We are safe and sound having a great time. Our travels were great and we have met some really cool people who are helpful and all happen to be Christians. We have been praising God all day for his provisions. We are leaving at eleven tonight to climb mt Sinai and watch the sunrise. I promise we are being very careful and cautious but it feels good knowing God has an obvious presence with us and our travels. So as we continue to pray we have so much praise and thanksgiving.
Love you all
Em and ry
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Itinerary
Hello to all my diligent blog followers... or maybe some who are just happen to check in but don't actually read this whole thing. I'm sorry it has been so long since I have posted. I have so much I want to share about the awesome time Ryan and I had when my Mom was here to visit. The reason I have not been blogging is because I've been so busy getting things worked out for our trip to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. For anyone curious I thought I'd put up the itinerary Ryan and I have put together. It may be tweaked a bit while we are there, but this will be the gist of our travels.
Monday June 28th: depart Munich airport at 11:15pm
Tuesday June 29th: arrive Tel Aviv airport at 4am (so early I know)
take a bus to the southern most part of Israel, Eilat
take a bus across the Israeli/Egyptian border at Taba
taxi from Taba to Dahab hopefully arriving around 2 or 3
we are meeting someone from couchsurfing.org for dinner and then to
watch the world cup game Spain vs. Portugal
Wednesday June 30th: find out way to the "Blue Hole" for a morning of snorkeling
explore the market in the afternoon
leave at some crazy hour to go hike up Mt. Sinai to be able to
watch the sunrise
Thursday July 1st: come down Mt. Sinai to explore St. Catherine's monastery and see
the supposed bush that burned in the Bible
travel to Sharm el Sheikh to fly to Cairo
try to see the pyramids sphynx and visit the egyptian museum
Friday July 2nd: fly back to Sharm el Sheik in the morning
take a bus to Nuweiba and take the ferry across to Aqaba, Jordan
bus or taxi to Wadi Musa
Saturday July 3rd: Explore Petra
Leave in the evening to bus to Amman
Sunday July 4th: Happy 4th of July!!!!! Michelle's fav holiday :)
Probably there will not be a bus running Saturday because of the Sabbath so we'll have to wait to cross into Israel until this day
Hopefully we will meet up with a friend of mine from home that has
been on a archeological dig for the last month in Israel and she
leave early on Monday
Monday July 5th: Everything from this point on a much looser because we can easily bus anywhere during the day in Northern Israel. I'm thinking Jerusalem though because there is so much I want to see there. Mt. of Olives, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Dead Sea are all near by
Tuesday July 6th: Head toward the Sea of Galilee
Wednesday July 7th: Happy Birthday Michelle!
Head west to Haifa see Baha'i Gardens
Ceasarea aqueducts
Thursday July 8th: head to Tel Aviv/ Jaffa area
Friday July 9th: our last day to squeeze in anything we haven't done yet
depart Tel Aviv airport at 6:45 pm
arrive Munich airport at 9:55pm
HOPEFULLY be back to Garmisch getting into bed at roughly midnight
for a good night's rest before work the next day
We would appreciate as much prayer as people are willing to offer for safe travels with no lost luggage, or issues with customs or immigration etc. Good connections with transportation and finding our way around, and that we have a really stupendous time!
We love you all!!!!
