the unfortunate camera skills of krista and harald

so harald is on this trip with me in israel. we didn't know each other very well before the trip. his trip to visit southern during his spring break helped a little bit, but this trip has fast made us friends. naturally as friends, we want to take pictures together. or rather i say 'harald, get in the picture' and shove a camera in his hand or mine.

unfortunately, neither of us are amazing at the self inflicted picture taking. i'm sure you will see why.



this was our first picture together. we had someone else take it. but as you can see, we have a good distance between us. we were still working out space bubble issues at this point.

then once we took one picture together, of course there would be more to follow. but this is where it starts going downhill. we stopped asking other people to take pictures and just took them ourselves.

first up, harald. location: jordan river.



first attempt. not bad. but he wasn't sure he actually took one. so he tried again.



second attempt. about the same, but definitely not better.



third attempt. worst one yet. harald decides to smile, but chooses to cut mine out.



fourth attempt . . . oh let's just move on.

since every day the workers go to work at 4:30 there is not time before we leave to get breakfast, plus we need a lot of energy while working. so at the dig site there are breaks for croissants, and then a watermelon break and then breakfast. we attempted to document the watermelon break.

second up, me. location: breakfast tent, dig site.



apparently my arm is not long enough. somebody rescue us!



ok, that's better.

today we arrived in jerusalem and were touring some sites. by now harald and i had not taken a picture together for a few days. guess what. we decided to try again. after all, important sites need documentation, right? and who wants pictures of just scenery.

next up, me. location: citadel museum.



eh, i'm still having issues, but it is getting better. notice we resolved our space bubble issues.

who knows what the picture future will hold. i'm excited to see.

hi from both of us from beautiful israel!


p.s. for pete's sake, someone show this blog to gabe!

continuing the theme

some stuff that i have done of late.

i have tried different excavating things.

i have hauled buckets for 7 hours.

i have fried my shoulders (ok that is not really new)

i have seen a tarantula.

i have peed in a disgusting port a potty (NEVER AGAIN)

i have successfully shaved my legs in one of the most difficult showers ever.

i have slept with no air conditioning for forever now.

i learned about surveying and taking points to make a 3D reconstruction.

i learned how to line up the actual survey prism. super cool.

i ate a food i knew had the potential to make me sick, but thought "what the heck, why not?" and downed it.

i have learned knew terms

i have learned how to read pottery and document it.

i have relearned many things about excel....

i have been learning to go with the flow to the max.

i have learned how to wash pottery.

i have been loving life and embracing it.

i miss you all. much love!

digging and chaining

guys! i cannot believe how much fun i am having! today was the first day of digging. ariel and i had found out the day before that we are actually not going to be working on the site with people. mucho sad. it's funny, because i have become such a social butterfly on this trip. i love being around people. i was even called "really social" hah! can you believe that? anywho, back to the point. since we found out we weren't going to be on the site or see the others a ton, we decided to get up at 4:00 in the morning with the rest of the crew to go out to the site just to see it. we ended up working with the crew for four hours! i filled dirt bags to mark out the squares for a long time and then i was part of bucket chains and that was SO SUPER FUN!!! i rock at bucket chaining, let me tell you. we hauled so much dirt and rocks. i was filthy, utterly filthy, and was sweating like a man. but I LOVED IT! it was so much fun. i can't even explain. the camaraderie we all have built in just five short days is so amazing. for a long time i had martin on one side of me cracking me up all morning and annalee on the other, who is equally as funny. at water and lunch breaks i would joke around with harald and ross. these people here are amazing and we have an awesome group. i was laughing, goofing off (in a safe manner of course), smiling, sweating, working so hard, and it was amazing. i wish i could go back. i wish i could be with these people all the time. i am going to miss them when we are not together. i am meeting so many new people as well and am just loving it!!! and you know something amazing? people here remember my name. they think i'm funny. they like to hang out with me. they will seek me out.

so in spite of all my excitement, there is sadness. i'm sad that i don't get to see these people all the time, and i'm sad because of some recent events that just give me a little twinge of pain. but. i guess i can't think about that, now can i?

some amazing sites i have seen in the past few days. pictures will (may?) be coming soon.

so i am staying in a hostel. it's kind of crummy. the bed is not that great. there are some bugs that get in our room, like the monster cricket tonight that martin had to come and get as well as kill a spider. our air conditioner doesn't work. we eat the same food all the time. the shower is . . . interesting. but i don't care. my motto this trip has become "suck it up and just do it. roll with it" and i am. i am rolling with it big time. and i am doing more than just rolling. i'm enjoying it while i'm rolling with it.

i wish i could share all the information that i am learning. all these things that are so enlightening to the Bible and how God was so deliberate in the things that he would do. it is amazing to hear. i can't even describe it.

i got asked if i was asian again today. someone also assumed i was an israeli. who knew my look could be so versatile?! hah!

today i touched pottery that is super old. kinda cool if you think about it.

i love it here. one of the best decisions i ever made.

it was hot and then some...

