Back on the Road Again!

Well, we are finally on the road to Seattle! For those of you who are surprised that we haven't moved yet and are wondering what we have been doing with our lives, we have been between Knoxville, Columbia, and Warrenton, VA spending time with family, friends, and getting prepared for our big move. Our day-to-day looked like a lot of time on the computer - looking for a car, apartment, and jobs in Seattle. As you can imagine, it got to be very repetitive and exhausting for us.


Thankfully, we were blessed with a labradoodle puppy around Christmas. He has been a breath of fresh air for us - getting us up in the morning and pulling us outside to play. Though he is by no means perfect, Mosby has been a joy since day one. He has a way of keeping our eyes off ourselves - that is for sure!

At the beginning of March, we sold Nick's old car and bought a Toyota RAV4 - this marked the first step in actually moving across the country. As exciting as it seemed, the car buying business was probably our worst nightmare. I won't get started because I will never stop ranting about the evil car dealers we dealt with...it deserves a post all on its own.

We also decided to ship all of our stuff so that we could take more of a road trip across the country, without worrying about weather and which roads were open. We packed all of our stuff into 336 cubic feet! We had our doubts about everything fitting when we first saw the empty container, but with Nick's experience packing at Home Depot we were able to fill every bit of space and not have to leave anything!

With a wealth of snacks, drinks, and even a toy for Mosby from Nick's parents, we set out on Sunday for Columbus, OH. We spent a wonderful night with Mallory, a friend from college, met her boyfriend, and took Mosby to a snowy dog park. The next morning we left for Belleville, IL (right outside of St. Louis). We stayed the night with Hannah's friend from Egypt and her husband. We also ate dinner with her brother and his wife - it was good to spend time together again and with husbands/wives.



They have an 80 lb puppy, Tank, who dominated Mosby! Once Mosby stopped cowering at our feet, they wrestled and wrestled to their heart's content. The scene pretty much looked like Mosby standing underneath Tank, either going for his cheek or his back legs. Tank proceeded to sit on Mosby and pin him down with his tail. A few times Mosby tried to stand on Tank...it might have helped Mosby's morale but we are pretty sure Tank didn't even notice. They had lots of fun though together despite the fact that Tank is over 3x Mosby's weight.

The next night we spent in St. Louis with some old friends from Columbia, the Kornegays and the Barbers. It was so fun to catch up with them, hear about their experience at Covenant Seminary and future plans. Nick was able to watch the USA vs. Mexico soccer game with Soren. Emma and I were both happy that they had each other to watch the game with as we have little to offer in regard to soccer. The Kornegays have a 10 lb dog who, much to Mosby's disappointment, was not a toy. He didn't know what to do with such a small dog and spent most of his time accidentally walking on him instead of playing with him.


From St. Louis we drove to Sioux Falls, SD. Though it is the largest city in South Dakota, it was less than impressive. It was pretty small and located in the middle of nowhere. It did, however, have a 24-hour animal hospital. Mosby was a little out of sorts and after doing some research, we thought he might be suffering from paraphimosis. If you care what that is, you can look it up...I am not going to embarrass him by explaining it here. In any case, after our hospital visit, we discovered that he is fine and just hitting puberty and thrown off by all the moving we are doing. We were relieved, though it didn't come cheap. :-)

The next morning, we went to Sioux Falls Park and enjoyed walking around the half-frozen, half-moving waterfall. After a few more hours in the car, we saw Mount Rushmore peak out over the forest we were driving through. It was amazing to see just how high the four presidents' faces stood, carved out of rock. We proceeded to drive through national parks, often seeing Mount Rushmore above everything else - constantly in awe of how boldly it stood apart from everything else. Not to mention, the national parks we drove through were gorgeous with new surprises around every bend. After driving through boring plains forever and ever, we suddenly realized what people meant when they talked of the beautiful west.


Our favorite by far was the Grand Teton National Park. The mountains were phenomenal, the snow was incredibly deep, but the sun was shining bright. It was a perfect day...one where you realize just how perfect God is as a Creator! Our jaws continued to drop over the course of a few hours, never dulling to the snow-capped mountains, evergreen trees, winding rivers, and blue skies.


The West is a different place though, that is for sure. While Wyoming may be beautiful, we saw towns with populations ranging from 4-10 people. We were shocked that they were even able to afford the sign. In Montana, we saw commercials for CowboysOnly.com - an online dating website for, you guessed it, cowboys only. Different from the ChristianMingle dating website you see advertised in the Bible Belt of the Southeast. And we still haven't figured out why Hardee's is called Carl's Jr., but it is.

We arrive in Seattle tomorrow. We miss you all and think of you often!

Thoughts & Reflections on Our Trip

I know some of you have enjoyed reading about what we have been doing all across Europe and Egypt, but some of you just want to know our thoughts and feelings about our "trip of a lifetime". Well, it has truly been a trip of a lifetime as we will most likely (never say never) not do something like this again.

