Last night at the Artemis

Hey everybody! Yesterday was really fun and also really sad. I woke up and took my Paul test and made a B on it, but still have an A in the class!! Yea!! Also took my Humanities test, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with a B in there, but there's no way I could have tried harder for that class. I probably tried 10 times harder for that class than any other one. After all the Finals studying and taking, I decided to chill and play some basketball with all the guys. It was a whole lot of fun. Then, at 8 oclock, we had a special devo on the basketball court, and we all anointed eachother with oil, and told the person we anointed anything we wanted to about them. It was sooo sad, and I am really sad I have to leave now. I feel like I just now got to know everybody and now we're leaving. After the anointing party, we had the slide show for DiMy and Captain. DiMy was crying the entire time. We got pictures from past huggers, with some of ours, and put them on the slide show-plus, we all made a thank you video however we wanted. They were all pretty funny. Anyway, I really need to go get ready for free travel. It's been great, and I'm sad it's over, but i knew this day would come sooner or later. I never really said this before, but I feel like all summer I haven't even been away from ya'll because everyone here reminds me of one of ya'll. DiMy reminds me of Mom and pretty much every girl here reminds me of Hannah and Ashton and Paul looks just like Levi and acts just like Kelsey and BRich definitely reminds me of Dad sooooo much, with all his corny jokes. But I am really going to miss everyone of these people, and I love them all so much. It's really sad, but I need to go get ready for free travel. I love you all, and I will write about free travel when I get HOME!!! Love, Ryan

Final Banquet

Hey, sorry it's taken me a while to write about the final banquet. It was Saturday night. I've just been crazy busy trying to get things ready to ship off, and I have a kind of free day today. No finals at least, but I still need to study for my 2 I have tomorrow. Anyway, about the Final Banquet. It was sooo much fun. We all dressed up in Togas, and we took pictures for about an hour before we ate dinner. Also, our Summer '08 board is done, and it looks amazing, and it's humongous. It's about 3 times bigger than all the other ones. The company did the dimensions wrong or something, so we're having trouble figuring out where to put it. We suggested in the lobby right when you walk in..lol..The set-up was really nice. The decorations were awesome. We ate dinner, and we had STEAK and BAKED POTATOES!! Best meal all summer..lol..and I also figured out that I've lost 30 pounds since we've been here..Is that not insane?? I weighed myself for weighing my bags, and i weighed exactly 100 kilos which is 220 pounds and i weighed 250 before we got here..I still can't believe it. All the girls are jealous..lol..At the dinner, Chad and Harrison and Chris played the guitars and sang some songs, and then Schrambo put on a "magic" show. They were all just stupid tricks to be funny, Then we played some games. Neely handed out the worksheets that we played at the beginning of the year where everyone wrote something about themselves and we had to guess which person it was, and then that night, we just had to write down how many we remembered, and I definitely remembered all of them. Jen and I were the only ones to get all of them. Then, we had a scavenger hunt around the Artemis that was pretty fun. but anyway..After the games, we watched the slideshow that Paul and Neely did. It was awesome!!! Captain and DiMy said it's probably the best one they've ever had. It seriously looked professionally done. It was amazing. Then after the slideshow, some of us watched Dances with Wolves. By the end of it, it was about 2 in the morning, so we all headed to bed. Well, that about wraps up the Final Banquet. Hope you enjoyed it! Keep writing on my blog so I know you're reading over there!! I love and miss you all. See ya'll in 13 days!!

Walking the Sand in the Holy Land

Monday July 14th, 2008

I had class and a test in Missionary Anthropology before we left for Israel at 6 p.m. It was a pretty stressful time, but I was just glad to get everything done and get on our way. Captain couldn't come to Israel with us because Katy Bills was sick, and I was pretty upset about that. I felt really bad for her. She even had to leave Greece to go home to continue to get better. She wrote us a really nice goodbye letter. I was hoping they could meet us in Jerusalem, but I figured it probably wouldn't happen. Anyway, when we got to the airport we stood in line for a while and then they interrogated all of us for a while asking all of us questions. It wasn't really that bad though. We got on the plane, and headed for Israel, and we got to Tel Aviv around 11:30, so I was pretty worn out, and slept all the way to the hotel, and got ready for a long week. My roommates for this trip were Chad Graham and Ross Riggs. Paul and Chad are roomates on campus, and he warned me that Chad talks in his sleep, but the first night was just crazy. He did it pretty much every night, but this night and the last night were by far the funniest. This night, he started screaming, "Come on!! Send the best one up here!! What?!? Come on!! Bring 'em up here!!" It was so funny..Then, that same night later, he just screamed four times and went back to sleep. It was the craziest thing. The last night was by far the best. He just busted out in "My Girl" out of nowhere in the middle of the night. I was asleep and all of a sudden, I hear, "I GUESS YOU"D SAY, WHAT CAN MAKE ME FEEL THIS WAY, MY GIRL, MY GIRL, MY GIRL, TALKIN BOUT MY GIRL. MY GIRL." Then he started laughing and fell back asleep. It was too perfect. I almost got my camera out and filmed it, but I was too tired. Our tour guide was Yosi. He was really cool. Pretty hardcore too. Hahah. Plays his flute well for an army man.

