that shouldn't be to hard since it isn't peak season. Everything else is pretty much booked!

We are having a more relaxed day tomorrow as we are little bit tired from all the sun and hiking today. Thank you so much! For all your prayers! We are having a wonderful time!

Last night in Athens

I must say while Athens boasts some rich history I would never want to spend more than the two days Julie and I decided to spend here. It's a rather depressing city. It's dirty, there is graffiti everywhere, stray dogs and cats roam all over, and there's a bit of an oppressive atmosphere. While I feel safe in the general tourist areas one wrong turn down the wrong street can lead to a more...interesting part of town. The other thing that struck me is that no one who lives here seems happy. Who would want to live in a city that you're not happy in? A thought to ponder.

Other than the depressing aura of the modern city of Athens, the historic sites are quite impressive. But I was reminded that although all these sites were magnificent in their day, they have slowly deteriorated and will eventually become nothing and may even be forgotten. It was comforting to be on Mars Hill knowing that the Apostle Paul once spoke words there that are eternal. He spoke truth, the Ultimate Truth about Christ Jesus, who was and is, and is to come, He will never fade away. Realizing that among all the ancient ruins was just awe inspiring.

Pray for Julie and I as we ferry to the Island Of Santorini tomorrow. Pray that there are no complications and we are able to make it to our hostel safely. I may feel a bit differently about Greece being on a beautiful Island in the middle of the Mediterranean ;) Also pray for our travels to Turkey, we still haven't quite figured out how we are going to get from Santorini to Turkey. It's a bit exciting though knowing that we don't quite have everything specifically nailed down to the last detail. We get to learn to trust each other and our Savior :)

Athens, Greece

We made it to Greece! We had no troubles with the airplanes, all were on time and our luggage got here safely. Praise God!

We got to athens and with a bus ride to the center of the city and a walk about a mile we made it to our Hostel. No problems with chech-in. We walked up to our floor and it's called "The Under World" with titles of the rooms like "Medusa's Lair" etc. Ours is called "Hades" we both laughed.

Although our room may seem a bit hellish our adventure so far certainly has not. On our 8 hour flight from Chicago to Zurich we sat by a lady, Rita, who happens to be a Christian! God is so good! The conversation with Rita was so encouraging for both Julie and I and I hope for Rita as well. After we got settled at our hostel we walked around the city a bit and had dinner at a restaurant near the ancient Agora with a lovely view of the Acropolis. The food was wonderful, the weather was perfect and all the ancient wonders were lighting up as we ate dinner so we had a lovely view of the sites at night. As we were eating 2 ladies next to us were out having dinner as well, they were American and they were Christians too! God has just been surrounding us!

Off for now. Will update again in a few days from Santorini! Love you all! Pictures will come soon!

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ~I John 4:18~ Emailed to me from my papa.

Packing

I can't believe I leave tomorrow! It still feels like it's months away. I am so blessed to have a crazy friend like Julie who decided less than a month ago she wanted to come with me on this wild crazy adventure. Just a bit of advice for all you other crazy travelers: Do not plan a trip during finals, nothing gets done. Julie and I somehow managed to throw together most of the details, still have no idea where we are staying in Rome??? But life is an adventure :)

This whole adventure got started with my fascination, passion and love for the Middle East and North Africa. I wanted to pursue Arabic after falling in love with the language last fall. When checking out the various study abroad programs that offered language intensive Arabic during the summer, Morocco was the cheapest. Decision made.

I knew I wanted to travel either before or after the program, while I'm over there, why not? I don't really understand the travelers who go only to one country when others are so close by. I was discussing the idea of either traveling before or after, not wanting to do it alone, with Julie. Julie threw out the idea of her traveling with me before as she starts her job in mid June. I let her think for a few days but just talking about Greece I think I convinced her. And the planning began :)

We will be traveling first to Athens, Greece then to the Greek Island of Santorini, spending a few days in each. Then it's on to Ephesus, Turkey then Istanbul. A flight to Rome, then south to Pompeii. Train it up to Toulouse, France, my home away from home, and then fly to Morocco. Julie will fly home from Casablanca, Morocco and I will meet up with my study abroad group.

Pray for safe travels for Julie and I as we fly out tomorrow afternoon around 2:30. Pray for no complications with flights and that we arrive safely to our hostel in Athens.

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. ~James 5:7-11~