my passport

I want to introduce you to a good friend of mine:

The first trip I took out of the country was to South Africa in 2001 when I received this passport. We ministered on college campuses. I still have one 

very good friend in South Africa, who I knew in college. Bethany married an African man.

I didn't travel out-of-country again until 2005 when I organized a youth trip to Mexico City. We spent 10 days working with a

 healing crusade. This was the first time I realized such a practical application in speaking another language and went to bed thinking in Spanish, which was very exciting. 

My fascination with words definitely extends beyond the English language.

After that, 

you see stamps for my various travels while I was backpacking. I started in Scotland with a youth mission trip (this one was ultimate frisbee) and stayed after the rest of the team left and backpacked through Ireland, England, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain and France. Those seven weeks were some of the most amazing in my life, although I was really ready to come home at the end of them.

The next summer, I visited El Salvador to stay with the beautiful Mary Susan who spent time there in the Peace Corps. We had such a GREAT time!

Most of you know that I traveled again to Hungary this past Christmas and New Year's. This was a scouting trip for the move I'm taking for a year or two. (I'm setting my departure for early July, just after one more Eno River Festival). I'll tell you, nothing can be more confirming than feeling at home in a city not your own. It's a very strange thought indeed. I am so much more mature than I even was during backpacking and feel much more capable in navigating, especially since I felt so capable of speaking the language! When I held this passport the other night, I trembled a little with joy and then studied Hungarian for two hours.

Today, I found out that a Finnish student of mine might travel to Greece for a month in which case, I'd totally like to visit her in the summer (she has family there) and in the next week or so, I'm meeting with a girl who will go next year to Russia to teach ESL. I had written a list of places I wanted to visit while abroad and put Russia on a second list that involved stretching my dreams. Now, I have someone to visit. Could it be that God is orchestrating more adventures for me? (I definitely feel humbled and excited). I may have to stay for three years to visit all the places I'd like to.