Lightning...

There was a lightning storm, and I stood out there forever, and finally got this shot, by pure luck.

So, where to begin. I have very few opportunities to use the internet here, and it costs a lot of money, so I'm downloading as many photo's as I can and so on.



I don't remember how much detail I used to describe my trip to London, and I'm too lazy to check anywhere, so I'm just going to do it again.
This photo is of my favorite piece of art out of about a million of the paintings and sculptures at the Freize (probably spelled wrong) art show in London. I liked it. When I got to the airport, I had quite the time figuring out where to go. I asked around and with my hundred literal pounds of luggage on my back and in my arms, boarded the underground going from Heathrow 4 to New Cross Gate, which if you don't know, is like from one side of London to the other, which if you don't know, is like two hours of riding the crowded, really hot, stops everywhere underground. I only got to sit down for one of those hours, and I think I hurt my back during the standing. I think I brought too much stuff. Finally I got to Kat's dorm (friend from England that I stayed with, but not really with her), and it was great to see someone I knew, especially since this was not a particularily nice part of London.
Anyways, the week was very, very expensive. I failed to purchase an Oyster card, and if you don't know, neither did I, until it was too late, it is a card that you put money on, like a phone card or something, that you swipe each time you get on the underground or a bus in London and area. Instead, I bought a 5 pound day travel card everyday, which was what, fifty Canadian for the week. Plus I rode the train down to Battle, outside of London, and that one was like 50 Canadian. THEN, cause my flight out was so early in the morning, I had to get a taxi across town back to Heathrow, which was like 80 Canadian. It was a rough week on the wallet.
So, I saw the typical stuff. London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and a bunch of other monuments and double decker bus typed things. I also went to two art shows, both of which were pushing ridiculous for the most part. I rode on the London Eye, which is basically a giant, permanent ferris wheel. It was quite the nice relaxing experience, and you could see most of London from it. That same day I also had a British McDonalds meal, which was a nice reminder of good times back home. We went to all the "Posh" parts of town, while I stayed in a not-at-all posh part of town. College students can't afford much in any country I guess. I had real English fish and chips, which were not nearly as good as the fish and chips I had on Salt Spring Island. Man those were good. Other than these things, we saw Les Miserables at Queens (?) theatre, or something like that, and it almost made me cry it was so good. I like Liam Neisen (spelling?) in the non-musical movie better though. Yeah, I hung out a lot with these friends, and met Kat's family in Battle, and we all made fun of each other's accents, just like all commonwealth nations do. Then I got up early one morning, and left their lives forever...or at least until I fly back there at the end of this DTS.

I'd have to say that the flight into Cyprus was the best flight I have ever been on, view wise at least. I have a small video of some clouds and stuff, but it doesn't do the ride justice. I'm pretty sure we flew over France and all those countries, and we were pretty darn low in a pretty darn clear sky, so I saw lots of countryside and mountains and so on. It was awesome. We finally landed about an hour late, and the Larnaca airport is a small one where you come out of the plane, down some stairs, and then walk into the terminal. I stepped out of that plane, in my brick red cords, and instantly felt a sweaty itch come over me, realizing that I needed to be wearing shorts and like no shirt. It was hot. It has cooled down enough now that it's late November, for me to wear trousers and a spring jacket, but for a while there, I was bitter about having brought like four pairs of long pants that I was never going to wear. Anyways, I was welcomed outside the terminal by a huge horde of people, waiting for their English relatives who had come for a vacation, and also by three girls holding up a small, very hard to read sign saying "Barry". They all started laughing when they saw me cause I was like a foot above everyone there and it was obvious I was either American or Canadian.
I think I already said, but Misty is from Hawaii and is 18, Leah is from Kansas and is also 18, and has a sister named Amory who is the worship leader and is 25. Costas, who has now left because of things that are hard to explain, is 23 and is from Nicosia, about an hour and a half drive from our base here in Cyprus, but yeah, he couldn't continue the DTS after a little while. Tim is from Australia, but is originally Egyptian I think, and is very much so. You wouldn't think he was from Australia until you hear him say "Reckon" every few seconds. Last but not least is Tina, who is in her forties I think, and she is from Larnaca, which is only twenty minutes from our base. Helge, is from Norway originally, but has been here for a few years, has a wife and daughter who are both very beautiful, and is in his 30s I think (haven't really asked him), and is very cool. He reminds me of Dopey from Snow White, but in the best way possible. I'll try to get a picture asap. He is my one-on-one leader, and we talk a tonne. He has been through a lot of the same stuff I have, and it's very easy to relate to him, and I am tremendously glad he is here. He actually lives in a duplex where the other half is owned by Martin, the Cyprus YWAM leader originally from England. He is very cool, gentle, and easy going, and has been here for 13 years. He cheers for West Ham. Kathy is another leader from England and she is also very cool. She's my constant relief from the crazy hyperness of most of the other guys. Those last two, Martin and Kathy, are both older, but I'm not sure how much. Laura is the last one, and she is the youngest leader, only 20, from L.A. She's doing this as a kind of apprenticeship or something for her bible college in the States.

