an excellent --and productive! -- weekend

Those aren't words that are often used together in describing my weekends... but this time, I think it's true. I came to school on Saturday AND Sunday to get work done, and I even skipped the postchurch nap. I went for a long walk, washed several loads of clothes, went grocery shopping, and still had time to eat at a Hungarian restaurant, hit up an Irish pub, and hang out with the other teachers.

Sadly, I still have a lot of work to do! I'm trying to double up so that we can have a Super Bowl party Monday night -- yes, Monday. We weren't crazy about watching a game at 3 a.m. tonight --although that is exactly what I plan on doing Wednesday to watch Carolina play Dook! Hopefully the travesty that was the State game will give the Heels added fuel to trounce them. Seriously -- I didn't see the State game. What in the world? sigh.

This week is special at the school, as it is Spiritual Emphasis Week. I'm kind of excited about it; they have a speaker flying in from Chicago, and we'll have daily chapel. It's really fun to see the students take charge, play the music, and lead prayer and Bible study. Last week, for instance, they decided to focus on worship in a different way. The entire chapel session was free for students to visit different stations and worship as they chose. There was one with art, one with music, and a special room for quiet prayer and meditation. They also had scripture in all the different languages for students to read and meditate upon. It was great to see students with that much freedom to worship and see how meaningful it was to them. I love that the atmosphere here isn't controlling and rigid, but rather stimulating and encouraging.

Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am to be here? even when I'm a little homesick, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Now if I could just transport you guys back home here, life would be pretty perfect!