HUF Summer 2008

Lucca, Pisa, Cinque Terre

2008-07-10T19:51:00.002+02:00

We have just returned from one of my favorite trips of the summer. We started out the first day going to Lucca. Lucca is a smaller city and is not really catered toward tourists. We were able to see a few of the many churches there and we even sang a few hymns in one of them. The acoustics in the church we amazing and hearing the praises gave me chills! We then went on to Pisa where we were able to see the famous leaning tower of Pisa! It was so cool seeing a site that i have grown up seeing pictures of and never thought i would be able to see! After visiting the tower, the cemetery, and the baptistery in Pisa, we made our way to Cinque Terre.
I loved Cinque Terre! It was so beautiful and was not completely overrun by tourists. We arrived at the hotel and we had to decide how the rooms were going to be settled; Annie, Ginny, Kayla, and I ended up not staying at the hotel since there was not enough room. Instead, we got to stay at an apartment that is rented out to visitors! we had our own family room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and one and a half bathroom! it was really nice! For dinner, we ate at a local food place and had fish and chips. it was really good! we then headed out to the beach into a grotto for a singing devotional. It was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had. Hearing the voices echo in the grotto and carry across the water was beautiful. I was able to look out and see the stars clearly and watch the huge waves crash against the rocks. I was able to see the wonder, splendor, power, and love of God all around me in one instance! After singing and praying for hours, we headed to our rooms. The girls in my apartment had decided before to have a milk and cookies night since we had a refrigerator to keep the milk in! so we came back and ate oreos with milk! The first oreos I have had in two months! and cold milk is a rare thing too! We went to sleep very content that night.
Cinque Terre means "five lands" or "five earths" in Italian. It is made up of 5 cities and the only way to get from city to city is by bus, train, or hiking. Our group decided to hike from the first city to the fourth city which was where we were staying. It ended up being a 3 hour hike, which included stopping in one of the cities for gelato. haha. It was a semi-difficult hike, especially near the end, but it was amazing. The train is on the side of the mountain along the coast line, so we were able to see some spectacular views! We spent the rest of the day hanging out on the beach and watched the sunset over the water and mountains. I took over 60 pictures of the sunset alone! :) We had another devotional that night that was equally as moving as the night before. Also, some exciting news, the couple on our trip is now engaged! Eddie Koch proposed to Alicia Bridges that night! We are all very excited for them!
This morning we slept in a little bit, then I went for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea! It was a perfect temperature! After drying off by laying out, I headed back to Florence.
It was an amazing past 3 days. I was able to see some of the most beautiful art work- God's. To see so much of his handiwork was so spiritually uplifting! and to praise him with 40 other Christians! It could not have been better! :)

