it's too cliche to entitle this 'roman holiday'...

this is the beginning of the tale of my italian adventures. i don’t think you know my travel buddy lauren. but let me introduce you. lauren & i were never really that close throughout school, but we ended up sitting together in lectures the last go around. this was because everyone was placed with their outreach groups. we bonded over our love for the hunger games, which we both happened to be reading at the same time. we would sit at our desks reading during breaks & freak out about things together. on outreach, we stayed at the same house & we on the same team. we were discussing our plans for break one day & we were in the same group that was going to spain. she voiced her desire to go to italy & i was all for it. there was supposed to be another girl travelling with us, but due to a visa situation, she couldn’t leave the country. & thus began our trip to the beautiful country of italy…

rome was the first stop on our adventure. our plane landed around midday. i knew the name of our hostel but for some reason, i hadn’t made note of the address or anything that would help us find it. we searched the airport desperately for wi-fi so i could check my email, but there was nothing. finally, we found an internet station by a mcdonald’s. i was sitting at the table waiting for some else to finish using it while lauren went to get food & i was so stressed out & ready to break down. so, i pulled out my bible, looking for something to calm me down. i had been reading one of the gospels & it just hit me-- this was the same bible i had read while sunbathing in spain. the same bible i had studied at capernwray. the same bible that i had occasionally picked up back home. this was the same bible & God is still the same God. such a comfort! i managed to get onto the internet & find the address of our hostel. we found reasonably priced transport in the form of a shuttle bus. it was us & a group of four other adults. it was all completely legit, but being two females travelling alone, we were sure that he was going to kidnap us & sell us into slavery. why did we think this? ‘oh my gosh, he didn’t ask where to take us… sir, do you know where we’re going?’ ‘si, via milazzo.’ ‘oh! yeah, actually…’ the people at the desk gave him the information. go figure. it didn’t stop me from praying for our safety. in my head, ‘why does he keep looking at me in his rearview mirror??? my gosh, HE WANTS TO KIDNAP ME. try to look as unattractive as possible… oh, maybe he’s looking at me because i’m staring him down like a lunatic… i’m tired. i want to sleep. BUT SLEEPING LEAVES ME VULNERABLE.’ *sunglasses on* ‘now i feel powerful.’ i could say this lunacy was all due to lack of sleep, but this is honestly the way my mind works.

we arrived at our hostel & the entrance totally sketched us out at first but reception was nice. we started getting all checked in & when it can time to pay… ‘cash only please.’ are you serious? i checked all the hostels about paying with a card except for this one. after the table breaking debacle, i was down 50 euros. i was short about twenty & then that was the end of my cash. she let us store our luggage & we left, not knowing how we were going to acquire sufficient cash. we soon discovered how forward & offensive italian men can be. we got whistles & ‘ciao, bellas’ & kissy sounds. & this was when we were rocking travel hair & lacking make-up. we were stopping traffic… we found an internet place & we contacted those superheroes we like to call ‘moms’. we managed to get the cash & were able to get into our room. this place was a hostel but we were fortunate enough to get a private double room, so it was more like a hotel. we crashed on our beds, made use of the free wi-fi & were both asleep by approximately six p.m. we proceeded to sleep until nine the next morning. that’s a lot of sleep. & boy, did we need it.

we rolled, fell, stumbled out of bed & got ourselves out the door by noon-ish. first, we made our way to the colosseum, thanks to my amazing map skills. it was insane. you learn about these things in history class & then seeing them in person… it’s unreal. after marveling at that wonder & trying to take pictures of the men dressed as roman soldiers without having to pay, 

we proceeded to the trevi fountain. we got there & it was so crowded. we found ourselves a spot & got someone to take our picture as we threw our coins over our shoulders & into the fountain. it was a little bit like the movies. {we both had the lizzie mcguire movie song running through our heads the whole time} i checked our map & saw that we weren’t far from the pantheon. 

we found it. 

we saw it. 

it was awesome. after that, we decided it was best that we get back to our hostel before dark. i will admit that scenes from the movie ‘taken’ ran through my head more than once. better paranoid than sorry, i believe the saying goes… on our way back, since it wasn’t actually dark yet, we stopped for coffee. & man, was it good. i had felt not so hot the whole day because i hadn’t had coffee for the last few days. somehow i was spared from a killer migraine that i can only assume was waiting for the perfect moment to attack. we sat & drank good coffee 

 talked about God & life for an hour. it was awesome. that night as i was reviewing the pictures from that day, i came to a sudden realization. we had been to the trevi fountain. we had thrown coins into said fountain. but i forgot to make a wish. i burst into laughter & between giggles i explained to lauren what was so funny. it turns out, she forgot too. we were both so focused on getting a picture & throwing the coins that we actually forgot to make wishes. unbelievable. within a minute of this realization, my grandma messaged me asking if i had made a wish. such funny timing.

