It’s so quiet here. I think that’s what strikes me the most unusually.
I’m laying in my room, and my roommate has music on in the background, and I’m still blown away by how quiet it is here.
Every once in a while when you’re outside, you hear the thump thump thump of tires on cobblestones as a tiny diesel car rumbles past you going way too fast, and you better move because they aren’t stopping.
No one yells. Anyone who approaches you on the street speaks quietly, and you do get approached on the street a lot because the restaurants here all seem to be competing for the almighty tourist foot traffic.
Everything here is so old, but not in a terrible way. As I walked the streets this morning with a group of friends, I wondered why America isn’t more like this. Cobblestone streets, bright colors, impressive architecture are the norm in this part of the country. I’m sure there are poverty stricken areas like every where else.
The flight from Finland to Tallinn was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced. The sun was setting (sort of) as we flew over the Baltic Sea, and it made me so grateful to a God who would place me in that place at that time.
I miss my wife. I don’t miss the kids yet but I’m sure I will. My wife and I have a special way of making fun of people together, and I really miss that here. We can say more with a look than with words, and just crack up laughing.
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| Alicia look at this guy. Look at him. |
{During the course of this blog I FaceTimed my wife and youngest son and I started crying when I saw him smile at me so maybe I miss the kids just a tiny bit.}
I’ve spent WAY too much money on food. I just want to try all the new things I can.
I’ve determined there is one thing I hate more than terrorism and that’s time zones. Time zones are the worst thing in the world, and I don’t really care for your input on it. I’m sure there are perfectly logical reasons in place for them, but they’re awful.
I climbed 258 stairs in a cramped stairwell full of angry Europeans to get to the top of church spire. The Europeans were angry because as I was going up, a lot of them were coming down, and I’ve got to be honest with you, at stair number 35, I was on the struggle bus. So basically every time they passed me, I’d hit them full in the face with a blast of hot air, and I ate a pretty ripe cheddar for breakfast and let’s just be honest, it wasn’t pretty.
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| Harry! I’ve reached the top! |
My legs are complete jello, and I am wondering how I’m going to do anything at all tomorrow. I wish I could say the view was worth it, but in all honesty I’m petrified of heights and when we got to the landing, it was fenced in, and the gap between fence and spire was about two feet. I myself am probably three feet wide, which was a terrifying situation. I put more pressure on that guard fence than Congress has put on Obama care.
The hotel we’re in is…interesting.
The room I’m in has exposed brick, cedar planks and some sort of drywall texturing. The bathroom is pretty modern. There is no air conditioning whatsoever, but apparently you can leave your window open all day every day over here and no one steals anything. Since it’s about 75 degrees tops, leaving the window open is the air conditioning.
I’m working to focus on the mission in the next couple of days. I’m going to Latvia to spread the gospel. My goal is to use words, but I also want to show them love, an unconditional love that Christ has shown me. This is not a vacation. This is Matthew 28:16-20. This is go ye therefore into all nations.
This is a mission.