July 26 - Kings and Camels and Flats, oh my!

Hi guys!

Hard to believe the sun has already set on my 78th day away from home... (yes, I did count at one point!) My last little while in Africa continued to be as awesome as the rest of the trip. The Northern Irish team was an absolute BLAST - a true blessing to be with. I had such a great time getting to know them and basking in their presence and the love of Jesus that seemed to just ooze from them... :-) They took such good care of Bri and me too, feeding us and helping us with shopping and cleaning and all the little housekeeping stuff.

Northern Irish team: (from left) An extra for a day, Andrew, Sara, Gail, Becky, Leigh-Ann, Timmy, and Johnny.

On the Saturday before they left we all went out to the cliffs at the north end of town and had a little cliff jumping adventure. The highest jump I went off was about 25 feet above the water, but let me tell you, the rush of falling and falling and falling some more was AMAZING! I had to do it a second time just so I could savor it a bit more! Bri had to fulfill the damsel in distress role and let the Spanish life guard guys jump in to save her! The water was pretty rough that day, and she was having problems getting out of the water where the lifeguards were directing her, so they started jumping in to rescue her... Poor girl took it well! And the guys were quite please to be the heros for the day!

Committed!

Gail, Bri, and me after jumping

The Irish team ended up staying an extra day because one of the guys got sick, which I was kind of secretly glad about (cheeky smile) I missed them when they left! Fortunately, my friends Kork and Alisha and Gretchen came in the next day, so Bri and I kept busy turning the place around and having them to hang out with when they arrived. They were only there for one night, then we took Kork and Alisha to the airport and sent them off back to the states, and got ready to caravan out to the country house again with Gretchen and some friends of hers we'd picked up from the ferry the night before.

It proved to be an exciting drive out - the King of Morocco was planning to drive along the highway that week, so there were TONS of Moroccan flags EVERYWHERE showing the national spirit! The drive is usually gorgeous anyhow, but this time it was absolutely stunning with the bright red flags contrasting to the arid tan beauty of the hills and the brilliant blue of the Mediterranean.

Moroccan national pride

We stopped for a picnic on the beach - ate some freshly BBQed sardines - and then got ready to get back in the van when we had a little hitch in the plans... The back right tire was flat as a pancake. BUT, no worries, the owner of the van had given us a crash course on how to go about changing tires if necessary (I think it included something like "Here's the spare tire, you'll have to get it down, then maybe stand by the side of the road and look like you need help and some Moroccan guy will probably stop and help you out a bit... But remember, don't look him in the eye or he'll think you want to marry him!"). I got the spare tire out, and then the guys with us (non-Moroccans!) had to figure out how to use the jack and get the tire changed. It was a long, hot, dirty process, but we FINALLY had it done, and were back on the road.

Sardine lunch - here fishy-fishy!

Getting the spare down

A short while later, I was driving and noticed a rather long-legged, tan, large pack animal up ahead walking along the side of the road with two guys walking beside it. "Bri!" I squeeked (I think I might have had to shake her awake or something, she probably wasn't too happy with me!), "Is that... is that a CAMEL!?!?" Just breathing that word was enough to make me excited! Since before I left home I've wanted to see a camel SO bad! I mean, this IS Morocco! Camels should be plentiful, right? (Actually, I've been really wanting to RIDE a camel, but by this time I would have settled for just seeing it!) Up to that point, I hadn't even SMELLED one, but there, before our eyes, on the road we've probably driven a dozen times, was the ONE thing that could make my amazing trip even that much MORE amazing... God is so good, isn't he?!?! :-) Anyhow, sure enough, it was a camel, and I was so excited I turned the van around and drove back towards it with my window down and the camera in hand. "Bonjour, Monsieurs!" I called as I pulled up beside them, "Photo, s'il vous plait?" I smiled my best smile. They nodded enthusiastically, "Oui, oui!" and waved and smiled for the camera. "Merci beaucoup!" I thanked them after we'd turned around again and drove off.

Camel buddy on the highway!

The ride was fairly uneventful for awhile (other than every five minutes me stopping any conversation happening in the car to say to everyone, "Guys, we saw a CAMEL!!!"), but about 10 km from our final destination I suddenly noticed a slightly odd sound from outside my window and a minor wobble. I pulled off to the side of the road, just to check it out, and discovered we'd had flat number two of the day. Unfortunately, we were fresh out of spare tires, so after trying to get the spare tire from the other vehicle on our van, Gretchen took me into the closest town with one of the flats to buy another tire. After another couple hours (police EVERYONE thanks to the king's appearance, traffic, and general Moroccan environment takes up a lot of time!), we had finally got the new tire on the van, traveled the last couple miles, and pulled into the country house.

