Thursday, April 5, 2007

Gatlinburg/Nashville Trip Part 1

Traveling alone, ahhh, what a lovely experience! I have to tell you all that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I don't think I've ever been in an airport and felt so free. Now, don't get me wrong, I love traveling with my family, but it just gets burdensome sometimes. This was the first time I have ever traveled alone and I am tempted to do it more often. It all went so smoothly and seamlessly that I'm still waiting for something to turn up missing, because it seems too good to be true that I didn't lose or forget anything.

Ok for those of you who do not know, I spent March 31-April 4 in Gatlinburg and Nashville with my dear friend, Diamond, and her family. She had invited me to go on a retreat with her youth group early last month and wonderfully enough, my dad bought me a ticket and Friday afternoon I flew out to Nashville to get on a bus with 40-50 teenagers. Hehehe, Diamond knew what she was doing, she knows rowdy teens and me don't exactly mix all that well. She knew that my comfort zone was adult interaction, not teen interaction. She knew all that and still expected me to have fun and act civilized(in other words, not to chuck a shoe at the little screaming mimis on the bus), and guess what, I did. I knew she knew all this and I knew that the point of this trip was for me to learn how to adapt to my surroundings even if it meant I had to act retarded 95% of the time( I didn't have to btw, you'd be surprised how civilized Christian teenagers can be...). Anyway, so I did, I learned how to come up with things to say to them, start a conversation- something I really wasn't all that good at, especially about 2 yrs ago when I met Diamond, Oy! I had a ton of fun, learned a lot about myself and about the body of Christ and that was only in Gatlinburg!

There is so many things to talk about and so many pictures to share from this trip that I'm going to break it up a little. I'll expand on everything more a little later. But for now, these are some of the things that I've learned this week:
~All teenagers are somewhat mature, they just find it easier to ACT immature.
~Sharing a bathroom with 7 other people is tolerable.
~I'm one of the Committed.
~I am who I say I am.
~I control how I react to a person, group,or race.
~There is beauty in Punk Rock...
~I really am a Photographer.

5 comments:

Steffi said...

I am glad you enjoyed yourself. I also love the freedom at the airports but it can also suck a lot!! Is Gatlinburg for religious purposes or is that only the name of a city??

Gypsy Purple said...

Wishing you a happy and blessed Easter

don said...

Fine pictures of you both! The pictures tell a story, but the comment is especially informative. Young people have such interesting outlooks! Have a meaningful Easter.

Anonymous said...

life sure fun sometimes, especially when you're out there alone trying to cope with life...

sigh, i never went to airport... hurm, poor me

Unknown said...

I should have responded to this all a lot sooner, but I rad them on my email and forgot about them, sorry.

Steffi- Gatlinburg is a city in Tennessee about 5 hrs away from Nashville(where I flew in).

Gypsy Purple- Thank you, My easter was wonderful, I hope your's was as well :)

Don- Thanks! As always it's wonderful to hear from you. Hope your Easter went well.

Madnilk- Thanks for visiting! Life sure is wonderful :)