A Mediterranean Climate

The Generations Project, Part II: The Filming

2009-08-23T02:12:00.009-06:00

For approximately every hour we filmed The Generations Project, one minute is in the actual episode. Yes, I wish the episode could've been longer so you could see more of what I experienced, but I guess I'm lucky enough to get one hour on national television. My dad laughed when he found out because he doesn't think all of his face time on the big screen adds up to a full hour, but maybe someone like Dana or Chelsey would like to take on that challenge of calculating it all out.
Pretty much filming was the funnest thing I've ever done besides rock climbing in the dark. I've never been an actress and avoid any situations that may require any acting skills, so luckily none were needed. Hey, this is a reality show. I can handle being me and being real. But I admit I did have to act a little in the episode—you'll have to try and guess where I'm really being me and where I'm trying to be me.
As soon as Raquel and her team began researching Romania, I was under strict instruction not to talk to any family members about Romania and not to do any of my own investigations into her life. Deal. No deal for Grandma Elsa though. She was the one who ended up having the hardest time keeping her lips sealed. One morning I was at my parents' house, and there was a knock at the door. It was 8 a.m. When Grandma knocks she walks in and says, "Knock, knock knock." She had her arms full of books. "Oh, Lisa! Look what I've found—Romania's photo albums and her journal! Katie, come look at these with us on the couch." Raquel would've been proud because I avoided all eye contact with the photo albums and ran back downstairs, yelling up to Grandma that I wasn't allowed to look at that stuff. It was a long 5 months until filming finally began, but I don't blame Grandma in the least for literally bursting with excitement. So instead of telling me all the good news, she told her hair dresser, Nancy, the ladies she walks with in the morning, the women she volunteers with at the temple, and the man who comes to spray the outside of her house for bugs. I can't wait for you guys to meet my grandma.
Not being able to eat all the time is a definite down side to filming a TV show. Every chance I got I ate. We had to cram so many interviews and reactions and places into one day, and we were actually in such a remote location the second day of filming that the town didn't even have a grocery store or restaurant, so we suffered. The day we filmed in Honeyville we went 15 hours without food, except for the Reese's clondike bars dear Grandma Elsa gave each of us when we left her house that morning. Beef jerky and a 100 degree bottle of Arrowhead water don't cut it when it's 5 p.m. and you know you still have about 4 more hours till you're done for the day. I'm telling you all this so you know just how much bodily sacrifice went into making this episode and give the producers and camera crew a little more respect. I could never do it like they do it, week after week, unless I had some sort of fanny pack IV.

The Generations Project, Part I: The Beginning

2009-08-17T09:27:00.013-06:00

So here's how all this craziness went down. Back in February I got a quick email from my beautiful friend Raquel, a producer for KBYU Television. She asked me, along with her other friends and family, if we had an ancestor we would like to know more about. I wrote back saying I'd like to know more about my great-grandma Romania (in the picture above, she's the woman in the middle), not really thinking too much about the question. All I knew was that she'd died at an early age of leukemia when her daughter (my grandma Elsa) was only 4 years old, so not even my grandma remembers Romania. Raquel wrote back to say thanks and that she was asking around for this information because KBYU was going to be starting a new TV series called The Generations Project about searching out our ancestors. Raquel said that choosing future candidates for the 13 episodes would be a process of elimination. She and her research team would begin looking deeper into the lives of our family members and if they hit any brick walls or if they didn't find anything interesting enough for TV, we'd be out.

A few weeks later Raquel called me to say that she needed to build more of a story from my desire to know more about Romania. She asked what I would specifically want to know about Romania if I had the chance, so I told her I'd want to know how she handled knowing how she had cancer and how she lived the end of her life. What was her personality like? Was she upbeat and lived every day to its fullest? If she so sick that she couldn't do anything, how did she handle it? Raquel was direct and let me know that when it comes to finding out an ancestor's feelings, it's usually really tough to research. But she said they would give it a shot.

We brainstormed some more ideas over the phone, and then Raquel asked me about a surgery I had had while we were roommates in 2005. At that blessed time I was having my third colonoscopy to remove precancerous polyps. Back then when Raquel was my roommate, she hadn't known why I had to go to the hospital or what was happening, but once I explained my health situation she instantly saw the connection to Romania and the direction for the episode. If I hadn't had my first colonoscopy at the age of 22, the doctors said that I would've lived to be about 30 years old, around the age of Romania when she died. But because of a few miracles in detecting the polyps and even more miracles in living in the 21st century, I am alive, free of colon cancer, although I still have to get frequent colonoscopies. (But hopefully because of this show that will change.) If Romania had been born when I was, she most likely would've survived her leukemia. That connection between my great-grandma and me is the heart of the story. And from there Raquel dug deeper and hit everything but brick walls. She found Romania—the strong-willed, creative, determined woman who was loved by everyone she met.

When all is said and done about The Generations Project, I gained a friend. A hilarious woman who will forever be my age and who loves to laugh heartily, fill her sketch book with future creations, have fun in every moment, jump in the mud in her high heels and try to get the boys to join her. She was determined and knew who she was and what she wanted in life. She was close to God and loved her family. In finding Romania I've found more of myself.

The Generations Project will air nationally on KBYU in January (Sorry. Not October anymore. Plans changed for a better purpose) via cable, and you can also watch it on the Internet through the BYU TV site if you don't have cable or live in Australia. I'll get more details to you guys when air time gets closer. Filming this TV show was a journey for me to not only come to know Romania, my great-grandma, but also for me to better understand myself and my own genes. My journey is really just beginning. I'm still learning so much about Romania through reading her journals and looking through her idea books. She cut out pictures from magazines to give her ideas for drawing and making things like hats and map shades and sketches. In regards to my genes, I have appointments yet to come with doctors and the genetic counselor Vickie I met in filming the show. I'm due for another colonoscopy within the next couple months, but this time the Huntsman Cancer Institute is going to do extra research on me to get to the bottom of my polyps (no punn intended). Can't wait! I'm almost excited for this next colonoscopy.

