Just random scenery

Well- I'm Home

Thanks to everyone who followed our trip- I hope it was interesting and you laughed some too. I am just going to upload some of my other favorite pics- tell you about adjusting back to American life and hope you had fun hearing my experiences!

The 3 grad students working on Public Health blog

some good ol' GCSU representin @ the Stone making school- Corinthian columns!

our first dinner at Roma- 3 meats and amazing

first view of the Dalmacian coast

in Dubrovnik on the city wall

baptism pool at the 1st Christian church in the area of Pula or Porec - shaped like a fish!

my first first in Croatia- and they serve it with the head!!

my experience with rakija- oh how it burns

they have THE CUTEST strollers over there! they all come with these awesome umbrellas!

a beautiful church we visited in Osijek

Our AWESOME pink bus!!

I do not in the least miss the graffiti that lined the walls in every city we went to!

That sunset is from the night I spent some time alone on the Mountain in Motovum

on the island of Brac- that is the monastery we visited

So we left the island of Brac on June 1st- headed back to Makarska- that day was the worst because it was rainy and seriously 45 degrees outside. We visited some really old town and looked a a cool museum and had a VERY entergetic tour guide- from here we went to the highest peak on the island- but it was so rainy and cold- and we were literally surrounded by a cloud- I stayed on the bus- we then had to drive back down the smallest roads known to man in our other bus-noth the pink one- and stop and go bc the curves were so bad- then we had an hour to sit and wait for the ferry to come take us back to Makarska- so everyone slept on the bus- we then got back on the ferry for a 45 minute ride- went back to the apts and started packing. Club Real- which was the name of our apt (Rachel, Elizabeth, Alicea, and Lauren) packed and laughed and had Alicea's awesome waldorf salad and oranges for dinner. Loaded the bus and headed back on our 8 hour trip back to Zagreb on Tuesday. The ride wasnt that bad- we did journals and slept mostly. Made it back to the city- and set out to spend every last lipa (coin) of our kuna- because none of us wanted to change it back so we were looking for whatever we could buy with $70 kuna- roughly $12 American bucks. We hit up the square- got some pizza and gelato for the last time :( then went to the mall next to our hotel. I got a SWEET table runner to match my kitchen- then we just came back to the Jadran, our hotel and watched Hannah Montana dubbed over in Croatian- It sucked worse than the real show. We packed- ate Croatian snacks and stayed up late packing- then got up at 4 to head to the airport. The taxi drivers came to pick us up in Mercedes- and didnt realize we had luggage big enough to lay down in- so we had to take soemone else's taxi just to make it to the airport. then we waited maybe 15 miuntes and were off to Paris- landed in paris and seriously only waited 15 minutes again before boarding- it was great! Elizabeth and I got our seats changed and had a good seat together with a man from Smyrna. Flight was great- no trouble- no serious turbulence when I went to the bathroom! Landed and it took an hour to get through customs and re-go through security 3 times. Dad and Mowgs picked me up and we were homeward bound.

Coming home! Hvala 4 the memories!

So my time in Croatia has come to an end. We have had an amazing trip- I plan on doing some more updating on this when I get home, so dont think you dont ever have to look back here!!! We have spent ALL of our kuna- down to the last lipa. We have had people buy new luggage bags, we are all coming home with Croatian gorceries, and tons of stuff. I am so glad I came on this trip!! I have made some AWESOME friends and cant wait to hang out with them again. Momma and Deddy- thanks for paying and letting me come! I have 1200+ pictures to sort through, but most of them will be on facebook. My flight lands at 2pm in the ATL tomorrow- please pray for all our our flights to make it safely home. We have 6 girls on our flight- Pray for our nerves and the flight and out families safety when picking us up. I have missed you all and cant wait to tell my stories. Love you and peace out Croatia!

HIked again. Recap

So I am going to do a short recap of the past few days- the other day we hiked as you read the 2nd largest peak in Croatia- absolutly beautiful. here are some pics from it:

yes im falling off the rock :)..planned

after the hike we had dinner with our classmates at the boy's house and we each all made dinner- fun times

friday we visited Dubrovnik- a wonderful city full of history and walked the city walls.

saturday we had A FREEEEEE DAYY FOR THE ENTIRE DAY!!! me and elizabeth and a few other classmates stayed on the beach from 930-530, amazing. last night we had a big dinner party on the mountain. fun times and it was laurens 21st! i got a croatian kiss....ha dont worry.

today we hiked again- to a monastary in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. literaly- in the depths of a canyon. we had to take a ferry to get to the island of hvar- then jumped in vans for 40 mins- then hiked for 40 mins- toured the monastary- then walked back- i seriously thought i was going to die. we are at a pimmmp hotel now- and we have dinner at 8. write more when i can. we have free net!! give mowgs a kiss!