Tuesday July 15th, 2008

Yosi told us in the morning that Israel meant "struggling with God." I thought that was really interesting. We spent the morning in Caesarea. It was built by Herod the Great. It was SOOO HOTT every day. Yosi even said "Going through Israel in the summer is like shopping with your wife." I thought that was really funny..Hahaha. We saw the theater first. It's been reconstructed and people watched comedies here. Yosi played his flute here while Paul held his microphone. Next, we saw Herod the Great's Pool. It's the place where they would come and recite poetry. We saw the Pontius Pilate inscription which I thought was really neat. Caesarea is from Acts 10, and Paul in Caesarea is in Acts 25. I really like when they tell you where it is in the Bible, so it'll make it all more meaningful every time you read it. Next, we went to Megido and saw the Valley of Jezreal, which is also called the Valley of Armagedon. It has a really good view of Nazareth. It is also the best fortified city of King Ahab. It was abandoned in the 4th century B.C. and has never been resettled. There story of Armagedon is in Revelation 16:16. I was kind of hoping that we would look up and see millions of angels come out of the sky, and then millions of demons come from the ground and watch a huge fight there. Hahaha. Pretty crazy, I know, but it would have been AWESOME. Next, we went into Nazareth. It is the biggest Muslim city in Israel. We went to the Synagogue church. It is a really important place. It is where Jesus spoke to the people on the Sabbath in Nazareth in Luke 4:14. It was really special because Yosi said it IS where Jesus was and it just makes it so much more spiritual to know that Jesus was actually where we are standing. It's an amazing feeling, and it's so hard to describe. I just love it.

Wednesday July 16th, 2008

We started the day in Tiberius at the Sea of Galilee. This was probably one of my favorite things we did all week. They hung up the US flag on our boat, and we all sang the Star Spangled Banner which I thought was pretty funny. The Sea of Galilee represents the geographical heart of Jesus which made it very meaningful and spiritual to be floating on it. I didn't really feel very good so I was kind of bummed about that. It's in Matthew 14 where it talks about the feeding of the 5000, and in John 14 with the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus. We sang some songs on the boat, and it was really moving. Next, we went into the Ancient Boat Museum which was really neat. We saw a 2000 year old boat. It was made of cedar that came from Lebanon. After the Ancient Boat Museum, we headed off towards Mount Beattitudes. It is probably the view the people had when Jesus spoke. We're not for sure whether it is the same spot, but it's in the general vicinity of where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. We read the Sermon on the Mount here and it was very spiritual and emotional. We got to swim in the Sea of Galilee, but I didn't do it because I felt really bad. My stomach was just bothering me. It was sad because I really wanted to. Next, we all headed to Capernaum. It's 8 times larger than Nazareth. We saw a Basilica where Jesus was and then went to St. Peter's House from Luke 4:38. Next, we climbed up part of Mt. Tiberius ad saw Bernice's Palace over Tiberius. Titus fell in love with Bernice, but when he became emperor, people didn't want a Jewish lady to be Empress, so they mad him choose, and he chose to get rid of her, so he built her this palace. I thought it was a pretty interesting story. This is just simplified a little.

Thursday July 17th, 2008

We started the day in Bethsaida. It is the hometown of Peter, and it is the 3rd most mentioned town in the Bible. It is one of the five places below Galilee that was visited by Jesus. Bethsaida also has the biggest gate system. After we visited Bethsaida, we went kayaking on the Jordan River. It was sooo much fun. Leah was my partner. We weren't supposed to get in the water, but we "accidentally" fell in. Hey, Yosi told us to. hahah..It is definitely the most disgusting water I've ever been in, but at least it felt good. Haha. I'm pretty sure I was swimming next to a plastic bag and a dead rat half the time. We were behind these kids and it is against their religion to have girls and guys swim together, so we had to stay back while they went ahead, and they were taking forever!!! It was really annoying to have to wait all the time, but it was still tons of fun!!! After, we got cleaned up from the Jordan, we headed to Baniass. We hiked down to the waterfall which was really amazing!! We went into the Palace of Agrippa II, and Yosi played "Dance of the Seven Stars" on his flute inside the Palace. It was really pretty. I got a video of some of it.

