Volcano Weeks.

Well that volcano with the really long name (Eyjafjallajokull) has taken over Europe these past two weeks. That might be an extreme statement, but it seems that either people were stuck in Prague, stuck out of Prague, freaking out about how they were going to get home from Prague or terrified of black ash covering Prague.

To be honest, I think it is pretty sweet. It forces people to be spontaneous and break free from their over planned lives.  And the pictures are ridiculous...

Check this website out... The BIG Picture

But to focus on what has been going on for me the past few weeks, I will have to back up a bit...

Friday, April 16th. 

Well I had decided to not go to Munich with our program this weekend.  Having just returned from a tiring spring break, I was physically and emotionally drained, I just needed a weekend home.  It turned out to be a great weekend spent with friends and some time to myself to just relax.

I met up with Irenka at Starbucks before we both headed out to Youth Praha.  It is the youth group of our church, International Church of Prague.  It was pretty for out of the city center, but absolutely beautiful.  We just wanted to check it out and see the ministry that was going on for the high schoolers.  

After that was over we stopped at my place to pick up my things (I had decided to sleep over her place) and then went grocery shopping, we were going to cook!  We made some delicious homemade pizza together and shared our testimonies with each other.  

I have never shared my testimony on such short notice before, usually I have time to pray and think about it and get nervous =) But it was great to just be open with each other and get to know one another a lot better!  

Once the pizza was done we made yummy muffins for a brunch we were going to the next morning!  And then I got Irenka addicted to Gossip Girl.  I'll be honest it is my guilty pleasure =)  

Saturday, April 17th. 

We woke up early to head out to a YoungLife brunch that Irenka had helped put on.  There was every possible type of breakfast food, everything was delicious!

I got to meet a bunch of the students and leaders, everyone was so wonderful.  We played a great game of "Brunch" bingo, and I attempted to use my little knowledge of Czech to help me... a very sorry attempt.  

I fell in love with one of the leader's babies =)

Some of the leaders and students.

Love these girls =) Irenka, Rachel and I.

The rest of Saturday was full of things I can't remember.  I went to church Sunday morning and worked on some homework in the afternoon, until Barbara and Marco returned from Vienna.

Monday, April 19th. 

Barbara and Marco set out in the morning to explore the city after I showed Barbara all the ins and outs of the city, concerning getting around.  Jake, Devon and I met up with them that evening and they took us out for a lovely dinner!  It was so great to see them, even if it was for just a little bit.

Jake, Devon and I at dinner.

Their plan was to leave Tuesday evening, but because of the volcano they ended up hurrying to catch a train Tuesday morning, since their flight was canceled.  I believe they made it back to France 24 hours later, I'm just glad they made it back safe and sound!

Tuesday, April 20th- Wednesday, April 21st.

SCHOOL. Unfortunately, I had to go back to class.  But I did succeed in convincing Becca to skip class with me Wednesday night=)  I'm successfully corrupting her! 

Thursday, April 22nd.

I had class in the morning =(  We had our last discussion group over the Miller's tonight.  It was Becca's birthday, so I surprised her with my favorite flower, gerber daises! (I didn't know her favorite)  After a great talk about the subject of joy, we all celebrated with a homemade cake from Mrs. Miller and Irenka! I'm sad that these Thursday nights are over, the Millers have been such a huge blessing to me!

Friday, April 23rd. 

I can't even remember what I did in the morning, but that goes to show that it was probably nothing of any importance.  

Friday night was legit though.  Probably one of my favorite events I've been to in Prague yet.  It was called the Sperm Festival, held at the Meet Factory, an old abandoned warehouse outside of the city.  

Sperm Festival.

I went with Katie, a friend from one of my art classes.  We had a great time.  There were just all sorts of experimental art forms going on.  My favorite was the "Hands of Orlac."  An old silent movie, that two guys then performed the entire soundtrack live.  It is hard to explain, but it was incredible to just watch them go from sound board, to piano, over to a violin or clarinet, all perfectly planned and executed.  

We ran into my art professor too, AWKWARD. The famous David Cerny was there as well!!!

This was also playing, so gooooood.

Saturday, April 24th.

We got back pretty late Friday night, so I slept in pretty late on Saturday.  I awoke to a pleasant surprise of Kirby and Christine passed out on our kitchen floor =) Someone else had a late night too...

Kirby and I met up later that night to go see Remember Me in theaters.  We were expecting a sappy chic flick, but NOPE it was sooo depressing and we were both balling by the end.  Go us.   

To be honest, we should never be together, we are a horrible combination. We spend way too much money. Eat way too much food. Spill Peanut M&M's all the way down the flat escalator, run away from our mess in the mall and go to McDonald's at like 2 in the morning =)  Needless to say, it was such a fun night.  We ended up sitting up on the National Museum entrance for about 3 hours just talking about life, love, struggles and just us...

Escalators are fun.

Monday, April 26th.

Kirby and I spent the ENTIRE day at our new favorite place in Prague, Friends Coffee House.  It just opened about a month ago and is absolutely perfect!  It is so welcoming, has a great atmosphere and wonderful coffee.  

We began working on homework around 11am and didn't stop until 8:30pm!  Other than a break for a late lunch of kebabs, we were camped out =)

We came back to my apartment, where I made a delicious dinner for both of us!

Isaiah♥

Again, nothing to do with Prague. But it affects me and I am in Prague.

Tomorrow, April 20th, is the one year anniversary of the passing of little Isaiah Crawford.  He wasn't just some little boy, he was so much more. 

While cancer took his life, nothing could take his faith and the light that he had for Jesus.  I have never been more impacted by anyone or any family.  The Crawford's are the strongest people I know, a constant example of God's grace and love. 

