26A Huntingdon Road | Cambridge

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1:9

My travels in Cambridge have been filled with so much learning and fun already and I have only just begun. A week ago I arrived in my new home where I quickly learned that duvets are the *WORST* ((especially if you don't know how to part them together properly)) and melatonin can truly be your best friend in those first few days.

I live in what my roommate from Valpo, Ellie and I call the High Tower. It is the biggest room on the highest floor in the house; it is suppose to live three people, but it is only Ellie and I in the room so we have a lot of space to use as our own. As the nuts that we both are, we always ask permission to "Enter the High Tower" before coming into the room if the other roommate is already in there.

I live with 8 other Valpo students; 5 of which are girls and 3 are boys. We also take a lot of classes and trips with the Westfield students one is from Concordia St. Paul, four are from Ghana, and another is from Bulgaria. Together, along with our professors and advisors, we make up our little family for the semester and if I had to guess for a long time after that as well.

One of the first few things I learned about was Sunday Roast. This is usually the one time that families in the UK get together for a whole family meal or to go out to eat. As a true family we went out to eat at Sir Isaac Newton Pub; the meal is your choice of a roasted meat like beef, chicken pork or my favorite lamb and a myriad of cooked vegetables. It was a great first taste of British food and what was to come of this semester.

Cambridge is founded (a long long time ago) on the river Cam and a really good way to see the city is by punting, which is a type of boat. When I went it was an especially beautiful day and I went later in the afternoon so the sun was setting making Cambridge even more beautiful then it already is. Although punting is definitely the most luxurious way to get around walking, or better yet biking is the preferred way to move about the city. As a Church worker, history geek, Valpo tour guide, and aspiring photographer seeing the picturesque antique Chapels and Churches in Cambridge was reason even to study abroad here (not to mention Harry Potter). King's College Chapel is the only collegiate Chapel that is larger than Valpo's Chapel (which I miss dearly!)

Churches are on a whole other level here in the UK; the other problem is no one goes to church. They have massive churches like this and the Westminster Abbey but come Sunday morning they are empty. It is an interesting culture to experience. Westminster Abbey and King's were both some of the most delicately decorated places I have ever been and my favorite part of my visit to theAbbey was every hour on the hour they take a minute pause and pray and have some time for reflection which is amazing in such a busy city like London and a large space like the Abbey. I do not have any pictures of the inside of the Abbey because we were not aloud to take pictures inside.

Not being able to take pictures somewhere that I visited has been a common theme among a few places (don't worry Mom I still have almost 200 pictures from the first week!). My favorite place to visit BY FAR was the Wren Library in Cambridge. They have original manuscripts displayed for you to be able to look at but that was not what caught my attention. I had never been in such an inspiring yet tranquil place before and I think in that moment I would have been satisfied to stand there forever.

As for major adventures I ventured to the capital herself: London. In London I experienced queues, or very polite lines, in full force, what a clean city looks like if everyone cares about the environment and *so* many beautiful sites. In the British Library I was astonished by the preservation of the treasures there I was even able to see a 3rd century manuscript of John. One of my favorite parts of being in the UK is all their museums are free. So when I went to the British Museum there was no stress to see everything because I had paid for it, I could always come back to see what I had missed.

In John chapter 15 it speaks about how God is constantly pruning and growing us to be better people and more able to love those around us. At the same time the devil is working hard to have us bare bad fruits, only if we trust God and love him can we bare good fruits. I firmly believe that God is teaching us through every person that comes into our lives and all the experiences that we have the opportunity to have. I am here in Cambridge to *lean* on Him and grow stronger and more confident in Him.