Friday July 18th, 2008

We started the day by going to the Jordan River again and Yosi played his flute here. It was called "Love Song for the Jordan River." We also sang some songs here, and there was a guy camping out where we were, and he came out and talked to us. We called him John the Baptist. Hahaha. We drove past Jericho and we saw Mount Carantel which is where Jesus spent the 40 days, and we also saw Mount Temptal which is where Jesus was tempted by the devil. Next, we wandered through the desert for a while. It was really really really really hottt!! But it was still fun. I got a video of people walking through it. Enjoying the nice breeze..lol..After that, we took a sunset hike on the Judean Mountains which was really neat too.

Saturday July 19th, 2008

This was probably one of the hottest days of my life!!! We went to Qumeran first, which is the "hottest place in the entire world" and then we went to Masada, another one of the hottest places in the entire world. It was still a lot of fun though. Qumeran is where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are the most ancient Biblical text in the world. They were written about the 2nd century B.C. Before I start talking about Masada, I just want to start off by saying that I'm really glad that we watched the movie. I can't believe I just said that, but it's true. It made it a whole lot more meaningful and I understood it more, and what happened there. It just made it a lot better, and if we hadn't have watched the movie before, I would have wanted to watch it afterwards. Masada is the place where they had they had the collective suicide of 960 people. Herod created Masada. The Battle between the Jews and the Romans made this place famous. The ramp was really cool. It was made of perishable material so we saw what was left of it. Paul climbed down it. I would have too, if I knew we were allowed to. Yosi showed us the Camp of Silva which was pretty cool. We also saw the Northern Palace. It was a fortress within a fortress. We roamed around Masada for an hour, and I went into a humongous cistern. When we got to the hotel, we got ready to go for a dip in the Dead Sea. I was so excited I just ran in, and it HURT SO BAD with the cuts on my feet. And it was SOOO HOTTT. It was hotter in the water than it was outside. I thought I would feel refreshed, but I just felt even more disgusting after getting in it. It was the weirdest feeling ever!! My head and feet were out of the water at the same time!! It was awesome!!

Sunday July 20th, 2008

We spent the rest of the trip in Jerusalem. We sang some songs while we were driving on the way in: I Will Enter His Gates, As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem, As You Pass Through the Waters, and We're Marching to Zion. It was really moving singing all those songs driving into the city. We went to the Church of Dominus Flavis, and guys have to wear pants in it, and Bryan, Adam, and I only had on shorts, so they gave us skirts to put on. It was pretty funny. Especially since Bryan's skirt was the same length as his shorts. hahaha..I didn't understand why that made a difference at all, but anyway, whatever makes them happy. We went to the Garden of Gethsemane which was by far my favorite thing on this trip. We took the Lord's Supper here, and then we went on our own to look around and meditated for a while. It was soo nice. I could have stayed there all day. I took some flowers from the Garden and put 'em in my moleskine. Next, we went into the city. We saw the Jerish Quarter which is the heart of Jerusalem. We went on top of the roof of the market. We saw people wearing filacteries on their heads which looked like little transmitters. Hahaha. Supposedly, it gives them a closer connection to God. I don't know. Whatever floats their boat. Next, we walked into the Muslim Quarters which is where we ate and shopped in the market. Then, after lunch, we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It's more like amaze or labrynth than a church though. Archeologists are pretty sure this is exactly where jesus died and was buried. We saw the stone of his tomb. It was really neat in my opinion.

Monday July 21st, 2008

We went to the Temple Mount which was really cool. We weren't allowed to take our Bibles in. We saw the Wailing Wall which is known as the Western Wall. It is where they would go and pray because it's the closest point accessible to the Holy of Holies or the Golden Dome. There were many people celebrating their Bar-Mitzfahs here, so it was a lot of fun to watch that. We also had to be divided into men and women. People would put their notes and prayers in the cracks and holes. We saw the Mosque of Tumal which is the Golden dome and the Commercial signal for Jerusalem. It was really beautiful. It's the oldest roof building in Jerusalem. Next to it was the Elaksa Mosque which is the silver dome. It's the biggest mosque in Jerusalem.The capacity of the Square is 250,000 people. Only Muslims are allowed on the Mount on Fridays. Next, we went to the City of David and went through Hezekiah's Tunnel. I wasn't about to go through the wet one. I already about died in the pyramid so I knew I would freak out in the tunnel with water in it, so Jordan, Yosi, and I all went through the dry one. I still almost freaked out in that thing. I could barely even fit through most of the passages. I definitely would have died if there was water in it. Next, we saw the Huldah Gates which is the only entrance to the Temple, so when Jesus came here, he had to have been in this exact spot. It's from Matthew 21:12. It was really moving to know that Jesus had to have been in that exact spot. It was really neat. Another one of my favorite things of the trip was Gordon's Garden Tomb. It is the possible sight for the crucifixion of Jesus. There was skull cut out of the side of the road, so that's what they think "Golgotha" was. They can't say it IS the place, but it can definitely give you a visual of what it looked like. This tomb fits every description in the book of John where Jesus was buried. We went into the tomb which was very neat. The first room is the weeping chamber, and Jesus was probably put in the back right corner. The Burial Chamber is to the right of the Weeping Room, so we cna imagine what Mary did or what happened to her. We had a devo here, and it was really emotional. Anna got up and told us some things about her family that were really sad that had been bothering her for a while, and it was really sad. We also had meditation time in the Garden which was really nice.