on our third day in rome, we went to the vatican city. we hadn’t researched it very much so we just took the metro & followed the signs when we got there. at the vatican museum, we were shocked to find that it cost 15 euro. we decided to do it anyway & i’m so glad we did. we had no idea that the vatican  museum i fact contained the sistine chapel & many other beautiful things. like, seriously gorgeous things. my neck quickly became sore from all of the looking up i did at the gloriously magnificent ceilings. & i’m not just talking about the sistine chapel. every inch of ceiling was amazing.

another thing i didn’t know about the sistine chapel is that you aren’t allowed to take pictures. the security guards that day were not having it. they cracked down on every tourist they saw wielding a camera. i was too timid to even try. whenever they shouted “NO PHOTO” at anyone, everyone looked & it was awkward.
every five minutes or so, when the tourists became too loud, there was a loud “SHHHHHHHHHH, SILENCE PLEASE.” somewhat reminiscent of the voice of God, mostly because i was in a chapel. my camera was hanging around my neck, so i managed to capture a few gems...

sistine chapel... trust me.

upon exiting the museum, we decided it was time for some gelato. when in rome….

GELATO 4 DAYZ

after some wrong directions on my part & some helpful directions on a local’s part, we found ourselves at st. peter’s basilica. the line was long & we weren’t sure if it cost, but what the heck? we were there. we finally got to the entrance & it didn’t cost a thing. fortunately, i had researched the required dress code since i had heard of people being turned away for not being covered up. we were modest enough & had the pleasure of seeing that incredible place. i was admiring the sheer beauty when all of the sudden i heard singing. some sort of mass was occurring at that time & it was echoing throughout the basilica. i think i cried, it was so beautiful. i was surprised that cameras were allowed, but i’m glad they were. my little camera doesn’t do this place justice.

after that we went into a free exhibit called ‘the word of God’ or something to that effect. there were all these really old scrolls & bibles & such. there was a man who had this big, old-fashioned printing press thing. we got to make prints that were in hebrew, i think. they were first samuel 25 & 26. they were really great & i wanted to keep it but the ink would not dry & we got tired of having to carry them around carefully. we took pictures with them, then dumped them in the nearest garbage.

for our last full day in rome, we started the day off right at our favourite coffee place. then we returned to the trevi fountain again. it just wasn’t right that we hadn’t made wishes. we did it up right this time. i wished… nevermind. i can’t tell you what i wished or it won’t come true. we didn’t really know what to do after that, but i saw on our helpful little map that the piazza navona wasn’t far. i didn’t actually know what it was but i had heard of it before & it sounded promising. it was so worth going. it’s gorgeous & it’s like a market place with people selling paintings & the like. we had planned to have a nice meal & this was the place for it. we chose a restaurant & got pizza. & we got limoncellos. now, i know this is an alcoholic drink & that’s a bit taboo, but our friend who had been to italy before had implored us to try it, so we did. we expected a fruity drink for lightweights, but that was NOT what we got. they were tiny & they were strong. like, STRONG. like, the kind of thing of which you can only take small sips. we tried to drink them, since we had paid good money, but we couldn’t do it. we left our glasses looking like they hadn’t been touched. the waiter looked a little offended when he asked if we didn’t like the drinks. sorry, bro. it made my throat burn & my eyes water. but thanks for the pizza. we followed up that meal with gelato, as you do. the woman who served us looked & talked like she was going to kill someone. it was kind of scary. chocolate & pistachio quickly became our go-to flavours. best combo since barbecue sauce &… everything. we enjoyed some street performers, such as the old man lip-synching to elvis. when i say lip-syncing, i mean moving his mouth, clearly not knowing the words at all & yelling when anyone got too close. it was odd. there was also the man dressed up as a storm trooper playing the… something. also, albert einstein hand dancing. 

we gave him some money & he did a special performance dedicated to us. it was touching.

& with that, our last full day in rome came to a close.

i just got really impatient with adding photos to these posts. the formatting is all weird & you can refer to my facebook to see all of pictures in the near future. i'm pretty sure i'm forgetting a lot of what went down so i'd better get on documenting the rest of our trip. &&&&&&&&&&& that's all.
the end.

spain, part II

we spent the rest of spain relaxing & sunbathing. we went karaoking in the town where we were staying. it was so much fun. some of our number have absolutely no shame. i believe this is required for doing karaoke. the locals were definitely laughing at us. i went into barcelona one other time on the sunday. some of our group was going to a football game so we all went into town, then jenna & shannon & i just walked around town some more. we found a reasonably priced restaurant & had tapas & paella. i think i was dehydrated or something because i had started to feel ridiculously sick. i could hardly eat my food & i felt like vomiting. it was so awful. i tried drinking more water but nothing helped. we found a really terrific street market full of amazing antiques but due to my weakened state, i found a nearby bench & took a nap instead. we then went to the the barcelona cathedral. jenna said that she would only go in if it cost less than five euros. it cost six. however, i was determined so i told them i’d meet them outside in an hour. it was so, so beautiful. there was a gorgeous courtyard in the middle & the cathedral was amazing. 