That said, we did compile a list of European cities/regions we would love to revisit. A city/region made it on this list if there were more sites we wanted to tour but didn't have time, if it was an area we would love to vacation in, or if we simply loved the city.

So here is the list:
-Madrid
-London
-Budapest
-Rhine Riviera
-Cinque Terre
-Venice
-Rome

Egypt obviously has a list all on its own. We of course want to come back, bring friends, and maybe one day kids. Ha, no one get too excited.

Moving right along, we are constantly amazed by all we have seen - from the Eiffel Tower to Big Ben, the London Eye, the Colosseum, and the Pyramids. We have toured the Anne Frank House and Corrie Ten Boom's hiding place. We have seen the Schonnbrun, the Hopsburg Palace, Versailles, and the Vatican. In terms of churches, we have walked through the most beautiful in Sagrada Familia, Notre Dame, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Duomo. We saw the Mona Lisa, David, and the Sistine Chapel.

Beyond sites, we have bathed with Hungarians in their Roman, thermal baths. We sat and played cards with Hannah's parents in the same pub C.S. Lewis & Tolkien frequented. We took a beautiful boat ride through the castles seated on the Rhine River. Oktoberfest. We attended an Italian soccer game, an opera in Vienna, and a chateau wine-tasting in the Alps of Switzerland. The food and drinks throughout Europe never failed to impress and surprise us, whether that was good or bad (ehem, bacon fat roast in Hungary). One of my favorites - we have enjoyed a sailboat ride on the Nile. All the different cultures are rich with the arts, their history, and their languages. We enjoyed so much of it!

While it was amazing, it was not perfect. We realized there are so many comforts of home that we daily take for granted. Here are some things we learned a new appreciation for...

-Sitting on a couch (hotel beds get very old)
-Sleeping in a real queen bed, not 2 twins pushed together
-Maps & Street Signs
-Understanding the language
-Cooking your own dinner
-Watching English TV (other than CNN, which can be found everywhere)
-The lack of tourists in everyday life
-Clean socks
-Dryers...so clothes shrink back to original size instead of continually stretching further and further
-Ice cubes (didn't realize ice was so American)
-Confidence that you won't be pick-pocketed at every distraction
-Eating at restaurants and NOT paying the extra, unannounced cover charge
-Not having all your toiletries in hand when you go to shower
-Knowing which side of the sidewalk is acceptable to walk down
-Availability of health care and understanding it
-Ordering water and not being surprised with a mouthful of carbonation
-Traffic laws and drivers abiding by them, lanes, and seat belts
-Sidewalks that are pedestrian-friendly
-Not having people always in your face trying to sell you some gimmick
-Cars that don't constantly honk their horns
-Having friends & family nearby, because you all keep us sane!

Was the trip worth it? Jobless and homeless we may be, but yes it was definitely worthwhile. Reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, worshipping the same God across all sorts of borders, and having our eyes opened to a much bigger world than we normally encounter are only a few things that come to mind. We were reminded daily of our roles in leading and following, when and how to do it...and why we are so bad at it. We learned and will relearn to repent and forgive each other for all our annoying faults, to accept each other for the way we are, and to encourage each other toward Christ - because He is the best thing for us individually and together.

Most importantly, with the absence of friends and family, we realized on another level that we cannot complete each other. Our joy and unity come from the grace we receive everyday from Jesus. As long as He is the center and we are looking to the Holy Spirit to change us, God will grow us closer to Himself and into a deeper relationship with each other.

Egypt (Part 2) - Hope to See You Again Soon!

Since the past few days had been busy and a tad stressful, we decided to slow down a bit on Monday. A driver picked us up and drove us through Moqattam, one of Cairo's largest garbage villages. It is hard to describe the poverty there, but imagine a village constructed and revolving on garbage and you will have a little bit of a picture in mind. Some streets can be up to your knees in garbage, the flies are out in full force, and you have to consciously think not to react to the smells. But the kids are running at our car yelling, "what's your name" and "welcome to Egypt", and that is precious to me.

After one of the saddest drives you can make in Cairo, we come up to my favorite site - the cave church/churches! Three Coptic churches have been carved out of caves. The story is actually really amazing...it is believed that at one time the mountain was physically moved by the faith of a saint. Less than fifty years ago, the caves were discovered but full of rocks and debris and impossible to use. The Christians in the garbage village were not allowed to build a church for themselves. But at the end of every day in Ramadan (a Muslim, fasting holiday month), a cannon goes off to signal when it is time to feast. When this cannon went off, the Christians set off explosives in the caves. Then they cleared out the debris all night and day, set more explosives to go off and repeated the process until Ramadan was over and the churches were built. They went undetected throughout the building process and now have wonderful churches for worship.

