A real one is coming soon...

Ok, so I promise a new blog is coming soon! I just moved to Bratislava, so things have been a little crazy and I don't have internet yet, but I'll get one ready this week. I PROMISE!!! (don't hate me for sucking at this!)

Fall Conference Pics

I don't really feel like writing today, but I feel obligated to give you some sort of treat since it has been a while since my last post. So, here are some pictures taken while at our JV Fall conference a couple of weeks ago:

This is a picture of the team I work with in Slovakia. The back row is (from L to R): Peto M., Zac, Peto H., and Kenric. The front row is: Draho, Paige, Me, and Miska.



Here is our team photo shoot gone awkward. Um, Kenric, you're a little too close for comfort.




Now these next set of photos could quite possibly blow your mind. They, in fact, are nothing short of AMAZING.

And to clarify, yes, we were going for the "cheezy-senior year-BFF" photo shoot. But I guess instead it should be considered the "cheezy-JV Fall Conference-BFF" photo shoot. The models other than myself are Brittney Boatman (soon to be serving in Ukraine) and Katka Vlnova (serving in Czech). They are my some of my favies.

Who knew I had the secret power to turn into a bunny?


This one actually turned out kinda cute, minus Brittney's "am I really doing this right now?" face.


My personal fave. Seriously, Katka's outstretched "look at me, I'm flying!" arms make me laugh EVERY time.


Oh the beautiful scenery. And the mountains are kinda pretty too. A wink!


NOTE: I realize I seriously overused quotation marks in this post. Please forgive me. But some things just can't be summed up in one word.

Is there such a thing as Autumn Fever?

Seriously, this is a problem.

Autumn is my favorite time of year, and it is in full effect here in SK. Really, it's quite lovely. But with it being so lovely comes the issue of me losing all motivation to be productive. As I was sitting in language today I just looked at my tutor and said, "I don't want to learn anymore." Thankfully, she assumed I was joking and just laughed, but sadly I wasn't joking.

Ugh. I need help.

Wait... This isn't Disney World?

While Steph was here visiting, we had the chance to visit a castle here in Bojnice. There are tons of castles throughout Slovakia, but most of them are just ruins. This one has been restored, so I was pretty excited to check it out. We didn't have a ton of time to hang out there, due to the fact we had caught a ride with Paige who had business there. Initially we thought we'd just walk around the grounds and appreciate the beauty from there, but we soon changed our mind when we saw people coming from inside the castle. We thought, we're here, so we might as well check it out.

So, we quickly go up to the ticket window, get ourselves 2 tickets, and start heading inside. Until we look around and see there isn't a clear entrance. I go back up to the window to ask where the tickets permit us to go, when I find out its actually for a tour. "Ok, great!" I say, turn around to go tell Steph, and then I realize it. The tour will be in Slovak of course.

Now, I don't know exactly what I was thinking when I bought those tickets. As if we could just skip around this huge castle, or that the tour would be in English. I think that part of me forgot I was in Slovakia since Steph was with me. And it probably didn't help that Steph kept saying at random points (and especially when we were in Prague), "I feel like this place isn't real, like we are in the international part of Disney World or something!" That made me laugh every time.

So, I go back to the window and ask if they have any English material to go with the tour. Thankfully they did. I go back and tell Steph the news, we share a good laugh, and then we head with the rest of the people for the tour.

Now, what happened next is a good picture of what life is like for me here most of the time.

As we head into the first room of the castle, Steph and I try to hug the back of the group in hopes that we won't stand out, since we'll be reading a little brochure instead of listening to the tour. So, as the tour guide starts talking, Steph and I start reading about the room. Well, after a few moments I look up to see that everyone else in the room has turned around to look at something right above our heads... while we are still just standing there reading our little handout. I try to slowly, and hopefully somewhat inconspicuously, turn around as if I knew what was going on, but it was too late. We had already been outed as foreigners, and I couldn't stop laughing at how absurd we looked.

