Athens, Greece

Hey I'm in Italy, why not take a little side trip to Greece. :) Actually, I've always wanted to go to Greece and I'm very thankful for the opportunity. Crusade has a wonderful campus team in Athens including Catherine and her husband Paul, whose couch I stayed on. Thanks Paul for making me the best cup of coffee every morning! On my first day, I headed straight to the Acropolis, the religious center of ancient Greece. It was amazing to walk on Mars Hill where Paul gave the famous sermon of Acts 17.

"Men of Athens!...The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else...God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being."

Afterwards, I headed to the Greek temple of Zeus, only to find it closed. But I ended up meeting three wonderful gals there who I became fast friends with. Betsy is a chemical engineer with a personality of a sorority party girl. :) Jill is a theater major with a very kind and sweet demeanor and her best friend from childhood, Shannon is a spitfire. She later told me that only 2 years ago, she had a tumor IN her spine and was paralyzed for a time after having it removed. Now she lives life to the fullest. They are traveling the world. We had a great afternoon eating amazing food and enjoying the culture. Shout out also to the cafe owner who treated us to Ouzo, the worst taking drink I've ever had. I couldn't finish mine, esp since I have an alcohol intolerance. But the girls graciously drank all of theirs. :)

The next day, took a ferry to the closest Greek island, called Aegina. It was so glorious riding my little rented biked along the island by the water and seeing the most beautiful architecture. It was the most relaxing day so far in Europe. Just me and my bike and the beautiful sunny warm weather.

Hiking in Pisa

You can't go to Italy without seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, right? I was ecstatic when I saw a couchsurfing event posted by a Univ of Pisa student named Marco for a hiking event in Pisa. I contacted him and asked if I could join the group from Florence.

Marco was amazing. He told me which train to take at what time. He even met me at the station with a couchsurfing sign, packed a lunch for me and lent me his backback. We hiked in the hills near Pisa to a 14th century monstary ruins. What a beautiful countryside. My favorite part was really getting to know these great Italians. We had wonderful conversation about politics, culture, religion, and life. I will always remember one student asking me with the deepest of sincerity and genuine curiosity how it is that Americans allow our fellow citizens to live without full access to healthcare. It led to some great conversations.

Not only was Marco hiking guide, he even took us to see the Leaning Tower near his campus. I LOVE couchsurfing.

Meeting new friends

I quickly realized one of the best parts of being in Europe is going to be meeting wonderful new friends. Couchsurfing happen to have their monthly meeting in Florence on my second day in Italy. It was so fun meeting travelers from all over the world. I especially enjoyed meeting Nico, a Frenchman studying in Germany, and Phillip and Rui, two guys from Portugal. I invited them to meet me the next day for a tour of the Accademia to see Michaelangelo's David. The next morning I got up early to visit the Uffizi Museum before meeting the guys. As I was walking thru the exhibit, I noticed a gal walking next to me. I quickly noticed her Rick Steves Florence book and realized that we were both listening to Rick Steves' audio tour of the Uffizi. I decided that she must be a kindred spirit. :) At the end of the tour, I walked up to her as I do with strangers all the time and asked, "so, how do you like Rick Steves?" That question was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. We had lunch together and she joined me in meeting up with the guys and hung out the whole day. Here we are eating gelato, again! Sadly, we lost Michelle when she went back to her hotel to get something and couldn't find each other again. I ended up having dinner with the guys lamenting our loss of Michelle and had to drink lemoncello without her. :)

Florence, Italy

Nicole is a wonderful host. My first morning in Italy, Nicole let me sleep in, making her late for work but she didn't seem to mind. She took me to her favorite coffee shop for a latte and brioche and that began a very full day. Here's the highlights:

9am: Lattes at Nicole's favorite cafe and errands. Great conversation on the way.
10am : Tour of Nicole's office.
10:30 : Wait in line at the Uffizi Museum and meet a nice Korean American family from NY. Decide to not wait and go to another museum. On the way, call in my reservation to the Uffizi for tomorrow morning, as Rick Steves advised. No waiting for me!
11 : Enjoy the wonderful Barghello Museum.
Noon : Meet Nicole for lunch. She takes me to a great sandwich stand and a fun walking tour.
1pm : Nicole puts me on the bus for a 30min ride out to the country of Tuscany to visit the Lillestrand family. Feel very blessed as Nicole tells the bus driver where to drop me off since the bus stop doesn't even have a name.
1:30 : See Charmaine for the first time in YEARS and get to hang out with her and the kids (Greg is golfing with his team that day). So fun seeing her beautiful home and the kids are so very cute, so is Franklin the dog.
4: Take a quick walk around the vineyards in the neighborhood before getting on the bus back to Florence.
4:30 Got to find the bus stop to get back to Nicole's so I can get my bags and take them over to Marti's for the night. (Nicole is going out of town tonight). Finally find the bus stop and am waiting when Marti and Kelly (I led both the girls' new staff trainings) literally walk up to the same bus stop. Haven't seen Kelly since NST, so fun. Marti makes the trip stressless by taking me to her place. I love divine intervention. :)
5pm Go get my stuff at Nicoles, come back to Marti's and have a very fun conversation with Marti about life in Italy. I never knew Marti was so funny!
8pm: Marti and I take the bus into town. I'm going to my first Couchsurfing event and Marti is having dinner with old friends.
8:30 finally found Rex Pub, after asking like 4 people. Had a WONDERFUL time meeting couchsurfers from all over the world. We all have a few things in common, we speak English, we love to travel, we are adventureous, and we like to meet new people. That makes for a fun party.
11pm Wait at the bus stop to go to Marti's place. But wait, who walks up to the bus stop, yes, it's Marti! Another fun conversation and then off to bed.

What a fun and action packed day it was on my very first day in Italy. Just wait until tomorrow!

Couchsurfing Day 1 Frankfurt and Florence

March 12 2009: Today is my first day stepping on European soil. I know lots of people go to Europe with their high school band or backpack around after college. I missed out on that so I feel like a kid in Europe. Everything I do is a first. My trip started with a 6 hours layover in Frankfurt. I messaged a few couchsurfers to see if anyone wanted to show me around town. Alexander the German chef said he was probably free but we couldn't connect because it was last minute I didn't have a cell phone. It seems like my couchsurfing experience isn't starting off well, but you just wait.

Walked around town in the rain for over 2 hours, taking pictures of great German architecture and had a huge doughy pretzel and a German sausage for lunch. Didn't have time to go to the History Museum but liked this statue out front.

Then off to Florence where I am staying with Nicole an old friend from Oregon. Literally two minutes after I got in the door, guests started arriving for the dinner party she was having at her house. We had pasta for our first course and chicken with potatoes for the "secondi." It was very Italian. Nicole tried to translate the conversation but I just enjoyed Italian being spoken so animatedly around the table. What a fun introduction to Italian life. Nicole (bottom left) was an amazing host and so was Marti (top middle) who I also stayed with for two nights on her couch.

Couchsurfing through Italy and Greece

I've always dreamed of going to Europe, especially Italy and Greece. So, last month, when I was laid off from my job at OHSU (more on that in a later post), I decided to travel as a way of soothing the loss of my job, and also probably a way of escaping it. On my last day of work, I book the flight, not having any plans about what I would do during the two weeks in Italy. I was really nervous. I can't be blowing my saving on a dream vacation when I could come back to the reality that there are NO jobs in this economy. I decided I had to live life to the fullest, but that still meant doing things the most economical way possible. I found a killer deal on a flight (under $600) and started thinking through my plan of attack of Europe on a budget.

About two years ago, I had read an article in the New York Times about Couchsurfing.com and LOVED the idea. It's an online community of over 1 million members that offer couches to travelers and welcome them into their homes and lives as a way of connecting and learning from others from difference world and cultures. Here's some excerpts from the article by Penelope Green.

In an age of cheap airfares and porous borders, where nearly every corner of the earth, from Bulgaria to Bhutan, is open for tourism, the home is the final frontier, the last authentic experience. Instead of being in some sanitized hotel in Hanoi, said Erik Torkells, editor of Budget Travel magazine, “if I couch surf I could be on some cool ex-pat’s or local’s sofa.” He added: “I’ve already leapfrogged barriers."

The group’s philosophy:... I will offer you my couch free, along with the company of my friends and a tour of my favorite spots in my city. In return, you will give of yourself. In this way, we will be friends, if only for a day or two.