The largest cave church can seat up to 5,000 so they hold church services, conferences, and events here! There are beautiful carvings, etched into the rock ceilings and walls, of Bible stories and verses. We really enjoyed looking at all the illustrations and reading about the area. You also get a great view of Cairo!

That night we ate dinner with Amy and Caleb at Chili's. I must say that it is much better food in Cairo than in the States! After dinner, we went to a wonderful cafe that overlooks the Nile, had some of the most delicious lemon juice and were able to relax together.

Tuesday we took a last-minute trip to Ain Sokhna (which is a beach on the Suez Canal/Red Sea). I grew up going to this beach, mostly for day trips. We decided to spoil ourselves a bit and stay the night. It was beautiful weather, the wind was blowing, Nick had shade and I had sun - perfect combo for the beach! We enjoyed huge buffet dinners and breakfasts, full of Egyptian food. That night also happened to be Election Day in the States, so we were excited to have CNN and be able to follow all that was going on with that. We were hoping to stay up late enough to see the result, but we actually woke up around 9 the next morning to President Obama's celebratory speech - so that was fun for us to experience live even on this side of the ocean.

Wednesday night when we got back from the beach we did some food shopping for all my favorite Egyptian snacks - borios (aka Egyptian Oreos), ketchup flavored chips, apple fanta, and other deliciousness.

Thursday morning we started with shopping on Road 9 - the main street, full of cafes and shops. I was so tempted to buy everything but I held back, trying to think through what we actually wanted to move to Seattle and what just looked cool in the store. After shopping, we had a wonderful lunch with a family friend and her two boys. It was so fun to spend time with them, catching up on all their news and hearing about life in Cairo post-revolution. It was sad to hear that Morsi has re-allowed girls to be married at 9 years old and that other shari'a laws are fighting to be established, but encouraging to hear how we must be praying for him and his leadership just as we should be doing for President Obama. I don't normally compare the two presidents, but interesting to think of it from a different perspective...


Friday was the day that we had been waiting for/dreading...going to the pyramids! Let me explain- the pyramids themselves are amazing. They are huge and you can literally climb on them and inside of them (more on that later). But, it has become a huge tourist trap. People hound you the entire time to ride their horses and camels, buy their souvenirs, and show them your tickets even though they don't work at the pyramids. Probably the most annoying aspect of the day was people kept taking pictures/videos of us or asking us to be in pictures with them. We would always refuse and walk away. We didn't understand if they were so surprised to see foreigners that they wanted pictures or what, but it made the day less fun.

However, so much of the experience was great! We got to the pyramids very early in the day (around 8:30 am) so a lot of the annoying people hadn't arrived yet. We were able to mostly walk around the three pyramids in peace and just be amazed by them. Questions such as where did all the blocks come from and how did they stack them so high and why in this location came into our heads. One highlight of the day was actually going into the Great Pyramid! You go in and then can go up a very narrow passage for about 200 feet (sort of a guess) and it is the only way in or out. You are crouched over the entire time so your legs are really feeling it. I don't know if these passages were used in making the pyramids, but if they were then I pity the men who built the pyramids. Either way, I pity the men who built the pyramids. That would be a pretty bad job, but in the end they made a pretty amazing wonder. Since this is only one way in and out, you have to share the very narrow passage so you are scrunched up against the wall while climbing up/down a narrow passage crouched over. You are very happy to get outside again.

After going into the pyramid, we walked down the road and saw the Sphinx. We don't know how the nose fell off, but if you do feel free to leave a comment. Hannah's convinced it fell off during the movie "Aladdin." But it was fun to see.

Our final adventure after seeing the Sphinx was finding a camel to ride. All around us people were trying to get us to ride their camels, but we wanted to try and find someone who looked trustworthy. We had heard horrific camel-riding experiences where they put you on the camel for a certain price and take you out into the desert far enough that you can't walk back and then demand more money. We weren't going to fall for this trick. So eventually we found our camel and camel-driver and we were off. About half way through he offered to take pictures of us...what a nice guy! Then, about five minutes later, he doubled the price and says the original one was per person! Hannah yells at him in Arabic to put us down and says no way Jose! He lets Hannah off but then the camel stands up quickly and I'm back up high. Hannah is arguing with the guy and I'm trying to argue from the camel. Finally, he lets me down and says he wants 20 pounds per picture plus extra then he initially said. We refuse it but give him a little extra for the pictures, even though we shouldn't have. He continued to walk after us for a few minutes, yelling at us for more money but we just kept walking. Just another day riding camels!