First Independent Travel

2008-06-29T15:45:00.003+02:00

Disclaimer: this blog may sound as if I am complaining, whining, and, at some points, exaggerating. But you have to understand that this is all true and is actually quite humorous. lets begin....
Annie Meiners, Kayla Anderson, Ginny Novar, Matt Novar, and I left Friday afternoon by train to Milan, Italy. We got there around suppertime, so we walked to the piazza (square) where the Duomo (main church) was located and at a little bar (bars are small restaurants). Out of all the Duomos we have seen, and we have seen a lot, Milan's was by far the most decorated and most Gothic-style. It reminded me of a melting wedding cake. That night, we stayed in a hostel in Milan. Saturday morning, we jumped on another train to Venice, Italy. As soon as we exited the train station, we ran into Janice and Cecily. Janice is the mom of one of the guys at HUF who had been visiting the villa with her friend Cecily. They offered to split the cost of a tour on a boat (not a gondola) of the canals, so we did that with them. It was so cool going through the town in a boat! We saw the Duomo, the King's Palace, and Elton Johns' house. His house is actually not very pretty, but is right on the water. Janice and Cecily left to catch their next train and we went off to look at the shops. Walking along, we ran into a few more HUFers and had mini-reunions. it amazing me that although we hadn't even been gone a full day how much we missed everyone already. After a light lunch, we hopped on the train for Munich. This is where our trip took a turn for the worst...
The train from Venice to Munich was suppose to take about 8 hours. By the time we arrived in Munich, we had been on the train for 17+ hours. I am not exactly sure what all the problems were since all the announcements were in German, but i do know that these were some of the problems: the tracks were broken and our conductor left in the middle of our ride. Yes, that is right. Our conductor abandoned us half way through our trip. So we had to wait 3 hours in a small train station for another conductor, once we found one, the new conductor decided to take a detour through the Alps. Fyi- the Alps are not a detour but more of a scenic route. Toward the end of the train ride (about 6 hours left), the train ran out of food and water. This not only meant that there was nothing to eat or drink, but the toilets could not flush and we could not wash our hands. Fortunately, my group had bought some granola bars and animal crackers at the grocery store before we left, so we began feeding the English speakers on the train. We made many friends while on the train, including some Canadians who entertained us (talked with us) in exchange for food. While it was very frustrating, the long train ride also gave us a chance to see more of the country side and we got to laugh a lot.
Finally, we arrived in Munich on Sunday, but our train was leaving in 45 minutes, since we had only allotted 9 hours to spend in the city. Thankfully, the train station in Munich is very nice and had a Starbucks! so we treated ourselves to a Frappiccino then boarded our train to Prague. We arrived in Prague at 11:30 pm and realized we did not have clear directions to our hostel. We also realized that the metro, which we had to take to get to the hostel, closed at midnight, so there was no way we could get on that. So we went to the ATM, since the Czech Republic does not use euros but instead uses krowns (spelling?), and headed outside to find a taxi. there were taxi's lined up and they understood when we told them we wanted a taxi, understood us when we asked how much it was, and understood us when we were handing them our money. They, however, did not understand us when we asked for our change. Basically, the driver got a really really big tip. but we were all so tired by this point that after five minutes of arguing, we gave and took the taxi to our hostel. The next morning, Monday, we woke up early so we could have a full day in Prague. We first went to the National Museum where their main attraction was the history of shoes and taxidermy (or zoology, which ever way you want to look at). We then saw the main church, which was only slightly impressive, then had a lunch that we thought would cost less than 10 American dollars. After eating, we discovered that they add a cover charge, table charge, and tip to your bill, so a meal on the children's menu ended up costing about 17 dollars. At least the food was good. We then decided to go ahead and book our reservations for the train for the next day. So we followed the map to the train station. we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked some more. After going through the old Jewish ghetto (which is now just a normal ghetto) and seeing 3 different drug deals take place, we finally arrived at the train station, only to find we were at the wrong station. the station we needed was about 2 blocks from the museum we were at earlier that day. When we got back to the hostel, we totalled the amount of miles we had walked in that one day, and the total exceeded 20 miles. We crashed in our beds and fell asleep quickly. On the way to the train station Thursday morning, i realized my purse was wet. I looked in my bag and saw that my waterbottle had broken. Everything got wet, including my camera. So now my camera is dead and now longer working. When we arrived at the train station, we got up to the line to make our reservations (we did not get to make them the day before since we were at the wrong station), the lady told us that our Eurail Pass did not work in the Czech Republic. Eurails are something we bought at the beginning of the semester that act as a ticket. They allow you to board trains "free" as long as it is not a reservation-only train and you get a discount if it is a reservation-only. We got out of line to discuss our options, which we knew the only option was to pay the amount it took for a ticket. So we stood in line again for about ten minutes. When it was our turn, the man in the window closed his window and put up a sign that indicated it was lunchtime for him. So we stood in line at another window for five minutes, and when we went up there, she closed her line. Finally, after standing in a third line, we finally made it up there. We asked the lady for the cheapest ticket for a train to Vienna and she told us it would be 400 krowns which is 30 American dollars. Not having any other choice, we paid for the ticket. All while we had been working on this I had been talking talking to some Australians. They, too, were on their way to Vienna. When we came back from getting our tickets, we were complaining about the cost. When they asked how much it was and we told them them, they replied by telling us they only had to pay 250 krowns and got first class. and they were on the exact same train as us. needless to say, that made us upset since we were beginning to run short of money. One of the girls broke at this point, sat in the middle of the train station, and began to cry. After a few minutes of calming her down, the Australians led us to our train and made sure we were settled. The train went smoothly and the Australians even made sure we got off on the right stop. When we arrived in Vienna, we started heading out the station. I heard someone ask the question "ok, so where is our hostel?" That did it. I broke. I had my first legit panic attack. I suddenly could not breathe. Annie looked back to see why I wasn't walking beside her anymore and she noticed that I was swaying dangerously. She quickly sat me down and gave me a drink of water. The group talked to me calmly and within a few minutes I was okay again. The week had just added up and finally overcame me. But I got up, and we found our hostel with ease. We spent the rest of the night doing nothing in the hostel and went to bed early.
That is basically the end of the major disasters. Tuesday night, Kayla, Annie, and I decided we would sleep in the train station on Wednesday while Ginny and Matt wanted to stay in the hostel. So Tuesday morning, we headed out with our packs to the train station and rented a locker for the day. We then walked around Vienna, taking frequent and long breaks. We went to Starbucks, went shopping, and then ended the day by sitting and drinking cokes in the front lawn of the King's Palace. It was a wonderful day. We headed back to the station around 8. On the way there Annie was stung by a bee on her left ring finger. At the station, we found a TV in a restaurant there to watch Germany vs. Turkey in the Eurocup (soccer). It was like watching the Superbowl! it was fun to see the reactions of the fans watching the game with us. We then went up to the waiting room and attempted sleeping. I somehow ended up getting a decent night's sleep. We woke up Thursday morning, rode the train to Venice then to Florence. And were finally back at the Villa- our home away from home.
The trip was very frustrating and trying, but we got through it. I realized that I am a much stronger and more capable person than I thought I was (with God's help of course). We laughed a lot on the trip, mostly because there was nothing else we could do about the situations.

