I left you off in Milan, Italy here is what happened after that:
I had two days off in Milan, Italy with Michael and Nina and their family. Saturday, the 12th,
I relaxed, played some soccer with Max, and attended a wonderful summer
solstice party. It was at this farm outside of Milan. They have this
party every year there and it was full of wonderfully Italian people.
I met the woman of the house, Elizabeth, cooking pots and pots of pasta
in the kitchen, and I ate plates and plates of pasta. I was kinda just
standing on my own for a while, because most couldn’t speak English and
it made communication pretty tough, until this lovely woman came over
to me and spoke perfect English. I was taken aback for a second but
then thought it was wonderful to find someone else I could talk to.
Her name was Jessica and was a translator for some businesses and that
explained her good English. She invited me to her table, where another
woman was there that could speak English. It was so refreshing to
speak English with some people other than Michael and Nina and the
family. Also we had some very interesting discussions. It was so
refreshing speaking with Jessica and her friends and the party was just
a great glimpse into Italian culture, I loved it.
(The Summer Solstice Party sorry about the bad picture, its just to give you a little idea of what it was like)
I went to Sam’s church the next morning. It was nice, but I
couldn’t understand a lick of what they were saying. Afterward went
with the family out to eat some pizza. Had a bit of pasta and for
dessert I had some real Italian ice, which was lovely. That afternoon
Michael’s niece came over to visit. She was with three of her
classmates from Wheaton College that were travelling around by train
through Europe hanging out at hostels with people and sharing the
Gospel. It was great again to have people my age to hang out with. We
had a big dinner and one of the fellas gave me some headphones, because
my pair broke already, that was a big blessing.
I got a ride from Sam and Joan in the morning to the other side of
town on the road I needed to take north to Switzerland, said goodbye
and headed north to the border. I made it close to the border and
found a campsite near a lake. I went there and the fella didn’t charge
me to stay there, a blessing, had dinner there and watched the
beginnings of the World Cup. It was great to watch Italy play and
watch it in Italy with Italians hollering and yelling when they
scored. I met some Dutch guys that were working at the campsite. One
gave me a token for a hot shower and let me check my email it was great.
(A church in a small Northern Italian town)
(the lake next to the camp site)
I woke up the next day to a horrible sound in regards to what I do
now, rain. Rain is good for the crops and livestock, but it’s not too
good to walk in for eight hours a day. I knew I just had to push on,
so I took a shower and then pressed on to the border. I got the border
a little after lunch and celebrated in a little tradition I started,
which was to have a really nice meal whenever I finish walking through
a country. So I ate some really nice pasta. Then walked into
Switzerland, I mean I just walked in. It was so strange to me to walk
right into another country. After a while of walking I was starting to
think about where I was going to sleep, when an angel just gave me a
huge blessing, I mean this was one of the first huge signs that the
Lord was really taking care of me. Let me explain.
I was walking over a bridge when I see at the other end a woman
standing there and it seemed like she was waiting for me. I walked up
to her and she asked me what I was doing. She told me she saw me
walking while she was stuck in traffic then again when she was coming
home, so she stopped to ask. I told her my story and she offered me a
place to stay at her and her boyfriend’s house, her name was Sira. I
said sure it would be great. She had a swimming lesson to go to, so I
just waited until it was done, then she came out and told me her
boyfriend didn’t want me to stay there. So she took me to some hotels,
they were pretty pricey and I couldn’t afford it. Switzerland is a very
expensive country. She then took me to a hostel, asked the price, it
was a lot, then she said she felt bad and wanted to help me so she
offered to pay. I was floored. I couldn’t believe it, such a huge
blessing, I mean huge. She also bought me a really nice breakfast
also. I couldn’t thank her enough for such a kind and wonderful
gesture that she did for me. I mean it was incredible. We said
farewell and I retired in that wonderful manor house. This was in
Lugano, Switzerland I would like to add is one of the most beautiful
cities I saw on this journey. So to me, a weary walker, Sira was an
angel that really helped by bestowing such kindness on me. Such a
blessing I couldn’t believe it. The breakfast the next day was in this
grotto and a big spread. I took extra for lunch that day too. Took a
train out to where I left off the day before and kept walking.
(the hostel in Lugano)
(Lugano, Italy)
Let me mention to you something. Ever since I started walking in
Switzerland and before in Italy it started raining, let me say it’s not
a nice feeling walking in the rain by yourself, for 8 hours a day with
almost 45 pounds on your back. So this started becoming really
miserable. I don’t know if I can properly convey to you how
detrimental this was to me mentally. It is really hard for some of you
to understand how bad rain is for someone in my position. I appreciate
the rain for its life giving properties of watering the crops and the
livestock, but if you have to spend all day walking in it, it’s
miserable. So for two days before this I had to deal with rain. It
wasn’t good for my health either. I started getting a cold because of
it and constantly shivering. So here I was in southern Switzerland
walking in the mountains in the pouring rain all that day. I mean it
felt like the heavens opened up and I could barely see it was so bad.
So when it got the worst it was all day I sat underneath a bridge and
stopped and thought about what to do. I was soaked to the bone,
shivering because I was cold and wet and things didn’t look like they
were getting any better. The rain wasn’t letting up at all, but was
getting worse. I had two chances continue in the rain and cross over
the mountain pass that was another day’s march and would have been
quite dangerous in those conditions or hitch through the mountain past
the rain to a dry place to sleep. I hitched, it was the safest and
best option for me. So I got a ride from a nice Portuguese man, who
couldn’t and wouldn’t even attempt to speak English. He took me safely
through the mountain tunnel that was 17km long and to a town on the
other side that had a camp site and thankfully the rain hadn’t hit
there yet.
I know some of you might be thinking about that and if it goes
against the whole mission of walking when I take a ride, but I have had
along this journey to take a ride sometimes because it is the safest
option for me. It yet again is hard to convey to you what it is like
walking by yourself 8 to 9 hours through countries there they can’t
fully speak English. It is extremely isolating and very difficult.
Now I am not complaining, I chose this for myself and I understood it
would be hard I just want you to understand that I did not take rides
just to do it, but it was necessary for me if I wanted to stay safe and
healthy along this long trek. But mind you I did a whole lot of
walking.
So this guy dropped me at a camp site that was apparently surrounded
by the alps, but because of all the fog that rolled in and the storm
that was brewin’ I couldn’t see any. It was so disappointing being in
one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world and I can’t see
the dang things. I told my story to the owners of the camp site and
they graciously let me stay there for free and even gave me a soda. I
went to sleep with some slight rain, but when I woke up the next day it
was gone. I must say it was a complete blessing to be able to see the
sun again.
That next morning I had a sight I will never forget. I got up,
packed up and started off with the sun slowly coming out and the fog
lifting, definitely better conditions. As soon as I got out of the
town and walking along this bike path that went around this lake I turn
around and see an incredible sight, the Swiss Alps. Oh what a glorious
sight. These pictures I have is but a small interpretation of the
magnificence and beauty of that day. By far, as I look back, that
was the most beautiful day of walking, until supper time. Around that
time the clouds opened up again and they didn’t stop for days.
(the clouds rolling back to reveal the beautiful alps, the campsite there at the bottom)
(down in the valley there was where I stayed the night before)
(the swiss alps, well just part of them)
(here I am in the Alps)
After all of these wonderful sights the clouds opened up again and
let loose a storm that went on for three more miserable days. That
night after the beautiful day of walking I found this campsite on a
much smaller lake and came to the realization that Switzerland was
extremely expensive. I mean painfully expensive. At the camp site it
cost 26 dollars for a burger and fries. So that night I had peaches
and trail mix for dinner because I couldn’t afford anything else. But
throughout it all the rain never stopped.
It got so bad that I had to take a train out to Zurich, when I was
about 22 miles south, to the Haab family to get dry and warm and ward
off catching pneumonia. That day I took the train I remember I was
soaked literally to the bone and uncontrollably shivering because of
that. I couldn’t keep going I needed to get somewhere safe, warm, and
dry. But don’t worry the next week I came back and walked those miles
I missed when I took the train. As soon as I got North of Zurich where
the Haabs lived the sun came out and I felt 100 times better.
The Haabs were so wonderful. They immediately just caught my heart
with their warmth and kindness. It was also very refreshing staying
with them because they used to live in Jordan with my Uncle Jon and
Aunt Jayne and family and worked at the hospital my Uncle helps run.
So it felt like I was basically staying with family. There was Bernie
and Susie and their four children; Mahela, Joquim, Sharon, and Daylia.
One of my favorite memories was waiting at the train station for Bernie
Haab to pick me up and expecting some fella in a car or something and
then here comes this tall lanky fella on a bicycle blazing down the
hill and screeching in front of me just saying hello Daniel. Oh it was
great. I spent five nights with the Haabs outside of Zurich,
Switzerland. I’ll explain on the next post why it was a bit longer
than I expected, but oh so wonderful.
I
am about to leave Kassel, Germany where I have had a day off of walking
and will be heading towards Hannover. I am so sorry I havent been
updating this thing alot. As you can tell I am clearly a month
behind. You see it is alot harder to sit down and write some stuff
when you are a couple weeks behind schedule due to this whole package
resupply ordeal. So I have been booking it on the trail to catch up
and my mind and energy has not been spent informing you, the public of
friends, of my travels. I hope you can forgive me and stay tuned,
because when my Dad gets here in a week I'll have some time to sit and
write so I will be catching you all up soon, very soon.
News so far: I had to buy a new backpack, mine got refused entry
into Germany so I had to go buy a new one, and I have a beard. Not
much of a beard but a beard non the less. I am excited about both of
these things.
Be well and keep your ear to the ground, stories will be coming fast.