Friday evening we went to MCC, the community church, and then helped Amy make signs for the Christmas Bazaar the next day. Saturday morning we were able to spend some time with old friends from Charlotte who now live in Alexandria. It was a really fun, last-minute surprise to see them for breakfast. That afternoon, we went to the Christmas Bazaar and did some shopping. All the vendors had handmade, great quality items and the proceeds went to tons of Egyptian charities...so it made shopping even more fun! Afterwards, we met Amina, one of my friends from high school, for lunch at Lucille's. It was SO amazing to see her again and eat in one of our old spots. We caught up on each other's news for the last seven years...it was long overdue.

Sunday we spent more time walking in and out of bedouin shops and then we went to CAC, my old high school. It took a bit of convincing the guard, but we eventually got inside the campus to get my alumni ID. I showed Nick the pool I life guarded at, the gym, auditorium, and classrooms. So much has changed but the high school has stayed more or less the same, so that was nice to see. We talked with one of my old teachers awhile, heard how the revolution affected the school, and other things going on with CAC. It was so wonderful to see a familiar face!

After our campus tour, we picked up a BBQ chicken pizza from Dominoes (my personal favorite) and grabbed a taxi to the Nile. We enjoyed one of the most beautiful felucca (sailboat on the Nile) rides I have ever been on - the sunset was colorful and crisp, not fogged out by the pollution. The breeze was cool and the wind was blowing so we were able to move pretty fast. So wonderful!

Today (Monday), we started with some last-minute shopping! Then we visited with some more family friends. I used to babysit their son, Danny, but now he is 13 - so that is crazy to see how time flies. It was great to catch up on their news, hear the thoughts on Egypt, and how their family is adjusting. Then we ended our day with a delicious Lebanese meal with Amina and her boyfriend, Tamer. It was fun to hang out all four of us, hear how they started dating, and life for them now!

We said goodbye to Amy and Caleb, Egypt and all of it's chaos, and now we are at the airport and headed home...though I must say that the guard is getting really annoying and not letting us get to the check-in desk for whatever new security measures they have running. Also, it seems that our flight doesn't depart until 3:10 AM, 2 hours later than we expected...hopefully that is not a sign of things to come on this long travel day!

Egypt (Part 1) - There's No Place Like Home...or Egypt!

Well, I can definitely say there is no place I have been quite like Cairo. From the moment we walked out of the airport, got in our driver's car, and then realized we were stuck because a truck parked behind us and didn't leave his car in neutral so we could move it...and this was normal...I knew this was a new experience for me. As we sat in the car I laughed at the cars all around us laying on their horns, while Hannah described it as "music to her ears." We were very thankful for an easy and uneventful travel day getting to Cairo and Amy's house, Hannah's old youth pastor. We arrived and spent the rest of the night catching up with her. It was great hearing from her about not only the changes in her life, but the changes in Cairo since the revolution.

Our first full day here we took some time and walked around Hannah's old neighborhood. I got to see CAC (where Hannah went to high school), two different apartment buildings she lived in, Kimo (the famous grocery store I've heard so much about), and many other stores that had memories for her! It was a lot of fun being in Maadi with her. After that, we met up with some family friends. It was great to meet so many people who I've heard about and Hannah loved catching up with people whom she hadn't seen in 6 or more years. It's crazy how fast times goes by. After our time with friends, we went to MCC, the church Hannah went to when she lived in Maadi. Again, it was amazing seeing a place that I've been hearing about for years. We loved worshipping with people from so many different cultures in Hannah's old home church.

Saturday was a very full day! We started the day by walking part of Road 9. Road 9 is a very popular road is Maadi that has a lot of cafes, shops and restaurants that Hannah used to go to. It is sort of like a Main Street. After walking down that for awhile, we hopped in a taxi and attempted to communicate that we wanted to go to The Citadel (a huge mosque in Cairo that is open to tourists). Long story short, after way too long of a taxi ride and going in a few circles and him asking for directions multiple times and Hannah repeating herself over and over again, we finallllly got there!

Asking for directions here is another unique experience. Here is a little picture - we are speeding down a 3-lane bridge with 5 lanes of cars flying down around us. Our taxi driver pulls alongside another car, blows his horn, and motions for the car to come closer. About when the sideview mirrors are an inch apart, our driver yells to the other driver and asks what/where is The Citadel. The other driver gives directions in the quickest possible sentence before the cars behind him rear-end him or start blowing horns so loud that the two drivers can't even hear each other.

The Citadel was pretty cool though, the only mosque I will go in so definitely worth the trouble. The building was really old but the inside was really beautiful. After being photographed and video-ed by random locals, we left the inside of the mosque (I guess with tourism struggling they don't see many foreigners anymore). From The Citadel, we also got an amazing view of the city...well, a grayish view of the city. If it hadn't been for the pollution, it would have been an amazing view.