Spiritual warfare and hiking

So last night I got extremely homesick- cried and just wanted to call home when it was really late there, but I looked at my pics and watched videos of Mowgli and made it- thennnnnn we were awoken by an awful storm- I didnt get any sleep. our house doors kept slamming open- i thought someone was breaking in!! poor Elizabeth! we were up til 4!! Anyway- we went on an awesome hike today and it was BEAUTIFUL!! I forgot to add my pics 2 the jump drive- so wait for them 2morrow. The mtn was the 2nd highest in Croatia!! So awesome!

yesterday we went to Bosnia- i have never been so uncomfortable in my life. We were in a Muslim town- and so many idolic things were around. i was given an eye of fatma- to keep the devil from me and i just wanted to blurt out i have Jesus I dont need a silly pin- but i took it to be nice and have been really convicted ever since. during the storm i got up and tore it apart and threw it away. i got to talk to Eliz about the Bible, so that was good. just pray for me and for the rest of the ppl here that Jesus can be made real to them. i have to go- i read my bible for a good 2 hours last night and found just what i needed. coming home in T-7 days!

Yesterday and Today

Well, today I got what I asked for. Last night I was in need of some prayer time- opened my Bible and I knew I was going to be reading from Timothy, I just didn’t know what. I found my prayer list from the last Wed. I was at church and saw some verses I had written down on it. It is amazing how in tune with our lives God is. I read 2 Tim 1 and 2. I was reminded to fan into the flame the gift of God, and most importantly- to not be ashamed to testify about our Lord. This hit me pretty hard bc I have been praying earnestly for the people on my trip- and God showed me that I really need to be sharing with them. Read on through 2 I was reminded again that God’s word isn’t chained. Verses 14-16 hit home with me the most. There have been a few girls on the trip that I really don’t like, and my tendency to gossip and get really irritated while talking to them has been making its presence known this week.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth”- I haven’t been doing my best as sharing anything with these people, but I have made it known that I am a firm believer in Christ. We have visited A TON of Catholic churches while on this trip. Im going to keep my opinions to myself about them in general- I will say we visited a church the other day where the 1st Christians in the area were and today we visited a Jewish Synagogue. God must have really heard my prayers the night before to tell people about him- because my some of my classmates made comments. Pause that story- and move on to this other one that ties in- today we visited an art museum of a famous sculptor from Croatia who has works in the US and taught at Notre Dame. The museum was FILLED with Christian sculptures and paintings. We saw Job, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Jesus depicted in bronze and wood sculptures. We also saw Adam and Eve carved out of complete trees. It was just what I was needing on this trip- since so many of my classmates know nothing of Jesus. There is a Muslim, a Hindu, a handful of Catholics, one other Baptist and one Methodist that I know of- (The Baptist and Methodist girls and I are really close ).

In overhearing people’s conversations- there is a lot of people who don’t know about Jesus. Today after the museum we also visited this other “hall” the sculptor owned- and I must say it was the highlight of my day. There were 28 pictures depicting Jesus’ life carved into wood- it was beautiful aesthetically and spiritually. God really blessed my heart by having us see these amazing carvings. I got the opportunity to explain to the Hindu girl what some of the pictures were and it was really cool to tell her. Another girl on the trip who is a really awesome person also was asking me about them, just to make sure she had them right. So I did get to share some today- and I even talked to one of the Catholic girls. I talked to her about the differences in the faith, and I hope it made sense. This morning before the museum tours we went to the Diocletian’s Palace. It was certainly huge and enormous for its time, but when I found out Christians were persecuted there, I didn’t like it so much anymore.

We toured the city and got to do some shopping (Faren, Ashley, and Tabby got some goods for ya) and it was just a laid back time before we had to go tour some more. God is hearing my heart to share His word- I even invited my roommate to church- I think she is going to come!! The town we visited was Split- big boating tourist place. Tomorrow is a week before I come home. I can say I haven’t missed work one ounce (sorry!) but I have missed the things that cant be found here in souvenir or grocery stores: my family, my friends, my dog, my Church, my neighbors and their dogs. BUT I am having a great time and eating lots of new foods!!!

