It's Sunday afternoon and orientation weekend has been great!
My ten American teammates are awesome people and I'm feeling extremely blessed to be able to serve alongside such a great and loving group. I'll probably talk more in detail about them later, but on my team is Kelsey, Lori, Alex M., Lauren, Allie, Jeremy, Erika, Dan, Sonja, and our leader, Ed. We've had a lot of fun hanging out together, preparing, praying and worshipping. I cannot wait to get to know these people better. They are all so passionate, encouraging, and easy to connect with. There has been a lot of talk and prayer about group unity, and it is forming very quickly! Now I'm really excited to meet the 8 Namibian folks that will be joining us!
Sorry I don't have any pictures of the group yet! I will make sure I take plenty.
So, half the team just took the shuttle to the airport, but the rest of us don't leave for a few more hours. Tonight at 11 I get on a plane. Tomorrow morning I'll be in London. Hopefully we can leave the airport and see experience a little British culture! I'd really like to have an opportunity to sing a few lines of "Chim-chim-cheree" or "Step in Time" in the city. Then tomorrow night I'm flying alone to Johannesburg, and Tuesday morning I'll meet back up with some of the team again for our last leg of the trip from South Africa up to Windhoek, Namibia.
Since I'm on a different middle flight than the other 4 folks going to London first, I've got a shorter layover in South Africa than they do and I might be cutting some things close. A quick prayer for that would be much appreciated!
Anyway, depending on when I'm near an internet cafe updates might not come too often. Once we get to Namibia, we'll be staying a few days getting oriented at a camp in Okahandja, and then we'll be splitting up into two teams for two weeks. My team will be in Otjiwarongo. I'm not totally sure what exactly we'll be doing, but it will be a whole lot of different things. Once we get to Namibia we'll have a much better idea of what kind of work we'll be doing.
Anyway, that's it for now. Hope everyone's doing well!
In two days I'll be in Africa! Ridiculous!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
It's Time
I really love this song.
I think it might be my personal theme for the trip.
It's time.
I'm off to D.C.!
I think it might be my personal theme for the trip.
It's time.
I'm off to D.C.!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
T-minus 10...9...8...
Well, I don't know if I ever really thought this day would come, but tomorrow my African adventure really begins.
Mom and I are driving to D.C. in the morning, where I'll be having a weekend of orientation before flying across the pond on Sunday night. It's pretty cool that the departure point in America is the Capital; I haven't been in probably seven or eight years.
I'm feeling pretty calm but very excited at the moment. I really have no idea what emotions I might feel over the next few days, but it will probably be a roller coaster of excitment, fear, joy and nervousness. At the moment, I'm especially excited to meet my team tomorrow, the ten other people from all over the states who I'll be doing almost everything with for the next month and a half.
It's very cool to look back at the last six months and see how while originally I became connected to this trip through design opportunities, that is now just going to be a small part of my time in Namibia. Doing design work is something that I know. It's safe, comfortable. That's why I was pulled in. But once I committed, the opportunities grew and evolved and now I'll be doing a whole lot that is uncomfortable. Talking to students at schools, visiting AIDS patients, ministering to students at the University are just some of those things. And the craziest part is that somehow I'm okay with that, and although I'm nervous, I see how God showed up to get me here and because of that I'm stoked!
I don't know how often I'll be able to blog while in Africa. Hopefully I'll be able to, and we'll see about posting pictures. Whatever the case, I got a sweet new notebook at Target this morning and will be writing in that often and taking pictures constantly.
You're all great. I can't wait to share this adventure with all of you!
Mom and I are driving to D.C. in the morning, where I'll be having a weekend of orientation before flying across the pond on Sunday night. It's pretty cool that the departure point in America is the Capital; I haven't been in probably seven or eight years.
I'm feeling pretty calm but very excited at the moment. I really have no idea what emotions I might feel over the next few days, but it will probably be a roller coaster of excitment, fear, joy and nervousness. At the moment, I'm especially excited to meet my team tomorrow, the ten other people from all over the states who I'll be doing almost everything with for the next month and a half.