After The Citadel, we went to Khan el Khalili, a huge marketplace. We got one of Hannah's favorite Egyptian meals, Egyptian pancakes or "fetir." They were sweet so Hannah definitely liked them more than I did. After lunch, we walked around the marketplace for a few hours. Everyone wanted us to come in their shops. We would hear, "Special price for you", or "Just give me a chance to sell you something", or "Now it's my turn". Our favorite was "I want to start my business well with you today." We heard that up until about 7 PM. I was so thankful that Hannah spoke Arabic because she was able to negotiate prices and that gave us much more credibility. The marketplace definitely got busier as the day got later. And shop owners would remember us (especially Hannah because there aren't many blonde girls walking around Cairo) and give us a very hard time about seeing us walk by multiple times throughout the day without buying something.

One story we need to tell is about trying to find an ATM. We got directions from one of the street vendors for the nearest ATM - he wanted to exchange money for us but we told him that we needed a machine because we had a card. So we get to the ATM and three guys are sitting in front of it and they say it's broken, but there is one down just around the corner. We say ok and go down around the corner, in search of another. While there is an ATM, it is also broken. Bummer, we wanted to pull out more money to buy more things in the market...that's a good thing, right? So we are walking away from the ATM and we see this young guy who earlier tried to sell us perfume bottles for 300 LE (as a side note, this is an outrageous price and by the time we walked away, he was all the way down to 35 LE). We didn't buy them the first time so he thought we were back to buy them. We told him our problem and he brought us back to the other "broken" ATM. One of the guys who was sitting in front of the ATM before comes up to us and says that it is working now. Hannah starts laughing (because things don't get fixed in Cairo) and says, "oh NOW it's working". A man is using the ATM and while I watch him pull out money, he turns around and tells me that the ATM is broken. I say ok and just look at him. He repeats himself but I just watched it work so I want to try myself. I guess I won the staring contest because eventually they said I could try and see if it works for me. All of the sellers around us were giving us a hard time because they knew we had money so we got out of there and went shopping elsewhere with our new money! It was a fun experience.

Sunday we headed downtown to Tahrir Square. This is where the majority of the fighting took place during the revolution. During the revolution, many protestors were throwing rocks. We learnt that people were tearing up the streets and sidewalks barehanded and using that as ammunition. Some sidewalks are still torn up because protests are still occurring.

We first went to Cairo Museum. This is a very cool and extremely unorganized museum. We saw a ton of mummies, sarcophagi, statues of Egyptian gods and pharaohs, jewelry, broken pots and many other ancient artifacts. We also saw many of King Tut's personal belongings. During the revolution, the museum was looted so it was nice to see that a lot of important pieces still remain in the museum because Egyptians came to protect the museum against people trying to steal artifacts. When we left the museum, we walked out the exit to a burnt building. I am pretty sure that this was the police headquarters. The walls are made out of cement so the fire had to go be started on each floor individually. Pictures will be posted later because they are on Hannah's camera. But it was crazy to see such a real result of the revolution.



After the museum, we headed toward Felfela - one of Hannah's family's favorite restaurants! We ate delicious food - from chicken, lamb, rice, stuffed grapevine leaves, bread, and dip! We also ordered one of the best lemon juices I have ever had...Hannah has been ordering them everywhere so I finally gave in and skipped the coke. Then we topped it off with rice pudding with ice cream - I wasn't a huge fan of the pudding, but the ice cream was great.

After stuffing ourselves, we walked more around Tahrir Square. We saw lots of burned out cars that had been set on fire during the revolution, an incredible wall full of really well-done graffiti, and other remnants of the revolution everywhere. Unfortunately, Hannah couldn't really take pictures because people are really suspicious of journalists in the area misrepresenting them so most of it will just have to stick in our memory. We wished her parents were there though to translate all the slogans and sentences, so that we could have fully understood it all.

We ended our night by attending an Egyptian church service. When the service began, it was maybe half-full, but people kept filing in even halfway through the sermon. By the end, it was packed with people! It was fun to see such a huge crowd and be in an evangelical church in Egypt. They do love to sing though and don't keep track of time at all. After about two hours, we snuck out a bit early. While it was a long service, we are sure it felt longer because we were trying to focus on the translation. One cool thing about the church is that the lobby was used as a safe haven for the wounded during the revolution. The building itself was one of the only buildings not harmed!

After the service we walked through Shepheard's Hotel, another family favorite of the Kuhn's. We were to full to eat but it was great to see the hotel.

That's enough for now. We'll post again in a few days. Sorry about the lack of interesting pictures...not exactly appropriate to pull out the iPad. There are a few in here of us just enjoying the cafe culture though! We love and miss you all!

P.S. We just got Internet on the iPad so Rome was just posted as well. Don't miss it below!

Roma - The Last Stop in Europe!

We arrived to a wonderful hotel in Rome! The travel day was easy, our rooms were close to the train station, so we decided to walk through the city before dark. We ended up walking forever, all around Rome! Around every corner, there was some amazing building, monument, church, or statue of some sort. We walked through their shopping streets, the busy piazzas, and then to Capitol Hill. From there, we caught our first glimpse of the Colosseum all lit up with floodlights. It was beautiful!

