Learning Hindi is Hard!

Okay... so I knew that learning another language wasn't going to be a peice of cake... but I didn't think it would be quite like this.

I have a language helper that comes to meet with me twice a week for 1 1/2 hours each time. Her name is Nirmala and she is so cute and as skinny as a rail! :) She is doing a good job... but I must admit there are some things that I just don't get. So there are verbs and then there are helping verbs. Sometimes a verb is used with a helping verb and sometimes it isn't. There isn't a rule that I can learn to figure out when to use the helping verb and when not to. It's just something I have to figure out case by case. I like rules much better. I'm less likely to make a fool out of myself that way. Well... I guess I just need to get over it... cause I'm going to make a fool out of myself and I'm going to do it a lot. I had just better get used to it now. :) So, Nirmala and I have been working on verbs these past few weeks and I AM learning... just not as fast as I would like. Hee hee... again get over it right! Next time we meet... I get to work on time... and verbs by trying to tell her what I did at different times throughout the day.

Hindi is also difficult to learn here because so many people speak English. Really it was surprising to me too. :) Most of the educated people speak English and there are even those who grew up learning English as their first language. Learning Hindi from these people is okay but not the best... because they may not know it well enought to teach it. Another large part of the population in Mumbai are uneducated but only know their own mother tongue which just happens to be Tamil or Marathi... NOT Hindi. So they are not much help either.

I'm finding some things that I can do that do help in my language learning. I have my Rosetta Stone for my computer that I have used several times. I need to work on that a little more frequently. There is a small group that meets in a home just near my apartment and it is a Hindi speaking small group. I will be visiting that this week and plan to practice my listening skills. There is also Hindi music and Hindi TV stations that I can practice my listening skills. I hope to practice more my conversational Hindi when I move out of the city at the end of July to work in the womens home.

So there is a little inside picture of my language learning experience. Please be lifting me up in this... I really want to be able to communicate well... but the process of getting there at times is not very much fun. But I'm hangin in there. :)

Just saying Hi!

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I just wanted to say hi. :) I know my voice sounds really weird and high pitched... not sure how to fix that... anyway hope you get a laugh or at least a giggle from it. :) Enjoy!

My (temporary) Apartment in Mumbai

Here are some pictures of my temporary apartment. I will be staying here until mid July when I will be moving out of the city. We are kind of being spoiled with this place. We have hot water, air conditioning, water purification and even a washing machine! All of these are luxuries here that we will not have (most likely) after mid-July. I guess you can say that we are easing into the Indian way of living (at least for the majority of Indians).
So all is well for me. I am enjoying the few more days that I have the appartment to myself before Marcy & Danielle arrive on Friday. It will be nice to have them... but I admit, I will miss my alone time and having the whole place to myself. I have found that I rather enjoy living alone. Especially in India... where it is so difficult to get alone anywhere.
Language lessons are going well. I have had two of them now. My teacher is in her twenties and she teaches middle school aged children. She is very sweet. We have been working on conjugating verbs... a challenge but I am making progress. :) I would most appreciate you prys regarding my language learning. I wish I could just snap my fingers and I would be fluent. It is most difficult and humiliating at times when you mess up and say something really stupid. Still... it must be done if I want to communicate well and value what they value. I can learn Hindi. I can learn Hindi. I CAN learn Hindi! There... I think I'm motivated now. :)

More of Vienna

I am standing gaurd at the back of the Hapsburg Family Summer Palace. I found the gaurd house to be quite cozy. :)


Here is the Summer Palace from the top of the hill. This is still on the family's land. There is another large structure behind me... a place where they would have parties. Really... this place is huge. So... if you get a chance to visit Vienna... DO! Also, if you get a chance to see the movie Marie Antoinette, it shows the summer palace at the beginning. Marie was an archduchess of Austria who married a prince of France. The movie is the story of her life. It was pretty cool to actually be there to see it all and know that once a family owned all that land and the huge palace. It was fun to think about what it would be like to live in that palace. What would you do if you lived there???

