african journey

africa was incredible, absolutely amazing. being able to be there with dani and being able to finally go and see the people there was, in many ways, a life changing experience. it was great to be with dani for obvious reasons. being away from her for this past year, on and off, has been really hard and trying at times, and it is always good to see her again for the first time.
when i met her at the airport in p.e., i was so excited and also just felt a feeling of comfort, a feeling of stability, a feeling of peace, and a feeling of rightness. in fact, that is much of what makes me so comfortable around dani. she has become a life companion and i am just so grateful to know her and be able to share my life with her. however, this is also what makes it so hard being away from her for so long... anyways, being able to be there with her for two weeks was just incredible. looking back on the trip, we had so many great times and so many new experiences together.

1. amasango. finally getting in to grahamstown after about 24 hours of traveling, dani and i went out for a few drinks with tiff and elizabeth (her friends there from b.c.) to this place called the rat and the parrot (the rat). it was an english-esque pub and we had a pretty good time. however, i was really tired so dani and i ended up going back to the hostel fairly early to head to bed. speaking of which, the place we were staying was not dani's room. since she lives in a res (dorm) with uber strict rules, i was by no means allowed to stay there and thus, we had to get a hostel. the main and really only hostel in grahamstown is called the old gaol (old jail in xhosa). the reason is because it literally is an old jail and the double rooms are old prison cells. anyways, it is also a big party hangout with a happening bar, and thus because of the open air windows, we didn't get to sleep until late...moreover, the best part of this was that dani volunteers on mondays and thursdays, and i got in on a wednesday night. consequently, we woke up early thursday morning and on little to no sleep, i went with her to volunteer. the place she volunteers at is called amasango, and it's a school for street children from about 1st to 9th grade. all of the kids live in extreme poverty and many of them are without families, living in an orphanage or sometimes even off the streets. the school itself has a strong mission and the woman who runs the place (“mama jane”) is really committed to fighting for these kids and helping them break out of the cycles of violence and poverty that have dominated many of their lives. however, the facilities are still unimaginable and the standard of education that these kids are afforded is disheartening and deeply saddening. being there with dani for just a day was not much time at all and was also overwhelming in some ways, but i am grateful to have had that experience and to have seen God in the face of these kids that dani spends her time with every week. i spent most of my time that day working on math problems with sinetemba and a few other 3rd graders (they also taught me a thing or two in xhosa, which was super cool), and for the most part everything went well that day with the exception of a few minor mishaps…when i was playing/messing around with some of the kids during their lunch break, i was wearing sandals and i hit my leg accidentally on the barbed wire that surrounded the school. i got a pretty big cut in my foot and it started bleeding pretty badly. the worst part was that i started freaking out and then from seeing all the blood, i ended up fainting and was unconscious for a few minutes (or so dani tells me). all i remember is feeling nauseous, and then waking up uber hot and sweaty and not knowing where i was for a minute. it was pretty freaky and i didn't feel well the rest of the day, but it wasn't so bad as i ended up being fine...other than that though, my time at amasango was eye-opening, and despite the sadness and the despair, it was strangely encouraging...