Flat #2!

The next day we did concrete mixing for the roof of the house that Bri and I helped break ground on awhile ago (pictures of my blister were taken there), and also started the work on the septic hole. It was fun to reconnect with the Moroccan workers here and the owner of the home and his family. I even got to ride their donkey for a couple moments - and felt huge! The poor little guy is tiny! We mixed concrete by hand on the ground next to the house (I was barefoot standing in it for a time because I didn't want to ruin my shoes yet), and then hefted it up to the roof using the typical rope and bucket and pulley system. We finished early and hung around for awhile visiting and picking almonds and cracking them open in the shade.

The septic tank was finished in our absence

A ride on polite Mr. Donkey

Lifting concrete

Mixing concrete (barefoot) with a friend

Lunch with Simon and Esther

After a run in the afternoon, I drove a car load to the beach and we played in the water for a bit. Friday I was part of the water hauling team to a new house - one barrel tipped over in the back of the truck going up the steepest part of the hill and nearly drown those of us lucky enough to be in the back - and then went to town to pick up another tire and run a couple errands. A group of us went back into town in the evening to do some more shopping and see if we could spot the king (we didn't...). We took a different route home, though, and saw some BEAUTIFUL views of the Mediterranean from the hills above it.

Bri and me at the Mediterranean overlook

I ended up sleeping on the frosh in the salon on Friday night (snoring in the girls dorm prevented me from being able to fall asleep!), and unfortunately Saturday morning I woke up with my stomach cramping terribly. I moved back into the dorm so I could avoid the morning crowd heading out to work, and then found out that one of the girls had been awake throwing up all night... Whatever she had, I caught it too! We had to drive back home that day, so I managed to throw up before getting in the car, and having a relatively calm drive back. I don't recall much of it - I was dozing off and on in the back seat - but I did wake up enough to hear Bri saying to the two gals with us, "Look, it's our camel friends again!" at which I sat up and smiled and waved at them as we passed.

The rest of the afternoon I lay in bed moaning about my stomach hurting (I'm such a wimp!), and debating with myself whether I'd rather just throw up and feel better, or hold off and avoid the whole throwing up process... At one point I decided I needed to get to the market (Bri and Caitlyn and Becky were out shopping) to buy some sports drink type stuff and saltines (the only thing that sounded even semi-good... even the thought of water turned my stomach), so after 2 hours I of mentally prepping myself to not throw up in the store, I made my slow way up the three blocks to the market. I hadn't gone more than 50 feet inside the store when I saw Bri and the girls - I was SO glad to see familiar, english-speaking faces!

Bri, me, Caitlyn, and Becky

Sunday I felt some better, so went out for a last cup of cafe con leche with Nate and Bri. It was nice to be the three of us in Melilla one last time - funny how some people have just become such a big part of my heart! I felt progressively better, for the most part, throughout the day, so in the evening, my boss took Bri and me out to dinner. The food was DELICIOUS, but didn't settle that well, so literally all night I was feeling nauseated again. I was up late packing my stuff up, then went with Bri and my boss to the airport early to catch my flight.

It was hard to say goodbye, but in a way being sick was a blessing in disguise because I was so focused on willing myself to not pass out or something that I didn't think as much about having to leave Africa and Bri and my boss and the city and my apartment and the daily reminder of living life for the Lord. My life seemed so simple there, and I loved that about it. However, I was excited to meet up with the Irish team in the Gatwick airport, and see my friends Jamie and Catherine in Scotland.

I missed my flight in Malaga because I was waiting for my luggage to arrive so I could go upstairs and check in, so I had to go to the desk and get help rescheduling a new flight. 50 Euros later I had my new ticket to Gatwick, but it was unfortunately several hours later than the first, which meant my chance to hang with the Irish team was significantly reduced. When I finally got to Gatwick, I looked for them and tried to call them with no luck. My flight to Edinburgh ended up being delayed, so I didn't get in to Scotland as soon as I'd hoped, but all the travel was worth it when I saw Catherine coming across the airport terminal towards me with a big smile!

