welcome home

Today is the first day of Spring, and it's snowing. It snowed all day yesterday, too. My students were very confused by this. How can it snow in Spring time, they all wondered. True, it is lovely to see snow collecting on the trees and rooftops, but it's time for snow to be finished. I was out walking in it today, and the streets make it seem as if someone spilled a big slushy all over the city. Splash, splash, crunch, crunch.

Last weekend was beautiful. It was chilly, but the sky was blue and the sun was shining. Rachel and I took a taxi halfway up the mountain and hiked the rest of the way to that huge cross that lights up at night and can be seen all over the city. That cross is as much a reference point for me here as the Wachovia building is in Winston-Salem.

Spring break was two weeks ago. I had high hopes for finding answers to some big questions during my time in Berlin and at the Swiss L'Abri, and I did find some answers, but mostly I rested, watched and listened. I came back feeling well rested, peaceful, and loving my students more than I did when I left.

My first night in Berlin, Carol and I had dinner at her house and stayed up talking until two in the morning! It's so good to sit and talk to someone from Redeemer, because we know many of the same people and believe many of the same things...and we both know something about being unquestionably called to live overseas and loving it, but at the same time missing our friends and family.

I flew to Geneva the next day. The train station is right at the airport! Isn't that genius!? It was so easy to get off my flight and find the counter to buy my train ticket. It was a little trickier figuring which was the right train, but I just asked the conductors. My ticket told me I had to change trains at one of the stops, so I got off the train there, but the sign beside the train said it was going where I needed to go, so I asked the conductor just in time to hop back on the train before it left. Whew! That was close! I mean, I would have just had to wait a few hours for the next train. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if I hadn't gotten back on the train in time, but I sure would have been grumpy about it.

When I got off the train in Huemoz, Switzerland, the bus that goes up the mountain was sitting right there waiting, like it knew I was coming. Awesome. So I climbed the stairs, spoke baby French to the driver, and smacked a few people with my backpack as I walked down the aisle to find my seat. Minutes later, four Americans climbed on the bus, asked the driver in English to go to L'Abri, and walked back to their seats. I was glad they were there so I would know where to ask the driver to stop the bus, and how to get into the right building once I got there, because it was already dark and everyone at L'Abri would already be at dinner. One of the guys even saw the fifty franc note that had fallen out of my pocket and gave it back to me. Thank goodness. It would really stink to lose fifty francs.

I was delighted to find that everyone removes their shoes when entering the buildings. This is one of my favorite European rules. We shuffled into dinner late and I tried to be as talkative as I could, and then they showed me to my room on the bottom floor of Chalet Bellevue, where almost everyone else was staying too. There were three beds, but I had the room to myself. It was really cold down there, so I was glad to have the extra blankets.

They only allow two showers a week, and you know how much I love to be clean! Thankfully, I was able to be clean most of the time, because I was only there four nights. Everyone staying there has daily obligations. There are two shifts during the day: one for working and one for studying in the library/chapel. I did some cleaning and ironing during my work shifts. It was fun talking to the other people on assignment with me. I worked in the home of one of the Schaeffer granddaughter one day. Her chalet is down the mountain a bit, so to get there, you have to walk down a precariously icy, steep path. The girl leading me there was much better at this than I was! I felt like such a wimp.

Lunch was served there that day and the group of about fifteen people had a formal lunch discussion about whether love necessarily expects to be returned. It was interesting how those leading the discussions never referenced the Bible. I know that must be because the people there who don't believe probably don't want to hear what the Bible says, and truth can be reached without using scripture, because it's written on our hearts. But it was a little hard for me, because I always want scripture to help me understand everything.

The library where everyone studies is full of high-quality books and recordings of lectures. I tried to get there early enough to grab one of the armchairs on the bottom floor. It was so cold down there the first day! The heat was broken, and it was already a cold day, so it was extra frigid. Everyone studied wearing several layers of everything, as well as winter coats and blankets. Thank goodness there was hot tea to drink! When I finally stepped outside, I found that the temperature was warmer outside than inside! The next two days were a little warmer in the library after the heating was fixed. I had some topics of study in mind and chose a really good book by Larry Crabb. I finished it in three days, which is a record for me! It probably took me a total of six to eight hours to read. Everyone seems to take breaks from studying to snooze or chat.

After dinner, a lot of people hang out in the lounge. I was there every night, reading, journaling, playing games or playing guitar. I even read a second book: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. The bookshelves there were full of good books in many genres, but not religious books like the ones in the library. Two books in four days is amazing for me!

The lounge is a big room, so there are lots of different things going on at the same time. People play the piano or guitar, paint, draw, write, read, talk or play games. It's such a great environment! I found that everyone there seemed to be very intelligent and talented in some way. Everyone had interesting stories. I can't say I made any friends in the short time I was there, but I did enjoy everyone's company. I actually felt kind of old. I was one of the oldest people there, but I am also in a different stage of life than most of the people there. They have taken four months or more out of their lives to study at L'Abri, but I have a full time job and lots of responsibilities. In some ways, I am jealous of those who can stay there for a whole term or more, but I don't know if I could do it. They were very nice to include me, even though I was only there a short time.