This last picture is one of my favorites of Romania (she's on the left). I'd never seen any of these pictures until a month ago when we started filming. I love how happy Romania looks, and I wouldn't be surprised if she pushed her good friend Willard Marriott in the lake as soon as this picture was taken, almost toppling the boat. Mr. Marriott is the guy in the picture. And after pushing him in, she probably jumped in too. That's my guess. I can't wait to meet her some day!

Make the Conditions Serve You

2009-08-15T16:34:00.005-06:00

"To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment, who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully." James Allen.

I underlined this passage of As A Man Thinketh when I first read this book 6 years ago. Purpose. When we know what we want and we won't take no for an answer, we can turn the components of any situation around to serve us—bow down, literally. I've experienced it! There's such a drastic difference between our actions when we have direction and when we're lost. And our being either directionless or somewhere-bound has a distinct affect on the people around us. Have you ever talked to someone who knows where they're going in life and they're not annoying about it? Somehow that desire seeps inside of us and makes us actually want to figure out where we're going too. Maybe we don't want to get left behind. Maybe we've just forgotten what it's like to be excited about life and needed someone to remind us how it goes.

Back to the Blog

2009-08-07T13:26:00.002-06:00

Did I forget to mention I'm back? It's been an 8-month sabbatical of self-discovery and canned food. Plenty of you have been asking about what really went on when filming The Generations Project episode, so that's top on my list to write about . . . after I finish this lengthy dissertation edit that's demanding all my attention. So stand by! It's about to get good, really good.

i'm gonna miss this little girl

2009-08-07T13:03:00.005-06:00

Brad and Chels move to Washington on the 13th of this month, and they're taking their children with them. What kind of mean trick is that, huh? Emma is as independent and lively as ever and baby Jude is adorable and so peaceful compared to his big sis. He just sleeps or squirms or opens one eye at you. Emma turns two in September. I'm not sure what we're going to do with ourselves once they're gone. And Nate leaves for Cape Coast, Ghana for a two-year LDS mission the week after Brad and Chels leave. That's half our family right there just gone. That's why Izzy needs to have puppies quick!

Because I Love to Blog

2008-12-24T00:51:00.001-07:00

Because I love to blog, I am going to keep blogging.

Tonight I came across a site called Etsy, which promotes upcycling by selling trashion (etsy.com). Basically, someone with creative gusto turns something ready for the bin into something uniquely stylish and cool. I love it! I found out about this through my wonderfully amazing Dinner at Your Door authors, who graciously gave me a necklace made by an eco-friendly artist named Millie Hilgert (misscourageous.com), who is based out of Boise. Because I love my necklace so much, I am going to post a picture of it in the morning. Isn't this inspiring? I can definitely see many of you creating all kinds of beautiful works of jewelry art like this! Get busy. Life is too short for only dreaming. (I hope that lit the fire under you.)

Merry Christmas to James and Marlene in Cairo

2008-12-22T15:08:00.001-07:00

Since we all miss James and Marlene, whether they be our aunt and uncle, grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, brother and sister, or son and daughter, all of the Lindsays wanted to say hi and that we love and miss you! Here are some pictures and videos from our crazy Christmas party Saturday night at Julia's.

Christmas in Bethlehem

2008-12-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

The Pyramids Live

2008-12-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

The Western Wall

2008-12-08T13:00:00.001-07:00

Jalike One Dove

2008-12-08T12:15:00.001-07:00

We found this Hawaii Pidgin translation of Mark 1:9-11 at the River Jordan where they do baptisms. It was our favorite of all the languages! Yes, partly because we couldn't understand the other translations, but mostly because this one's hilarious. Enjoy!

Waiting all Morning in Jerusalem

2008-12-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Our story in the video didn't really cover all the details, but the whole reason we needed a cell phone was to get in touch with Mandy so we could meet up in Jerusalem once she got her medicine in Tel Aviv before our flight left to go back to Egypt. Mandy had a cell phone that could get texts, so we spent all morning trying to track Shadi down to use his cell phone to text Mandy to see if she'd gotten her medicine and find out where she was. Shadi kept saying, "Five minutes. Five minutes." That really means thirty minutes. Then he said he'd come get us at the Windmill, but then we gave up and decided to walk to his store (which he said was near the Pool of Siloam). Then when we got to the Pool (since we couldn't find the store), a man there called him twice for us. Forty-five minutes later Shadi got there. His phone didn't work to text Mandy either, so we bought a SIM card. Still no luck. That's when Lori pulled out her phone. Success!

So much for our last day touring the city, but at least we had some more adventures! :) We think we found the Sultan's Pool on the long walk from the Windmill to Shadi's store, and the whole way there was really cool, like stepping back in time before the hillsides were covered with apartment buildings. And Lori got back her cartush necklace from Egypt that she didn't even know she'd lost! That's a whole other story. So is the one about not getting into the Dome of the Rock and finding the Via Dolorosa where Christ walked carrying the cross and the church in honor of the crucifiction. Amazing places!

Hezekiah's Tunnel After Hours

2008-12-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

The second we flew in to Jerusalem, we hurried to find a bus to get us to the Western Wall before sundown so we could see the Jewish celebrate the beginning of shabbat (the Sabbath). We found a shuttle bus, jumped in, sat while keeping an eye on our luggage visible to passersby through the open trunk, and waited. And waited. And WAITED. We had to wait until all of the seats on the shuttle were full, but soon we were off. It felt like we were anywhere but Jerusalem. It just didn't sink in, couldn't sink in yet. Some days it unsinks . . . sinks out? It's like your feelings negate themselves, and you forget where you are. But then you let yourself think deeper again, and you're back. Back to Jerusalem.

