Our first meet went very well. We had three first-place finishes, a second-place, two third-place finishes, and no injuries. Our first place finishers all won orchids and Belgian chocolates. Needless to say, we are all getting our fill of Belgian chocolate. The meet went pretty quickly and we were able to make it to the train station to catch the last train from Oordgem to Brussels without a snag. When we arrived in Brussels, our group split into guys and girls because hostel rooms are so scarce.
Getting to our hostel in Brussels was an experience. Now, I've never done the Special at Ultimate Training Camp, but I'm pretty sure that between our four days spent as track gypsies and the trip to the hostel itself, I have lived the european version of the Special. We arrived at about midnight to our hostel - after a 30 minute train ride and a 25 minute walk uphill, pulling rolling suitcases over cobblestones, and not having a decent meal in our stomachs since lunch before the meet began. After I pulled my luggage up four flights of narrow, twisty stairs, I crashed for the night. The breakfast at the hostel was one of the best I've had (second to the Moroccan BandB), so that made everything worth it. We had Sunday as a day to take and unwind. Some people went out to the "suburbs" of Brussels to watch the Tour de France, but since I don't think I will be back in Brussels any time soon, I spent the day with Jodi (our fearless leader) and roamed the streets of Brussels, taking in all of the tourist sites and having a grand time eating chocolate, ice cream, and watching The Tour on a big screen TV in the middle of The Grand Place. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
Monday we met up with the guys again and traveled to Leuven, our home until July 24th. The town of Leuven is beautiful. It is a european college town - home to 40,000 students during the school year and then emptying out over the summer, save for some international students and the locals. Words cannot express how much I love it here. There are parks and bike lanes and I just love it. I can't even form actual sentences to describe it, I just do. The weather has been unseasonably warm (according to locals), but I think it's just about perfect - 85 to 90 degrees, breeze, no humidity, and some light cloud cover. Next week it is dropping to more "normal" weather of mid seventies and rain.
Our days are starting to settle into a routine - breakfast at 8, prayer time at 830, team meeting from 9-11, lunch around noon, practice from 3-530ish, and dinner around 630. This weekend we will have two meets so that means we may or may not be able to watch the Netherlands/Spain final. However, track meets seem to have bars here for the spectators so I am hoping that I will be able to catch at least some of the game when we don't have people out competing on the track.
Prayer requests:
Monday we met up with the guys again and traveled to Leuven, our home until July 24th. The town of Leuven is beautiful. It is a european college town - home to 40,000 students during the school year and then emptying out over the summer, save for some international students and the locals. Words cannot express how much I love it here. There are parks and bike lanes and I just love it. I can't even form actual sentences to describe it, I just do. The weather has been unseasonably warm (according to locals), but I think it's just about perfect - 85 to 90 degrees, breeze, no humidity, and some light cloud cover. Next week it is dropping to more "normal" weather of mid seventies and rain.
Our days are starting to settle into a routine - breakfast at 8, prayer time at 830, team meeting from 9-11, lunch around noon, practice from 3-530ish, and dinner around 630. This weekend we will have two meets so that means we may or may not be able to watch the Netherlands/Spain final. However, track meets seem to have bars here for the spectators so I am hoping that I will be able to catch at least some of the game when we don't have people out competing on the track.
Prayer requests:
- Our new friend Philip - We met him in Ghent and he is asking a lot of questions about what being a Christian looks like and what it means if his friends and family are not. Please pray that his heart continue to turn towards the Lord and that we have wisdom to answer the questions he brings us.
- Our new friend Kyrsten - She is a server at one of the restaurants here in Leuven where we like the frequent. She is a believer and is just passionate about life. We were able to watch the football/soccer match last night with her. Please pray that we continue to be able to hang out around her and be encouraged by her attitude and that maybe we can teach her some things about Christ in the process.
- For our team - That we can continue to grow as a team in unity, continuing to humble ourselves and serve one another. Please pray that we continue to have good attitudes when travels and situations are not what we are used to (i.e. - slower, less rushed, not American).
That's all for now. I will try to update more but I make no promises.
Rach
Being a true grandma, I REALLY enjoyed this update (or any update I guess). I'm so grateful that things are going so well for you. I hope you have time to keep posting - it's inspirational to all I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteLove - Grandma Fran