2. renting a car together and driving down the garden route with brian, tiff, and elizabeth was totally a blast. even just being in the car, getting to know each other, making jokes, listening to music, stopping at shady places to eat (and spilling mustard all over myself) with brown tap water (tsitsikama), and almost running out of gas. then being in capetown itself was awesome. the city was so cool, situated on the ocean with nice beaches and at the base of table mountain. totally gorgeous. from the cool and friendly backpackers we stayed at (ashanti and long street) to the food we ate (margaritas at mexican kitchen and ostrich and crocodile at mama africa), it was a great weekend. the beach at camps bay was really nice, and it didn’t hurt that it was about 80 and sunny. it was also really interesting to get to go out to robben island (the prison where political prisoners were sent during the apartheid) and have a tour led by a former prisoner (also we saw some tropical penguins, which was pretty sweet)…driving out to the cape, just to get caught in the rain, was a great time. what seemed like a bad situation ended up turning into some wine and cheese on the beach and a beer in africa's smallest pub…the street festival was a good time (even though i almost got pick-pocketed), and going up to the top of table mountain was pretty spectacular, even though it was uber cloudy and kind of rainy. even with lousy weather, it was still some of the most gorgeous views i have ever seen, and the cable car was on par with the one from lucerne...even the drive back was a great time. the girls slept a lot the first day and brian and i chatted philosophy. i told him what i thought about nietzsche and ziggy bauman and we spoke about our ideas of moral responsibility. that night we stayed over night along the garden route, in knyzna. we had a nice dinner for pretty cheap on the water and then went to bed fairly early because we were setting out the next morning for tsitsikama. this area is a forest along the storms river (a well sized area along the garden route), and from here several adventure sports and activities originate. anyways, that day we decided to do a canopy tour in the morning and the five us went together with a nice couple from england (rob and his wife). the tour consisted of ten zip lines from one tree to another that were about 30m off the ground, way up in the canopy of the forest. also during this whole time, we were with a guide who explained and taught us things about the trees, the birds, and other things in the forest when we were at the top of each tree. all in all it was a great experience, really fun and really cool! after lunch we parted ways with our newly formed english friends and headed off to the bloukrans river bridge for one of the most feared experiences of my life- bungee jumping! i had never had any desire to bungee jump, just wasn't really interested and was also really scared. furthermore, this is no ordinary bungee jump. it is the highest commercial bungee jump in the world, from the four highest commercial bridge in the world, at 216m above the boukrans river! it is something that all study abroad students in south africa know about and many decide to do. consequently, dani and her friends were all planning on doing this at some point in the semester and thought well, why not do it this weekend? and when all was said and done, before i knew it we were all standing out on the bridge, listening to some pump up rap music, hanging out with our guide (muchello), and getting ready to jump. brian, the fearless one of the group, went first and he actually ended up going backwards. this was good because i had someone else to watch and a little extra time to prepare myself. i was next up and i didn't think i was ready at all. however, i didn't seem to have much of a choice and all of sudden i found myself looking over the edge, six hundred feet down. the guys counted down from five, and even though i'm not really sure how, when they got to zero i jumped off the ledge head first. i free fell for about five full seconds and that was probably the five most terrifying seconds of my life because at that exact moment my life was completely out of my hands. i was scared because in many ways, it was a realization and feeling of helplessness and insignificance, but at the same time i felt a sense of peace because this was the most tangible expression, probably throughout my entire life, showing me (even more cleary now as i reflect back on this) that at that exact moment (and every other moment, whether i realize it or not), my life was and is completely and entirely in God's hands. and in many ways, that is a feeling of liberation…also, after the first fall, when i came back up, there were still two more free falls- a two second fall of 116m and a one second fall of 70m. after coming up from the first fall and realizing that the cord had caught me, i let all worry go and just enjoyed the rest of the jump. in many ways, this was one of the most peaceful experiences i have ever had. just hanging there by myself, in total silence, 100m above the river, in the gorge by myself was pretty amazing. i just sat back and took in the scenery. i was overwhelmed by God's glory, His beauty, His majesty, and His peace. on the whole, what seemed like an ordinarily frightening but pretty straightforward experience, turned out to be a pretty peaceful and spiritual time for me. while i will never forget how scared i was, i am also so glad i decided to go through with it in the end...the rest of the drive back that night went well and our last stop along the garden route was in jeffrey's bay. we ate dinner there and walked around the sand dunes on the beach. after getting back late that night, dani snuck me into her res and we ended up crashing early because we wanted to wake up early the next day to go to the beach.