So far, we've been to the North, or Turkish half of Cyprus, across the UN buffer zone and everything, and stayed there for a weekend. We went for a hike up to an ancient fort on top of a mountain that was built during the Crusades. We've been to a Greek Orthodox Monastary in which only men were allowed, so the girls weren't along. That was also on top of a mountain. We've had four weeks of classes now with speakers and such. They were all very good, and one, who's name is Claude, from Switzerland but moved to England when young, 58, and I really got along good. He reminds me of Grandpa Derman a little. This last week was a practicaly application week, which was hard for me, but I came out with a new veiw on a lot of things. Lately, I've been most excited for the youth group we go to on Fridays. Last night, I was in charge of the games, and they all loved it. We did the human knot game, and "I've never", and the one where you sit in a circle, one person leaves, and while he/she is gone, you pick someone else to be the leader in the circle, who does random things like pats his/her legs or rubs his/her belly, and whenever he/she changes it, the rest have to copy him/her. You know? Then the person who left comes back and has to figure out which one is the leader. If you haven't played it I recomend it. Last night actually, I met a young guy at the youth group who was helping, who is a refugee from Iran. He became a Christian here, and is trying to get religious refugee status, because they would probably kill him if he went back to Iran, but they won't do anything and keep postponing their rulings to try and figure out how they can kick him out. It sucks. Makes me appreciate Canada just that much more.

I don't know guys. I have yet to see any big changes in me, but I am still very hopeful. The small group part of this DTS has turned out to be a bit of a problem, as no one here is really like me at all, and the closest ones to my personality are girls, who like to hang out with each other a lot more than us guys. So right now is kind of a "wondering where this is going" moment in my life. And now a guy is smoking right next to me. Yeah, that's right, it's legal here everywhere. I have been so sheltered. Please pray for me and that God would really just give me revelation in my life and how He will change me. I would also love to know where He wants me to go after this, but I'm not worried.

If you would like to here details on any of these stories or what have you, please comment and ask or something, cause I feel very little motivation to go into detail. This whole internet thing is very frustrating and whenever I get on a computer I'm usually in a bad mood because of how hard it was to do. I am just now loading a small handful of my photos, cause it is taking forever, but if you would like to see them, wait till I get home. No, jk, omigsh, you can go to myphotoalbum.com/barrygitzel, and look in my DTS folder. So far I have only London pictures and some of me and my good pal Colin when he visited us in Crofton before I left.

I miss you all a lot, even the ones of you who don't think I miss you. I kind of refuse to be homesick though, but I don't know how long that will hold out. By the way, if you are rich, and you come to Cyprus for vacation, all of the breakfast cereal here is either chocolate or a cheap knock-off of something from the States. I recomend the Golden Grahams though. Thanks for supporting me guys, and I'll write again as soon as I can!