Stateside: Life after Europe

I have been home for a few weeks and life back in the states is much different. I grew quite fond of gelato and nutella, but there is very limited access to these lovely things in little Ohio. Yesterday I made some mixed berry gelato, but it wasn't quite as good as the real stuff. My love for facebook has grown especially since I became friends with some of the youth that I met in Florence. It is nice to stay in touch with them and continue to talk about our lives. Stories of all my adventures have been told multiple times and every time I miss Europe just a little more. I would love to be able to go back to see more of Rome and to revisit some of my favorite places in Germany and Austria. I guess this is goodbye for now, hopefully there will be another blog for my return trip. :)

Roma

We spent our last day in Rome and what an amazing place to be last!!! Europe has so many historical sights that we couldn't see them all in the half day that we were there. However we did get to go to my favorite place, The Vatican. We started off with a guided tour seeing many things, like the: Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Roman Forum, and much more. We were able to go into St. Peter's Basilica and actually got to spend a long time exploring it. Another amazing thing was the fact that we got to go down underneath the Basilica and see the tombs of some of the former Popes. I definitely want to go back to Rome to check out some of the things that we missed (like the Pantheon). I think the best part of Rome was when a group of around 13 of us went out at night and saw the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We left our hotel and caught a bus (at the last minute) to take into downtown Rome. We then hopped on the subway and rode it closer to the Trevi Fountain. Our ride on the subway was a few stops long so we passed the time by singing some songs. It was fun to see some different reactions. We even met a group of girls from Pennsylvania who talked to us after we sang "Praise the Lord". We made it to the Trevi Fountain and tossed in a coin. :) We then walked a few short blocks to the Spanish Steps. While we were admiring the steps we all realized that we had no idea why the Spanish Steps were famous. So when we got home I did a little research and discovered that it is the longest and widest staircase in Europe and was built with funds from the French diplomat. After a little more gelato we headed back to the hotel where we stayed up a little to late hanging out.

Last day in Venice.

June 6:

Let me start with this: We could not have had a better last service! We sang at the Nazarene Church in Florence that Daniel Fink pastors. It was a very emotional service. The congregation was so excited for us to be there and they were so appreciative. The most moving part for me was when their praise team came up and led us all in Prince of Peace and Shout to the Lord. Even though we were all singing in our native language it is was amazing to worship with them and know that we were all praising God with the same words. This service was by far the best. Afterwards we had lunch with the teens. It was good to be able to sit down and talk to some of them (most knew some broken English). After lunch about ten of us stayed and played football with the teens before we went to the Spanish service. I only took 3 years of Spanish in high school so I was able to understand the songs that we were singing (because we had the words in front of us) but during the sermon I found it hard to keep up with what was being said. For dinner we all went to a local pizzeria and Daniel Fink’s sons (two of the teens that I had gotten to know) came along. It was really fun to eat dinner with them and just talk about our lives and differences between Italy and the U.S. I would say, for me that today was one of the best days of the trip. Our service went really well and I feel like I started to build a relationship with some of the teens. I should probably get to bed soon, we have an early wakeup call tomorrow so we can have as much time in Rome as possible.

This is Dorian (one of the teens that I really got to know today).

Why does the tower lean?

June 5:

A few days ago we convinced Lanna, Giuseppe and Dr. Bob to take us to Pisa so we could see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Today during our free time in the morning we took an hour long bus ride to Pisa to see the famous sight. It wasn’t exactly what I had imagined, in most pictures that you see the tower is surrounded by a lot of green grass; this is not so much the truth in reality. There are several surrounding buildings and many street vendors! It was still an amazing sight to see and I thoroughly enjoyed the great opportunity! We drove back to Florence in the afternoon to rehearse for our tent concert then had some dinner at a nearby restaurant. I really love the pizza here in Italy with the super thin crust and sweet sauce. Our concert tonight went extremely well! It took place in a spot in town where there is no church and where missionaries have spent 30 years of their life. The leaders said that they were really looking forward to our concert and that it was a great blessing to have us here! The concert could not have gone better. We were told to only expect like 15 people to be in attendance, but the tent was almost full. The audience was very attentive and appreciative of what we were doing and it could be seen in their standing ovations and conversations that we had afterwards. It was a very good way to end the day!

Ciao

Sorry again about the lack of updates, our hotel in Venice was supposed to have wifi, but it wasn’t working while we were there. Luckily I do have wifi for the last for days of the trip. But for now you will have to read a super long post to recap on everything that has happened.