it was so worth the price. i spent twenty minutes in the prayer chapel. after that, i started feeling better & by the time i was out, i felt fine. wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles. :) i didn’t see them when i first walked out so i walked around the cathedral & it was like a scene from a movie. the presence of street performances gave the impression that my life had a soundtrack. dream come true.

the next day was spent laying out in the sun, doing nothing at all. it was the best. that night, disaster struck. now, we had all had to give a total of 1000 euros for the deposit, but vladimir had thought that we seemed like a sane enough bunch, so he only took half of it. but on our very last night, we were sitting around the table eating dinner in a calm manner when my friend leaned forward on the glass tabletop & BOOM. that thing cracked. he was sitting near the end & the table must’ve just been really weak. the whole end fully broke off & a few dishes went down with it. there was really nothing we could do so we just cleaned it up & laughed. seriously, what are the odds of this happening on our very last night? suffice it to say, we didn’t get the deposit back. that night, we were all up late. no one wanted to go to bed because for some of us it meant saying goodbye to people. at about three in the morning, i fell into bed for a few hours. we left the house at about five. we made our nine o’clock flight & could hardly see straight because we were so tired. coming soon is the next chapter of our adventure.

some random things that i forgot to include in the last post.

1.) we had a talent show at the end of school. our school is just full of winners. there was dancing. there was singing. there was more singing. there was more dancing. there was vomiting {don't ask}. there was... i don't remember what else there was. it was a while ago...

2.) in dublin, we were trying to figure out how to get somewhere with our map & james says, "where is the 'you are here' on the map?"  like it's a harry potter map that magically knows your location. i laughed so hard i nearly wet myself.

3.) i don't know how i forgot about our trip to york. for our last day trip we went to york. it's a lovely place. we  checked out charity shops. i saw a sign for a vintage market. i practically ran to it. i was overwhelmed with all the vintage clothing. so much good. 

'kay. i think that's all. tune in for my next post when i tell you about our roman holiday. 

the end. 

HOLA

has it really been a month? this has to be some sort of record. how is it almost april already? let's take it back a little...

wow. so outreach was fantastic. i cannot even tell you. but i shall try. as i said, we went to morley near leeds. i will admit i had the ugliest attitude going into it. i didn’t really know my team & we were going to be doing some stuff i had never really done before. it’s so close to the end of school, so i just wanted to be with my friends. i totally would have deserved it if God had made outreach really difficult & awful. but being who he is, he didn’t. he used it to show his grace & love.

so, here’s a summary of our ten days in the centre of the universe…
our team of nine was split in two groups, so each group did separate things every day. we all did a lot. & it was great.

we arrived in morley on the friday & on saturday morning we were distributing christian calendars on the streets, courtesy of morley community church. it was freezing, but i survived & built some character. that night, we met with the church leaders & planned & prayed. sunday was church & practice for the bible exhibitions. what are bible exhibitions? let me tell you. a bible exhibition is where we went into schools, dressed as bible characters, & told the children our stories. we did the book of acts, so there was mary magdeline, peter, dorcas, phillip, saul/paul, lydia, & the philippian jailer {that began to sound like ‘the flippin’ jailer’ after while}. i was really nervous going into it because i’m not big on talking in front of people, but they were just kids & they thought it was great. i played mary magdeline & basically was dressed like a nun. it was terrific. if i remember correctly, i did at least ten bible exhibitions. at least. the man who led the bible exhibitions, john, is from oxford & works with an organization called open air mission. with him was his sidekick, allan, who is training with him & doing street preaching & the like. all the guys were obviously wearing robes for their costumes & we sort of had to train them to keep their knees together, if you know what i mean… it all ended up being so much fun & the kids loved it. we all had our lines that we said over & over. ‘dorcas’ was telling the story of how she got sick & asked the children if they had ever been sick. they responded ‘yes’. then she said, ‘well, i got very sick & then i died.’ it was so blunt. they probably all thought they were going to die. but her story ended with being raised back to life by peter. our ‘saul’ had what he called ‘the clever-o-meter’ which he used to show the children how clever he was in comparison to everyone else. there was so much banter & joking between the characters that went right over the students’ head, but it kept us thoroughly entertained. so, other than exhibitions, we did school assemblies & an after school club every day. it was the best thing being able to go into schools & say the name of Jesus. we did a few coffee mornings where went & talked to pensioners {elderly people} over coffee & tea. i was less good at that though. socializing with people i don’t know from adam isn’t really my forte. but i managed. the key is just to ask about their grandchildren. that’ll keep them talking for days. we did one youth night which ended up being nothing like we were expecting. we thought older, high school age kids. no. it was like ten 11-13 year old boys. & a few girls. they were bouncing off the walls. we had a small message but we mostly hung out & played games. it was so much fun though. we had to say goodbye to john & allan on friday morning. then that afternoon, we had to say goodbye to our kids from club. it’s the most heartbreaking thing having to tell a kid that you won’t be coming back. we all cried & prayed & cried after they all left. it was just a hard day. my line was, ‘if the club works, we’ll see them again in heaven’.  well, it’s true. i told allan i’d see him again in heaven if nowhere else. but he may come visit during spring school & he found us all on facebook, so i think the friendship will live on. on saturday, we had a formal tour of the town hall & lunch with the mayor. never have i seen such a welcome for a missions team. we got our picture in the paper! it’s a really small community… so, that was basically outreach. our host family was so nice & welcoming. we ate tea {dinner} at different  houses almost every night. there was always so much food being shoved in my face. fortunately, i didn’t have much of an appetite all week so i actually lost weight instead of packing it on. what a win. haha. we were really well taken care of. {i cannot believe i just ended a sentence with a preposition… embarrassing.} everyone at the church was so amazing & morley is honestly my new favourite place. i had to apologize to God for having such a bad attitude. it was life-changing & i’m so grateful. another fun fact, i literally packed for all the ten days in my carry-on & a book bag. holla.

