Home Away From Home

Hello everyone - It's been quite awhile. We finished our Capernwray duties about ten days ago (to be exact). It was a lovely experience - so lovely, in fact, we are going back for a week two days from now. Since leaving the beloved place, we have been to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Billingham, and now Manchester. We spent a lovely week with Molly's relatives in Aberdeen. They were so lovely to show us the area and just take us in like I was apart of the family. (And Gretchen made some delicious home made meals!) We saw many historical buildings, and I think our favourite was Dunnoter. It is a castle ruin right on the sea cliffs. SO beautiful. It actually started to drizzle rain, so it really added to the overall ''ancientness''.

Next, we move on to the story of Edinburgh. It was... well, an experience. We were in a room with who knows how many other people. And well, they decided to come into the room at three thirty in the morning - slamming doors, laughing and talking. Not cool - the second night that happened, the girl we met from Finland actually shouted, ''Shut UP!''. I was secretly cheering her on in her outburst, because I was dealing with my own rage and trying to keep cool and not start yelling, screaming and throwing stuff - haha. Besides this MINOR detail, Edinburgh was so full of history, we decided to take a three hour walking tour. This was a very smart thing to do, because you see alot and are told so much history about random things. For instance, there is a heart carved into the sidewalk/cobblestone on the main road - just random - and apparently people will spit on it for good luck, because this is where the old tollbooth used to be (for collecting taxed) and the townspeople would spit on the door of it, in disgust obviously (not sure how disgust turned into good luck...)

A few days later we ended up south of Newcastle, hanging out with our friend from Capernwray New Zealand, Adam. He works as a volunteer in Billingham at a church. Molly and I got to hang out with the youth group kids - what enthusiastic children! A day later we decided to treat ourselves to a B & B in Windermere. This is in the Lake District AKA beauty. We went on a little hike and then decided to walk to the next town for a little bit of hot chocolate and bananas. Ps: Swans are not all pretty and graceful - they like to stalk Ericka Brown, don't know why.

After a good sleep and delicious breakfast, and of course, the pandemic of swine flu resting on our shoulders, we set off to our 'home' in England. Because of some miscalculations of train passes we weren't able to go some places and had extra days - why not spend it with friends in a castle?

So now, here we are at The Hall once again, hanging out with our friends we made and meeting 110 other new students now here. It's quite amazing how you can meet someone and become so close so quickly - it's really a blessing from God. I can't believe the friendships both Molly and I have begun, and I know they will last for quite some time - actually, forever. I will leave you with this picture - it was from a few weeks ago, but it's just fantastic.

Left to Right: Andrew, Belinda, Martina, Janine, Luke, Me, Molly and Tamara

Bizarre Border Lady to Bizarre Hair Day

CONNECT: Kid's Camp
(i have dreads, sort of- and molly has teased her hair)

Wow Folks - It's been a long time, and we do apologize. We arrived at Capernwray on the 20th of March - after a struggle at the border. The border patrol lady didn't quite believe we were volunteering at a Bible School and apparently we didn't have particular documents needed (we were unaware that we were supposed to have these). She called us unorganized and basically stupid and then cause us to miss our train to Carnforth. PERFECT! After a long trip, we got to Carnforth - here we thought we might have been forgotten because no one picked us up for about an hour.

Over the next few days we got to know some of the former students that were working over their one month break. --- insert picture of lorea and hannah ---- These two are Lorea and Hannah. Molly and I bonded very quickly with these girls. They were just ridiculously welcoming - and quite hilarious too!

(molly, hannah, lorea, and ericka)

Lorea and Hannah ended up leaving the first week because they went traveling. By then we got to know almost everyone else on staff. Our favorites: Belinda Nyabako (student - Zimbabwe), Martina Bukovska (student - Slovakia), Janine De Waal (kitchen staff - Holland), and Andrew Wilson (receptionist - N. Ireland). And of course there are many more. --- insert photo of all of these people ---

(Belinda, Molly, Ericka, Andrew, Janine)

