paris je t'aime

i miss paris

Fleet Foxes - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

beirut

its been a long long long long time since we smiled and i will let go of my fears my time and in a year maybe this will work out but its been a long since we smiled

i am giddy and this wave will pass im sure but i'm happy so enjoy

the most easily told part of my trip so far

Yesterday I went to the french open.

We left the Hotel Castille around 10:30 because I overslept. It was a long metro ride to Dauphine, where we bought tickets from an American woman. She and her husband have lived and worked in paris for 3 years. Their apartment in Dauphine kind of mademe homesick- CNN was on, folded laundry sat on the couch ready for room drop off, random potted plants littered their living room- these were emblems of stability and ritual with which our cushy hotel lifestyle (2 hotels in less than a week) failed to give us. Anyways, after that we took the bus (which is free in Paris... i think) a few blocks down to Roland Garros. True to our Parisian way, we got off the wrong stop subsequently got lost and had to ask for directions. Parlez-vous anglais si vous plait? Where is roland garros?



This sign was the first thing I saw. pretty cool, it gives you the distances to go for the other three grand slams. ALso, all the ladies were given white long stemmed roses throughout the day as it was the women's semis but i left mine in the stadium.





This was our view. Interestingly, people don't show up until midway through first match. And if you leave at any part of the match, you can't return to your seat until the end of each game which can take quite awhile. I have a vid clip of it but will upload another time maybe b/c blogger is too slow





This is Safina, but the match between Ivanovic and Jankovic was the best. I was crushing on Ivanovic with the rest of the crowd. Even if she celebrates her fist too much. Jelena called her out that too.. jealously. haha, sadly no one cheered for her.



Proof the above aren't google images. Ah, friends, can't wait to demolish u in 10is ;)

discuss.

not even half marathon

i woke up extremely early this morning prepared to walk on to the ING marathon (See several posts below) In the back of my mind i knew it was unlikely because there isn't day-of registration, but i packed my gear, change of clothes, etc and headed to lindbergh to meet my fellow racers. me, ewong, mike, jonathan, and about 10000 others runners rode the marta to centennial park. we arrived really late and as expected i couldn't sneak on (also later turned out i forgot my running shoes which made me feel dumb) but it worked out because i got to check in friends' gears so they could begin their 13 mile trek on time.

how boring. and freaking cold. after meandering different booths in the park for a long time, i entered a holiday inn but quickly exited because the music started blaring meaning ppl were finishing. unfortunately, i only cheered for strangers because apparently my friends ran so fast i missed their finishes. weird. i still dont understand how i didn't see them. anyways, man wish them congrats, mike, ewong, and jonathan. so fast we made it to church 2

speaking of churches, jca is planting its #2 somewhere at georgia tech for the young adults. i don't know how i feel about the church plant... probably because it won't affect me much. isuppose it matters if i decide to stay in atlanta and transition to the new church. to a YA. to a nobody. weird!

obama, internet fast thats not working

it goes hand in hand, the title above. i broke my internet fast because of obama. i was getting inspired from several obama vids on his website. sooo i went on xanga to look for an entry where i posted a reaction to obama's speech at the democratic nat'l convention. i can't find it, gr. but i did discover some of my old, mindless entries containing a lot of emotional barf. blegh! it comes out too easily, now get me some powerade b/c i'm still dehydrated. i'm actually being very intentional in hydrating my body daily with at least one bottle's worth of aquafina. i have to train my puny body b/c in a month i'm running 13 miles non-stop. can i m a k e it? i think the problem may be overcompensating my abilities by keeping up with a pack too fast and then cramping. ugh, my legs are cramping being cooped up in this office all day. get me o u t ! i'm going to take a walk

blessed

god is so good. esther believes she is fully healed, and honestly i guess its a matter of time before doctors confirm it. praise god! the past three weeks, since christmas, god has been moving in my life and i've been encouraged how god's been working in everyone else. praise god praise god. at oil, me and esther prayed together then we prayed together with the church and god was moving. it was an explosion of love for god and his people and a lot of us beginning to understand why we are where we are. and especially since then, god's been teaching each of us a bigger lesson, like the togetherness of worship. or looking at how god's grace has moved in my life so far and it makes me thankful and it leads me to praise god. i just got back from hanging out with people at dan's place then talking with ewong and edith. yay, mike is staying in atl for longer. angela might leave but god's leading her to better place maybe. ewong challenged me to do a lot with what i'm learning in college but also know in the end, if i want to save the world, i can do so even without taking an econ class. haha, i dont think this makes much sense. but i hope u can understand what i'm trying to say. or i hope i can understand more and more... remember your story of god b/c that can be used to spur each other on

god's creation

i read genesis listening to in rainbows. i'm a little late to start the old testament, i agreed to read it as one of my new year res with my aunt and sister. it blew me away.. genesis is powerful, i guess reading w/ redemptive history is a good aid. once u see god's sovereignty beginning from the Beginning, worship is an overflow reaction. god is so good.he saw what he had to do at the fall of man, but god's grace, his perfect grace, was there at the beginning too.

no knew year

make delicious salads. learn a zepplin song. write/make music, save money for equipment. love god for 12 minutes.. u don't get it but that's ok, u can ask. blog regularly, nobody reads this do u? reconnect with ppl b/c a long time ago we used to be friendz. bye!