speaking of being grateful, our lecturer a few weeks ago was talking about being grateful & it was one of my favourite lectures. all of his lectures were so applicable to daily life. he also talked about living daily with God & other amazing things that are not coming to mind right now… anyway, i’m pumped. i’ve been getting up early mornings. i’ve done bible reading, facebooking , walk-taking, journaling. i’m really impressed with myself. i legitimately got up at six one morning. friday before school ended was work day & everyone in the whole school was working. i think they made up jobs just to keep us all busy. i cleaned the outside window frames of the entire dining hall. there was music blasting & {since i’m trying to be a more grateful person} it was delightful to spend time in the great outdoors, getting fresh air.

we had our very last family night the other week. we had chocolate fondue & we painted easter eggs. not boiled eggs though. no. these were raw, so we punched holes in the top & bottom & we blew the egg out of the shell. it was difficult & a little gross but it was fun. we also listened to & sang disney songs. i love my family group so much & i’m sad that we are no longer together.

we had our final banquet before school ended. we had dinner & received our certificates. rob whittaker was standing up front holding a fake certificate so that we could pose like he was presenting it to us. i’m sure pictures will be posted at some point.

goodbyes were the hardest thing of my life. leaving home was hard but i knew i would be coming back to everybody. people left on a coach on the night of the fifteenth & there were insane amounts of tears. it was the worst. the next morning, people were all leaving at different times so there were hourly goodbyes. stab me in the heart.

eight of us left by train to liverpool.  we got there midday & walked around & shopped. our flight wasn’t ‘til early the next morning so we spent the night in the john lennon airport. we flew out at 6:30.  we got to dublin & we didn’t actually have anywhere to go. our hostel couldn’t take us until the next day. jamie had booked herself a hotel, so we stored our stuff there & went walking around for a while. there was a st. paddy’s day parade but we couldn’t really see it because the streets were crazy crowded. we went back to her hotel room & took a group nap for a few hours then we got ready & went out. dublin on st. paddy’s day isn’t really as crazy as it sounds. yes, there were a lot of people. yes, most everyone was drinking. but there were eight of us, two being boys. we were quite safe. we went to a really nice pub for dinner  then we all crashed in jamie’s hotel room that night. the next day, we went to our hostel & stored our luggage & got food from the market. we had a picnic outside & were joined by a stray dog that tried to steal our food. david named him jobin. {you will get this reference if you’ve seen i love you man. if not, don’t worry about it} then we went into town & saw nothing in particular. but it was fun. we met up with some friends from school that evening & finally checked into our hostel. it was seriously so nice. & only nine euro a night. i don’t know how that is possible. we just hung out there for the night. five other capernwrayers were staying there too. it’s an unbreakable bond, my friends. the next day, four of us girls went on a day tour of ireland. we literally drove to the other side of the country on a bus, making stops at different sites along the way. we ended up at the cliffs of moher, which is where something from harry potter was filmed. it was unreal. legitimately one of the most beautiful things i’ve ever seen.  it was a long day & our tour guide had a vulgar sense of humour but it was a great experience. we hung out at our hostel that night & talked to some guys who had been attending bible school in italy.

we flew out to barcelona the next day after wandering around dublin some more. we got here at night & we had to take a train to the town in which we’re staying. i honestly never thought we would get here. mainly i was unsure that the house existed. we’re renting it from a man called vladimir who required a 100% down payment. call me paranoid but it seemed a little fishy to me. we had to walk to it from the train station & i don’t know how we found it. everyone else was already there, so there was screaming & excitement when we arrived. i was thrilled to see everyone but even more thrilled that the house wasn’t a scam. there are eighteen of us & two more will be coming later on. we spent first day here relaxing & doing absolutely nothing. we all bought groceries for ourselves. we do our own breakfast & lunch then we all takes turns making dinner. it works quite well. it’s literally a five minute walk to the beach. there was a lot of rain for a while so that was a bit of a downer. the weather has since gotten better though. we’re all running around in dresses & the locals are still bundled up like it’s mid-winter. we checked out the beach & the town. it’s so beautiful here. it can’t believe it’s all real. we went into barcelona yesterday. it’s a relatively short train ride there. we saw the spanish version of the arc de triomf. who knew there was another? i love being in spain & being able to understand some of what’s going on with my high school spanish. we saw the something sagrada familia basilica. just our luck, it’s under mass amounts of construction but it was still awe-inspiring. we had some troubles finding our way home. we finally managed to get on the right train. it was an adventure.

