Take off 5-17

Three words, “fully reclining chair.” Here are a few more words, “newest season of Sherlock” on the personal TV, and “five page paper,” due Monday, that I need to read I book for that I haven’t started.  Needless to say my business class flight from Chicago, IL, USA to Frankfort, Germany was eventful. And so begins my two and a half month adventure to the Holy Lands and to Europe. As I write this laying down on my chair/bed in the plane, I am still in disbelief that I am here.

The past few weeks, and even the past semester, has been a whirl wind. I finished up my Junior year at Wheaton College in one of the coldest winters in Chicago’s history.  Hearing updates on the weather back in California from family and friends was meet with jealousy and disbelief, as I was trying to avoid frostbite running to class. This semester was filled with countless hours studying for my chemistry intensive course load. But as some of you know, this semester has been hard on me besides course work and the terrible Chicago weather. Since December I have been struggling with various illnesses and injuries, some of which are still lingering. And because of these injuries, I had to quit the Crew team this last season. It is with these struggles of the last semester and the rush of this past week (Wheaton’s graduation, saying goodbye to friends and my girlfriend, planning out my backpacking trip in Europe, and packing for two and a half months in two bags) that I find myself flying to Germany and then onto Israel. 

Here is the overview of my travels. For the next six weeks I will be studying with the Wheaton in the Holy Lands program. We will spend the first three weeks in Jerusalem and the areas around it while studying at Jerusalem University College (JUC). The next three weeks we will be studying in Greece, Turkey and Italy. This program will end at the end of June in Rome, and at this point I will meet of with my good friend Michael, and we will travel around Europe on the Eurorail, flying home to Santa Barbara from Malaga Spain.

About half of the students and both professors of my program are on my flight from Chicago to Frankfort to Tel Aviv, and we will be meeting the rest of our group once we land in Israel.

It is slowly starting to sink in that this is actually happening.  As I have been doing the pre-course work for this program, I am realizing how little I know and how much information I will be hit with in the next six weeks. I cannot even begin to imagine how enriching, educational, spiritually fulfilling, exhausting, exciting and exceptional these next few weeks will be. It is by God’s strength and grace alone that I am here (I was medically cleared for this only a week ago) and again it will be through God’s strength and grace that these next few weeks will transform me.