Ask and you will receive

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Two days and one week ago I graduated with my Master's degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Three days later I boarded a plane to Madrid, Spain, to begin a month and a half of Spanish classes, thanks to a FLAS (Foreign Language Area Studies) grant from the US Department of Education. My school is not in Madrid; it's in Granada, five hours to the south. I had no idea how I was going to get there other than trusting that the Lord would work it out and knowing that I had two days before I had to take my placement exam, so no problem.

I got off the plane, almost immediately found a bus ticket to Granada, departing within a half hour, hopped on the bus and six hours later found myself at a bus station in Granada, Spain. Looking lost, I approached the information kiosk, where a really nice girl gave me a map and made me a reservation at a hostel very close to my school. She put me on a bus and sent me on my way. Easy as that. The hostel is a bit out of the way so the owner, Gabriel, a slightly disheveled redheaded Spaniard with an official home-made name tag, met me at the closest landmark. Graciously he helped me carry my luggage up a cobblestone street, and then up a narrower cobblestone street, and then up an even narrower one until we arrived at the hostel, a beautiful but small yellow building . He and his wife Beatris, a lovely and friendly French woman, and their two daughters and their dog, own the hostel. he first floor is the actual hostel, with a small courtyard, three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The family lives upstairs and on the third floor is a beautiful courtyard with a great view of the city.

So in a matter of hours God helped me get to my city and to find a place to stay while I looked for an apartment. Within fewer hours the family offered me a great price to stay for the whole summer, cheaper than what I had expected, including internet, use of the kitchen, laundry service, and daily cleaning service. Even better, the school is literally steps from my door, and the most famous site in the city, the Alhambra, is minutes away. He is so good!

So I have been here about a week and a half now, and love it. I spent last weekend in Geneva, visiting friends and visiting sights. This week, my first week of class, I have learned a lot and I have seen a lot. It takes a bit of adjustment, getting used to the Spanish summer schedule. Here in Granada it is hot and dry, in the 90s every day, so basically between 2pm and 6pm everything shuts down completely. The sun stays out until 10pm, and the streets are full at that time, when the air is cooler. It is a nice schedule, though, class until 2:30, then a siesta until evening. The school often has tours in the evening, so this week I visited the Albacin and Sacramonte, two places full of both history and great views of the city.

I am so blessed to be in Granada. I picked this city arbitrarily, but one of my friends from last year's class just happens to live an hour and a half away, and there is a missionary girl about my age whom I also met this week. I may have picked Granada arbitrarily, but God didn't. He's too smart :-). So God is Great, Spain is great, and life with Him is Great!

4 month catchall

SO!

I went to Israel with an interfaith group from Syracuse University. It was AMAZING. Read more about it and see pictures at http://hendricks.syr.edu/jerusalem/journal.html AMAZING trip that I was blessed to be part of.

Came back and finished a crazy semester, my last full semester at SU. During this time I found out I received a Presidential Management Fellowship, which means I passed some test which means I think how the federal government wants me to think. I don't know if that's good or bad... so I was shuttling between DC and Syracuse for job fairs and interviews, and eventually I was offered a post with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, in their Financial Management Office as a Policy Analyst... so I was good to go for a job! At the same time I found out that I received a Foreign Language Area Studies Grant (FLAS) from the Department of Education to study Spanish in Spain... why not?! So, with the semester yet to be finished and two summer courses yet to complete, I had another international trip scheduled and paid for, and an awesome job set up for me upon my return to the United States!

CRAZINESS. Two summer classes and a lot of parties, trips to Vermont, and good-byes later, I have officially parted from Syracuse University, where I have spent the majority of the past 9 years of my life. Sometimes I just have to not think too much about things like that, because otherwise I'll get depressed. I'm leaving AMAZING friends for new territory, and I trust God's plan but will miss so many people... I guess that's how life works.

So I'm actually writing this from Spain. It is my first day in the country, and I got to Madrid not knowing exactly how I would get to Granada or where I would stay tonight... mom wasn't too excited about that. God is so faithful, though, and everything went perfectly smoothly. I am sitting in a tiny bedroom on a tiny street in Granada, literally steps from my school. I take my placement test on Thursday and then it is off to Geneva, Switzerland for the weekend to visit friends. I'm so excited.

So the posts that will follow will be from sunny Spain or elsewhere somewhere on this continent or thereabouts! Gios les bendiga!

Getting Ready to Head to Jerusalem!!

Well I just spent an absolutely blessed weekend with friends and family in Vermont, skiing for Parkinson's Disease Research (www.movingmountainsfoundation.com). Having been holed up in my office or in my studies for these winter months, I can't say that I've had time to enjoy winter sports, so this weekend was heaven for me. Snowshoeing, skiing, enjoying crystal clear skies that allowed us a view from the summit of Sugarbush that stretched for MILES and nights with more stars than one can count; it was AMAZING!

