A Bitter Sweet Ending

So I am finally home. I say finally but it still feels like just the other day I was packing to leave for Greece. The last month was pretty crazy though and traveling around Europe with a backpack moving from city to city every day or two gets a little tiring I guess you could say. Saying our goodbyes at the Artemis was certainly a sad thing. It was good knowing we were going home soon because it had been so long but we all knew we would never be in that situation with all the same people again. I do already miss it and I have only been home for less than a week. I miss the people more than anything but the experience was so incredible. Its not everyday you get to live with 48 other people for an entire semester and travel to places like Israel and Egypt with them. I am already ready to get back in the fall so I can see everyone again and to get back into the swing of things. Free travel was certainly a learning experience but it was an incredible one too. I wont go into detail with everything we did because it was three and a half weeks long. We started out by staying in a hostel in Athens though just to get our feet wet the night before we flew to Rome. We flew to Rome on April 20th and realized that we were no longer going to be in Greece again with all those same people. Amy and Alyssa were with us the first few days and our first night in Rome we got to see a whole lot of people so it was almost like our whole group was together in Rome again. Leslie and Julianne's group was there along with Evan's group and Ashley and Joni's group. It was really great getting to hang out with Leslie and Julianne again for the last time since it was pretty sad saying by to them back in Athens. From Rome we went to Florence for a couple days and then on to Interlaken, Switzerland. Interlaken was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life. We got there and I couldn't move. Surrounded by snow capped mountains and beautiful lakes and a small town I was just in awe. This was one of my favorite places along with Florence. We just hung out for 2 days doing nothing but enjoying the scenery. I just took my book and my music and found a beautiful spot by the river and read all day the second day we were there. That night Rebbecca and Jenny's group got to Interlaken and stayed in our hostel so it was good seeing them for a little while. From there we went to Munich which was a really cool city. We went to Dachau Concentration Camp which was an experience. From there we went to Vienna and then onto Prague and Berlin. Those few days were the longest few days of the trip if not my life. We took a night train to Vienna and had to sit up the whole way so we got no sleep at all. We got there at 6 AM so we just tried to sleep outside for a while. We were so exhausted and almost had to drag ourselves through the day. It was a beautiful city and I hope to visit again some day. The same goes for Prague because we got in really late and got to our hostel still thoroughly exhausted. It was another long day in Prague with not a lot to do and another train to catch that night to Berlin. Prague was also a beautiful place but we were ready to get some rest. We got to Berlin late again and found our hostel at about 2 in the morning. We had another long day with not a lot to do yet again before catching another night train to Amsterdam. Finally we got to Amsterdam where we had 2 whole days of doing nothing but relaxing. Amsterdam was a beautiful place but it certainly does live up to its reputation. I think I'll leave it at that. From Amsterdam we went to Paris but not before stopping in Brussels. Our experience in Brussels was not one of the best so we tend to leave Brussels out of the picture when talking about free travel. Paris was a pretty cool city but it was simply just...another city about how Rome was. We did go all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower which was really cool and an amazing view of the city. We got to go to the Louvre for free which was great because we were all tight on money. I could spend an entire day in the Louvre but we only got to spend a few hours so we hit the highlights which was good enough for a while I guess. We didn't really have much to do our last day there because we didn't get to go to Normandy as planned. We caught a train to Barcelona that night where we ended up losing Ryan because he went to the wrong train station and missed the train. He found us the next night in Barcelona randomly on the street searching for our hotel that he didn't even know the name of. That's Ryan for ya. Barcelona was great because we had a hotel on the beach and just relaxed again for a couple of days. I went into the city the second day because I wanted to see everything. It was a really cool city and another one of my favorite places. Next we flew to Dublin. I had been before so I knew what to expect but it was even better this time. Dublin is one of my favorite cities by far and would love to spend some time there again some day. We spent 3 entire days there and even went to some nearby cities to see the coast and just to see some more of Ireland. It was a lot of fun. We flew to London finally where we had our last day of travel. We saw the highlights of the city then slept in a house that belonged to some of Chris' family. It was nice being in a house for a change. I flew home the next day and the whole way home I just kept thinking about everything I had just experienced. It still didn't really hit me and honestly I don't know if it is still even hit me yet. As soon as I got back to America it was so weird seeing English everywhere and paying with US Dollars and getting free refills!! Free refills and drinks with ice are some of the small things I missed about America. Since I have been home I have already been to my favorite restaurants so I can catch up on some food I have missed for four months. It is still sad to think about not being there anymore and I would certainly go back in a heartbeat. Traveling around for a month was very tiring but it was more than worth it. The semester itself was the best experience of my life and I have learned more than I ever thought I would in a semester's time. I thank God along with my family for helping me along the way and for helping me to have this amazing opportunity. After 15 countries, 13 languages and using 7 currencies in one semester i feel more than blessed to have such an amazing God and such wonderful friends and family. I will never stop looking ahead but I will never forget the things behind be as I have learned so much from each and everything that has happened.

~Isaiah 40:28-31~

"...Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Greek Island Cruise

It has been a little while since I have updated which I am sure is a big surprise. After the cruise to the Islands things got pretty crazy with last minute work and finals and packing and things like that. To sum the cruise up it was pretty amazing. It was weird because most of our trips we are used to waking up early and putting our hearing sets on and getting our moleskins ready for note taking and going from place to place all day long; but this trip was different. Friday we left early that morning to get on the ship and then hung out on the ship all day until we arrived in Mykonos that night at about 5 or 6. We got off the ship and just got to go hang out on the island and do whatever we wanted. Mykonos was my favorite island. It was so beautiful and it was just a cool little town. We got to watch the sunset by the windmills over the ocean and then of course had to go get some gelato. It was Easter weekend so the cruise we were on was actually an Easter cruise so it was different than usual. Easter is a huge holiday in Greece. Friday night they had a procession around all the cities where the different churches had a parade through the streets carrying something that symboled Jesus carrying the cross. It was a cool thing to get to see. The next morning we arrived at Ephesus which is in Turkey. I really liked Turkey a lot. That day we actually did use our moleskins and hearing sets but it was for the last time which in a way was sad. Here again we got to walk the streets that Paul walked and see the ancient city ruins. After that we got to go to a carpet school where they made and sold carpet. It was actually really cool when they displayed them all for us it was kind of like a big production with carpets flying everywhere. We left Ephesus and went to Patmos that night. We were only here for a little while and they took us to the cave where John supposedly received the revelation. We went to a monastery and then to a museum and then got to hang out for a while and do whatever until the fireworks that night at midnight. The next morning we got up early as we arrived at Santorini. A few days earlier a ship actually wrecked and sank at Santorini so that was interesting hearing about that and then seeing the lifeboats from the ship. We got to ride donkeys up the mountain which was pretty cool. It was really early though so there wasn't much open and there really wasn't anything to do. It was a beautiful place though. That night we went to Crete. Since it was Easter Sunday a lot of things were closed so instead of doing what they normally do we went to a church that has recently been started by a group of Christians from Nigeria. They are connected with the church in Athens so we went to worship with them. It was an incredible experience getting to worship with our brothers and sisters from yet another foreign country. It is always such a blessing getting to experience that. The cruise was a lot of fun and the islands were beautiful but I think the last night worshiping with that church was probably the highlight of my trip and I think I can say the same for a lot of other people.