3. spending some time in grahamstown. after returning from capetown, dani had to go to class for a few days and we wanted to hang around grahamstown before leaving again the next weekend for hogsback...the first morning back we still had the rental car until 4:00 that afternoon, so we decided to go to the beach at port alfred. however, the problem with that was neither dani nor i really knew how to get there. so we just decided to drive around grahamstown and find the sign for the right highway (it was about 45 minutes away), but in the midst of all the confusion, i accidentally reversed at a stoplight when i should have driven forward and as it turns out, there was another car right behind me. thus, i had crashed a rental car in a foreign country. wow, just wow. however, as it turns out the people in the other car were really nice and were in about the same situation as us (it was a couple, the girl was from capetown and the guy was visiting from canada). also, there was actually no major damage to either car and they ended up being really cool about the whole situation. basically, i messed up and got frickking lucky...anyways, i got out of the driver's seat and dani ended up driving us to the beach. we got there in one piece and because it was a tuesday, there was absolutely no one there. we ate lunch at a cute little cafe and literally had the beach to ourselves. after laying in the hot, hot sun (around 90) for a few hours, we headed back to drop off the car and have a relaxing night, maybe go to dinner and a movie...when we got back to the jail, we found paul (the guy we crashed into earlier) in the bar and he and his girlfriend were staying there that night as well. furthermore, his girlfriend had a dinner with some friends from rhodes uni that night and he had nothing to do. so, dani, being the socialable person she is, promptly asked him to join us for dinner and a movie and needless to say, paul was an interesting character, and it was kind of funny to hang out with him that night…dinner was pretty tasty and we saw the movie tsotsi (and it was particularly interesting seeing it in south africa)...the next two days were a little more laid back around grahamstown as dani went to a few classes, and then thursday afternoon we left again...

4. hogsback. this time, dani decided she would take me to this little place in the mountains, called hogsback. it is a really tiny town, consisting of almost nothing but a few places to stay, and it is situated right in the rainforest and in the mountains. it is known all over as being one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in the country. there is one main backpackers (hostel) there, "away with the fairies," and it is often thought of as the coolest backpackers in the whole of south africa...anyways, brian (the guy that runs the old jail in gtown) arranged for his driver- maudy- to take us up to hogsback on thursday evening. it was a pretty nice drive and as we got close, the weather got really strange and eerie and uber, uber foggy. we couldn't see more than five feet in front of the car, and there was mist everywhere. although this was kind of scary to drive in, it was also kind of cool because it made the place sort of mystical...we checked into our room (which was absolutely sweet! a private double room with our own fireplace and view overlooking a valley, all for about 15usd each) and then went to the bar/restaurant where they serve dinner every night. away with the faires, in addition to being amazing and uber cool, is a really small backpackers and only holds around 25 people, so there is a strong feeling of community. everyone there is really friendly and really outgoing; in the mornings, everyone sits around this big table and has breakfast together and then at night, we all had dinner together. consequently, it's pretty easy to get to know people pretty quickly...at dinner our first night, dani and i sat next to a couple from namibia (robert and daniella) who were really, really nice. we had a few drinks with them and chatted it up all night...the only things there really are to do in hogsback are go hiking in the forest, exploring the many waterfalls and basically just spending time outside in the great outdoors. so, dani and i had decided that we wanted to do this all day hike that went to three major waterfalls and the namibians had also decided to do the same thing. they asked if we might want to go with them and spend the day together. of course we accepted and of course we had a great time together. the four of us had a really good time and saw some really beautiful forest/waterfalls/mountains that day, and one even added bonus was that we had three dogs come along with us. the guys that run the hostel (dan and rob) have two beagles and a dalmatian that just roam around all day and that day they decided to come hiking with us! anyways, we had a great day and got back to away with the fairies, tired but content, in the late afternoon. before dinner we saw the only real "sights" in town, as we went to a labyrinth and had tea with the namibians. also, we went to this lookout point, called the "edge" and the views were pretty spectacular, not to mention the fact that we saw baboons just chilling about 100m away from us...dinner that night was spectacular (sirloin steak in a delicious cajun sauce with a really good greek salad) and we partied in the bar with everyone for a few hours before retiring for the night back in our romantic room, by the fireplace...the next morning we slept in a little and then had to head back to g-town. speaking of, up until friday night we had no idea of how we were getting back on saturday afternoon (public transportation is nonexistent in south africa and brian had not yet arranged us a ride). but, as it turns out robert and daniella were also leaving hogsback that day and were about to head down the garden route towards capetown. and as it also turns out, grahamstown is located right on the way between hogsback and the garden route. so, the robert and daniella being the super nice people they are, offered us a ride. the drive back was pretty quick and by midday we were back at dani's res...overall, our time in hogsback was pretty short, but it was really, really peaceful and relaxing.