today was our official first day of touring. i will highlight the day with some pics because, they are basically the best way to convey what happened!



this is the site of hazor, which southern excavated some of a couple years ago... first site of the day.



this was a huge cistern to store water inside of the city. it is a big deal because not many places had cisterns inside the city walls. it was really deep and really cool, a great relief after being in the sun. there was no water in the bottom because the water tables are low, but it was dank enough that there was condensation on the hand rail. it smelled really funny too. it is insane to think of what those women did to get water. the original stairs are very small and steep and slant downward. it was like thigh master 5000 trying to get back up. all of us were winded.



this is golan heights. the town with the mosque in the distance is in syria. this is the closest i will get to syria until my passport expires 7 years from now. the un controls the part in the middle with all the white buildings. we passed some syrian bunkers from when syria invaded israel trying to get control of the limited water source.



the israeli army was doing a training exercise and campout on the way back from golan heights. it was crazy. there were tons and tons of tanks!



this is me with a remanent of a pillar from banias. banias is near caesarea phillipi. it had the temple of pan and other things like courts of nemesis and sacred goats and even one for dancing goats. this place made things click for me in a Bible story. this area was inundated with pagan religions, specifically worshiping pan, the god of chaos. this is the place where Jesus healed a little boy with epilepsy, which back then was thought of as a manifestation of pan. it is in this area where Jesus asked peter, who do they say i am? BAM! Jesus conquered and overthrew pan by healing the boy in an area that fully believed in pan. talk about discrediting. take that pan!



these are some pictures from tel dan. it was actually pretty lush there. they have a beautiful reserve with a river that comes from a mountain so it is super cold and it feeds the jordan. there is a big city ruin here with a huge city wall that is super cool! they also have an altar that they reconstructed and it is huge. this is the place were jereboam (i think) set up a gold calf for people to worship so they wouldn't have to go to jerusalem. the last picture is a gate made of mud bricks that they think dates back to the time of abraham!



i ate an authentic falafel! it was really good! i had a super fun table and it felt really good to sit, eat, drink cold water, get to know people and cool off.



that's lebanon. also the closest i will get to this country with my current passport.



this is the sea of galilee, where i am staying.



a bunch of us went swimming in it to cool off after our long hot day.





you see those red marks on my leg? well they are a battle scar. as i was getting out after swimming, i was trying to not stop on rocks, and succeeded for most of the way in. but i put my knee down one time and BAM!

I GOT PINCHED BY A CRAB IN THE SEA OF GALILEE!!

it was the weirdest, grossest feeling EVER! i don't recommend it. i screamed 'WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!' and bolted and flopped and tripped my way up the rest of the way to shore. it must have been a sight to behold.

p.s.

for all you wawonians

one year ago, today, this is what my leg looked like after darebase....



talk about an initiation



but my my. look at how well time can heal wounds.

i did some things today

today i did some things. or was it yesterday? i can't figure it out. anywho. today i flew to israel on a plane that had a mechanical problem and grounded us for an hour and forty minutes before take off.

today i spent about 12 hours crammed in a little seat in the absolute middle of a huge aeroplane with no place to go.

today i actually peed in an airplane bathroom because my mom made me promise i would because she knows i would kill myself holding it rather than pee in one of those things.

today i ate airplane chicken because i was too wimpy to ask if i had indeed ordered a vegetarian meal.

today my forehead broke out profusely. i swear that if i am different air than what i am used to it will do that. dang sensitive skin.

today i had to get over my pride and just suck it up and do something even though it was embarrassing.

today i got dehydrated because i always forget/intentionally to drink water when i travel because i don't want to have to pee. but this time when i was dying of thirst, the stewardesses were very thrifty with the water.

today i started to pray about people replying to me about being an sm when the plane started to shake really bad and i realized it didn't matter if they responded or not if i were dead.

today i watched the sun set and then rise two hours later.

today i flew over england, france, italy, greece, and cyprus. too bad i couldn't actually stop at any of those places.

today i looked out of a plane window and caught a glimpse of half mediterranean sea and half coastline of israel. epic moment.

today i started to fall in love with israel immediately.

today i already saw some pretty cool things, and am currently residing on the sea of galilee.

today i watched a soccer game in arabic.

today i realized that a lot of israeli boys are really cute. *wicked grin *

today i realized that i can bond with people i don't know.

today i ate a fresh date and realized that i like dried ones better.

today i realized that i can do ok in a foreign country.

today i realized how dead tired a person can be.

today i can't wrap my mind around the fact that as i am writing this, it is like 9:15 in the evening and back where all my friends are, it is 11:00 in the morning. their day is just beginning as mine is about to close.

i have been busy today. it has been a long day. something around 30 odd hours i have been up. it is time to do something about that. i am here friends. and i love it.

i love him!

dad: so, kris is all packed?

mom: almost, we still have to put stuff in suitcases.

dad: is everything going to fit?

mom: hopefully.

dad: *sigh* . . . i wish i was going with her.