And such is everyday life for me here in SK. I try so hard to just blend in, but then something happens which everyone else understands, and I'm stuck looking in the wrong direction. I can't do anything but laugh when this happens. Sometimes I cry, but, thankfully, most times I just laugh.

My First Visitor...

One of the many reasons I have not posted anything in these past few weeks is due to a visit from my friend Steph. Steph and I have been friends since my freshman year at USC, and lived together our junior and senior years with a few other amazing women. Needless to say, she is one of my closest and dearest friends, and I was thrilled to have her visit.

Another reason I was so excited to have her visit was that I was ready for my two worlds to collide. Over the past couple years, and even more so in the past 6 months, I have come to feel like I live 2 different lives. There is my American life and my Slovak life. And it is so difficult to describe in words to people from home what my Slovak life is like. So, unfortunately, more often than not, I don't even try. But with Steph coming, I was going to be able to let someone experience it with me, and that was something that I was really looking forward to.

Steph came to Slovakia after spending 6 weeks in Africa with Young Life. (NOTE: When she arrived at the airport in Vienna, we recreated the cliché airport scene from any classic cheesy movie. I was running late, so I rushed into the waiting area searching for her. I hear her call my name, run up to her, and we collapse in each other's arms crying. Yep. We were totally those girls. I'm getting more embarrassed as I write this. Moving on.) Over the next 10 days we did some fun traveling, a little shopping, and enjoyed some really great meals. However, all of it paled in comparison to the endless conversations we had about what our lives should look like as Christians, how to live a simpler life, and what it means to be fully surrendered to God. Steph had learned and experienced so much during her time in Africa and I was blessed to be able to debrief that time with her. If nothing else comes from her trip, she should at least know that I am changed for the better.

Here is a pic of Steph and I pretending to be normal:


This is more like it:


And here is a retro pic for kicks… We were attending an “Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.” So, no. That’s not how we normally dressed in college. Come on people, you should know better.

So I lied...

Yeah, so I guess I lied when I promised it wouldn't be another month before my next post. Sorry about that.

Camp Time!

So I realize it has been over a month since my last post, but for goodness sake people, July was just too busy to stop and blog! The first two weeks were filled with helping plan our pre-camp training days for our camp teams, as well as traveling to Bratislava twice. On the 16th the American team from Shandon arrived, and then began the whirlwind of camp! Everyone had training in Zilina for a couple of days, English camp for a week, and, afterwards, a few days of follow up in Bratislava.

Camp this year was so great, but so different from any I had been involved with in the past. Why, you ask? Well, it's because this year a virus managed to pull a sneak attack on our camp site. At first it was just the camp director's son and one other guy, but by the end of the week I'd say almost half of the camp was plagued with some form of it. Including yours truly. That's right, I got myself a nice little virus. And by little, I mean it took me a week to finally get over. Lovely. So, as you can imagine, camp had a bit of a different vibe this year. It was much more laid back than usual. But, amidst all the sickness, God totally moved, and I am really excited to see what comes of the seeds that were planted.

Here are some pictures from camp. I managed to not take a single picture all week, so I stole these from some of the people who came on the Shandon team. I know, I'm a missionary and I shouldn't steal... sorry!

This is me teaching the camp teams our camp dance. Yes. You read correctly. I taught them all a dance. I've got all kinds of tricks up my sleeve that yall don't even know about! And that's Lenka with me. I promise she actually enjoyed doing this with me... even though this picture might seem otherwise.


I helped create a team building activity for American and Slovak camp teams to do together at training. It was something like a picture scavenger hunt around the city. One of the tasks was for their team to all get into some sort of water. They are in a fountain on the lower square in Zilina, and if you can't tell, Mato isn't so shy.


This is Lenka, Jarka, and Liba. Lenka was our camp leader, and she was actually my translator for my very fist camp in Slovakia. All three of these girls rock my face off.


Look at that fierce card playing face. No wonder I always dominate in these games.


Everyone doing the camp dance.


They are giving you their best American smile. Look at all those theeth!


Alright, that's all I got for now. But I promise it won't be another month before my next blog!!