Getting closer to the #1 favorite moment from my summer adventures this summer. Well, time to continue with now the top 5 starting with #5 and #4.
#5 Just a Normal Conversation
Sitting down Monday thru Thursday with students up to 6, 7 readers sometimes 8 a day and just talking to them about the bible primarily Luke this summer and not only just that but just sitting down and talking about life...you know what's happening outside of the reading sessions and try to understand where their coming from. The culture here in the US is very, very different compared to experiencing living in Europe for 6 weeks. It was a wonderful, eye opening opportunity to get a chance to be a teacher for a month and helping my "students" on how to speak English and get better at it. The students were a joy to work with every work day but a couple of them should out to me that I had a lot of fun to still down and teach. Everyone was good but my two students Dejana and Nada stood out to me the most great time, haha :)
#4 Youth Only
Just a few days before my flight out of Europe I had the opportunity to talk to some of the youth students that go to the church of Christ in Varazdin and the small lesson for the evening talking about being of service to others around you whether you know the person or not. A little bit of the lesson came from where Jesus wash his disciples feet and there was Peter questioning Jesus if he wanted to even take part in this tradition. Then we all wanted to take photos, lot of them and then one big game of spoons (card game) which was VERY popular game after everyone enjoyed themselves at LST game night (party) that me and Rod hosted...by the way I got no letters so did Mladen, haha!
EG3
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Chapter 56: The Road to Croatia Part #4
Continuing the countdown with #7 and #6...
#7: The Past and the Present
In the middle of this summer project when Ray and Laura Estes's Family returned back to Varazdin for about a week was a good week. If I'm not mistaken they were here two summers ago on the same project they might have done something a little bit different...working with the younger kids. Which is what the Estes's were doing outside of Mladen's village this year. This time it featured sort of like a baseball themed camp that the family was working on. This week was a very good week; still had our sessions with the readers...oh and prior to the beginning of this week the church planned a welcome BBQ hanging fort the Estes's return. Our usual LST party was outside I was leading that and then to wrap the week up Rod and myself and lunch with both families Dominic's/Estes's before they (Estes's) traveled back to the US.
#6 Surrounded by Kids
For most of the project in Croatia I had the opportunity to hanging with pretty much most of the neighborhood kids who live a few just few blocks away. Each and every one them probably down the street from the church. I'm not a 100% sure but I should be close. Anyway, whether it was after a work day, a day off, or sometimes in the middle of reading sessions I would be outside and these kids would just enjoy playing and hanging out with each other. Most of the kids after the first time being around them knew my name. With kids there friendly but in this case here they are very friendly. The word "hello" would be the 1st thing that comes out each and every time. And that's how it should be, haha. I even had an chance to tell just a small piece of a story of how I ended up in Croatia when one of the little girl asked me the question.
EG3
#7: The Past and the Present
In the middle of this summer project when Ray and Laura Estes's Family returned back to Varazdin for about a week was a good week. If I'm not mistaken they were here two summers ago on the same project they might have done something a little bit different...working with the younger kids. Which is what the Estes's were doing outside of Mladen's village this year. This time it featured sort of like a baseball themed camp that the family was working on. This week was a very good week; still had our sessions with the readers...oh and prior to the beginning of this week the church planned a welcome BBQ hanging fort the Estes's return. Our usual LST party was outside I was leading that and then to wrap the week up Rod and myself and lunch with both families Dominic's/Estes's before they (Estes's) traveled back to the US.
#6 Surrounded by Kids
For most of the project in Croatia I had the opportunity to hanging with pretty much most of the neighborhood kids who live a few just few blocks away. Each and every one them probably down the street from the church. I'm not a 100% sure but I should be close. Anyway, whether it was after a work day, a day off, or sometimes in the middle of reading sessions I would be outside and these kids would just enjoy playing and hanging out with each other. Most of the kids after the first time being around them knew my name. With kids there friendly but in this case here they are very friendly. The word "hello" would be the 1st thing that comes out each and every time. And that's how it should be, haha. I even had an chance to tell just a small piece of a story of how I ended up in Croatia when one of the little girl asked me the question.
EG3
Monday, July 29, 2013
Chapter 55: The Road to Croatia (Part 3)
For Part 3 and on I will be sharing my favorite moments of the trip in Croatia. There is so much that I remember from the that almost every moment would be #1. I will be telling only Top 10 moments beginning with #10 and working my way towards the best moment in Europe. If you guys have been reading past blogs posts, I have done this before with the semesters last year...even the summer events that happened a year ago. Ok, I'll just get right to it...