Monday June 28th: depart Munich airport at 11:15pm
Tuesday June 29th: arrive Tel Aviv airport at 4am (so early I know)
take a bus to the southern most part of Israel, Eilat
take a bus across the Israeli/Egyptian border at Taba
taxi from Taba to Dahab hopefully arriving around 2 or 3
we are meeting someone from couchsurfing.org for dinner and then to
watch the world cup game Spain vs. Portugal
Wednesday June 30th: find out way to the "Blue Hole" for a morning of snorkeling
explore the market in the afternoon
leave at some crazy hour to go hike up Mt. Sinai to be able to
watch the sunrise
Thursday July 1st: come down Mt. Sinai to explore St. Catherine's monastery and see
the supposed bush that burned in the Bible
travel to Sharm el Sheikh to fly to Cairo
try to see the pyramids sphynx and visit the egyptian museum
Friday July 2nd: fly back to Sharm el Sheik in the morning
take a bus to Nuweiba and take the ferry across to Aqaba, Jordan
bus or taxi to Wadi Musa
Saturday July 3rd: Explore Petra
Leave in the evening to bus to Amman
Sunday July 4th: Happy 4th of July!!!!! Michelle's fav holiday :)
Probably there will not be a bus running Saturday because of the Sabbath so we'll have to wait to cross into Israel until this day
Hopefully we will meet up with a friend of mine from home that has
been on a archeological dig for the last month in Israel and she
leave early on Monday
Monday July 5th: Everything from this point on a much looser because we can easily bus anywhere during the day in Northern Israel. I'm thinking Jerusalem though because there is so much I want to see there. Mt. of Olives, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Dead Sea are all near by
Tuesday July 6th: Head toward the Sea of Galilee
Wednesday July 7th: Happy Birthday Michelle!
Head west to Haifa see Baha'i Gardens
Ceasarea aqueducts
Thursday July 8th: head to Tel Aviv/ Jaffa area
Friday July 9th: our last day to squeeze in anything we haven't done yet
depart Tel Aviv airport at 6:45 pm
arrive Munich airport at 9:55pm
HOPEFULLY be back to Garmisch getting into bed at roughly midnight
for a good night's rest before work the next day
We would appreciate as much prayer as people are willing to offer for safe travels with no lost luggage, or issues with customs or immigration etc. Good connections with transportation and finding our way around, and that we have a really stupendous time!
We love you all!!!!
Monday, June 7, 2010
The right way
I don't know if this applies to every situation, but in the situation I have just been involved with I do believe there was a right way and a wrong way to deal with it. I do not think I would feel like writing this post if I felt the situation was dealt with in the right way.
My roommate, Sarah, is moving out of our room.... as I am writing this. But she never told me that she was moving out. The person she is moving in with is my "friend" Laura. Laura has been living with my friend Reneé. Laura just told Reneé that she was moving out yesterday morning. And when Reneé asked "when?" Laura's response was, "tomorrow."
Maybe two or a little more weeks ago I saw my friend Ben in the hallway whose job is sort of to be the RA of the Abrams where we all live. He needed to replace light bulbs in our room and Sarah had put the work request in. When Ben saw me he asked something to the effect of, "Does Sarah still live in your room?" I didn't hear him perfectly and was so taken aback by the question that after a pause to absorb what I thought I had just heard I answered "yes, she is in the kitchen right now." Then I went to Ryan's room and told him what I thought I'd heard.
I wish now that I had just asked her right then if she was planning to move out. I did not though because I gave her the benefit of the doubt and figured that if she had something to tell me she would. After all, she comments all the time about how mature she is for being 20 years old. And I also wasn't 100% sure what Ben said, so maybe I just misheard and nothing was up at all.
Then.... last Sunday after work Ryan told me that it had been confirmed that Sarah did put in for a room change with Laura (this was the first I'd heard about Laura moving in with her). After Ryan said goodnight to me on Saturday he was headed to his room when someone we know said he should stop by their room to hangout with everyone in there. So he stopped and they were talking and then someone who was quite drunk (side note: people are drunk all the time here and I just wish they'd all get over it and realize they could have a lot more memorable fun if they didn't drink so much) said that Laura (who was in the room) requested to change rooms to live with Sarah. Then Laura immediately jumped all over Sam for giving away the secret because Ryan was in the room. So then Same explained it was nothing against me. So Sunday after work when Ryan told me was when this whole thing was confirmed and I was VERY upset by it. I am not upset that Sarah is moving out or that she is moving in with Laura. They are friends. Their lifestyles probably go hand-in-hand a lot better than Sarah's and mine do, I have no trouble seeing that. And I have never thought Sarah and I were anywhere near best friends. But I thought we were friends and I thought we were both mature adults. As and adult I would have expected her to tell me she was planning on moving out.