Southern Italy: June 9-16

2008-06-28T17:51:00.002+02:00

Monday night we took a charter bus then an overnight train to Villa San Giovanni where we arrived Tuesday morning. On Tuesday, we went to the Reggio Calabria Acheological Museum. The museum's main attraction is the Riaces Bronzes. These were bronze statues found in the bottom of the see off the coast of Naples. It was amazing to see how they had survived after years in the salt water. We then took a ferry to the Straights of Messina and and checked into our hotel in Taormina. After getting settled in, we went and visited the Greco-Roman theater at Taormino. We then headed for the beach where we layed out and jumped of a cliff about 15 feet high. Wednesday was the first relaxing, do-nothing day we have had since we arrived at HUF. We began they day by tanning, then decided to jump off the 30 foot cliff into the water. it was so much fun, but it also hurt! Two of our group were stung by jellyfish (the sea was swarming with them). After a lunch overlooking a bridge, we decided to go canyoning. Canyoning (for us) means going UP a river that used to be a lava flow river. When we were first entering, we were told by one of the law enforcement there that what we were doing was illegal, but half our group was already started, so Robbie (our host teacher) convinced the man to let us go. It took our group of 40 an hour to go up what would be a less than 10 minute walk on dry land. We had to work as a team to get everyone up. Oh, and the water was the coldest water I have ever been in, including the newly melted snow water in the Sierras. We body rafted down, which took about a minute and a half. It was the most exhilarating day and I am so glad I had the opportunity, but I do not believe I will ever do it again. It was a once in a life time experience. After drying off and attempting to warm up, we took a bus to Catania where Robbie's son, David, lives and had a devotional with the church there then ate pizza from David's terrace where we could see the lava flowing from Mount Etna. It was so neat to be singing to God and to see one of his most powerful creations at the same time! Thursday morning we packed our bags and headed to Agrigento. We checked into the hotel. From our hotel room's terrace, we could see some of the Greek temples! We then headed out the temples at the archaeological site and were able to see the Greek temples built to gods such as Hurcules, Appolos, and Zues. Friday morning we traveled to Monreale where we saw the cathedral and the monk cloister. In the cathedral, we witnessed an Italian Catholic wedding. It was very beautiful even though we did not understand all that was going on. We saw the steps of the Teatro Messimo where Al Pacino was shot in Godfather III. We then left to board our overnight ferry from Palermo to Naples. The ferry was a lot of fun. We entertained ourselves by playing many games of Mafia (we thought this was perfect since we were in southern Italy). We arrived Saturday morning to Naples where we took a bus tour and ended up at the Naples National Archaeological Museum. This museum is mostly dedicated to artifacts found in Pompei. After viewing the artifacts, we were able to actually go to Pompei! There we met up with the Harding campaign group so I was able to see some of my friends. it was quite the reunion! It was so neat seeing Pompei. Walking through the city, I imagined the daily lives of the people there then how it was interrupted by the Eruption of Vesuvius. We saw the casts that the debris from the volcano made of the people who were caught in the terrible disaster. After walking through the city, our group, along with the campaigners, went to dinner in Sorrento where we were serenaded by an Italian band which consisted of an accordion, guitar, bass, and moroccas. It was very festive. Sunday morning we took a ferry to the island of Capri. We were on our own for the day so Annie Meiners, Kayla Anderson, and I explored Capri. We headed up the hill and saw the Villa San Michelle. We then took a boat ride around the island. The water was so clear and was so beautiful. It was a teal color, and we were able to see the red coral at the bottom. After laying out on the rocks, we headed back to the hotel where we had a wonderful devo lead by one of our guys. Monday morning we headed back to Florence after having some free time in Porciano. Southern Italy is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. I am so excited to have had the opportunity to go on this trip.