2day- we visited bosnia- met some cool ppl our age

shopped around

bosinia is very diff from croatia

have to be short bc place is closing

jumped on a trampoline last night!!

keep praying- so many ppl today i realized dont have personal relationships with Jesus

School health. Lazy day

All is well in makarska. I am getting about ready to come home. Last nite me and Eliz had an amazing shrimp dinner. So good. I stepped on something the other day at the beach- whatever it was made me bleed a lil and my foot is still sore! We visited a school health place today and spoke with a local dr there. We have to get up super early in the am- like 6am early. I am mising Mowgli A LOT. Working on my tan. trying not to lose my religion on some of these girls- I think we are all just getting burnt out from so much time together. I made it up the mountain and it was hot. amazingly hot!!! we had Croatian funnel cakes and figs- super good. We have dinner with the grp in a lil while, but I just wanted to do an update! Here are just a few random pics- ampitheater- me in the bay last nite- and our view from where we are. Learning a lot- its ab to rain. Give my momma a hug if u go to walmart- Sending my love to you momma and deddy!

ps- we have WHITE EGGS HERE MOMMA!!

Beach day!!

So today was a greattttt day. We had a quick tour of Makarska- then spent the entire day on the beach. The beaches here have rocks on them- no sand! Whatsoever!!! So Elizabeth and I laid out and had quite a few drinks today. The water is amazingly clear and beautiful. I cant upload any pics tonight, bc the net cafe IS STUPID. I love our apartment- I will give u some pics tomorrow. Love yall

Sorry. Bus. Beach

So- I appologize for not posting for a few days- internet was TOO expensive on the mountain. I am going to do a short recap of what I have done in the past 3 days:

• Visited the worlds smallest city- 20 inhabitants- Hum (Huum- like hum hum on the range)
• Visited Roć (roche)
• Learned Glagolitic letters- boo
• Traveled in a bus for an extensive period of time
• Eaten a TON of meat for dinner
• Got some really awesome glass rings for myself
• Had some drinks on top of a mountain with friends
• Visited a local ER in Lavine- more like an urgent care center
• Visited a Roman ampitheater
• Visited Pula and Porec
• Visited the 1st Christian church over here- we got to see where they had their secret meetings-very cool
• Went swimming at the hotel
• Got an apartment w 3 classmates at the beach
• Saw an amazing sunet from the top of the mountain and had some good time with God where he sent a few sparrows to remind me that He is watching over me
• Touched the Adriatic Sea with my toes tonight
• And have been having a great time.

I dont have my camera- we are at an internet cafe- so hold on for some pics tomorrow- promise they are worth they wait. Missing home a lot- but I am fine! Post more tomorrow. Miss yall!!

PIMP hotel

So- I just typed a bunch and this stupid thing didnt save it!! So- I will do a short recap and try to post more l8r- our net is very limited and expensive at our new hotel. Ok- so yest. we visted a Special Edu school- the largest in the country of its type. Mile physical and mild mental disorders. Gini Bell, you would have loved it. So the rest of the day was spent shopping- attempting to buy clothes- but they are really the same as USA clothes- so we bought souvenirs. Me and Eliz met up with some classmates and roamed around town for almost 2 hrs b4 we found a place that had food at 930pm! Had some great spinach lasagna. Then today we drove over under around through on in near here there everywhere in-between across and every other direction around Istris. We got lost multiple time- multiple is an understatement. Had 1 girl puke. We didnt eat LUNCH til 6pm- then had to LITERALLY walk up a MOUNTAIN to get to our hotel. I will try and post pics later- but our room is a suite and sweet it is. THere are 3 rooms in it!! PIMP!! We are here for 3 days- then to the BEACH. I am having a lot of fun- thanks for the prayers- Plz pray for a classmate named Bianca who had to have emergency tooth surgery last night- she is fine but her tooth needs to heal quickly. I miss yall! Having fun- ttyl

Hey momma and deddy- I love you! Give Mowgli a big hug- AND QUIT GIVING HER SO MANY TREATS! mAKE HER WORK FOR THEM!! Love you!

John 15:1-8