I
am about to leave Kassel, Germany where I have had a day off of walking
and will be heading towards Hannover. I am so sorry I havent been
updating this thing alot. As you can tell I am clearly a month
behind. You see it is alot harder to sit down and write some stuff
when you are a couple weeks behind schedule due to this whole package
resupply ordeal. So I have been booking it on the trail to catch up
and my mind and energy has not been spent informing you, the public of
friends, of my travels. I hope you can forgive me and stay tuned,
because when my Dad gets here in a week I'll have some time to sit and
write so I will be catching you all up soon, very soon.
News so far: I had to buy a new backpack, mine got refused entry
into Germany so I had to go buy a new one, and I have a beard. Not
much of a beard but a beard non the less. I am excited about both of
these things.
Be well and keep your ear to the ground, stories will be coming fast.
It was early in the morning there in the rice field. I suddenly
awoke with the sound of rustling around me. What or who was there? Is
it a creature of the morning or is it someone who will do me harm, or
is it just a curious biker who stopped to see what I was doing, or was
it just the wind. Well it ended up being just Gaetano, good ole
Gaetano the rice farmer. He is a early worker. I guess you need to be
when you run acres of rice fields. We talked some more, he told me
about his family, his little boy named Marco, who was two years of
age. We talked about the morning, the rice field, and Italy. It
wasn't that long of a conversation, but it was nice. I also noticed he
rode a moped there. He told me that sometimes he rides a moped around
his fields to get some simple work done. What a good and cheap idea.
After a small breakfast, a cliff bar, and a good devotion I set off on
the road.
I will tell you this, whenever I get the chance to walk on a bike
path or walking path I take it. Its nice to be away from traffic and
the side of the highway, but this time it was different, because I had
a new adversary, the never ending bike path. I thought it would be
over and a thing of yesterday, but nope there is laid, kilometers and
kilometers of path before me with no end in sight. Oh how it put weary
thoughts in my mind, but I bit that bullet and kept on the road. A
good while went by and it was getting about eating time. So I spied a
nice little place called the Charleston Pub and Pizzeria, so I stopped
for lunch.
Had a great Italian pizza for lunch. You see the pizza in Italy is
much thinner than the ones back home and so since it doesn't fill you
up as much, you order a pizza they give you a whole pizza. It took me
a little while to be able to eat a whole one, but I got the hang of
it. After I polished off that pizza I asked the woman working there
how many kilometers to Milano. She looks at me and goes were are in
Milano. What a treat. I made it already. So I settled up and
started to the city center.
After a couple hours got into the city and then I took a local train
out to where Michael, Nina, and their family lives over in San Donato.
Got over there around 3 or so and finally got a hold of Michael on the
phone. He told me to wait for him and he will be there in around
4:30. So I found a nice park and sat down and read until he showed
up. While I was reading I noticed an odd observation about Italian
parks and the Italian youth, they love to just make out in public. I
saw at least 5 couples of young couples, under and well under 18 just
making out on the park benches. I mean while families were just
walking by. It was so strange.
4:30 came soon enough and there came Michael to pick me up. He got
out greeted me, threw me an ice cream sandwich, and told me to get in.
What a nice treat after a hot day of walking. We had to make a stop at
an electrical store to pick up some switches for the radio tower they
were setting up for the radio station they were getting up and running
in Milan. Mike was a bit on edge, because he had about 6 cartons of
ice cream in the car he was worried was going to melt. So we rushed
out and made it back to their house in the nick of time to save the ice
cream, but in all the rush I realized I lost my sun glasses in the
park. I was a bit bummed, they were real nice, had these
interchangeable lenses, but it happens.
It was so nice to be with native English speakers again and with a
nice family as well. So I put all my stuff in the damp basement, my
home for two days, and sat down for a little while. Michael and Nina
went off to a Bible study and I had dinner with the kids, Jake Glori,
and Max. I wrote a little and then after a while went off to bed for
some needed rest in the cool basement.
Sleepin in the rice fields.
Lunch.
A rest in the park.
The Basement.
Thought after the first week of walking: I realized that this was
not going to be an easy trip. Reading books and blogs and hearing
stories about people walking lot makes it seem simple and easy, but
when you are out there doing it yourself you come to realize that we
over romanticize everything and the reality is things are much harder
than they seem. It was good, but I came to learn that this is not
going to be a walk in the park and I have a whole lot left to do.
This morning I awoke so refreshed from sleeping in a bed. It was so
refreshing for my body, that during my slumber my body performed some
self repair worked and began healing one of my blisters, some of my
close friends. I took a shower to awaken my body and my bones, then
off to fill my stomach with food. Downstairs I met Carmen's husband at
breakfast. He was such a kind man, he didn't talk as much English as
Carmen did, but he could say a thing or two. he brought me some coffee
and bread and I had my fill of the two. I then shoved all my things
back in my pack, said farewell to my Philippine friends, and then off
towards Pavia.
I eventually made it out of Voghera and then after a while got to
Pavia. A little outside of Pavia I got lost and so I stopped and asked
for directions. I saw this lovely old man at a gas station and asked
him the direction to Pavia. It seems I was a bit off the main road so
he and his wife offered to take me back to the main road into Pavia. I
accepted seeing as that I didn't have to back track any and we had a
lovely conversation. Their names were Renato and Aurora. Aurora
is a professor at the big university in Pavia and we talked about that
a bit. You see we didn't do too much talking for their English wasn't
the best, but we got enough of the main points across. Anyway they
dropped me at the main road into Pavia and Aurora gave me her hat so I
could remember them. It didn't fit, but it was a kind gesture and I
will remember them whenever I look at that little hat. After that is
a was a little walk into the heart of Pavia. This was the biggest city
I have walked into so far so it was a bit overwhelming, but so
beautiful. Just cobble stone roads leading everywhere and old Italian
buildings towering all around, it was wonderful. I found a nice park
to take a rest in and sat myself down and rested. It was about lunch
time. I was getting hungry.
A few minutes went by, then this young boy walks up to me. He
attempts to converse in Italian, but I tell him I only speak English.
He looks disappointed then asks if I speak Spanish, I looked a bit
surprised, because not many speak Spanish in Italy and said yes, but
very little. Thankfully my private school education in Memphis taught
me a little and my friendship with some workers at the Nashville
Sheraton Hotel, Jose and Whis helped as well. So we began to talk a
little in Spanish. His name was Maritzo, he was from Venezuela and in
high school in Italy. He spouted off in his fluent tongue while I
struggled to keep up and responded sometimes in my broken and poor
Spanish. But we got most of the points across. His friend Rudy, from
Bolivia came up and talked with us. A good ways into our conversation
I started getting real hungry, so I asked where some places to eat
were. He took me to this fast food pizza place. I got something cheap
and had my fill then I asked for Maritzo to show me back to the main
road towards Milano. He said sure and we were on our way. Rudy had to
go somewhere else so I said goodbye to him. Now the funniest thing
happened on the way to the main road. You see for Maritizo speaking
English is apparently a cool thing at his school and him being a young
17 year old boy, being cool is at the forefront of his mind. So for
the next fifteen minutes or more, every single time a pretty little
girl his age or "cool" looking boy his age walked by he immediately
would look at me and say, "hablo english, hablo english." I mean every
single time. So I would look back and start to say the silliest things
to him in English, I mean really stupid things that if someone knew
English would have thought we were lunatics instead of "cool." He
would look back at me and smile and laugh and say, "yes, yes." It was
really entertaining.
I come to find out after some sharp observation that Maritizo took
me the long way towards the main road and actually by his school. His
cunning little plan was to use my native language to make him appear
"cool" to his class mates. So I caught on to his little plan and
started spouting off the silliest things in Spanish, and doing it very
loudly. He would get kind of flustered and a bit embarrassed and lean
in and say, just speak English not Spanish (he said this in Spanish).
So eventually he pointed me in the direction and off I went towards
Milano.
I had to ask a few times for directions but eventually got out of
the city. Where there began a canal and a bike/walking path along said
canal. I found out that the canal goes all the way into Milan so I set
off following it. About an hour into the walk along the canal my
grandmother, Mary Ann, calls me. Oh it was so wonderful to hear a
familiar voice. She gave me some encouragement and told me to keep
on. So I did. Boy let me tell you that canal path after I got out of
the city was endless. I mean I could look behind me and look forward
and both went on for what appeared forever. Just look at what I am
talking about:
From Pavia.
To Milan.
I mean it wears on you mentally to see that for hours and hours and
not to see any end in sight. So the walking was long and endless.
After hours and hours of that I start looking for a place to put my
tent and sleep. The sun was starting to go down so I knew it was
getting about stopping time. The canal path started going by some
farms on the right so I started looking for a nice tree and flat ground
to sleep on. Then I see two fellas working right off the road next to
a rice field. I stop and ask if I can camp on the land. The one fella
that could speak a bit of English said yes and pointed at some trees
and told me to go there. So I walk back a little bit then Find a nice
flat spot under a big tree and next to a nice stream flowing into the
rice fields surrounding me. As I was setting up my tent the fellas
drive over to me. The one that told me I could camp asked if I wanted
something to eat. I agreed and thirty minutes later he comes back with
two sandwiches with his home made salami and a bottle of water. His
name Gaetano and he was a rice farmer. We talked for a little bit then
he had to go back home. I thanked him for all he did for me and then
after dinner I went off to bed. Man what a blessing, a nice place to
sleep and dinner. The LORD is good.
Day 3: June 9th, 2010 Cassano Spinola - Voghera, Italy
I seem to be starting a trend in my life out here on the road. You
see since I am by myself, I don't really have too much to do when I get
to a stopping place so I do some reading and then I go to bed, quite
early. I feel like an old man at times. Anyway since I go to slumber
at an early time my body wakes me up at an early time. So right now my
body is getting me up everyday at around 5 a.m. or so, but I tend to
get up around 6:30 or 7. Well I awake early and break down the tent.