After watching the Jewish men sing and dance, and after joining the Jewish women on their side of the wall (Strangely they don't sing and dance! It seemed like church on our side and a fiesta on the men's side. What do you expect?), we went in search of Hezekiah's Tunnel and the Pool of Siloam. Dusk turned to dark as we walked the streets of the Arab side of town. Good thing we learned Arabic in Egypt! Salamo alecum. Is mac ey. Shukran. Afwan. Ashara. Quais. Soon we came to the end of the road and spotted some cool looking archways and ruins, and headed up a little hill to take a look. Then a group of little boys came running to tell us we'd found the right place!

Shaddi soon came out, one of the pool's tour guides, and offered to take us through the tunnel even though it'd closed an hour before. He said the gates would be locked, but he knew how we could "get down inside easily." Super! We'd brought clothes we could get wet in, so we headed back up the hill to the pool entrance we'd passed on our way down the street.

Then there was the 20 foot gate we needed to climb to then easily drop down in, as Shaddi had promised. We laughed in disbelief, especially because the other side drops down even farther onto stairs going down, but we climbed it no problem! Mandy was our scout and tried it out first to make sure Lori and I could handle it. Thanks, Mandy. :) Once we got into the Pool of Siloam, I felt like the hard part for me was over, but Lori gets claustrophobic really easily so her challenge had just begun. Luckily, just knowing that there was no other group of people behind us helped her know she wouldn't be trapped. Until Shaddi told us the story about when a man got stuck inside and died. Nice, Shaddi.

We had so much fun in there! The water was up to our shins—much lower than we'd expected—so we really didn't get that wet. Once we reached the locked gate at the end of the tunnel, we turned around and headed back to the entrance in the dark. Very cool experience to feel like your world could be upside down and you wouldn't even know. It reminded me of being underwater in the ocean after getting smashed by a wave.

He is Risen!

2008-12-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes if you let yourself think you could just start sobbing uncontrollably? So you don't think. You don't let yourself. No one wants to let their emotions surface, so it's easier to just block them. But in those moments when you do let yourself think, you change. Thoughts lead to conclusions and inspirations and impressions and gratitude. Let your thoughts go—go deep, deeper than ever before—every once in a while, and your perspective will change. The Tomb did this for me. It still does it for me even now as I'm typing. Allow yourself to think. Let yourself remember. What is worth fighting for in your life?

International Friends

2008-12-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

Joann: We love this little lady we met in Egypt. She's from Virginia and she rocks! She is my hero and taught me so much about what it means to know God.

Shaddi: Lucky for us we met this Arab friend in the City of David (just beyond the Western Wall) in the exact moment we were looking for the Pool of Siloam. And what do you know? He's a guide to that very same pool. A very cool, fun guy who really actually liked hanging out with us! He got us into the locked tunnel and hooked us up with dinner and breakfast for the next morning even though we didn't know how to accept. What guy really wants to pay for everything?? We felt really bad and insisted we at least pay half. He informed us that we're not in America and in Israel some guys are just nice. Thanks, Shaddi.

Cyprus Missionaries: We love you, elders! They made our trip so entertaining and were super nice and patient to take 50+ pictures of us on our trip to the Turkey side of the island.

More missionaries: We love these couples, Sister Vought, and Sister Erickson!! They are hilarious, spiritual, great shoppers, and great picture takers, and were so welcoming to us!

Teeder Swing Thing: Throughout this trip we've made friends with all sorts of statues, rocks, and playground equipment. We had SO much fun on this thing that the elders gave in and started playing on the playground too.

Robert, Jane, and family: We met them in Bethlehem while buying nativities from their shop. Eventually we went to their shop and home, and Robert drove us to Shepherd's Field! So nice! And their wood work is amazing. Jon and Dee, I really think you'll love to see the pictures of their shop. You should totally move to Bethlehem and go into business together! :) I'd visit you.

Basset: He finally agreed to about 45 shekels (about $11) per pair of Jesus sandals and even threw in a free 5-shekel purse for each of us because he felt bad that he didn't go as low as we'd wanted.

Neils and Lissi: These two are a new extension of our families. We love these Greenlandian people! We met them Saturday night in Jerusalem at Lions Gate, saw them again Sunday morning on our way to Bethlehem, and then ran into them again Sunday evening on our way to the bus station to Tiberias! They're going to visit us in Utah, and we're going to the Grand Canyon. Anyone want to come with us??

Señor España: We don't know his name, but he was our neighbor in Damascus Gate Hostel in Jerusalem. He's from Zaragoza and has an awesome Spanish accent.

Little people: On our way to see the fisherman boat from Jesus' time, a woman with a shopping cart full of kids passed by. Aren't they so hilarious! We made friends quickly and then said good-bye. Their names were all in Hebrew, so I have no clue what they were. One was Amber in English, but it sounded nothing like that in Hebrew. Brad, how do you say the word "amber" in Hebrew?

Too Many Blessings to Count

2008-12-01T14:15:00.001-07:00

Miracles. Blessings. Answers. Yesterday on the bus ride to Tiberias we decided to list some of these miracles that have happened. I don't have time to include everything, but it really helped us remember just how watched over we are despite all the craziness of this side of the world. We also admit we're not the greatest at staying out of trouble either. Sometimes we look for it without realizing it, so I guess our list of things to be grateful for really could be twice the size if we even knew what could've happened.

EVERY place we have gone, everyone has told us that the weather has been so great while we are here. It was pouring rain the week before we got to Cyprus, but it was beautiful and sunny the whole time we were there. We bring the sunshine! And Egypt had been killer hot, but the week we got there it cooled down.