Top 10 Favorite Moments: Croatia (Europe) 10, 9, and 8
#10: Castle Time
During the 6 weeks overseas in the country of Croatia our team (Me and Rod) did do some sight seeing...well I did Rod has been there many times I have lost count but I had a chance to see a couple of castles while I was there. One of those castle was right smack in the middle of the city...well almost in the middle. I was told that this particular castle was not too bad but I though it looked pretty decent, haha from the outside. I didn't not go in for the usual look around. The next time, Me and Rod came back to that same castle later on in the 2nd of the project (in Varazdin again) where our readers/friends now Ana, Dejana and her friend Vana basically took us inside the castle for the took. Going into anyone of theses things it is a ton of history inside those castle. Towards the end of project, Yura took me and Rod out to the "real castle" was at up in a city called Trakoscan. Yeah, this was like nearly the real thing I mean this castle was sitting on top of hill, a lake sitting in the back. This like everyone pretty much told me was beautiful...and of course lots and lots of history inside of it. For a bonus the three of (Yura, Rod, and Myself) when into Slovenia for like maybe 10 minutes just to see what they are like and every country is different unlike the US.
#9 LST Party #2 K-State
This might be the first of a couple parties that are in this countdown. God blessed us with just wonderful and awesome parties and I was very happy about each and every one of them. Yes, the K-State one makes the list at #9. I believe this was the second week of the project and Rod came up with this one where we basically talk about the well K-State. A little background story about the university and we also talk the Wabash that takes place of course during K-State athletic games. We did a demonstration to the students/church members that were there that evening and we might have been off a little bit, haha and then so were the people there, lol. To wrap up the night, Me and Rod both showed pics and talked about what we do for K-State.
#8 Spending Time with Readers: Part 1: Vesna
Again on this category here there is at least one more. As I said in the beginning there are so many memories from the trip that stand out. And with one of the readers that I met...well this one was Rod's reader but I met Vesna this summer and hahaha I cannot really come up with one word. Well maybe at least one when I was in Varazdin...mother. Lol, yeah like Vesna told me during pretty much most of the project that she can be the mother while I'm in Croatia. I met her right off the plane when i arrive and when first gotten a chance to know her I thought she was one of the leaders or a spokesperson for the church. Didn't really turn out that way but she likes the program of LST. Yeah, I have a few stories when Me and Rod had a chance to hangout with her in the city but I will tell this mini story so eating dinner on the first night in town me, Mladen, Rod, and Vesna everybody is eating soup except me I wanted some more than that I just came off the plane and I was hungry. Wanted something more solid, anyway besides soup everyone got what they order and I got a huge pizza with everything on it. Vesna was not that excited about my decision and made fun of me through out the project about it in a good way. Vesna would encourage me to try some...MOST of the food that she made too. I need to try other food which I did by the way. I would probably get tired of pizza after maybe two weeks, haha maybe.
To Be Continued...
EG3
Top 10 Favorite Moments: Croatia (Europe) 10, 9, and 8
#10: Castle Time
During the 6 weeks overseas in the country of Croatia our team (Me and Rod) did do some sight seeing...well I did Rod has been there many times I have lost count but I had a chance to see a couple of castles while I was there. One of those castle was right smack in the middle of the city...well almost in the middle. I was told that this particular castle was not too bad but I though it looked pretty decent, haha from the outside. I didn't not go in for the usual look around. The next time, Me and Rod came back to that same castle later on in the 2nd of the project (in Varazdin again) where our readers/friends now Ana, Dejana and her friend Vana basically took us inside the castle for the took. Going into anyone of theses things it is a ton of history inside those castle. Towards the end of project, Yura took me and Rod out to the "real castle" was at up in a city called Trakoscan. Yeah, this was like nearly the real thing I mean this castle was sitting on top of hill, a lake sitting in the back. This like everyone pretty much told me was beautiful...and of course lots and lots of history inside of it. For a bonus the three of (Yura, Rod, and Myself) when into Slovenia for like maybe 10 minutes just to see what they are like and every country is different unlike the US.
