So this past weekend I went to Trinity Music Fest with Julie (props to Jennie W for the sweet ticket hook up). The main pull was David Crowder Band , but other greats like John Reuben and Jeremy Camp were there (oh and God too, let's not forget that, gosh*).
Although nervous ("what am I even going to say to him?"), I mustered up the courage to go say hello to the ever intimidating-just-as-thin-if-not-thinner-than-David-Crowder John Reuben, as he stood by his merch after most of his fans had passed through.
My interaction follows (I hope this is not just hilarious for Julie and I):
Me: Hi John...(move closer, shake hands) I'm John
John Reu: I'M John
Me: Hahaha, hey I saw you out in Soulfest (that's in NH if you don't know) a few years back
John Reu: Oh yeah? What were you doing out there?
Me: Well I live out there but I go to school out in Valparaiso
John Reu: Oh yeah, Valparaiso University, gotcha
Me: Yeah, you're from Texas right?
John Reu: Nope, Ohio... uhhhh ummm (he literally forgot) Columbus, Columbus. David Crowder is from Texas
Me: Yeah I know that... ...it's you skinny scruffy guys (John Reu had a large amount of scruff for himself that day, but nothing close to Crowder) like you I think are from Texas, clearly
John Reu: Hahahaha
Me: Hey, well I really appreciated Boy Vs. The Cynic, I haven't heard your new stuff yet but I will definitely get to it
John Reu: Oh thanks man
Me: Hey well can I grab a photo with you?
Julie: Yeah I want to get a photo of you guys
John Reu: Yeah, yeah sure thing
Me: Cool, cool (put arm around John semi unconfidently but doing so nonetheless)
Julie: (takes photo)
Me: Well thanks dude, good to meet you
John Reu: Yeah sure thing man...
The End. Well, much laughing about Texas ensued as we walked away.
*this is serious thought I have that needs to be fleshed out some time
1 paper in english, one spanish one to go, two tests tomorrow and I'm home free, i.e. to Tennessee! Rest and photos to come I hope!
they moved our campus victory bell the other day. my punk friends aaron and eric were walking by:
So I've been home from Chile for quite some time now, it's good to be back. After we made the Machu picchu climb one of my favorite memories was a $30 river rafting trip! It was class 2 and a little bit of 3. Pretty fun:
I'm away from the Valpo campus (nice break) for the weekend to go to my friends house with some people to go to an Apple Festival in Kendallville, IN. Miss Indiana happened to be present and my buddy Austin got her autograph (after we shoved him in line):
Writing from the center of Aguas Calientes, also known as the village of Machu Picchu, where everyone stops for a day or so around their hiking of Machu Picchu. Our journey here has been absolutely spectacular. We're very blessed to be here!
First we took a bus from Valparaiso to Santiago on Tuesday afternoon where our flight left at 7PM. We stopped briefly in Iquique and arrived in Lima a little after midnight. The customs lines were ridiculously long, and there were a lot of stupid forms regarding the swine flu that we had to fill out but we're never really checked by authorities. Once through we got our bags and went to the 'lottery,' as I call it, where you press a button and are randomly given a red or green light, telling you if you have to get your bag scanned or not. Of course (this happened to me in El Salvador, and let's not forget The Apple), I got a red light, but luckily my scan went through with no problems and we were in the clear. We got Peruvian currency (Nuevo Soles), got snacks and went the security to sleep at our gate until 4:30AM when we boarded the next plane to Cuzco. After a breathtaking trip we arrived at 6AM and quickly got a gentleman from a tour company to accompany us to a hostel, which was only $13 with all the ammenities of a hotel! When we arrived the getleman showed us several different routes we could take to Machu Picchu. We had been planning to buy all the bus, train, and entrance tickets by ourself, so we already knew the prices and were able to get exactly what we wanted for only a little more money which saved us the trouble of finding all the places to buy tickets etc.
After resting a bit we went out to explore the city and found great sandwiches for $2!!! Everything is so cheap once you arrive, if I can find cheap flights here I will definitely return many times in my life.
Finally, this morning, we woke up around 6 to get a bus at 7 which took us to a train. Both trips were spectacular, but the bus was a little rough because the road had loads of 180 degree turns as we went down into a valley where the train was. I've been trying to upload photos this whole time to space this hunk of writing out but the internet must be too slow here. Wish I was in Cusco! Faster internet I've had since home!
Thinking a lot about my upcoming trip to Chile. I leave a week from this Friday on the 29th, which is coming on really fast. I've decided to not think about any logistics or packing until Sunday, and just enjoy the peace until then.
I don't think I've ever felt as deserving of a summer break as I do now, which I think is a very good sign that Valpo is a good school for me. I got involved in a lot during the year, and stuck my toes in a lot of activities. I found a lot of things that kept me busy that I'm stepping up next year like the Torch (school newspaper) and the Social Action Leadership Team. I got super lucky and landed the photo editor position for next year. The last week I've done a really good job of taking things slowly, and just relaxing. During Christmas break I went nuts trying to see as many people as possible and I just got myself exhausted really fast. Recently I've been reminded by some friends of the importance of enjoying everyday life, and relaxing our focus on the future and ideas like "I'll be happy when I achieve x." It's important to have those aspirations, but not to get so caught up in them that they are the only place we find happiness.
Back to Chile:
Here's an image from Google Maps that show's where the YMCA I'll be staying and volunteering at is. Valparaiso, Chile is a port city in central Chile and is neighboring the beautiful Viña del Mar. Valparaiso is also about 1 hour from the Capital, Santiago, and 3 hours from the foot of the Andes mountains (where I hope to hike and ski). Chile has one of the most stable and model economies in South America, many thanks to President Aylwin in 1990, and the current president Michelle Bachelet (the first female president in Chile).
The main piece of preparation I've done is email my friends to set up some accountability for the trip. Being my first time out of the country in a different culture with a language I am not yet fluent in for two months I wanted to have some people checking in on me and how my relationship with God is, my emotions, and the cohesiveness of the group. I'm pretty excited for how effective the emails I'll get will be. I have really solid friends, and I think having them ask me some deeper than usual questions will help to motivate me to write my thoughts down.