5. safaris. finally, after we came back from hogsback on saturday afternoon, we had two days until i left on monday morning and one of the major experiences that i was hoping for which had not yet happened was going on a day safari and getting to see some of the animals in their natural habitats. up until this point we still had seen several animals just driving around, from kudus on the side of the road, to baboons and goats blocking the road (on the way back from hogsback), to monkeys in the rainforest and penguins on the beach. nevertheless, we had not yet seen any of the big 5 (lion, cheetah, rhino, elephant, and buffalo), or as i created myself, the big 8 (with the addition of giraffe, hippo, and zebra)...before we left for hogsback, we had brian from the jail arrange for us to go on a couple of these safaris, or game drives as their often called…on saturday night and sunday night we had twilight drives planned (a drive in the late afternoon for at least two hours around sunset, followed by dinner, and another drive after dinner to see night animals), and then a day drive planned for the whole of sunday morning and early sunday afternoon...saturday afternoon we left at about 430 and went to lalibela game reserve. the place was super nice and the people were very welcoming. also, shortly after we got there, we found that we had our own private drive, just dani and i, maudy, and a guide from lalibela. while the drive started out slow and the vehicle (open air land rover) broke down and we had to wait for another one, it wasn't so bad. as we were waiting around we watched some gemsbok and some other antelope grazing, and then all of sudden we saw a giant rhino and her baby cross the hill about 20m in front of us. pretty unbelievable! the rest of the drive was really cool, and we ended up seeing many of my favorite animals. we saw an entire herd of rhinos (even though our guide hadn't seen one in a week), about eight in total, a giraffe, some zebras, and several different species of antelope. after the sunset, we went in for some dinner, which was delicious, and then we went back out for a night drive. before dinner, during sunset, we spent a good portion of time through and in the woods, searching for lions, but unfortunately we didn't have any luck. anyways, during dinner our guide asked what we wanted to do after and because it was just us we were able to do pretty much whatever we wanted. i said that i had really wanted to see a hippo and consequently we spent about an hour or so looking for hippos (hippos are easiest to see at night. because they have really sensitive skin they spend the entire day soaking in the water and then come out at night to graze. additionally they are really loud when they eat, so it is possible to hear them from fairly far away). and this time, we had better luck. after some time searching we found about three hippos grazing. we even got within about five feet of them, which was pretty amazing. actually it was kind of scary because they are incredibly massive and if they feel threatened, they will charge at any moment and at a pace of up to 40km/hr. all in all lalibela was an amazing experience! after the night drive, dani and i headed back to the old jail exhausted and hoping to get some sleep, seeing as we were waking up again at 7 the next morning. however, that weekend there happened to be a music festival (mini fest) at the jail, so when we got back at 11pm the party was just getting started. there were movies playing outside and all kinds of live music. actually it was a good time, but the only unfortunate part was that whenever we got tired and wanted to leave and go to bed, we couldn't. the music was literally blasting in our room, and the festivities didn't really wind down until about 2:30am...anyways, after a short night's sleep, we woke up bright and early and headed out to addo elephant national park with maudy again but also this time with brian (from georgia). maudy was our guide at addo and the four of us spent the morning and early afternoon driving around there. again we had a great time and saw several different kinds of animals. we saw many antelope again, zebra, wildebeest, red hartebeest, tons of warthogs, and even two of the big five! we saw tons and tons of elephants and we even saw some buffalo (which is super rare)! one of the guides we talked to has been to addo about 200 times and only seen buffalo 5 times). again we got super close to all the animals and it was really wild because they were just carrying on as it we weren't there at all. pretty surreal! after lunch, we headed over to scotia, the game reserve where we were doing a twilight drive on sunday night. scotia is similar to other game reserves in many ways, but what differentiates it is that they have a heard of 8 lions! after some tea and coffee, we set out on our drive and again like at lalibela, we were with a guide in an open air land rover. however, this time there were four other people with us and the guide wasn't quite as friendly as the one at lalibela. anyways, the drive went really well and we saw a ton of animals. again we saw all the antelope (even springboks!), the hartebeest, the wildebeest, etc. we also saw the only rhino at scotia, and we even saw two hippos and a crocodile in the water. what was really cool was that we saw about 7 giraffes and one of the them was a baby that was only one day old (however still not that small because giraffes can weigh up to 100kg at birth)! also, we got to see giraffes run and get up from being in a laying position. pretty awkward. most of all we actually saw some lions! we saw a young male and a mom with her cubs from pretty far away (35m), but we also got see two adult males really close up. in fact, the alpha male got up after a few minutes and walked towards our vehicle, laying down literally about five feet away from us! actually, it was pretty scary but at the same time exciting! after our drive, we had dinner again and it was pretty delicious. there was a sweet bonfire, free drinks, and good food, and really friendly people. after dinner, we went back out for the night drive and had quite good luck. we saw many night animals and also saw a few hippos grazing again...on the whole, scotia was really cool and we saw so many animals that it was crazy, but there was something that was a little off about the whole experience. there were almost too many animals and oftentimes it was almost too easy to spot them. the whole thing felt a little more like a zoo at times, whereas our time at lalibela felt like we were really among the animals in the wild. nonetheless, all of the safaris were amazing and i am so grateful to have been able to have that experience! after the drive on sunday night, dani and i just chilled and unfortunately i had to leave the next morning. even though i was leaving there only to begin three and half weeks through europe, i was still so sad to leave. it was so hard to leave dani, knowing that i wouldn't see her again for four months, and it was also really sad to leave africa. in just two weeks, i had fallen in love with the dark continent and her people and i was finding that God was breaking my heart for the african people in a way i never expected...

