eat bacon from a can, just like the stars

last night after the chi alpha bible study and the weekly trip here, three of us decided to go to clay's house to see this. i had no idea what joy lay ahead of me. we walked in, and at first it seemed like a pretty ordinary house...until clay started digging out the, shall we say, aged food? (make "aged" italicized in your minds, i don't know how to use this mac). jell-o, sandwich bags, relish, these, canned clams, you name it, and all from circa 1950. we headed toward the garage and clay told us that his aunt and uncle (who own the house) own one of these and my already-high excitement tripled because it's one of my biggest dreams to own one one day. but it was too dark to see in so we continued on to the garage and found some old ballot boxes, golf clubs, more typical garage fare. then clay came running around the corner, yelling "i found us a flashlight," and furiously started turning the crank on the, yep, manpowered device. we tried to shine it in the windows of the airstream, but the power would only last about 4 seconds, so we settled for using my cell phone. but the fun was just beginning. it was on to the bedrooms next, where clay showed us this, among other things. but the best was still yet to come...the BASEment!!! the stairway is shingled, yes, shingled. that is, on the walls going down there are shingles, and the hand"rail" is a rope. once you reach the bottom you are greeted by a ferocious, mardi gras-esque wall hanging of a tiger. directly to the right of that is this: a leather horse and a pool table surrounded by a border made of oversized playing cards and felt dice with a felt background, so the dice can be moved like biblical characters from a sunday school story. words cannot describe my happiness upon entering this room.
red shag carpet not only on the floor, but on the wall under the bar and on the poles as well. if you ask me, nothing says party like this,, especially when it comes complete with these! but the biggest downer of the evening, the real buzzkill was when we stumbled across this. pesky stradiuvarii are always getting in the way of real (again, italics please) treasures. have fun in france, clay. you will be missed!

charles degaulle airport

i had the opportunity to look at this lovely ceiling for approximately nine hours on friday. i mistakenly thought i was safe from mad chaos, being that i was not traveling through london, but no. the chaos was not a respector of countries, it would seem. after a tearful goodbye to slovakia i was catapulted into the rudeness that is western europe. i know it's a gross generalization, but can i help it if i've scarcely experienced anything to the contrary? after having waited in line a while, i got sent to the end of another line, which was huge. little did i know, however, that that would turn into a cakewalk when compared to the lines that lay ahead of me. i made my flight, but it was close. and, by the way, they charge you for airplane food on austrian air. i arrived at cdg in paris about 9:30 and my flight to newark was to leave at 1:15 so i thought to myself, "i'll just relax, have some peanuts and juice, and in a few hours i'll find the gate i need to go to," all the while feeling sorry for the poor suckers standing in the eight-mile line to who knows where. soon enough i found out that it was going to i know where...the united states of america. so i went through this line where they were kind enough to lighten my load significantly of some expensive items of the liquid sort. i must admit, the security guards that searched me were sweet, though. they tried to help me keep as much as possible. i went in the secure area and waited. everything was delayed. i fell asleep and awoke at 3 and ran to my gate, only to discover that i had another 3 1/2 hour wait ahead of me. this wait was due to the fact that they decided to search everyone again, and this time without mercy. they took my new nalgene even though it was empty...and to make a long story short (too late) i spent the night in a ghetto in newark, nj and at 4:30 the next morning went to wait in a line that will dwarf the rolling stones line tomorrow. but i cleared that one, too, with even enough time to buy a bagel. of course this was all in the name of safety, and i'm glad for that, really. it tested my patience, which is not a bad thing to have tested regularly. and it made me happy i live in a state with more cows than people. cows don't fly.

coming home

greetings! it's my last full day in banovce and i am really pressed for time, but wanted to squeeze in one last blog entry. this summer has been amazing. the Lord did wayyyy more than i ever thought He would and with such grace. what i mean is, i really thought there would be turbulent times of loneliness, homesickness, language difficulties, possibly getting lost or mugged or who knows what? but it was the smoothest summer i could have hoped for. i miss: mexican food, laughing really hard, being fully understood, and maybe being able to get alone. i mean really alone. there's ALWAYS someone around, here, watching. the communists wanted it that way, i think:) no, i'm kidding. but really, yesterday i thought i was alone with...someone (blush) and along came a woman walking through the field out of nowhere. but to sum it up, God grew me here. i have learned more about grace and mercy in 2 months than i have in my whole life. i have learned more about what it means to love someone unconditionally than i ever have before. and i thank you all with an inexpressible gratefulness for your prayers and support. i can't wait to see you all. see you soon.