#9 LST Party #2 K-State
This might be the first of a couple parties that are in this countdown. God blessed us with just wonderful and awesome parties and I was very happy about each and every one of them. Yes, the K-State one makes the list at #9. I believe this was the second week of the project and Rod came up with this one where we basically talk about the well K-State. A little background story about the university and we also talk the Wabash that takes place of course during K-State athletic games. We did a demonstration to the students/church members that were there that evening and we might have been off a little bit, haha and then so were the people there, lol. To wrap up the night, Me and Rod both showed pics and talked about what we do for K-State.
#8 Spending Time with Readers: Part 1: Vesna
Again on this category here there is at least one more. As I said in the beginning there are so many memories from the trip that stand out. And with one of the readers that I met...well this one was Rod's reader but I met Vesna this summer and hahaha I cannot really come up with one word. Well maybe at least one when I was in Varazdin...mother. Lol, yeah like Vesna told me during pretty much most of the project that she can be the mother while I'm in Croatia. I met her right off the plane when i arrive and when first gotten a chance to know her I thought she was one of the leaders or a spokesperson for the church. Didn't really turn out that way but she likes the program of LST. Yeah, I have a few stories when Me and Rod had a chance to hangout with her in the city but I will tell this mini story so eating dinner on the first night in town me, Mladen, Rod, and Vesna everybody is eating soup except me I wanted some more than that I just came off the plane and I was hungry. Wanted something more solid, anyway besides soup everyone got what they order and I got a huge pizza with everything on it. Vesna was not that excited about my decision and made fun of me through out the project about it in a good way. Vesna would encourage me to try some...MOST of the food that she made too. I need to try other food which I did by the way. I would probably get tired of pizza after maybe two weeks, haha maybe.
To Be Continued...
EG3
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Chapter #54 The Road To Croatia Part #2
Continuing the recap of my summer mission trip to Croatia...
So landing finally in the country of Croatia first coming to a stop in the capital city of Zagreb for about an hour before completing the trip heading towards my destination of Varazdin. I'm mean just the scenery looked around the city felt a whole lot different. Me and my teammate for this mission trip Rod came off the plane meeting Mladen the pastor of the church one there and one of Rod's readers who came last summer Vesna.
To wrap up kind of a long flight over from the US to the states the third leg of the trip was a little bit rowdy, lol. Sitting not all the way in the back but close to back where I can hear all of the little ones (babies) I guess taking care of business in a funny way...
Back to the scenery, well I didn't think that countries would have their own highways but they do, lol. There is maybe a sight difference with the highways in Croatia than in the states and then of course you got the language which is Croatian. The first few weeks of the trip I had ice cream. Haha, no I didn't just have ice cream, I had gelato which is just a bit different from ice cream but hey it is still ice cream same thing. Also, with that I met the rest of Mladen's family during the rest of the first week there. I was pretty active trying to get used to living in whole different country.
The readers that I gotten a chance to work with with on this project this summer were really good. It was a blessing to have the chance to get to know all of my readers, work with them and have the opportunity to get to know them outside of the reading sessions as well. I enjoy my time with all of them. I started off with about 13 readers some of them made it all the way until the end of some others just waited until the fall for another chance to work on their English. To wrap this part of the trip up here are the names of some of the my readers that work with in Croatia.
Readers and Shoutouts to...
Dejana
Nada
Dario
Dubravka
Mladen F.
Natasha
Ivanka
Jasmika
Ljubimka
Goran
Valentina
Vanja
*EG3
(To Be Continued)
So landing finally in the country of Croatia first coming to a stop in the capital city of Zagreb for about an hour before completing the trip heading towards my destination of Varazdin. I'm mean just the scenery looked around the city felt a whole lot different. Me and my teammate for this mission trip Rod came off the plane meeting Mladen the pastor of the church one there and one of Rod's readers who came last summer Vesna.
To wrap up kind of a long flight over from the US to the states the third leg of the trip was a little bit rowdy, lol. Sitting not all the way in the back but close to back where I can hear all of the little ones (babies) I guess taking care of business in a funny way...
Back to the scenery, well I didn't think that countries would have their own highways but they do, lol. There is maybe a sight difference with the highways in Croatia than in the states and then of course you got the language which is Croatian. The first few weeks of the trip I had ice cream. Haha, no I didn't just have ice cream, I had gelato which is just a bit different from ice cream but hey it is still ice cream same thing. Also, with that I met the rest of Mladen's family during the rest of the first week there. I was pretty active trying to get used to living in whole different country.