I didn't have it in me the night I found out about the situation to say anything to her and after work the next day Ryan and I headed to Munich to pick up my Mom. But when I got back I had every intention to addressing this with her and also letting her and Laura know that if they did not tell Reneé about this then I was going to.
On Saturday night when we got back from Prague Ryan came over to my room after being in his for a little while to report that Sarah and Laura would be moving in together on Monday. Sarah had been in Nuremburg for a huge concert event from Thursday and didn't get back until today, Monday. Laura was in Ryan's room asking his roommate for advice on how to tell Reneé she was moving out. And that is how Ryan found out they got a room and were moving out in two days.
If anyone is thinking, "so how did Sarah end up telling you that she was moving out?" I was thinking the same thing, "how will she end up telling me?" Well the answer is, she didn't! I ran home after work today to find the door open and Sarah and was in the midst of packing and moving with someone else. Without hardly looking up she said, "so we got our room." I can only assume by this point she had heard from other people that I knew about the move. So I told her, "you never told me you were moving." And her reasoning for that was that it would have made things awkward. Awkward for her maybe, but I know the person I am and I would have been like, "okay, thanks for the heads up." As the mature adult that I believe I have become I really think that telling me would have been the better way to handle the situation. Because by trying to make things less awkward my feelings were hurt and Reneé's feelings were hurt. It is like finding out that a rumor has been spread about you. Pretty much everyone we associate with at work and other people that don't even know us knew about this whole thing and were keeping it a secret. And I found out through other people and Reneé feelings like she was just the last to know out of everybody, which she was. So I told Sarah that I didn't think she handled it in the right manner and that neither Reneé or I appreciated finding out last and through other people knowing how many people knew about this. Then she made some comment about JUST finding out they got the room last Thursday and Renée and I were both on trips and gone. So I pointed out that it didn't matter when they found out they got a room because the request was put in a long long time ago. I didn't yell or curse or say anything rude, but I also didn't brush it off like it was no big deal and it didn't bother me. I feel like this is a situation that Sarah and Laura should learn from and know that it could have and should have been dealt with differently.
I am so sorry to anyone I may have hurt in my past by acting in a way similar to this. By withholding information to try and prevent something from being awkward FOR ME. When the right thing to do is to be upfront with someone to try and prevent their feelings from being hurt.
What do you all think? Was there a right and a wrong way to handle this situation? If I am totally off base please feel free to let me know. And thank you to anyone who actually decided to read this post. It is a very different kind of post for me, but I felt like writing this down and sharing it because you never know when you might need a reminder to look out for people's feelings.
On the bright side my Mom is here and we are having a great time! She has had a bed to sleep on the last couple nights with Sarah being gone and now she'll have a bed for the rest of her stay because Sarah is gone for good.
Now I just have a pray the next roommate I get, whenever that may be, will be someone I mesh with and isn't a crazy drunk who has boys stay the night... because let me tell you I won't have a problem sharing my opinion that that is not okay!
P.S. Michelle hurry up and get over here and you can have a bed to yourself and we can be roomies for a month!!!! :)
My roommate, Sarah, is moving out of our room.... as I am writing this. But she never told me that she was moving out. The person she is moving in with is my "friend" Laura. Laura has been living with my friend Reneé. Laura just told Reneé that she was moving out yesterday morning. And when Reneé asked "when?" Laura's response was, "tomorrow."
Maybe two or a little more weeks ago I saw my friend Ben in the hallway whose job is sort of to be the RA of the Abrams where we all live. He needed to replace light bulbs in our room and Sarah had put the work request in. When Ben saw me he asked something to the effect of, "Does Sarah still live in your room?" I didn't hear him perfectly and was so taken aback by the question that after a pause to absorb what I thought I had just heard I answered "yes, she is in the kitchen right now." Then I went to Ryan's room and told him what I thought I'd heard.
I wish now that I had just asked her right then if she was planning to move out. I did not though because I gave her the benefit of the doubt and figured that if she had something to tell me she would. After all, she comments all the time about how mature she is for being 20 years old. And I also wasn't 100% sure what Ben said, so maybe I just misheard and nothing was up at all.