Video to Share

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Yeh... I figured out how to put a video on my blog... with the help of my dear friend Anne. She has a great blog and puts pics and videos of her baby boy all the time. You should check it out sometime if you want. I've put her blog in my links so you can meet my good friends.
So we went to the Hapsburg family 'Summer' palace today. It is away from the city some and has some amazing flowers and garden areas. The land is huge and so is the palace. Anne took this video of me... I hope you can hear it okay. If this works good... I'll be posting more video's in the future... Yeah!!! Enjoy.

Vienna

So, I made it to Vienna! I'm visiting with my friends Chris & Anne. We have walked around downtown Vienna and here are some pictures for you to enjoy. This is the European Smart Car. They are tiny!


This is the St. Stephens Cathedral. The last time I was visiting in Vienna back in 2004 they were also doing contruction on the steeple. I guess it's just taking a while.


Here is some Roman ruins that were found during some construction in Vienna. They were marked off and put in this display. Pretty cool.


This is the Hapsburg Family Winter Palace. Pretty big huh. They still have festivals and fun stuff for holidays in this area.

What's next...

In approximately one month and 8 days, I will be making a major life change. I'm not getting married, not having a baby, not starting a new job (well I guess I kinda am), I'm not finishing school... so just what am I doing?

I will be moving! But wait... before you make any assumtions about this NOT being a major life change... let me explain.

I will not just be moving to another town... or another state for that matter. NO! I'm moving to another COUNTRY!

Now, talk about a major life change. Really now, think about it. There is a lot of stress involved in just moving to another town. You gotta find a new job, change your address, phone number and maybe even your drivers license and your vehicle license plates. You have to find a new neighborhood to live in, a new grocery store to go to, and a new church community to get involved in. If you have kids, you gotta find a new school too. Not to mention just finding new friends to hang out with... people you get along with well and can invite over to your house for dinner and a movie or just to hang out.

Think about all that... and now add just a little more on the plate. Say now that this new community has a whole different style of dress and your wardrobe just isn't going to cut it. And the food they eat is... well... it's not what you're used to and they don't have the quick microwave dishes that you used to rely on in a pinch. There are also all these unexpected rules and ways of doing things that are just different. For example... they have a different pair of shoes that they only wear in the house... they sit on the floor when they eat... the women are not supposed to show their ankles... and they don't eat with their left hands (just to name a few). Now lets just put some icing on that very large piece of cake. How much more stress do you think it will add to the situation when you discover that most of the poeple in this town that you are moving to... do NOT speak english?

So... yeah... I am making a major life change. If you haven't already... pray for me.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Stay tuned...

Yes... I am still using this site

Okay... so I won't waste my time appologizing for how poorly I've kept up this site. You already know if you've visited it at all. I am going to make a change though... turn over a new leaf! I realize that this is a great way for you all to check out what I'm doing and be kept up to date... but it will take me keeping up my part of posting regularly so that you can be informed.

Thanks for hangin in there with me. Really...I'm going to use this more often now.

Now I'm going to try to post some pictures. I just got a new computer... a MAC (I love it!)... and before, with my PC, I was having trouble posting pictures. So, I'm going to try it again. Wish me luck... if this works well.. that means more pictures from me in the future... I know how enjoyable pictures can be. So here goes.

Beautiful Feet Boot Camp

Wow, Y'all... thanks for hangin in there with me. My life has been FULL of Beautiful Feet Boot Camp here in Oklahoma City! From 6:30am to 10:30pm I was on the go. Devotions, physical training, classes, chores, classes, homework, outreach, girls night, movie night, homework, projects... and on and on and on! BUT... lo and behold... I am to graduate tomorrow on Novemeber 18th, 2006!

Boot Camp has been great! Our class is 21 strong with the additional 8 children, and two unborn boot camp babies. :) We have survived a ropes coarse, challenges, camping adventure, Mexico, physical training, survival trip, speeches, and evaluations. 21 adults and 8 children have been approved to travel overseas! We are ready for our next assignment!

And the best news is.... I am headed to India!!!!

That's right... India here I come! My goal...(right now) is to learn Hindi. A challenge in itself! But I'm definately up for it. I still have a program that I used while I was in India last time. Hindi will become my homework now. :)

But first... home for the Holidays! I'll be flying home Monday the 20th, where I will be spending some time with my parents, my sister and her family and even my uncle Richard from California. He's flying in for Thanksgiving. After his visit comes to a close... I will be traveling to Chicago to visit my buddies at Wheaton for a few weeks. Then I hope to see my sister's new home in Wisconsin before I return home and prepare to leave for India. The holidays look to be a busy time for me... but I am looking forward to seeing my family. I've not been home since May and even then it was just for a few days.

