Fasching Celebration

Fasching (probably not spelled correctly) is a German and Swiss celebration that the people have before Ash Wednesday on March 9, 2011.  This year the village of Kandern had their Fasching parade on Sunday March 6, 2011. 

If you look closely you can see underwear hanging across the main street of Kandern.  The people are celebrating being able to do "whatever" is forbidden over Lent.  In my experience it tends to be a spiritually dark time.

Here is a local house ready to enjoy the party.  The Fashing season goes on for anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks and then ends with a parade.

The people will dress up in interesting costumes.  Earlier this day I saw a man with a chicken on his head and another dressed as a Catholic cardinal.  Many people had a variety of furry costumes on.

This is a group of people getting set up for the parade.  This time has been very dark in my dorm.  Often I will wake up  in the middle of the night and just pray for the protection of the dorm.  Last night one of my girls asked me to come and pray over her room so that she could go to sleep.  Please lift up the girls in my dorm.  Many are battling with spiritual attacks.  Most of their parents are serving the Lord in dangerous situations, and attacking the children of missionaries is a good way to get missionaries off of the field.  Please pray that there would be a hedge of protection around Palmgarten dorm and that each girl would wear the spiritual armor in Eph. 6:10-18.  Thank you for your prayers.

First Moldova Team Meeting

 I have the opportunity to help lead a BFA missions trip to the country of Moldova.  If you are like me, you are wondering where Moldova is. Good question.  It is the poorest country in Europe and it is between Romania and the Ukraine. I get to help lead this trip with my two good friends, Brandon and Lizzy Jeffers.  Lizzy was my co-RA last year and I went to their wedding in Georgia last summer.  We have 11 high school students going with us.

Lizzy and I made a yummy pasta bar meal.  The kids seem to enjoy this simple meal.

K and K enjoy their tasty meal of pasta.

Brandon challenged the students with some words of wisdom.  We have 9th through 12th graders going on this trip.

Our main contacts are Janz Team missionaries Alec and Jan Forman.  They live in the BFA community and have been to Moldova.  They are from England and have fabulous accents.  They spent many years in Mali, West Africa and know Denis and Cindy Weins well (missionaries that Ebenezer Mennonite Church supports who were in Mali).

Alex show the team the community center in Moldova.  We will be doing some landscaping to make it a more welcoming place.  In the evenings we will also do a program for the children in the village.

Since I LOVE team building activities, I had our team play the tarp game.  First they had to all get under the tarp without using their arms or hands.  

Then they had to fold the tarp in half without touching the ground or using their hands.

Finally they had to flip the tarp.  Again they could not use their hands or touch the floor. They did a great job.

Roman Adventrue #4: Palatine Hill and The Colosseum

On Sunday we explored Palatine Hill and the Colosseum.  Here you can see some of the ruins of Palatine Hill.  Nero had his home on Palatine Hill.

This is a map of the Roman Empire when it was the most powerful  nation on the earth.  

The road ends right at the Colosseum.  It is so huge and impressive. I would hate to have been a slave or an early Christian who was forced to fight as a gladiator. 

The Arch of Septinium Severus

This is a training ground for the gladiators on Palatine Hill.  

Bonnie and the Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum you can see what was underneath the wooden floor where the gladiators fought.  There are many room, hallways and chambers that kept lions, tigers, and gladiators among other things.  The Romans would also flood this area and have naval battles so that Roman citizens could watch.

This cross was carved into the Colosseum wall.  It might have been put their by an early Christian.

Each Roman citizen had a specific place they were able to sit for anything that went on at the Colosseum.  They had a specific door they would enter and a specific set of stairs they would use.  Here you can see more of the space underneath the wooden floor where the action took place on.

You can see the white wooden floor that shows where the wooden floor would have been. It is a sobering thought to think of what actually went on here all in the name of entertainment.

Bonnie, Anna, and Erin

 

 Three happy travels end their Roman Adventures.  It was a wonderful time and a time to just think about the early church.