Then.... last Sunday after work Ryan told me that it had been confirmed that Sarah did put in for a room change with Laura (this was the first I'd heard about Laura moving in with her). After Ryan said goodnight to me on Saturday he was headed to his room when someone we know said he should stop by their room to hangout with everyone in there. So he stopped and they were talking and then someone who was quite drunk (side note: people are drunk all the time here and I just wish they'd all get over it and realize they could have a lot more memorable fun if they didn't drink so much) said that Laura (who was in the room) requested to change rooms to live with Sarah. Then Laura immediately jumped all over Sam for giving away the secret because Ryan was in the room. So then Same explained it was nothing against me. So Sunday after work when Ryan told me was when this whole thing was confirmed and I was VERY upset by it. I am not upset that Sarah is moving out or that she is moving in with Laura. They are friends. Their lifestyles probably go hand-in-hand a lot better than Sarah's and mine do, I have no trouble seeing that. And I have never thought Sarah and I were anywhere near best friends. But I thought we were friends and I thought we were both mature adults. As and adult I would have expected her to tell me she was planning on moving out.
I didn't have it in me the night I found out about the situation to say anything to her and after work the next day Ryan and I headed to Munich to pick up my Mom. But when I got back I had every intention to addressing this with her and also letting her and Laura know that if they did not tell Reneé about this then I was going to.
On Saturday night when we got back from Prague Ryan came over to my room after being in his for a little while to report that Sarah and Laura would be moving in together on Monday. Sarah had been in Nuremburg for a huge concert event from Thursday and didn't get back until today, Monday. Laura was in Ryan's room asking his roommate for advice on how to tell Reneé she was moving out. And that is how Ryan found out they got a room and were moving out in two days.
If anyone is thinking, "so how did Sarah end up telling you that she was moving out?" I was thinking the same thing, "how will she end up telling me?" Well the answer is, she didn't! I ran home after work today to find the door open and Sarah and was in the midst of packing and moving with someone else. Without hardly looking up she said, "so we got our room." I can only assume by this point she had heard from other people that I knew about the move. So I told her, "you never told me you were moving." And her reasoning for that was that it would have made things awkward. Awkward for her maybe, but I know the person I am and I would have been like, "okay, thanks for the heads up." As the mature adult that I believe I have become I really think that telling me would have been the better way to handle the situation. Because by trying to make things less awkward my feelings were hurt and Reneé's feelings were hurt. It is like finding out that a rumor has been spread about you. Pretty much everyone we associate with at work and other people that don't even know us knew about this whole thing and were keeping it a secret. And I found out through other people and Reneé feelings like she was just the last to know out of everybody, which she was. So I told Sarah that I didn't think she handled it in the right manner and that neither Reneé or I appreciated finding out last and through other people knowing how many people knew about this. Then she made some comment about JUST finding out they got the room last Thursday and Renée and I were both on trips and gone. So I pointed out that it didn't matter when they found out they got a room because the request was put in a long long time ago. I didn't yell or curse or say anything rude, but I also didn't brush it off like it was no big deal and it didn't bother me. I feel like this is a situation that Sarah and Laura should learn from and know that it could have and should have been dealt with differently.
I am so sorry to anyone I may have hurt in my past by acting in a way similar to this. By withholding information to try and prevent something from being awkward FOR ME. When the right thing to do is to be upfront with someone to try and prevent their feelings from being hurt.
What do you all think? Was there a right and a wrong way to handle this situation? If I am totally off base please feel free to let me know. And thank you to anyone who actually decided to read this post. It is a very different kind of post for me, but I felt like writing this down and sharing it because you never know when you might need a reminder to look out for people's feelings.
On the bright side my Mom is here and we are having a great time! She has had a bed to sleep on the last couple nights with Sarah being gone and now she'll have a bed for the rest of her stay because Sarah is gone for good.
Now I just have a pray the next roommate I get, whenever that may be, will be someone I mesh with and isn't a crazy drunk who has boys stay the night... because let me tell you I won't have a problem sharing my opinion that that is not okay!
P.S. Michelle hurry up and get over here and you can have a bed to yourself and we can be roomies for a month!!!! :)
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