So in my traditional way of doing things, I'm back from Vermont, off to the Adirondacks in a few days and then off to Israel on an interfaith trip with Hendricks Chapel (hendricks.syr.edu/jerusalem). We've been preparing for the past few months, sharing perspectives on Jerusalem, our faith traditions, and mediation in general, and it looks to be a fascinating trip. Please pray that it will be a great opportunity and a great experience overall.

I haven't honestly prepared mentally for this trip, and I'm looking forward to being blown away by walking the same city that Jesus walked and seeing the place that has so much significance to my LORD. Can't wait!

As my Mac is out of commission and I will be at the mercy of others' computers, please check the above site as our group should be posting photos and blog entries throughout the trip.

That's all for now!

Back home and continuing to see blessings

Why stop the blog when you get home?

So I returned safely from India a month ago tomorrow, and was warmly received by my family. I celebrated a belated Christmas with them, the fragrance of India and the buzz of excitement still tangible to my senses. However, I was praying for something to take hold of, something about my trip to India that would deepen my faith and understanding of God.

I got back to Syracuse and immediately turned around and went with a friend to Pennsylvania, to a Christian Conference called One in Love (www.winteroil.org). The conference was AMAZING, so check out the messages if you get a chance, and on the last day the Lord answered my prayer.

The focus had been on missions throughout the whole conference, and one of the last talks was on the Great Commission. But it was on the Great Commission in a way I had not understood before.

Matthew 28:18-20 (New International Version)

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Let's focus on the beginning and the end.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age

Who is with me always? The one with ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH

Okay, so how does this relate to India? Remember when I talked about going to the Taj Mahal, how I was given a private tour by the person in charge of the restoration of the Taj Mahal?!?!? I was not given that opportunity because of who I was, but because of who was WITH ME, namely, Sandeep, the Secretary to the Minister of Labour and former Secretary to the Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Likewise, we are not given opportunities to make disciples of all nations, to glorify God, to do His work, to do AMAZING things because of who WE ARE, but because of Who is WITH US.

I must confess I was having a party in my seat when I made the connection, thanking God for such a real life example of His presence in my life. He answered my prayer and blew my mind, as he has continued to do throughout these past few weeks in the beginning of this semester. God is speaking! My prayer is that you are hearing Him in your life.

ttfn

Closing Time...

It's Saturday evening and tomorrow marks the last day of my amazing trip to India. I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, attending a church service nearby in a packed sanctuary singing all of my favorite carols, followed by a lovely Christmas lunch party at Sandeep's house and an evening dinner in Noida, a suburb of Delhi.

Yesterday I met up with 2 others in the Maxwell Mafia, Ritu and Nidhi, and we spent the day at Delhi Haat, an artisan's market, then visiting the President's house and then more shopping. Ritu and I returned home for a dinner of leftovers from yesterday's party and then watched a classic Bollywood film. Today was more shopping and fun times with Ritu. I took the Delhi Metro for the first time (I've been shuttled everywhere thus far by private car) and I must say I was verty impressed. The Metro is new, having opened in 2002, and is clean and orderly (at least as orderly as you can be when your country's population is 1.2 billion). That said, it was a relief to have Ritu at my side as she knew how to navigate the crowds and make light of the stares I was getting (being the only gringo on the train).

We explored CP (Cannaught Place), a circle full of shops, and Ritu helped me to pick out a saree, which I'm so excited about. I had to get an extra duffle bag as I'm carrying home quite a few Christmas gifts, so it was a pretty successful day. I enjoyed some Indian Chinese food, and I"m currently sitting by a fire in the fireplace and enjoying a quiet evening, something I haven't yet experienced here.

Tomorrow we will visit another church in the area, and then I'll get ready to head back to my native soil. It has been an absolutely awesome trip in so many ways, and I cannot wait to plan my next trip to India. Que Dios les Bendiga, y hasta pronto!

Christmas Eve in India

I was reading over my blog and noticed that I've used the word "incredible" way too many times, so I will try to refrain. It's Christmas Eve and I'm not surrounded by snow-covered mountains, Christmas Carols, or Christmas commercialism, save the emails from stores crowding my inbox. It's rather strange, but I'm sure at church tonight I will be reminded of the Christmas spirit.

Upon return to Delhi I met with another Supreme Court lawyer (and former Amnesty International employee) to gain more insight for my research. Yesterday I got to visit a mall in India, which stands in stark contrast to the independently owned, crowded shops lining the streets of Delhi.