San Gimingano and Sienna

2008-06-04T14:07:00.004+02:00

Yesterday (Tuesday) we took a charter bus to San Gimingano and Sienna. We left early in the morning so we could spend a full day there. We took a city tour of San Gimingano and saw the church, the town hall, the main piazza, and the Duomo (the Collegiata). It was a nice little city, but there was not much to do. We then went to on to Sienna were we saw the Santa Marie De La Scala which was the first public hospital in Europe. Right across the street, we visited the Santa Maria Assunta. We had some free time in Sienna, so we went and got gelato at the same place Robin William does when he is in Sienna. The owner of the gelateria has even been flown to the USA to serve his gelato to Hilary Clinton when Bill Clinton was President. We walked around for a little bit more, then visited St. Catherine's church. Inside they had her finger in a bronze cast. It was kinda sick. We came back and continued our Indiana Jones marathon with the 2nd movie.
Today, we had a "Taste of Italy" for lunch. They gave us different antipastas (appetizers). They served some really good things, such as tomato on tuscan bread, cheese and pear, and risotto. We also had some not so good things. I decided to be adventurous and tried chicken liver, which was on a piece of bread. and also mushrooms, also on a piece of bread. sick sick sick. But i finally was able to eat Tarimisu! that is one of the main foods i have been searching for to try here and i have to say, it was delicious! :)

Uffizi

2008-06-04T13:46:00.001+02:00

Today we went to the Uffizi Museum in Florence. The museum has about 7,000 works of art, but "only" usually has 1,500 on display. We were able to see some famous and amazing works of art. One of the things we looked at was how the Madonna (or Virgin Mary) and Child (Jesus) were portrayed in each time period. It was neat to see how you could see the humanization of religious figures slowly come into style. My favorite painting was the "Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli. I'm not sure what it is that makes me like it so much, but it just seems to draw me to it. Looking at paintings such as "Spring" by Botticelli and others made me realize how much symbolisms are in most paintings. It was nice to have a tour guide because she was able to provide more information that helped me to appreciate the art and their artists even more. We also got to see Michelangelo's "Holy Family" which is his only known painting (not including his frescos). We also were able to see Rembrandt's self portraits, which made the wonderful memories of the Getty Museum come back. haha. By the end of the tour, which was 4 hours, I was exhausted. After eating a sack dinner in the Piazza di San Lorenzo we walked around Florence for a little bit to just see the city. Tomorrow, after church, we are going to a park to have lunch and play soccer with the members of the congregation. I am really excited and it should be really fun.

Stia and Porciano

2008-06-04T13:43:00.000+02:00

The past three days have been amazing. we took a rented shuttle bus to Castello Di Romena near Stia. it was spectacular. It is where Dante (who wrote Dante's Divine Comedy) lived after being exiled from Florence. We then went and ate lunch outside a church in Porciano. The girls and guys each picked a hymn to sing to the opposite gender in the church. We picked Arms of Love and the guys sang to us an amazing accapella version of Amazing Grace then sung to us You Are My Sunshine. It was very sweet. The acoustics in the church were amazing. We then went to our hotel in Stia, which is very quaint. We then made our way to the Castello Di Porciano. This was my favorite experience in Italy so far. The castle was incredible. We were able to tour the castle, then they fed us the most amazing dinner. I ate so much i thought i was going to explode. We then had an after dinner concert by the harpist Andrea Piazza. You would have loved him. He was so talented. It was a perfect way to end the day.The next day, we took a train to the Castello Di Poppi. It had one of the best views of the Tuscany valley. It was mostly just a museum, but we were able to climb to the top of the bell tower and look out. After lunch, we went to a wool factory for a service project. The Angela Giordano project is for Women in Algeria and India. Angela is a master weaver and taught us how to weave. We each made a square that will be made into a quilt and sold at Harding at an auction along with quilts made by the Spring and Fall HUF groups. I came to the conclusion that weaving is not a talent that God gave me. haha. After we were done, which was about three hours later, we went to a hill at the mouth of the Arno River (the main river in Italy). It was so beautiful. The mill had been in the family for over seven hundred years. Crazy. We then went to a soccer field Robbie (Robbie Shackleford is our host family) rented. I didnt play but most everyone did. Some italians came and played with them which made it even funner. By the end of the game, we had drawn a crowd and a fan base. Today, Wednesday, We hiked up to the Chiusi La Verna which is Francis of Assisi's monetary. it was neat, but i really dont have any special regard for him, so most of the relics did not have much meaning to me. But Dad would have really loved the hike to and from the church. it was amazing scenery. We did so much walking up hill. My legs were literally shaking by the end. I am going to have amazing leg muscles when i return to the states. lol.I know Mom will want to know this so i am putting it in: these are the people i hung out with (i talked to most people, but these are the main ones)- Annie Meiners, Kayla Anderson, Ginny Novar, and Allison Sparks. That is a very limited list because our group is really coming together and we all talk and have fun with each other.The next few days we will just be doing classes and relaxing. Then we will go to Southern Italy (Sicily and Naples) then to our first free travel. I am going with Annie, Ginny, Kayla, and Ginny's brother Matt. We are planning on going to Spain. We will take a train from Milan to Barcelona, then onto Velincia, then Madrid. From there we will come back to Florence. But we still have a lot of other trips between now and then!