friendship

today was my birthday (the 13th that is). i had a pretty good birthday. it was definitely better than some have been in the past. the best part of the day, however, was that i actually got to have a birthday with my friends. that never happens! we got most of the crew together, the tried and true, kory, brian, derek, sarah, and mackenzie, along with some new and super cool additions, shelly, kory's girlfriend, and casey, mackenzie's boyfriend.

we went to our beloved grand junction, ordered chicken cordon bleus all around (mine without ham of course) and ate our hearts out. after our fat-drenched but oh-so-tasty meal, we went mini golfing. it just so happened that we were all in fine form tonight. i have never laughed so much and so hard or had so much fun. it was a blast. and to top it off, i whooped everyone's butt. the night was finished with funfetti cupcakes with that amazing rainbow chip frosting. ka-ching!

it did my heart so much good to be with those near and so very dear to my heart. these friends, ones that i have spent 17 years cultivating friendships with. though we were not all there, with caleb, steph, and ali missing, and tonight we had to say goodbye to sarah because she is starting life on her own, it doesn't matter. these bonds that we have go deep. we know that we will see each other again. we are already planning our next group get together to meet in new places to accommodate our changing locations and lives. i love these friends. so much.

so naturally when i returned home tonight, my thoughts were still on this precious friendship i have with these people. i was thinking about how well the significant others fit in to our group, and how my f.s.o. never did. i wondered why. what is it that made it so easy to become part of our group for shelly and casey? we are very accepting. but we weren't always so accepting. i mean we added ali in grade school, and then macky and derek into our group in high school, but not many others. are we just more mature now? what is it?

i was talking to my mom. i voiced my wonderings on why f.s.o. never just instantly fit into my group here. i will admit. i love having different friend groups, but i hate mixing them. i don't know why, that's just how it is. did i have that vibe going on before? my mom thought that maybe it was just because f.s.o. wasn't used to hanging out with non-adventists.

that got me to thinking. for me, it is so beyond natural to hang out with people who aren't adventists. everything is so much more clear cut. it is way harder and more uncomfortable for me to hang out with adventists because half of them don't live their faith the same way i choose to and that creates tension and leaves me not knowing what to do in many situations. also because many times adventists are clicky (sp?) to me. it was so hard to make friends in college. is that just because they all went to adventist academies and aren't willing to let others in? do adventists know enough non-adventists to hold their own when they aren't in a little adventist ghetto?

i used to be really worried because i felt that i didn't know any non-christians in high school. but now that i am in college, i worry that some people don't know any non-adventists. i think my friends at college would be shocked to see the difference (not a bad one) between how i am in my different friend groups. when i am with my non-adventist friends, it is so fun. every single one of them is a quality person that brings so much to the table. in our group we have a pharmacist, an electrical engineer, a comparative literatures ph.d in the works, a nurse, a businessman, a biomedical engineer, a physicist, a medical doctor, and an artist and who knows what else in me. our newest additions are a nurse and astro-physicist. we are dang smart. we are hard working. we have good goals. we have good work ethics. we can have the most deep and interesting conversations about faith and life because we have so many different perspectives. we are so diverse and yet so similar. i come alive with my home friends. they bring out the best in me. they bring out my real honest to goodness laugh. i am confident. i am bubbly. i smile non stop. i take my turn being the center of attention. my eyes dance and sparkle. all of us know what we believe, and we all respect each other. we are all from different denominations. we have lutherans, calvinists, lutheran brethren, e-free, adventists, etc. we are different but we respect the differences. these people have sharpened my faith in a way that adventists never will. they have helped make me into who i am today.

i don't mean to rail on adventists, i love my adventist friends dearly. they too have helped me to grow in many ways, and there is comfort in being with people who have the general same denomination as you. i just don't understand how or why things are so different between my friend groups. i don't mean to make general sweeping statements and i don't mean to offend. i'm just questioning. questioning and maybe challenging as well. trying to make sense of all these thoughts in my head.

all in all i know that i am so blessed to have these non-adventist friends. i am beyond blessed to have all my adventist friends too. i love them all. they make me a well rounded person. friendship. it's amazing how multi-faceted it can be.

i'll take it

a glimmer of hope.

a tinge of excitement.

a shiver of anticipation.

a long lost smile.

feeling like i'm alive again.

i'll take it.

ready to go

There are three happiness killers - doing work you do not love and are not passionate about, surrounding yourself with people who you do not really like (someone who just fills time), and living somewhere that does not let you be you. Just stop it. Life is far too short.

~Richard Florida


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Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.

~Miriam Beard


10 days!

in awe

last night i was talking with a friend about some decisions i had to make in the next day or so. we talked about praying about it and still not knowing anything. i mentioned that God does not seem to like giving me obvious answers or direction, and he hasn't for the last few years. it has always been a blind stepping out in faith type of thing. i was expecting it to be the same this time.

but this morning God gave me a clear answer.

i am ashamed of my doubtful words. when will i have more faith that the God WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING knows my life better than i do?