but let me tell you more about our house. it is huge. two people to each bedroom. that equals ten bedrooms. you with me? main floor is the living room area, the kitchen, dining area & a few bedrooms.  the two floors above are just bedrooms & bathrooms. downstairs is a sitting area with a pool table, a squash court, a wine cellar, & a sauna. & out front is a pool. like, WHAT? it’s like a dream.

so, that’s it so far. i’ll try to keep you better updated from now on. we’re here spain until the 27^th then it’s off to italy. keep us in your prayers as we encounter new adventures.

okay, so i am seriously so pumped for spring school. it’ll be grand. i love you all more than air, but i’m not ready to go home quite yet. God has been teaching me more in the last month than ever before. there’s something to be said for actually trying to listen when God speaks to you. he’s the very best.

the end.

one more before outreach?

so, another event that i forgot to mention was our costume party in which we had to dress like each other. i thought at first that it would be difficult & briar & i didn’t know what to do until the last minute. we just decided to be each other. she wore my flowered blouse, grey cardigan, denim jacket, brown pants, & oxfords. & we did her makeup like mine. & braided her hair to the side. she looked awesome, if i do say so myself… we all met in the conference hall & just played games. it was so funny to see people & know exactly who they were dressed as. i think we managed at least one picture.

that next thursday, i was walking back to my room late & i managed to trip or something & i jammed my toe hardcore. i thought i had broken it. {this was the same day i slipped on the ice} it was so bad. the next day, briar, diane, amanda, rachel, victoria, & i we went to lancaster where I limped around all day. we all wanted to see the vow. have you seen the trailers for that movie? heart-breaking. well, we arrived at the cinema to find that it wasn’t even showing there yet. even more heart-breaking. we saw warhorse instead. it was great & we all cried. we got out of the movie around seven to find the streets of lancaster completely silent. they close up early around here. the taxi that picked us up didn’t even know where capernwray is so we basically had to direct him back.

that night, there was a dodgeball game. again, i did not participate. but afterwards, there was a dance-off in the ping-pong room. now this was no ordinary dance-off. these men were competing for a girl’s hand in marriage. obviously it was a joke, but they took it very seriously. dances were choreographed. outfits were coordinated. there was a dj. there was a strobe light. she chose the winner in the end. he turned her down. it was dramatic. we all danced. we danced until lockup. this is a bad idea when you have a foot injury. basically, my entire foot was swollen. & i could hardly walk. i was sitting on briar’s bed & she accidentally sat on it. i screamed bloody murder & proceeded to cry & laugh hysterically all at once. i knew it wasn’t broken, so i just iced it a few times & it’s all better now. i don’t know how i injure myself so much here.

on tuesday last week {valentine’s day}, my friend jason asked if he could borrow my bowtie. i was confused. i do have a bowtie. it’s a clip-on that i use as a headband. but i had no idea how he knew i had one. apparently i had told him at one point. i do not remember this. so, i gave him a bowtie not knowing why he needed it. well, he showed up to tea in a white shirt, black pants, & the bowtie. as people walked in, he escorted them to tables, set their places, & pulled out chairs. i know this sounds like a nice, gentlemanly thing to do, & it was, but it was mostly just funny. he’s just one of those people.

that night, all the {two} capernwray couples were doing romantic things, taking walks around the loop… that’s pretty much the only thing to do around here. well, we were fascinated. & bored. so, briar, courtney, eliana, & i went for a walk. the only other people we really saw were people like us, trying to creep on the couples. one couple, however, let off paper lanterns & it was beautiful. kudos to that boy for being romantic. we got to the pond & we jumped in. there was ice. i thought my head was going to fall off. we were in & out in less than a minute. just makin’ memories.

also, briar bought me flowers. she went to town & jokingly told her to buy me something pretty. she did. it was nice.

our lecturer last week was a man called jim wright. he is a business man from north carolina who has a passion for greek grammar. it sounds boring, but the fact that he was downright giddy about it got us excited. i’m a big grammar person, so i was fascinated. he was teaching on the church. he has gone through most of the new testament & colour coded every verb to specify which tense it is. i think that makes sense. if not, i’ll show you the booklet when i get back. it was amazing. he sees the bible in a different light because he knows the original greek. i was blown away. he has spent years of his life studying the bible & has basically made his business a ministry. he will be coming back in spring school to teach about solomon & he will teach an optional course on greek. i’m so there it’s insane.

