I might be biased

In the movie, "What I like about you", there is a scene where Amanda Bynes go on this wonderful date with Oliver James, a hot singer she meets at her hostel. The two of them escape for the day and wonder around London and go see and do everything they could in one day. That was basically my day minus the hottie guy and plus a girl I live with and her aunt!

There is a group of students that live at the Bible institute with me and they are all studying Portuguese because they are planning to go to Angola in the Spring to do some church planting. Part of the Portuguese classes is that they go on a field trip once a month and today was the day. Their field trip this month was to Lisboa to look at some Roman ruins.....accept these weren't the normal Roman ruins. To get to these Roman ruins we basically needed to go into the sewer in a sense. Once a year Lisboa drains an underground creek that flows among these underground Roman ruins. So, once a year, usually, a guided free tour is given to people of the ruins.

The ruins were super cool and it was especially cool that we got to go underground in the middle of the road to get to them. 

After we got done with the ruins we decided that we needed a little coffee before we conquered our second sets of ruins! Bring on the amazing deliciousness that is Portuguese coffee!

See the awesome thing about coffee here is that even though it might look small it carries quite a heavy punch! You can also not get a cup of coffee to go! Everywhere you go you have to drink your coffee there and I think it really adds to the coffee!

So, once we were reenergized and had a little bite to eat we went to a bank that also had Roman ruins underneath it. These Roman ruins were from an old sardine paste factory! Can you say YUM?!? Me neither!

Both tours were really awesome but they were both fully in Portugal. It was really exhausting to go on the tours because the whole tour you are trying to figure out what exactly the tour guide is trying to say. All in all, it was an awesome free tour!

After the tours with the Portuguese class my friend, her aunt, and I decided that we would do some more Lisboa exploring before we went home. The first thing we did was to take an elevator up to another street and little shopping area.

The elevator was constructed in 1902 and allows people to go to the top of a hill via a bridge at the top instead of walking up the hill. It was really beautiful and a bonus of the elevator is that it gives you a beautiful view of all of Lisboa! Right off of the bridge is an old Catholic church that is now used to hold different artifacts from all over Portugal.

In 1749, there was a huge earthquake in Lisboa and many buildings collapsed and it also brought down the power that Portugal had in sailing and exploring. During this earthquake the roof of a huge Catholic church collapsed and killed everyone inside and also started a fire in the church. Portugal decided not to fix the church but instead to keep the church as somewhat of a memorial of the earthquake and also a museum of other artifacts from all over Portugal. 

It was really amazing to see things from so long ago! If you walk straight down the path in the picture you come to rooms with more artifacts and on the walls in Portuguese tile work is a pictorial depiction of life of Jesus Christ. 

We visited many other places and shops but at the end of the day I fell more in love with Portugal. The architecture and feel of the city is beautiful! The colors and patterns on the tiles that are on just about every building are eye catching. I seriously think that a fabric designer should come design fabrics according to Portuguese tiles! I am pretty sure it would sell out instantly! The prices for everything were also amazing! We got to ride the subway, the trolley cars, and the elevator as much as we wanted for 24 hours for less then 4 euros and the tour of the Church was 2 euros for a student and 3 euros for general public, this means that everything was about 7 euros which is less then $10! Try and do that anywhere else!

Seriously, if you have never had Portugal on your radar to travel to I definitely think you need to put it on there! Just walking around the city is amazing! So, go book your ticket and I will see you here next week!

Peace out!

P.S. if you would like to see more pictures from my adventures please check them out on facebook. I will have them posted so anybody can see them.....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=551694&id=556530252

Also, I was on national news because of the ruins....supposedly they did a sweep of the crowd waiting to go underground and I was in that sweep!

Vialoooooonga

I want to start out with the fact that I am fine and if you are scared of me being here by myself you might not want read this blog.......

Yesterday it was decided that I should ride the bus from Tojal, the village I am living in, to Vialonga, the village the Fairbanks are living in. The plan was that I would take the bus into Vialonga and get off the bus at the fire station and then I would walk up the road to where the Fairbanks live. I was suppose to get to the Fairbanks house by 10 am to begin my Portuguese lessons.

Last night I looked up the bus routes and calculated how long the bus route would take and found out that the 5 minute drive would take a little over an hour. I decided that I would take the 8:30 am bus so that I would have enough time to get to Vialonga, walk to the house and still be on time. Not wanting to fail at my first assignment I set my alarm for 7 am but woke up at 5 am and couldn't go back to sleep because I was afraid that I would sleep through my alarm.