After sitting and looking through what I had that I could eat, here
comes Mimo down the stairs with a basket in his hands. It turns out to
be him bringing me breakfast. What a complete blessing. So I sat
there enjoyed the morning and had a lovely breakfast of fruit,
crackers, and juice. Then off to walking.
Around lunch time I walked into the next big city, Tortona, and
started looking for a place to eat. I saw a nice looking little place
called "The Happy Days Bar." You see when it says Bar in Italy, its
this sort of cafe/bar/sandwich shop. So I stop and get some food. I
have a nice conversation with the woman working there. I tell her that
I just walked from Genova and she just stares back at me and asks,
"really?" I say yes and she just is astounded. I get a nice little
sandwich and a coke and have a nice lunch and rest. After a little
while I decided it was time to carry on, so I go in and talk to the
woman about paying. She says I didn't need to and hands me a bag with
some croissants in it, and wishes me a safe trip. I was hit with
gratitude for her generosity, I mean what a blessing really. So I
carry on.
Tortona was a real mess to get through. You see I enjoy walking
through small towns, but when I get to cities it all starts getting
real confusing and crazy to try and walk through. Especially since i
don't speak or read the language all the signs are in, you can imagine
what its like, crazy really. I ask someone for directions and finally
make it out of the city. Once I get out there lies before me just the
long road to Voghera. An endless line of pitch and as-fault that is my
path toward Milano. Oh boy! Well after a while of walking I realize
the backs of my legs are starting to crisp a little bit from the
roasting they are receiving from that Italian sun. But alas what do I
see in the distance, is it true, is it really, a moped.
After hours of seeing nothing but cars and scooters and motorcycles,
slowly but surely a fella on a vespa ciao passes me. We lock eyes and
realize that we are both sojourners each on our own journey. His moped
is covered from wheel to wheel with backs and stuff. He stops and we
talk. His name was Alberto and he came from a tiny Italian town and
was on his way riding all the way to Spain on that sucker. He had all
his stuff and at least two engines with him just in case he breaks
down. We exchange information and I encourage him to come visit
America and also to keep going, not to give up, he says the same to me
and then I carry onward.
After hours and hours of endless walking, on an endless highway,
with endless sun roasting my legs, I make it to the outskirts of the
city of Voghera around 5 or so. So I started asking people for a place
to put my tent. I asked at least 5 or 6 people and all of them said
no. I was crushed, what was I going to do. Two fellas did give me a
bag full of fresh picked cherries though. Well I just kept walking and
prayed and hoped for something to work out. I start getting into the
city and see a place to eat so I stop and have dinner and then realize
my legs are starting to cramp up and stiffen from all the walking I did
that day. I just looked and realized I walked 22 miles. That was the
most I had ever walked so I was proud, but my body was not thankful for
that. The more I sat the more my legs began to really hurt and the
more they started to stiffen. I had to get up and keep moving for fear
of something bad to happen to me. So I kept on walking, but then the
mixture of dinner and the stress and force put on my legs started to
make me a little sick so I decided I would look for another option than
camping. I finally saw a sign for a hotel, the hotel corona, and
walked up hoping for the best.
As I ran the buzzer a woman came out and greeted me, her name was
Carmen, she was from the Philippines. I asked her if she spoke English
and she said yes. It was so refreshing, the first person in three days
that could speak English it felt so good. Anyway I told her what I was
doing and what I had done and she was astounded. She told me she was
going to talk to the boss into getting me a good deal on a room. So
the boss came and I ended up getting a room for 30 euros, which was
such a blessing. I mean that was cheap for a room, dirt cheap. Carmen
led me up to my room, which ended up being a closet, really, but I
didn't care I was thankful for a bed and a roof over my head. Carmen
also asked if I wanted to use her computer to call my family. I said
yes and got to get on the internet. Man it was all such a complete
blessing to have that connection back to home again. Then I took a
very refreshing shower and the day came to a close, at my old man
bedtime. Here are some pictures from the day:
Last time I left you I was asleep under a dirty bridge in a small
town called, Busalla. Well as you can assume in my state of mind
sleep wasn't the easiest thing to come by. But somehow I was able to
catch enough winks to get me up and through the next day. I washed my
face, to wake me up a bit, at the little stream that ran along side of
me. It was quite refreshing. I hope to one day live near a running
river or stream. When you are in my position natural running water is
a wonderful gift that provides so much refreshment. If I lived next to
some natural running water I could enjoy that natural refreshment all
the time. How wonderful would that be. Well back to the transcribing.
I walked a bit down the street from the bridge I slept under and
found a nice café, so I stepped in and grabbed a croissant and a
coffee. Let me tell you the coffee's here are strong and small. It is
just basically a shot of espresso in a little cup. That is a coffee
here. So when us Americans say oh lets grab a coffee together, to
Italians that means you step into a bar/café, step up to the counter
order a coffee, stand there and drink it, having small talk with the
bar tender or your friend, and then in under three minutes you carry
on. It's so crazy. Anyway I sat there enjoyed my 3 ounces of coffee
and my croissant read and wrote a little, then decided to move on for
day two of my journey.
I made it out of the town and went along the road for a good hour or
so, but then my path was interrupted. There seemed to be some
confusion on my part with the road signs that pointed in way to Milano
and the highway I was taking. The highway I was on just sort of
disappeared and once I noticed I realized I was on the interstate,
where cars and huge trucks were wizzing by at 90 kilometers per hour.
I felt a bit scared, but what else could I do, I lost the highway so I
needed to find it again and the only way to it I thought was on the
interstate. So I kept walking as people were honking and yelling for
me to get off the road. After about five minutes of courageous walking
in spite of sheer danger a car that seemed to be a police or interstate
control car pulled up beside me. I look in and there is a man looking
back at me with a frown on his face shaking his finger left to right
basically saying, "no no, tisk tisk." He told me to get in and that I
couldn't keep walking here, it wasn't safe, or legal. I get in the car
and we talk. His name was Augustino and he was such a wonderful man.
We laughed about it all and he told me he would take me to the road I
was on earlier and my path to Milan. He told me about his wife he had
been married to for 42 years and how he thought my trip was beautiful.
It was so great. We had such a joyful conversation. It was really
something I needed to keep me going. He dropped me off at the SS 35
and also showed me on the map where I needed to go to get to Milano.
So I got back on the road and kept walking. I stopped and had lunch in
a lovely small town and then got back on the road. After a while of
walking it was getting to about quittin time for me, which is normally
around 6 or 7 in the evening. I was looking for a good place to set up
my tent as I walked and then I spotted this great field of the road.
As I was walking through it to the other side I spotted this man
watering his garden, he lived on the edge of the field. So I walked up
to him and asked if I could camp on there for the night. He
immediately said yes. Oh it was such a blessing. His name was Mimo.
So I began to set up my tent and after that sat down to read for a
while. As I was reading Mimo walked over to me with a chair. He set
it down next to me and said, "you, sit here, not on ground." I was so
grateful it was so nice. So I sat in the chair and kept on reading,
when here comes Mimo again, this time with a tray in his hands. He
walks over and says, "here you eat, dinner, for Tennessee." Oh my
goodness I was so grateful. It was such a blessing from the Lord. So
I sat there and ate a nice meal and watched Mimo and his son waters the
plants in his garden. It was such a blessing from the Lord to go from
one night of sheer fear and anxiety to another of pure joy and beauty.
I was so thankful for His provision in this. So that concludes the
second day. That town I stayed in was called Cassano Spinola, the town
of Mimo and his love for a traveler.
Here are some pictures from that day:
The dinner Mimo gave me
And the view I had of Mimos house, while I ate dinner:
As I
sit in this mold smelling, but refreshingly cool basement in San Donato a
neighborhood in Milan, Italy I have the great task of transcribing to you
people what has happened in my life in the past five days. Let me first try and give you a couple mental
pictures to take with you as you read:
First, lets imagine a polar bear who has known his whole life in the
arctic tundra of maybe the North or South pole (I can't seem to remember where
those fellas are from) is somehow thrown in the middle of his life into the
Mojave Desert or maybe some tropical island.
What would that bear think? How
would his body react? How would he
adapt? Also all of you can thank me for implementing a "Lost" reference into
this journal. Second, let us think of a man, in his early twenties,
handsome, blonde, big ole blue eyes (sorry I am getting carried away, back to
the mental picture) thrown all alone,
with nothing other than some fancy
camping gear shoved into a backpack , into a foreign country that he has only
visited for a mere moment in his life.
He now has to make his way by foot across said country, not knowing the
language, not really mentally prepared for what lies ahead, and all alone (I
mean since he doesn't speak the language, really all alone). What would he think? How would his body react? How would he adapt?
Now the
second of those two mental pictures lies a bit closer to what I am about to
transcribe to you, butt they both give you a thought about what you need to
consider when you would take something and place it in a environment it is not
used to. Alright let me get on with
telling you the tale of what has happened in these last five days. The danger, suspense, the romance (psyche),
the adventure, and the pain. We begin at
day one (well day zero really) (I also realize that I have depicted this day on
a video blog, but if you like reading and pictures here are those for you):
Day 0: June 7th, 2010
Last I
left you I was hanging in the air next to Gino the Italian rocket
scientist. We land safe and sound from
that long journey through the skies and I gather my things and exit the
aircraft. After meandering through the
airport to customs, I see Gino for one last time. He tells me in his broken English that it was
beautiful to meet me and I say the same to me.
Then as a father would lightly punch his son at a baseball game, after
hitting a homerun, on the chin, so Gino does to me. It was this sort of "go get em' tiger"
thought that started it all off for me.