I want to leave you with a few pictures from Boot Camp. It will give you some idea of what I was blessed to be a part of these past few months. Again thanks for hangin in there with me. Please feel free to post a comment.

I'm packin my bags again!

I leave on Saturday morning for a new adventure! My time at Link Care is winding down and I have just a few days left. I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute that I have had here. I have learned so much about counseling basics and just how to come alongside someone where they are. I have met some great people, acquired some skills and enjoyed California all at the same time. Now... I'm switching gears and heading off to Choctaw, Oklahoma which is just East of Oklahoma City.

I will be starting my training for what I hope will be future overseas work. I will be a 'student' again for 5 months... learning from other seasoned overseas workers. I will learn practical lessons like how to learn a new language and different steps to take in that process. I will learn about how to work on a team and ways to best utilize the gifts of everyone present. I will grow in my understanding of cross-cultural issues and contextualization. And I will even physically gain some muscle and hopefully loose some fat through a physical training program. I will be meeting new people, learning and experiencing new things and going to new places. We will be traveling to Mexico for a few weeks to apply the skills we learn and, in a sense, practice living and working overseas.

I am truely excited and a little nervous about this next step. I am having to trust the Lord a lot in this move. Everything will be new again... Just simply meeting new people can be a stressful thing for me. I will need to make friends again and that isn't just a scary thing for little kids who move to a new school... it's scary for me too and I'm almost 28 years old! I have had to raise my financial and prayer support for this phase of my life and I am still uncertain about how much money I have and how much I am still needing. This is something that I feel that I have had to continually give over to God and trust that He is providing as he has done so faithfully in the past. I am grateful that it is stretching my faith and deepening my dependance upon him. If I could do it all on my own... than why would I need God? So I thank the Lord that I am weak... and that I can do nothing good... and nothing period... without his mercies in my life. Praise to him... the Lord Almighty... for He has been good to me and He is trustworthy in his promises to take care of our needs! I look forward to when I can write and encourage you in giving the testimony of how He came through with the finances for my training!

Until then... be in prayer for me that I will trust and believe in his promises. Pray that I will make friends quickly and easily. And pray that I will grow in my wisdom, understanding and application of the lessons and tools that I will be given in this time of training and preparation. Thanks to you all for your prayers and support!

Blessings & Peace!

Sailing in the San Fransisco Bay

I just returned from a visit with my uncle who lives in the San Fransisco Bay area. I took the Amtrak train up and back. There was a frieght train derailment on Wednesday when I left and so I had to bus it part of the way up. My uncle recently purchased a 32 ft Pearson sailboat. It is quite a nice boat and we got to go sailing a few days. Thursday we went out into the Bay for a few hours and just sailed under the Bay Bridge. Friday we headed out for an overnight. We started out with good winds and we sailed past Alcatraz Island and saw Angel Island from a distance. We sailed close to the city too, but I was making sandwiches then so didn't get to see it up close. We ended up anchoring in Richardson Bay for the evening. We saw plenty of huge freight ships and one that had come all the way from China. We saw lots of other sail boats and even some sea lions swimming around. The evening on the boat was nice and peaceful. I woke up only once when the boat was rocking from the waves. In the morning we headed further North in the Bay, past Angel island on the North side and checked out another possible anchoring spot before heading back. We got some great wind on the way back in and made some good time over the water. I admit my nervousness when the boat heeled over with the wind. I guess I just wasn't sure how far it could heel over without capsizing. It was a great time on the water and and even better time visiting with my uncle. We don't get to see each other much seeing that I live in Indiana and he in California. I was grateful to have the opportunity to come up and go sailing with him. Below are some pictures that he took of me on the boat.

More of Yosemite

Here are a few more pictures for your enjoyment!

