Road Trip - Italy

There have been no new posts lately because life has been pretty hectic here, or maybe more accurately I have been to lazy to update the blog. Well it seems that every time I think I have handed in my last form there is another of waiting to be filled out. I have completed the admittance procedures at the Uni, but still have to wait until Sept. 22 to get my student card and register for my classes, this requires a couple more forms. Oh well, such is the German system.

Now for something you will really like (wink: Rocky and Bullwinkle)... we are off to Italy tomorrow. We will be driving in a Ford Nugget van which has its own kitchen and sleep quarters. Very excited about the trip. Here is a sketch of what we will do, but you never know what way the wind will blow. When we get back I will fill in the details. We are going to drive to close to Geneva and park over night near a lake that is there, I think there is like 17 different names for it (which is the problem in Europe sometimes because you have the name for the place in the predominant language[s] of country, the butchered English translation and all the surrounding countries call it something else in their language). From there we will head to a camp ground in Alassio which is midway between Monaco and Genova and right on the Mediterranean Sea. We will stay there for 4ish nights. The next destination is Rome. We are going to stay at a camping parkplace just outside of the city which has a shuttle bus to a train which brings you to the old city centre. We are planning to stay there for another 4 days. I think this is the part of the trip that I (Christopher) am most excited about. Mostly because the Apostle Paul was there and even thought his footprint will be underneath levels of dust it is still will be standing where he was 2000 years ago (Of course Israel would be the best destination for nostalgia such as this, but you can't do everything at once). There are also countless other historical sites which will be captivating. After we finish our trip to Rome, we will head back north and stop at a camp ground in Tuscany in a city called Viareggio. There we are about 1.5 km from another beach which faces the Mediterranean Sea. Here we will spend another 4ish nights maxing and relaxing.

So hopefully I have not lost all our readership because of not posting enough. After we get back I will have lots to write about.

Universität Freiburg - One

So I had my first Doctoral Supervision meeting at Universität Freiburg with Prof. Dr. Irsigler. I had received notice a couple days earlier that I had successfully passed the evaluation and was accept as a Doctoral student. For a German student this process would have been done after two years, but for internationals they make sure that you will be allowed to graduate before you move to a different country. I had received tentative acceptance and was pretty sure that the full would come, but it is nice to have confirmation.

The meeting was good and were able to discuss my area of research for the future. It has been refined some from the Book of Twelve theme I was going to work on. It is now directed more broadly to post-captivity writings (Second Isaiah, Third Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and some Psalms) and the influence of Zephaniah as a bridge between the two periods. I will also be looking at the treatment of the poor and humble in this time period. The meeting was done half in German and half in English. He spoke German slowly and tired to use basic vocabulary and I spoke English. It was a good challenge for me and also an encouragement that I was able to follow and understand.

(Note: The picture insert has me standing in front of the building of Theologie Fakultät which is on the third and fourth floors.)

Doors are opening

The last month has been exciting but also difficult. It is now settling in that we are staying here and that we are not just on vacation. We have been trying to figure out what our life here will look like but it seems that patience really is a virtue. A virtue I do not have.

Before we left Canada I contacted my former boss, Laurie, and asked if World Relief Canada (WRC) had some contract work for me that I could do from Germany. While in Kenya I took a class on Sustainable Development and I was sad that I was not part of the relief and development (R&D) field anymore. Laurie had just heard about a job opening at Integral Alliance in England that did not require going into the office. I applied a couple of weeks ago and after the interviewing process was offered the position this week. It is an administrative position for the office of a global alliance of relief and development agencies (www.integralalliance.org). I am very excited to continue working in this field. I have learned so much at WRC and am thrilled to now be exposed to the international R&D community. So the pieces are coming together and life is becoming more normal.