We've done so many incredible things with very little planning. Okay no planning (e.g., Hezekiah's Tunnel after hours with a tour guide we happened upon). The experiences that matter and make up a successful trip are every moment you stop to notice what's around you rather than just seeing the destination. (I could go off about his but I won't.) Some of my favorite moments were on the way to somewhere else, like seeing the countryside on the way to Alexandria.

The Friday before we left for Egypt, my friend Kayla taught me and all the girls in my ward how to make loom hats. Then once Lori, Mandy, and I were in Egypt we went to the leprosorium with the Cairo Relief Society to teach women—relatives of lepers—how to make the same exact kind of hats.

One night in Cairo we were out till 11:30 p.m. with our friend Joann, and Taxi Driver Tarek got out of bed to come get us. We'd totally spaced it, not realizing how late it was. We didn't know how to explain to taxi drivers how to get us home because the streets were so weird, so we really relied on Tarek, who already knew where we lived from driving my aunt and uncle around a couple times. He was always able to get us home when we needed him to, and for the most part we could understand each other. Ha ha. Okay, maybe that's a flat-out lie. But he liked us and we laughed a lot and at least tried to speak Arabic.

As we were leaving the Cairo Museum, a security guard named Taffa offered to buy us sandwiches for $1 that were normally $3 for tourists. We definitely got the hook-ups. Thanks for working it Lori. About 30 minutes before some other security guards had angrily taken away Lori's camera for taking pictures in the museum. She decided to complain about them to the other security guards outside, so that's how we met Taffa.

Mandy's family friend Ahmed showed us around Alexandria with only a few days notice—so, so nice of him. And then he called us right when we were supposed to be getting off the train or else we would've kept going on to who knows where. He was just inside the station to meet us.

I sprained my ankle pretty badly in Alexandria, but some how I still walked on it the rest of the trip. Right after I sprained it, Ahmed took us to the Alexandria Library, where his father is the head of security, and they got me an ace bandage that I've used every day since! Still purple but no more swelling. I remember what a huge blessing it is that my ankle works every time I'm climbing over rocks and up walls on our trip. I'm amazed at how it's not been hurting me more.

My new memory card worked fine until I'd taken about 100 pictures, and then it asked to reformat. The only way was to delete all photos on the card. Even though I lost all of those pictures, my uncle and Mandy had taken some and at least I didn't lose more than a day's worth of pictures. I just remind myself I can't take pictures with me when I die.

We got to go to Turkey on Thanksgiving! How many can say that? :)

In Cyprus we discovered the most delicious cheese ever—halloumi cheese. This cheese is to die for! I could eat it twice a day till I died. (Update: For a pretty penny I found some halloumi cheese in an in-door marketplace right next to the SL Farmer's Market. You must try some. You will be a fan.)

We went shopping on the Turkey side, and the prices were listed in Turkish money, instead of Euros, and Mandy and I both bought a skirt and almost paid the shopkeeper double—the price in Turkish money (which is double that of Euros) with Euros, but he was honest and gave the right amount back. We were also about to leave the store a couple of times, but we didn't and then found things that we had almost left behind, like a wallet and a bag of purchases from a previous store and Mandy's red sweater. The shop keeper just laughed at us.

Our last night in Cyprus, I got on facebook to contact my friend Catherine, who knows Jerusalem better than anyone. I was super lucky to find someone—Mike Jensen—online on facebook, and he was kind enough to call Catherine to ask her to get on facebook so that I could get the low down the night before we flew to Jerusalem.

After an hour of questioning, the Cyprus airport security guard escorted us to the plane so that we were able to make our flight and not have anything happen to us on the way. They really were worried about us going to Israel.

Susan Madsen who is a missionary in Tiberias, Israel, told Mandy that we really should buy plane tickets instead of take a bus from Jerusalem to Egypt (which I thought sounded much more adventurous and much cheaper), so we went ahead and did that. Now the border keeps closing and opening with day-long delays. The airport officials were pretty particular in following our itineraries and would've been pretty suspicious if we had no set way of leaving Jerusalem. Until we talked to Susan about buying tickets we couldn't even find planes that would fly from Tel Aviv to Cairo.

We got to go into Hezekiah's tunnel the first night that we arrived in Jerusalem even though it was closed. While we were looking for the tunnel, some little boys ran outside into the street to talk to us in Arabic. They were the brothers of one of the guides, Shaddi, and he offered to get us into the tunnel for free! Lori gets clastrophobic—she doesn't ever ride the elevator with us—but can feel okay in a tunnel if she is either the first or the last, and so she was able to make it through without freaking out because there was no one else in the tunnel. She was thankful. Plus, the guy with the key to the tunnel came right when we were just about to go into the tunnel, so we only had to climb the 15 foot fence once! Hamsi, Shaddi's cousin, showed up afterwards and drove to get dinner, and we didn't crash on the way there when he swerved in his car and almost hit the wall.:) And then again we didn't die in that scary liquor store in the Muslim-only part of town. So many good stories.

Shaddi and Hamsi taking us to get dinner, and then we were able to also buy food for Shabbat, because everything had already closed at sundown.

My new memory card is having problems and all of a sudden all of my pictures disappeared last night, but they reappeared later today so we hurried and got them off my card and safely onto the Madsen's hard drive. Fewf!

Okay, I'm only including half of our list of cool experiences for now because I know I've already lost most of you or your nodding off. :)

Today we went to the spot where they think Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. The Greek translation of the bible says something to the affect of, "Blessed are the poor in heart, for they shall see God everywhere." Pay attention to the little blessings in your life. They're everywhere!

