History

Today brought more walls. We're nearly finished with the upstairs. Tomorrow we will be drilling lots of holes in the studio for the cables and such. Tonight we ate at an authentic Bavarian (Bavaria is the state where Augsburg is...i.e. Tennessee is the state where Memphis is...) restaraunt. First came the salad which consisted of greens, carrots and some sauer kraut hidden under the greens (I also stole some potato salad from Joe's plate). After having my tongue assaulted by the hidden sauer kraut, we got to the main course. Joe had ham hock (there's a cooler name but I can't remember it) with a Knödel (it's a potato ball) and I had goulosh. It was goooood! After stuffing ourselves, Joe took me up to a sort of pennacle where there was a tower that was used as a lookout post during times of war. Down below was the entire city of Augsburg. You could even see the two churches on either end of Königsplaz and the Rathaus. The city of Augsburg is 2020 years old! That's pretty insane. Roman soldiers walked on the same streets (ok not the exact same streets, but work with me here) that I walked on last week. The restaraunt that we ate in tonight has been there since the 1600's. That just blows my mind. Think about everything that has occured around that building! Anyway, all that food has made me sleepy so I'm gonna wrap this up and call it a night!

Midweek Update

Monday was Phingsten...so happy Phingsten! Phingsten is a German national holiday during which everyone gets the Holy Spirit and a day off. So, seeing as we already have the Holy Spirit, we put up more walls! The upper room is coming along, you can sorta see the whole picture of what it will look like eventually. Yesterday Joe and Salvatore (and Italian mason) knocked a hole in the kitchen wall to put yet another door in, bringing the kitchen door total to 4. This fourth door leads to an empty room that will need some fixing up, but eventually it will be the new conference room. Then the old conference room will become more office space. Today Salvatore is putting up some little covering things around some pipes (just for aesthetics) and as soon as Bernd gets here we will finsh off the walls upstairs. I think a little driving lesson is in the very near future which I'm sure will make for some great blogging material...Oh, and the rain finally stopped today!!

All Most God

I don't know how many of you know about the ministry called 722, but for those of you who don't, 722 is a college ministry based in Atlanta, Georgia at Northpoint Church. It is probably one of the more incredible college ministries I have seen. Anyway, I just started watching this series on 722's website called All Most God. It's a four part series (the second part is missing which makes me sad) talking about who God is and what He is about. I've only seen the first part so far and let me tell you...amazing. So often we get wrapped up in ourselves and our circumstances that we fail to see God for who He is. He is All Knowing, All Powerful, All Present, All Merciful, the list goes on and on. Most of you would agree with me when I say all those things about God, and you could probably add some attributes to that list yourself, but do we really believe that? When life get's tough do we really rely on Him? It's so easy when things are going well to say "Yes, absolutely without a doubt!" It is so simple in the comfort of our sanctuaries to proclaim the greatness of our God, just as we should, but why don't we live it? When you get fired from your job, do you trust Him to be All Supplying? When He closes a door to a seemingly great opportunity, do you trust Him to All Knowing? When nothing seems to go your way, do you trust Him to be All Sovereign (just a side note: Sovereign is defined by Websters dictionary as-superlative in quality; of the most exalted kind; of an unqualified nature; having undisputed ascendancy; possessed of supreme power; unlimited in extent.)? Why is it that we say that God can do anything, but when it comes down to it, no matter how big or small a situation is, bringing it before God is the last thing on our mind? I guess the main question should be: When things aren't going your way, when life is hard, faith is uncomfortable or even inconvenient, when you are persecuted and opressed; is He almost God, or All Most God?

Rain, Floods, and Walls

Yesterday Joe and I began building the walls for the room upstairs. The plan is to close in two bedrooms and allow for an expansion of the bathroom, the addition of a kitchen, and maintaining the living room space. We put the framing up yesterday and today we started to close in the first room. It has been interesting to say the least. I went to sleep last night in Germany and apparently woke up in th North Pole! It was 85 yesterday, today its 40...what the heck is up with that?? It's May for crying out loud!! Anyway, moving on. It started raining last night in the form of a pretty sweet thunderstorm and has been raining ever since. This topic brings me to my next story. I'm walking down the stairs in the main office and I hear trickling water. No big deal, it's pouring outside, of course I'm going to hear trickling water. Except this trickling sounds different than the other trickles. That's because this trickle is not because of the rain outside, it's coming from the pipe in the ceiling that leads to the shower. There's about an inch or two of water on the floor in front of the door to the studio. Thankfully no water got in the studio. I retrieved some buckets and the day was saved. That's all for now. More news from the front to come!