The readers that I gotten a chance to work with with on this project this summer were really good. It was a blessing to have the chance to get to know all of my readers, work with them and have the opportunity to get to know them outside of the reading sessions as well. I enjoy my time with all of them. I started off with about 13 readers some of them made it all the way until the end of some others just waited until the fall for another chance to work on their English. To wrap this part of the trip up here are the names of some of the my readers that work with in Croatia.
Readers and Shoutouts to...
Dejana
Nada
Dario
Dubravka
Mladen F.
Natasha
Ivanka
Jasmika
Ljubimka
Goran
Valentina
Vanja
*EG3
(To Be Continued)
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Chapter #53 The Road to Croatia (Part 1)
It has been a while folks, but I'm back this time from a much different location. I'm sitting in the church office here Varadzin, Croatia where I have been on this project called Let's Start Talking for nearly a month now. Yes, that is in Europe a much different country than the US. This will be the first of 4 posts from this trip as I begin to approach the end of the project here in Europe which has definitely been really awesome experience so far. But I will start from the beginning and I guess go from there...
About 10 days after classes at K-State ended for me, I was about to be on my way out of the country, to a different place where I haven't been. At this point I'm way, way in over my head, lol. Getting ready to leave was the toughest part I think because there was a few things that I was uncertain at the time and some final decisions had to be made.
The first mark was going to Kansas City, MO where Lane Mills one of the elder's from the church that I go to took our KSU Team which is myself and teammate Rod Howell who has been to many of these types of international projects made one stop to get something eat and then ended up at the airport.
Got to the airport 2 hours early exactly how we planned it. From there got on the plane and had to wait almost an hour delay because of some mechanical issue. Kansas City International and myself don't really get along well, haha. Why, 2 summers ago on my very 1st flight on an airplane the delay was 2 hours because it was raining very heavily at the time and I still remember all of us being on the plane ready to takeoff and all of a sudden it pours and I kind of start to freak out inside.
Now this the second time flying on the plane and I have to say that I'm still not comfortable being high up in the air but I was much, much calmer. We finally left KC and took off toward Chicago. And we landed in Chicago after just hour of the plane ride.
The next mark was going to be the longest one yet. In Chicago, Illinois at the O'Hare International Airport for about 2 hours getting prepared for my 1st international trip out of the US I didn't realize airport had bigger plane or I should say "space" on these types of flights. And, man when I got on this German airplane to get ready to fly on out to Germany where my next stop is I was pretty amazed at the plane itself. Off I flew into the night and out the US where I'm about to embark on history.
*To Be Continued
EG3
About 10 days after classes at K-State ended for me, I was about to be on my way out of the country, to a different place where I haven't been. At this point I'm way, way in over my head, lol. Getting ready to leave was the toughest part I think because there was a few things that I was uncertain at the time and some final decisions had to be made.
The first mark was going to Kansas City, MO where Lane Mills one of the elder's from the church that I go to took our KSU Team which is myself and teammate Rod Howell who has been to many of these types of international projects made one stop to get something eat and then ended up at the airport.
Got to the airport 2 hours early exactly how we planned it. From there got on the plane and had to wait almost an hour delay because of some mechanical issue. Kansas City International and myself don't really get along well, haha. Why, 2 summers ago on my very 1st flight on an airplane the delay was 2 hours because it was raining very heavily at the time and I still remember all of us being on the plane ready to takeoff and all of a sudden it pours and I kind of start to freak out inside.
Now this the second time flying on the plane and I have to say that I'm still not comfortable being high up in the air but I was much, much calmer. We finally left KC and took off toward Chicago. And we landed in Chicago after just hour of the plane ride.
The next mark was going to be the longest one yet. In Chicago, Illinois at the O'Hare International Airport for about 2 hours getting prepared for my 1st international trip out of the US I didn't realize airport had bigger plane or I should say "space" on these types of flights. And, man when I got on this German airplane to get ready to fly on out to Germany where my next stop is I was pretty amazed at the plane itself. Off I flew into the night and out the US where I'm about to embark on history.
