my flat..

the new[est] place:

sick messenger and peoples bible

yeah! today i got not just one piece of mail, but two! the jesus freaks magazine, "the sick messenger" came today.. they sent me a special copy because they printed a short story of mine called "kraftlos" (meaning "powerless") about a homeless woman.. it's part of a longer piece i am working on, and i was quite nervous when they asked me to publish it. still haven't gotten any feedback, so we'll see..

the second thing was a "people's bible".. thats my translation. the guy who started the jesus freaks way back in the 90s has translated the new testament and most of the old into the youth jargon.. its more of a paraphrase like the "message" and then in really funky hip-hop language. i have the new testament, but the old one just came out.. and they held a raffle for all submissions to "the sick messenger" and i won it!! yeah.. so i will be taking a look at that. only thing is it stops before my favorite parts (psalms-they are now raps and minor prophets)

tea time

last night was the first steiger tea party that i was able to be apart of. the courtyard area was turned into an oriental style tea garden, with fabric hung from the carport cieling and walls, carpets and low cushions to sit on, candles and torches as light.. there was a page full of tea varieties being offered (the best was yogi tea, of course..) and michael stood on the street in front making giant soap bubbles and inviting people in. the rest of us made tea, served people, or sat around talking with our guests. everything was free. i was happy to see a guy i talked to during the last euro-cafe street event came back, and we had some good conversations.. definatly a cool evening (well.. night..it didn't end till around 3am).

josh ritter in oxford

here's a sample of the concert we flew over to see.

long live the queen

aparently pirate kidnappings are only a week long.. at least this one was. my pirate returned me to the karlsruhe shores safe and unharmed (well..mostly.. can't say my foot isnt a bit sore). this was definatly the best birthday present i have ever had.. or heard of anyone else having.
the first two and a half days were spent in oxford, where we saw a lot of sights and then biked over to the josh ritter concert (this was the real reason for the whole trip). the oncert was amazing.. he played well over two hours. i had a seat on a sofa for part and then sitting on a little table for the rest. andreas was bored. he claims to like metal.
the rest of the week was spent in london.. where we came no where near to seeing everything. but we did go to the glorious undead church to meet up with some friends of mine.. kameal and his wife (and surprisingly tina, who i forgot lives there). the GU is similar to the jesus freaks, and i knew some of them from freakstocks past. we of course followed church with a visit to brick lane for indian food.
we were also able to attend st paul's cathedral for evensong. but the real highlight in london (for me) was that we were able to (after standing in a line for over an hour) get tickets (for the very best seats in the house) for "as you like it" (the one with my favorite monolgue) at shakespeare's GLOBE!!! (ok, the 1997 rebuild of it)
and.. as if this wsn't enough.. we saw 2 space invaders and 1 banksy!! thats it really for street art.. but we went to a few museums, since they are all free! we saw the tate modern and the national gallery.

kidnapped by a pirate

tall, dark and handsom has once again swept me off my feet and into a plane..
tomorro i fly to england for a week, and so unless you happen to be meeting up with me there, i guess you just won't hear from me till i get back!!

something new (testament)

some people might remember that i am reading the BIble through chronologically (more or less) in a year, and have convinced some others to as well.. so today we start in on the new testament (follow the link by clicking on the posts title), so if there is anyone out there who was reading along and fell behind, or wants to start up for the second part.. let me know. its more fun knowing who is reading along, so we can encourage one another and sometimes discuss what we have read..

other new things involve me moving this week within karlsruhe. i got a room at least.. so i guess thats a good thing. i am not too excited about it though. kinda an emergency solution. maybe it will surprise me, though. i'll send my new adress out per mail soon. if you dont get a mail by the weekend and would like my address, just leave me a message (or check the spam filter).

