Kera's 1st Ramblings...

V-ball Pirita I,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

Wow. That's all I'm saying about my experience so far in Estonia. There were some downs at first but the ups have outnumber them 74365 to 1 (that is an exact count). Emily took this picture at the volleyball game and devo at one of the Baltic Sea beaches...as you can see it was absolutly AMAZING! In this picture I am trying to stay warm... Peeter (my Estonian fiance) is on the right and Jaime(the oldest girl Banks) is on the left with some of the girls there. Volleyball was fun. My passion is the younger teens and working with them so I had a great time getting to know the two girls there (I renamed them Mary and Sally because I was butchering their names so badly... funny thing is, now EVERYONE is calling them that... it makes them laugh and that makes my day). My 'best friend' Anna (Anna-mul) is amazing and she is acting like our semi-tour guide. She speaks 4 languages and is the CEO of her own company (her father is Nikoli, the preacher at the Russian Church here).
I've made a lot of lifelong friends here and I'm starting to build really wonderful sharing relationships with each of them... it's REALLY amazing what God puts on your tounge to speak to people... it's still a overwhelming feeling! Alright, that's all I have to write...
-KERA

Volleyball at Pirita

Sunset,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-5

We played volleyball and had a devo on the beach yesterday evening from about 7pm to 9:30pm. There were no nets up on the volleyball courts so we decided to stand in 2 huge circles and pass the ball back and forth. It was a lot of fun. I'd say there were about 25-30 people there. We met a guy named Stas from the Russian speaking church. He was really funny when we were playing volleyball; he kept saying stuff like "come guys let’s play now" or "everybody move your feet". I thought it would be funny to start calling him coach. During the summer he is a tour guide. He brought a guy named Dennis from the Ukraine with him to the beach. Dennis just happened to be on Stas' tour that day, so Stas invited him to come along. Somebody else there says he does stuff like that all the time. I thought that was awesome.

Sometime the culture clash we experience is very obvious. For example, after we played volleyball and began to gather for the devo, Dennis from the Ukraine proceeded to change out of his shorts back into his pants as he sat right next to Tandy on the bleachers. I didn't even notice, except later realized he had pants rather than shorts on. When we got home Tandy told me what happened.

Adam (for those of you who don't know Adam had Jonathan as a professor at ACU and he almost failed his class. he, he) led a devo. He focused on chapter 12 of I Corinthians and talked about how the body of Christ spans the entire world, and that each one of us serves a specific purpose within the body. He challenged all of us to acknowledge our gifts and use them to reach out to others. Good job Adam!

Click here if you want to see some other pictures that I've downloaded.

Drew in a tree

Drew in a tree,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

This is the littlest Banks. I think I've mentioned him in previous posts. He reminds me a lot of Jake when he was this age. Very animated young fellow.

Bus Stop Walk II

Bus Stop Walk II,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

We walk 20 minutes to the bus everyday. There are several bus stops to choose from, and we usually choose the route that has the best scenery...and this is it. As you walk down the last stretch to the main highway there is a canopy of trees and as the skyline opens at the end you can see the ocean and Old Tallinn at the other side of the bay. It's an amazing view.

The bible study went wonderfully yesterday. Tandy and I met with a Russian/Estonian woman named Maria. She reads English very well, but needs work on conversation. We showed her photo albums of our homes/families/friends... so if your reading this blog there's a good chance an Estonia woman is walking around with thoughts of your image in her head... ha,ha. She liked seeing the pictures. We read a passage from Luke and discussed it a little bit. She was very interested to know about our lives in the US, so a lot of the time was spent getting to know each other. Meet people where there at, right Ron :). Thanks to all for praying for us. It's fabulous to have such a support system.

And now for a random and completely unrelated story... Yesterday, we were walking through the town square when Tandy grabbed my arm and said, "Hey, is that Jack White?" He's a somewhat shocking fellow, and from behind it really looked like him. Basically he wears black leisure suits and has long black curly hair toped with a turban. So, I proceeded to walk along side him until I could see his face. It was him, so like any other weirdo fans we followed him for a bit until we could work up the courage to say something. He told us he doesn't take pictures, but he shook our hands... which was especially nice because my hands were freeeeeezing! It was so completely random. For those of you who don't know, Jack White is the lead singer of a band called the White Stripes. He also had a small role as a fiddle player in the movie Cold Mountain and has music on the soundtrack. Apparently his band is playing a concert here tonight. It was a funny experience.

I would like to send out special thanks to my Dad, Phillip Stewart :), for buying me a fantastic digital camera... for without which this blog might not be half as visually stimulating. I love my camera.

Becca... I too was rolling last night when reading your comments, after which I did a reenactment of the Jane and Michael Banks song for Tandy so she could understand the joke. It was GREAAAAAAT!

Please Say a Prayer

Tandy and I have our first bible study tomorrow morning at 11am. For those of you in Texas, we are 8 hours ahead of you...New Mexico, 9 hours. I'll let you do the math. The woman we're meeting with is a Let's Start Talking student. Basically we'll have a get-to-know-you sesson, see where she is in her study, possibly recap, and start from there. I know everything will be fine, but honestly I'm nervous. So, please keep us in your prayers. Kera has a study on Wednesday night, while the rest of us will be hosting a volleyball/devo gathering. Keep those things in your prayers as well.

Kera lead a bible study for all of the ladies in the house tonight. She did a great job. Much props to my lil sista. He he. (she doesn't like being the baby)

Check out the Banks' website. There daughter Jamie has taken most of the photos and I believe that Jamie and her brother Jeff designed the site. I'm a fan.