6. being able to relate. one of the biggest reasons i wanted to go to s.a. in the first place and one of the reasons i am still most grateful for being able to go, was being able to witness pieces of dani's experience. over the past few years, dani and i have come to know each other in a way that is truly unexplainable. we are just dating each other and we aren't just best friends, but in a way we've become life companions. there is something that just feels right when we're together and something that just seems to be missing when we're apart. i know that we are both eternally grateful for our experiences and the opportunities we've had this year and i know that neither of us would change any of it, but even in the midst of all that, it's hard being apart. it's hard having so many life changing experiences and not being able to share them together, and no matter how hard we try and no matter how much we speak to each other about our own experiences, we have to accept that there will still be some things we will never be able to fully understand about the other's experience...with this in mind, i greatly wanted to visit dani and at least see what she's experiencing. being able to see some of the places, meet the people, and hear the stories, has enabled me to understand what she is going through on a completely different level and on a level i never would have understood if i didn't go there. i am truly grateful that i was able to visit her and consequently better relate to the experiences she is having, the people she is meeting, and the things God is teaching her.

7. the african people. finally and most importantly, what stands out most from my time in africa are the people. it was truly amazing to see how the african people live, and how God is breaking my heart for them. this is something that has profoundly affected me and the way i see the world and in many ways, it is something i can't explain. all i can say is that God has been drawing me to africa for quite sometime and i have a feeling that He will continue to bring me back. there is something about the people there that is incredible. it is almost a universal attitude of graciousness, something that far surpasses hospitality and material kindness. it is a profound generosity that reflects the love of Christ. it is an acceptance of God's will and His plan for our lives. it is a way of placing one's trust in God and His peace that surpasses all understanding...in many ways, i see the african people as the people of God. i don't mean to say that they have a priority or a favor with God above everyone else, or that God has chosen them above all other people. i don't mean to say that God loves africa more than He loves america, or india, or england, or mexico, or anywhere else. and i don't mean to say that african people are perfect and don't have their faults. i just mean to say that despite the hardships, the trials, and the tribulations that have become a routine part of everyday life for so many people who live there, an attitude continues to transcend all of this suffering- an attitude of love and peace that reflects the example of Christ. i think in many ways, africa people have a better understanding of what is means to suffer for Christ and in this suffering, what is means to continue to love- to continue to love others, to continue to love God, and to continue to love being alive.
on the whole, as i reflect back on this amazing time and all the experiences i had, i find that throughout my time in africa, there was a constant strand running through all else and that constant was a sense of peace. a peace that only comes from God. and i guess this shouldn't be surprising because in many ways i think africa is the place where God's love and God's peace are most present. it is a place where in the midst of struggle, chaos, and despair, people still find a way to love.