I've had such a great time while being here - Jamie and Catherine spoil me rotten, and it has been a HUGE blessing to get the chance to relax and tell them about some of my experiences. As much as I'm looking forward to being home, I have a feeling it'll be a lot crazier and busier than being here in Scotland, with a lot less one-on-one time with individual people. So not only has it been good to just hang out with them, but also to process my time in Africa. Of course, Scotland also makes a fun place to get used to a cooler climate and to adjust back to hearing English speakers all the time. It's great to be able to follow complete conversations again and understand what all is being said, read the menu in restaurants and know what I'm ordering, and feel rain and see clouds (two things I thought I'd NEVER say!). Tuesday Catherine took me to a Safari park where I got to see several camels, zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, buffalo, bison, a rhino, and other fun animals. Wednesday we spent a fair amount of time shopping and I found a cute dress for one pound (2ish dollars!). Catherine said, "Dani, you'd be crazy if you didn't buy it!" Jamie's aunt, Nan (One of my faithful blog readers - Hi Nan!) treated Catherine and me to the "picture" Hairspray last night too (TERRIFIC movie! I recommend it to anyone into dancing and music!). Today Jamie had the day off, so we went into the Ochill hills for a hike. It ended up turning into a 6 hour trek up and down some treacherous slopes... but the scenery was amazing, the sheep and wind where beautiful to my over commercialized ears, and the exercise was definitely something I'll be thankful for after hours on the plane tomorrow.

Hiking in the green, green hills of Scotland

American tourist with the national flower of Scotland

Chillin' (literally and figuratively - my ears were FREEZING!) at the highest point of our hike

Now I'm all packed up and should be heading to bed. We'll be leaving here about 5:30AM to head to the airport, I'll fly to London, have a layover, fly to Minneapolis and have a layover, then on to Seattle by tomorrow evening where (hopefully) someone from my family will be there to pick me up!

I'd upload pictures now, but I don't have them all downloaded off my camera, so if you want to see the photo documentation of the past couple weeks, you'll have to keep checking back over the next week... I'll sort through them and resize when I want to put up here and post them in a new blog.

Please pray for safe travels tomorrow. Also, pray that I'll be a blessing to my family and friends at home and soak up and enjoy the 4 weeks I have before (Lord willing), I pack up again and head to school.

Love and hugs to you all!
Dani

In the SeaTac airport with all of my family - first time since Christmas last year!

Reporting back in!

Hello Everyone!

Here's some new pictures! We've had a full couple weeks since I last updated: Camp was amazing, I got to hold little kids all morning, spend all afternoon talking with people who inspired the socks off me, and then in the evenings we went on a couple fun "adventures" into the little Spanish towns... OR just sat around and talked with a couple peers. Of course, all of that materialized in not a lot of sleep (4 hours a night or so...), but it was worth it! And besides, what else do you do at camp? (smile)

Then on Friday we caught the ferry back across the Mediterranean to our little African/Spanish town. We were assigned to meet and escort a group of Northern Irish people on the boat to our city. Then the girls settled in with living with us, while the guys get to sleep in a nearby church. The first night we had a BIT of an adventure: Bri and I had gone up to our team leader's house to pick up sleeping mats and sleeping bags for all the guys AFTER our ferry got in about 11PM. We had a car set aside for our use while all the other team members were up in mainland Spain. Unfortunately, our car wasn't terribly reliable, and it ended up dying on us up at our team leaders house. Where they live is one of the not-so-safe areas of town (drug deals on the corner, prostitution, murders, etc), so there we were at about midnight stranded at their house. We called our leader on his cell and he told us to try to pop the clutch and get the car started that way, but we were pointed UP the hill, so I had to do it in reverse (Bri was a wonderful cheerleader!). We had the mats crammed into the back seat, so I couldn't see anything out my back window, and the street is really more of an alley with lots of cars parked on it. I am still amazed I didn't hit anything! Anyhow, we got it to work, but it died, so we did it again, and it died again. We continued this a couple times until we got down to a junction of the road with another road. At this point we would have had to turn and go backwards up hill a tiny bit so we could be facing forwards to go downhill, and our car decided to die right as we were turning... A car load of Moroccan guys was stuck behind us in the alley, but they realized what was going on, so they all hopped out and helped Bri push the car UP the hill a bit so I could try going DOWN. It started, and I drove (really fast) around the block back to pick up Bri, but then it died again... We sort of coasted down the hill to our leader's mechanic's place. I don't know HOW the car got across the parking lot without us pushing it, because we were totally stalled at the bottom of the hill and yet it limped across about 100 meters, but it somehow did it (I'll give credit to the big, burly angels I have a feeling were with us there!). We had to unpack the car and walk back up the hill to our leader's house, let ourselves in, call him again and he called a taxi to come get us. It was QUITE the adventure! The guys ended up crashing in our living room that night because we didn't think we should risk getting them into the church at 1AM... at least not with our luck!