Customs was a breeze. I mean they
didn't even think twice about who I was, or what I was doing in their
country. It was a bit strange, but I
rolled with it. I find my way to the
luggage carousels and after a minute or two, there rolls around my life in a
bundle for the next three months. I
collect my bag then out to the Italian world I go. Man alive, there were so many people out
there waiting on friends, family, and loved ones it was a disappointment no one
was there for me, but alas I continue on.
I sit down and pull my stuff out of the duffel it was all crammed into. I pull out that handy cell phone and come to
my first and biggest difficulty. I
somehow cannot make any outgoing calls. The phone informs me that all outgoing
calls are barred and I don't know the password to unlock the stupid thing so I
sit lost and alone at the Italian airport.
I get
up my strength, completely flustered by the recent flaw in my plan and get some
cash out of a bank automatic teller machine.
I buy a phone card thinking it would solve my problems, but I am too
confused and flustered to figure it out.
So I sit down and send out a text message to the only person I know in
all of Italy (and I barely know him) Sam Fiore.
You see Sam and his wife Joan came and spoke at the Bible school I
attended a couple years ago. So I
emailed them a while back informing them of my visit and they provided me with
their contact information. In the text I
just said I am in Milan, lost and need some help if he can offer it. He immediately calls back. My spirits were completely lifted. I find out they are about to start church and
his daughter Nina gives me directions to the church from the airport. So after an hour or so of travel I make it to
the metro station where the church is next to.
I send a message and wait, but no response. I figure out how to use the calling card and
make a couple calls, but no response. So
I venture out on the streets. After a
while of walking in the wrong direction, later to find out, and in the heat on
top of that, I turn back to the cool shelter of the metro station. After about forty-five minutes I was about to
give up, when my cell phone rings, it was Sam.
What a blessing. He said that
church just got out, come walk to it and then join his family for lunch. I walked in the right direction and met Sam
and Joan. Oh it was great to see
them. They were so kind and warm
hearted. Exactly what I needed in that
time of mental peril. Joan left to
Nina's house, where we were having lunch, and Sam showed me around the church
building. It was all so lovely. I met some lovely people who were so kind, even if they couldn't speak
a lick of English. Then Sam and I
carried on to Nina and Michael's house for lunch.
On the
ride there Sam tells me about the radio station they are working on putting
back up in Milan, it all sounded wonderful.
Then we arrived at Michael and Nina's.
A soon as I entered I was greeted by this older fella who was as tall as
me and bald headed, wearing glasses and another younger fella but older than me
and he was cutting some chicken. The
bald headed fella was Walt Baker. He was
the guest speaker at Sam's church and the younger fella cutting chicken was
Michael, Sam's son-in-law, married to Nina.
Walt and I talk for a bit and I tell him I am from Memphis,
Tennessee. He informs me of how he spoke
at a church there, it ended up being the church I grew up in named First
Evan. What a small small world. He also knew my grandmother, Mary Ann
Frazier. So small sometimes. Walt and I talked for a good while about our
mutual friends and family, while Michael cut away on that chicken. Then it was time for lunch. But lunch was not inside on the dinner table,
but outside in the backyard on a table there.
I found out that this is a common practice in Italy, everyone, on a good
day, eats with their family and friends outside. I hope to bring this practice into use when I
get back.
At the
table I met Michael and Nina's children: Glori, Jake, and Max. Lovely kids.
There was a bit of tension, you know with a new person talking to them
who they didn't know, but I soon lightened the mood for them and we carried on
as good friends by the end of the day.
After a lovely meal and conversation, I helped with the dishes and then
was able to use the computer and the internet for a while. It was nice to connect with the world
again. Then I decided to attend the
church Michael planted there in San Donato.
It was lovely even though I didn't understand a lick of what they were
saying. And then on the way back to the
house Nina offered me a place to stay for the night. You see I was just going to take a train that
night to Genova, but I am glad I stayed instead. So we got back and me and the boys all laid
out beds in the basement and off to bed I went, for the last night with friends
for the next five days.
Day 1: June 8th,
2010 The
Journey Begins
This
morning I awoke extra early. You see
Nina told me the night before that if I wanted to take a shower, which would be
my last for a number of days I would have to get up really early, before the
family gets up, to take it. Man that
shower was so refreshing. I mean I
really soaked it in, you know it being my last shower for what I thought was a
while. So I shoved all my things in my
back pack and got ready to leave. Not
really having any complete inclination of what I was in for. All the kiddos were headed off to school that
morning so I hitched a ride with them to the train station. Michael and I bade farewell and I boarded the
metro to the central station then off to Genova. Walking toward the ticket office in the
central station I heard something familiar to my ears, English. Some fella came up behind me and asked where
I was off to. I did look like a traveler
and so was he. His name was Greg, a
fellow patsy, from Seattle, Washington. He was travelling around Europe on a little
vacation and then was off to teach English to some Italian kids. It was just like a breath of fresh air to
spend some time in conversation with him.
We found out we were on the same train so almost the entire way we spoke
together. It was delightful. We bade each other safe travels as I finally
got off to my stop in Genova. I find it
so funny that the train ride there took about and hour and a half and then
walking the same journey took me five days.
Traveling by technology is much more convenient.
Once at
the station I found myself entranced by the architecture of the building around
me. It was this incredible dome shaped
room. I mean something else really to be
just an ordinary train station. Here take
a look (that's the outside I guess I didn't snap a photo of the inside, still
impressive though):
On my
way out of the station my eyes caught sight of a newsstand with maps. I darted over there and found myself a map
combo package of a map of Italia and Europa, for a reasonable price as
well. Perfect. As I was browsing through the maps this fella
came up to me. He asked if I spoke
English and started talking with me. His
name was Vitaly and he was from Amsterdam, Holland, but he was not Dutch, he
was Russian. It was great to have an
English speaking companion for most of the day.
Vitaly and I walked around the city a lot. We saw the water, old buildings, and good ole
Chris Columbus' house, you know the guy that sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Here are some pictures of what we saw in
Genova:
There I am standing by the Mediterranean Sea, or at least
the bay into that sea.
Some Great old buildings in Genova.
Vitaly
and I spent about half a day together wandering through the city before I had
to leave his company. We said farewell
and fare travels to each other and then I was off on my way. The first stop for the day was an outdoor
supply store to look for fuel for my stove.
The weather outside was a bit rainy and really overcast so it was rather
cool to walk in. After a good while of
walking I made it to the store but came to a road block. The fuel that they sold doesn't fit my
stove. So I had to buckle down and buy a
new stove and fuel. The gathered my things
and head off to the road, SS 35 that would be my close companion for the next
five days. It was right after lunch that
I set off on the journey North.
The
road was on the other side of the city so after navigating my way there I set
off toward Milano. After I got out of
all the business of the traffic and cars from the city the walk was marvelous. It was still quite foggy and a bit rainy, but
I didn't mind one bit, I was just enjoying it all. Along the way I said "ciao" to some people
here and there. Here are some pictures
of the views that I saw along the way:
The
trek was quite mountainous and I guess it was good to start off with a big
challenge than start right on the flats.
You see right off the coast in Italy is a pretty big mountain range that
follows the coast and breaks into the alps.
The mountains were about the size of maybe the Appalachians so it wasn't
all that bad. Next week is the killer, the Swiss Alps.
As the
day was slowly winding down I began to look for a place to lay my head and
sleep. It was quite hard to find some
wooded areas in the mountains that would be flat and good for a tent so I just
kept searching. I asked this fella that
was riding his bicycle by me what I should do.
His name was Angelo and he told me of a town not to far down the
mountain that had a big river going through and I could find shelter under a
bridge there. So I kept on searching
with my eyes along the way for the river and bridge Angelo spoke of. I finally get to a town and it ended up being
much larger than I thought. So I walked
and walked through the city and find a fairly large stream running through it
with a couple bridges. I find a way to
get under the bridge and sit down on a ledge.
That is when things started to turn sour for me, mentally.
You see
I was starting more and more to feel the lonliness of this journey but it
doesn't hit you as bad while you are moving, but as soon as I sat down under a
bridge in a strange town, where I could understand no one. I had a mental break down of fear. I suddenly felt the huge overwhelming punch
in the face of fear. It almost knocked
me down it was so bad. I started feeling
uneasy, afraid of being robbed or stabbed and I could not contact the ones I
loved back home. It was a miserable time
for me. So I started on giving up with
the sleeping under a bridge idea and decided to sleep in a local hotel. I went to the first on looking for a room,
full, the second one, full. I didn't
know what to do. Night had now fallen
upon the small town and I began feeling uneasy.
My courage was regained a little when the fellow at the second hotel
told me that the town was extremely quiet and there in absolutely no crime
there. And then Daren, my director on
this whole thing called. I explained my
situation and he told me that I must have courage, be brave, and the only thing
that will get me though this is my faith in the Lord.
I don't
know if I have ever talked with any of you about faith or my faith in the
creator God, but at this moment of my life my faith was the only thing I had
left to cling to. No one on this planet
knew what I was struggling with and no one could really help me. There was
nothing that anyone could say at that moment to change how I felt. It was
the Lord who is sovereign over all that gave me the strength to sleep under
that bridge that night, and it was Him that watched over me then. For the next five days this simple faith that
I have within me was the only thing that kept me alive and going. I understand that talking about faith and
spiritually is something people shy from, but if you plan on reading more about
this journey of mine you will have to realize that this trust in the Lord is
the only thing that has, is, and will keep me alive for the next 84 or so days left. So keep reading, there is more to come.
June 6, 2010 The 3rd Earth Expedition Hiker Launches!
June 5th, 2010
I am
sitting here on the flight over seas to Milan, Italy. It is extremely crowded and I can't help but
feel like I'm smashed into a sardine can flying over an ocean. The food on the flight was alright. To be accepted as terrible, but it filled me
up. Let me just take you back a little
bit in time though and talk about what
happened today.
