My apologies

Wow a month can go by fast. I was my goal to write every week, obviously that didn't happen. Part of my lack of diligence plays into the business of life at CIMBA. Classes every day plus leadership training activites, plus homework and then when we do have a break we are traveling. For right now I will just give highlights of many of the things I have done since February. I want to have some sort of an update before tomorrow when my next travel week starts.

ROME: My favorite part of Rome were the catacombs. Getting there was quite an adventure and a long walk but it was totally worth it. The picture is of me above the tombs. We couldn't take any pictures underground. In the early days of Christianity the people believed that Jesus's return would be imminent. They wanted their bodies to be ready. Most Romans were useing cremation at the time and Christians didn't believe it in. The catacombs we were in are more than 11 miles long with more than 100,000 tombs. They have to say tombs instead of bodies because often families were buried together. I even got to see what an oil lamp looked like from the days of Peter. Pretty amazing and definitely more spiritually uplifting than the vatican.

Other fun sights in Rome: Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Vatican City, and my favorite pizzeria: Angelo's where we me Pietro, the waiter who claims he is a vampire. He was a lot of fun.

SORRENTO: After Rome my travel group headed south. We stayed in an apartment in Sorrento that was set amongst a lemon grove. The lemons were already as big as my fists. The roads to get to the apartment were only wide enough for one smart car to pass at a time. See the picture to the side.

From Sorrento we took day trips to Positano - a town along the Amalfi coast, Pompeii, and the island of Capri. It was beautiful and extremely relaxing. We found though that some attractions are closed in the off season and we ended up missing a couple things we wanted to do. I guess its just incentive to come back some day!

LIFE: The LIFE experience at CIMBA is an 2.5 day intensive leader development program. It was demanding and stressful. Also it had a "new age" flare to it, but God uses all things for the good of those that love Him. He used that time to teach me a lot about myself. During the program we had to identify something that was holding us back from being all we could be. I realized I am terrified of being misjudged. This even comes into play when I tell people I'm a Christian. I don't want them to think I'm a crazy right wing fundamentalist because of the negative sterotype it puts in their heads. I want them to see me as the sinner that I am and that only God is good enough for heaven. But through his Son I get to go too, and they can come as well. Anyway LIFE is hard to explain, but from it I developed stronger relationships with the people in my group, I developed some understanding about myself, and most importantly I heard from God.

MUNICH: The beginning of March we had a long weekend. Ailin, Brande and I hopped a train to Munich Germany. It was amazing! Munich is situated in the Bavarian region - the place we get pretzles, liederhosen (spelling?), beer, cukoo clocks and unfortunately Hitler. The first day we took a walking tour of the city. It was incredible. All of old town Munich except for 4 pieces of architecture was destroyed during bombings in WWII. After the war, the city rebuilt the entire town to look as it did the day the war started. The Nazi regime did an excellent job of photo-jounraling ever thing in the city because they knew it would be targeted. This is a picture of the Glockenspiel or town clock with moving figures. It is one of the original pieces of architecture that survived.

That day we also visited Olympia park where the 1972 Olympics were held. We rode the fastest elevator in Europe. 100 meeters in 7 seconds. Scary! That evening we saw Swan Lake performed by the National ballet company. It was absolutely incredible. As we were leaving the theatre, huge snowflakes started falling all around us. IT was so beautiful.

The next day we went to Dachau, Nazi Germany's first and longest running concentration camp. As you enter the gates you read a sign that translates to "Work is freedom." We saw where prisoners slept, were punished, attended roll call, and eventually where they were killed. It was quite sombering and emotional.

Ironically that night we went to 2 beer halls or 'brau haus.' First we went to the Augustiner BrauStuben. The food was amazing. I had pork roast, pork knuckles, 1/4 duck, saurkraut, and a potato dumpling. I even liked the saurkraut! It was crowded and in Germany you don't wait for your own table, you join a table where there are a few extra spots. It was a little intimidating, but really fun when we started talking to Heinz. The cool thing was they didn't think we were american, they thought we were hispanic. I'll take it over the negative American stereotypes.

Afterward we went to the Haufbrauhaus - where Hitler started his beer hall putch, and where he often took advisors while he was in Munich. Swaztikas used to be painted on the ceilings. Now they have decorative Bavarian flags painted there, but you can still see the flowing movement of the "black spider." Haufbrauhaus is extremely famous, but I liked the other one better. The first one was crowded with locals, the second was crowded with tourists. The picture to the right is of Ailin and I in the Haufbrauhaus. I promise its coke in my cup, but you can't even tell the difference between it and her dark beer. It smelled nasty, but she really liked it.

In general I loved Munich and hope to return someday with my dad! I thought about him the entire time I was there.

OTHER: Aside from all that I've been trying to keep up with school work, enjoying things around Paderno del Grappa like "Al Pina" the pasticceria or a little bakery. We took a field trip to Trieste to see a WWI memorial. It was pretty amazing. Also there have been lots of birthdays here so we go out at least once if not two or three times a week. With birthdays comes alcohol cosumption. So I've broken up a bar fight. Never thought I would ever be able to say that. As a whole my experience here is fantastic.

I can't believe I will be home in less than 5 weeks. Time goes so fast and I'm not ready to return stateside. This adventure has only begun to whet my appetite for travel!

Verse of the night: Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."