To get to the mall we left the city limits and entered a city called Noida which has recently sprung up as a center for commercialism. Once we left the rickshaw-crowded streets and after being frisked to enter the mall, I almost forgot I was in India... well, that's not quite true. The mall resembled a US mall quite closely, except the music playing was Bollywood, there were no signs of Christmas except for a lone tree decorated in one corner of the mall, and many shops stocked sarees, salwars, and other traditional Indian garb.

I was also treated to my first Bollywood movie in the theatre, and it was quite the theatre! Lazyboy recliners for seats, and an attendant in the ladies room, it was an extravagant affair. We saw the latest Shah Rukh Khan movie, and I didn't need to know Hindi to understand the plot. Definitely a fun experience.

This afternoon I will do a bit of Christmas shopping, visit a Bahai temple, and go to a midnight service at a local Protestant church.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Holy Cow!

Wishing everyone a premature Merry Christmas, although without snow on the ground and in t-shirt weather, it hardly feels like Christmas to me!

Friday we left for Jaipur in Rajastan (forgive my misspellings), the India that most people think of when they think of India. Remember how I was talking about bullock carts and horses in the road? I failed to include camels! I shrieked when I saw my first camel in its natural habitat ;-) pulling a cart full of some crop or another. They are so tall! They look so regal as well, as though as everyone else is below them, which, literally, they are. The ride to Jaipur was beautiful, as I not only saw camels but also fields and fields of mustard, which are yellow and beautiful (if you have faith as small as a mustard seed...) It was a rough ride, as the roads are under heavy development and construction. Delhi slowly gave way to suburban cities where the fruits of outsourcing are being reaped and IT buildings are cropping up everywhere. These I giants gave way to rural farming communities, women dressed in neon colors carrying jars of water or bags filled with their crops on their heads and men with heads wrapped in turbans pacing in front of their small shops.

Arriving in Jaipur we were greeted by an elephant decorated elaborately with colored chalk, sauntering along the road, his rider sitting atop his back. We entered town and were greeted by a government official who escorted us to Amer Fort, an incredible fort on top of a hill that was once exquisite but now just grand. Upon entrance you would never know what was beyond the gates, but beyond each door was an entirely new world. The evening was highlighted by a visit to a restaurant called Chokhi Dhani, which was more of an experience than a restaurant. We were greeted royally and let to an outdoor dining facility where we removed our shoes, sat cross-legged on carpets and were served an incredible dinner on plates and bowls made of leaves. Servers wore brightly colored turbans and were incredibly dynamic, and each dish was flavorful and distinct. After an incredibly satisfying dinner, we wandered the grounds, acres of women dancing traditional dances, snake charmers, puppet shows, and yes, elephant and camel rides. Riding an elephant was steady and slow, but the camel was a different story! It was so tall and I thought I would fall off getting off of this huge animal. It was so much fun.

We stayed with friends of Sandeep, members of the Jain religion who are very peace-loving and don't even eat garlic as they feel it inflames the temper. They were gracious and wonderful and they took us to a market selling tribal art from around the country. We visited an art gallery and had dinner at a golf course.

The next day was a trip to Agra, my host Sandeep's hometown and home to the Taj Mahal. We were greeted by a distinguished looking man who took us through incredible traffic and narrow roads to a marble shop where traditional inlay work was being done. This was his shop and the shop of two other dynamic gentlemen who joined us for lunch. This inlay work is present in many monuments around India, including the Taj, and is a Muslim art that has been passed down but is a dying art because it requires much skill and not many people are continuing it. It was here that I learned that the gentleman who would lead us through the Taj is responsible for the restoration of the Taj. Because of that we bypassed a huge line and had people make way for us wherever we went. It was crawling with people, and its precision and symmetry is incredible. Its artists inscribed verses from the Quran around the doorway, and they shaped the outline to defy perspective and look the same thickness no matter the height. It is incredible to think that this incredible edifice was a monument to someone's deceased wife, but apparently this opulence was appropriate for the times.

Fatehpur Sikri was the last stop on the tour, and I am missing a few monuments, but everything was impressive, incredible, and ornate. At this monument we were served a kind of bread that only 2 people know how to make, from the Mogul dynasty. India's history lives in these monuments that have been altered by its conquerors, Hindu deities being defaced by Muslim conquerors, buildings demolished by British to make way for military barracks, and scavengers removing precious stones and gold from these buildings to increase their own wealth.

Returning to Delhi, traffic stalled our entrance to the city by two hours, reminding me that I am in 21st century India. Christmas preparations are underway, and I'll be spending a few days with my friend Ritu soon before returning to snowy and beautiful USA :-)