It's very cool to look back at the last six months and see how while originally I became connected to this trip through design opportunities, that is now just going to be a small part of my time in Namibia. Doing design work is something that I know. It's safe, comfortable. That's why I was pulled in. But once I committed, the opportunities grew and evolved and now I'll be doing a whole lot that is uncomfortable. Talking to students at schools, visiting AIDS patients, ministering to students at the University are just some of those things. And the craziest part is that somehow I'm okay with that, and although I'm nervous, I see how God showed up to get me here and because of that I'm stoked!
I don't know how often I'll be able to blog while in Africa. Hopefully I'll be able to, and we'll see about posting pictures. Whatever the case, I got a sweet new notebook at Target this morning and will be writing in that often and taking pictures constantly.
You're all great. I can't wait to share this adventure with all of you!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Holy Crap
...I'm going to Africa in three weeks.
Now that the quarter's ending, it's starting to hit me like a wall. I'm feeling very unprepared and unqualified.
But I am willing.
Now that the quarter's ending, it's starting to hit me like a wall. I'm feeling very unprepared and unqualified.
But I am willing.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Thirst
I feel pretty good right now.
Better than good, I feel pretty amazing.
My Africa fundraising has been extremely encouraging. Last week I realized I was counting on myself way too much to make this happen. Since then I've been trying to just trust God to provide, not me. Not that I can sit back and watch. I still have to work, too, but the weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I've been awesomely blessed.
I have a lot of big stuff coming in the next year. I'll have a lot of huge, life-changing decisions to make.
That should and normally would be scary and intimidating for me, but it isn't. I'm thankful for the peace and solid foundation I'm feeling right now. I can't say how long this feeling will last, but while I'm working on building a rock-solid base, the decisions I'll be making and the paths my life could take are all exciting possibilities. The decisions aren't really mine to make anyway.
I want so much to be filled, but before I can be filled, I need to experience my thirst.
I want to be thirsty.
I want to be filled.
. . .
Friday morning I bought my plane ticket to Namibia.
All of a sudden, this is very real.
Here we go.
Better than good, I feel pretty amazing.
My Africa fundraising has been extremely encouraging. Last week I realized I was counting on myself way too much to make this happen. Since then I've been trying to just trust God to provide, not me. Not that I can sit back and watch. I still have to work, too, but the weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I've been awesomely blessed.
I have a lot of big stuff coming in the next year. I'll have a lot of huge, life-changing decisions to make.
That should and normally would be scary and intimidating for me, but it isn't. I'm thankful for the peace and solid foundation I'm feeling right now. I can't say how long this feeling will last, but while I'm working on building a rock-solid base, the decisions I'll be making and the paths my life could take are all exciting possibilities. The decisions aren't really mine to make anyway.
I want so much to be filled, but before I can be filled, I need to experience my thirst.
I want to be thirsty.
I want to be filled.
. . .
Friday morning I bought my plane ticket to Namibia.
All of a sudden, this is very real.
Here we go.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Over the Rooftops!
This past weekend was my last in The City (for now), so I definitely wanted to make the most of it. Luckily, it was one of the best weekends yet.
Friday night I decided I really needed to see Slumdog Millionaire while it was still in theaters, so from work I went up to the AMC in Times Square (one of the few theaters still showing it). I grabbed some quick and delicious hot dogs on the sidewalk then went in to see if it deserves its spot on the pillars of the Kodak Theater.
As I was told I would, I definitely thought the movie was great. I loved the framing of the story around the interrogation. The acting was top-notch, too, especially from the young kids at the beginning. Of course any movie that ends with a dance sequence and awesomely designed closing credits is sweet in my book.
Wouldn't it be fun if the movie inspired abc to bring back Regis and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in primetime? I'd watch sometimes.
Saturday morning Joan and I went to Times Square to try and score lottery tickets to the new West Side Story revival. It wasn't to be, however, so we took the subway down to the financial district and checked out Trinity Church before making our way over to the South Street Seaport, an area I can see from work in Brooklyn and have wanted to go, mostly because of the sight of old ships.
