WOW!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!: An Update on the Status of the Trip!!!

Greetings from Atlanta,

I just wanted to update everyone on the status of my trip. Currently, I am still at home in Atlanta waiting for the trip. We are inching ever closer to our September 2nd departure and as it stands right now, we are currently less than a week away from our trip.

A few big things have happened since my last note. The leader of the group, Dr. Terry Edwards, from Freed-Hardeman University, had open heart surgery a few days ago. This surgery was a surprise to everyone and was a last minute thing placed upon Dr. Edwards. Therefore, Dr. Edwards could no longer go on the trip with us. This was scary because the trip was kinda up in the air for a bit. However, another Professor from Freed decided to step up and take his place. Dr. Edwards son, Jonathan, has currently filled the rest of the position of being in charge of the trip while the new Professor from Freed will be doing the teaching. Dr. Edwards is doing fine from all reports. He is gaining strength everyday and is currently resting at home comfortably. Meanwhile, Jonathan left yesterday to set everything up for us in Italy. He should be arriving some time today. Please pray for his safe travel.

WHERE WE WILL BE LIVING

I also now have an address for you to reach us via snail-mail if you so choose. The location we are staying at is:

Hotel Sobaria
Via Dela Pineta 2
06010 Citerna (PG)
ITALY

Below are some more pictures of Citerna and Where I will be staying.

The following link will lead you to a video that will let you see what the hotel is like. The video is of a dance class that is happening at Hotel Sobaria and lets you see some of the great sites we will be seeing in our new hometown of CITERNA.



ANNOUNCING MY USTREAM WEBCAST
We are getting more and more excited every day about this trip. I hope that all of you will keep checking this blog often for updates from me as we go on this journey of a lifetime. However, I also will have a webcast on USTREAM.TV while we are in Europe called the FCU/FHU STUDY ABROAD CONNECTION. This webcast will serve as a means of communicating back to the states so we do not spend money talking on the phone. It also provides parents, family, and friends another means of communicating with their loved ones while they are in Italy.

If you look under the section called “links” on the right of this screen, you will see a link that leads to our webcast. All you have to do is log in and get an account with USTREAM (WHICH IS FREE!!!!) and you can chat with us via the computer. Each show will have a chatroom available that my fellow travelers and I will be able to see. You can ask us questions, send messages to us and hear stories of our travels and studies. Our goal is to try to webcast some of our devotionals over the internet. Thirty minutes before and after our devotional, I will allow my fellow travelers to get on the camara and talk to people that are online if they wish. That way, if they would like to set up a time with some people back home to meet up on the site, they will be able to chat with them for a few minuets and communicate with there loved ones. If you have any questions about the webcast, let me know. There is no definitive scheduale yet on when we will brodcast but we will have an idea when we finally get to Citerna.

LEAH MOSS: ITALY EXPLORER

Furthermore, I am also going to put a link to Leah Moss' blog ITALY EXPLORER on the right hand of the screen as well.. Leah is one of my best friends and she will be blogging during the trip as well. This way, you all will have more than one point of view of what is going on during our trip.

You can also click here to go to her blog.


That's all for now. I will probably update again before the trip with a list of stuff that I packed so future generations of Study Abroad students can learn from my mistakes and triumphs and with more information as it comes along. I hope all is well where you are.


Love and peace be to you all,
In and because of Him,

Συνέκδημος υμων



P.s. I just got the news today that I will be blogging on two blogs. My blog that you are currently viewing, and the official Faulkner and Freed-Hardeman Study Abroad blog. This blog will be the some/what official record of our trip. Click HERE to check out the new blog. You can also click the link on the right hand side of the screen.
KC

WOW..... DID I DROP THE BALL OR WHAT!?!?!?! : An Apology

Greetings from the ATL,

I hope that this post finds you all well.

As we all know, Summer is over and I really dropped the ball on keeping everyone updated on what happened in Florida. I apologize and hope that will not happen again while I am in Italy. I hope that you all will keep looking on this blog as I travel on what promises to be a journey of a lifetime. Please pray as I make preparations to leave the states. Here is the latest news on the trip.

Officially, we have 13 days till departure. I know my countdown clock on the right hand side says 12 but we have been pushed back a day due to some unforeseen events. We are officially leaving on Tuesday, September 2nd. Funny enough though is the fact that I will not be traveling with the group over to Italy but will be meeting them there thanks to my father's free flight privileges that pass down to any dependents under the age of 23. My flight will leave at about 4:35 PM on the 2nd and will touch down in Rome about 8:25 AM on the 3rd. The crew from Faulkner will have a much longer day ahead of them starting out about 6:30 AM. They will be flying on Northwest and will be flying from Montgomery, AL., to Memphis, TN., to Detriot, MI., to Amsterdam, The Netherlands and finally to Rome, Italy. I will be arriving an Hour and a half earlier than them and will be meeting Dr. Edwards, the man in charge of the whole trip that is affiliated with Freed-Hardman University in the Rome Airport. The Faulkner group will be flying for 26 Straight hours so please pray for them.

Officially, the count is going to be 55 people on the trip (if you include both Freed and Faulkner). Currently, Faulkner has just started their classes on the Montgomery Campus yesterday. I was there for Freshman Expierence as a mentor but since I have no classes to take on campus, I have no place to stay on campus. Since I will be leaving from Atlanta, I decided to stay with my parents at my home near Atlanta. I am begining to pack up things and making my list on what to take.

Now I do admit that I can pack to much stuff so this craziness of packing light is all new to me. I am praying that I will be packing light enough so I do not kill myself trying to lug too much around on my travels. I am also learning and researching how not to dress like a tourist. The handbook that the students going on the trip received speaks plainly on how dangerous it is to travel around dressed like a tourist because people will treat you differently and can also target you easier for pickpocketing and scams. This is a new concept for me but I am learning quickly.

Another thing I am learning is how to pack under limits for flight. This part is tough because we have to pack enough clothes to live on, enough stuff for our studies, some textbooks for some of our classes and much more. It gets crazy and the littlest things seem to put you over weight sometimes. I know I will just have to figure it all out. Pray that we succeed.

I'll keep you posted on more as I hear it. Pray as we make final preparations for my journey. Love yall and take care

Love and peace to you all,
In and because of Him,

Συνέκδημος υμων


P.S. Please be sure to check out the new web cast on UStream. The group and I will be streaming live a few nights a week so we can communicate back to the states via Web cam and we will also have some of our devos streaming as well. A more definitive schedule will be out soon. The link is on the right hand of your screen. Thanks.


KC