Moving to the country.....

We are still a little jetlagged, but so far our days have been jam packed full of activities and we are really enjoying ourselves.

Friday we met with the PCI staff and took an open top bus tour of Belfast, where we learned a lot about the history of the city. We also had a chance to meet the man we have nicknamed 'Rev Trev'- the one who was able to pull some strings and get us into the country. Our little adventure with immigration not only served as our first team challenge, but proved to us that we really are suppossed to be in Ireland this summer, and God is going to do amazing things through us. From what we heard, there have been hundreds of people turned away within the past month, and the way we got in was really unheard of- plus on top of it all, Trevor had only 4 of the forms left- I wonder who we would have voted off the team if he had only had 3....

Today we had 12 hours of training, where we met the teams we will be working with during the rest of the summer. It was really fun to talk to people who have worked with previous Ireland teams and hear what they had to say. Thoma walked around asking the locals if we looked American and whether or not we had accents, Lindsay scouted for her husband, Chase ran around announcing to everyone that he was an American celebrity and making fun of the way that they talked, and Tyler was absent all day. Quite productive indeed.

Even though we are in Ireland, we have definitely experienced some culture shock- getting used to the accents has been incredibly difficult. Today was rather frustrating, because we know that we should be able to understand them since they are speaking English, though often times we can't. We spent the past few nights staying in Derryvolgie hall, the residence hall owned by the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, but tonight we have moved out to the country...we are staying in Donegal for two weeks, which will actually be our only camp in the Republic of Ireland.

The Turkish Life

After taking a day to explore the treasures hidden in Istanbul, we hopped back onto a plane and flew into our very own destination city. Antalya is better than we had ever hoped, or imagined. Everything is so beautiful: the sights, our apartment, the people. We feel right at home in our beautiful apartment, which is such a blessing. We are happy to be one of few that have klima (air conditioning) in the living room :) We have an amazing view of the city and the sea off of our balcony. We love to sit out there and listen to the sounds of the city as we read, chat, and watch the sun go down over the mountains. The call to prayer is probably the most noticeable and exotic sound that we hear. Five times a day the haunting, yet beautiful sound saturates the city and invites the Muslim people into prayer. We have mixed feelings about it, however know that no matter what we can use it as our own reminder to be praying for the people of this city and country.

The language is so different than anything any of us have experience with- but people are extremely helpful and only laugh at us a little when we try to talk to them. A couple of us are picking up the basics pretty quickly, making it easier to shop at the market and get around town. One word we wanted to learn for sure is “kedi” (and yes, we realized it is extremely similar to the name of a certain team member...) which is the word for cat. Cats, unexpectedly enough have become our team mascot as we have seen them EVERYWHERE since we got to Turkey. And we aren’t just talking stray cats fighting outside our hotel in Istanbul and roaming around outside our apartment here, we are talking cat decor inside the house as well (our landlady likes cats on her stools, aprons, and any other surface she can find). We can’t seem to get rid of them, and Landi has a certain fascination with them (although not a healthy one- we’ve stopped her from throwing forks at them from the balcony about 12 times so far) so we are making the best of it and adopting them as our friends. Our favorite is Terk, a particularly dirty cat we see quite often.

On Thursday we went on our first beach adventure and we were glad to have it go very smoothly! The first dolmuş (mini-bus basically) that we got on took us straight to Lara Palaj where we found our own little stretch of beach. Swimming in the Mediterranean was yet another surreal experience, as most everything has been so far. The beach that we went to stretched for miles and miles and was dotted with resorts. We took advantage of a patch of deserted lounge chairs and umbrellas we stumbled upon and had a nice relaxing afternoon. We got home on our first try as well, which was pleasantly surprising- we had all prepared ourselves to get lost on our first venture into the city!

We have been to a couple of different markets, which is a lot of fun as we get to interact with some locals and see more of the Turkish lifestyle. This morning we went to the Saturday market, which was huge! There were multiple streets blocked off with rows and rows of vendors selling everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to name brand clothing. We bought our second round of groceries, once again shocked at how much we can get for so little (we spent 10 lira- or about 8 dollars- and got enough fruits and veggies for a week!). We really enjoy making dinner together- as unusual and inventive as our meals have been. Our favorite so far has been the corn on the cob that we got at the market- and we have found that we are satisfied as long as we have some fruit and fresh bread.

Today has been the hottest day so far at 100 degrees, so we feel blessed to be experiencing cooler weather. While we are starting to settle in, we are of course continuing to learn the rhythms of life here in Antalya. I think that we are all surprised at how much we love it here already, feeling at points that eight weeks is not going to be enough. We have a lot of great adventures coming and can’t wait to share them with you. Next week we get to start working with some younger kids at a church here in town. We will be doing arts and crafts with them (surprise!) and look forward to being able to do some Bible lessons, as they are Christian kids. Blessings to all our of our family and friends- don’t worry we still miss you even though life is perfect here.

Love,

Your Turkish Delights

Hey friends! Marhaba from Bethlehem!

Hey friends,

After a scary time at the border (we were questioned pretty tough for 10 min), we made it through and have safely arrived in Bethlehem!
Actually, at the time it seemed bad, but two people (both from
England) did not make it into the country and were deported. About 4 people on our program were detained for a few hours and were heavily questioned by several different officers. So even though we were hassled, God blessed us and allowed us to get through.