Saturday and Sunday we hosted the teams, getting to know them and enjoying their awesome accents. Our friend Nate came into town and wanted to do a photo shoot with Bri and me, so we went to the old city and took pictures for a couple hours. Monday morning our team leader arrived and we got to work on the assigned job for the week with the team. It's a bit of a high-profile job here in the city, so please be praying for extra safety for us.

Monday I decided I didn't like my hair any more, so during our siesta time I cut a bit of it off. So far, I still like the short/airy style!

Last night another team of eight people came (they ALL speak Spanish fluently!!!!), so they're out with the Irish team today. We asked for the half a day off to get some serious cleaning done while the groups are gone - after almost of week of 10 people living here and nothing more than one or two quick sweeps, all our tile is feeling gritty and gross. Our leader generously offered us the whole day off, and is even taking care of the teams for lunch, so they won't be back for another couple hours for their siesta, and then will be heading back out to work this evening. As much fun as it has been to be around people for 2 weeks, it is also nice to have a quiet house to ourselves for the moment... LISTEN to me! I think I complain when we're bored and have nobody around, but then I also complain when people ARE around and I don't feel like I can think! SUCH a pathetic attitude!

What else is new... (thinking...) I seemed to have caught a cold this week, complete with painful hacking/coughing, a sore throat, and a stuffy nose. Our team leader went to a pharmacy and got me some cough syrup and something else that I dissolve in water to take... I don't know exactly what anything is, because it's all in Spanish, but I trust him! It's funny how independent I've had to be sometimes here (ie: spending the day in Malaga with two friends totally planning our own day and taking care of ourselves, or escorting a gal out to the country house with just Bri), and how I'm totally dependent on other people at times (particularly with language stuff...).

Two nights ago I met a gal down at the beach who I enjoyed visiting with for awhile. She spoke English fairly well, and also Spanish fluently, Arabic, and some French. We spoke a mixture of "Spanglish" (me trying to communicate everything in Spanish to her, interjecting some English words, and her doing the reverse), and it was SO fun to actually connect with someone here. I've been surprised the past week or two how much I can actually pick up listening to Spanish conversations, IF I understand the context and situation and can read the body language. I still can't SPEAK much Spanish, but I can get some of it, at least! Shopping is now possible AND quite fun, even by myself!

On a different subject, the camp we were at last week was surrounded by olive trees, and the landscape looked a TON like I would imagine Israel looking like. I found myself thinking of how Jesus would slip away and pray among the olive groves. I decided that I wanted to get a new perspective of who Jesus was as a person while he was living here on earth. SO, my goal these last couple weeks I have here is to read through Matthew (and maybe one of the other gospels - haven't decided yet) and really observe his actions and LISTEN to his words like I was actually THERE seeing it all unfold in front of me. As one of my friends advised me, my experience out in the country could be really helpful for this little project, because of the similarities to country living with Jesus's time... It was so cool to read about the shepherd who went after the one lost sheep because I've WALKED among the herds of sheep now. Also to read the description of a woman baking bread and how just a little yeast works all through the loaf... I've WATCHED the country women make their flat bread and seen that anew. The stories of Jesus feeding the 5000 with a couple loafs of bread and small fish reminded me of how I was served bread and sardines one of my first nights out in the country... Jesus talking at the well with a Samaritan woman could have been one of the Moroccan country women. In fact, how Jesus interacted with the women is particularly interesting coming from the perspective of a culture where men and women don't do that... Anyhow, it's been an interesting and enlightening little practice. I feel like I'm learning to love (or just falling in love?) Jesus as a person in a whole new way - which is really cool!