Let's explain our living arrangements. Ericka is in the castle on the upmost floor with four other girls, while Molly is in a van down by the river!!!!!!!!... just joking. Molly is down yonder in a building called the conference hall. She lives in the rooms underneath it with five other girls. Our jobs have changed since the beginning of our stay here. At first, we were both part of housekeeping. There were no guests here at Capernwray for the first week, so the 20 or so of us as staff did 'spring cleaning'. Basically, hardcore cleaning of every single room....and there are a lot of rooms here! The weekend following we had a women's retreat. Eighty women were here, so Molly became part of the dishwashing crew and I became part of the Kitchen crew. Haha - I feel like I'm at Haggen again, minus the fact that I actually have fun working here. Then the next weekend was a second women's retreat - one hundred and eighty women!! It was crazy. But, the ladies were blessed and refreshed. (Mom- I think you would have enjoyed this women's retreat). Right now, we're in the third week and there are 161 kids here, between the ages of 10 and 14. They are just a delight! Both Molly and I are slightly involved. We are room leaders - so, we hang out with about ten girls each from 10:00 pm to 10:20 pm. We just talk, play games and get to know eachother. It's also a time for us to discuss with them the talks of the day about Jesus. It's a lot of fun!

(John Dewitt and Martina)

We've been doing some other crazy things during the few days here and there when we don't have anyone staying at Capernwray. We've played lots of games like sardines and hide-and-seek in the Castle at night- it's perfect because it gets really dark and there are so many rooms that it's kind of creepy. We've also started up Ultimate Frisbee - WOW, we are out of shape!

It's sad to think we only have a week and a half left, because we developed such amazing friendships already with the staff here, but we hope that these friendships are for a lifetime!

--and now that I've become really cheesy in my writing, we will now hold hands and sing to Michael W. Smith's song, 'friends are friends forever' and kumbyah it up ---

PS: This is our friends Jeremy and Brie-Anne in line for a Disneyland ride!

München

Our experience of München was quite awesome. We had the blessing to stay with our friend Andreas for basically a whole week (thanks Andy!). Molly and I toured the town looking at shops, churches, and eating some delish pastries. We had this one called ''Erdbeere Royal''. Erdbeere is strawberry in German - it was heavenly. On wednesday we went to Andy's home town of Ulm outside München. We made it for lunch with his Mom and sister Katrin. They were very nice. After, we decided to climb the tallest Christian Church tower in the world - yup, better believe it. It was, in total, seven hundred and sixty- eight steps. Son of a Nutcracker- our legs were soooo sore the next day. When we got to the top, Andy started talking about how you can feel the tower swaying in the wind - not cool. Molly peeped out of the tower, her legs shaking, took a picture and ran back down to the lower platform. Ericka was trying to steady her panicked breath - (yes, Hillary and Laura, I was a bit scared...haha) and went around the top of the tower. She felt like it was going to crumble beneath her and her legs felt like jelly. When we started descending the tower, it felt like it would go on forever and you would almost get dizzy from going around and around and around. Later that night, we went back to Andy's parent's house and had dinner with his parents, two sisters and one of his brothers. What a great family. Andy's Father was so funny! Before we left, he gave us both silk ties from his work - haha, he said ''Give these to your father or boyfriend''. Oh man- what a guy.
The next day we had an emotional trip. We decided to go to Dachau, a former concentration camp, now a memorial to those who lived and died there. There's really no words to express the feeling that you have when you're there. It's so full of stories and information - for one, Dachau was the first concentration camp, an example for all the rest, and it was the only one that kept running from start to finish. Afterwards, it really makes one have a lot of respect for those who lived to tell the tale. SO many of the men that were there wrote stories, biographies, and/or gave tours of Dachau after they were liberated. Can you imagine? Giving a tour to a bunch of people to your personal hell on earth? Wow - it's really quite amazing.
Also - Andy set up a party for us. Eleven capernwray friends were there (plus two new friends)! It was quite hilarious. It was so good to catch up with all of them and just laugh.

peace

One Word: Copenhagen.......and Hans Christian Anderson (second phrase)

(ATTENTION: BEWARE: THIS BLOG CONTAINS LIFE- READ IT THAT WAY, WITH A PARISIAN ACCENT, WHILE PLUGGING YOUR NOSE)