Monday we started our day at the Roman Forum, where all the politics, discussions, and shopping happened in Ancient Rome. We saw where Julius Caesar was burned, after being stabbed to death, temples to gods and goddesses of that time, and where the Senate took place. We saw the Arch of Titus, built by Jewish slaves. Ancient Romans were known for being very accepting of other cultures, but the one thing they required when they conquered a nation was that they worship the Roman gods as well as continuing to worship their own gods. The Jews refused to worship any gods but their one, so they were enslaved by the Romans during that time.



After the Forum, we walked through Palatine Hill. On the hill, we saw Caesar Augustus' house, the Royal Stadium (pictured above), and the huts of Romulus. We also had a great view of the city and the Colosseum! At this point, we had been walking forever and needed a coffee break. So we found a cafe right in front of the Colosseum and enjoyed caffe lattes and tiramisu...it was fantastic!

Feeling rejuvenated, we set out on a night walk across Rome. Starting at Capitol Hill, we walked through piazzas with live music, entertainers, artists. We went to the Pantheon - the marble interior was amazing, the pillars are the largest in Italy, and they were shipped from Egypt! Then we headed toward the Trevi Fountain, filled with tourists making wishes and throwing coins over their left shoulder into the water. We can't imagine how much money Rome makes from this single fountain!


Tuesday started with breakfast at a local bakery. Then we decided it was time to tour the Colosseum! It is far more stunning than what you see in pictures or the movies. Huge, first of all. Seeing such an old structure so in tact amazed us.

After the Colosseum, we took the metro to Vatican City. We toured most of the four-mile-long Vatican museum. The walls, ceilings, everything was so ornate and glamorous. The tour ended in the Sistine Chapel...we couldn't believe how big it was, all the layers, and stories going on at one time. It was pretty overwhelming and we could never haven taken in the whole thing, but very cool to have seen it!


After the Vatican, we went to St. Peter's Basilica (pictured above). This basilica and the Vatican building are what make up the Vatican City. St. Peter's is by far the largest and grandest church in the world! The dome is as tall as a football field is long; it's structure inspired the building of several other domes in churches across the world. Nothing can compare to this church though...our jaws dropped every time we turned our heads. The arches, pillars, decor, Raphael's "Pieta" and other artwork were indescribable.

After some delicious lasagna and cannelloni for lunch, we took the metro back to the Trevi Fountain (pictured below) because I wanted pictures in the daylight. We stopped for ice cream and coffee on the piazza and then spent the next hour or two people-watching. Tourists can be very frustrating, but when you sit back to watch them, they can be highly entertaining as well! We also spent time on the Spanish Steps, a pretty popular piazza for both Italians and tourists. Not sure how many times roses were forced into our hands or how many guys wanted to sell us cheap souvenirs, but it is totally worth it to watch everyone at work and at play!


From the Spanish Steps, we enjoyed probably the most delicious meal out over our entire trip (or close tie to one in Madrid). We finally found chicken parmesan on a menu, so Nick ordered that and I had tortellini. No words will do that meal justice...Italian cooking at its best! Our waiter - also very true to what you would expect in an Italian. He kept bringing us food and drinks, saying that its a special price just for us, or on the house, or a gift because it went well with our drinks. Needless to say, we still paid for everything we consumed...haha! But we did feel very taken care of, and then slightly taken advantage of too. They had delicious food though, so no complaints here.

Wednesday was pretty rainy so we ate breakfast at our hotel's organic cafe. We spent the morning packing, doing some laundry, and skyping with Nick's parents. Then we went on an adventure to find tickets to that night's soccer game - S. S. Lazio vs. Torino! It turned out to be much easier than we expected, though the lady selling us tickets couldn't speak a word of English. We managed though, understanding we had to be back at 5 PM for tickets, to bring our passports, and that umbrellas were allowed into the stadium.

On our way home, we decided to buy one umbrella for €2. Unfortunately, the price really reflected the quality of the umbrella. Not only was it pouring rain, but the wind was blowing strong. At every gush of wind, our umbrella threatened to turn inside out...not at all withstanding the weather.

So at five, we asked the hotel reception if they had any umbrellas for us to use. They handed us one that was definitely from the same street sellers we had bought our own. But we felt like having two faulty umbrellas was better than one. So we walked back through the pouring rain to claim our tickets and head toward the stadium. Not only was my umbrella poor quality, but it was pretty much broken. Every time wind blew, it would either flip inside out or the material would get disconnected from the frame of the umbrella and be blowing around, getting water all over me. When the wind wasn't blowing, the detached material would just drip on me. I had to laugh or I knew I would start crying and our soccer game adventure would quickly come to an end. Nick felt horrible but he was having his own issues with our "new" umbrella (aka holding it together when the wind blew) and avoiding huge puddles. Nick eventually convinced me to trash mine and hope it would stop raining!