Roman Adventrue #3: The Vatican Museum

 After we saw St. Peter's we went around the corner to see the Vatican Museum. 

Bonnie, a HUGE Roman Dude, and Anna

I love random things and are unusually HUGE.   When I saw this incredibly giant bust, I had to get my picture with it and I forced Anna to be in the picture with me.  After we got our picture taken, then suddenly a lot of other people began to do the same thing.  I am such a trend setter.

There is just so much art in the Vatican that it is impossible to take it all in.  Each of those frames on the ceiling has a masterpiece in it.

This is the famous "School of Athens."   It has famous philosophers like Plato and Socrates. It was so big, I had a hard time capturing the whole painting.

The Spanish Steps

 

The Pantheon

 Anna and Erin pose with the Piazza Venezia in the back ground.  We began to call this "our home in Rome," since this was were we always ended up and it is sort of in the center of a giant traffic circle.

This is the Piazza Venezia in the daylight and up close.  It is very impressive and yes there are more statures. 

I am enjoying the view from the Piazza Venezia.  The weather in Rome in February was in the 70s and sunny. 

Roman Adventure #2: St. Peter's Cathedral

 On Saturday morning we went to the Vatican City, which is a country within Italy. It even has it's own postal service.

 As we stood in line to get into St. Peter's Cathedral, we enjoyed the architecture.

Rome has so many statures... they are everywhere.  Each of these columns has it's  own stature.

Erin and I catch some rays as we wait in line.

Since we were entering St. Peter's Cathedral, and it is a church, there is a dress code to ensure that people show the proper respect.  I was dress properly so I was able to enter.

St. Peter's Cathedral is such a HUGE church, that you could fit a normal church inside of it.

St. Peter's also holds the Pieta by Michelangelo.   It shows Mary holding Jesus when He was removed from the cross.

Peter was martyred in Rome and in the location of St. Peter's Cathedral.  This huge wooden carving marks Peter's burial place. The crypt is just below this and no entry is allowed into this place.

Christ Ascends into the Heavens

 

The Vatican has the Swiss Guard patrol this holy place.  They wear very colorful outfits.

Roman Adventure #1: the Trevi Fountain

 On my weekend off in February, I was able to get away from the dorm and explore the ancient city of Rome.  It was surreal to be in the city the Apostles Paul and Peter walked around in and be in one of the places where the early church began.

On the first day, it took us a LONG time to find the church we were staying at...but we did and then we took a nap.  Then we were off to explore the city and try to find some dinner.  

Anna Swanson, Erin White, Bonnie Spallinger at the Trevi Fountain

While we were looking for a specific restaurant in the Rick Steve's travel book,  we came across the Trevi Fountain. 

 It is a beautiful and romantic spot...there were a lot of couples there. 

The Trevi Fountain is said to bring good luck romantically.  If you throw one coin in with your right hand over your left should it is said you will have luck romantically.  If you throw in two coins then you will have either a marriage or a divorce within the year.  And three coins means you will be blessed in your romantic relationship.  So I am tossing in my coin...lets see if it brings me any luck!

Finally at 9pm we found the restaurant we were looking for and sat down to some yummy pasta.  After the meal, Erin had a cup of coffee...a little cup!

2011 Valentines Day Party

 In Palmgarten Tradition, every year the girls throw a party where they invite a young man to be the date of their roommate.  None of the girls know who their dates are.  The dates know who they are going with, so when they arrive at the dorm, they find their "girl" and present themselves to her. It makes for an interesting night.

 Twins.  Here one of our seniors and one of our freshman dressed up in a similar outfit.  Luckily they were both happy to match each other.

After each girl found out who her date was, we played a wonderful round of Family Feud...of sorts.  Luke, the dorm dad, had each pair work together to see if they could get the most points as they answered the survey questions.

Below I have each girl and her date pictured.  They had a yummy meal that their loving staff prepared for them.