BorderBorder what?!?

Craziness.. that is the only way to explain the last five days.

I left on Thursday night for this adventure to Kenya with a full belly of chipotle. What better way to start a trip, right?? We got on the 12 hour flight to Turkey and met some really cool people from Cornerstone. We flew to Istanbul and got to walk out onto the ground so I count that as having gone to Turkey (I know... it's not really, but it was pretty cool). That airport was great. Free samples of Turkish Delight and seven dollar tall Starbucks lattes everywhere.

Then we got on the flight to Nairobi. We were advised not to sleep, so I promptly passed right on out as soon as we took off. Woops. I attribute my inability to sleep now to that flight. We arrived at 3:30am Kenya time and met some students from Daystar and Jeff at the airport. After the exchange of money and some words of wisdom, we boarded the bus for our scenic, giraffe filled, thirty minute ride to Daystar University.

We got settled in, and finally asleep by about six. At eleven we woke up and played games all day with some of the students at Daystar. I am so thankful for these people. They are the nicest, and most willing to help with anything people I have ever met. I can tell how much they love God and serve him through helping us Muzungus.

Sunday morning we went to this place called the rocks. This is just a random pile of huge rocks. We could climb all over them and we did some sweet devos with great singing. Then when we came back we had surprise, which was a reserved pool. Sick, right??? It was awesome.

Monday started a whole new adventure which I would have to dedicate a small novel to. Actually I could probably write a long, long book about this Student Teaching. For now let's just say that I officially am the teacher of my own third graders. They only sort of listen because I do not hit them like their other teachers. I taught the whole day on my second day. I ride on the back of some motorbike (called a borderborder) with a guy who flies down bumpy roads. Today I walked home shoeless through the mud because it rained for three hours, my shoes literally were stuck in the mud and I had it halfway to my knees. This is a ridiculous adventure and I am so glad that God knows what is going on because I sure have no clue!!!

With all that being said, I am so glad for this experience. I am glad that I get to figure out how to do really hard things. I am excited that some of the teachers really seem to care about me and want to help me out. I am thankful for the Americans who are here. It is great to come home and be able to be understood and talk about stupid things like ice cream, instagram and other unimportant things. I have met a lot of cool Kenyans, and am thankful that my roommates don't hate me after I got switched into their room at 11 o'clock when they were already sleeping. They are great people and very interested in how life is in America.

I hope all is well back in America! The last thing I am thankful about is the fact that I found pretty solid wifi :) God is good!!

Unique Birds

 How do you catch a unique bird? (Keep reading to find out)

Well, I am in Mahomet once again! I have finished the semester (and passed... woo hoo!!) and have made it back safely and relatively unscathed from the snowboarding adventures in Utah. After six days of riding, I am grateful to say that I have no broken bones nor concussions, just a lot of sore muscles.

KC, myslef, and Amanda in the gondola at SnowBasin

It is amazing to me how beautiful God's creation is. I have never seen anything like these snow covered mountains before. I have been to Utah in the summer, and it is great, but seeing that blue sky and white snow and recognizing the fact that He made our bodies so that we can strap a piece of plastic to our feet and hurdle ourselves down a steep mountain is absolutely ridiculous! It was an excellent week of riding at Powder Mountain, SnowBasin, and Brighton. I think it is safe to say that my skills have improved greatly and that I can successfully dig my self out of almost any 6 foot snow drift (even if it takes a while...)

Day 2: At SnowBasin

Day 4: Long, beautiful drive to Brighton

Pretty gorgeous, eh?!

On the way home to Mahomet, I stopped in Kankakee for family Christmas. It is always an interesting and funny time when you put more than two Schaaps in a room together. My family is funny, strange, and again - just plain funny. My brother told me the joke above. Answer: Unique up on it... yup, gotta love that stuff.

This got me thinking about how much I love the clever, witty, smart, hilarious, and unique birds I know. I am so thankful that I have people who can make me laugh. I am a sucker for a good (or bad) joke.

Classic

In other news, I will be leaving in ONE MONTH for Kenya. My placement was switched to an elementary school and I am quite excited about this! I realize that as things change and come up, I just have to go with the flow and make sure that I keep the most important things first in my mind. I am blessed to have gone to a wonderful school, have great professors, and been well equipped to teach kiddos regardless of age, level or location.

Oh, and 2 days till Christmas!!!! My parents anniversary was yesterday (28 years!) and in just two days all six of us Schaaps will be together to celebrate what an awesome God we have and His birth. Merry Christmas y'all!

We're Going on an Adventure, Charlie!

Well, it is December 9th and I am 22 years old and one month. I think this calls for a time of reflection as well as a time for some thought to go into the future. In the next nine(ish) months, I will be embarking on many adventures that will be crazy. Hopefully they will all be crazy awesome... so far they seem to be heading that way.

Adventure #1:
In the next week, I will be completing my finals and my second to last semester here at Trinity Christian College. This might not sound very adventurous, but it has been an amazing four years and quite the ride itself. Getting through this week will be an accomplishment and I look forward to spending time with my dear friends when we have not one thought of papers, projects, studying, homework, or anything school-related on our minds.

Adventure #2:
In seven days from today, my friend KC and I will be flying out to Utah for a week of snowboarding bliss. We will be riding the beautiful slopes of Powder Mountain while staying with some friends of KC's. I am incredibly excited to get to spend some time with that awesome girl and to ride some real mountains. (No offense Wisconsin and Michigan... you're still cool)

Adventure #3:
In six weeks, I will be taking off again and going a little farther from home than Utah. I will be flying with six other Trinity students to Kenya. Yes, as in Kenya, Africa. I will be staying there for eight weeks and teaching at a school not far from the college where I will be staying. This is part of my student teaching. I will be getting prepared not only for adjusting to a completely different culture, but also getting ready to teach high schoolers. (I have spent the last three years aiding in classrooms with children no older than nine years old... This will definitely take some getting used to...)

Adventure #4:
When I return from Kenya, I will be student teaching somewhere in the state of Illinois (location: tbd). I have spent my college career preparing to be a teacher, and most of the time I am extremely excited about educating the little ones of America. There are still times when my dreams of doing different or crazier things cross my mind, but I am truly looking forward to giving teaching a try and seeing how it goes.

Adventure #5:
This is perhaps my most exciting and newest development in my life. Starting on June 1st, I will be getting out the ol' Cannondale and pedaling it across the whole entire US of A. Yes, this means that I will be riding my bike about 70 miles each day for 60 days. The organization I am doing this with is called Bike the US for MS. It is an incredible organization founded by people who are excited about being active and raising money for people living with MS.

Here is a link to their website and my personal little page: http://www.biketheusforms.org/cyclists/detail.asp?cid=286 

This is a lot to think about, and honestly I am not sure how any of these adventures will turn out. One thing I do know is that I have people who will support me through all of these things, which is one of the biggest blessings in my life. With people like that behind me and a God who knows what's going on, it is guaranteed to be an incredible and ridiculously awesome adventure :)