I am currently in Sighisoara, Romania (the birthplace of Dracula-it is so crazy). Tomorrow I am heading (with my mom who met me in Rome) to Brasov, Romania.  Brasov is supposed to be a crazy little town. There are wild dogs everywhere that howl at the moon, bats, and a black (charred black) church that survived a fire which make it a little spooky.  I have been told that it really feels the way Transylvania should feel. I cannot believe that I am in Transylvania...it is crazy.  I am having a great time.

Since my last blog I have been to Edinburgh, Scotland, England: London, Cambridge, Oxford, Salisbury (Stonehenge), Wales: Cardiff, Italy: Rome, Firenze, Pisa (the tower really does lean), Venice, France: Nice, Monaco: Monte Carlo, Switzerland: Interlaken (through Luzern and Zurich), Germany: Garmish, Austria: Innsbruck, Hungary: Budapest and on the way to Budapest I passed through Slovenia and Croatia! 

I still have Vienna (Austria), Krakow (Poland), and Prague (Czech Rep.) left with my mom-then I will head to Amsterdam through Berlin, Koln and Bonn.  I am loving every minute of it-it has gone by so fast!

Hope that all is well. Much love.

Europe

I am currently in Glasgow, Scotland (with Emma Devine)!  Travelling Europe has been so amazing, I am having the time of my life.  I have experienced so much kindness.  It is crazy how blessed I am (I have met so many wonderful people). 

This is where I have been so far:  Amsterdam and Zanse Schans (Holland), Kobenhavn (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden), Oslo and Holmenkollen (Norway), Madrid, Algeciras, La Linea, and Barcelona (Spain with Stacia Webb and Thiago Oliviera), Tanger (Morocco), Paris (France), Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Brussels (Belgium), Dublin, Wicklow, Bray, Powerscourt, Kilkenny, Cork, Blarney, and Galway (Ireland), and I am now in Glasgow!

Next I am travelling to Edinburgh (Scotland), London and Oxford (England), possibly Wales (I hope I get to), then I will meet my mom in Rome and travel all over Italy, Monte Carlo (Monaco), Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. After she leaves I am going through Germany and back to Amsterdam to fly home August 4th.

I have had the best time here in Europe. I have so many stories both good (I have had so much fun and met so many amazing people) and bad (spider-fish ER experience, Dublin airport bomb scare, missing trains, etc.)!  The good far outways the few bad experiences I have had. I have had the best time. 

If you want to see some of my pictures they are posted on Facebook on Stacia's page and some of hers have been tagged to my account.  She only has pictures from our time together (2 weeks-Spain, France, Morocco). 

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all and hope you are very blessed!  Much love from Europe!

I am alive...I promise. 

I have learned that life is very fluid.  Sometimes the circumstances around you are not solid.  When enough water accumulates it often overflows its boundaries.  My life seems to have overflown its boundaries. I guess my boundaries should not be my own.  You never know what life is going to throw you, but I think this could be a good time in my life.

So I will get to the point...I am going home to Portland for the rest of the semester! Since I have been sick with pneumonia I have missed a lot of classes, and I am still sick.  I need to get better, and if I stay here I am probably going to be dropped from my classes and loose a ton of money.  My professors all agreed to let my conference my classes and go. Also my dorm pastor was the one to suggest this (so my RA duties are going to be taken care of), and its not like I have been doing my job for the last 3 weeks (my hall captain has had my keys since I got sick).

Everything feels so WEIRD!  I never thought that I would have to leave in the middle of the semester, but this is probably the best option for me to get fully better. I need more rest, and I will get to keep my classes. Yikes, this is strange.

I am really sad to leave all the people that I love so dearly, but I know that it is only for 6 weeks and then Christmas break!  Ah, life!  Well my plane ticket is for Sunday night and I will be back in PDX. 

To all of you in Texas, I will miss you, but I will be back relatively soon!  you are all loved so much.  And to those of you in PDX, I will see you soon.

P.S. I had to go back to the ER on Sun. because I pulled some muscles in between my ribs, and one of my ribs shifted out of place and then back into place...very painful (but it happened to my other side last week so I was prepared).  Now I have prescription pain meds, and prescription anti-inflammitories. 

Currently Reading Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation By Volf Miroslav, Miroslav Volf see related

Life at the GU (yes, costume parties and all), Florida, people I love, things I do...

The wacky Tuesday dodgeball dress-up

Currently Listening Brushfire Fairytales By Jack Johnson see related