Meeting Fendos

Fendos is the landlord's (hausmeister) cat. This thing is psycho. No joke. First she lures you in with the whole adorable kitten thing and then she turns on you and tries to eat your face. I'm beginning to form a theory that cats, regardless of geographical location, are all on a mission to destroy mankind. With that said, I'm going to start praying that the large impromptu (?) German concert that has formed in the parking lot (via a car with an insane sound system) will go away!

A Six Hour Tour

I just returned from a very long, but incredibly exciting day exploring downtown Augsburg. It was almost like a survivorman or Amazing Race episode except without the running all over the place or freezing in the tundra. After being dropped off in front of the Hauptbahnhoff (main train station, aka Hbf.) I begin to meander down Hbf. Straße (the ß makes a ss sound) toward Königsplaz (kings place). All I now at this point is that I need to get from the middle city to Bärenwirt (a bus/tram stop) by six or I'll miss the last #27 bus to Täfertingen which is where the youth center is. Upon arriving at Königsplaz I begin doing a little exploring. There are two churches on either end of this approximately five block stretch. In the middle is the Rathausplaz, a decent sized square with a large fountain in the middle and some coffee and ice cream shops. This square is conveniently located in front of the Rathaus (the city hall, I think it's funny it's called the RAThaus...politicians...rat...maybe it's just me), hence Rathausplaz. The Rauthaus is flanked by one of the two churches. This one bears the name of a Saint, but the name escapes me at the moment. Below the Rathaus (literally underneath) is the Ratskeller which is a restaurant in the basement of the Rathaus. I didn't eat there today, however, I hear they have pretty decent food. After exploring that end of Königsplaz, I made my way towards the other church. Apparently there had just been a wedding. It was interesting...anyway, there was much meandering and exploring and picture taking, none of which was extremely eventful so I'll spare you the details. I stopped for lunch at an Italian cafe' where I got to practice more of my German. I actually did pretty well I think, not great, but not too bad. Continuing to stroll about the city I learned that here in Augsburg PDA knows no bounds...none. So, realizing that it is about time to head towards the station I realize I have no idea which tram will take me to Bärenwirt. No problem, I'll just read the little map thingy at the station. I arrive at the station in Königsplaz only to find that there is no listing for Bärenwirt. Trying not to panick I sit down on a bench to consider my options. #1) I can just get on the tram that seems to be going to the right place (based on the main display of the tram) or #2) I can ask the very kind and helpful looking (can you fell the sarcasm through text?) gentleman sitting to my right. I opt for option 2, after all what's the worst that could happen? After an interesting conversation consisting of very broken German on my part (it didn't help that I thought he was going to rip my face off in mere moments) and much confusion on his part, he tells me tram 4 (he actually turned out to be semi-congenial, in a very abrupt sort of way). Not completely convinced that he knew exactly what I was asking I decide tram 4 it is. I board tram 4 and after a few tense stops I arrive at Bärenwirt just in time to catch the five o'clock bus to Täfertingen. It's on this bus that I learn the meaning of shake rattle and roll. Other than getting off at the wrong stop in Täfertingen and walking a few blocks, the rest of the expedition was uneventful. That brings us up to the present where I'm drinking a cappucinno and snacking on a few little choclate cracker things. No idea what they are, but they are GOOD!!

Another Day

So, I am most definately being forced to learn German as I am surrounded by it every day. The computer that I am using to type this blog everything is in German. Even Joe speaks better German than he does English sometimes! It really is a lot of fun to learn. I helped Karl (the landlord) and Bernd put a satellite dish on the roof today and that was fun. They are speaking German to eachother and then in broken English to me and I in broken German to them, and there were plenty of gestures. It was more like a giant game of cherades. But, I am getting better little by little. Today was pretty exciting because we installed a new refridgerator (kühlschrank) with an automatic ice maker. That may not sound like much, but here in Europe your are lucky to get ice anywhere. So, at least the Americans are excited about the ice! Bernd is looking forward to trying crushed ice. Anyway, I feel like I'm writing letters home from camp or something. It's really wierd. As the week progresses we should make more headway in the warehouse (lager) begin putting together the rest of the Center. Matt and the gang will arrive next month and we will begin our survey trip. That will be a very good experience. That's all for now...more letters from camp to come.