As we walked through the area, I was amazed at how cool it was. Cobblestone streets, old brick buildings. This is the kind of historic city area that I love. Walking through here was like stepping back into the early 1800s, as long as you keep your distance from the Gap, Abercrombie and Sharper Image, that is.
Looks like it could actually be an old photograph, doesn't it? Nah, I took it myself on Saturday. Isn't it wonderful what a minute of photoshop can do?
Joan and I had lunch outside in the sun on the pier. It wasn't super warm, but it was warm enough for a lot of people to eat outside. It felt great, and gave me a little taste of how amazing it must be here in the Spring.
The rest of Saturday consisted of some hanging out in Prospect Park back in Brooklyn, a delicious dinner at Joan's apartment with Gabe and Dan, all of us playing a few hands of Bananagrams, and watching "Big." I was surprised I actually stayed up for the whole thing, but it is a great movie. Unfortunately though, this time while I was watching, I couldn't stop thinking of how messed up both of the main characters were going to be after living through the events of the movie. It would definitely take a lot of psychiatric help to resolve all their issues.
Sunday, Mom flew in for the day! She got in around 10:30, and we headed off to Chelsea Market, someplace I knew she'd love. We found out it used to be an old Nabisco factory, and the market has only existed for about 10 years, which was a surprise. It is so cool. Mom ate what she said was some of the best Lobster Bisque she's ever had, and I had a delicious cup of Chicken Pot Pie Soup. Mmmm.
From there, we took the subway up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, another place I was sure Mom would love. The museum is pretty ridiculous. It is all so well-kept with some incredible pieces. We took about half of a free museum highlights tour, then ducked out to join an Old Masters tour, which is some of my Mom's favorite work. Our tour guides in both cases were older New Yorker men with great accents. I actually learned a lot and was shown some great paintings on the Old Masters tour.
We also checked out a few other things, like some of the American Landscape paintings. Those are some of my favorites. There's just not much more artistically impressive to me than a beautiful mountain perfectly painted.
From the museum, Mom and I had a fun Italian dinner at Carmines on 44th and ended up with a huge amount of leftovers. From there, it was time for the Theater!
We walked over to the New Amsterdam Theatre, the theater Disney owns. Apparently the theater sat vacant, decaying and falling apart for something like 15 or 20 years before Disney bought the historic property in 1993 and began their renovation.
The renovation work is pretty amazing. You can see some before and after pictures here.
So how was Mary Poppins? Well, there's really only one word to describe it...
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. There you go, enjoy my cheesy-ness.
I love the self-awareness of Mary's comment at the beginning of that song, "Of course it's a word, and unless I'm very much mistaken I think it's going to prove a rather useful one."
Truly though, Mary Poppins is an amazing show. The music, the performances, the sets, are all awesome. Don't even get me started about the theatrics and effects of it all. I knew most of what was going to happen before I saw the show, and I was still very, very impressed. Even knowing as much as I did, I was still surprised by a lot and even got chills during a few scenes, including one involving Mr. Banks and the children near the end of the show. And the entire "Step in Time" scene above the rooftops of London has got to be the greatest dance sequence I've ever seen.
I won't go into any details about what magic stuff actually does happen in the show, because I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but it really is all great. Our Mary and Bert were absolutely fantastic. During the bows, Mom and I rose to our feet from our seats in the front row of the mezzanine when Bert ran out, while most of the rest of the audience stayed sitting. The lady behind us said "Down in Front!" but one second later, the whole audience was standing as Mary came out for her bow.
Normally, I try to avoid doing things that take away from other peoples experiences at shows and theme parks and whatnot, but look lady, your kid was kicking the back of my seat during the entire show. I'll give my standing ovation to whoever the hell I want to.
The actor playing Bert just seemed to be having the time of his life in the role, and rightfully so, considering all that Bert gets to do in the show. In fact, seeing Mary Poppins made me want to be Bert. Not really play Bert in a musical or anything, but to actually be him.
You know, I think good Digital Designers are actually a lot like Bert...but that's a conversation for another time. I do think I'll make a great Bert on some future Halloween, though.