Yosemite National Park

This is Vernal Falls. We hiked up to the top of it and the picture above is the view looking down.
My friend Rachel blessed me with her presence the first weekend of June. She decided to come out for a short visit and we went to Yosemite National Park! We saw lots of amazing things... praised the Lord a ton for his beautiful creation and even stayed overnight in a tent cabin. We saw the huge Sequoia trees, explored several different water falls, got to romp in the snow at 70 degrees and saw some amazing views. It was truely a wonderful two day adventure to Yosemite National Park. These are some pictures of our time there. The top two are of Vernal Falls, then there is the Sequoia trees one of which I am standing on. This was a tree that had been tunneled out back in the 1800's and it toppled not too many years ago as a result of heavy snow accumulation. Sequoia trees drop huge pine cones too! As you can see in one picture. The picture above of the falls is Bridalveil Falls. We got a little wet looking at that one. Notice the rainbow. :) Overall, Rachel and I had a wonderful time!

As for the other happenings in my life... I've begun the process of getting ready to go to Beautiful Feet Boot Camp hosted by Heart of God Ministries. If you haven't heard and would like more info shoot me an email or leave a comment and I'll fill you in. I've got two and half weeks left in Fresno finishing up my internship and I'm flying to Oklahoma City on the 1st of July. I'll be there as long as the finances hold up or until November... whichever comes first. :)

This week, I am excited because I get to go and see my uncle in the Bay area! We're going SAILING!!! I'm really looking forward to it. It's been a while since I've spent some time with my Uncle and so I'm looking forward to catching up with him. I also get to experience travel on the Amtrak train system out here in California. Hopefully all goes well. Well that's the scoup for now... stay in touch and drop a line anytime.

Sunny California!

I'm here! I made it out to sunny Fresno, California! We broke into the 90 degree temperatures today, I got to eat at Marie Callendars, I saw my first client with my supervisor and I got a beautiful bouquet of freshly cut roses for my apartment (from the rose bushes on the campus)! Today was a good day.

I have settled into my huge apartment, made my first grocery run and set up my office too - yep, I actually got my own office!!! Wasn't expecting that. We had our weekly chapel today and had some team meetings regarding a few of the clients here at the center. I looks as if this is going to be a very productive internship experience for me. I am so looking forward to all that I will have the opportunity to learn while I am here. The staff here are great too. They have been so welcoming and helpful to me as I am getting settled and finding my way around.

Graduation from Wheaton was great! Thanks to all of you who were able to come and celebrate with me. My time at Wheaton went by so quickly. I will miss my profs, my class cohort and my dear friends. As hard as it is to leave and start over again, there is an aspect about it that is exciting. New people to meet and new experiences to have. I am grateful to God for being there through it all. He truely has provided in huge ways, physically, emotionally and spiritually. He has never let me down and I believe that he never will. Heck I have been able to do so much and it is only because of God's grace. He made it possible for me to get a Masters Degree, He provided for my internship and He financed both! Our God is a faithful, loving and caring God. He looks out for us more than we even look out for ourselves. Thank you Lord for all that you have done and for all that you are doing!

I'm done !!!

Finnally! I'm all done!!! I finished my last paper yesterday and I took my last finally yesterday too! No more papers, no more tests, no more projects or lectures! YIPPPEEEE!!!!

I will walk through graduation this Saturday the 7th of May but I won't officially finish my degree program until after I finish my internship this summer. OH YEAH... I know what I'm going to do this summer... well at least for the first half anyway. I'll be in Fresno, California for 6 weeks working with Link Care. I will finish up there near the end of June and then... well I'm still waiting to hear about what will happen after that. Keep checking my site... and you'll know when I do. :)

So that's it! I'll have a Masters of Counseling Ministries by the end of the summer. My official completion of my program will be in August so I won't see my actual diploma until then. Thanks for hangin in there with me. I'm just taking these next few days in Wheaton to pack up my room and hang with my friends. My folks are coming for my graduation on Friday and I fly out to Fresno on Monday... I'm a busy girl!

Stay in touch... you never know what will happen next with me! :)

The Uncertainties of Life

I've never been very good with not knowing what's going to happen next. Even with an evening out with friends it's nice to know what's going on all evening before I commit to anything. Well, these past few weeks have been torture for me (not really, but they have been hard). See, I graduate on May 6th and I have to do an internship this summer between the time frame of May 8th and June 25th. I have had two different internships lined up during the coarse of this semester and both of them have fallen through. Just this past week, I had to start from square one again. :( Long story short - I still have no idea what I'm going to do this summer and it is only three weeks away!