Well
last night my head was full of thoughts all revolving around if I was
forgetting anything and what all I needed to bring. Lets just say it was stressful, extremely. I had this idea of all these things I wanted
to do on my last night in town and instead I just gave up on all of them and
opted to just work on my packing. And
boy I am glad I did that. It saved me a
whole lot of headaches this morning. I
woke up today with a long list of things that needed to be done before I
left. It seems that every time I have
left to go out of the country or travel anywhere I always seem to leave things
til the last minute. And that is what I
did. I got up and immediately began
rushing around making sure everything was done.
You see I am quite a perfectionist.
Not the kind that has some sort of mental deal where I have to have
everything a particular way, but the kind that just wants everything tucked
away real nice. Only when I want them to
be. So my slight perfectionism hit me
big time this morning. For example I
had a bunch of close friends over for pancakes a few hours before I was to leave
and the entire time I was working putting
stuff away or packing stuff up. I
was a mess. Anyway thankfully I can
calmly relax here on my long flight over water.
Psyche. The entire time I have
been on this plane I keep thinking of that TV show "lost" and how the plane crashed and I am trying to figure
out who is jack and who is kate and who would I be best friends with and who is
crazy. Anyway back to today.
The
pancake breakfast was great. Here is a
picture of some of my close friends back home in Nashville, Tennessee and there
is also my great little house in the background. I don't own it of course, but rent it with
some other great fellows. After the
breakfast I went with my good buddy Casey and his woman, Liz, to get some last
minute things, then off to the airport.
Got
checked in all right at the airport and found out my bag weighed in at 30
pounds, not too bad. I think I can
manage that. Got through all the
security mess. Boy some people just
can't take their time. I mean everything
is rush, rush, rush. I try and take it
easy and they bite my head off. Well I
got down to the gate and before I board the flight I spot a familiar face. It turned out to be this fella named Jon that
plays in a band with a friend of mine called Relient K. Well we chat for a little while and get on board
our flight to Atlanta. I take a great
nap and when I get off the flight there he is waiting for me. My goodness let me tell you it was great to
have someone to talk to in person as I walk to my next flight gate. His ended up being right down the row from
mine so we just chatted away until then.
We bade farewell and I got on board the long haul to Italy.
And
that is where I am right now. The fella
to my left is in the Navy on his way back to base and the fella to my right is
an Italian guy named Gino who works for NASA.
Him and I had a great conversation , struggling a good deal because he
barely speaks English, about what I was doing and what he does and he taught me
some Italian and showed me video footage of the shuttle landing that he worked
on. It was great. Although I would love to ask him some day how
hard it is to work constantly in America with rocket scientists and not being
able to communicate at all really. I
guess for another day. Well I land in
Milan tomorrow morning and find a train to Genova where the following day I
will begin this whole journey.
Also let me leave you with
this. I'm reading "The Hobbit" and then
all of the Tolkien "Lord of the Rings" trilogy during this expedition and it is
so ironic reading about ole Bilbo Baggins trying to avoid adventure at all
costs and it just comes right to his door step without him asking and seeing
something similar in my own life. It
feels like I was the opposite in a way.
Searching for adventure for almost a year after I returned from Europe,
but then when I gave up on it all, it all just came right on through my front
door throwing me all alone walking through a continent. Keep reading , maybe I'll catch a
dragon. Over and out.
Woo hoo!!!!! Go catch that dragon, Mister! So awesome to see you out there. It's really happening:) Go shake the world up a little bit! We're so proud of you:) :) :)
Mike Lenda
Jun-7 9:42pm
Hey Daniel - we are so excited for you. Know that you have been on our thoughts and minds and prayers this week. We are excited to follow your journey. Thank you for what you are doing for our neighbors and friends in Africa. Peace.
May 7, 2010 The Earth Expedition Recruits 3rd Hiker Daniel Frazier
The Earth Expedition Recruits 3rd Hiker Daniel Frazier! To get to know him a little please feel free to read his bio below. Also we will be firming up detals this next mont so stop back in a couple of days for updates!
I was born on and raised on the bluffs of
the Mississippi River, in Memphis, Tennessee under the parental brilliance of
Dan and Lee Ann Frazier and beside the love of two beautiful sisters, Katherine
and Abigail. I grew up and went to the
same school for 12 years, Evangelical Christian School. At that school I learned how to grow up and
also how to write papers really well.
After school was done, in my late teen years, I enrolled at the
University of Memphis. Attended school
for two years there, had a great time, but learned my life was meant for
something bigger than a typical one.
During that time at school I also started traveling with some good
friends in a band called Cool
Hand Luke, along
our travels together I learned alot about myself. I realized that I had a desire and passion
for the lives of others, to be in their life where they were, to love them when
they need it. So I left school and moved
to England, to attend a Bible school there and learn about the greatest lover
of all and also what He meant to me.
What a wonderful experience that was, it taught me so much and also I
grew more and more.
After that schooling and a bit of farming
was done I set out on my own into the foreign lands of the continent of
Europe. I had nothing but a backpack and
a guitar and ended up living an experience that changed me and my perception of
things. During that trip all I could do
was put faith in the LORD above to get by and lets just say I got by in a way I
would have never imagined. Some of the
stories and experiences from that will be with me for the rest of my life. So after that I moved to Nashville, Tennessee
to finish what I started at the University of Memphis. But still something was pulling at me to do
something, to help someone, to love people.
I wasn't, I was just surviving and it was eating away inside of me. So one day I read about Daren Wendell and
what he was doing and I sent him a letter.
I told him I want to be apart of change, I want to inspire, I want to
love. We talked and talked and now here
I am embarking my twenty second year of life hopefully about to fulfill an
incredible story that can cause change for people who need it and inspire
people as well to love those around them.
Keep reading about the journey I take as it unfolds and read more about
what we are trying to help over at www.activewater.org .
After
leaving the desert I thought we were going to hit flat lands since we're
getting closer and closer to the sea...but I was wrong. We hit another mountain
range; another mountain range that I did not know even existed. My map decided
not to tell me they were there...amateurs. But that's okay; it brought us more
beautiful scenery!
Speaking of
scenery, by the end of our second day we got to this little town called Morella
and were totally surprised by its format. This town was inside a fortress with
a castle ruin on top of a mountain directly in the center. It was so awesome!
We were in so much awe that we decided to take a day off there. I mean,
seriously, who wouldn't stop at this town? It's right on our route! It would be
stupid of us to not enjoy it and explore the town and the castle. I have no
guilt J.
And, it was an amazing little town. We had so much fun there. I got to meet a
Romanian guy and his brother who moved here for work. I think that takes guts.
I was inspired by his determination.
Two days
later we stopped for lunch in a town called La Vall d'Alba, and we got a little
surprise. We noticed there was an abnormal amount of people in the streets so
we though it was some festival. No big deal. But what we didn't realize was
that they were having a "Running of the Bull" celebration and we got to see the
trail end of it! It was so cool! I would have jumped in there but I am too
close to the end and I don't want to risk having a huge hole in backside from
the bull's horn. I'd like to finish this week. But it was still awesome. I like
that tradition, its pretty baller.
Our third
to last day was when we finally saw the shore of the Mediterranean.
We got out of the mountain range and were about five miles from the shore by 6:00 PM. From Castellon (where we saw
the shore) all the way to Valencia
was non-stop city walking. I would say that Valencia is the "Miami" of Spain: cities all along the beach
with tons of hotels. Though, there were a few times that we walked through the
famous orange farms. These orange tree fields were endless, thousands of acres
of just orange trees. It was nuts. Too bad they weren't ripe yet or you better
believe I would have picked a few. It's kind of ironic that every orange I ate
on this trip had a sticker on it saying it was from Valencia, and my final destination
is exactly where those oranges came from.
Our last
three days weren't that bad at all. Though, we did a 55 kilometer day...yeah that
one hurt. We were just so ready to get there that we didn't want to stop. Not
much happened within those last three days by the beach. It was quite an easy
ending for this incredibly hard expedition. I was tingling when I got to the
beach in Valencia.
It was one of the most glorious and epic feelings in my life so far. I would
say that it battles the number one spot with graduating college. It's obviously
a completely different feeling and length of time, but still it felt so amazing
to finally be done. I don't have to experience the vulnerability, sleepless
nights, loneliness, exhaustion, or anxiety. But in the end it was all still
worth it. I'll keep my final thoughts for the "Final Thoughts" section below.
This was my first time to ever set foot in the Mediterranean
Sea. And I gotta say, it was incredibly clean and beautiful. Brett
and I swam, took pictures, and just relaxed for a few hours. Then we had our
celebratory dinner at Domino's! Woohoo! I know that sounds silly but I just
wanted a good ol' thick American pizza. And it was heaven. Now I get to finally
experience true rest again, physically and mentally; knowing that I never have
to get up early tomorrow morning and walk again. It's amazing how it changes
everything. I will get incredible sleep tonight. I can't believe I made it to
the end. God, it is because of you I made it here.
Final Thoughts
So here I
am, sitting...not walking, and trying to think about all the things I learned
from this leg of the expedition. That's a tough one because there were so many
things I learned about myself and about how life works. I could never go home
and forget what it was like out here. I remember going to camps, youth
conferences, mission trips, etc. but I don't remember a lot of it in detail.
But this, I will remember specific days, feelings, smells, people, and tastes
until the day I die. There was a bitter-sweet feeling to this entire journey.
From the beginning of it all way back in California
in January to now...my mind would explode if I thought about all that I just
experienced in the last 9 months. There were times that it hurt, times that I
was so lonely that I couldn't take it, and places and situations that were so
overwhelming that I felt so little. I felt unimportant and worthless. But I
realized that I did something so huge and so unimaginably difficult and yet it
was ultimately to try and provide the means for someone else, that I don't even
know, to have a richer and fuller life. And that is what kept me going all that
time. But I did see amazing things and met incredible people, and without that
it wouldn't have been as memorable. So I can look back and also remember the
awesome times.