Welcome: We are your hosts, Ericka and Molly. Ericka comes from the chocolate factory called Willy Wonka where Oompa Loompas run free, and Molly comes from the World of A Bug's Life.
We were very fortunate to visit our good friends - Soren, Tanja and Kasper. We stayed with Soren and Tanja in their apartment for the weekend. From delicious pastries to church via bike - that had a sweet basket in front and we put our bibles in it, and molly had a bell, and Molly froze her right nostril and Ericka bruised her femur- it was a danish experience straight from the Great Danes themselves.
On Saturday, our three hosts and us gallivanted across Copenhagen. We started with the changing of the gaurds at the Queen's Palace and ended with a hippie-esque/drugs being smoked/bob marley/woodstock era pusher street (We feel like we mention drugs every blog - we apologize). Through and through, we ate some delicious food and had a full out battle playing the game '' Bohnanza''....and uno. Our trip was refreshing, in the way of hot drinks, fellowship, and laughter. (perhaps too much laughter considering it took three hours for Ericka to eat her burrito)
I hope you are enjoying your lives - blessings upon all of you.

(Tanja, Kasper, Soren)

Our overnight train experience was nothing like White Christmas- no Bing Crosby and no Danny Kaye!

We arrived in Denmark safely! But, lets back up first and explain how we arrived in Copenhagen, shall we?
After saying our goodbyes to Lena in Solingen, at 10:30 in the night, our train arrived to take us to Wuppertal, where we would get on our night train to Copenhagen. We were busy saying goodbye whilst walking towards the door when we hear Lena, in her loudest voice, yell something... we both look back towards her wondering what shes clamouring about... she is running towards us hands flailing. We then realize why she was running towards us, for the door to the train was closing. She was able to save us from missing that train by pushing the button just in time to open the door. Phew!
So once on this train, we had about 10 minutes till our stop. While waiting for our train that would take us to Copenhagen, we find that it is 20 minutes behind schedule. This wouldn't have been bad in the summer time but we're talking Arctic winds chaffing at our faces!
So our train finally arrives, we board and find our ''Couchette.'' Now when one thinks of a couchette, one thinks of a night train and some White Christmas...loveliness! Not so my friends, not so!!!
Back on board the train, we open the door to our sleeping quarters and the most foul odor inflames our nostrils. We could go on explaining the Hannis smell that filled the air around us but if you know us there is only one word for it and what it smelled like....
According to our reservations, we were supposed to be on the top bunk, but no ladder. We were not about to ''King Kong'' it up to the highest loft. Also if you all saw our backpacks, there was no way. We were joined in this small stench room with two other men, who may have been the ones leaving this smell, one shall never know... they were already asleep as we entered this cubicle.
We immediately lied down on the mattress's which were provided. There were some sheets and pillows for us as well, which smelled clean but who knows.
An hour and a half later, in which no sleep occurred for either of us, we hear some loud noises just outside our box car. We then hear a knock at the door and the light flicked on. The police were standing before us, we shoot up from our beds as they ask for our passports. Only Molly and the guy above Ericka gave the police their passports. Ericka was fumbling around to locate hers, while the guy above Molly was ''cutting the cheese,'' the police did not stick around long enough to wait for Ericka.
Not sure if we got sleep or not on this journey, because it was all a blur of stench, bunks, moving lights, and police. Molly does not remember the second time the police appeared, yes they appeared a second time, even though they were shining a flashlight in our eyes.
In the morning, as we were touring the train, we ran into a man from Tobago. (He earlier had tried to sell Ericka a reggae c.d.) He told us of his American adventures of creating and writing music and that he entertained those like Jay-Z. He told us of his time in Amster-D and that he LOVED the coffee shops. He then told us to take one of his C.D's for free and said goodbye with a pound of the fist!
Well, above all, we did make it safe to Denmark. We are warm and safe. We took a bike ride with Soren and Tanya into town to buy some groceries for this weekend, felt so good to get some fresh air on our faces.
Thank you for your continued prayers and hope for a good nights rest tonight!
Much love to you all!!