Tuesday July 22nd, 2008

We spent the morning in Bethesda, which is the place we were supposed to go to two days ago, but at least we fit it in. We saw the Bethesda Pool which is where Jesus worked miracles. This and the Siloam Pool were pools mentioned in the Bible where Jesus did miracles. We went into the Crusader Church, and Yosi played Magnificat on his flute and Mona Lee sang a song, and we sang the Greatest Commands and We Shall Assemble. It had the best acoustics I had ever heard in my life. It was definitely one of the best memories of this trip for me. I think if I can think of singing in Heaven, then that is what it would sound like. It was beautiful! Next, we went to the Israel Museum. There was a model of Jerusalem from Jesus' time there. It was really neat, and I liked it because we got to see all the places we had been in perspective to where it was to everything else. We also saw the Great Isaiah Scroll. It was really amazing because it was a new display. It wasn't even there the semester before, sorry Ashton. It is the real thing!! The last thing we did for the whole trip was the Holocaust Museum. I was really sad that we ended the trip on sort of a depressing note, but it was still really moving to go there. We saw the Children's Memorial which was soo sad. There were candles set up in glass, and if you stood in one spot, you can supposedly see 1.5 million stars for the 1.5 million children that died. Also, if that's not sad enough, the names are being read and it takes a month to read them all. It plays continuously and tells their age and place of birth too, and also where they died. It was really depressing. Next, we saw the Memorial fo the Places of the Concentration Camps. It had a list of the places Jews were killed during the 2nd and 3rd phases of the Holocaust on the ground with a fire in the back. It was really sad. I'm really glad we got to do it though.

Well, that about sums up the Israel trip. I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience in the Holy Land. I love and miss you all, and I can't wait to see you again!! Bye!! Love, Ryan

Athens Archeological Museum

July 10th, 2008

We went to the Athens Archeological Museum, and overall I really enjoyed it. We split up into different groups and answered some questions that DiMy gave us in a worksheet. It was sort of like a Scavenger Hunt. I really enjoyed doing it this way. We saw a whole lot of things here. We saw the Kouros found at Sounion. We also saw the Statue of a Kore and Kouros. The Kore was holding what I thought was a budding flower. It was really neat. One of my favorite statues here was the statue of Poseidon/Zeus. It was just amazing!!! Another one of my favorites is the Discus Thrower. I thought it would be a lot bigger though. It was just a small bronze statue. We also saw the Doryphorus. In another room, we saw the Statue of Athena. I thought it was very beautiful. Another favorite of mine from the museum is the Horse and Jockey. There's much debate over whether or not they actually belong together because they were found separately, but I think they belong together because they look really similar. We also went into the Santorini room which was really neat. It was just some amazing things from Santorini that remain from the Minoan period such as pottery, rhytons, and frescoes. The frescoes were of the Boxing Children, and Antelopes and the Spring Fresco. I thought they were really beautiful. We also saw the Colossal Arm of the Statue of Zeus. It was huge, and his muscles were humongous. I thought they looked like Paul's arm myself. Hahah. There was also some theater masks that were kind of creepy. Another one of my favorite statues is the Statue of Aphrodite, Pan, and Eros. It just makes me laugh every time I look at it. It's Pan trying to get Aphrodite's attention and Eros is trying to back him off. It seems playful though..Hahaha. We also saw some Zoomorphic vessels. The best one was of this little hedgehog. He was soooo adorable. Next, we walked in the Mycenae room and saw the Mask of Agamemnon. I thought it was really neat. It looked kind of funny though. It was cool, but I don't see why Heinrich Schliemann made such a huge deal about it. Hahaha. This is pretty much what I saw today. At least the highlights of the Museum for me. It was a really neat experience and I am really glad I'm here to enjoy all the wonderful art and sites that we get to see.
Well, that's about it for the Museum. Hope you all are having a great time, and I will see you in 15 days!! Love, Ryan