The Evangelische Allianz

Yesterday was tons of fun! The day began for Joe and I at 4:00am. We drove 1 hour to the Olympic Park in Munich. We began to set up the equipment there in the ampitheater. More help arrived and so the set up went by very quickly. This even was sponsored by seven of the Munich area churches that form the Evagelische Allianz. They meet together like this once a year to worship and fellowship together. The event began at 10:30am. After a time of praise and worship, one of the local pastors preached a message and as it was all in German, I have no idea what he said. But, I'm sure it was good! Then everyone had broght a picnic lunch so we enjoyed a time of fellowship. Then beggining at 2:30pm six bands played for about 15-20 minutes a piece. Ranged from Gospel to Charismatic to Latin. It was exciting to see all these people worship. It's cool to think that although there were so many different languages being spoken (German, Spanish, and English) God can still understand them all. We returned to the Center in Augsburg at around 7:30 and were so wiped out that we left everything loaded up and agreed to call it a night. Today was very relaxed. I went with Bernd to look for several things for the Center. It is very exciting to see the vision that is here. I can't wait to see what God is going to do here in the very near future.

Deutschland!!!!

I officially hate the keyboard here. Everything is shuffled around. I am finally here and so pumped, but also very jet-lagged. I don´t have a lot of time to type because I will be leaving at 4am to travel to Munich (München) to set up for an all day outdoor event! Basically I just wanted to post something since it´s been a while and let everyone know that I made it here safely. Also, for those of you that are leaving comments etc. I can´t approve them yet mostly because everything besides what I´m typing is in German and I don´t know enough to figure it out yet, but rest assured that I will eventually get it down. It is a lot of fun using what little I know about the language though. It´s amazing to me how when you study a language and think you have a small grasp on it when you´re in the States, but when you arrive you realize that you are nowhere even close. Mostly because they talk a million miles an hour! "Langsam bitte!" (slower please!) is my best friend! That´s all I have for tonight. I´m going to wash travel off of me then I´m going to bed! Gute Nacht!!!

2 weeks

In two weeks I will be writing my first blog from another country. That's pretty crazy! The semester is finally winding down and there are only a few more hurdles left. Things with insurance companies annoy me. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that insurance companies are supposed to protect you from crazy drunk women hitting your car...not the other way around. Anyway, it has been an interesting week and I'm exhausted. I'm pretty pumped about church in the morning. Then I must begin the arduous task of cleaning the apartment and packing to leave the country. This is a short one, but I figure I gotta start somewhere...

wow

So I warned you that I'm not so good at this whole blogging thing, but that is going to change! I have a lot to talk about this time so fasten your seat belt! Speaking of seat belt, that brings me to the first event in my life. Friday night/Saturday morning I'm at my apartment getting ready for bed (For those of you who don't know, I live in a basement apartment. To access this apartment one must walk down two stairs to the door. On either side of the door are 1ft. thick retaining walls.). As I'm getting ready for bed I here BANG!! BANG!!!! So I go to investigate (keep in mind these sounds are nothing like gunshots...otherwise I probably would have grabbed some form of weapon before I just went investigating said odd noises). I open my door and I'm face with the grill of an SUV 1 1/2 feet away from my door. It's sitting almost completely over the stairwell. The driver side door opens so I yell up to make sure that everyone is ok. "No I'm not ok! Who the heck am I talking to??" Is the response I get. So I climb out of the stairwell and run around behind the SUV to check on the female driver (there were no other occupants). As I come around the back of the vehicle the driver is rounding the other corner holding her face from which much blood is pouring, freaking out and crying with much profanity. I immediatly proceed to call an ambulance, but my phone isn't working of course. Meanwhile the driver calls her boyfriend who arrives promptly. The police finally show up with a fire truck and so the investigation begins. It is at this point that I realize my car is 4ft. back from where I parked it. Yes, she smashed my car and then continued on to impact the house. So, she was drunk and got arrested and I'm driving a rental for an undetermined length of time.
Next. I am leaving for Germany in just two weeks. The prepartion for this trip has been amazing. I have learned tons this semester, academically and spiritually. I'm still trying to process it all. Finals week is hurtling towards me like a stinkin freight train and I can't wait for the semester to be over. I am so pumped about going to Germany in just two weeks. That's all I have for now. I will try to keep this up better.