dear lord,
thank you giving me the opportunity to go to africa and to see your face in the people there. thank you for teaching me about love and suffering, about patience and gentleness, kindness and generosity, peace and security. lord, thank you for waking me up this morning and giving me another day. thank you for continuing to love me despite my weaknesses and my insecurities. thank you for giving me the opportunity to love and serve others in your name. thank you for loving me first, so that i may now love you. thank you for teaching me what it means to suffer and what it means to continue to love in the midst of suffering. thank you for continuing to speak to me. i pray that i would continue to listen and i pray that you would continue to draw me closer to you and pull me deeper in your love. i love you, i thank you, and i praise you.

hello again

well, seeing as it's been over two months since the last time i updated my blog, i figured there was no better time than the present...anyways, the second half of last term went well. i really enjoyed going to ireland and northern ireland, and also was able to do a really cool day trip to bath and stonehenge...i did really well in both of my tutorials and actually ended up finishing early (monday of 8th week), so that i could begin my spring break early. as most of you already know we had six weeks off and i was planning on traveling for a good portion of it. the first two weeks i went to south africa to visit dani. then i was back for a day in oxford, before leaving again to meet some friends in eastern europe. we traveled all over europe for about three and half weeks seeing so many different and amazing things. i will never be able to fully explain all my experiences and for many of them, words won't do justice. however, i will try my best to put as much of it into words as i can. i'm sure i will leave out tons of things, but i'm also sure that these experiences will stick with me for the rest of my life, so you will probably find that i continue to bring things up from this trip over the next few months, the next year, the next few years...at the bottom of this entry are a few pictures from the end of last term and then as far as my travels go, i figured i would post two really long blogs- one about my time in africa and the other about my trip in europe...i hope all is well back at home or wherever else you find yourself in the world right now. i miss you and love you all very much.

in peace,
jay

p.s. i hope you all had a wonderful, blessed, peaceful, and relaxing Easter...

long time, no update...

finally, the moment you've all been waiting for...my first real update since the end of november. i apologize for keeping you all in suspense for so long and for being relatively out of contact up until now, but things here have been really hectic..being home for christmas was really nice and i was sad to leave but it's also great to be back here. this term i am really enjoying my work, but i have a ton of it. my primary tutorial is studying the letters of Paul in the New Testament, and my secondary tutorial is on postmodern ethics (philosophy), reading nietzsche, kierkegaard, focault, etc. anyways, both are really interesting, but it's about as much of a contrast as possible. both of my tutorials are really eccentric and the classic kinds of people that you would assume to be oxford tutors. my tutor for Paul is named Dr. John Muddiman; he is very english, very aristocratic, very eccentric, and brilliant. he is pretty much the main guy in oxford for pauline theology and i am convinced he knows the entire new testament by memory. he is also really nice, but it's pretty hard to read him. i can never tell what he thinks about my work and my progress in the tutorial...my other tutor is a shy greek woman named Dr. Pelagia Goulimari. she is also really smart and an expert in what i am studying with her, but she is also really hard to read, and she has fairly awkward social skills (true of most professors here)...overall i like both of my tutorials a lot, even though it's a ton of work, and i like both tutors. however, both do feel a lot more formal and impersonal than my tutorials last term; both of mine this term meet in their offices (as opposed to at their homes)...outside of tutorials, things here are going well. as i'm sure you all know, i went to portugal for a few days before term started in january and then dani came out here and visited for almost two weeks on her way to south africa. it was so great to have her here and it was really sad/hard to see her go. i am really glad she finally got to go and i know that God is already working through her down there and speaking to her in the people she's meeting, but it's still hard not being able to be with her. nonetheless, we had a great time while she was here. we actually got to go to paris for about four days when she first got here and it was absolutely amazing. i loved the city- there was so much to do and see- and it was so fun to be there together. the only down side is that when we got back i had to do work all day almost every day she was in oxford, except for the last few nights in which we went to this really cool spanish restaurant called "kazbar," and saw a really shady movie. then on her last night we went to london and stayed with salter, which was fun. we went to a really, really cool mexican restaurant and then we went to the ice bar. the ice bar is new as of sept. 2005, and it is really pretty cool. it is a bar that is completely made out of ice! the stools, the bar, the glasses, everything except the people and what you drink (the only drinks they have are vodka mixed drinks because the bar is called the Absolute Ice Bar, as in absolute the vodka brand). the bar is also kept at 5 degrees celcius, so they have these special capes and gloves that you have to wear when you go inside. the only thing is that the place is kind of a novelty and tourist spot, so it's pretty expensive. it costs 15 pounds to get in and you have to make a reservation ahead of time. this is really expensive, but with the price you do get the cape and gloves to wear and it includes one free drink at the bar (which considering london, would be at least 6 pounds). so, it is still really expensive, but it's something that's fun and cool to do once....anyways, then dani left on saturday night and i took her to the airport, only to have her almost miss her flight. however, she got there alright and is already getting settled in and really enjoying the university and the people...after a sad goodbye, i came back here and just hung out on sunday and then sunday night there was a big party for the super bowl and one pub stayed open all night to show the game. and even thought the game wasn't that great, it was still a pretty good time...since then i've been back to the books and the library. today i finished a paper and i have a tutorial at 10am, but the awesome part is that when it's over, i am coming back here and packing my bags and then leaving for the airport to go to ireland for the weekend! thursday and friday night we're spending in belfast and then saturday and sunday night in dublin. i am uber excited for what should be a really good time! other than that, i don't think much else has been going on here. i just have been so overwhelmed with work that i haven't felt like i've had enough time to sit down and put a real post on here yet. so sorry for the delay, but finally here it is and hopefully there are still some of you checking this who will try to read it all and leave some sweet comments...i hope all is well back home or wherever you find yourself across the world right now. i miss you all very much and hope to see you sooner than i probably will. i love you all and hope to hear from you soon. peace.