The Dark Knight

Hey everybody!! Yesterday was probably one of the funnest days on campus all semester. I woke up around 9 and watched Pirates 3, and then after lunch Jared, Paul, and I searched around Porto Rafti for something to use on our face to dress up like the Joker. They seriously had NOTHING. We searched for at least 2 hours, and couldn't find a thing, so we tried to concoct our own inventions at the Artemis with lotion and lard and it definitely didn't work, so we were getting pretty bummed because we definitely wanted to do this so bad. We searched and searched and tried and tried, but nothing seemed to work. Then, we saw the Turkish Delight. lol..We were definitely going to use the powdered sugar on the turkish delight, so we got the empty ones and even ate a few to finish some off, and spread the powdered sugar all over our faces. It worked really well actually, and then we used Anna's makeup for the black and red. We even resorted to using spray paint for our hair. I was really scared it wouldn't come out, but after about an hour and a half of scrubbing and washing, it came out, well most of it..lol..Still feels like paint too though..Then, earlier today Paul said that he put lard in his and it came out, so he definitely put lard in my hair and i washed it an hour later..its a lot better now..smooth too..lol..Jared didn't even do it after spending all that time looking. It ended up being Paul, Sterling, and I. We looked SOOO AMAZING at the beginning, but towards the end it started wearing off. We took so many pictures. It has to be one of the best things to ever happen in HUG history..lol..Dressing up like the Joker to go see Batman? Come on..lol..Also, we got some pretty weird looks on the way to the restaurant we were gonna eat at. Every time someone looked at me, I just busted out my Joker card..lol..When we got to the theater, the people working there loved it and we asked if we could get in free, and they were like..ehhh..lol..We took a lot of pics at the movies too. I was standing in line at the concession stand and 3 people wanted their picture with me..lol..It was awesome, and then while we were sitting there, Michelle and Katy Grant come dressed in as Batman. No one even knew they were doing it, but they made their own outfits and looked AWESOME!! So, we definitely took some pictures with them too.
It was a whole lot of fun. The movie was amazing too especially in the theater cause it's an outside theater and the weather was really cool, and it was tons of fun. After the movie was over, I turned around to these people behind us, and I went up to one of them and said, "Hey, here's my card" in my Joker voice and handed them the Joker card. They laughed like crazy..When we got back, I also made a video. It's pretty creepy if i say so myself. Frank videoed it of me saying, "Why so serious? eh? why so seriou-us? hehehehehe" It's soo crazy..I'm gonna try to put it up on facebook, and Neely said she would put it on the slideshow for DiMy and Captain if I put it on the M Drive and I definitely did that..lol..Anyway, Hope you all are having a great summer, and I will be there in a couple weeks!! Love, Ryan

Back from the Holy Land

Hello friends and family! We just got back from Israel about an hour ago, and I'm completely exhausted. I'm so glad we have a free day tomorrow. I think I might just sleep til 12..lol..Tomorrow night, a lot of the guys are thinking about dressing up like the Joker and going to watch Batman in Athens tomorrow. I'm definitely going to do that. I'll probably only be the real legit Joker since I'm the only one with long hair..lol..but Jared's got his voice down pretty good..hahaha..We're gonna get some pretty strange looks..But anyway, I am really tired, and I'm about to head to bed, so I'll write about Israel once we get our moleskines back so I don't leave out anything. Ashton, we had Yosi as a guide. He was still really good..Pretty funny too..And Mom and Dad, you're welcome for the letter. Every word of it was true. I love you all soo much and I can't wait to see you in 16 days!!! Bye!! Love, Ryan

Time for Israel!!!

Hey everybody!! I just wanted to write a quick note before we left. We're leaving in about an hour and half, but we have lunch in 30 minutes so I will try to do it fast. Today, we had a paper due in Missionary Anthropology, a reading due in Missionary Anthropology, and also a test in Missionary Anthropology...CRAZY!!! So, to say the least, I don't think I did that amazing on the test..lol..We had so much other homework in Paul and Humanities too. I'm pretty much getting overwhelmed. I'm about ready for our 8 day vacation in Israel..lol..Then, we get back, have 3 classes, with no tests!!! lol..and then the Finals start the Monday we get back. Thankfully I don't have any finals on Monday, so I can study for my tests on Tuesday which will probably be two of the hardest ones: Paul and Humanities. (I'm saving my Paul notes for you, Pop, in case you want to look at them as you prepare.. They're pretty good note taking if I do say so myself..) lol...Captain taught Humanities today. We went over Islam and how it came about and what they believe. It was pretty interesting. Well, I'm guess I'm going to go finish packing and make sure I have everything. I miss you all and I hope you're having a great summer! I guess I'll talk to you when I get back next Tuesday!! Oh yea..I also sent everybody an itinerary for Israel in case you wanted to know where I was and what I'm doing on each day..Hopefully we can stay with it and nothing prohibits us from doing what we want to do..Also, Katy is still really sick and so she can't go with us. I feel really bad for her. I would hate to have paid all that money and not get to do one of the best trips offered here. I think her and Captain might meet up with us in Jerusalem on Sunday if she feels better though, so that would be nice. Anyway, I'm gonna go now. . I love you all and I can't wait to see you in less than a month!! Love, Ryan

Almost There!!