I headed to the bus got on and paid my 1,95 euros and road the bus through tons of small villages but after about 15 minutes I started seeing signs for Vialonga and I just thought the part of Vialonga I wanted was further. Pretty soon I was in Povoa de Santa Iria, which is past Vialonga and is the last village on the bus run. So, the first bus stop we came to I hopped off and went to use the phone to call the Fairbanks and tell them that I was lost and was now in Povoa but the phone didn't work! I started freaking out! So, I ran across the road and waited for 20 min. for the next bus. As I waited for the bus an old Portuguese woman decided that she needed to talk to me and I told her, "Eu nau falo Portugues," but she decided that she still needed to talk to me so then I tried, "Nau compreendo," but she still decided she needed to talk to me but thankfully another Portuguese lady told her again that I don't understand Portuguese, so then she finally left me alone! When the bus finally came I hopped on and went to pay and again they asked for the 1,95 euros but I only had 1,65 euros, so, I got kicked off and by this time I was boardering tears and wanting to just curl up in a ball and hide. I decided that me crying would not solve any of my problems so I sucked up my tears and started walking....and walking....and walking.....

Here is a map of what I walked. I walked a total of 3.5 km which when converted is a little more then 2 miles.

The thing about walking in Portugal is that they don't really have sidewalks....they more have a largish side of the road. As I started walking I was terrified! I was 90% sure I was walking in the right direction and was quickly comforted by the occasional Vialonga signs. While on my walk I got honked at! Oh yes, somewhere in Portugal is a creeper man who decided he needed to honk at a poor defenseless woman walking on the side of the road. During my long walk I finally got to a store that I recognized! It was a Pingo Doce, which is a grocery store chain here in Portugal.

This grocery store was such an excitement for me and I thought for sure they would have a pay phone that I could use but unfortunately I didn't see one...the only thing I saw was the gun strapped to the hip of the security guard and I decided I didn't even want to try Portuguese. So, I continued walking but THANK GOD there was a payphone right around the corner. I called the Fairbanks and as soon as Idalia picked up the phone the water works began! Through my tears I told her that I was lost and had no idea where I was but I thought I was in Vialonga but I forgot to put more money in so we got diconnected so I called back again and remembered Pingo Doce and thankfully there is only one Pingo Doce in the small village of Vialonga so with in a couple minutes they were there to pick me up! I don't know what was more exciting when I landed in Lisbon or when they picked me up at Pingo Doce!

When we got to their home my Portuguese lessons started and I learned some very helpful things

• Passa Por Vialonga?
• Do you pass vialonga?
• Gostaria de parar perto dos Bombeiros em Vialonga.
• I like to stop by the fire department in Vialonga.
• Pode me dizer quando la chegar?
• Can you tell me when we arrive?

I also learned if I am lost on the street:

• Aonde fica os Bombeiros?
• Where is the fire department?
• Aonde fica os Igreja Catolica?
• Where is the Catholic Church?

Today I also learned that you do not add up the times but that the time given is the time it takes to go from the start to the stop you are looking at. I also learned that the bus route that I chose to take is called a milk run route because it stops at every single little village!

I also learned a little factoid about Vialonga, the city gets its name from Via, road, and longa, long, so it means long road, which I definitely got to learn all about today!

Tomorrow I will be hopping on a new bus route but this time I will know how to get to my final destination! Woot Woot!

Peace out!

Oh, Church!

Well, today was my first day at Portuguese church. After tons of introductions as the Americana, nao fala o Portugues, and tons of cheek kissing I finally sat down for church. It started with many questions about if we were ready to worship and after a pretty weak response worship started and I was lost! Luckily they did have it on powerpoint so I was able to read the words as everyone else sang and during easier parts like "o Deus bom" (the good God) I would do my best to sing along.

The pastor did a great sermon on the 10 Commandments. He talked about how the 10 commandments was there as a mirror to show us where our sins were and it was us who had to choose to change them. He also talked about Exodus 20:5-6 and about the promises of following God given there. He talked about how we always focus on the punishment of 4 generations but never look at the love of 1,000 generations for following God. I thought this was a really good point in the sermon.

You might be wondering how I understood what was being preached....well I woke up this morning and miraculously was fluent in Portuguese! Hahaha I wish! That would be total blessing! Actually, Ron throughout the whole service, not including worship, translated the whole thing for me! So I sat hunched over so I could hear him better because I had to tune out the Portuguese and try to hear him whispering to me in English. By half way through the sermon my back was starting to hurt from being hunched and I was I was getting mentally exhausted from having to concentrate so hard. Fortunately, the extreme concentration caused me to remember a lot of what was said in the sermon without taking notes, which is what I normally do.

I never thought church could be so exhausting! I was ready for a nap by the time church was done but I had to have lunch with the Fairbanks at their home and then we got to have a wonderful time sipping bicas with the Ericsons. Jerry and Karen Ericson are one of the first missionaries from GEM in Portugal, they came around the same time as the Wootens who I mentioned in a previous blog. It was really cool to talk with missionaries who have been in Portugal for about 40 years now. I hope that today was not my only interaction with them!