Opfinger See (Lake) Bike Trip- Freiburg

The title sounds a lot more glamorous than the trip actually was, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon yesterday. The bike path system in Freiburg is excellent. You can “not just survive, but thrive” without a car (the quotation marks are from a title for a seniors’ group seminar at the United Church I worked at). It was a rainy sort of day but we did not let that stop us. There is a town outside of Freiburg that is about 5 kms to the west called Opfingen. Between here and there is a lake (some may say it resembles a large pond more than a lake) and we thought we would go there to check it out. There is a small lake that is really close to where we live, but it is not the swimming kind. It is nice to sit at, but we were hoping for something a little grander. The Opfinger See was not that exciting from a lake prespective but there is a very good bike path which goes all around the lake. If we had brought a blanket we would have sat and read for a little but since it rained earlier that day we decide against it. Then on the way back home we passed a Zoo/Farm which appeared to make up the entire town which was called Mundenhof. To our pleasure there was a really nice Biergarten there where we could sit and relax for a little while. So the cycle was about 15 or so kms long and we used plenty of energy. I think I managed the 1h30m of exercise recommended by Dr. Mai (Wink: Aaron).

Settling in Freiburg and visiting Köln

So it has been almost three weeks since I last wrote on here. Monday morning will mark the end of the third week in Germany. So far not much culture shocking or reverse-culture shocking, but I am sure that will come. The first week in Freiburg was filled with running around to different government offices. Registering as a resident of Freiburg was easy, but that was the only easy things so far. Everything else has been pretty complicated. Most of the people who are working the information desks seem to be clueless and instead have given either wrong information or no information at all. Oh well… things will be in order soon enough.

We were up in Köln (Cologne) last weekend to visit Leona’s brother. We had a good time up there. Everybody in Freiburg bikes and in a lot of cases it takes less time to bike somewhere than it does to drive. We went to a bike fleamarket in Köln and looked for some good deals. We both bought bikes, but for a Canadian we paid way too much for what we purchased. Because the demand for is so high, the cost is also. We have already put them to good use. On the Sunday we went to one of the many parks in Köln to play some fussball (soccer). We teamed up with a group there and played hard for a good two hours. I had not run like that in a long time. I did manage to score one goal in the game, but my team lost 6-4. I have finally recovered and my muscles do not hurt anymore. (Picture: I am in the grey shirt).

So that is the state of things at this moment.

Arrival in Hamburg, Germany.

Well… where to start. We are in Germany now and are presently riding the DB train to Freiburg. We arrived in Hamburg, which is on the opposite end of Germany. Hamburg is one of the most Northern cities in Germany while Freiburg is one of the most Southern. The train left Hamburg at 18:24 and will arrive in Freiburg just after midnight. It is presently 19:50 which means there is still plenty of train riding left for us.

The flight to Hamburg was one of the most bumpy that I have been on so far. On the landing the wings were moving back and forth. Not extremely but enough for me to pay close attention the ground. For those who travel with Airtransat I have a tip for you, “Book your seats ahead and take the first row that has two chairs by themselves.” Leona and I did that and we had more leg room than anyone else and did not have to worry about pumping elbows or people getting up to go to the washroom. It was well worth the 20 dollars.

We had hoped that when we arrived in Hamburg that we would be entering the next day remnants of a Euro Cup win by Germany, but sadly that was not the case. We did see a couple people at the airport who still had their game faces and attire on, but were not in the same mood they would have been if the game went our way. Well there is always 2010. For once our luggage came out right away, but I was stuck in the non-EU line, pretty much the last person to go through. Leona breezed through the EU line and was waiting patiently with our bags on the other side.