Bethlehem is amazing! The people here are very hospitable and are treating us like family already. We are all staying with Christian families who have given us so much of the little they have. To give you an idea, they have been without running water for the past week!
But they graciously insist we use it, trusting that God will provide.
One thing I have learned is how big family and community is here. Our host family is Christian yet they have tea with there muslim neighbors. We hope that soon Israelis and Palestinians would be able to peacefully live with one another in this same way.

The rest of the program here is great. There are about 20 of us who all want to serve the people here as much as we can. We are doing everything from working at refugee camps, working with the disabled, with kids, and at hospitals. The need here is great as there is little money being given to Palestinians for infrastructure.

Please pray for us as we continue to serve these poor and oppressed people. Pray that we would show them the love of God through our actions and through listening. Also pray for L & K's host mother as her husband recently passed away. She has been gracious even through her suffering. Pray that she would be comforted as she goes through this tough time.

God Bless,

From Team Bethlehem!

Team Bethlehem has Arrived!

Haha and fortunately they didn't receive extreme interrogation that the Ireland team did. How saw that coming???

Anyway, they breezed through customs and are getting some well deserved rest. I'm sure they will be updating shortly.

Nolan G

team detained

we are finally in ireland. we have been detained, fingerprinted, mug shots, searched, bags turned over, and refused entry to the country, but finally after 8 hours in the customs office, we finally had a turn of events and got "quick visas".

we will explain more later. we have been up for 40 hours. must sleep.

ireland is beautiful and the people are absolutely great, besides the immigration officers.

much love and thanks be to god,

TEAM ROCKIN IRELAND

Talked to the DR Team

The DR team has safely arrived in Santo Domingo and are on there way to Barahona as I type this. What a fun drive. :)

Indian Charms

Hi Friends and Family!

We have officially arrived in Bangalore, India. We left Mon evening and arrived at 4:00am Wed morning…a combination of long flights and an approximately 12 hour difference in time zones. The travelling was very smooth. No delays, all our luggage made it, we all made it, and going through border security was relatively a breeze. I had been a little worried about security, so that was great for me! Our only surprise was that Prem and Rita thought we were arriving tomorrow (Thurs), so we ended up with an extra adventure on the bus to get to the house.

At Prem and Rita’s we are experiencing the epitome of Indian hospitality. The food is amazing and we even got a lesson on how to eat in India. Right hand only. No forks allowed! And did I mention right hand only? It’s a little tricky tearing off the pieces of chipate/naan/bread, but it’s all awesome at the moment. Antje and I have already unpacked and settled into our room. It’s downstairs in the house with two twin beds. Our own bathroom is down the hall. The boys are settling into theirs, just outside the house…but they have to cross their bathroom/shower to get to their bedroom. Good luck when someone’s showering!! We have electricity and hot water, girls and guys own bathrooms, and washing machine. They don’t compare to the US, but they are still special commodities here and the house electricity runs on a ton of AA batteries when the main supply is turned off. Crazy!

There’s a park just down the street and that was fun to walk around today as we toured the neighborhood. And yes…we got a few funny looks in our American clothes, but what did you expect? ;) I also hopped over the neighbor’s wall today in order to retrieve the ball we were throwing around. I had permission, but it was an interesting way to meet the neighbors. J

Finally, it’s been a good day simply trying to stay awake. We are all exhausted, but want to stay up so we can get on a good sleep schedule to start helping out at the school on Friday. This led to a lot of chill time and some great conversations. I knew they’d happen, but being me, I loved that they started so soon here! Then again, I guess they started a while ago J. You can be praying for our “jobs” or tasks during our 2 months…trying to figure out what they will be. And also for more great memories and development along the way. “It’s not for us, it’s all for you.” Let it be.

We are probably going to get some Indian clothes tomorrow and then we should be set. Thanks for reading! See you all in 2 months. Much love to my family, my housemates, and all my friends.

Love Lauren and the India team.

P.S. The Team India website is down for maintenance by webs.com. We'll have it updated within a few days.

India has arrived!

Yo!

I have an email from the team but am having the hardest time copying it onto the blog....stupid copy/pasting features.

I will try to get that up tomorrow. Perhaps they will have something up by then themselves. :)

They are safe in the hands of Prem and Rita so that is a good thing!

-Nolan G

The Turkey Team Arrived in Antalya

Hey everyone!

I wanted to report that the Turkey team has now arrived in Antalya safely and will begin their orientation into the program tomorrow!

The India and DR teams are currently in flight to their sites and the Bethlehem team leaves tonight!

Please continue to be in prayer for these teams and the ones taking off soon!

Very excited,

Nolan G

We Finally Arrived!

We made it! After what seems like countless hours on the plane, a short rest (and Starbucks trip...) in London, and a nice little jaunt over the sea we are in TURKEY! We love it already..even the tiny elevators...(see picture above). We are already adjusting to the time as we are more than ready for bed- in the morning we are going to stroll up the street to the Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque before our flight down to Antalya!

Love,

Your Turkish Delights