Hey everybody!! Sorry it's been a day or so since I've written. Today has been pretty good. We had classes of course. Just 4 more to go!!! I'm super excited about that. We had probably the best lunch today too. It was definitely my favorite. We had shrimp with this amazing sauce, and calamari. (It was AMAZING!!) I wasn't sure at first, but I tried it and loved it!! It kinda tasted like chicken..lol..Anyway, after lunch, I studied for our LAST slide test!! At least before the Final. It's comprehensive slides..AHHH..lol..I guess I did alright on it. Just as good as I do on any other ones. After the slide test, Paul, Ross, Bryan, Jared, Chris, Jonny, Sterling, and I all played volleyball on the basketball court. We set up the net, and it was tons of fun. Almost as fun as basketball..lol..I'm not as good at volleyball...Btw, all my teams are still undefeated in basketball..lol..It has to be some sort of HUG record..Hahaha..After that, we ate pizza as usual for Saturday nights, and then Adam and I went and played ping pong. I finally beat him today!! I'm getting better..lol..Then, we started Kingdom of Heaven, but the screen was so dark, I couldn't even see what was going on, so I came up to the room, and started working on the photo project I have to do in Paul. We have to have a minimum of 25 photos that have to do with Paul's travels, and places he was and stuff. I have 23 picked out right now. I'm gonna wait til we go to Jerusalem and use some good pictures from there to wrap up the project. It shouldn't be too hard. It should be an easy A to help my grade. Hopefully..lol..Also, I'm still on the last exam for Biology because he hasn't opened it yet still..I emailed him twice, and the first time he wrote me back saying it's good to go, and I looked and it was still not open, so I emailed him the second time and he said Sorry, he'll do it today sometime. I'm just soo ready for that class to be over with. The last exam is due like 3 days after we get back from Israel so I might take it before or just wait until we get back. I'll probably do it before though so I don't have to worry about it with all the other tests we have to do. I have another test in Missionary Anthropology before we leave for Israel Monday. It's all moving too fast..lol..I was looking at all my pictures because I was picking them out for the Paul project and it seemed like just yesterday we were in Corinth and Mycenae. It's just insane!!! We had our third Humanities test the other day..I hope I did alright on it. I studied forever..No matter what I get, I can't say I didn't try. I seriously study for like 2 hours for every test..at least 2 hours..Mainly because there are not that many distractions here. It's nice in some ways, but I definitely miss Friends and The Office every now and then..lol..Anyway, I'm gonna go for now..Hope you're all still having a great summer, and I'll see you in 28 days, and 30 for Ashton/Mema/Papa..lol..Bye, Love yall!!

Day to Get Things Done/ Athens Archeological Museum

Hey everybody!! Today has been really crazy. It's pretty much just been a day to get things done. Today, I finished getting my airplane tickets for free travel. We still have to go through Hostel World and find out which hostels we want to stay at..Also, today I finished the rest of the Biology quizzes online!! Finally..lol..I still have Exam 4 to take. I wanted to do it and get all of it over with today, but it's not open yet. I sent him another email asking him if he could open it. I'm so tired of sending him emails. I wish he would just open them all up so I can do them. Everyone's getting pretty upset with the whole Biology situation. Anyway, we also went to the Archeological Museum today, and it was really interesting. I guess I'm going to write about it when I get my notes back...again..like always..lol..Alright, well when we got back, I started doing Paul homework, and got tired of doing that, so I went out and played basketball with Chad. We talked about High School Basketball. We were pretty much in the same situation. It was a lot of fun. Anyway, that's about all that happened today. Hope you all are having a great time, and I love and miss you all, and I'll see you in less than a month now!!! Bye!! Love, Ryan

The Greek Islands!!

Hey everybody!! I hope you all are enjoying your summer..Sorry it's taken a while to get this on here, but I've been so busy lately..I feel like I'm taking 18 hours..lol..Anyway, here's some stuff about the Greek Island cruise we went on..

My roommates for this trip were Paul Haebegger and Jared Morgan. It was definitely interesting in our room most of the time. I'll explain more later.