Historic Bus Ride

IMG_0030,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

This photo documetns our hour-long-pointless-middle-of-no-where bus ride, which concluded with what we guess was the bus driver yelling at us in Estonian to get off the bus. After which he made a U-turn and allowed us to get back on. Tandy is holding huge orange grocery bags and if you look closely Kera's pant leg is all wet. Did I mention it was raining cats and dogs?

The Dorm Room

IMG_0027,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

Tandy is modeling our fabulous room in the Banks house. We love it... except Tandy is always saying it stinks (um... tandy, smeller's the feller!) or it could have been that we didn't take showers yesterday because the hot water heater went out. You can be the judge.

Prom Dress Pose

IMG_0188,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

Here's our little Estonia team. Front Row: Tandy McGee, Me, Kera Back (the baby of the group at the ripe old age of 19...I just got done telling her "ugh, you're youner than my brother :)", Jason Bragg. Back Row: Esteban Lucio, Adam Cook. Also taken at DFW

Our Huge Traveling Group

IMG_0189,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

So, this is basically our mission team and the Banks family. They are a huge family, but it was great to have them with us. This picture was taken at DFW before we left.

Church

IMG_0204,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

This is a Russian Orthodox church in the middle of old town. We were able to go inside, but couldn't take pictures.

City view

IMG_0209,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

You can see old town in the the forground and the newer part of the city in the background.

PICTURE TIME!!!!

Okay folks, here are some photos. I'm still having a few computer problems... right about now the internet is about as slow a snail. I'm trying to be patient. ENJOY!

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from emilyJean tagged with Tallinn. Make your own badge here.

Technical Difficulties

For those of you who have been waiting patiently for another post, I'm sorry it has taken me a while to get this done. We have a laptop in our room, but we always manage to get it stuck off-line. Thankfully there's this guy named Peter who is usually around to fix it for us. He is an Estonia who is friends with one of the older Banks boys named Jeff. I can't really remember how they met, but the Banks sort of informally adopted into their family. Eventually, he decided to get baptized and he as Jeff if he would baptize him. It was really cool to hear Jeff tell the story.

We encountered our first Estonian church service today. The entire service was in English, so we had no problems. This evening we'll go to an Estonian speaking service. That should be interesting!! We had three Estonians help us find our way back home today. Stas, William, and Anna made sure we got on the right buses. The whole group is now out to lunch. Tandy and I opted to stay at the apartment because we have a big dinner planned this evening. They are all so nice, and amazingly enough Anna has a friend who lives in a town near Albuquerque with her mother. She said she plays basketball for the high school there, but she couldn't remember the name of the town. She said she'd find out for me. We truly live in a very small world. Also, Tandy and I realized that we have friends who are currently on a mission trip together in Thailand. How random is that? We figured that out by looking at some pictures that her friend had e-mailed her. Boy, have I got connections or what?

We got on the wrong bus yesterday... road the bus to the end of the route and then the bus driver kept yelling at us until we got off...very traumatic, but a learning experience non-the-less. We won't make that mistake again.

Much love to all!!!!

First Impressions

Well we left DFW at about 3:52pm and arrived in Frankford, Germany at about 8am. We had a 5-hour layover there, and then flew directly to Tallinn, which was a 2-hour flight. Luckily we had some very knowledgeable traveling companions, another missionary family named Banks (like George Banks... Mary Poppins/and Father of the Bride as Tandy noted/or the Banks from The Fresh Prince, Kera says). There are 9 Banks children in all, but not all of them were traveling with us. The littlest Banks, Drew, is my favorite. We hadn't even formally been introduced when he ran up to me and threw his arms around my neck. We'll just say he had me at "Hello" (actually even before that). Basically we just followed them everywhere we were supposed to go, so over all it was a stress free day.

Kera, Tandy, and I will be staying with the Banks family while we're in Tallinn. They have a wonderful home. We have our own room with three little twin beds all lined up in a row. It's going to be dorm life all over again... I can't wait.

The whole group had dinner tonight at the Banks home. Several of the other missionary families already had dinner prepared when we arrived. We met all of the families. They were all very nice and made us feel very welcome.

Tomorrow will be "get to know the city" day. Clint Hale is the main missionary we'll be supporting while we're here. He will give us the basic tour of the city tomorrow. We are about a 20-minute walk away from the bus stop. We'll be using public transportation the whole time. So mom, it looks like I'll get some good walking in!

Celeste...my blinky ring had quit working. I thought it was a goner, especially after I ran it under the water as I washed my hands. But then, just as we were waiting to board the first plane I looked down and its power was magically restored!! The power lives on!! It could only mean one thing--CELESTE BECKER is with me in spirit! What a roommate :)

Here Goes Nuthn'

scarycloseup,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

I'm headed to Tallinn, Estonia on Wednesday June 22nd. We'll depart from DFW at about 2pm. Today I've been running around trying to get this and that done. Thankfully Jenny came to Denton for a little moral support. I think I've almost got everything I need accept a few elemental items: an eye mask (there are only 6 hours of darkness in Estonia this time of year) and an electrical adapter for my hair dryer (every girls best friend).

There are 5 other students traveling with me: Tandy, Kera, Esteban, Jason, and Adam. Perhaps you will here from them time to time just so nobody gets bored by my ramblings. We will be working with a missionary family by the name of Hale. Follow up LST bible studies and a youth camp make up most of our agenda. WHAT AN ADVENTURE... YEAH GOD!

By the way, this is a picture of how I look when I'm trying to get ready for the trip.

I love you all!!!