Turkey Day in Turkey

2008-11-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

Turkey actually tastes just as good in Cyprus as in the US, or at least when you have the right connections and can get one from America through the US embassy! We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Checketts, the Johnsons, the Larsens, and about 16 missionaries serving in the Greece mission. The mashed potatoes were made by a missionary from Sweden and they were so yummy. I'm not sure what the Swedes know that we don't. No, they were good, but I personally just love mashed potatoes whether they're made by Mom or Grandma Lindsay (or Grandpa when he was the official masher) or my old roommate Christy Warnick. Remember, Jacq??? Mmm. And for the first time in my life, I actually ate sweet potatoes and liked them. I'm experiencing so many new things in Cyprus.

It's actually 3:15 a.m., but we're leaving in the morning for Jerusalem so I thought I'd let you know what's happening. We've been up planning where we're going to go and talking to my kind and crazy friend Catherine who studied for 4 months in Jerusalem at the beginning of this year. Her advice: Go to the Shuk, the open air market. Go through Hezekiah's Tunnel without a flashlight. You get wet and it's creepy. (The tunnel ends at the pool of Siloam, which is where Jesus restored sight to a blind man by telling him to go wash in the pool. We're also going to the pool of Bethesda where Jesus told a man to go wash to be healed. The man had been sick for 38 years, but when Jesus told him "Arise, take up your bed, and walk," he did.) Get the best falafals at the Damascus Gate. Tell everyone we're Mormon because they'll give us a cheaper price. They LOVE the BYU students, which is great for us. Try the cow chocolate with poprocks in it. It's called popchoc! Isn't that so cool?

Friday (tomorrow) we land in the Telaviv Airport around 2 p.m., so we're going to go to our hostel first to drop off our stuff and then go straight to the Western Wall. And then to Dome of the Rock and St. Peter in Gallicantu. Saturday morning we're going to the Garden of Gethsemane, then to church at the Jerusalem Center(Saturday is the Sabbath here), then the Garden Tomb, the pool of Bethseda, Herods Gate, Demascus Gate, Golgotha, and some other places. At night we'll go to Hezekiah's Tunnel. Sunday we'll go to the Shuk and Omar's, and do whatever other shopping we want, and then we'll head to Bethlehem. Then we'll catch a bus to the Sea of Galilee for the rest of the week! This is all so unbelievable. We're going to the City of David! We're going to the place where Christ was crucified and where He rose again. It was real before, but now it will be even more personal to me.

Monday: Salamis Ruins

2008-11-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Alexandria on the Mediterranean

2008-11-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

Sunday: The Best of the Best (our last day in Egypt)

2008-11-25T09:17:00.001-07:00

1. Mandy didn't lose one single arm-wrestling match against the street boys we played with today.

2. Lori has new friends who call her Rambo, all because of her headband (and her guns).

3. We were all proposed to today and had rings put on our fingers. Lori and Katie accepted, but Mandy's holding out for an Israeli.

4. We met four amazing Egyptians who are so willing to give of their time and talents to help street kids. El-Hammi is the main director of the program and is known all over the country for his art TV show. He taught us how to make clothespin animals. I made a shark, Mandy made snowflakes, and Lori thought about making a camel.

5. Even though it cost us 70 pounds to pay our taxi driver Tarik to get us to the wrong terminal in the airport, it only cost 15 pounds, 15 minutes, and 50/50 English and Arabic to fix the problem and get to the right terminal! And the right terminal was way less crowded, so we didn't miss our flight! It all worked out.

6. Aunt Marlene made us a yummy home-cooked meal of angel hair pasta in a sweet honey mustard sesame sauce with chicken and carrots. SO delicious!!

7. Our last 45 minutes or so at home in Egypt we relaxed and watched our favorite parts of Enchanted while eating ice cream! (Egypt sells Snickers ice cream bars here!)

8. We're headed to the second leg of our journey--blue skies and blue water! I'm hoping for more white, fluffy clouds like we saw in Alexandria, and for some white walls like in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I can't wait! We arrive at 12:55 a.m. in Cyprus, and the Checketts are picking us up from the airport.

9. It's only Sunday even though it logically seems like Tuesday (because the Sabbath is on Friday) and feels like Saturday because we played all day with the little boys.

10. We had Greek candy for the first time--joker chocolates handed out on the airplane.

On the way to Alexandria

2008-11-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

The countryside is beautiful! It's alive. The people, the sky, the clouds, the breeze. It makes me more alive! Everyone is at work. Donkeys pulling carts. People with their sickles working out in the fields. Women crossing the river fully clothed. Laundry. Sunshine. Rough stones and rickety bridges. Green palms along the long paved path walked by gray-haired women with baskets on their heads, old men wearing long dusty robes, and dirty, rowdy boys on their wobbly bicycles. Carts and cows and heavy loads. Lime green walls. Hasan. Waiting, working, fishing. Chewing and chewing and lazily watching. Babies in the back of pick-up trucks. Life and death. I see it all from the train. All beautiful because there's purpose and steadiness. A common, fluid rhythm.

Pyramids from the Freeway

2008-11-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

Mandy Driving in Cairo

2008-11-21T20:07:00.001-07:00

Alex

2008-11-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

We're headed to Alexandria tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. by train! The city's right on the Mediterranean Sea and is supposed to be beautiful. We miss you. . . and all I have to say is GO BYU!!! We'd be watching the game if we could, but I think it starts at 1 a.m. our time and we don't get that channel here in Maadi. :)

Racing Camels

2008-11-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

Carvings in the Rock

2008-11-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Once you get through the trash you come to these amazing carvings in the mountain, amphitheater, and cave church. The artist is Mario Debeesh from Poland. (He's the guy on the ladder in the picture.) He started his work in Garbage City (Maqaadi) in 1995, and we have no idea who, if anyone, has commissioned him to do this. He must be getting paid somehow. I honestly had no idea what we'd find in Garbage City, we'd just heard there were carvings near the church, so we really were amazed at the massive murals carved into the rock. I imagined some little scratchings on the side of a church.