Mollericka keep laughing because they can't sleep

Yup folks- we can't sleep. We don't know if it's jet lag or because we just figured out there MAY be caffiene in the tea we've been drinking for the past two days. We are presently in hysterics over this blog already. Today we had the sensation of going to Amsterdam. SURPRISE - our souveniour from Amsterdam is a black lung, due to second-hand smoke of marijuana. You can buy and smoke marijuana in a coffee shoppe-wow. Don't worry, we did not participate in this scandalous affair. Amsterdam was fun, none-the-less. We drank coffee at a local cafe (not to be confused with the coffee shoppes) whilst listening to some really good music.
Molly wants us to elaborate on our sleeping patterns to the four people that read this, haha. We went to sleep at about eleven thirty last night and fell asleep right away, no big deal. Whoops! Molly woke up at one thirty in the morning, wide awake. After several attempts to overcome this hurdle, she decided to listen to J.K. Rowlings - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, via her Ipod. Two hours later, Ericka wakes up - wide awake. Ericka was not aware of Molly being awake, and after several attempts to fall asleep, as well, she decided to use her Ipod to check the time on her watch, and possibly, fall asleep to the wonderful musical score of the film, Pride and Prejudice. Right before Ericka turned the light on of the Ipod, she spotted in her peripheral vision, an Ipod glow. She turned around to face Molly and they both burst into hysterical laughter. After minutes of this ridiculousness, we got up to drink some water, etc... We both tried to fall asleep again, but alas, this did not happen. We then listened to the same music and had a dance party for three minutes. Molly did, after an hour, fall asleep. Ericka, did not - what a surprise. Ericka did get, possibly, an hour of sleep before getting up at eight o'clock to start the big day ahead. All in all, we hope to sleep better tonight. And if we don't, this means the tea is the culprit and we will have to exile it to the shelf. Talk to you later...!
Ericka and Molly

Why are their so many hula dancers?

(left: walking around Düsseldorf)
Hello everyone! Molly and I are safely in Solingen, Germany. After the not-so-amazing plane trip (where we thought we would sleep heavenly because we had our own row due to only 75 people on the train, but we didn't because our bodies are dumb) we arrived in Frankfurt at around eleven am. (sorry that this is in underline all of a sudden) We easily hopped onto the train right at the airport...but we missed the train to Solingen due to small children in the railway. So, alas, we were late. While waiting for the next train in Köln (otherwise known as cologne), we wandered about the train station area down
below - what a sight!! There were people EVERYWHERE dressed up. As clowns, pirates, strawberrys - everything. It turns out that it is the german holiday in köln, known as Karnival. It's similar to Halloween, exept more lots of drinking on the streets and singing cheesy songs. It's also more for adults, which was weird seeing old grandpas strolling the streets looking like Robin Hood, rather than kids.
We finally got to Solingen and met up with Lena. Her apartment is so quaint. And it is orange, red and yellow inside. We went to her friend's house and ate delicious waffeln, similar to waffles, with whipped cream and cherries. This morning we went to church via train and listened to a service by a Nigerian pastor. Very interesting, but good - Molly and I looked ridiculous with bulky headphones blasting out the translation. For the rest of the day we enjoyed the town of Düsseldorf, eating at a löffellhaus (cafe known for soup), experiencing karnival, and meeting so many nice Germans. I have been able to practice my German, which was fun and Molly is learning some! Anyways, tomorrow should be amazing - but you'll have to tune in next time to find out! We love you all!

(left: chillin at a local train station)

The Itinerary

Hello! I thought I would let you all know the general Itinerary for our European Escapades.

Day One: Travel for a ridiculous amount of time from Seattle to Solingen, Germany. We leave Feb. 20 and arrive there on Feb. 21.
Week One: Stay with our dear friend - Lena.
Our next destination will be Copenhagen, Denmark - for the weekend. Visiting our friends Soren and Tanja, and Kasper.
Next, we'll be staying with our friend Andreas for a week in Munich Germany.
We'll swing down to Vienna, Austria to see a few friends for a few days.
On our way to Paris we'll be stopping in Salzburg, Austria for a few days. In Paris we'll be meeting up with our friends - Brie-Anne and Jeremy.
We'll be staying at Capernwray Hall for one month - March 20 to April 18. We'll be volunteering, washing dishes and cleaning rooms.
After that- we'll be roaming Scotland and England.

I hope that helps for all of you!

For You Who Asked...

Hello All! -mainly Kimberlee-
Just writing because she asked... I will be posting our itenerary (can't spell) a few days before we leave, which is on February 20th. This blog is for anyone who knows Molly or I and know of our adventures abroad. Please leave comments and/or feel free to email me at: Erickaruth@gmail.com

~Ericka