Mykonos, Greece

The Greek island of Mykonos is a hot spot for European celebrities in the summer!

There’s a law in Mykonos that says all buildings must be painted white and square shaped

Pros: Europeans in Italy and Greece are generally very friendly and helpful. These countries usually get bombarded with tourists and so most know English. The food is always, always, always delicious. Oh, and the rumor is true…European men are tall, dark, and very handsome!

Cons: The dollar vs. the Euro 1.5 to 1. Don't be fooled when you see things for $10.00. Honey, that ain't 10 American dollars, that's 15 American dollars. Shopping in Europe is tres expensive...You're better off paying for them in America. The local Italians even told me that they were planning on buying brand name sunglasses (which are made in Italy) when they come to America!

Stalking Paul in Europe

The Paul I’m talking about is the Apostle Paul from the Bible…I don’t know how to put this but he’s kind of a big deal... People knew him. He was very important and if he was alive today, he would have many leather-bound books and his apartment would smell of rich mahogany.

He was first infamously known as the man who persecuted the Christians but then later became a Christian. He became a missionary and journeyed all over the Mediterranean (Turkey, Greece, Italy, and more) preaching about the love of Jesus Christ. After several years, he was arrested and eventually ended up in Rome, where he wrote many letters that would become most of the books of the New Testament.

My initial intentions of going to Europe had nothing to do with Paul’s journey. I just wanted to learn about the history of the countries, enjoy the array of food, and take pictures of the "cool looking buildings." I was actually unaware of many the places that he went to. It wasn’t until a tour guide pointed out all the facts and information regarding Paul’s life which made me realized that my agenda followed his. Thus, going to Europe not only allowed me to see the amazing history and culture of these countries, it made me discover the journey of Paul, by following along in his footsteps. You could say that I was basically stalking him, except I was doing it about 2000 years later.

Like any other accomplished stalker, I found out what he did in these countries, how long he stayed, and who he was with.

First Location: Ephesus, Turkey

He came to Ephesus twice, the second time staying for roughly 3 years (from 54-57 A.D.). While he was there, he met up with the disciples of John the Baptist and he preached at the historical and famous "Great Theatre" in Turkey. The stadium can fit up to 25,000 people! Just so you know, Turkey is actually not apart of Europe, it’s apart of Asia (I had no idea until this year).

The "Great Theatre"

Stone walk way of Ephesus

The ancient Ephesus Celsus Library

Paul’s pimped out ride

Bibliography:

1. The Book of Acts

2. Very smart and expensive tour guides (+15 EUR a pop)

3. Pamphlets and books sold by bamboozling merchants on the side of the street

4. Locals (most of them being handsome and charming European men)

5. The best stalking tool ever…GOOGLE!

Stalking Paul In Europe part 2

Second location: Rhodes and Athens, Greece

He briefly went through the Greek island of Rhodes. As for Athens, he stayed there longer (51-52 A.D.) and disputed with many of the philosophers at that time. He gave a speech in the Areopagus, telling Athenians that the "Unknown God," to whom they had a shrine dedicated to, was in fact known as the God who had raised Jesus from the dead.

A view of Athens and the Areopagus from the Acropolis (it’s that big rock)

The Parthenon at the Acropolis

The Propylaea building at the Acropolis

Greek Island of Rhodes

I assume Paul ate gelato for dessert

Stalking Paul in Europe part 3

Third Location: Naples and Rome, Italy

Naples is built at the place of Potsuola, the port where Paul docked on his way to Rome. Paul sailed to Rome as a prisoner and spent two years under house arrest from 61-63 AD. During this time he wrote the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Some of the books were written with Timothy, a young man who eventually became the Bishop of Ephesus. After his release in 63 A.D., Paul wrote the books of Hebrews, Titus, First Timothy, and Second Timothy.

The ancient city of Pompeii near Naples

Mount Vesuvius view from Pompeii

The famous Colosseum

The Vatican and St. Peter’s Church

Roman Forum

The Amalfi Coast, south of Naples

My Final thoughts:

I thought this trip was amazing! With America having a limited amount of history compared to Europe, traveling there was an unforgettable experience. I regret not paying attention in high school history…History to me has always been such a bore. But after traveling here, I truly began to appreciate the story behind each building and landmark. Stalking Paul and visiting the places that he went to really made him seem more...and this is going to sound corny...real. I always knew he existed but it was always through books, history classes, and Sunday school. It was blessing to have gone on this trip, I loved every minute of it!

My favorite country was Italy, hands down. Most of the famous historic buildings were built during the Roman Empire days and some even before that (ancient Pompeii!). One would need at least a month to explore all of Italy. I also really liked Greece. There’s a strong Roman influence in the structure of most of the buildings but the Greek islands are absolutely gorgeous. The beaches are pristine and it’s very tourist friendly. The Greek islands are known to be the vacation hot spot for many European celebrities, especially the Greek island of Mykonos.