Becoming an Egyptian

2008-11-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

So just after I got out of the shower tonight, I noticed that my hair was super sticky above my right ear. Really rough and stuck together. I kept rubbing it to smooth it out and then realized that it wasn’t sticky, it was fried, like FRIED! All kinked and nappy!! I felt around on my head and thought the rest was okay, but I just found a whole other chunk of fried hair in the right side of my bangs! Ha ha! I have no idea how this happened! But then again, I am in Egypt. I didn’t do my hair today, I just stuck a bandana over it, and yesterday I was in a hurry, so I didn’t do anything except run some molding goop in my hair after I blow dried it. I remember it being really rough in that same spot, but I just thought I got too much goop there. Maybe the goop's chemicals did it! Or maybe it's from the chlorine in the water or the scalding water that shoots on in the shower when someone flushes the toilet! I think it’s even more hilarious that this probably happened days ago, but I haven’t noticed until now! Nice. Very well groomed, Katie. Lori thinks that maybe the foul smells of rotting animals and trash singed my hair after our trip to Garbage City today (see pictures below). But I'm actually pretty convinced this is just the first step of the transformation process of becoming an Egyptian. Or second step. Riding a camel was the first step to change my walk. I can't wait to see what happens to me next!

Garbage City is where the Christians of Cairo live. For their employment they collect trash for recycling. No one will hire them at normal jobs because of their religion. They literally live in the dump, and it smells as raunchy as you can imagine. But if you make it through the trash, you come to a huge cave and massive carvings in the rock walls.

The Egyptian Museum

2008-11-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

In the Egyptian Museum there are statues and artifacts that date back as far back as 4600 B.C. There is a ground floor and an upper floor, and every room is packed. There is a little organization to the King Tut exhibit (everything found in King Tut's tomb), but everything else seems to have been thrown wherever there was space.

We took the metro to the museum and a kind man named Mohamed helped us know which direction to go to get to the Saadat stop. Not everyone speaks English, but we try to look for the men or women in business suits because they're usually more educated. In the metro we made friends with two little kids, Mohamed and Maah (I think). So cute and only 5 and 7. (Dee, Maah reminded me so much of Tere's little girl. I can't believe I forgot her name!) We soon could tell that a few of the men around us could also understand English when we were practicing out Arabic numbers with the kids. Lori was joking around about how since the Egyptians read backwards (right to left) maybe they counted backwards too! It was pretty funny to us, and then Mandy caught some of the men laughing too. People can't help but love us. :)

And boy did the security guards love us! You'll have to get this story from Lori's perspective because I'm sure she thought her life was over and she was going to be thrown in jail, but she got caught taking a picture in the museum. There are no signs saying not to take pictures, so we'd been doing it with the flash off. Then after a while a guard told us to stop. Well . . . Lori got caught taking another picture, and the guard came running over and grabbed her camera. I thought he was going to delete the picture or all of the pictures, and then he really looked like he wasn't going to give her back her camera. But really all the guard wanted was some money. Hey, why not? Yes, its ridiculous, but for Lori to get her camera back she had to pay 5 L.E. (pounds), which is about $1. So now we call this picture (right below) the 5-pound picture.

We also made friends with the security guards on the way out of the museum, and one of them offered to buy us cheese (and cucumber) sandwiches for only a dollar each. As we were standing there making our order, Lori's mean guard came walking out. She said, "Hey he has my money, my 5 pounds." He turned around and looked like he'd been caught, and then laughed but didn't give her back her money.

As I went through the museum entrance, I started talking to the guards and a lady was standing right next to them. She said, "Hey, you from America? I'm from Virginia." She asked if she could tag along with me, and I said sure and that I was with two friends. She'd just come from Israel where she'd gone a tour with her Baptist group, but she was a little tired of her friends so she came to the museum on her own. She hung out with us until 11:30 p.m.! Her name's Joann, and she's so cool! We had some awesome discussions about religion, and by the end of the night she knew pretty much everything there is to know about our church and wanted to know more. She really loved that she met us, and we're definitely keeping in touch. She has a few assignments we have to check up on. :)

Hygiene Kits

2008-11-20T12:32:00.001-07:00

Here are some quick pictures of us adding to the hygiene kits the church sent us. We did this when we got home from the camel ride and pyramids. They are going to the local hospital along with some little chairs and tables, toys, and books.

"The Camel" and the Giza Pyramids

2008-11-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that the picture you now see above is a little unattractive or odd. We together are a camel. I am the camel's face, Mandy is the hump, and Lori is the rump. :) We work well together, huh? I thought the camel driver told me to look like a camel, but we then realized (long after I started acting like one) that he was just telling us to line up with the three pyramids so that it looked like we were leaning on them. Anyways, some things get lost in translation.

Day 5: The Pyramids of Giza(!!!)

2008-11-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

I wish these pictures could really speak to you and tell you how incredible today's experiences were. Very different from yesterday's, but another aspect of Egypt we've been anxious to see. We rode CAMELS for the first time today! Real camels that gurgle and spit just like Emma can immitate. (Does she still do "What a camel say?")I thought of her today as I was immitating Moses (the camel) to get him to talk back to me. Mandy made better friends with her camel (Whiskey Soda), but Lori's was the nicest (Michael Jordan). I'm going to see if I can post some videos later so you guys can really know what it's like to ride on the back of a running camel. Hah! I loved it!

And did I fail to mention that we took a camel ride around the PYRAMIDS OF GIZA?? The camels seemed to catch more of our attention than the 6000-year-old pyramids, but they were incredible too. Mandy and Lori climbed a queen's tomb next to the first pyramid while I waited below to take their picture (I posted one here), but by the time I started up the walls the police were whistling for everyone to get down. Still very cool!