I am
grateful to the Holy Spirit for really showing me who I really am in every
situation, whether it be stressful, pressuring, tiring, or enjoyable. I thought
I was a pretty nice guy and easy going, but out here I got a little frustrated
and critical at times. And I just want to thank Stacey and Brett for putting up
with it. If I would have met someone just like me, I'd probably fight him. But
Stacey and Brett were kind, loving, and gentle and I will never forget their
mercy. They and Daren are some of the only people that I know that can testify
how hard and painful this was, and not just a joyride. Thank you so much Brett
and Stacey for doing this with me. You are the best and I will always be there
for you since you were there for me! I also want to thank everyone who
supported me financially, prayerfully, and just with messages of encouragement.
Everything that you all did proves that I could not have done this on my own,
so I will not be arrogant about this in any way. WE did it. And now we are
finally finished with this leg. But we still have a lot to go. But for now, I'm
coming home...
This set of days definitely changed my emotional status in a good way. Lot's of crazy things happened to make this part more worth it. These past few weeks have been physically and emotionally draining and have put me in sort of a rut. I had many doubts and issues and even self-threats to quit. But I remember the advice that my uncle gave me right before we left from Le Bugue, "Even though it seems difficult and not worth it, you have to try and enjoy it as much as possible or you'll be miserable." And that lately is something that I have not been doing...until now. All I've wanted is to finish as soon as possible and anything that gets in the way is going to frustrate me and make me go crazy. And guess what? That's exactly what God did; he put people and situations in the way to slow us down. But this time, I was thankful because they were pleasant and fulfilling things!
Our first day back on the road was pretty good. We actually made a record distance of 46 kilometers! That's around 28.5 miles! And Brett has healed even more and was able to walk even faster now because of the day off yesterday. Other than the drunk guys at a bar who took a picture of us walking in Villereal, nothing much really happened today. The next day brought us more surprises though.
I woke up at 4:00 AM the next day from the torrential downpour of rain hitting our tent. It's extremely loud. But I was able to make it back to sleep for a few more hours. The only problem was that it didn't stop...all day. We had to wake up and break down the tent in the rain and walk all day in soaking wet clothes. It was one of the most miserable days so far. And when I say it was "raining" it was that incredible thick sideways rain. When your shoes, socks, underwear, skin, shorts, shirt, hat are completely soaked it's not exactly refreshing. But I knew I had to keep a good attitude through it and we finally got out of it in the late afternoon. We kept walking after dinner and came up to a very small village but it had a bed and breakfast in the town. Since today was so difficult and I had a little extra money I thought we could just get a cheap room for the night so we can try and recover from the day. So we got to the bed and breakfast and were immediately disappointed, not because it was a crappy place but, on the contrary, it was a huge chateau. We knew for a fact that we couldn't afford staying here. The owner of the chateau came out and greeted us and informed us that even though a night to stay was 80 Euros, all his rooms were full. We walked all this way to try and see if there was a place to stay and we failed...great. But he kindly granted us access to sleep on his nicely cut lawn, and since we had nowhere else to go we said "okay." So then he offered us some drinks and asked us to come in and sit at the dinner table with the rest of the guests. But then his wife, Sophie, began to prepare a full plate of dinner for us! And they served us as if we were one of their guests! So then for an hour and a half we sat with over a dozen people from France and Belgium (most of the spoke English) and had a blast talking about different stuff. It was fantastic! But THEN after dinner J.P. the owner offered us a place in his pool house! It was still on the floor but it was still a roof over our heads! It was so amazing! And that night we got to stay in the pool house of a massive chateau for free. I love God's style.
The next morning Sophie cooked us real French Toast! It was nuts! It actually caught me off guard when I asked what it was. She was explaining the ingredients and I said out loud, "hmmm, that sounds a lot like French Toa...OH! This is French Toast!" She laughed. And once we finally left that morning they sent us off without having to pay for any of the food! At that bed and breakfast every meal costs money and they gave us a free dinner and breakfast! They were awesome! But the blessings didn't stop there!
At 6:00 PM that same day once we walked about 30 km and trying to get to 45, God stopped us once again. We took a typical 15 minute break on the side of the road and the only place was the driveway of a beautiful house with a gate. But since there was a little shade and the residents couldn't see us, we thought it would be okay. But then a man named Rene came through the gate and asked if we wanted a drink and we said yes. When he came back he also brought his wife Michelle who was just the most joyful loving woman we've met so far. She came to us and notioned if wanted to swim in their pool. I was hesitant because I was still in the mindset of trying to get to the next day off ASAP, but I thought "well we can just take our dinner break now while we swim and we'll be okay." So I said yes. But even after that while we were swimming, Michelle came to us and asked if we wanted to stay for dinner and stay the night. Now I was really hesitating because I just couldn't get past the fact that we would be losing time. But something in me was saying "yes" and so I just took my uncle's advice and went for it. It turned out to be such an amazing night. We got to eat a two hour dinner with Rene and Michelle and learn about their life. They are such incredible people and extremely loving. I wish I could talk more about how they just blessed us so much but there is still a lot more that happened this round of walking. So the next morning she gave us a bunch of water, food, med supplies, and tic tacs and fed us a great breakfast. It was so great to meet them and we didn't even speak a similar language. We were able to communicate this whole time without speaking the same language. It was amazing.
We walked all day after Michelle's house and slept behind an abandoned train station and walked half a day more until we got stopped once again by another new friend. This time we had stopped under the only trees around for lunch to get out of the sun and it happened to be the driveway of a very wealthy farmer named Jan Joullie (pronounced "Yon"). He first asked if we wanted some water and then came back and proposed that if we needed a place to stay for the night we can stay as long as we wanted. I was shocked. God did it again! I thought, "Ah well we're already behind. Why not stop?" So we stopped walking after lunch and just hung out with his family. What we thought was going to be just half a day a turned into 2 and a half days. We were enjoying their company so much that we ended staying two more days there. We got to know their youngest son Theophille a whole lot. We hung out with him most of the time. We went four-wheeling, toured their farmland, went swimming and jumping off an old aqueduct in a river, watched some movies, swam in their pool, saw an old castle nearby, the whole bit. We even got to help with some of the work on their land. We felt like part of the family! They even had plans while we were there but they didn't care, they still wanted us to stay there. Nicole, the mother, was extremely loving and even took us into a big town to go shopping for food. I was just blown away by their love and kind hearts. We also met some of their friends who are actually moving to Dallas so that the father of the family will start his position as the senior curator of American and European Art at the DMA! What a small world! So taking a break here with the Joullie's has definitely been the most fun I've had in France. That was the condensed version of our glorious break but there was so much more. I can't explain it all though. You've just gotta trust me, it was amazing.
Our first day back on the road was good except I starting getting sick a lot. I felt horrible and the heat was not helping. We made it to nightfall about 50 miles from the border of France and met another great couple named Anthony and Denise who fed us a great dinner, let us shower, and allowed us to set up our tent on their beautiful lawn. France even has some southern hospitality. I didn't get this kind of kindness in the north; or at least this frequently.
The next day I wasn't feeling any better and all day I was having stomach problems. At our lunch break we met a British guy who works in Dubai. He was pretty cool. It gave us some entertainment during our lunch break. But by the time 7:00 PM rolled around, I couldn't go much further. I am pretty sure I got food poisoning from something I ate. I felt terrible. So Brett ran around in this tiny town to try and find a B&B or hotel or something and find some medicine but had no luck. So we just went to a house nearby and asked for help. It was this huge family and they had all gotten together here at their summer house for a few weeks. They were so nice and helped us tremendously. They knew a little English so I was able to tell them what we were looking for. They gave me stomach medicine and found a very cheap B&B nearby for us. It took them over an hour to find one though. Very genuine people. The funny thing was that the B&B was ahead of us and I told them that we HAD to walk to it. So they at least asked if they could take our bags ahead of us and drop them off there. We definitely took up that offer. So we got to walk 1 km without our packs and it was glorious. I can't believe how awesome people can be because of such little things like that. And so that night and the next day we relaxed, didn't walk, and Brigette, the owner of the B&B took care of us. It was such a great way to finish out walking through France by meeting all these great people that completely changed my attitude for this walk. Praise God for all that has happened. And praise God that we are only a day or so away from SPAIN!!!! I can finally speak Spanish soon!!! Woohoo!!!! I have long awaited for this moment.
Wow, I didn’t know seven days could
feel so long. I haven’t talked to anyone in a few weeks and it feels like
months. Don’t worry, we’re still alive. We made it a long long way and are
taking another day off in a town called Le Bugue. We weren’t able to get a free
place to stay this time so we got a cheap room at a small hotel. This is a great
little town and it has everything we need to rest, stock up on food, and wash
our clothes.
This week we functioned on a
different walking schedule that got us farther but still evened out the break
times. So that’s how we were able to get real far every day and not die. Brett
has strengthened so much this week. By the time we got to Le Bugue Brett was
keeping up with me and going the regular pace with no pain and no tiredness. I
broke him in Earth Expedition style. So hopefully these last three weeks will be
a breeze. And by the way, news update. We have decided to change the route in
order to conserve our resources since doing this kind of thing is rather
expensive. It wouldn’t be wise to go all the way to Portugal and then go back
the same way through Portugal, Spain, and France just to get to Italy. So I am
walking down farther into Spain and ending in Valencia and the next walker will
start in Rome, Italy and go north. This is a better route for the Earth
Expedition as a whole. Sorry all of you Portuguese fans that are following us,
but it’s just too far. We aren’t going through a lot of other countries in
Europe so it’s not just you. Don’t worry we still love you.