Egypt

"I'll buy you for 12,000 Camels!"
This is the line that a woman will hear from a male merchant when she goes to Egypt. I heard this line being used a couple of times towards women tourists while touring the pyramids. Oddly enough, the guys would increase/decrease the number of camels according to the particular woman they were looking at. My magic number was 12,000. I didn’t know if I should have said thanks or that’s it!?! Instead my answer was, "That’s nice but I’m married…to that big guy over there with the tattoos. He just got out of jail and he’s so excited to be here. Would you like to meet him?"

Ooh, Egypt. This is the country that developed the first paper (papyrus) and holds one of the great wonders of the world, the Great Pyramid in Giza. With such a rich history that started around 3000 BC, it’s almost forgivable that male merchants harass women. I say that because I did go "Ugly American" on a few merchants who harassed and cheated my grandparents onto riding a camel. This story gives me high blood pressure so I will try to make it quick and short.

First off, if you don’t know what "Ugly American" means I’ll define it for you…Straight from wikipedia. Ugly American is a stereotypical offensive American: a loud, boorish, nationalistic American, especially one traveling abroad, who is regarded as conforming to a stereotype that gives Americans a bad reputation.

I only really went "Ugly American" once in my whole life before Egypt. It was in Australia when a Taxi cab driver cheated my roommate and me and told us to pay 5x as much because he thought we were stupid tourists that didn’t know our way around Sydney. Boy, was he wrong…But anyways, that’s another story for another blog.

Back to Egypt…My grandpa was basically coerced to sit on a camel and then they wouldn’t let him down unless we paid them some outrageous price in American dollars. My grandma was so scared; she panicked and took out her traveling passport/wallet that she hid underneath her clothes (Oh, grandma. Let me remind you that my grandma has post traumatic stress from the Vietnam War). They spotted her wads of $20 bills and had a group huddled around her and they started pointing at the money. I ran over there with my Big ugly American mouth and started saying random things about "being an American tourist harassed and taken advantaged by Egyptian merchants….yada yada…This is outrageous…blah, blah, blah…I’ll break your camel’s neck." I honestly don’t remember what I said. I just know that I was pissed and my BP was sky rocketing. Needless to say, things were settled for $5 and he was let down. My poor granny stayed on the tour bus for the rest of the day and missed out on many stops following that. She was paranoid that someone was going to kidnap her. As for my grandpa, he was oblivious that people were taking advantage of him. It was hilarious, actually. After the whole episode, he came up to me and said "did you get a chance to take any pictures of me on the camel?"

The answer was YES.

Three pyramid pictures

The sphinx and pyramid at Giza

(Granny on the right looks all nervous and she's tugging on her passport holder)

Other than that experience, I enjoyed the pyramids and the sphinx. In our visit, we were also able to visit the first pyramid ever built, the step pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara. We then visited the tomb exhibition of the Pharaoh Ramsey II and ended with a quick glance at the Nile River. We finally finished and made a few stops in the cities of Cairo and Alexandria (named after Alexandria the Great).

Step Pyramid

A tomb statue from Ramsey II

Cairo view of the Great Pyramid

Final thoughts:

To me, Egypt has pyramids, the sphinx, and the Nile River. Once you’ve seen them, you stand in awe, snap a picture, and then you move on.

So, would I go back to Egypt? Maybe…I'd only go back if I am married to a big man with tattoos who just got out of jail. :)

Alabama , ya'll

After taking several trips throughout the summer of 2007, one specific trip that truly enlightened me was the trip to Bayou La Batre, Alabama. I came back to Delaware with a slight southern flair and for some reason, I can't help but say "ya'll" all the time. I was a camp counselor for a free summer camp known as "Camp Noah." I'm sure you're wondering if I treated the kiddies the same way Major Payne would (great movie) since I'm prone to making sarcastic but endearing remarks. Well, I didn't have to because there was a smart, witty, six year-old who made them for me. She was one of my favorite campers, by the way.

I'm sure everyone is aware of the damage that Hurricane Katrina caused in 2005. The aftermath of the hurricane left many homes damaged and many families homeless. I previously went down south in the winter of 2005 to help clean/build homes with my church. It was more of a laborious trip and I only interacted with the families briefly. But this year, I volunteered with my church to go back down to help operate a free summer camp for the disadvantaged post-Katrina children.

A majority of the families were very poor before the hurricane (specifically the Vietnamese population), thus, Katrina financially crippled them even more afterwards. To my surprise, a diverse set of problems existed within the families. Some were battling extreme poverty, broken and abusive family relationships, educational disadvantages, or a mix of everything. Many families still lived in FEMA trailers and encouraged their children to work as soon as possible in order to support the family instead of pursuing more education. In some desperate cases, mothers would go into prostitution for the sake of their families.