May 31:

We got up early today and started our 8 hour journey to Venice, Italy. The drive through the Alps was absolutely beautiful! It usually doesn’t snow after March, but it had snowed the night before so the tops of the mountains were lightly covered with snow. With mountains comes tunnels and I don’t think I have been through more tunnels in my life! We went through the longest tunnel in Switzerland (around 10 miles, I think). It was so long that I feel asleep after we entered and woke up from a 20 minute nap still in the tunnel! After a quick stop for lunch we were on our way again. The first thing we saw when we entered Italy was a soccer dome in construction, soccer is a really big there here! Italy seems a lot more industrial/commercial than what we had previously seen, but it was still pretty. We arrived at our hotel in time for some dinner, than we spent the rest of the night doing laundry in the bath tub and hanging out with friends. A pretty relaxing day to catch up on much needed sleep. Below is the view from our hotel window.

June 1:

Today we took a boat to the main island of Venice; it is absolutely beautiful and full of tourists. We started off the day with a guided tour of San Marco (St. Mark’s Basilica) and the surrounding plaza and palace. The architecture is beautiful and again the history amazes me. After the guided tour we had a few hours of free time in the city so my friends and I went out exploring and sightseeing. We ended up getting lost and spent a good 1 ½ hours walking around in circles trying to figure out where San Marco was. We tried to follow the signs for San Marco, but they didn’t help much (especially when one sign pointed in two different directions). We eventually made it out of the maze and got ready for our Mass participation in San Marco. The Mass was an amazing experience to say the least! The reverb of our voices echoed majestically in the same 7^th century church that the Gabrielle brothers performed in. We had dinner in a local restaurant and headed back to our hotel for the night.

June 2:

We headed back to the main island of Venice for some more free time. This time we didn’t get last and had a good time seeing things we previously missed and buying some souvenirs for people back home. I think it was like the 4^th time in 6 days that we had gelato (that stuff is becoming an addiction)! At the very end of our free time when we were heading to the Scalzi Church for another Concert it started to rain. We realized then just how blessed we had been with weather in the past! We made it through the rain and had an amazing performance in the Scalzi Church! The audience was so responsive; some were moved to tears, some little girls were dancing, and others came up to me after the concert and told me how it had touched their hearts. It was an amazing experience that we could not have done without the strength of God. Back to the hotel for a much needed night of sleep.

June 3:

Another majority of the day was spent in the bus as we traveled from Venice to Florence. As we were on the bus I was struck with amazement of the places that I have been and the things that I have been able to do and I would just like to thank all of my friends and family for what they have done to make this trip possible for me! This trip is truly a life changing experience and I am having an amazing time. We had a guided tour of Florence planned for when we arrived, but because of the heavy rain we had to push it back a day. When we got to Florence we prepare for yet another performance. The performance went well and I have a nice conversation with a few people afterwards, God is good! The parts of Florence that I saw tonight remind me a lot of any big city in the U.S.; crowded, graffiti, pigeons, etc. I can’t wait to see more of the sights tomorrow.

June 4:

We started the day with a guided tour in Florence. Our tour guide was fun and I learned a lot of interesting things. We saw The Dome and many Medici castles and some towers. After our guided tour we had 5 hours of free time in the city. This time we were sure to grab a map so we wouldn’t get lost like we did in Venice. During free time we saw the Santa Maria Novella and hiked up a hill to some gardens that overlooked the city. It was nice to be able to sit down and relax with an impeccable view of the city below. After a little more sightseeing and shopping we had dinner and headed back to the hotel. Now all I want to do is lie in bed and drink water with my feet propped up. It was a long day in the sun, but we have been blessed with amazing weather and it is nice to have a concert free day to rest our voices. We convinced Giuseppe, Lanna and Dr. Bob to take us to Pisa to see the leaning tour and other sights so we will spend our day there and then come back to Florence in the afternoon for a concert.

P.S. Sorry there aren't more photos, I am having problems uploading them and I have a limited time onine.