Friday July 4th
We spent the day on the island of Mykenos. We didn't take a tour on this island so I don't have that many notes, but when we first got there we saw Petros the Pelican. It was really funny. He was just sitting there, and then Bryan tried to stand by him for a picture and he just went crazy. So, I left there, and then came back later and he was biting some guy's arm. I thought that was pretty funny. I'm guessing he was the owner because he was just sitting there laughing and talking to all the people. Paul and I and a few other people just walked around for a while and then we went through the "Little Venice." It was really neat. We also saw the windmills which were really interesting and Paul and Katy decided to swim out to the rock in the sea. I just decided I would stay and watch their stuff. I really enjoyed Mykenos and I thought it was a very pretty island. That night, we went to the show. It was really cool. They did different dances from all the different countries that were on board the boat. There was also a magician and he did a whole bunch of crazy stuff. He nailed a nail THROUGH his face. I have no clue how in the world he did that, but he was hardcore, and definitely amazing!! He's probably the most focused person I've ever seen.

Saturday July 5th

We started off the day in Ephesus. We started to go to the Temple of Artemis, but the guard was late, so we had to bypass it and go straight to the Archeological Site. We saw an orchestra which would seat 1,400 people. I thought it was very neat. We also saw the Library. The Library was one of my favorite parts of the site. It was huge. It had about 12,000 books. Egypt even stopped sending them papyrus because they were jealous of the amount of books they had. After that, we went to the Domitian Square which had a wonderful view of the city. It was built in the 1st century after Christ. We saw a Palette of Nike which was really cool. Then, there were two pillars with Hercules' figure. He had a lion skin wrapped around his shoulders. I thought those were really neat. After that, we went down to the public toilets, latrines. They were made of marble and they were only for men. They would pay to use them and stay down there for a hours and hours. They'd play music and there was even a pool. I personally think they just went to use it for hours and hours to get a break from the women. It was a really "fancy bathroom." Next, we went to the Theater. This was definitely my favorite site in Ephesus. It could hold 25,000 people and it had 3 sections. It played an important role and still does today. It had great acoustics so of course we had to sing a few songs here. It was also very moving because it is the place of the riot in Acts 19:23 ff, so Paul was definitely there. I really love when we know for a fact that Paul was there because it just makes it so much more meaningful and I will always remember that. It really just makes the story in the Bible come alive. After the Arch. Site, we went back to the Temple of Artemis and took some pictures. Also, we went to the island of Patmos. It looks like a seahorse on the map, and it is the northernmost island in southeast part of Greece. It is very small: Only 34 square kilometers. We can be sure that John was here because of John 1. He came to the cave to pray and today, it is an everyday church. We then went to the Monastery of St. John. It was not a direct link with him. The monks would use 8 hours of prayer, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of assignments or duties to make up their day. After visiting the monastery, we went to the museum. There were 4 sections. 1-books 2-icons 3-ritual vessels 4-clothing of priests. They had lots of copies of the Bible on papyrus or paper and parchment. That night, we had Greek night on the boat, so we all dressed up like Greeks for supper, and then I was too tired to head to the party, so I just went to the room and passed out.