*To Be Continued
EG3
Monday, May 20, 2013
Chapter #52 Closing In On Big Time Goal; Mission International
Well, folks my last "full" year of college at Kansas State has come to a close. Just one semester is left standing between me and getting my second college degree and then some in the state of Kansas. What a journey it has been for me school wise I can taste the end. I really didn't see college on my radar screen and now coming up to this point I can see the end of my college career. It will all come to a close in December, lord willing. I still got a monster summer right around the corner some 7 days from now. A lot of things happen new things, new friends, relationships getting more closer and closer things of that nature. Hopefully during the summer I can recap my favorite moments just I like did for the fall semester but my hands will be full. I can't wait see what God has in store. Now, that finals are done and at the rear view mirror it's time to take on the next stage. Clearly, I think this is the big challenge for me, more so than Juneau just two summers ago.
Preview: Croatia
For those of you who are wondering, yes I will be keeping this blog updated on my mission trip to Varazdin, Croatia. Even though I have not been up to date with blogging much, I will be keeping tabs this summer...this is one again through an organization called Let's Start Talking program (LST). I will be leaving the Untied States for the 1st time of a little over a month until July 8th before I head back to the states. Then afterward I'm planning on going back to Juneau for some down time with friends from two years ago. It will all start next Monday afternoon, oh man! A lot of things are going through my mind now with this trip and even some other stuff outside of it. Juneau still to this point has been the best trip but I'm anxious to see how this summer cards unfold. For some reason I feel like I'm prepared with all the training from LST to go over there and do God's work. The next I post about this I will be in another country, Europe...
This is the second time flying so and I'm going over there with my teammate Rod Howell who have been to a lot these LST trips. Do I have a game plan not really but I do know what to do, once I have arrive in Europe will see how the cards fall. Some of the anxious part is just getting over and meeting the readers that I'm going to be helping for the next 6 weeks, looking forward to it. Pray for our trip over to Europe and also keep praying for other things like what happen down in Moore/OKC, other people who are traveling just keep those folks in mind. Time to take on this challenge...
Stay Cool,
EG3
Preview: Croatia
For those of you who are wondering, yes I will be keeping this blog updated on my mission trip to Varazdin, Croatia. Even though I have not been up to date with blogging much, I will be keeping tabs this summer...this is one again through an organization called Let's Start Talking program (LST). I will be leaving the Untied States for the 1st time of a little over a month until July 8th before I head back to the states. Then afterward I'm planning on going back to Juneau for some down time with friends from two years ago. It will all start next Monday afternoon, oh man! A lot of things are going through my mind now with this trip and even some other stuff outside of it. Juneau still to this point has been the best trip but I'm anxious to see how this summer cards unfold. For some reason I feel like I'm prepared with all the training from LST to go over there and do God's work. The next I post about this I will be in another country, Europe...
This is the second time flying so and I'm going over there with my teammate Rod Howell who have been to a lot these LST trips. Do I have a game plan not really but I do know what to do, once I have arrive in Europe will see how the cards fall. Some of the anxious part is just getting over and meeting the readers that I'm going to be helping for the next 6 weeks, looking forward to it. Pray for our trip over to Europe and also keep praying for other things like what happen down in Moore/OKC, other people who are traveling just keep those folks in mind. Time to take on this challenge...
Stay Cool,
EG3
Monday, May 6, 2013
Chapter #51: May Change
This month is suppose to be a month of change...well at the very least the weather. The first week in a half already I've have seen my share of cold weather. You know it's funny because we are in the spring season and the folks out here in the middle of Kansas (almost) are getting for the summer with trips, jobs, other activities and so forth. Being in the state of Kansas for almost now 5 years coming up in a week and a half, yes for some reason I've gotten used to this burial cold weather now but for some odd reason it's STILL cold in Manhattan...for now. But things should get warmed up really soon. With that been said, things for me are about to come to a reality; my last full year at Kansas State coming to a close with a semester remaining plus embarking on another summer journey I mean things are about to get crazy in a good way. More to come in the upcoming weeks about my adventure but for now I just need to be in the moment and focus on the now and to finish the year on a strong note. Seems to be my strong point anyway. Taking half the credit hours turned out to workout for the best for me. And I have made things a lot easier for myself getting enrolled in my last 9 hours of classes this August. Still got some work to do not much at far the fall semester of 2013 goes but everything it looking good. I never thought I would be saying this but I'm getting closer, and closer to another graduation. About another 7 months. I can start the countdown after this semester wraps up on May 18th.
Stay Cool,
EG3
Stay Cool,
EG3
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