First/ Last Post for 2008 Trip
So, in case you haven’t noticed I am horrible at blogging, i always forget. 
But, since this is the first AND last blog for the 2008 trip I guess I have a lot to talk about. Hm…
Well I guess the easiest place to start is the work we did on Holy Hill, my favorite place in the entire world. The guys this year didn’t seem as interested in getting to know us at first (or at least that’s how it seemed to me, maybe they were just shy) but by the end of the week all of us and the guys were one big family. The work this year was harder I thought, more manual labor lol and I definitely refined my raking skills, so I can now add that to my resume haha. I don’t know my favorite part about holy hill is always the clients, I like getting to know them, and talking, even though talking was a bit harder this year because not as many people spoke english. I think the best thing for me this year, as opposed to last, was that a few of the clients were younger. The entire team will make fun of me for one thing imparticular, which is a whole other story unto itself, but it was nice having some younger guys there because it was easier for me to connect with them. I got a chance to make some really good friends with the younger guys this year, and I am so excited to come back next year and hopefully see them all in re-entry, or even out living on their own. I have a lot of faith in these guys, they are all really good, sweet, awesome guys, and I honestly believe that they will all succeed tremendously in this program over the next year. We did a lot of work at holy hill, we got a lot done, but we also had a lot of good times along the way, and we all have lots of stories. As always I will miss holy hill the most.
What else? Well I got to see some of my non-holy hill friends while I was here, which was fun and exciting. Hanging out with Deidre and Matej was probably one of the best things i’ve done in the Czech. Mostly I say that because since they both live here I got to just hang out around Karlovy Vary (a city about an hour from Plzen, and half an hour from the German border) and see what it is the locals do. Plus I got to meet a lot of the people that Matej and Deidre hang out with, some very sweet and cool kids. The concert was AMAZING! It was this reggae worship band, which is awesome because they performed at this club in the middle of the city, something that I would next expect in a mostly atheist country. The band played for 3 straight hours, no breaks, and I think that they reached out to a lot of people. The band was also SUPER sweet, they gave me and deidre and matej all free cds, since you can’t buy them in stores. Lots of fun pictures from that night, just got to hang out with some old friends, and meet some new ones, which if you know me then you know that is one of my favorite things to do!
Another big part of this trip was the Friday Club kids, wow they are some cool kids. When we went on Wed. we knew all the kids except for one new girl, and it was so nice to see all the kids faces again! They are always so excited to see us!!! All of them are super sweet, and it was nice to get a chance to talk to them all again and catch up. We also went to the club on Friday (i didn’t get to stay as long as everyone else because we had to catch a bus to K. Vary) and it was packed!!! There were lots of old faces, and also some new ones. All the teens in the club are awesome, Lucas promised he would learn english for next year lol and i promised i would learn some czech (hopefully for real this time). Then there is our three bff’s from the club, those girls are amazing. They met us at church the first sunday, and one was even at church on the last sunday, she said she wasn’t going to let me leave and we could just live in the club and sleep on the couches lol i wish….
I’ve had a lot of people ask me if i’m ready to leave, get back to my friends, my life, graduation, summer, and all of that fun stuff, and honestly the answer is no. If I could stay here for forever I would. I love everything back at home, and don’t get me wrong, I miss everyone like crazy. But at the same time there’s something special here. It’s the guys at holy hill, and service at maranatha, and deidre and matej, and friday club, it’s everything. I’ve done a lot of things back in the states, name almost any club (academic) and i’ve done it, and I can honestly say that nothing compares to this. Hopefully I will come back in July for the language school, I am praying hard about it. At the end of the day I know that at some point in my life I will live here, it might not be soon, probably after college sometime, but I will eventually. I don’t know exactly what it is about the Czech but I just feel called here, I feel more at home here then I do in Frisco sometimes. It’s hard to leave, and I really really really don’t want to. But, it’s time to go back to real life, and I’ll be sad, but I keep reminding myself that I am still going to talk to everyone and e-mail and icq and skype, we won’t lose touch. I miss Czech already.
So, I definitely cannot even get anywhere near describing everything that happened this trip. But, thinking back on it all I don’t even think I could have put it into words at the time it was happening, it’s just something you have to experience, and feel. The Czech is life changing, no doubt, and it’s the hardest, scariest, amazing, and best thing I have ever done. So this is it, my first and last lol post of this trip. You’ll see the pictures, and hear the stories, and read the blogs, but the only way you’ll ever really get it is to be here. (which hopefully more of you will next year!)