Sunday July 6th

Today, we started the day in Crete which is the 5th largest island in the Mediterranean. It has a population of 500,000. We went to the Palace of Knossos. I thought it was really neat, but it probably would have been a lot more amazing if we hadn't already seen the Temple of Karnak and Luxor in Egypt before it. It was excavated by Arthur Evans. The Minoans used big stones to build it. We saw the Bull Horns which was a lot smaller than I thought they would be. We saw many frescoes. One was of the Toreador or the Bull Jumping, and the other one was of The Ladies in Blue. We also saw the Queen's Apartment which had frescoes with dolphins, so I'm sure Ms. Schramm liked that a lot. There were also storage rooms with HUMONGOUS vases. Some were even taller than me. It was insane. I seriously wonder how they move that stuff around. Next, we went to the Iraklion Archeological Museum. They used olive leaves for burial ceremeonies. We saw the Phaestos Disk which I thought was really interesting. They still have yet to decipher it. There was also a Rhyton drinking vessel with a bull head. After that we went back on the boat, and Paul, Jared, and I watched National Geographic. It's pretty interesting the things you'll watch when it's the only thing in English. lol..It was so funny because we had just got done watching The Orangutan King, and it was the most awesome video ever!! Then, I asked Paul if he was going to go on top of the deck, and he said, "The only thing that will keep me in here is if The Crocodile King comes on," and not even 30 seconds later..The TV goes, "Now, King Croc." We seriously laughed for about 10 minutes straight. It wasn't near as good as the Orangutan King, so we definitely fell asleep. After we woke up, we were in Santorini!! We rode donkeys/mules up to the top of the island. Paul and I walked around the island until we met up with Neely, Lauren S, Shailer, Kayleigh, Tyler, and Audrey. Then I met up with Jack, Andrew, Bryan, Frank, Jen, Leah, Lacie, and Kim and stayed with them until the end. Santorini was really really pretty, but I really wished they would have dropped us off at the nice part of the island with all the houses and everything. I guess we could have taken a taxi, but I didn't have any money with me. It was a very beautiful island though. After we spent the day walking around Santorini, we rode cable cars back down which I thought was a lot of fun. It was Captain's Night on the boat, and so we all dressed up and headed to dinner. Earlier in the day, Chad had proposed to Jordan at one of the restaurants there, and so he announced the engagement at the end of dinner. Everyone knew it happened though so it wasn't really that big of a surprise, but still a happy time. That night at the show, it was soo hilarious. The magician came back out again, and made Sterling take a cigarette and start smoking it with him, and he was like, I don't smoke and then he was like I CAN'T smoke..lol..but he still made him, so he just went with it, and I was afraid he was going to get in huge trouble, but I looked over and Captain and DiMy and the Richardson's were just laughing soo hard. It was pretty awkward. Afterwards, they joked around with him for a while. After Sterling went up there, Jared had to go up there and do some tricks with him. I don't think he could have picked anyone better for that job. Jared was hilarious. It was probably the funniest thing I've seen in a looong time. He was just going with it, and afterwards, he said he thought the guy was mad at him because he thought he was taking the show away from him, but I thought it was alright. lol..He livened it up soo much.

Anyway, that was the Greek Islands Trip. Hope you enjoyed reading it, and I love and miss you all and I hope you are having a greeeaattt summer!! Love, Ryan

Back from the Islands!!

Hey everybody! I just wanted to write on here to tell you that we made it back to the Artemis from our Greek island excursion. Once again, I'm going to wait to get my moleskine back to write about it, but it was definitely a lot of fun..Santorini was amazing. It wasn't as awesome as I was expecting, but it was still really neat. Anyway, I'm gonna go enjoy our day off..probably by sleeping..lol..I'm also going to try to buy my plane tickets for free travel later today, once Andrew gives me a list of the flights he bought..Hopefully there's still seats open on it..lol..anyway, I love and miss ya'll..i'll write about the islands later on..Bye!!

4th of July Bash on the 3rd!!!

Hey everybody!! Sorry I haven't written on here the past couple days, but the internet has been down and just now got back up and everyone's fighting for it..lol..I'll just catch you up on some stuff. Yesterday, we had school as usual. We had our first Greek test. It wasn't too bad..Then, last night we watched another part of Masada. I wanted to die..I know that it'll help when we get there to know the story, but I really can't watch any more parts. lol..I just laugh to keep myself sane during those things..lol..Anyway, we got our grades for Humanites today, and i have a 91 in there, so hopefully i can keep it. It might be tough though down the home stretch with soooo much stuff to do..I'm really trying though..Also, all afternoon today we were working on getting the Artemis ready for the 4th of July Bash on the 3rd...lol..We had to do it today because we're leaving for our cruise tomorrow..which brings me to the next point I need to make, I won't be able to write on here until at least Monday night cause we're getting back Monday. Anyway, back to getting ready for the party,,,I pretty much just walked around seeing if anyone needed help..I kinda helped Paul and Audrey make the cake, then I cleaned up the floors and decorated some, and then helped a little with the burgers. I was just there in case people needed me..lol..The party was a whole lot of fun..We all ate and then we had a pool party..We all had to wear our clothes though..cause of Harding's regulations..We played a game that I had never heard of before. They throw a watermelon down to the bottom and then you dive in for it, and everyone fights for it until someone brings it out. It got pretty intense though. I'm pretty sure Paul almost drowned..lol..Also, the watermelon is extra slippery because you put oil on it first. No one really one because Sterling just threw it out of the pool, and then Paul picked it up and dropped it and it busted on the ground..lol...After that, we played a little basketball until it got dark, and then Schrambo (Chemistry teacher at Harding) put on a little "firework" show..It wasn't technically fireworks, but it was still completely awesome..He had Neely hold a sparkler and he climbed up the stairs, then dropped coffee creamer and it blew up and flamed and caught all the creamer on fire..It was intense!!! I wish i had taken a video of it..Anyway, people are waiting for me to get off of here so I guess I'll just talk to you all later.. I'll write back when we get back to the Artemis from the Greek islands!! I love and miss you all, and I hope you're still having a great summer..See ya'll in August!! Love, Ryan