Anyways, finally at the stadium a couple hours early, we found an Italian pizzeria and sat down to dry off and enjoy dinner. This restaurant proceeded to be one of our most cultural meals out! We were surrounded by soccer fans, excited about that night's game. The voices were yelling above each other, hands were flying in your stereotypical Italian motions, everyone greeted each other with kisses, and the food and drinks just kept coming. I must add that the pizza was phenomenal...not like the trashy fast food in the States (not to hate on America or anything, Italy just does food right).

The soccer game was the highlight of our time in Rome! We didn't really have a clue as to how everything worked, in terms of security, tickets, and seating. When we walked through the first gate, a woman waved me over for a pat down. Nick followed me, leaving the male security guard who was about to do his. When I explained he had to go back to the man, because females did the pat downs for ladies and males did them for men, the security guards were all laughing at us. We just embraced the funny moment and fumbled our way through the system, happy to provide them with some entertainment.

Nick bought a Lazio scarf, which we were instantly thankful for when we walked into our section. Everyone was decked out in scarves, hats, jackets, and soccer gear. We realized that if this game was going on in the States, everyone would be dressed in their Halloween costume...but not here! As we sat down, Nick decided to mention that we were in the famous section of the stadium - the Curva Nord. Famous for what, you might ask. Famous for their rowdiness, roughness, and sometimes needing to be settled down by tear gas. Oh great. But this game was not one of their notorious rivals, so all went very smoothly. It was a fun section to be in since it felt a lot more like the student section in Williams-Brice! The fans chanted, sang, and clapped the ENTIRE game - they literally never stopped. We were amazed by the energy and how positive it was even when Lazio made mistakes. My favorite part - when Lazio scored, Nick was embraced by at least 2 Italian men! Seeing all the excitement and being welcomed into it was so fun!


Now we are on our flight to Cairo!! Woohoo!! EgyptAir continues to get the award for best airline food...we just had a delicious lunch, topped off with coffee, vanilla cake with coffee icing, and a good movie (or so Nick says).

Can't wait to see you all in a couple weeks!

Florence - Gelato, Sculptures, & Leather Markets

We were welcomed to Florence by our Florentine grandmother at our hotel. She was an extremely nice elderly lady who rents out six rooms in her home. We weren't able to communicate very much with her, but we felt very welcomed by her!

We arrived a little later in the day so our first day in Florence we weren't able to do very much. We spent some time walking through the San Lorenzo Market. Street vendors lined blocks of streets and pretty much every stall sold some sort of Italian leather product. We had a great time walking through and seeing all of the purses, wallets, belts, jackets, and suitcases all made out of leather.

Next we went and walked around the Duomo Cathedral (pictured above). The Duomo was originally built with a big hole in the roof, awaiting the technology to build a dome because it wasn't around yet. A local architect came up with the solution and the dome was built in 14 years. In our opinion, the outside of the Duomo was much more impressive than the inside.

We started off the next day by walking all the way across the city (it's only about a 20 minute walk) to the Ponte Vecchio. This is Florence's most famous bridge. The bridge is lined with extremely fancy jewelry stores that we could never afford to shop in but it was fun to walk and look.

On our way to the bridge, we saw a Christian Evangelical group singing and then performing a mime/dance on a piazza (we think of Isaiah 53). Just as they got to the part where Jesus was going to be resurrected and clothe the people around Him in white, the police came and shut down the performance. The group seemed to have written permission to perform in the piazza, but the police didn't care. It was really interesting to watch, especially the timing of how it all went down.

Close to the Ponte Vecchio is the Uffizi Gallery. Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure that the Uffizi Gallery has been open as a museum since the late 1500's...that's crazy! The most famous work in the gallery is Botticelli's "Birth of Venus." We also saw works by Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo (all the ninja turtles).

That night we went for a walk and got gelato at one of the best Gelateria's in Italy. We had caffe and tiramisu flavor. It was delicious! It was also really fun seeing Florence light up at night.

Our last day in Florence, we began the day by going to the Centrale Market. Here they sell every part of the cow, make and sell fresh pasta, vegetables, and other groceries. Our senses were going crazy walking around the market. One minute we would be surrounded by whole raw chickens, the next we would be all around greens, and then we would be all around fish! It was fun but we were glad to get out of there.

Next we did what any person visiting Florence has to do and went to see Michelangelo's sculpture of "David." "David" stands 17-feet tall in the Accademia. He was meant to stand on the roof of the Duomo but was moved indoors for his protection. It was amazing how detailed every part of him was, from his fingernails to the veins in his hands and feet. But he definitely doesn't look like a 17 year old in the sculpture.