As our little caravan was wandering through the desert, Absalam, one of the camel drivers, asked me if I was a meditator. I said yes, and that I prayed. (Remember, if I talk about religion here I can get thrown out of the country. My aunt and uncle have to be especially cautious since they're missionaries, but they've warned us.) He asked if I prayed to dogs. I said no. He asked if I prayed to wood. I said no. And he kept asking: animals, the air, statues, prophets, etc. I kept saying no until he asked if I prayed to my God. When I said yes, he said, "Good. I take you to the desert to mediate. You come with me to the top of that hill over there and you listen." So we all took off as the sun was setting. He said I could stay the night in the desert, but I told him maybe next time we visit Egypt.

BUT then interestingly enough we ended up staying in the night desert waiting for the light show to begin! We were on and off those camels for 3 hours!! Ha ha. (The soreness is setting in. The drivers told us we really will be walking like Egyptians now.) So the six of us (3 drivers and us) rode our camels all over until the bulis (police) told us the place was closed, and then we headed back out a ways into the sand to get our own private show of the lights on the pyramids. (And yes, we were safe.) What a day! I would do it again tomorrow if I could.

Day 4 (?): The Leprosorium and Sewing School

2008-11-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know what today is. All I know is that we had the best morning teaching about twenty Egyptian women how to make little hats and booties. It was the most I've laughed in a while. I really can't speak Arabic, but I would try and I'd keep asking them questions and then we'd laugh and laugh. When it comes to numbers I only know ashara, which means "ten," so that's what I'd say regardless of the number. Even though I haven't been too quick at learning the language, the women today picked up on the whole loom thing no problem. My new friends are Ola, Shahira, Fadima (I'm totally making this one up. I wrote it down but don't have my paper.), and Alema. Language is definitely not a barrier. There are so many other ways we communicate.

New favorite Arabic word: mumkin (maybe, may I?)
Word we use the most: shokran (thank you)
Common greeting: Salamo alekum
Response to greeting: Alekum salam

On the way home from the sewing school and kindergarten (where we were teaching the loom class), we stopped by the leprosorium. My aunt and uncle have been able to help organize projects to purify the drinking water, add a back up for when the electricity goes out and surgeries are being performed, install ten new kitchens, and redo the benches all around the leprosorium. These happy old lepers pushing the cart were all smiley when they saw my camera. There is a bakery here too where they can make flat bread to sell and eat. Lori is handing over the amazing leprosy bandages her mom made.

Day 3: Mohammed Ali Mosque, Egypt

2008-11-16T14:42:00.001-07:00

So far I haven't mentioned jet lag. It's bad. I've never felt it like this before. Dizzy, nauseated, foggy in the head. We stuck it out all yesterday without a nap even though we felt like we were going to die and then went to bed super early last night, like around 9:30 p.m. Lori and I slept until 1:00 p.m. today!! Yes, that's 15 and a half hours!!! Unbelievable. And we could've slept longer. Mandy is adjusting or is just used to not getting sleep so her body is handling it okay! Ha ha. We'll see what happens tomorrow, because right now it's midnight and we have to wake up at 7 a.m. to go teach women how to make baby hats and booties on a loom. (Yes, Kayla! It's all you! You were my mentor and now I'm actually teaching it to Egyptians!) These women are family of lepers. After that we're going to go visit the leprosorium. It's gonna be great!

Besides sleeping for half of the day, we went to the Mohammed Ali Mosque in the Citadel (Al Khala). My brain is shutting down, so I don't feel like writing a ton. I'll see if I can make this quick. We got swarmed by butt-pinching little boys who wanted to take a picture . . . or two or three . . . with us. They were well-behaved at first, but then the pushing and grabbing began. They all wanted to be right next to us, holding onto our arms for the picture. Then when that was over, the butt pinching began. Oh man. Those little 12-year-old Egyptian boys are way too confident for their own good. We refused to give them our phone numbers. Now really, what are they going to do with our numbers? They're half our age, and they can only say "hello" and "Obama."

Once we were inside the mosque it was so beautiful. We were a little late getting outside and the Citadel was closing, so we hurried around back to see the rest of the fortress. The guards kept telling us in English that it was closed. Mandy had a great idea that I should only speak Spanish to them so that we could pretend we didn't understand that it was closed. And it worked! We got a private tour and the whole time we spoke Spanish. Mandy knows a little and Lori was good at mumbling and repeating. It was hilarious! We really didn't know what they were showing us, but we got to see some prison rooms and where we think they said Mohammed Ali was killed.

Then we took a taxi home and wandered around the neighborhood for a while. We went to a pet store, where there were the cutest little puppies. I wanted to hold them so badly, but their little behinds were covered in poop and I was afraid I would get a disease. Instead I played with them through the cage and got them to wrestle and bite each other. (Be sure to check out the puppy cam link to the right of this!! It will make your day.) But then Lori held one of the teeny turtles, and I knew for sure she was going to be infected with some Egyptian bacteria! Then we passed a barber shop and stopped to watch the TV. A soccer player was being interviewed about the big game today. While we were at the mosque, a huge roar came up from the city below the mosque. It was incredible. We asked where the stadium was, and the guards told us that the game was on TV! So at the barber shop, the men told us that their team had won and then we heard cars honking on the street and saw a car drive by with a huge red flag waving out the open window. I love this place!

Day 2: Cairo, Egypt

2008-11-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

We landed, walked down the ladder stairs onto the runway, were greeted by Mohammed our driver holding a sign reading "Newbold," got a cool-looking visa and an even cooler stamp in our passports, and drove through the foggy 4 a.m. air of Cairo. When we got to my aunt and uncle's apartment, I asked Mohammed what their apartment number was. He didn't know. Nice. Minor detail. I didn't know either. Luckily I had their phone number. But my phone didn't have service. Mandy did have service, but now that we were in Egypt she couldn't call my uncle's US phone number.

