Promo Promo Promo!

The past week has been great! Tuesday, we had a chance to reconnect with the other interns in Ljublijana. After going through endless boxes in the JV warehouse searching for camp supplies, the interns and Johnny and Brooke spent some time debriefing and walking around Ljublijana. Then, Johnny and Brooke took us to a go cart course where we could race each other...I came in last.

Mana, Danny, and I stayed the night in Ljublijana so we could help with camp promotion in a school the next day. Promoting was intense. I thought that we were going to show up at the school and pass out flyers. Actually, we ended up teaching the entire English class. Who knew? Later that day, and Thursday, we spent a lot of time promoting English camp downtown in Celje (the photo of us in cute matching shirts is right before our first real promotion day).

Yesterday, the Celje team woke up early and drove to Ravne, a village in the mountains about an hour away, to promote English camp at a school there. We ended up teaching 5 different classes and got a lot of small group time with the students. They were awesome! The school was so excited that we were there and the students seemed very interested. This was encouraging for us. Every time I hang out with high schoolers like that, I feel like the Lord confirms His calling for me to be a teacher for that age group. I love it.

Early this morning, I went on a hike. It was very intense. I went with the oldest daughter of the family I living with. She is a hardcore athlete, and I could barely keep up. However, the walk was BEAUTIFUL. I posted a photo of the view from the top. We also really enjoyed just getting to hang out together. The rest of the day was filled with still MORE promotion in the City Center and a camp leader meeting with Chinese Food. The Tennessee Team comes in town on Thursday! I can't wait to see them and spend time with my sister :).



Fun Stuff:
- I experienced a new favorite coffee shop in Celje called Kuba Cafe.
- I stumbled upon a COW roast...Yes, an entire skinned cow was on a pole being roasted over a fire in a parking lot.
- Slovene families usually eat salad during meals. There is one big salad bowl in the middle of the table, and everyone eats with their own fork directly from it.

A Short Description of a Short Trip to Hungary.

Today, the interns had a day off. So, Mana, Danny, and I decided to spend it in Vajta, Hungary. Our new Slovene friend, Miha, drove us to Vajta so we could see the Hungarian countryside and villages, and tour the Calvary Chapel Bible college there.

The college is beautiful! Hungary was a lot less wealthy than Slovenia. The condition of the homes and villages makes thier economic condition very obvious. However, the campus of the Bible college is very pleasant, and we got to meet some of Mana's friends there. I posted two pictures...one looks like a field. This is the Hungarian countryside. It looks a lot like Kentucky. The other photo is of Miha, Mana, Danny, and me in front of the college. Enjoy :).

Highlight of the drive home...
Mana: "Look! It's raining."
Miha responds by singing: "...it's raining men..."
Margaret and Danny in unison, in the same falsetto key, sing out: "HALLELUJAH!"
-The timing couldn't have been better.

(I bet you thought that this photo is of Kentucky...NOT! It's Hungary).

FINALLY in Slovenija.

Wednesday evening, my team and I arrived in Maribor, Slovenija just in time for a BBQ with Slovene friends at Andre and Nina's house. It felt like coming home! I completely enjoyed seeing all of my Maribor friends.

That night, the interns went their separate ways. I went to Celje with Johnny and Brooke. Mana, my roommate, and I are staying with a Slovene family. Maja Rosina lives here. Maja accepted Christ about a year ago after English camp. It's been such an experience living with this family! I am the only American.

The past few days I have been working on lesson plans for my English Camp class. We have also been walking around the city and putting up posters in order to promote camps. Earlier tonight, Danny, Mana, and I attended the Celje youth group. This group is small, but awesome. They are really seeking the Lord in Scripture. I LOVED getting to talk to these students because I knew them from last year's camps...it was like spending time with old friends.

Tomorrow we get to see some of those people again at the church in Celje. It's such a blessing to see what the Lord is doing here!

An Adventure Through Prague

On June 1st, I landed in Prague and met up with Johnny, Mana, Gwynne, Danny, Evan, and Ben. These are the names of the people on my intern team for Slovenia. Our team left the airport, running, in competition with the other 16 intern teams who will be serving all over Eastern Europe. It was so encouraging for me to see that around 90 other young people decided to give up their summers to serve Jesus in this part of the world.




Our competition was called, the "Amazing Race" (like the TV show), and lasted three days. We traveled on foot, by tram, train, and bus all over Prague (the coolest city ever), other towns in the Czech Republic, and Poland. We had to travel to different locations and complete certain tasks. For instance, I had to go inside of a Spa in Prague and get a 15 min. Thai Fish Pedicure. This is a process where I literally stuck my feet in a large fish tank, and hundreds of little sucker-fish ate the dead skin off of my feet. Enjoy the photos (if you ever see them), because I will never do this again :p. These activities allowed us to build relationships with our intern teammates, and it worked. After 24 hours with my team, I felt like I had known them for months. Long story, short...my team won 2nd place :). Go Slovenia!!

Prague is probably the coolest city I have ever been to. There is so much culture and beauty at every turn. I kind of wish I could have sat and soaked in the city instead of literally run through it, but the race was a blast! I used a disposable camera to take pictures there because I didn't want to carry my Nikon everywhere. We'll see how those pictures turned out... :/ I also got to go to Poland for the first time!

We have been training at a beautiful conference center in Czech Republic for the past couple days with all of the JV interns. We have really enjoyed spending time with each other. I will be training in Czech Republic until Wednesday!