So, I created my profile and started requesting to surf couches in Rome, Florence, Naples, and anywhere else I wanted to go. Yes, I was nervous at first. What if a host is difficult to get along with or tries to steal my stuff, or worst, a serial killer! Well, I found that although people tend to be very trusting in the global community, the trust has to go both ways. One potential host told me that they couldn't host me because I had no references. Oh yeah, I only requested couches from people with tons of "friends" and references but I took for granted that they would just welcome me unconditionally into their home. One person responded that they get between 5-15 requests a DAY for their couch in the most visited city in the world. Alas I received many rejections for couches, but DID received offers to have coffee and invitations to events.

Well, it's a good thing that I used to work for Campus Crusade for 10 years where I trained thousands of new staff that are stationed on campuses all over the world. I could probably put a finger on the map and know someone there. I've wanted to visit my friend Nicole in Florence, Italy so it was no brainer to start facebooking friends and former new staff I'd trained to request their couches.

This is my travel journal as a couchsurfing adventurer in Italy and Greece. It's about the people I've met and their unique stories. Connecting with old friends and experiencing their lives. Seeing amazing sites and being awed by God's creation around the world.

Thanks for reading the following posts about my daily adventures.


With new friends at my first Couchsurfing event. Dinner at Rex Bar in Florence. I met about 30 couchsurfers from around the world. Nico is French and Rossano is from Venice.

Best Fudgy Brownies in the World

You may know that I love to bake. I used to only do it when I was stressed out. I did it ALOT when I lived in Orlando, but now I live a relatively stress free life. Now I bake for pleasure. I mainly make fruit pies and chocolate dessert. My creme brulee is to die for. The other day I saw a brownie recipe in Sunday paper Parade section. I tried it out and it was fabulous. I took it over to Wendy and Josh's and everyone there loved it. So, I'm posting the recipe for anyone who might enjoy this wonderfully fudgy brownie. Enjoy!

Brownies By Doris Greenspan

5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces
4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup all purpose flour

1) Preheat oven to 325F.
2) Put a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water. Drop in butter and chocolate and heat, stirring occassionally, until melted. Remove the bowl and whisk in sugar and salt. Whisk in eggs (one by one), and then the flour.
3) Bake the brownies in a buttered 8x8 in pan for 30 to 33 minutes.

Digital Converter Box

On Feb 17, 2009 all TV broadcasts will only use digital signal. If you own one of these old TVs with rabbit ear antennas like I do, you will no longer get a picture on your TV unless you subscribe to cable or buy a converter box. So, I got my $40 off coupon from the government and headed over to Walmart to buy my converter box. Why so soon? Well, even though I won't lose my analog picture until Feb 18th, I decided to take advantage of the fact that most stations are already using digital signals. I LOVE my converter box. Not only do I get crystal clear digital picture, I got like 10 more channels I never saw before. Ok, so one is a Spanish channel and 3 of them are cheesy Christian channels, but it's all free! So get yourself a coupon and get a converter box. I got the RCA 800B1 and it only cost $9.99. Awesome!

Lost Dog

Yesterday, driving down my street, I saw a strange site on the road. It was this little black dog trotting down the street in front of me dragging a red leash. I tried with all my might to ignore the obviously lost dog and drive past her. But, she wouldn't let me, weaving back and forth on the narrow road. When I finally stopped the car, she hid under my car, as if to say, "Please help me." So, what is a self professed dog lover to do? You guessed it, call Animal Control. :) Unfortunately, they were closed and after visits to two different vets, I couldn't pawn this little dog off on anyone, forcing me to take her home for the night. The poor little dog was so scared and timid, that she wouldn't move a muscle when I put her down. She looked so uncomfortable standing in the exact stop that I even pushed her bottom down, hoping she would sit. I was obviously intimidating her. So, I left the room for a minute and when I did she hid under my bed and slept the whole night in the corner under my bed on the hardwood floor. Well, the next morning, she was feeling a bit more gutsy because it literally took me 15 minutes of chasing her around my room (moving my bed back and forth across the room) to finally nab her so I could take here out to potty. Well, too late, she already did her business under my bed.