Guten Tag

May 29:

Breakfast is so much more delicious when it includes nutella! Don't worry mom and dad, I had fruit, meat, cheese, yogurt, and croissants. After breakfast we hopped on the bus and drove thirty minutes to the Stein am Rhein river (the part in Switzerland). The river was absolutely beautiful! The nearby town was just as beautiful and full of tourist shops. I had some crepes for lunch and ate them by the river (best lunch yet). Another interesting observation about Europe is the amount of bikes I have seen, especially in the little village by the Rhein. We had our first formal concert tonight in Busingen, Switzerland and it was absolutely amazing. The people were extremely grateful and this could be seen in their applauses that could last forever. Half of the people that came to our concert were from the church and half were from the surrounding village. It was nice opportunity to reach out to community members. I talked to a few people afterwards who could speak English and they were so appreciative of what we were doing and asked us to come back any time. The thing I love about music is the fact that we don't need to be able to speak the same language to share the love of God. You could tell that they were truly touched during the performance even if they didn't understand all that we had said. After our concert they fed us more delicious food and we headed back to the hotels for some much needed sleep. Shout out to all Collegians: I realized just how much I miss all of you guys during our first performance. I looked around the circle while Kendra was singing "Come to the Water" and realized just how many friends were missing. I hope you are all doing well, we are thinking of you. :)

May 30:

Today we had to "performances". This morning we sang at the Gottmadingen Nazarene Church during their service. The most touching part for me was when we sang "It Is Well With My Soul". The congregation knew the song so they sang along with us in German. It was just an amazing feeling seeing how even though we don't speak the same language we can still worship together. I talked to a 17 year old German girl afterwards and discovered that she was herself a musician and was amazed at how we conveyed our emotions through our music. She said that she could really tell that we meant what we were singing. It was nice to talk to someone close to my age about music, school, and just life in another country. After the first service we went to the Rhein Falls (again in Switzerland). It was so magnificent and powerful. I spent around an hour just admiring God's amazing creations. We had our second concert in the Neuhausen Church of the Nazarene at 17:00. We were told that the church was currently without a pastor and that the congregation was becoming disheartened because of their trials. I talked to someone afterwards who said that our songs were a huge blessing to them and I could tell that it had been a very emotional concert for several people there. I was also very excited to see the girl that I talked to after our first service of the day at this performance as well! I don't think our services could have been any better, God is good. Tomorrow we leave in the early morning hours for Venice, Italy!!!

We are here!!!!!!

Sorry I haven't been posting anything. We were at a small hotel outside of Salzburg without internet access, but for the next three days I will definitely be posting! Now for the super long explanation of what we have doing the past few days!

May 26:

After an 8 hour plane ride we landed in Munich! Right away you could tell that Europe would be a lot different than we had anticipated. The airport was extremely clean and very quiet, a lot different than Chicago. Another difference that we quickly saw were the taxi's outside of the airport. All of the taxi's were very nice BMW's, Volkswagens and Chryslers. From the airport we took our bus to Salzburg with our bus driver Guiseppe and tour guide Lanna. While on the hour long bus ride we discovered that private cars driving on the highway have no speed limit, don't worry, Guiseppe had to abide by a speed limit. When we crossed from Germany into Austria I was shocked by the lack of a border of any kind. In the U.S. we have huge signs when you enter another state, but here there was absolutely nothing (not even customs). Lanna later told us that because Germany, Austria and Italy are all part of the European Union there are no more borders. We stopped at a rest stop for lunch along the way and were reminded of our lack of being about to understand the German language. You have no idea what food you are ordering and you just point to something that looks good and hope it is edible. It was a fun experience and all the food that I have had so far has been delicious! When we arrived at Salzburg we went on a guided tour of the city. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is! There is so much culture and history. While on our tour we had an informal performance in the dome cathedral and it was an absolutely amazing experience! We could hear ourselves singing for multiple seconds after we had stopped. By the time we finished singing there were a lot of people sitting in the cathedral listening. IT was a nice witness experience. After our tour we went back to our hotel where we had a good Austrian dinner of Beef, Sauerkraut and potatoes. We then promptly went to bed and slept as long as we could. P.S. for the family: The view from my hotel window was of the Alps, beats parking lots any day!

May 27:

The hotel served as a "Hot American Breakfast" that was good and then we were off to tour a Salt Mine. The Salt Mine was a lot more interesting than I thought that it would be. There was a train ride, light show, boat ride, interactive aspects. We even got to lick our fingers after dipping them in water or rubbing them across the wall of the mine and taste the salt. After the Salt Mine we had an absolutely stunning drive to Eagle's Nest. The Eagle's Nest is the building given to Hitler for his 50th birthday. The bus ride up was nerve wrecking with the tight turns and sheer drop in a rather large bus. But the view from the top was worth everything! We ate a little lunch at the restaurant in Eagle's Nest, including some pickled pig snout (just another thing you end up eating when you have no idea what the menu says). The entire afternoon was ours to explore Salzburg. It was really fun to walk around with a small group and see new places as well as spend more time in places we had seen the day before and of course time for shopping! While walking around my friends and I got some gelato and ended up with some delicious Nutella ice cream!!! Mark and John, make sure you stock up on Nutella before I get home so we can make so milkshakes! Dinner was at a local restaurant in Salzburg and consisted of schnitzel and potatoes along with an early bedtime, still a little struggle with the time change.

