Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Back in Atlanta... from Tartu, via Tallinn

Ah... International travel, especially in Atlanta. You've got to love it. I arrived back in town yesterday afternoon as part of my 32 hour day (8 time zones seperating Tallinn and Atlanta). As with every time that a mission trip comes to a close, the processing begins and life as I knew it prior to leaving takes over again.

We closed out the trip in Tartu with a (much needed) day of rest on Saturday where many of us, including myself, slept in, got a cheap massage in town, and toured the KGB museum in Tartu (recommend if you are ever there!). The team all got together for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in town... and I got my fix of real gnocchi (which you can honestly only find in Eurpoe) before I left. Betsy Griswold told me about an Italian market where I can get gnocchi flour, so there's a possibility that I'll try to make this an entree during my supporter picture/dinner party (date TBD).

Sunday we worshipped for one more time at Risttee Church... God's hand is on this group and I was excited to be able to support them for their second "Bear Week" outreach to the University. Kristan and band led worship and it was (again) very cool to see both Estonians and Americans alike worshipping Jesus with passion and authenticity. Finishing out, we had to leave the hotel at 1PM Tartu time to head to Tallinn... Helena, Tarmo, Maret, Daniel, Timo, and the gang (I need to see the pics now... my camera's charging) went over to see us off with encouragement, hugs, and "Bear on a stick signs" (ok... I will post a picture soon so you know what this is all about... it was hilarious). We debriefed on the bus to Tallinn & arrived in Tallinn at 4PM Tallinn time (same as Tartu time) to tour the old city of Tallinn (Tartu didn't have an "old city" because much of it was destroyed in WWII... Tallinn was spared of this) and eat as this really good Russian restaurant (check that one off my list). I highly recommend the beef steak and the pot roast pie... both got rave reviews.

We left Tallinn at 7AM Tallinn time for our flight and was in the air or in security lines for a good 12 hours, arriving into Atlanta around 2:00 and getting through Customs and MARTAing to Rich's house by 4:00PM Atlanta time. Part of my 32 hour day... which was all good if it was long. Now comes the processing and reflecting with God and close friends as to how my life has changed as a result of this trip... and it indeed has. I'm looking forward to sharing more soon... :) thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement!!!

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