After the show, Mom and I went down to the basement of the theater to see this beautiful room called "The New Amsterdam Room." I'd expect it's used for special events and parties, and anytime Bob Iger is in town. Here's a shot of the amazing ceiling in the room. As you can see, since the renovation it's pretty awesome. It's nice to know Disney is capable of doing some really classy, good things in the world.
Good work, Disney.
As you can see, my last weekend in New York was a great one, topped off with what was probably the best show I've seen during my time here, Mary Poppins. The first few days of this week have had significant events themselves, but I'll save that for later.
For now, have a great week, everyone! I look forward to seeing many of you soon back in the Nati!
Friday night I decided I really needed to see Slumdog Millionaire while it was still in theaters, so from work I went up to the AMC in Times Square (one of the few theaters still showing it). I grabbed some quick and delicious hot dogs on the sidewalk then went in to see if it deserves its spot on the pillars of the Kodak Theater.
As I was told I would, I definitely thought the movie was great. I loved the framing of the story around the interrogation. The acting was top-notch, too, especially from the young kids at the beginning. Of course any movie that ends with a dance sequence and awesomely designed closing credits is sweet in my book.
Wouldn't it be fun if the movie inspired abc to bring back Regis and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in primetime? I'd watch sometimes.
Saturday morning Joan and I went to Times Square to try and score lottery tickets to the new West Side Story revival. It wasn't to be, however, so we took the subway down to the financial district and checked out Trinity Church before making our way over to the South Street Seaport, an area I can see from work in Brooklyn and have wanted to go, mostly because of the sight of old ships.
As we walked through the area, I was amazed at how cool it was. Cobblestone streets, old brick buildings. This is the kind of historic city area that I love. Walking through here was like stepping back into the early 1800s, as long as you keep your distance from the Gap, Abercrombie and Sharper Image, that is.
Looks like it could actually be an old photograph, doesn't it? Nah, I took it myself on Saturday. Isn't it wonderful what a minute of photoshop can do?
Joan and I had lunch outside in the sun on the pier. It wasn't super warm, but it was warm enough for a lot of people to eat outside. It felt great, and gave me a little taste of how amazing it must be here in the Spring.
The rest of Saturday consisted of some hanging out in Prospect Park back in Brooklyn, a delicious dinner at Joan's apartment with Gabe and Dan, all of us playing a few hands of Bananagrams, and watching "Big." I was surprised I actually stayed up for the whole thing, but it is a great movie. Unfortunately though, this time while I was watching, I couldn't stop thinking of how messed up both of the main characters were going to be after living through the events of the movie. It would definitely take a lot of psychiatric help to resolve all their issues.
Sunday, Mom flew in for the day! She got in around 10:30, and we headed off to Chelsea Market, someplace I knew she'd love. We found out it used to be an old Nabisco factory, and the market has only existed for about 10 years, which was a surprise. It is so cool. Mom ate what she said was some of the best Lobster Bisque she's ever had, and I had a delicious cup of Chicken Pot Pie Soup. Mmmm.
From there, we took the subway up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, another place I was sure Mom would love. The museum is pretty ridiculous. It is all so well-kept with some incredible pieces. We took about half of a free museum highlights tour, then ducked out to join an Old Masters tour, which is some of my Mom's favorite work. Our tour guides in both cases were older New Yorker men with great accents. I actually learned a lot and was shown some great paintings on the Old Masters tour.
We also checked out a few other things, like some of the American Landscape paintings. Those are some of my favorites. There's just not much more artistically impressive to me than a beautiful mountain perfectly painted.
From the museum, Mom and I had a fun Italian dinner at Carmines on 44th and ended up with a huge amount of leftovers. From there, it was time for the Theater!
We walked over to the New Amsterdam Theatre, the theater Disney owns. Apparently the theater sat vacant, decaying and falling apart for something like 15 or 20 years before Disney bought the historic property in 1993 and began their renovation.
The renovation work is pretty amazing. You can see some before and after pictures here.
So how was Mary Poppins? Well, there's really only one word to describe it...
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. There you go, enjoy my cheesy-ness.
I love the self-awareness of Mary's comment at the beginning of that song, "Of course it's a word, and unless I'm very much mistaken I think it's going to prove a rather useful one."