May 28:

We left Salzburg, Austria this morning and had a 7 hour bus ride to Gottmadingen, Germany. Along the way that many of the houses had solar panels on them, they seem to be ahead of us in some aspects of technology. The rest stops along the highway are 10 times better than the ones in the U.S. even if you do have to pay.50 euro to use them. However the money is worth the self cleaning toilet seat! For lunch we stopped at a McDonald’s (I know, McDonald’s while in Germany but it wasn’t my choice. lol) There were many differences in the McDonald’s! My chicken wrap was bigger than a large drink, the cokes are sweeter and the drinks here are never served with ice. The McCafe was a separate part of the restaurant and had pastries and cheesecake! My basic German is getting a little better, I was able to read the “drucken” sign on the door and know that I was supposed to push it open. I don’t think it will be fluent anytime soon though. Around 16:00 (they use military time over here) we arrived in Gottmadingen and dropped everything off at our hotel. It is a nice, modern type hotel that has wifi! :) We then went and toured the nicest preserved castle in Germany that was built over 1,000 years ago. The hike up the a little work but the castle and view of Gottmadingen were absolutely breath taking. We all went down into a little dungeon area and sang “A Mighty Fortress”, “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” and “Amazing Grace”. While we were singing some German men stopped and videotaped us. It was an amazing experience to sing in such a beautiful place. After a few more pictures of the castle we drove to nearby Switzerland for dinner prepared by a lady who belongs to the church that we will be singing at tomorrow. Another delicious meal and we headed back to our hotel. My friends and I walked around downtown Gottmadingen for a little while and got some Gelato (I think it is becoming an addiction). :) I am currently watching some tv in the hotel room with my roommate. There are some interesting channels!!!

Sorry if this is all really scatter brained but there is just so much to talk about and I am trying to condense the three days.

Hurry Up to Wait (May 25)

This morning most of us met up on campus for some final items, preparation and prayer. The motto for the trip is currently "Hurry up to wait". We had to hurry up to get to campus, then wait to be assigned something to do. We are now at the Columbus Airport and it is hurry up and check your baggage to wait at your gate for a few hours. We are starting to get anxious about our quickly approaching flight, but all the sitting has us a little tired. From Columbus half of us fly to Chicago while the other half flies to Philadelphia. The excitement will probably hit when we get off the plane knowing that our next stop is Munich!! Everyone is doing great and there have been no problems so far, love and well wishes are sent to everyone back home!

The Countdown of Hours Begins!

In less than 12 hours (9:30am) everyone will be heading to MVNU where we will load everything onto the bus and have a time of prayer. Our flights leave around 4pm and we won't get to Munich until 9am on Wednesday. The 12-16 hour flight will give us a lot of time to eat, sleep, mentally prepare for the trip, and get super excited. Hopefully we get a lot of sleep because Wednesday we are go go go !

Well, enough about the future. Right now I have everything packed and ready for tomorrow and the nerves are setting in. I have never flown before and I didn't envision my first flight being 16 hours long. But I am sure that it will be a good experience because I will be surrounded by some amazing people. Packing has been an adventure in itself, I have been talking to my roommate constantly about what she has and what I need to get. Somehow, everything has come together amazingly and I am getting even more excited to see what God has in store for us these next few days!

Crunch Time!

In 48 hours we will all be on planes that are Europe bound. For some reason I still can't wrap my head around that fact, probably because I still have to pack everything. Our whirl-wind adventure is quickly approaching and as we run around to find khaki pants and power converters we ask that you continue to pray for us. But even more importantly to pray for everyone that we will minister to and encounter while on our trip. We don't go over to just share our musical talent but also our love as Christians and your prayers are greatly appreciated.

About the Trip

On May 25th Collegians Chorale and Chamber Winds will depart for a two week missions/concert trip to Salzsburg, the European Nazarene College, Gottmadingen, Venice, Florence, and Rome before returning home on June 8th. While there we will participate in many ministry opportunities ranging from a Mass participation at St. Mark's Cathedral to informal concerts along the way. This blog is a way for everyone back home to stay updated on where we are and what we are doing. Hope you enjoy!