But, since this is the first AND last blog for the 2008 trip I guess I have a lot to talk about. Hm…Well I guess the easiest place to start is the work we did on Holy Hill, my favorite place in the entire world. The guys this year didn’t seem as interested in getting to know us at first (or at least that’s how it seemed to me, maybe they were just shy) but by the end of the week all of us and the guys were one big family. The work this year was harder I thought, more manual labor lol and I definitely refined my raking skills, so I can now add that to my resume haha. I don’t know my favorite part about holy hill is always the clients, I like getting to know them, and talking, even though talking was a bit harder this year because not as many people spoke english. I think the best thing for me this year, as opposed to last, was that a few of the clients were younger. The entire team will make fun of me for one thing imparticular, which is a whole other story unto itself, but it was nice having some younger guys there because it was easier for me to connect with them. I got a chance to make some really good friends with the younger guys this year, and I am so excited to come back next year and hopefully see them all in re-entry, or even out living on their own. I have a lot of faith in these guys, they are all really good, sweet, awesome guys, and I honestly believe that they will all succeed tremendously in this program over the next year. We did a lot of work at holy hill, we got a lot done, but we also had a lot of good times along the way, and we all have lots of stories. As always I will miss holy hill the most.
What else? Well I got to see some of my non-holy hill friends while I was here, which was fun and exciting. Hanging out with Deidre and Matej was probably one of the best things i’ve done in the Czech. Mostly I say that because since they both live here I got to just hang out around Karlovy Vary (a city about an hour from Plzen, and half an hour from the German border) and see what it is the locals do. Plus I got to meet a lot of the people that Matej and Deidre hang out with, some very sweet and cool kids. The concert was AMAZING! It was this reggae worship band, which is awesome because they performed at this club in the middle of the city, something that I would next expect in a mostly atheist country. The band played for 3 straight hours, no breaks, and I think that they reached out to a lot of people. The band was also SUPER sweet, they gave me and deidre and matej all free cds, since you can’t buy them in stores. Lots of fun pictures from that night, just got to hang out with some old friends, and meet some new ones, which if you know me then you know that is one of my favorite things to do!
Another big part of this trip was the Friday Club kids, wow they are some cool kids. When we went on Wed. we knew all the kids except for one new girl, and it was so nice to see all the kids faces again! They are always so excited to see us!!! All of them are super sweet, and it was nice to get a chance to talk to them all again and catch up. We also went to the club on Friday (i didn’t get to stay as long as everyone else because we had to catch a bus to K. Vary) and it was packed!!! There were lots of old faces, and also some new ones. All the teens in the club are awesome, Lucas promised he would learn english for next year lol and i promised i would learn some czech (hopefully for real this time). Then there is our three bff’s from the club, those girls are amazing. They met us at church the first sunday, and one was even at church on the last sunday, she said she wasn’t going to let me leave and we could just live in the club and sleep on the couches lol i wish….
I’ve had a lot of people ask me if i’m ready to leave, get back to my friends, my life, graduation, summer, and all of that fun stuff, and honestly the answer is no. If I could stay here for forever I would. I love everything back at home, and don’t get me wrong, I miss everyone like crazy. But at the same time there’s something special here. It’s the guys at holy hill, and service at maranatha, and deidre and matej, and friday club, it’s everything. I’ve done a lot of things back in the states, name almost any club (academic) and i’ve done it, and I can honestly say that nothing compares to this. Hopefully I will come back in July for the language school, I am praying hard about it. At the end of the day I know that at some point in my life I will live here, it might not be soon, probably after college sometime, but I will eventually. I don’t know exactly what it is about the Czech but I just feel called here, I feel more at home here then I do in Frisco sometimes. It’s hard to leave, and I really really really don’t want to. But, it’s time to go back to real life, and I’ll be sad, but I keep reminding myself that I am still going to talk to everyone and e-mail and icq and skype, we won’t lose touch. I miss Czech already.
So, I definitely cannot even get anywhere near describing everything that happened this trip. But, thinking back on it all I don’t even think I could have put it into words at the time it was happening, it’s just something you have to experience, and feel. The Czech is life changing, no doubt, and it’s the hardest, scariest, amazing, and best thing I have ever done. So this is it, my first and last lol post of this trip. You’ll see the pictures, and hear the stories, and read the blogs, but the only way you’ll ever really get it is to be here. (which hopefully more of you will next year!)
Posted by
at
14:38:50