p.s. i have pretty much planned out my entire spring break trip with justin and jeff and all i can say is that it's going to be amazing. i am actually leaving during the last week of term and going to south africa to visit dani for almost two weeks! then i am flying back to london for less than a day, repacking my bags, and then leaving bright and early the next morning and flying to bratislava, slovakia where i'll spend the day and then meet up with jeff and justin in vienna that night. then the three of us are spending the next three and half weeks traveling all over- budapest, munich, prague, berling, copenhagen, sweeden and norway (small hiking towns), amsterdam, brussels, and then will will be back on april 15, the day before easter! so it should be pretty amazing and i am so happy that i will get to see all these amazing places in europe, and get to go visit dani in south africa as well...anyways, that's it for now. talk to you soon.

let's (not) go (to the louvre)

hey everyone! sorry its been a while since i've written. i've been very busy with loads of work from my tutorials. it's hard getting a breath of air in between nietzsche and st. paul, let alone a chance to write a blog. dani is here visiting me for 2 weeks on her way to south africa, which is pretty sweet, but unfortunately she leaves this saturday. last weekend was our anniversary and being that we were together, we decided to go where else, but the city of love.. paris. dani got in saturday morning at 7am. i picked her up from the airport, we ran over to salters with what seemed like 500 pounds of luggage... salter was nice enough to let her leave her bags there while on our trip. We had enough time till our train left to spend the afternoon with him. We ate at wagamama's, an awesome asian/noodle bar. it was my first time in the chunnel, so i didn't know what to expect. needless to say, pretty cool, hassle free, and not as scary as I thought (considering you're traveling below an ocean). once in paris we unloaded our stuff at the awesome and very central apartment we stayed in, and walked down the street for the start of what would be a weekend of great, but expensive french food. (we had enough croque monsiers to feed a small village... and i've never seen a country that likes eggs and cheese so much. they seem to put both of them in just about everything they can). over the course of the weekend we did all the big stuff, plus more- we went to the eiffel tower (both during the day and at night), ice skated on/in the eiffel tower- and the best part was that it was free! we had amazing views and it was uber fun. we also went to the top of the arc de triomph (again sweet views), walked down the champs d'elysse, went to versailles (which is massive to say the least), went to church at notre dame, went to the top of the towers there and saw the famous rose windows and gargoyles, saw the famous and not so grandiose moulin rouge (actually in a sketchy part of town), saw the remnants of bastille, went to the latin quarter to this cool place called barrio latino, and we went to the musee d'orssay. everything seems peachy right? Seems like we got everything in? well untill some rather unfortunate events along the way... in my let's go book it says the louvre is open monday nights till 10pm. thinking that instead of wasting the day and nice weather indoors at the louvre, we decided to go monday night. we get there around 6pm, ask someone where we can buy tickets and he tells us it closed at 5:30. closed?! they are only open wed and fri nights. and the worst part is they don't open on tuesdays (the day we left). so no louvre or mona thanks to the writers of lets go... bummer. on another high note- on our way out of the bastille subway stop some subway regulators (about 7 of them) were standing in our way to exit, checking that everyone had vaidated subway tickets that proved they payed for their ride. Now- the twenty something other times (literally) we had already ridden the subway in this city we never needed our validated tickets exiting, so we had just thrown away our old validated ones. for some reason they were checking them at this particular moment (just our luck). now it doesn't really make sense to me because we had bought 10 packs and had the rest of our unvalidated tickets with us proving we werent jipping the system, but the lady wasn't having it and we got fined 25 euros each. lucky we even had unvalidaded tickets on us because if you didnt have any tickets on you the fine could be up to 70 euros each. so that was a pain, but we tried to not let it ruin our trip. we still had an amazing time, and loved paris. its pretty awesome, and the parisians we came across were nothing like the reputation they generally have towards americans... everyone was nice and some even tried teaching us/bettering the little french we tried...on our way back from paris our train was delayed, but we did get a free sandwhich from this really nice guy working in the restaurant cart of the train...all in all it was an amazing trip and dani and i loved paris. i loved being in the city of love with my lover!