look inward

i thought i would offer a slight insight into how i am doing right now. basically.. i'm struggling to find the positive aspects with all the difficult things going on recently. i still don't know where i will be moving to next week (although i am now fairly confident i won't need to find a bridge to sleep under); the current project of teaching other missionaries the german language is stressing me out (why don't they study? why don't they go to language school?? i am sooo not a teacher); the long-term project is still so conceptual that i am having trouble believing we will ever get there (have i mentioned it yet? its to have a "open livingroom/cafe/meeting space/church/counseling center/ emergency center/youth club thing...maybe i should do a post on it seperatly); gram's health and my parents well being is on my mind (and i am too far away to really do anything but pray); my health is still unchanged; and there's this guy biding his time (17 months and counting).

and since i don't just want to gripe.. i will sit here until i come up with a good side. [insert long thinking pause] i have been amazingly reconnected with several old friends recently (asaf and gideon from my time in africa, uwe from the ministry in kassel i worked with is now in karlsruhe, i might get to see an old prayer friend from london soon) [more thinking] and also found ways to meet non-ministry germans (ie possible targets for ministry) through couchsurfing club, the apartment search, and the bike shop that fixed my bike for cake (twice). also.. i am almost finished with the old testament! woohoo. (now if i could just do a theology masters and my thesis on minor prophets...) [some praying] and i do believe God has a place in mind for me to live.


thanks for the prayers and birthday greetings. still waiting for that lamborghini to arrive.

apartment update (prayer request) II

so..i lost the apartment. the landlord called this afternoon while i was at steiger. they said there was nothing i could do to change their minds.
i still have to move out of this place.. sooo... i am looking again (as in actively.. have three appointments for tonight).

apartment update (prayer request)

so.. i just got back from an exhausting excursion. i went to meet my new landlords at 6pm.. i thought we would be making the rental contract (as did my new flat mate).... but instead, they gave me a form to fill out "selbstauskuenft" (personal information) with things like where i work and how much i make... and they asked a lot of questions. they seemed quite nice, but were worried as to the nature of the steiger verein. then they informed us that there are other interested parties for the apartment, not just me. oops. friends of friends or something. i am REALLY worried. i already told my flatmates here in chaosland that i am moving out (and have been getting the fallout) several weeks ago, and we found my replacement several days ago. soooo... if for some reason i cannot more into this new place, i still have to move out of my current one.. oops.

so i rode from that interview back up to steiger, and asked michael (the boss man) to take time away from his young sick son to write me a reference.. got a good one.. then grabbed some info letters and brochures about steiger, ate their leftovers, and rode all the way back to the new apartment to give them to the landlord.. and then came here. by the way, this is a record ot day in karlsruhe and i rode my bike for about two hours back and forth and back again.. so i am dead tired. but hey..good workout.

so.. please, pray that they decide i am a decent person and a qualified renter and let me move in next weekend!! otherwise i'll be looking for a comfy bridge to put my red sofa under..

i'm old now.

saturday was my birthday.. and not just any.. i turned *gasp* 30.

friday night andreas took me out for croatian food (meat and more meat) then we headed over to the "socks bar" where we hung out on the patio with about 20 people from steiger. at midnight the waitress brought out a free bottle of champagne to ring in the new year-of-cate. and people started opening bags and putting gifts on the table! i was surprised.. i didnt expect gifts at a party they had to buy their own food and drinks at. when the patio closed, we went to anja's for the after party- she lives around the corner. we got to bed around 6am...

saturday we were kinda beat.. can't imagine why.. so the plan of a day trip to strassburg or a kajak tour got cancelled in leu of hanging out in the garden and going for indian food. my favorite indian place had live bluegrass music (what the?!?!) so instead of the romantic garden, we opted for the quieter inside.. but that put us closer to the evenings buffet :-) my oh my.. i think i ate more than in the entire past year. it was soooooooooooo good (and kate: you must come here and eat with me- its the best paneek paneer EVER).

sunday the big news broke: Andreas is taking me to ENGLAND to a concert of Josh Ritter (my favorite singer of the past 3 years- check him out) in oxford... and since we'll be sooo close he asked if we should stay a bit longer and see london for a few days? uhm, YEAH. so in sep i will be europes happiest little travelor. any tips for what to see and do?? (i already found an adventure boat tour and my FAV shakespeare play at the Globe).