Alas, I am managing. My friends are keeping me sane and I am reminded of the times that the Lord has provided for me in the past. This encourages me that He will be faithful to provide for me now. I am still nervous and anxious about what I'm going to have to do, how much it will cost, whether or not I'll have the funds and what I'll need to take with me, etc. I like to plan ahead and in this case, I am forced to have to wait till the last minute and trust that God has got all the details worked out - even the finances.

With all that to say... I really don't have much to update you all on - other than the fact that I still don't know what I'm doing this summer. I'm working on the possibilities and I'm still hoping that I can go to the training that I wanted to go to in Oklahoma that starts in July. My internship is my priority right now though and so as long as that can get done before then. I would appreciate your prayers for my patience and trust in God's provision. After all that He has done for me, you'd think it would be easier to trust him... but with each new thing that comes alone, I still have to fight the temptation of thinking that I can handle it on my own.
Grace and Peace to all!

Beach Bums

Here we are at the end of our few days on St. Simons Island in the south of Georgia. The three of us (Callie, Rachel and I) traveled down to South Georgia for our spring break. It was a really good break. The weather was nice enough to lay out and get some sun. We also rented bicycles and rode around the island, I played tennis with Rachel and we threw the frisbee around on the beach. It was great fun and a nice relaxing time away from school. We stopped off at Rachel's parents house in Georgia and also at my home in Indiana.

Now it's back to school... I've got some projects to work on for this week and I need to catch up on some of my readings too. One thing is for sure... the break was well worth it and much needed. I think now, I've got enough energy to finish out the semester strong. :) Now I just need to find a place to do my internship. Please lift this up for me, when you read this. I am hoping to find something that fits just right. I trust that the Lord will provide. Thanks much. I'll post some more pictures of our trip as soon as I get them developed and in digital format. Check back soon.

My Girls

Hear are my girls! These are the women who have been a huge part of my fellowship while here at Wheaton. This picture was taken after a birthday party for Yen (middle). From Left to Right we are: Becky, Me, Yen, Callie and Rachel. I am so blessed to have these women in my life. They have been such good friends. I thank God for them daily.

Internship News

I recently received news that the internship that I was hoping to attend in Cambodia over the summer will not be an option for me any longer. Apparently there are some new requirements for which I am not able to meet at this time. As a result, I am now looking for another internship site. I am hoping to do something that is closer to the line of work that I am persuing and I am looking into my different options at this time. Please be lifting this up for me. I want to be in a place were I will get some helpful experience for my future work overseas. I will need to complete my internship between early May and mid-June. I need to clock at least 150 hours of time for my degree requirements. I am trusting that something will come up soon. My program has been pretty flexible in the past for the Counseling Ministries students so I am pretty hopeful that it will all work out.

What a Weekend!

It was Sunday of this last weekend that myself and 4 other dear friends were blessed with the unique opportunity to go Ice Fishing! It was free fishing weekend on Lake Missaukee in North West Michigan. It was the first time that most of us had been ice fishing and we actually caught 4 fish!!! They were all small, but we caught one perch and 3 blue gill. It was a COLD and ICY adventure but it was fun and exciting too! It's not every day that you get the chance to go ice fishing.

My friend Rachel (the one in the middle holding the fish), who is from Georgia, drove her nice big Tahoe out on the lake. She was a little nervous about it... honestly, I was too...but we were reassured when we saw 3 big trucks exiting the lake as we were driving down. :) The ice was actually about a foot thick and we made it off the lake dry and in one piece. It was nice to have the vehicle there too cause it blocked the wind while we were fishing!














We all had a great time. Our weekend was full of adventure. On Saturday we went snow skiing at http://www.caberfaepeaks.com for most of the day. It was a FRIDGID day with high temperatures only in the single digits! We bundled up and kept ourselves relatively warm. Skiing was a lot of fun. I've not been that often and so consequently I was the one who was most often on the ground, but I still had a lot of fun. It was a nice break away from school for a few days. I'm glad to have spent it with some great friends that I have made while at Wheaton! For now, it's back to work for a few weeks until spring break the week of March 6-10.