lisboa

so portugal is pretty cool...before i came back to oxford for my second term, i went to portugal for three days, and it was a great trip. we spent the entire time in lisbon (lisboa in portugese), the capital, but did take a day trip one day to sintra. lisbon was like other european capitals in many ways, but was also really unique. it is right on a river and the atlantic ocean, which was gorgeous; there was great architecture, reflecting the same moorish influence as in spain; the weather was nice and relatively warm compared to the rest of europe (low 50's and sunny); the hostel was really cool; and it was just overall a good time. seeing as their aren't a ton of really famous sights to see in lisbon, and really all of portugal for that matter, we were able to see a ton of things. the first day we were there, we saw this really cool castle/park over looking the city, and we explore the old part of town, this cool neighborbood with a lot of character, called the alfama. over the next few days, we walked down the river, saw a few cool churches, a sweet monastery, and some cool towers with awesome lookout points/panaromic views (which i am definetely a sucker for). the day trip to sintra was also really awesome. the town itself wasn't that big or impressive, but we did some hiking up this mountain to a palace and old castle ruins overlooking the ocean, which were gorgeous! overall the trip was awesome, a lot of fun, and i got to see another part of the world that i would not have gone to otherwise. the only things that were decent, not bad but decent, were the food and the hospitality. the food was really average and every night we had small, unfilling, and unsatisfying dinners, which resulted in us going to the hard rock for a second dinner...but that's not all bad...then the only other slight disappoint were the people. in general the portugese are known for not being a very accomodating people, especially to americans who don't know the language, and actually we didn't really have any major problems, but the people just weren't that friendly...nonetheless, it was a great trip and i am really happy i ended up going (if i ever sounded like it wasn't that great in talking about it right after, it's just because i was comparing it to switzerland and i have since learned that that's a terrible idea. don't do it.)....anyways, portugal was really cool and unique and a great welcome back to europe....

a colorado christmas

so, as i'm sure all of you already know, i of course got to go home for christimas and it was quite enjoyable. the skiing was awesome (of which i got to do about 8 times!), it was really nice to be home, and it was great to see friends and family. probably the highlight of the whole break was definetely going to vegas with the pops and gramps! it was so fun to be there and spend time with them, and i am pretty much obsessed with gambling and showing my i.d. so, on the whole it was an incredible bday, tons of fun! christmas was really nice and it was great to be with the whole family at grandma and grandpas for christmas eve. after christmas, it was great to go up to breck and spend the week there with grandma and grandpa and dani too! we had a great time sledding, skiing, watching movies, and playing cards...new year's was pretty laid back but nice to finally get to spend it with dani. then the last week of break was pretty busy, trying to see people and get all packed up again, but i able to go golfing with ty and b one day, go to dinner with mom and sarah, and go to a mammoth game with dad, ty, and duff (thanks hiedi and grant!)...all in all, it was a really nice break and i was happy to be home. leaving was bitter sweet, because i already miss everyone so much from home, but also am loving being back in oxford and getting to see sweet places all over the world....