thursday was prayer day. we were  all together for part of the morning & the rest of the day was for quiet time with God & prayer. it was a relaxing & peaceful day.

last saturday, we competed in little competition called the capern race. if you’ve ever watched the show called the amazing race you’ll get the general idea. our teams were our interactive groups. all over the grounds were challenges that we had to complete in less than ten minutes. as i’m sure you can guess, this entailed A LOT of running. yeah. i’m not a runner. but i did it. i was proud. the events were mental & physical. i had a good team. we finished first but we didn’t have enough points to win. the top three teams had to compete in one last challenge in the pool & after that was over, everyone started jumping in the pool. briar & eliana jumped in fully clothed. i thought there was no way i was going in. more girls started jumping in. the boys started chanting “RE-SPECT! RE-SPECT!” what did i care if i had their respect or not? but they kept chanting & it looked so fun… i took off my boots & made my way to the deep end of the pool. we all held hands & jumped in together. it was the best. the pool closed after ten minutes of swimming but it was fun while it lasted. spontaneity is key, friends.

sunday was the most beautiful day. it wasn’t warm, but it was sunny. we were all dressed up for church so brittany, courtney, briar, & i went outside & had a photoshoot. some of them are posted , so go ahead & take a gander. after lunch, my family group went to the zoo. the petting zoo, that is. there was delightful array of common farm animals. the climax of the day occurred when we were in the play area. there was a big slide & a swing made out of tires in the general shape of a horse. my sister hailey wanted a ride on this swing & brother orion was kindly pushing her. said swing was attached to the rafters with a dangerously small amount of rope, so when orion tried to jump on with little hailey, they found themselves still on the swing but decidedly closer to the ground. meaning, on the ground. i’m pretty sure we were all in tears from laughing so hard. now, my brother daniel is always filming everything we do in family group on his ipad. but it just so happened that this incident occurred during the thirty seconds in which he had stopped filming. what are the odds? when we had finished petting the animals, we ate at the café & went back home. i have the greatest capernwray family ever.

i passed another paper & i think we’re just waiting on our last one now. i did end up failing that test though. 31 out of 44 points were required to pass… i got 30. so. close. i retook it today & i’m pretty confident that i passed this time around.

i called home last night to talk to my sister… mom answered & said that she thought i arranged to call on monday night. sister wasn’t even home. we definitely did agree on monday. i just forgot. i really need to write things down.  i was glad i got to talk to my momma though. J & my daddy has been mailing me letters.  it makes me so happy when i get mail.

i feel it is my duty to tell you, there is a popular british boy band over here with whom i have fallen in love. i don’t know if they’ve made it to the states, but they are called one direction & they are the most played in our room. it’s like five british justin biebers in one group. look up ‘what makes you beautiful’. it is grand.

i think that is it this time around. i’m not sure i’ll manage another post before outreach, so just remember us in your prayers. we will be leaving on friday for ten days. it’ll be an experience!

i do believe this post is even longer than the last. you are welcome.

this post took me two hours

i was reading briar’s blog & she does a way better job at actually blogging & not just listing events that happen in our life here at the capes. i can’t be outdone, so i’m putting more effort into blogging, since i don’t do it very often. i don’t know how long i’ll keep this up. right now, i have an afternoon free & briar’s napping… this’ll take a while. you might want snacks.

so, let me tell you more about outreach. starting on february 24^th, nine of us are going to the town of morley which is near leeds. we’ll be working with morley community church doing things such as assemblies at schools {because that’s allowed here}, youth events, kids’ clubs, handing out pamphlets, & interacting with the elderly. everyone in the school has been put on different outreach groups & are going to different places around the uk. & there’s a group that’s going to kenya. this week’s lectures & seminars have all been about outreach & how to prepare ourselves. we have begun to plan our events & lessons. we would very much appreciate your prayers. the devil doesn’t really like what we’re doing & he’ll be doing all he can to hinder us.  please pray for unity within our teams & for the people to whom we will be ministering. God is good & faithful, but it’s hard not to be a little anxious.

on a lighter note, i left a few things out of the last post. namely, cutthroat mafia. yes. the night before we left for our weekend in morley, most of the people had already gone & the castle was more quiet than usual. there were about fifteen of us up late & we played the scariest game of my life. a few people are chosen as the ‘mafia’ & we shut all the lights off & we walk around the creepy, dark castle & try not to get killed. the mafia just walks up & ‘cuts’ your throat & you have to fall down dead until someone finds you. when you’re found, everyone has to accuse & vote for who they think is guilty. briar lured me & arianna into a room & killed us both. you can’t trust anyone these days.