OK, that's a lot of detail for one blog! I'll get to work putting some pictures up. Hope you all are doing well! I leave here on Monday, July 23rd, spend the night of the 23rd through the night of the 26th in Scotland with my wonderful friends there, and then I fly home the 27th and get home about 8:30PM. I'm hoping I'll have energy to go get Mexican food with my family when I land, because I'm sure ready for it! :-)

Love and hugs to all of you!
- Dani

Bryan, me, and Bri being tourists in Malaga

Sitting on the edge of the castle walls in Malaga... getting up was interesting, especially with only a 10 second timer!

Lunch in the park bought fresh from the Malaga "super" market, and the fruit rinsed in public bathroom sinks... I think I'd like to try this whole backpacker thing for real someday :-)

A gang of us went hiking to the top of a hill in olive-growing country... FANTASTIC views.

Sitting with one of the little girls who stole my heart at camp...

And with a little guy who napped on me every morning, I think!

BEAUTIFUL country side! (And a beautiful walking-partner to go with it )

A midnight adventure into town for drinks and ice cream with the (American) kitchen crew from camp.

Poetry reading with Dani and Bri... We wrote a "Ode" to summarize our summer thus far.

Bri being photographed by Nate

Photoshoot picture

Bri lookin' pretty

In front of a church

Mediterranean breeze

On the wall

Wide angles make us laugh!

C'est moi!

LOVE palm trees

Cutting my hair... Kids, don't try this at home.

Finished product

Camp memories!

Hello all! I'm sitting outside on a little veranda at a camp in Spain. Every hill around me is covered in olive trees. The landscape makes me think of Israel and what the type of environment that Jesus must have walked in.

Jeremy Riddle's song "Sweetly Broken" has been in my head all day (I just added it to my mypsace profile if you want to hear it: www.myspace.com/daniL012988) and the chorus says: "At the cross you beckon me, you draw me gently to my knees, and I am lost for words, so lost in love, I'm sweetly broken, wholly surrendered." Here in this place, imagining myself on the Mount of Olives following Jesus, and listening to his sermon on the mount as I read Matthew this morning, and eating and talking with people who have committed their lives to serving him, I'm seeing how absolutely essential it is to invest your life in something that is larger than yourself. I'm realizing aknew that the only wise investment of the time I have living here on this earth is to NOT seek after my own gain or the things that I want, but instead to recognize the message of the cross - that my life has been bought at a price. What else can I do but to offer it back to my Lord in service? And the crazy thing is that my desire does not come from an obligation or committment, but instead from a realization that the depths of love that have surrounded me and brought me to this place, and poured our EVERY good and perfect gift in my life has shown me HOW to love. And I WANT to turn that love back to him!

So far today I hiked up a mountain of olive trees, I listened to white people speaking in Arabic, I listned to Swiss-German being spoken to chidren, and I heard people from Britian and people from American splashing in a pool and talking together in Spanish... And they call this WORK?!?! I've sat on one of the few square feet of grass in Spain and had conversations about apostle-ship and NOT worrying about tomorrow. I went for a run this morning and I think I woke every dog in the county. They greeted me enthusiastically!

Yesterday I hung around Malaga with Bri and a new friend, Brian. We sat in a ritzy cafe and had breakfast waiting for everything to open up. Oh, to back up even farther, we crossed over on the ferry and slept on couches in the cafeteria. "Slept" being a relative term! I dozed for a couple hours, and then got up and had strong cafe con leche with a DELICIOUS croissant! Then we hit Malaga to explore. We ended up climbing up the "back way" to the castle/fotress (read: scaling the walls!), climbed back down after seeing the sights, got stuck in a little locked area and the guard had to let us out... He said that most people DON'T come down our way! :-) Hmmm... We went to a couple malls, wandered around, bought a picnic lunch at the SUPERmarket (like a huge farmers market), sat and ate fruit with our feet in a fountain, had a McFlurry at McDonalds (forgive us our American indulgences!), then hopped on a bus to come out to the country. Actually, we missed our first one after running a mile in flip flops and a skirt through the streets, so we had to wait for the last one. It was a wonderful afternoon of hanging out, talking, seeing sights, and just enjoying the city for what it had to offer. And I felt very backpacker-ish when we went into a public bathroom and washed our fruit!

Now it's late and I have a running appointment in the morning with Bri and Brian, so I should sign off, go take a quick shower, and head to bed. Thanks for tuning in! I got some fun video panoramas from both Malaga and here in the country, so maybe I'll figure out a way to put them up on myspace... Maybe!

Love and Hugs!
Dani