This is where I live.

So this week has absolutely flown by. After language schools in the morning, we've visited the universities and had lunch with the students. It was really great to finally be on campus. It's kind of intimidating, like being a freshman all over again, except this time, not fully understanding the language. We also had a staff meeting for all Crusade staff in Berlin for all ministries. It was really cool to how God is working in Berlin. This week we also got a chance to go to the Wansee which is a very pretty lake and we walked around and took pictures. Today some of us girls went to Leipzig for the day. It's such a cute, super German city. We got to climb the tower of the church where J.S. Bach conducted and directed. Really cool. The apartment is slowly coming together. There are still quite a few details to take care of, but it's starting to feel more like home. Tomorrow, I'm going to try a German speaking church that some of the return STINTers go to. This coming week is our last week in language school. And in the afternoons, we will be doing some planning/training for the semester. Please pray that God will really guide us and we contintue to move forward. Please also pray for our STINT couples, Dan and Krista, and Matt and Leslie. Dan and Krista still don't officially have a place to live yet, but they've applied for an apartment nearby. And Matt and Leslie are trying to get their new place set up so they're family (they have 3 kids) can finally move it. It's just a really slow process getting their place painted and a kitchen installed. Thanks so much!

A week in...

It's only been a bit over a week and yet it feels like I've been here for so long! The apartments are 10 times better now that we have crucial things like lights. We're still in the process of setting things up though. The boys still don't have a working stove or washing machine and our washing machine doesn't want to work either. Oh the joys of living in a foreign country. ;) But we're all adjusting, exploring our neighborhood and practicing our German. Unfortunately there's some sort of bad cold traveling among my team and I think I caught it today. It's pretty nasty so please pray I get rid of it soon. We (as the new STINTers) are now looking for a home church. There are more choices than I thought there would be. The biggest decision to make is if I want an English or German speaking church. I still don't know. Then I spend most of the day painting the Sfura's new apartment. After language school tomorrow, we're going on a campus for the first time! Very exciting.

I'm here!

Hallo!

So, finally I'm here in Berlin! It's really crazy to be here after a long summer of anticipating this moment, but so great for our whole team to be together for the first time. But it's been so crazy since being here. We've had so much to do and really jumped right into it. Every morning we have language school. It's rather intense and the first day, after our placement test, I was put in a middle level class and I really struggled. It's been such a long time and even though I can know some grammer, I'm really slow at speaking and listening. I dropped to a lower level class and it's going much better. In the afternoons, we either meet with our team or take a trip to Ikea to furnish our apartments. I'm pretty exhasted, but doing well conisdering. As we're getting more setteled, I'm feeling more comfortable at home here. In the coming days, we'll be doing more team building and then start planning for when the semester starts - very exciting. Thank you all for your prayers. I know I would not be doing as well as I am without them.