speaking of assaulting vending machines… a few weeks ago, we suddenly the urge to get some candy from the vending machine at the pool. {we’re like children sometimes} our favourite candy here is haribo tangfastics. it’s a bag of assorted sour gummy candies, & it’s the most delicious candy ever. we put our money in the machine & the bag got stuck. we shook the machine a little but we figured when we went to buy the next one, they would both fall. wrong. the first one fell & the next  one got stuck. we tried for the third bag {there were five of us in want of candy} & the machine just wouldn’t take our money. we tried over & over & over again. we shook it, we unplugged it & plugged it back in, we body-slammed it. nothing would work. i will say that seeing little jamie throw herself at the big vending machine was quite funny. it wouldn’t take our money or give us our candy. since we are young & nearly broke, we would not give up. finally our violent combination of shaking & body-slamming worked & we got our candy. the end. i think i didn’t tell this story before because it was a little shameful. but i realized it was too funny not to share. also, this all happened the one time we were skipping evening church on a sunday. lesson learned. & i’ll add that there is a security camera in the pool hall. i’d pay good money for that footage.

we turned in our final essay last week. such a relief. it was on apologetics & i think I did well. i passed my last two assignments with flying colours. literally, colours that fly. we had a memory verse test the other day that i think i might have bombed. there were ten verses that we had to know but we would only be asked to write five of them, without knowing which five beforehand.  i only really knew eight of them, but i figured i would do alright. what were the odds of the only two i didn’t know being the first two on the test? better than i thought. i got the others right but i don’t think missing two whole verses is acceptable. i’m bummed but i’m not too torn up about it. it’s the first thing i haven’t passed in five months of school. not bad.

last saturday, our day trip was to the nearby town of morecambe. it’s small town right on the water which sounds great unless it’s the coldest day of our life & every kind of precipitation is attacking your face the moment your step off the coach. briar & i didn’t even know what we planned to do there, we just wanted to get out of the house… er, castle. our faces were painfully cold after 3.5 seconds of being outside, so anything indoors was appealing to us. we went to see what was playing at the cinema. we decided on journey 2: the mysterious island. it’s pretty much a kids movie but the actor who  is playing our favourite boy in the hunger games movie was in it, so we thought we’d check it out. it was incredibly cheesy but we’re both so enamoured with josh hutcherson that it didn’t even matter. oh yeah, it was in 3D too. after the movie, we tried to find this alleged vintage shop we had heard about. it was nowhere to be found. it was so cold & windy that i actually had brain freeze, without the deliciousness of ice cream. we still had time to kill so we pulled a 500 days of summer {movie reference} & ran around the home furnishings floor at a home improvement store. we tried out couches, climbed into wardrobes, & chose paint chips. & we bought a cactus. it was only 99p & it’s just so darn cute. it was a day well spent.

near reception in the castle, there is this pole that runs up the wall that must have hot water running through it or something because it’s always so warm. & we are not in this beautiful, drafty home of ours. we call it dave & we like to give him a snuggle whenever we walk by. briar & i warm up with him, then bolt up the stairs & dive into her bed when we’re cold. last sunday, we were especially cold & her bed just wouldn’t cut it. our friend diane {who just so happens to be briar’s roommate}, however, has a heating pad in hers that she had left on. suffice it to say, we spent half the day watching movies in diane’s bed until she kicked us out.

our evening service on sunday this week we did something called ‘paper testimonies’. we all got a piece of paper & on one side we wrote one word that described us before we met Jesus. on the other, we wrote one for after we met Jesus. there was music playing & people just walked up front & showed one side, then the other. it was really powerful. God is so unfathomably good.

since i’m just filling you in on random things that i have previously overlooked, i will tell you about ‘dump & dash’. we get the dishes of food from the front of the dining hall & bring them back to our tables. sometimes at meals, we get something particularly delicious, like fries. this is when we dump the contents of the dish onto one plate & dash to the kitchen to get a refill. the staff has requested that we don’t do this because it’s a little rude… we’ve developed what we like to call the ‘scoop & scurry’. we all serve ourselves quickly & walk to the front at a moderate pace for a refill. it seems the staff has no qualms with this method.

we did a survey for the yearbook with ‘best…’ or ‘most likely to…’ sort of things. the best ones were all the koreans being voted most likely to eat noodles & the two students who had been together for years & got engaged over break being voted most likely to get married. I can tell this will be a quality yearbook.

i believe i mentioned the letters we sent to the guys in sweden. well, rob whittaker often goes there to lecture & he always offers to bring letters from us if we have friends there. we wrote letters to our new friends to send with him. when rob came back, he came bearing letters for us. we got the best responses in the entire world.  the guys thought it was funny & didn’t think we were insane, so they wrote us back equally cheesy letters. it’s the funniest thing ever.

this morning, i accidentally pulled out my nose ring. it’s easy to take out & not so easy to get it. i must have been holding my breath as i forced it back in because i was overcome by a sudden wave of nausea & ended up with my head in the toilet bowl ready to vomit my guts out. so classy. i stumbled back into bed until my friend eliana came & jumped on me & dragged me to breakfast. it was worth it. there was wheat bread. but the ground was unbelievably icy. it was ridiculous. i saw five people biff it on the way to the pool hall to do my duty. you laugh until it happens to you. on the way back to the castle, i wiped out ever so gracefully. the scrapes on my palm & foot can attest to that. you’re really living on the edge when running late to class becomes ice skating late to class.

