Living things and the good earth

Well friends, I'm off on another adventure soon! My feet are about to hit the ground running, but that is a very good thing. Prepare yourself for pictures of plants, animals and road, lots and lots of roads because I'm about to start farm hopping! Until then, this is what I've been up to lately:

*sorry for the strange mix of pictures

My kicks: The no kicks version: Krakow

1. Sunday market in the square in Kazimierz.
2. Hannah after "the fight." insert: "you should see the other guy"
3. Jewish cemetery in Kazimierz.
4. P and HB
5. Door
6. P with a bagel on her face.

Part 1 of the Krakow series. Stay tuned for a word from our sponsors. Or, just another post.

xoxo

it's a moving picture, a picture that moves

My Kicks: le Hermitage

1.My shoesies in le Winter Palace - Home of the Romanovs
2.In front of the Winter Palace
3. Halls of the Hermitage*
4. Portrait of a pretty girl
5.The Palace Square

*The Hermitage houses one of the largest collections of art I've ever seen. The structure itself is a sight to behold, and extends beyond the winter palace into multiple other buildings. No wall is without art. The collection began with Catherine the Great, and here you can find anything from Egyptian art, to Russian culture and art, to Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Did I mention how large the collection is? Apparently, the Hermitage only houses 5% of the collection with the other 95% being held in storage. Legend has it, that if you were to study each painting for 10 seconds (minutes?), it would take you 9 years to get through the whole museum. It's incredible, really.

My kicks: the Red Square

1. My shoesies (duh)
2.Le Red Square view from Lenin's Mausoleum*
3.A very red building, which I don't think was very important
4.St. Basil's Cathedral
5.P,HB,HV,D jumping for joy in Maskva

*There are no photos of Lenin's Mausoleum mostly because I didn't think it was very interesting to look at, BUT it was extremely interesting to visit. The mausoleum houses Lenin's embalmed body, and is open on some days for a public viewing. If it tickles your fancy, one stands in line, goes through a metal detector, has one's backpack denied entry, is rushed through a maze and into a dark opening of the facade, continues further into a dimly lit corridor, around a corner and quickly past the body. It seems at any moment the man is going to open his eyes...His body has been around longer than he has. This was a weird experience. Interesting, and very weird.

What a friend, and bad experiences in the WC

I went to Vilnius for the day to celebrate H's birthday. Here are some words I scribbled down in reflecting on the past week:

Sunday, October 23

On a bus from Vilnius to Klaipeda

I feel like today was somewhat redeeming.

The past few weeks have been hard,

and there's so much going on in my heart and mind that

it's hard not to be afraid, or anxious, or emotional,

but I'm seeing how the Lord is taking care of me, and that is what matters most.

This I believe.

Though a million things are out of my control,

I know that He has control over all things (Sovereign God, Almighty),

and for that I am unable to express my gratitude.

It was a day of ups and downs.

First, D and I walked safely to the bus station at 5am in the dark -

the work of the Lord's hand (this I believe).

Then our bus tickets cost 30L instead of the expected 68L

(Thank you Lord).

WHen we got to Vilnius we couldn;t find the girls

at either station, bus or train, so we decided to grab a pastry from the local grocery store

and sit tight.

Before that, we had an awful bathroom experience -

probably the worst in my life, and probably the closest I've come

to understanding life during the USSR occupation.

When we got in line, I realized that not only was it for a stall to open,

but also to get T.P.

That's right - toilet paper.

There were no TP dispensers in any of the stalls, just one for everyone

to pull from before you entered.

Then - and here comes the awful part - a stall opened up and D hurries over.

Before entering she gives me a concerned look which I thought

might be due to a dirty or stinky stall. I nodded an "okay" to her to go in....

little did I know...

WHen the next stall opened, I proceeded to it and upon opening the door

was horrified to see a hole in the ground.

Yep...a hole, surrounded by porcelain. No toilet, no seat. A hole.

I considered just going for it,

but then my better judgement got the best of me and I decided against it.

I couldn't. I just couldn't.

I can pee in a hole in the woods, but I couldn't do it in a Lithuanian train station.

And I don't regret it one bit.

Needless to say, this was a bad start to the day, but things got better.

Later at lunch, D and I shared this Indian dish that was delicious

except for the screwdriver I found in it.

The owner came over to apologize and said we wouldn't have to pay for the meal -

another unexpected gift from the Lord (this I believe) which saved me 18L.

I had many moments of wanting to burst into tears

whenever my mind got to thinking of things in the futurem

but moments that reveal His goodness, like those "I believe" mentioned above,

remind me to

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,

make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understandign will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

How fitting.

Till next time:

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear,

what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

From a place so dear

Mail takes a long time to travel over 5,000 miles,
So when Mom informed me that she had sent me a package
I knew it would be a bit of time before I received it.
But that did not stop me from checking the mail room almost every day...
Anyways, it came a little after a month to the day it was sent
and it came just in the nick of time.
See, I left Thursday night to spend a weekend in Latvia and Estonia
and I had been hoping that the package would arrive before I left
because it contained a certain purse that would make traveling much easier.
That morning, I checked the mail and much to my dismay: nothing.
(Actually, that's not true. There was a letter/card in there from someone
in the Study Abroad office back at school that I've been corresponding with - what a nice surprise!
but in regards to the package, that statement is true.)
Knowing there was nothing to do, the situation left my mind
and I looked forward to preparing for the upcoming adventure!
Later that night, the fire alarm went off in my dorm
and we had to evacuate to a common meeting area.
There, another SAS informed me that we both had packages waiting at the reception desk
and could pick them up as soon as possible!
So hooray! Long story...but I was so happy.
There's something about those washcloths that feel so like home...
Here are the other contents:

basically empty because they came along for the adventure

hooray for familiarity!

this x3

YUM

DOUBLESUPEREXTRA YUM

All from TJ's
All deliciously excellent
All thoughtful
All from my mama

Thanks ma!
xoxo
Han

A little niblet

I went to Riga and Tallin this weekend.
More to come when I've done some editing.