L'Abri is in a little dairy village in the Swiss Alps, so the view is amazing. The first two days were cloudy so I wasn't able to see the mountains at all. The third day was clear and beautiful! I was so excited and thankful to see the mountains! And there had been a misunderstanding about the length of my stay, so instead of being assigned a job to do, I was given a whole day just for studying! I had extra time to sit and read and gaze at the mountains, and even took a walk into the forest. It was soooo beautiful! Who needs to read books about the Gospel when you can gaze at the mountains and appreciate the beauty God has created?

Gazing at those mountains, I started to wish I could fly over them on Aslan's back. Lucy rode on Aslan’s back in one of the books! Then I thought I'd be too scared...but I remembered that Aslan always gives courage to his followers when he asks them to do something frightening, and I was thankful. I knew that if Aslan offered to fly me over those mountains, my fear of heights would melt away and I would love every minute of the flight. It doesn't seem to be so simple in real life, when I'm asked to trust God to guide me through something frightening, but I know He does, at times, give me courage and strength and peace beyond my understanding. Grace for the moment.

The food is really good at L'Abri! Different people have the job of using L'Abri recipes to prepare the food for each meal. They even make fresh bread for some meals! The morning I left was a free day, so everyone could leave and go exploring Switzerland. Breakfast was an informal spread of leftovers from several days of breakfasts. So there were two different cereals, fruit, granola, oatmeal, muesli, toast with nutella, jam and peanut butter and milk, juice, coffee and tea. It was wonderful!

It was snowing hard all that morning, so when it was time to wait out at the bus stop, I ended up standing in the snow for more than an hour! I was cold, but I didn't really mind because I don't have many chances to stand out in the snow in such beautiful scenery. Towards the end of my wait, one of the girls came to talk to me while I waited. It was so nice of her, but I'm afraid she was not well rewarded for her kindness. A big truck drove by too fast and splashed us both with muddy snow! I burst out laughing. It really was quite funny, but it didn't matter as much for me because my coat is black and the mud doesn't show up. Her coat is white, so it was much more of a problem for her. I hope she didn't hate me for laughing!

The bus ride back down the mountain was beautiful. Everything was completely covered in white. I was glad not to have to drive on those windy, steep roads at all, much less in such snowy weather! But I trusted the bus driver. When we started coming into the valley, I could see a clear distinction on the mountains between the part being snowed upon and the part closest to the valley. It seems the snow cloud didn't quite get down into the valley. It was interesting to see the difference. When the bus was out of the snow, I saw many, many vineyards on those hills leading down into the valley, and lovely old buildings. I wish it were possible to take nice photos out the windows of buses.

Back in Berlin, Carol and I talked hours and hours more over our shared meals. On Friday, Carol was busy all day shopping and cooking for her Bible study group that night, so I ventured out into the city alone and was able to tour the Berlin Zoo, where I was able to meet Knut the
polar bear, about whom I have read so much. There were many other interesting animals there, including two baby hippos and their parents, zebras, giraffes, pandas and penguins. There is even a house just for nocturnal animals! It was cool to have a chance to see animals that are usually hidden in the dark!

I got to see one of the churches bombed during WWII, which has been stabilized and preserved to serve as a reminder about what happened then. I explored a little in a huge store called Ka Da We. I didn’t make it past the food section, with all the beautiful breads, candies and everything else you can imagine. I only bought Reese’s cups and vegetable seasoning. I could have bought a lot more, but that would have been silly. I don’t want to end up like those bad kids in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory!

I was happy to meet a group of Carol’s friends at the Bible study that evening! We shared a meal of lasagna and salad and then sang lots of Redeemer Church songs. She even has little songbooks for everyone! Then we listened to a sermon on forgiveness, which was really good to hear, and afterward discussed it. Everyone in the group is so nice! I can see why Carol will miss them when she leaves Berlin.

The next day, Carol and I got a famous Turkish kabob, found a store where I bought a nice guitar case, and went to an antiquities museum to see some incredible treasures! There is a reconstructed front of a temple mentioned in the book of Revelation and the reconstructed walls of Babylon, under which Daniel and his men are said to have marched in the book of Daniel! Very cool. Later that night, we went to a praise concert at the International Church.

It was sad to leave L’Abri and then Berlin, but I was ready to be back in my classroom, in real life. Vacation is not real life.

At passport control back in Skopje, the officer asked me if this were my first time in Skopje. “No,” I said, “I live here.”

“You live here? Then welcome home.” I was pleasantly surprised to have a passport security officer say something so kind, to me, the foreigner. I suppose this is a sort of home for me now. I have many homes.