So I call Animal Control and it's the only day that they are not open until noon. I had no choice but to put the little dog in my basement and head off to work. When I got to work, I shared the story with 3 coworkers who are all dog owners. Diana said, let's check on Craigslist to see if anyone reported this dog missing. Ok, literally in about 30 seconds, she finds a posting for a lost black chihuahua /rat terrier. So to make a long story short, I went home during my lunch hour to get this sweet dog to her rightful owners. The story gets even better because the owners were a sweet little couple, I mean, literally, they were little people, dwarfs. They rescued Sophie from a puppy mill where she had been abused and that's why she was so timid and scared of me. So, the little couple took their little dog and drove off into the sunset. Now, if I can just get that dog pee stain out of my rug. :)

Summer is gone

Although it's still like 80 degrees here in Portland, I have to accept the fact that summer is almost over. It's been a very relaxing and fun summer. My church, Mosaic, had Urban Camp, two weeks of activities in the city every day. I wished I could have gone to more events but the second week, I was on the Alaska cruise with my family, which by the way was fabulous. It rained alot but one of the highlights was meeting the 60's style music group, The Unexpected Boys. 4 hot guys who sing broadway style 60's music. They were so much fun. One night, the crusie had a Ladies Night. My mom, my sis and I went to it to see guys take it all off :). The fun thing was that my bro-in-law insisted on coming too but he stay in the back while we got front row seats. How did we score such rockstar seats? Well, my new friends, the Unexpected Boys had the seats and gave them to us as the place filled up. It was all in good fun cuz the guys taking off their clothes were just the ship's staff having some fun :) Otherwise we just ate alot of good food and lounged around. Thank goodness for the Spa because it rained almost every day. Seeing whales and amazing glaciers weren't so bad either. :)

So, now that falls upon us, life in Portland will change a bit. I'll have to prepare my heart for the rain season. Another thing, my work schedule changes so that now I work the 6am-4:30pm shift. That's gonna be very hard but alas, maybe I can try to be a morning person. Oh well. Hope you all had a great summer.

3 Products for my Health

I'm really into taking care of my personal healthy lately, a big change from my usual couch potato self. Here are 3 things I recently bought.

1) Umcka by Nature's Way : I get cold/flus pretty easily. Most of the time, when I get sick, I'm laid out in bed for days. I don't get little colds, I get out for a week type of sick. Well, I got sick last week but my sister and Mindy were visiting me in Portland the next day so I went to Whole Foods to do some grocery shopping and asked the worker there if she can recommend anything for my cold. She suggested Umcka and I took it faithfully and seriously it really shortened my cold, the symptoms were very mild with this cold. I know, it could be a fluke but why not try anything that could possibly help. Umcka is made from the root of a plant called pelagornium sidoides, from the geranium family, and the root has been used for hundreds of years by the Zulu tribe in South Africa to treat upper respiratory illnesses.

2) Oravive Toothpaste : I have sensitive teeth, it's from years of brushing too hard. I can't help myself, it's a compulsive thing. I have receeding gums as a result of it but I still brush with clinched fists. Then, I read in Prevention Magazine that there is a new substance that actually hardens the teeth surface with essential calcium and phosphorus ions. So, I've been using it for almost two weeks and I am starting to feel less sensitivity.

3) Hip Hop Abs : I hate to work out but I know I need to stay in shape. After months of inactivity, I finally decided to get a work out DVD. I know, I'm not a Hip Hop type of girl but it's really fun! Here's to your good health!

My new place

I recently rented a house in Hillsdale (a small community near Downtown Portland). So this is my first time living alone, ever. Can you believe it? I went from my parents' house to the dorm to living with roommates. Friends have told me that I should never live alone. They know me well enough to know that I am a people person but I have a tendency to isolate myself, bad combination. I must admit that's been true. I REALLY enjoy living alone, maybe a bit too much. :)

Some of you know that I'm a minimalist. I hate buying things and owning things, that's why I lived with people who had everything and I just moved in with my bedroom furniture. I am the anti-consumerist, or at least I USED to be. Lately, I have been a shopping fiend! I didn't even own a set of utensils. I had to start from scratch. It's been stressful and time consuming, but at times kind of fun.