Truly though, Mary Poppins is an amazing show. The music, the performances, the sets, are all awesome. Don't even get me started about the theatrics and effects of it all. I knew most of what was going to happen before I saw the show, and I was still very, very impressed. Even knowing as much as I did, I was still surprised by a lot and even got chills during a few scenes, including one involving Mr. Banks and the children near the end of the show. And the entire "Step in Time" scene above the rooftops of London has got to be the greatest dance sequence I've ever seen.
I won't go into any details about what magic stuff actually does happen in the show, because I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but it really is all great. Our Mary and Bert were absolutely fantastic. During the bows, Mom and I rose to our feet from our seats in the front row of the mezzanine when Bert ran out, while most of the rest of the audience stayed sitting. The lady behind us said "Down in Front!" but one second later, the whole audience was standing as Mary came out for her bow.
Normally, I try to avoid doing things that take away from other peoples experiences at shows and theme parks and whatnot, but look lady, your kid was kicking the back of my seat during the entire show. I'll give my standing ovation to whoever the hell I want to.
The actor playing Bert just seemed to be having the time of his life in the role, and rightfully so, considering all that Bert gets to do in the show. In fact, seeing Mary Poppins made me want to be Bert. Not really play Bert in a musical or anything, but to actually be him.
You know, I think good Digital Designers are actually a lot like Bert...but that's a conversation for another time. I do think I'll make a great Bert on some future Halloween, though.
After the show, Mom and I went down to the basement of the theater to see this beautiful room called "The New Amsterdam Room." I'd expect it's used for special events and parties, and anytime Bob Iger is in town. Here's a shot of the amazing ceiling in the room. As you can see, since the renovation it's pretty awesome. It's nice to know Disney is capable of doing some really classy, good things in the world.
Good work, Disney.
As you can see, my last weekend in New York was a great one, topped off with what was probably the best show I've seen during my time here, Mary Poppins. The first few days of this week have had significant events themselves, but I'll save that for later.
For now, have a great week, everyone! I look forward to seeing many of you soon back in the Nati!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A Stack of Playbills
I have a week left in New York, and as I look back on the quarter I've spent here, I can't help but ask myself one question.
Has this quarter amounted to more than a stack of Playbills?
There are a lot of things I wanted to do this quarter that didn't happen, namely volunteering and connecting to both a community and the city itself. Those things happened fairly easily and naturally in Los Angeles, so I just expected the same here. Well, that just wasn't the case.
On the other hand, there were plenty of things I hadn't planned on. For one, I've been able to spend time building friendships with some great people I didn't know well before this quarter, like my fellow Cincy co-ops Joan and Drew, and Amber, my LA roommate Garrett's older sister (She made me dinner last night, it was very delicious and fun!). With the case of Joan and Drew, I'm looking forward to spending some time with them both next quarter when school starts, and I will definitely be staying in touch with Amber to keep her updated on my time in Africa.
Somehow, I've actually kept The Good Morning Experiment going every single day I've walked to work for the last three weeks. I've gotten the whole range of responses, from big smiles and a "Hey, how's it going?" to people completely ignoring me. So far I don't think I've actually seen anyone twice, but it has been great to walk to work with a goal in mind, so much more perceptive of the people around me. Even when I'm feeling worn out or empty myself, saying good morning to someone and getting a happy response gives me a jolt of energy. I hope for at least some people, my good mornings do the same for them.
Losing my wallet, I was forced to rely on other people and I got a taste of what it is truly like to have no money for a while. If I had forgotten to ask Dan to borrow some money for the subway, I don't know how I would've gotten to or from work. What do people do when they don't have anyone to help them out? Maybe I shouldn't be so resistant to give people money in this city. Sure, sometimes they'll just use it to get high, but sometimes they might actually need it.
In any case, something amazing happened. Prayers were answered. The person who found my lost wallet actually returned it. There really are unbelievably good people in New York City. Who would have thought?
Tonight after work it was something like 55 degrees outside and I didn't have anywhere I needed to rush to, so I decided to walk down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park at the end of the street. As I looked across the river at the lights of downtown, I actually thought to myself, hey, I really do like it here. I've survived winter in New York. The toughest time of the year to live here. I could do this.