i can’t believe winter school is almost over. we have about a month left & we’ll be on outreach for ten of those days. it’s unreal. i want to do it all over again. not so that i can change anything, just so that i can spend more time with these people in this place. i’m so excited for spring school & some of my favourite people are staying, but it won’t be the same. time has flown & it’s only now when i consider having to leave in four months that all this seems real. it’s such a good reminder of how constant God remains through all of the changes in our lives.

well, that was a lot of words. good on you if you made it all the way through. i forgot how much i enjoy talking about myself & my crazy life. i love you all more than you know & just because i love it here, it doesn’t mean i don’t have those moments when thoughts of you make my heart ache a little.

the end. 

julia vs. the blog

i'm more sorry than i've ever been about not blogging. i'm getting even worse. it's becoming the bane of my existence. but i like documenting my whole life. it's a sick cycle.

i’ve gotten more settled into my room. we’ve kind of worked about the space issue. i stored a small suitcase of stuff in my friends room. the first week back, my friend karsten switched places with his twin brother who goes to torchbearers in sweden. we asked his brother hans for the names of his friends in sweden & we wrote them love letters. karsten brought back a response letter from the guy that jamie wrote to. allegedly the other guys just didn’t get time to write back. likely story. but they did think it was funny. rob whittaker is going to the sweden school to lecture next week & he always asks if we have letters to send to people there. guess who we wrote letters to. hopefully we’ll get a response back. fingers crossed.

i’ve been reading the hunger games. have you heard of it? so. good. i read the first two books & i won’t let myself read the third one until i finish my assignments. i cannot wait for the movie in the SPRING.

i pretty much sleep through breakfast all the time. i don’t always mean to. it just happens. i don’t know why i’m so much more tired this term. i got up the other morning & i was so incredibly proud of myself.

we’ve been planning our travels for spring break. first is ireland, then spain for a week. there’s a huge group of us going to spain & we’re splitting the cost of a villa. i’m pretty pumped. i might go to italy after. maybe...

the guy who wrote soul surfer was our lecturer last week. soul surfer being about the girl, bethany hamilton the surfer who got her arm bitten off by a shark. he talked about the economy of God. like, what really matters in the kingdom of God. it was really good.

my room had our first roomie night. we ate popcorn & watched 300. it was a lovely girls night.

we've have way too many assignments. i don't like it.

my ten day outreach group is going to a church near leeds in the end of february. last weekend we went there to see the church & plan our outreach with the pastor. it was good to get away & my host family is so nice. it's a couple with a fifteen year old girl and thirteen year old boy. they're darling. we playing the game of life with them. it's always nice to be in a home. 

the weekend before we went to LIVERPOOL. my friend arianna & i went to the beatles museum & the museum of livepool. it was one of my favourite places i've been. it's a really nice town. i would like to go back sometime. i didn't get to see their houses or any of that. it's right on the sea so it was insanely windy. like, unbelievably so.

briar & arianna & i got to go to a nearby farm & meet baby sheep. they are the cutest thing in the world & when they 'bahhhh' they stick out their little tongues. life. changed.

since i'm staying the extra bit for school, i have to figure out my visa which ends in may. i think we've worked it out. i probably won't be kicked out of the country. 

so, that's this last month. maybe i'll do better this month? maybe not. i just turned in my last essay. holla.

the end. 

capernwray: round two

where did i leave off? mom & dad? london? so, they left & i hung out at the talbots house for a week. i did absolutely nothing. nothing but catch up on the shows that i've been missing. & sleep in a lot. it was super relaxing. i managed to make everything fit into my suitcases {after sending plenty home with the parents}. the talbots brought me back to school on saturday. my new room is in the main house {the castle} in the tower. lower tower, so there are fewer stairs. but still too many stairs. i have three roommates now. i'm not necessarily friends with any of them but they're nice & i like them. our room is about a third of the size of my old one. i have to get used to having minimal storage space for my shoe collection. my friends let me store a small suitcase of stuff in their room.
getting back to lectures was good. i think i like having a schedule again. we have our first assignment of term due next week. my new seat in lectures is dangerously close to the front...
we found out where we're going for ten day outreach. so, in march, i'll be going to leeds with a team of ten-ish  people. i'm excited but i have no idea what we'll be doing.
a butterfly/moth creature landed on my head indoors the other day. i thought that was notable.
we had family night last night. we had tacos. it was delicious. & we played games. i love my family. :)
i read the hunger games last week. if you don't know what it is, google it. & then read it. it's amazing & now i can't wait for the movie.
we had a race today around the loop. obviously i didn't run. i watched & cheered. as with every sporting event.
my new duty is resetting to tables after breakfast. i'm not big on morning duties...
so, that's just about everything. & it's almost dinner time.
if you didn't see my facebook post, i'm staying for spring school, so i'll see you in june!
the end.