Saturday Market and Service Project

2008-06-04T13:42:00.001+02:00

yesterday (saturday) we went to the scandicci market in the morning. they had produce, bread, clothes, and almost every household item under the sun. I got a delicious fried doughnut with nutella on top. it was amazing. while i was walking through, i suddenly spotted two people i recognized- Debbie and Emily Woodroof. I was able to talk to them for a little bit and they said that they were coming for lunch at the villa. It was nice to see them. After lunch, some of the the other group and i went to the church here to help clean. When i walked up, i saw none other than David Woodroof coming out of the doorway! We cleaned the church, doing dusting, washing windows, scrubbing the bathroom, mopping, etc. Afterward, our group and the Woodroofs (David, Deborah, Emily, and Deborah's mom) went to a really nice restaurant for pizza. We then met the rest of our group at an American football game: Florence vs. Rome. Florence beat Rome by at least 4 touchdowns. It was nice seeing the Woodroofs, and i will continue to see them since they attend the same church we go to. (by the way- Sage Woodroof and Jacqueline Carroll are here at HUF as well). We are leaving tomorrow to go on a trip, im not sure where since they have not given us the details yet. but we will be there for 3 days. I do know that we will be eating at least one of our meals in a castle!

Scavenger Hunt

2008-06-04T13:41:00.000+02:00

today was, again, exhausting. one of the other classes had a scavenger hunt and we were assigned to one of their groups. i was in a group with mary kyle, lindsey, and i think that is all who you would know. but we had to search for things around florence. it was really cool. we couldnt go into some of the church museums because you couldnt wear shorts or even skirts above the knees. but we still got to do a lot. we were in one of the piazza's (a big square, usually infront of a large important building.) and this guy was selling paintings on the streets, which is illegal. and all of a sudden we saw him take off then we saw about 3 police chasing after him. he started running but realized he was surround by police so he started running toward us. but then the police cut him off and took him down. instead of using handcuffs, they put him on the ground and one of the police officers put his (the police's) legs around his neck, i will get pictures up eventually (hopefully) and i got a good pic of it. for dinner we had reservations at a small restaurant. i got veal with a creme. it was really good. that was basically my day. tomorrow we are going to the scandicci saturday market, help do some work at the church, then go watch the florence american football team play rome. it should be a pretty full day.

Duomo and the Baptistrey

2008-06-04T13:39:00.000+02:00

today was so much fun. but i am now so tired. i have been walking around in florence for the past 9 hours. we had classes this morning, then after lunch we went and toured the Baptistery and the Duomo. it was so cool. we got to see sculptures and paintings by Donatello, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, and other famous artists. that took until about four. after that we just went shopping, got some gelato and then walked around for about an hour looking for the bus stop. lol. i love just walking around florence. i do start to get tired after a while, but hopefully we will soon learn where all the bus stops are so we wont have to walk as much. tomorrow we are walking around florence somemore. one of the other classes has a scavenger hunt in the city that they have to do and even though we dont have the class we still have to go with them. it will be fun tho and we will get to see some pretty cool things.

First Day of HUF

2008-06-04T13:38:00.000+02:00

I was able to wake up this morning to sunlight steaming in from the terrace. we got ready and went down to breakfast, where we had a choice of different pastries. we then hung around outside, which is absolutely beautiful. It is full of greenery and flowers. hopefully i will be able to post pictures soon. after a delicious lunch of pasta, our group took a bus to Scandicci (the town we are staying in). we went to the town square and order cappuccinos in Italian. it was delicious! we then walked around a little and Dr. Shakelford showed us all the places we might want to go. Then we went into Florence to a small contemporary art show in a park. On the bus ride back, along with the 36 people in our group there was about 20 other people too. i was squished between backpacks and bodies, and had to hold on to one of the guy's backpacks to keep from falling over. at one point i was bending over backward to keep from falling. it was definitely a bonding experience, and really fun. haha. we came back to eat dinner, which was some type of soup, not exactly sure what kind. i am now sitting in the computer room where some people are checking email. and some have a game of go fish going. we are just going to relax the rest of tonight because tomorrow we are going to Florence. yay!