The other night on the phone, Nate asked me if I thought I'd miss New York. It was a weird question to hear because it really wasn't something I'd thought about. I don't know when it'll hit me, or why, but I do think I will miss "The City," and it will be interesting for me to see when and why those feelings arise.
Who knows what the future holds. I definitely don't. But I can probably concede that this really is "The Greatest City in the World." Does that mean I'll live here again? I have no idea.
For now, all I know is that the quarter has been significant in many unexpected ways. Should I have put more effort into finding a community and volunteering? Definitely. And I know my love for the theater was a fairly selfish reason for me to try so hard to get a job here. Regardless, I can't regret anything now, as I have become connected to this place, and although I've loved seeing some great shows (and am extremely excited to see Mary Poppins with Mom on Sunday), they haven't been the most important part of the quarter. I've learned a lot and have hopefully even learned many things I haven't even realized yet. Although I haven't been sure what my answer would end up being, now I can confidently say it.
This quarter has been much, much more than a stack of Playbills.
Has this quarter amounted to more than a stack of Playbills?
There are a lot of things I wanted to do this quarter that didn't happen, namely volunteering and connecting to both a community and the city itself. Those things happened fairly easily and naturally in Los Angeles, so I just expected the same here. Well, that just wasn't the case.
On the other hand, there were plenty of things I hadn't planned on. For one, I've been able to spend time building friendships with some great people I didn't know well before this quarter, like my fellow Cincy co-ops Joan and Drew, and Amber, my LA roommate Garrett's older sister (She made me dinner last night, it was very delicious and fun!). With the case of Joan and Drew, I'm looking forward to spending some time with them both next quarter when school starts, and I will definitely be staying in touch with Amber to keep her updated on my time in Africa.
Somehow, I've actually kept The Good Morning Experiment going every single day I've walked to work for the last three weeks. I've gotten the whole range of responses, from big smiles and a "Hey, how's it going?" to people completely ignoring me. So far I don't think I've actually seen anyone twice, but it has been great to walk to work with a goal in mind, so much more perceptive of the people around me. Even when I'm feeling worn out or empty myself, saying good morning to someone and getting a happy response gives me a jolt of energy. I hope for at least some people, my good mornings do the same for them.
Losing my wallet, I was forced to rely on other people and I got a taste of what it is truly like to have no money for a while. If I had forgotten to ask Dan to borrow some money for the subway, I don't know how I would've gotten to or from work. What do people do when they don't have anyone to help them out? Maybe I shouldn't be so resistant to give people money in this city. Sure, sometimes they'll just use it to get high, but sometimes they might actually need it.
In any case, something amazing happened. Prayers were answered. The person who found my lost wallet actually returned it. There really are unbelievably good people in New York City. Who would have thought?
Tonight after work it was something like 55 degrees outside and I didn't have anywhere I needed to rush to, so I decided to walk down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park at the end of the street. As I looked across the river at the lights of downtown, I actually thought to myself, hey, I really do like it here. I've survived winter in New York. The toughest time of the year to live here. I could do this.
The other night on the phone, Nate asked me if I thought I'd miss New York. It was a weird question to hear because it really wasn't something I'd thought about. I don't know when it'll hit me, or why, but I do think I will miss "The City," and it will be interesting for me to see when and why those feelings arise.
Who knows what the future holds. I definitely don't. But I can probably concede that this really is "The Greatest City in the World." Does that mean I'll live here again? I have no idea.
For now, all I know is that the quarter has been significant in many unexpected ways. Should I have put more effort into finding a community and volunteering? Definitely. And I know my love for the theater was a fairly selfish reason for me to try so hard to get a job here. Regardless, I can't regret anything now, as I have become connected to this place, and although I've loved seeing some great shows (and am extremely excited to see Mary Poppins with Mom on Sunday), they haven't been the most important part of the quarter. I've learned a lot and have hopefully even learned many things I haven't even realized yet. Although I haven't been sure what my answer would end up being, now I can confidently say it.
This quarter has been much, much more than a stack of Playbills.
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