Something I definitely love about
this country is that everywhere I go I see these amazing buildings in random
places that are hundreds and hundreds of years old. They all must have so much
history and mystery and there are just so many of them! Churches, towers,
houses, chateaus, castles, monasteries, etc. It’s incredible! Most of them are
older than our country’s government! Also, most of the people I’ve met out here
are very nice. I enjoy that people are continually helping us no matter where we
are or what we look like. We had to go up to people’s house about 4 or 5 times
to ask for water since we were nowhere near a town or water source and every
time but once they all gave us water. One elderly couple flat out said “no” to
giving us water. I couldn’t believe that some people have no compassion to even
give walkers some cheap water from the faucet. But we found water right after
that, so it’s okay. It did get my spirits down a little though. A lot of things
can get you down out here. Even the weather can put off some negativity. When
it’s ridiculously sunny and hot I start to regret ever even being out here and
hate every step. But we’re slowing getting there, it just takes time. One thing
that I don’t enjoy about this country, simply because I am walking and need food
and water constantly, is the inaccessibility of simple items. Stores usually
close from 12:00 to 3:00 every day for a big lunch break and then everything is
closed by at least 6:00 or 7:00 at night. So if you need food or water between
those times, you’re just out of luck. We encountered that MANY times within just
seven days. So that’s why we had to ask people for water so many times. One
instance where we needed water, we were walking in the middle of nowhere and
Brett ran out of water completely and I had just a few sips left. So he stopped
and saw a house and asked if we could walk to it and ask for water. But since it
was in the other direction I was hesitant because I didn’t want to waste time
and I was hoping that there would be a house on the highway just up the way. But
I said okay and started walking down the little road. Right when we started
walking two guys on an ATV came down the other way and stopped at the
intersection and waved at us. I gave a wave of help and they drove over to us.
Luckily, they spoke some English and we asked them for some water. They told us
to walk down to their house which was a little down the small road. So we got
there and the father of the boys, Allard, came up and greeted us. We got some
water, talked a little bit, and kept walking. But it was just divine how we got
the water right when we needed it and God had this perfect plan for it. If I
wouldn’t have hesitated, we wouldn’t have seen the guys on the ATV. Stories like
that happened this week multiple times. Right before we got to Le Bugue, a
mechanic said hello to us and I said that we were out of water so he instantly
led us around the side of his shop and let us fill up our water. So God has been
taking care of us and it has been a blessing to know that he WANTS to help us. I
am glad that God is on our side for this. Sometimes the devil tries to convince
me that what I am doing really isn’t going to do anything for the kingdom of God
until I realize that God has his hand in this expedition sooooo much. So he
wants us to get to the end. I know we’ll make it but only through his power. I
couldn’t do this without him.
The days out here have blended
together and it’s hard to distinguish what happened one day from the next. There
is so much repetition and mobility that it feels like forever. Since we are
walking from 9:00 to 9:30 in the day and sleeping from 10:00 to 8:00 at night
and wasting no time whatsoever makes one day seem so long. One day when we were
walking around a city called Bellac, my emotions were going crazy and I was just
feeling so down. Earlier that day we saw a man drive by in a particular red car
with the bass booming. But then four hours later about 12 miles away, we saw him
again and this time we made eye contact and did a little “hello” with a nod.
Then an hour after that once we stopped for dinner, on the other side of the
road was that guy’s car! Two minutes later a little boy (his son) came out and
walked over and gave us a big bottle of water. This man and his son cheered me
up instantly because the love of God was in them and desired to help us. I was
moved. And then, the next day about 20 miles away, we saw him AGAIN! It was
amazing.
The tough thing about being out
here though is that all day long you walk by comfy houses and fast moving cars
and it makes you feel so helpless. There is no comfort in your life right now
and all you want to do is go faster, and you can’t. I wish I could feel warm and
relaxed in one of these nice houses or enjoy the convenience of an effortless
automobile. But if we lived like that then we wouldn’t be as strong of a voice.
I realized that most of the people we are fighting for in this expedition will
always live like that. They will never have a car and a lot of their homes are
not strong and cozy. Each day that I am out here builds my fierceness for
helping these people. I couldn’t imagine living all my life with so little and
there was nothing I could do about it. Blessed are the poor, because they rely
on God.
I went seven days without washing
any of my clothes. The bottom of my socks were black and I stunk so bad that
people did not want to be around me at all. It’s humbling. You should try it
sometime. The next break we have will be in Lannemezan, France. Pray for us!
Bless you!
Your guardian angel drives a red car! You know, you have now experienced exactly what people without clean drinking water experience daily. Walking long distances and hoping to find water. You guys are amazing!
August 7, 2009 July 24 – July 30, 2009
July 24 – July 30, 2009
Well, Brett made it through the first week of torment. I had empathy for every limp and moan that he had, because I was there at one point. But it was a good first week. We got farther than I expected with the fact that there were new feet involved in the walk. We are taking a day off now in a town called Chatillon-sur-Indre. It is a pleasant little town with everything we need to get by on a day off. Every night this week we slept in the tent. It is almost becoming a game to try and find the coolest place to camp out. Some nights we camped in the middle of farm fields, some in public parks, one beside an abandoned windmill that looked haunted, and some just right next to the road. Well, maybe it’s not so glamorous yet but we’re getting there. One of these days I would like to try and camp out on top of a water tower. It’s a lot harder to talk to people and ask them if we can stay with them because, you know, we don’t speak FRENCH! I wish I did. I’ve been getting better though, slowly but surely.
Right now I think I’m pretty much past all the pain. Nothing is really getting in my way physically. But Brett on the other hand, well…he is getting there. He’s had blisters, sore muscles, swollen ankles, sleep deprivation, etc. It’s almost like he’s pregnant. Cross your fingers, I hope he’s not. But after this day off he’ll probably be a lot better. This next week will probably be an even longer distance.
We caught a little bit of rain here and there but not too bad. What’s been the worst are the cloudless days with nothing separating us from the sun. I am half Cajun and half Caucasian. But luckily the temperature isn’t in the 100’s like it is back in
Texas . Usually it doesn’t get over the high 80’s but the humidity makes it feel like I’m on Mercury. A daily routine that we have been able to experience is river bathing. Every day we have come across a swimmable river and used it to bathe, wash our clothes, and just cool down. Thank God for that or we would have been suffering. The towns that we have passed through are very beautiful. I just wish we had more time to actually tour the town and visit the attractions. We only have enough time to walk straight through them and hope to see something along the way. Places like
Chartres ,
Blois , and Chateaudun have extremely beautiful churches and chateaus. You can see some of them in the pictures.
So as we were walking into Chatillon, we were assuming that there were some places to stay for the night like a hostel or something because all the other towns had a surplus of them. So when we got here we stopped in a bar and asked the bartender, Nicole, with what little French I knew where a hostel was. She told me there wasn’t anything in town, no hostel, no hotel…nothing. She then called the priest of the town because the church has a house that people can stay in if they are traveling through and are in need. But that was no longer in use either. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that the town we decided to take a day off in had NO accommodation. So I called my uncle, who speaks French, and had him talk to Nicole to try and figure something out. She said she would call a doctor in town who could maybe help. Well she finally got a hold of him and he said he could take us to a branch of his hospital to stay in a vacant hospital room. And when he (Michel) came to pick us up we found out he was also the mayor of the town and he spoke some English! So at first we had no place to stay and were sore from six straight days of walking, and now we have the mayor taking care of us and giving us a place to stay for free! How amazing is God’s provision. If it wasn’t for my uncle, Nicole, or Michel then we wouldn’t have received this blessing. Thank you, Lord. Now we are just relaxing on our day off, going to the market to stock up on food, and blogging it up at the town hall. What an amazing encounter. This day off will be very beneficial to us. Tomorrow we will be ready to go for another week without stopping. Wish us luck!
At the
table I met Michael and Nina's children: Glori, Jake, and Max. Lovely kids.
There was a bit of tension, you know with a new person talking to them
who they didn't know, but I soon lightened the mood for them and we carried on
as good friends by the end of the day.
After a lovely meal and conversation, I helped with the dishes and then
was able to use the computer and the internet for a while. It was nice to connect with the world
again. Then I decided to attend the
church Michael planted there in San Donato.
It was lovely even though I didn't understand a lick of what they were
saying. And then on the way back to the
house Nina offered me a place to stay for the night. You see I was just going to take a train that
night to Genova, but I am glad I stayed instead. So we got back and me and the boys all laid
out beds in the basement and off to bed I went, for the last night with friends
for the next five days.
This
morning I awoke extra early. You see
Nina told me the night before that if I wanted to take a shower, which would be
my last for a number of days I would have to get up really early, before the
family gets up, to take it. Man that
shower was so refreshing. I mean I
really soaked it in, you know it being my last shower for what I thought was a
while. So I shoved all my things in my
back pack and got ready to leave. Not
really having any complete inclination of what I was in for. All the kiddos were headed off to school that
morning so I hitched a ride with them to the train station. Michael and I bade farewell and I boarded the
metro to the central station then off to Genova. Walking toward the ticket office in the
central station I heard something familiar to my ears, English. Some fella came up behind me and asked where
I was off to. I did look like a traveler
and so was he. His name was Greg, a
fellow patsy, from Seattle, Washington. He was travelling around Europe on a little
vacation and then was off to teach English to some Italian kids. It was just like a breath of fresh air to
spend some time in conversation with him.
We found out we were on the same train so almost the entire way we spoke
together. It was delightful. We bade each other safe travels as I finally
got off to my stop in Genova. I find it
so funny that the train ride there took about and hour and a half and then
walking the same journey took me five days.