We ended our time in Firenze with a delicious dinner and one last walk around the city.


Now we are on our last train in Europe (and we are thoroughly enjoying the business class seats we didn't have to pay for)! Pretty crazy that we've been traveling for 8 weeks today. Roma here we come!

The Pellice Valley - Waldensian History & OM Italy

We arrived in Bobbio Pellice with very few expectations. We weren't sure what OM's ministry was in the area, what our housing situation would look like, or what exactly we would be doing. Taking each day in stride, we wound up with a rather packed schedule.

Monday, after unpacking a bit, we took a huge tour of Forterocca - the hotel/retreat center. Forterocca means "strong rock". It began as a vision with older OM missionaries and has developed into a very real ministry. The land they originally bought to make their vision come to life housed an old Fascist army barracks. They thought they could simply renovate the building, but due to construction codes, they had to tear down the army barracks and rebuild. Interesting Italian law - for anything built above ground, you have to build in the same footprint that existed before...meaning, their building had to be the exact same measurements and shape above ground.

The main building is now finished and fully functioning to host church groups, youth groups, arts conferences, sports camps, and more. A few smaller buildings used to exist on the property. They are hoping to turn these into a bigger dining area, fireplace/cozy area, and a cafe where parents can come while their kids are involved in camps or other things. The underground (where they are free to expand) is going to be built into an indoor soccer court, since there are no indoor recreational facilities in the area. It was fun to hear all of their dreams and what they are working towards!

We also learned some facts about Italy:
-Italy has more Muslims than Afghanistan.
-Italy is 0.6% Christian.
-Torino (40 min. from the valley) has the largest Satanic church in the world...they are free to practice as long as they are underground.

On Tuesday, we joined in on their morning team meeting. We heard more about their ministries and other ones going on across the world. We took a walking tour of Bobbio, they town where we were staying, guided by a sweet Canadian lady who has lived there with her husband almost 9 months now. It was fun to hear her enthusiasm for the people, the beautiful area, and the culture! The rest of the day we were hosted for lunch, snacks, dessert, coffee, and dinner with different people. It was a lot to take in - but so great to hear different experiences, histories, and stories from the missionaries there. We also loved the international community being so prevalent in the area. On the OM team alone, they had Holland, South Africa, Scotland, USA, Italy, Canada, Colombia, Germany, and other nationalities represented!



Wednesday we started our day with a Waldensian tour. Four hundred years before the Reformation, Peter Waldo, a rich French-man, purchases a Bible and had it translated. When he read it, he realized the Catholic church was misleading their followers and felt strongly that anyone should be able to read the Bible. Persecuted in France, he walked over the Alps into the Pellice Valley and started telling people about Jesus. He gained followers, but the Pope didn't like this. He didn't like people reading the Bible on their own. So he sent his army to the valley to make Waldo and his people renounce their faith. They refused so many children and families were killed. Eventually the Pope made a decree that they were allowed to live - but only above a certain altitude. This altitude in the Alps was dangerous and fairly unlivable, but if they came below that altitude, they would be killed.

On our Waldensian tour, we saw a cave church where the Waldensians met once a week to worship together. They would come from miles around and about 100-125 people could fit in the cave. There was only one way in and out of the cave, so the people had to have a lot of trust in one another and in God to protect them and keep them safe. At one worship service, someone had tipped off the Pope's army about the location of the cave church. The army snuck up, poured hot oil and fire into the cave, killing everyone present at the service. These were the risks that the Waldensians took daily to worship God.

Next we went to a Waldensian Bible school - what maybe the oldest reformed Bible school. For four months out of the year, the brightest young men of the community would go to Bible school. There were only two or three teachers at these schools and the only book used was the Bible. The young men would memorize entire books of the Bible. While we were walking around the school, Hannah went to stand in the sun because she was cold. All of a sudden, we heard a shriek and up the hill ran Hannah! She had been run at by a HUGE WILD BOAR! Thankfully, Hannah intimidated the boar and the boar took off running into the woods, never to be seen again. We then left the school in a hurry.

We spent lunch with Eliseo and Paula's family. Eliseo is the field leader of OM Italy. It was great to get to know him, his family, spend time in a home, learn more about OM Italy's vision, and learn more about the different ministries.

After lunch we went to an Italian language lesson. The OM team puts a big emphasis on learning Italian. It was a very overwhelming and fun class. We learned vocabulary words starting with A-F. One girl in the class couldn't understand English or Italian, so I could only imagine how difficult the class must have been for her!

We spent the rest of the day with Robert and Lara's family. They are American and have been in Italy for two months. We had such a fun time with them, playing with their girls, and hearing about how they ended up in Italy. They both have a huge heart for the Italian people and it was amazing to hear about.

Now we are in Florence and having a great time! Less than a week until Cairo!