Well that was basically my first Sunday in Portugal and I am exhausted!!!

Tomorrow's adventure includes me going on a bus by myself to Vialonga to the Fairbanks' house to start my Portuguese lessons! Wish me luck! I am really nervous about riding the bus by myself since I know no Portuguese! Hopefully I will survive so I can continue writing on this blog! Hahaha!

Peace out!

Adventure time!

When I arrived in Portugal the Fairbanks (missionary family i am working under) had two bags of groceries for me so that I would have food for a couple days but unfortunately most of it has run out and now I am left with deli ham that looks like turkey, cookies, soup mix, and 2 cans of 7 up. So, I decided that I needed to go to the grocery store. To get to the grocery store I would have to take the bus and it would be my first time on the bus. It would be a quick ride but still it means that I would have to tell people where I was going in Portuguese and I barely know how to say, "Como esta?"

Fortunately for me my roommate had a break in her classes for an hour and a half. She decided that we would have enough time to ride the bus, go to the grocery store, have lunch, and then ride back. I didn't think it would be possible but she decided we would try. We hopped on the bus and I payed my 1.55 euros and we rode down the road to a neighboring village to go to the grocery store. We get there and Regina decides that we should eat lunch before we shop so we went to the cafeteria style lunch area and got some food. I followed Regina as she wondered the area and asked people what to do in Portuguese. We decided to go the fast way and get the precooked food instead of the food that was cooked in front of you. We both had the same thing of chicken breast slices with bacon pieces, rice with beans, and potatoes. The meal came out to about 4 euros and was twice as much food then either of us could eat. The food was pretty tasty the rice and beans were the best but everything was very salty.

As we were finishing up Regina excused herself and went to the restroom and when she came back she had the look of death on her face. She told me that she was feeling very sick and that we wouldn't be able to shop now but maybe after her class we could come back. We left the super market and headed to the bus stop and as we walked Regina continued to tell me how she hasn't been feeling very well for a couple days. However, Regina hasn't quite gotten down the difference between tomorrow and yesterday, so she kept telling me how she was sick tomorrow and today she feels better. After a couple minutes of being very confused and thinking that she could predict the future of how her stomach would feel I explained to her the difference.

When we got to the bus stop we asked a lady next to use when the bus would come and it was going to be two hours! So, we sat and waited and when the next bus came we asked if it was going to Tojal and to our surprise and pleasure it was going along the outskirts of the village so we hopped on and I paid my 1.55 euros again and we got dropped outside of the village. As we got off Regina asked how to get back to the school we are staying at but because of my walks that I have taken (of course with my fully armed body guards ;) ) I knew exactly how to get back to the school but she wouldn't listen to me. We eventually got home and Regina was about an hour late for class and I still do not have any food!

I look Portuguese

There are many things here that I need to get use to....
1. The milk is ultra pasturized here so it can sit on the shelf as long as you want until you open it and then it goes in fridge. It comes in a cardboardish container...kind of like soup or chicken stock can come in at the grocery store.

2. the roads here are super narrow....and I mean SUPER narrow. It isn't really big enough to have two cars driving on it and on top of that there is usually a car parked on the side of the road and also you are suppose to be walking on the roads because there aren't really any sidewalks....atleast in the village I am at.

See the little bit of street that is on the outside of the white line? That is where you are suppose to try and walk but sometimes it is a few inches and then a steep slope of rocks.

3. I also need to get use to people speaking to me in Portuguese because not only do they speak Portuguese here but I have been told that I look Portuguese....I wonder where people would get that idea....  So, I have been told that people will automatically speak to me in Portuguese because of the way I look! Dang heritage!!!!

Here are some of the pics I took on my adventure today around the village where I live. I definitely did not go by myself but I had two armed body guards with me the whole time....

I'm HERE!!!!

After a day of traveling and no sleep I arrived in Lisbon at about 6:30 pm (10:30 am PST). My first flight was nine hours long and every time I fell asleep one of the ladies I was sitting between would wake me up...not on purpose but would still wake me up. I had a little old Hindu Indian woman on one side of me and an older Swedish woman on the other side (her name was Britmarie...I think the name is beautiful and I think I may name my first child after the random lady on the plane...). There was also an older British guy in front of us with his very old mother in front of us and they constantly had their chairs up which was really difficult for the Indian woman when she was trying to get out and even after we asked politely for him to move his seat up just for a second the woman could get up he said no because the seat in front of him was reclined. I thought he was very rude especially when he was trying to help his mother out of her seat and ended up ramming the seat in front of him and sending the older man in that seat flying forward. I think someone needs to teach that British man some manners!!!!