There were only six floors and one apartment per floor, so for Plan D, we went from door to door trying to figure out what door looked like their door. The 2nd floor had a dog, so that narrowed it down to five other choices. I thought it was the 4th floor because there were two pieces of paper taped up; once said 4 in English and the other said 4 in Arabic. Only foreigners would do that, right? But Mohammed didn't think we should wake anyone up since they'd probably get mad. We went back outside and started yelling on the count of three, "Uncles James!" (Which very could've easily made the neighbors mad too.) No luck. Then Mandy remembered she could text (for a small fee), and she texted Nate my little bro. No response from Nate, so she texted Heather to ask her to call and wake-up my uncle. A couple minutes later my uncle came out of the elevator! Heather, you deserve some sort of reward, like a trip to Egypt to meet up with us in a week or at least some sand from Egypt. We made it inside safely, and my uncle explained that he'd told the taxi service to call him when we got to his house. No big deal. We love challenges (adventures!). I hope for your sakes that we have more of them so that this blog doesn't get boring!

Day 1: Amsterdam, Netherlands

2008-11-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

If I had had time to write two nights ago, I would've made an entry with a long list of the pros and cons of our flight from Minnesota to Amsterdam . . . but sadly I can't remember all of them now! I should've written them down. One of them was having the honor of being the bathroom monitor (we were in the last row) and now being able to empathize with Jess at work. Another pro was doing airobics on the plane! Now how many airlines provide that kind of service?
So the condensed version is, we had a blast in Amsterdam. I feel like a part of me lives in that little city! Design. Fashion. Art. Unique styles and friendly people. I wish we could've stayed longer to get to know myself better. I really think I could live there, but then I said that about Buenos Aires too. And once I lived in venezuela, I wondered why I wasn't born there.

In Amsterdam, bikes are propped against every wall, chained to every pole, parked in HUGE bike parking garages, and standing up in the middle of the huge squares. We literally saw thousands of bikes in the six hours we were out exploring! I bought three scarves from a man from Lebanon. I asked him which one he liked best, and he said, "You." Ahh. Such friendly salespeople.:) We also found stroopwaffles and practiced greeting the people in Dutch. Meneer is sir and Mufrow is ma'm. (These are my own phoenetic spellings.) As we walked onto the airplane I said, "Who-dadock, Meneer," to the pilot. He actually understood me and asked where I learned Dutch! Strangley he'd never heard of The Best Two Years.

The flight to Egypt was amazing. The flight attendant happily filled up our water bottles and didn't think we were too young to drink like our last one, and I slept!!! The seats went back about an inch or two farther, and it was heaven! More later. We're running to a silver shop right now.

Must Sees Please

2008-11-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

We want your input! I live by the theme, "No regrets," so where do you think we HAVE to go in Egypt or Israel or else we'll so regret it?

In Israel . . .

2008-11-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

Michelle, my dear Downey friend since age 3, this song is dedicated to you and our 6th grade social studies class with Mrs. Duddly. I will forever have this catchy tune stuck in my head that we wrote as twelve-year-olds! (Please tell me you remember this song.) We were going to wear towels on our heads when we performed it in front of the class, but then we chickened out. :) I figured it was only right to include this since I am finally going to Israel! Who knew?

Israel (to the tune of The Adam’s Family theme song)

In Israel you’ll see
The way things used to be.
From green hills to the sea,
The Sea of Galilee.

Du-nu-nu-nu. (Snap, snap.) Du-nu-nu-nu. Snap snap. Du-nu-nu-nu. Du-nu-nu-nu. Du-nu-nu-nu. (Snap, snap.)

The people there are Jews
And speak Hebrew
They eat bread and goat cheese,
So try some if you please.

Du-nu-nu-nu. (Snap, snap.) Du-nu-nu-nu. Snap snap. Du-nu-nu-nu. Du-nu-nu-nu. Du-nu-nu-nu. (Snap, snap.)

The people live in houses
Along with all their spouses
(Something about adobe and mud?? . . .)
That's what they call their homes.

Du-nu-nu-nu. (Snap, snap.) Du-nu-nu-nu. (Snap, snap.) Du-nu-nu-nu. Du-nu-nu-nu. Du-nu-nu-nu. (Snap, snap.)

Healings

2008-11-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

These are a few verses that I read last night from the New Testament. My goal was to read it all before we left for Egypt, but I guess there's always the 10-hour flight from Minnesota to Amsterdam! Mandy, how far along are you? These words are so real now that I know I'm going to be over there!

"And behold there came a leper and worshipped him saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand and touch him, saying I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." (St Matthew 8:2-3)

Delivering school kits and toys. The photo of the large group is of kids living on the streets.

Why Egypt?

2008-11-11T23:55:00.001-07:00

So many people have asked me, "Why Egypt?" Well, why not Egypt! But you're right. Most of you know I usually go to Latin American countries if I'm going to be leaving the US, but this time is different. My aunt and uncle have been in Cairo for a year now, volunteering as humanitarian missionaries for our church. As soon as I found out they were going to Egypt, I began making plans to visit. Now it's finally happening!!
My aunt and uncle are unofficially the liasons between our church and the Egyptian government. Together they discuss the needs of the people in Egypt, and then my uncle tells our church what supplies or instruction they need, from wheelchairs, blankets, and school kits to medical care, hygiene kits, and neonatal training courses. It's amazing how it all works! I can't wait to be a part of it.

After being in Egypt for about 8 days, Mandy, Lori, and I are flying to Cypress for 3 days to stay with another missionary couple. While we're there we get to go into the Turkey side of the island, which we're really excited about! From there we fly to Israel to stay with another missionary couple near the Sea of Galilee! Doesn't it just sound so unreal! The adventure is about to begin, and I guarantee we'll have some unbelievable stories to tell. And none of us speak any of the languages, which makes this even better!!