We made it downtown without any problems and found our hotel (Fuerst Bismark). The criterion was that it had to be close to the train station and it turned out to be directly across. It looked like it could be a block or two when we booked it, but were pleasantly surprised. We had to wait about 2hours before we could check in so we walked to a bakery down the street and had some coffee and croissants. It is hard to explain unless you have had it, but bread is different in German. It is firm on the outside, yet so soft on the inside. This bakery did not let us down. (BTW: my ears just popped, I think we are near the 300km mark). After we checked in we took a 3 hour nap. Most of the time it is not good to sleep after you travel but to fill out the day as if you had gotten up with the rest of the city, (especially myself as I could not sleep on the flight), but I think it worked out well for us this time as today we felt pretty much on schedule. We got up at 17:00 and went out to see the city. Hamburg is a port city so there is lots of water around. There are a couple advertisements which call it the Venice of Germany. (I will report on whether I think it lives up to that standard after going to Venice, whenever that is). The city was very nice we walked along the shopping strip and to a canal which flows down the centre of the city. We had supper at a nice little place and then walked back to the hotel. We went to bed early enough.

Today we got up at 9:30 and went to the same bakery as the day before for breakfast. And then check out. We brought our suitcases and put them in lockers so we did not have to haul them around the city. It was money well spent. Then we walked to the Habour front to see the boats. While we were there one humongous ship came in, being pulled by a small tug boat, which seemed tiny in comparison. We had lunch along the waterfront. Overall the day was quite warm, but at the waterfront the breeze was refreshing. We slowly made our way back to the city centre and then waited for our train to come in. The visit to Hamburg was nice and allowed me to see another German city. I will have to go to Berlin and then would have touched all four corners in Germany. Maybe sometime later this summer… Happy Canada Day (I know this is posted a day late, but I wrote it on Canada Day, my first out of the country).

Last Reflections on Kenya

The second indigenous church denomination that we visited was the African Brotherhood Church (ABC). We spent four days traveling to different ABC churches and projects. The first day we went to the ABC headquarters in Machakos. After a brief tour of the property we enjoyed a special tea time with the bishop. The bishop’s wife, Mary, was traveling with us throughout the trip and it was interesting to see her in her home and usual surroundings. The Canadians in the group did not quite realize what it means to be the bishop’s wife until we went to the ABC headquarters. She is very well respected and the only thing I can really compare it with is the first lady of a country. During our visits of ABC projects we were amazed at how excited and nervous ABC members were to greet the Deaconess Mary. To us she was just Mary. After tea the bishop made himself available for questions and we had interesting discussions. I was impressed by his sincerity and openness. There were no wrong questions and he seemed excited about the dialogue. We also visited one of the community development offices near the city which focuses on agriculture. We toured their garden and learned some very interesting things about gardening for the poor.

On the second day we visited the Africa Integrated Theological College (AITC), an ABC college in Mitaboni. The school principal gave us an overview of the school and afterward most of us felt that we knew more about the AITC than about our own schools. The school property was very interesting, there is a primary school on the grounds as well and we enjoyed taking pictures of the kids and seeing them laugh. We were as much an attraction to them as they were to us.

The school has a house at the end of its property called Carey Hall, named after Carey Theological Seminary. We were told that that is where the Canadians stay as there is a joined certificate program at the school which is often taught by Canadian professors. As we walked into the house I thought that it would be so nice if Chris could teach there and we could stay in that house. We will see…
On the third day we drove to Kibwezi deeper into Kamba territory and visited the Agricultural Research and Training Centre (ARTC) of the ABC. The ARTC is basically a farm with many small sections. After a walk through the farm we visited with a Guardians of Hope group and they gave us all Kamba names. That was so fun. My Kamba name is Mutindi, which means ‘the one who stays with us.’ On our last day with the ABC we visited two schools and headed back to Acacia Camp just outside Nairobi. We stayed at Acacia for the remainder of our trip.
The camp is situated in on a large farm that feels more like a national park. We were told that usually almost three times as many animals can be found on this farm as Nairobi National Park. We saw many giraffes, wild beasts, zebras, antelopes and so much more. We were woken up by monkeys jumping on our huts!!! I can definitely recommend staying at this place if you are ever near Nairobi.
I could go on forever about my trip to Kenya. I loved it, I learned so much and I can’t wait to go back.