Traveling by technology is much more convenient.
I don't
know if I have ever talked with any of you about faith or my faith in the
creator God, but at this moment of my life my faith was the only thing I had
left to cling to. No one on this planet
knew what I was struggling with and no one could really help me. There was
nothing that anyone could say at that moment to change how I felt. It was
the Lord who is sovereign over all that gave me the strength to sleep under
that bridge that night, and it was Him that watched over me then. For the next five days this simple faith that
I have within me was the only thing that kept me alive and going. I understand that talking about faith and
spiritually is something people shy from, but if you plan on reading more about
this journey of mine you will have to realize that this trust in the Lord is
the only thing that has, is, and will keep me alive for the next 84 or so days left. So keep reading, there is more to come.
A little bit about Daniel Allen Frazier
Junior:
This set of days definitely changed my emotional status in a good way. Lot's of crazy things happened to make this part more worth it. These past few weeks have been physically and emotionally draining and have put me in sort of a rut. I had many doubts and issues and even self-threats to quit. But I remember the advice that my uncle gave me right before we left from Le Bugue, "Even though it seems difficult and not worth it, you have to try and enjoy it as much as possible or you'll be miserable." And that lately is something that I have not been doing...until now. All I've wanted is to finish as soon as possible and anything that gets in the way is going to frustrate me and make me go crazy. And guess what? That's exactly what God did; he put people and situations in the way to slow us down. But this time, I was thankful because they were pleasant and fulfilling things!
The next morning Sophie cooked us real French Toast! It was nuts! It actually caught me off guard when I asked what it was. She was explaining the ingredients and I said out loud, "hmmm, that sounds a lot like French Toa...OH! This is French Toast!" She laughed. And once we finally left that morning they sent us off without having to pay for any of the food! At that bed and breakfast every meal costs money and they gave us a free dinner and breakfast! They were awesome! But the blessings didn't stop there!
We walked all day after Michelle's house and slept behind an abandoned train station and walked half a day more until we got stopped once again by another new friend. This time we had stopped under the only trees around for lunch to get out of the sun and it happened to be the driveway of a very wealthy farmer named Jan Joullie (pronounced "Yon"). He first asked if we wanted some water and then came back and proposed that if we needed a place to stay for the night we can stay as long as we wanted. I was shocked. God did it again! I thought, "Ah well we're already behind. Why not stop?" So we stopped walking after lunch and just hung out with his family. What we thought was going to be just half a day a turned into 2 and a half days. We were enjoying their company so much that we ended staying two more days there. We got to know their youngest son Theophille a whole lot. We hung out with him most of the time. We went four-wheeling, toured their farmland, went swimming and jumping off an old aqueduct in a river, watched some movies, swam in their pool, saw an old castle nearby, the whole bit. We even got to help with some of the work on their land. We felt like part of the family! They even had plans while we were there but they didn't care, they still wanted us to stay there. Nicole, the mother, was extremely loving and even took us into a big town to go shopping for food. I was just blown away by their love and kind hearts. We also met some of their friends who are actually moving to Dallas so that the father of the family will start his position as the senior curator of American and European Art at the DMA! What a small world! So taking a break here with the Joullie's has definitely been the most fun I've had in France. That was the condensed version of our glorious break but there was so much more. I can't explain it all though. You've just gotta trust me, it was amazing.
Our first day back on the road was good except I starting getting sick a lot. I felt horrible and the heat was not helping. We made it to nightfall about 50 miles from the border of France and met another great couple named Anthony and Denise who fed us a great dinner, let us shower, and allowed us to set up our tent on their beautiful lawn. France even has some southern hospitality. I didn't get this kind of kindness in the north; or at least this frequently.
Wow, I didn’t know seven days could
feel so long. I haven’t talked to anyone in a few weeks and it feels like
months. Don’t worry, we’re still alive. We made it a long long way and are
taking another day off in a town called Le Bugue. We weren’t able to get a free
place to stay this time so we got a cheap room at a small hotel. This is a great
little town and it has everything we need to rest, stock up on food, and wash
our clothes.
Something I definitely love about
this country is that everywhere I go I see these amazing buildings in random
places that are hundreds and hundreds of years old. They all must have so much
history and mystery and there are just so many of them! Churches, towers,
houses, chateaus, castles, monasteries, etc. It’s incredible! Most of them are
older than our country’s government! Also, most of the people I’ve met out here
are very nice. I enjoy that people are continually helping us no matter where we
are or what we look like. We had to go up to people’s house about 4 or 5 times
to ask for water since we were nowhere near a town or water source and every
time but once they all gave us water. One elderly couple flat out said “no” to
giving us water. I couldn’t believe that some people have no compassion to even
give walkers some cheap water from the faucet. But we found water right after
that, so it’s okay. It did get my spirits down a little though. A lot of things
can get you down out here. Even the weather can put off some negativity. When
it’s ridiculously sunny and hot I start to regret ever even being out here and
hate every step. But we’re slowing getting there, it just takes time. One thing
that I don’t enjoy about this country, simply because I am walking and need food
and water constantly, is the inaccessibility of simple items. Stores usually
close from 12:00 to 3:00 every day for a big lunch break and then everything is
closed by at least 6:00 or 7:00 at night. So if you need food or water between
those times, you’re just out of luck. We encountered that MANY times within just
seven days. So that’s why we had to ask people for water so many times. One
instance where we needed water, we were walking in the middle of nowhere and
Brett ran out of water completely and I had just a few sips left. So he stopped
and saw a house and asked if we could walk to it and ask for water. But since it
was in the other direction I was hesitant because I didn’t want to waste time
and I was hoping that there would be a house on the highway just up the way. But
I said okay and started walking down the little road. Right when we started
walking two guys on an ATV came down the other way and stopped at the
intersection and waved at us. I gave a wave of help and they drove over to us.
Luckily, they spoke some English and we asked them for some water. They told us
to walk down to their house which was a little down the small road. So we got
there and the father of the boys, Allard, came up and greeted us. We got some
water, talked a little bit, and kept walking. But it was just divine how we got
the water right when we needed it and God had this perfect plan for it. If I
wouldn’t have hesitated, we wouldn’t have seen the guys on the ATV. Stories like
that happened this week multiple times. Right before we got to Le Bugue, a
mechanic said hello to us and I said that we were out of water so he instantly
led us around the side of his shop and let us fill up our water. So God has been
taking care of us and it has been a blessing to know that he WANTS to help us. I
am glad that God is on our side for this. Sometimes the devil tries to convince
me that what I am doing really isn’t going to do anything for the kingdom of God
until I realize that God has his hand in this expedition sooooo much. So he
wants us to get to the end. I know we’ll make it but only through his power. I
couldn’t do this without him.
The days out here have blended
together and it’s hard to distinguish what happened one day from the next. There
is so much repetition and mobility that it feels like forever. Since we are
walking from 9:00 to 9:30 in the day and sleeping from 10:00 to 8:00 at night
and wasting no time whatsoever makes one day seem so long. One day when we were
walking around a city called Bellac, my emotions were going crazy and I was just
feeling so down. Earlier that day we saw a man drive by in a particular red car
with the bass booming. But then four hours later about 12 miles away, we saw him
again and this time we made eye contact and did a little “hello” with a nod.
Then an hour after that once we stopped for dinner, on the other side of the
road was that guy’s car! Two minutes later a little boy (his son) came out and
walked over and gave us a big bottle of water. This man and his son cheered me
up instantly because the love of God was in them and desired to help us. I was
moved. And then, the next day about 20 miles away, we saw him AGAIN! It was
amazing.
Well, Brett made it through the first week of torment. I had empathy for every limp and moan that he had, because I was there at one point. But it was a good first week. We got farther than I expected with the fact that there were new feet involved in the walk. We are taking a day off now in a town called Chatillon-sur-Indre. It is a pleasant little town with everything we need to get by on a day off. Every night this week we slept in the tent. It is almost becoming a game to try and find the coolest place to camp out. Some nights we camped in the middle of farm fields, some in public parks, one beside an abandoned windmill that looked haunted, and some just right next to the road. Well, maybe it’s not so glamorous yet but we’re getting there. One of these days I would like to try and camp out on top of a water tower. It’s a lot harder to talk to people and ask them if we can stay with them because, you know, we don’t speak FRENCH! I wish I did. I’ve been getting better though, slowly but surely.
We caught a little bit of rain here and there but not too bad. What’s been the worst are the cloudless days with nothing separating us from the sun. I am half Cajun and half Caucasian. But luckily the temperature isn’t in the 100’s like it is back in 
So as we were walking into Chatillon, we were assuming that there were some places to stay for the night like a hostel or something because all the other towns had a surplus of them. So when we got here we stopped in a bar and asked the bartender, Nicole, with what little French I knew where a hostel was. She told me there wasn’t anything in town, no hostel, no hotel…nothing. She then called the priest of the town because the church has a house that people can stay in if they are traveling through and are in need. But that was no longer in use either. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that the town we decided to take a day off in had NO accommodation. So I called my uncle, who speaks French, and had him talk to Nicole to try and figure something out. She said she would call a doctor in town who could maybe help. Well she finally got a hold of him and he said he could take us to a branch of his hospital to stay in a vacant hospital room. And when he (Michel) came to pick us up we found out he was also the mayor of the town and he spoke some English! So at first we had no place to stay and were sore from six straight days of walking, and now we have the mayor taking care of us and giving us a place to stay for free! How amazing is God’s provision. If it wasn’t for my uncle, Nicole, or Michel then we wouldn’t have received this blessing. Thank you, Lord. Now we are just relaxing on our day off, going to the market to stock up on food, and blogging it up at the town hall. What an amazing encounter. This day off will be very beneficial to us. Tomorrow we will be ready to go for another week without stopping. Wish us luck!