Despite their backgrounds, each child was extremely gracious, sweet, and enthusiastic about the smallest things. I came there with the intention of teaching but I left learning from them. Words cannot express how humbling and eye-opening this experience was.



A typical house


This is Chad. A few seconds after this picture, he was trying to pluck out the gray hairs from his dog.


The little boy, Timmy, on the left was the sweetest camper. He loved eating double and triple lunches. From now on, if I ever eat a hotdog, I'll think of him…He ate four for lunch one time


This is Jerry and his little turtle tail a.k.a. rat tail


These are girls that I worked with. As you can see, Timmy practiced writing his name on the front of my shirt.


Thaoie's grill is better than a rapper's




The older boys

Aivi's little kiddie class


The smart and witty Cindy. I love her


Lunch time


I know some of ya'll are involved in clubs or volunteering activities. If you're ever interested in doing some sort of fundraising or work down south, message me. Nevertheless, I ask that you keep the children and their families in your prayers.

Word to your Mom:STUDY ABROAD!!!

If you want to get be a big travel bug while still in college, I suggest you study abroad. You'll never, ever, ever, ever regret it.

Studying abroad is something you can’t experience once you’re out of college. My study abroad experience was like a long vacation with classes on the side. The only exam I took was an oral exam that occurred in the back seat of long bus trip. A lot of people have been asking me about where they should study abroad but I think it all depends on personal preference. My old roommates and I chose the “land of Oz” because of the summer weather, loaded activity list, and the comfort of knowing that Australia’s a neutral and developed country. Therefore, there were no bomb threats, possible kidnappings or exposure to infectious diseases. Within our five week trip, we went horse back riding, snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, surfing, sky-diving, sailing, white water rafting, paragliding, and much, much more. The last time I checked, you couldn’t really bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower…

My trip included staying in Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns) and New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch, and Queenstown).


Snorkeling in Cairns, Australia

Skydiving in New Zealand

Horse back riding in Australia

Para gliding in New Zealand

Being Britney Spears in Australia

Loving animals in Australia

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia

Right outside of Lake Gunn, New Zealand

Waiting for food

Down Unda Extravaganza

Let me suggest a few things that you must check out while Down Unndaaa if you ever visit Aussi or New Zealand.

Here's the list:

Sydney Opera House: This is a no-brainer. If it's possible, try to catch a show there too. We watched a musical similar to "Stomp."

Pet a Kangaroo : Not one from the wild though...They'll kill you. Go to a petting zoo where you'll be able to see and touch all sorts of animals. You can feed them too!


Snorkel/Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef: AUS has the most beautiful coral reef. They are famous for it! This is best done while in Cairns. You can rent a boat or join a tour where they'll take you out to a separate island designed just for snorkeling. On our tour package, it included an All-You-Can-Eat seafood buffet. There's also a really fun bar in Cairns called "the Woolshed." You'll meet many other travel buddies from all over the country.


Visit Phillip's Island (Australia): Watch cute penguins nest while they exit the water and enter land. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Think "Happy Feet" but in real life.

Surf at Bondi Beach (AUS): The idea of lifeguarding was invented at this beach. That's right, Baywatch originated from Australia. This beach is always crowded, full of waves, and it's topless (optional). It was a crazy experience and I'm so glad we went. While there, check out the surfing. The instructors are basically professional. And hot. Like Baywatch.

Extreme Sports: New Zealand is known for extreme sports (I think I heard it referred to as "the extreme sport capital.") When the crew from LOTR filmed there, they all went skydiving and bungee jumping in Queenstown. Try atleast one...

Try the lamb in New Zealand: It's delicious! Have you heard that rumor about how there are more sheep in NZ than people? It's kinda true...But I don't mind.

Look for the scenes from LOTR: They do have an actual tour that goes around NZ but you can just ask the locals and they'll tell you some of the spots nearby. It's much cheaper that way.

Go Sailing in Aukland: Auckland is referred to as the city of sails. Once you see the city, you'll see why.

Get to know the history of AUS and NZ: You can do this by visiting museums, going on sight-seeing tours, and talking to locals. Try to visit Milford Sound and Mount Cook when in NZ. When in AUS, check out the Hunter Valley area where wine is made and do a wine tour. Remember to sip, not gulp (unless you feel the need to "water" the near by grape vines).

Keep in mind that the seasons are reversed. Our summer is their winter and vice versa. AND MAKE SURE YOU WEAR SUNSCREEN!!! The ozone layer there is waaaay thinner than normal. You can get sunburned in less than 15 mins.