I remember when I found out a year ago that he had died.  I just sat and cried the entire day, I couldn't understand why God would let this happen.  But a year later it has started to make a bit more sense.  Isaiah's life changed so many people, not only me.  He taught me what faith was when I seemed to have very little.  And he showed me that no matter what the situation is, God is in complete control. 

But seeing the Crawford's and the way they handled everything and how they never once turned their gaze away from Christ changed my life.

My thoughts and prayers are with you everyday...

Kristin and Matt with Titus, Judah and Isaiah.

Beautiful Boys. Isaiah, Judah and Titus.

Isaiah Crawford. April 20th, 2009.

Torn Beauty.

So while this has nothing to do with Prague or studying abroad, I am still going to put it on here =)

About a month ago I entered a photo contest with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the main newspaper.  It was a travel photo contest with three different categories, one of which was "People of the World."  The minute I read that title, an image from my trip to Uganda popped into my mind.

So I submitted it, hoping that in a long shot I might have a chance.  While it might be a good picture, I was hoping that people would see past the picture and see what I see.  The picture captivates me not because how beautiful it may look, but the look in this young girls eyes.  They draw you in and you can't look away.  And this is what I was hoping the judges would see...

And they did =)  I just found out today that I got first place out of over 1,000 entries!  I won a trip to Florida for two people.

While this is really exciting, I'm more excited about something else!  The lady from the paper called me today for a phone interview.  I was able to tell her about the missions trip, who we were serving, the ministry and what the people of Northern Uganda have gone through.  After I got off the phone I just felt REALLY happy, not because I had won, but knowing that a ton of people are going to ready about the children of Uganda =)

http://www.cleveland.com/travel/index.ssf/2010/04/subtlety_of_hana_yasakis_photo.html

Irenka.

I'll be honest,  at the beginning of this semester I was lonely.  While living with three guys is fine, there were time when I really could have just used another girl around.  I was praying that God would bring someone into my life in Prague... and he did just that.

I met Irenka at church.  She was a HUGE answer to prayer.  Not only is she a Christian who encourages me everyday, she has turned out to be a great friend =) I couldn't have asked God for someone better, he knew just what I needed.

I'm sad that I don't have much time left in Prague =( As happy as I am to go home, I am really going to miss her!  Thankfully she has some love connections back in the states, so oceans can't really separate us for too long <3

Athens, I could live here for the food.

Well, Athens was the last stop of our trip, so we were pretty tired out.  We didn't get there till early evening, so we didn't do much...

Sunday morning I got up early to check out the Monastiraki Flea Market, it was full of old antiques and furniture, great to just look around in.

We spent the afternoon in the Ancient Agora exploring the ruins and enjoying the beautiful day...

Monday, our last day in Athens started out early with a trip to the Acropolis.  It was a steep climb, but well worth it.  The Parthenon and all the other buildings were really incredible!  We took a break for lunch and saw a few more sights before heading back to our hostel for an early night, we had to be up for our taxi at 3:30am!

Parthenon.

Porch of the Caryatids.

Relaxing...

Hydra loves cats and donkeys.

Hydra was incredible, by far my favorite stop if the whole trip.  It is small island off of Greece's mainland, and we picked it simply because we knew we would be needing a break, and we sure were. 

It has no form of transportation except for boat and donkey.  It was wonderful and quiet.  We basically just explored the whole time we were there.  We took a long walk through the hills, it was completely deserted and beautiful outside, a perfect day!

Rome. Roma. Rima.

Our final stop in Italy was Rome.  We had three full days to see what we could of the city, and we packed them full of great stops!

Our first day we got settled into our hostel and set out for the Piazza Republicky.  Right next to that was the Santa Maria Angeli Church, it was part of the Baths of Diocletian.  It started raining after that so we ducked into McDonalds for cover... and ice cream =)  We were both exhausted so we just took it easy that evening and found a laundromat to do our laundry!

Piazza Republicky.

Santa Maria Angeli Church.

Tuesday, our second day in Rome was our busiest. We started with the Colosseum in the morning, it was amazing!  Then we saw the impressive Arch of Constantine, followed by a great Rick Steves tour in the Roman Forum.  We walked up to Palatine Hill and saw more ruins and beautiful gardens.  

 The Colosseum.

The Arch of Constantine. 

The Roman Forum.

Arch of Septimium Severus.

 Palatine Hill Gardens.

We took a short break and then head over to Capitol Hill and saw the Victor Emmanuel Monument.  We took an elevator up to "Rome From the Sky" and had a great view of the city.  Next stop was the Pantheon and a few night sights after dinner.

Capitol Hill.

The She-wolf.

View of the Roman Forum from Capitol Hill.

View from "Rome from the Sky."

Pantheon.

Our last day in Rome was an early one, with a 9am reservation at the Vatican Museum.  We saw tons of exhibits and the famous Cistine Chapel.  Next up was St. Peter's Basilica.  It was absolutely incredible inside, simply breathtaking.

Ran into this guy on the way...

 Vatican Museum.

Cistine Chapel.

10 Euro Cokes.

 Short break before St. Peter's.

St. Peter's Square.

St. Peter's Basilica.

After we finished we took a break in the square to just sit in the sun =)  I snapped a few shots of the local tourist crowd. 

Who wears leopard high heals on cobblestone?!

Our last thing for Rome was a night walk through some of the other sites we hadn't seen yet.  It was  a lot fun =) We started and saw Campo Fiori, Palazzo Navona, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and much more!

 Entertainers in Palazzo Navona.

Trevi Fountain.

Graffiti.