I LOVE Craigslist. I found pretty much all my furniture there. So the other day, I called on a CL ad for a dining room table and chairs. I drove to the east side up to a cute little house in a fun neighborhood. I rang the bell and a tall thin guy, ironically named Craig, answered the door. I went there to look at a dining room table and ended up sitting there for an hour hanging out with this interesting guy. He told me stories of being a chef at the vegan restaurant he owned, rescuing greyhounds from the race track, being beaten up by police at a rally. We talked about politics and tatoos. What he didn't tell me but I found out later is that he's the spokesperson for a national ecoterrorist group! :) I just really enjoyed meeting someone who is living a passionate life trying to make a difference in this world. Of course we differ in our world view and in how to actually make that difference. However, I had to applaud that he not only had deep convictions but that he was willing to take action on those beliefs. Sadly, so many Christians (including myself) are falling into the trap of living the comfortable middle class lifestyle. We don't take the risks and pains to find out what we really were created for. We end up in jobs that we can do instead of passions we can't live without. I know, here I go idealizing again. Anyway, I just think it's fun cuz only in Portland can you buy a vegan restaurant table from an ecoterrorist activist/lawyer/handyman/chef. :)

Alaska Cruise

I'm going on a 7 Day Alaska Cruise for our family vacation this year. I'm super excited. It was my sister's suggestion and I think it'll be awesome. My dad really didn't want to go, he's a total home body but I really think it's because he doesn't want to leave our dog. (He takes that dog everywhere he goes, seriously). See how in the picture below he has his arm around the dog and not me. I'm not bitter. :)

We're taking the Norwegian Pearl from Seattle to Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan and back through Victoria. It's our first time to Alaska so please let me know (in a comment) if you have any fun experiences or helpful suggestions on what to do or see while we're on the cruise. We leave August 10th.

Family

For 6 years I lived 3,100 miles away from my family. Now I'm only 150 miles away, and it's fun to be able to go home for holidays. I was able to go up to Federal Way for both Mother's and Father's Day on the Amtrak. Speaking of which, the Amtrak is really the way to go. I once rode the Amtrak from Orlando to New York, taking a detour through Kansas City and Chicago. That was my whirlwind vacation after I graduated from college (my planes, trains, and automobile trip across the US). Anyway, I'm back riding the Amtrak (for gas price reasons now.)
Mother's Day was fun. We went a restaurant my family likes to go for very special occasions called Palisades in Seattle. It's a nice seafood restaurant with a great buffet brunch. For father's day we went to a new Asian seafood buffet called Blue Fin. For a family of really small thin people, we really like buffets. :) I don't think we get our money's worth but hey, you can't deny heredity.

Netflix

I've been on a free 1 month trial subscription of Netflix and I love it. I don't really love Netflix per se, especially since they've denied every job application I've sent them, but that's another story. I love watching movies at home at my whim. Of the movies I've seen, I'd like to recommend two really good movies for the theme of family/community. Many of you know that I'm very passionate about the idea of community in our culture. I get so mad that our American culture can't seem to get beyond the individualist mindset to realize how detrimentally lonely and isolated we all are, but then I digress again.

The first movie : Lars and the Real Girl. Lars is a lonely, emotionally stunted single man who's in a delusion that a lifelike doll he's ordered on the internet is his real live girlfriend. He has a whole life story for her as a missionary in the jungle whose returned home on furlough. His family obviously freaks out but the gem in this story is how the whole town, his family, coworkers, and church, all play along that the doll, named Bianca, is real to help him. It's hard to find this type of genuine care in the community. Although difficult for many of them, they put aside their own discomfort and judgmental attitudes and embrace Lars and his healing. The ladies in his church even bring over casseroles and sit with Lars when Bianca is sick. I love how it shows that the journey to healing is a long process that involves showing your problems to the world and being loved and accepted and given grace in the midst of the problem.

Second movie : Dan in Real Life. Dan is a widow raising 3 girls. His whole family gets together every year on the coast for a family vacation. As he's in town on the first morning, he meets a woman he is totally connects with, only to find out that she's his younger brother's new girlfriend. He is tormented the whole vacation as he tried to wrestle with falling in love with a woman who his brother also loves. The family dynamic in this movie is so great. People are all in each other's faces and business. You can't hind and you can't put up a front. Your family knows you better than anyone else.

So, check out these two movies to be entertained and reminded that we are created to live in community with others.