My first flight landed and I had a 4 hour layover in the Heathrow airport. The airport is complete insanity!!! It is so huge that you have to take a bus or subway to each Terminal. So when I got off my plane at Terminal 5 I had to take a subway and a bus to get to Terminal 3 where my following flight would depart. The airport also made me feel extremely poor! The little shops that they had at the airport that you could go walk around in were Hermes, Burberry, Gucci, and every other high end store that I would never be able to afford in my lifetime. Luckily while I ate my lunch at the airport I got to talk to this really kind older British couple who were heading to Cape Cod. They were talking to me about tennis, which I don't know anything about, and also about some jazz player. When I told them that I don't know tennis players very well and that I don't know the jazz player they informed me that they would were going to teach me about America! hahaha! Heathrow airport also likes to do this fun thing where they don't tell you which gate you are departing out of until they open the gate for you to board! Once they told me where my flight was departing out of I then had to run to the gate hop on a bus and go out to my plane. I think when Heathrow was created they thought "how can we make people feel crazy when they are flying?" All I could think was thank God the airport was in London and not in France or something.

My flight from London to Lisboa was awesome! I felt like a kid in a candy store! I luckily had a window seat and I was stuck to my window like white on rice. When we approached the airport we circled around and our approach was exactly like a dream that I had a couple days before I left. As the plane landed I seriously had to hold back tears because I didn't want to look like a big dork crying on the plane! I was so overwhelmed with joy when they plane landed I couldn't believe that something that I had dreamed about and planned for the past 7 years was happening! I finally got to meet the Fairbanks face to face and we had a nice chat about the area and what I would be doing as they drove me to my new home.

For the next 3 months I will be staying at the Portuguese Bible Institute, GEM actually helped start the school and many GEM missionaries have taught at the school. I have a roommate named Regina (pronounced Hegina) and she is from Brasil. We have decided that she would teach me Portuguese and I would teach her English. So far she knows alot more English then I do but it hasn't even been a whole day yet. Tomorrow night, Thursday, I will be having lunch with the youth leader at the church I will be working with so I am very nervous about that.

Well, I am going to go explore the village I am in and hopefully get some pictures for my blogs!

peace out!

3 times is the charm

I have decided to start every blog with a movie clip emotion....
so today I am feeling like Abigail Breslin's character, Olive Hoover, in "Little Miss Sunshine", when she finds out that she is going to be in the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant and in reaction to the news she screams at the top of her lungs for about 2 min. straight while running around the house and throwing things in bags. Now I may not be running around my house screaming all the time but every once in a while I find my self doing my happy dance because I realize that I am going to be in Portugal in less then a week!!!!


so back to the blog......




A question that I have to answer many times is, "why Portugal?" I have given many answers to this question such as my heritage is from there and the percentage of Christians in Portugal is so low and they need missionaries. But the reason that makes me stay dedicated to ministry in Portugal is because I truly feel like God wants me there. 

A little back story, all through my intercultural studies classes  I have studied and have learned so much about the spiritual climate in Portugal. I have learned that northern Portugal has many counties without any evangelical Christian presence and because of this I have felt like northern Portugal is where I need to serve. Enough of the back story....now for the real story....
In February of 2009, I had been talking with GEM for about a year trying to figure out if they were the organization for me. My schools missions conference was about to start and I was planning on meeting with the GEM representative to further figure things out my ministry goals. However, I was internally really struggling with whether God wanted me in Portugal or in some other ministry role. I wasn't sure if during my meeting with the representative if I would be telling him I am totally ready for Portugal or if I would be backing out of Portugal. The first day of the conference I went and introduced myself to the representative and before I could say anything more he said I want to introduce you to someone. He introduced me to two retired missionaries from GEM, Bill and Sharon Wooten, they had decided to come and visit their old college and to help out during the conference. Now you may be thinking "woopty doo! Two retired missionaries!" but here is where only God could have been in it, the Wootens were retired missionaries from Portugal and on top of that they were missionaries for many years in northern Portugal before they retired. It is one thing to be told something once but when I was told the
same thing multiple times it made me regret questioning God in the first place. It was one of the most humbling experiences for me. 

Now I am getting ready to depart on a mission that I believe God has called me and guided me towards. I will be leaving "sunny" California on September 13th and will be arriving in SUNNY Portugal on September 14th. I feel like I am going through every emotional possible recently. I think the only emotions I am not feeling right now are emotions related to anger but everything else seems to be fair game. 

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me this far in my adventure! I can not put into words how thankful I am for the people who have been praying for me and the ministry that I am going to help with and also the people who have given of their finances to help make this mission trip and ministry a reality.  I also want to give a super special thank you to the amazing core support group I had from Bonnie Molinari, Lynda Campbell, Karen Boskoff, and Pastor Ben Sobels! I would not be where I am now if it weren't for all the support and sacrifices you have all made for me! I also want to thank the women's ministry at Cypress Community Church for supporting me not only through this mission trip but also through the last three years that I have been in school at Multnomah, you have all been such a blessing to me!


Peace Out