One For The Team

Really, don't try to understand the quotes listed below.....

"There's a rake in there!"
"I can't pour this any higher!"
"After scoring a touchdown, please don't leave your cleats on the field."
"Not only did I score a touchdown, I recovered the onside kick."
"Not only did I score a touchdown, I got the 2 point conversion."
Jessi's laugh (those of you that know her will understand this one)
"What does that even mean?!"
"Ahhhem!"
"Where are the horses?"
"There's going to be light hiking in North Africa. You've got nothing to worry about."
"That's so zween!"
"God Bless America!"
"I smell fantastic!"
"Harney!"
"You diction well...."
"Seriously, I'm going to wear these pants at my wedding!"
"Another wise word from the sage."
"We just got served running down the mountain by girls in flip-flops!"

Coming Home!

It's our last night in North Africa and we are all just absolutely tired and really sad about leaving in the morning. The great times we had and all the things we learned will always stay with us. Here are some more pics of the funny and special craziness that is our team. We look forward to coming home, but are sad to leave. See all of you soon!

No, we are not doing what you think we are doing........

Yay! My name is Harney! The little burrito is next to our fearless leader who is watching over the squinty blonde. And in the right corner....... C. Little!

The soon to be famous and worldwide "zween" look - A.K.A. "The Zween"

An actually not funny picture of the group who slept out on the terrace while in the mountains

The cistern in an ancient Portuguese city

Pics Finally

So..... we were finally getting to look through some pictures of our recent travels and have the opportunity to post a couple. Enjoy!

Good Morning

We are up this morning but unfortunately no hot water in our apt. So we are back to roughing it! Today is our last full here and we've got lots to squeeze in. The girls are going to a nice b'fast together. The boys went yesterday. Then we have our 2nd history class. I'll be sure to follow up with what we discuss about the Fitna film. After that free time to go shopping, go to the beach or go to the public hammum. Im hoping to do all 3!

Recap from last night: we all met at Anna's apt and made our own version of American pizzas using North African ingredients. We loaded them on huge trays and took them to the public bakery where there is a community wood burning brick oven. We waited a few minutes while our pizzas cooked and then took them home on the same trays for a pizza party with 3 of Anna's North African friends. They were Karim (26 year old guy who is one of 11 children), Fatima (25 year old girl getting her MBA) and Soued (26 year old girl also getting her MBA). They were all very sweet and spoke excellent English. John had a good conversation about Christianity and Islam with Karim and everyone else had fun hanging out and laughing.

Friday Summary

This morning we woke up and got real American showers in the student apartments we are staying at in the coastal city. We met the student team of 5 that are over here for 3 months. They are ages 19-24 and have done a similar trip as ours just deeper and spread out. We took a tour of the coastal city with our fabulous host for the week, Anna. She has been essential for the success of our trip. It has gone so smoothly and we would have been lost without her. She knows the country well from living here for 3 years and loves the people. It was fun for her to show us her hometown today. We toured the ancient walled in Portuguese City and any amazing cistern that was a well for the city at one point. Today it has really cool reflectuons from the way light shines inside and we got some great photos. We also learned it was used in the movie Sahara.

We ate lunch at the base hosue with all the staff and students and then we went to our 2 houe history class which you can read about below.

Arab/Muslim Culture and History Class

Today we had our 1st class with a local university professor on Arab/Muslim culture and history. It was amazing and I learned sooooo much. Between the Sharing The Hope seminar and today I've definitely learned more than Ive ever heard before. For example: Did you know that not all Arabs are Muslims? There were actually 3 Christian tribes in Arabia: The Ghassandids, The Lakhmids and The Banu Judham. Also Muslims believe that Arabic is a sacred language. They believe it is what Adam spoke in the Garden of Eden and what God speaks in Heaven?!

We spent some time processing everything we learned today and are sorting through what our responsibility is now that we have this knowledge and have experienced the culture first hand. What is God calling us to do next?!

Our professor also encouraged us to watch the short film called Fitna. It is 15 mins and can be found easily on the web. It was made by a Dutch film maker about the violence in Islam. If you have the time to watch it we would love to know what you thought. Leave us a comment!

Hammum

Forgot to tell you the best part! Last night we finally got to take a bath after 5 days without one! We were not a pleasant smelling group as Im sure you can imagine. Here in N. Africa they only take baths 1 time a week. They go to a public bath house and scrub down with olive soap and any exfoliating mitt. Out hosts in the mnts. Had a private hammum (bath) for us to use. You sit in a sauna like room that is heated from a fire under the floor. You get buckets of cold and hot water to mix and literally pour buckets on yourself! Really neat experience but definitely no room for modesty here! Its truly interesting how people cover up so much in public but then go bathe together! HaHa! We are going to try a public hammum on Saturday!