Nellie's blog

Nov. 19, 2004

Thank God it's Friday! We go home tomorrow. We've had a good day, just not as relaxing as yesterday in Ostia Antica. It was cloudy and cool all day. Thankfully it didn't rain. We went to a museum on Rome very near our hotel. It was good. We got separated from Lynn so we thought she was still inside. We waited around for awhile. We finally left Jon to wait for her and went back to the hotel. Come to find out she had come back to the hotel. After Bob and Lynn worked on hotel reservations for the next leg of their trip we went to find the catacombs. They are very interesting. We were with a small tour group. It's very damp since it's underground. The graves are just dug in the sides of the walls. There are 150,000 tombs. There's no way to know how many were buried there since some families would be buried in one tomb together. There's about eleven miles of catacombs in this area. There are 60 plus catacombs in Rome! They were buried here because it was cheaper than other land. We couldn't take any pictures though. And no place to wander around. I would hate to get lost in there. The first guy to discover the area was lost for 4 days. Now we're back at the hotel. We may go one more time to the Spanish steps. That's where I got a cheap print and I may want one to go with it. Langston's still looking for a souvenir. Then we'll be packing for tomorrow! Bob and Lynn leave by 8:30. We leave for the airport at 10:00. We've found a John Wayne movie in Italian. We just watched Sponge Bob in Italian. We went to the Spanish Steps that evening. We walked to the top of the steps, 137 or so in all. I found my cheap print, and Langston found a little "camera" that shows pictures of Rome. We ate at a nice restaurant nearby where we had a very funny waiter. We enjoyed our last meal in Italy. The metro was empty going back, thankfully. We said our goodbyes to Bob and Lynn. They traveled on to Florence, Venice and Zurich in the next few days before returning to Dallas. Our trip home was pretty tiring. We didn't realize we'd have a stopover in Milan, just an hour after we'd gotten on the plane in Rome. We had to unload all our things, go through security and look for a place to get a bite to eat. We were there 2 hours. I think it really drained us. One thing I found unusual in the airport - the trash bins are divided for recycling! Of course, I couldn't tell anyone in the airport was recycling in them! We were just throwing trash in them! With the three hour time difference we arrived in Dubai at 9:30 pm. (Rome time) By the time we got to bed at the Bloughs it was 2:30 am Dubai time. It was a short night. Langston was up by 8:30. We ended up taking an earlier flight than our 10:15 pm one. We left Dubai at 2:15 and were able to make it to AWANA. Although we missed spending more time with the Bloughs we were glad to get home at a good time. We enjoyed sleeping in our own beds that night. Thank God for a safe trip!!

Nov. 18, 2004

Today we went to Ostia Antica. It's Italy's best-preserved Roman settlement after Pompei. I had wanted to take Langston there but it's a 3 1/2 hour train trip away. Ostia Antica is just 14 miles from Rome. It was so nice and quiet there, away from the crowds. We got the guidebook that shows how they imagine the city looked. There's lots of buildings left so you can use your imagination for the rest. There are several statues with broken off pieces, a room that has toilets lining the wall kind of like an outhouse. They've rebuilt the colosium which has great acoustics. Most of what we saw was built from the first to fourth century! Langston thoroughly enjoyed himself. He could romp and climb on lots of things. It was nice to breath fresh air and hear the birds singing. We were there about 4 hours so it was a full day. Hopefully tomorrow we can go to the catacombs and see where Paul was imprisoned.

Nov. 17, 2004

Well I think it was hump day in Rome. ;-) Today we went to the Vatican Museum. That's where the Sistine Chapel is with all the beautiful paintings on the ceilings and lots of tapestries. There are other exhibitions there but we just went to the Sistine Chapel one and were there about 2 hours. First I'll tell you about the metro ride. I guess we left about 9:30, maybe a little earlier than we have before but man, the metro was crowded. It was like that last night at 5:30 but we didn't think it would be crowded mid-morning. At one point a team of pickpockets were around us. One of them tried to talk to me about Langston. Then there was a young woman that was by me. I could tell she tried to get into my bag. I told her I didn't have anything but coats in it. ;-) I had my money in my passport bag around my neck. Of course she said I was wrong, that she wasn't trying to pick my pocket but I'm pretty sure she was. Two of them got off on the next stop. Jon watched the other and thought he was trying to go for another guy's pocket. When the metro is crowded you're in real close proximity with these people. I'm always glad when it's not crowded. The nice thing about the Sistine Chapel is so much of it is biblical scenes. There are lots of Catholic influence of course with Mary as the queen but there's plenty of other scenes we could discuss with Langston. There was one big painting of Constantine as the conquering king. Made me want to learn more of him. Jon said he had a dream that if he put crosses on their army's shields they would win. They did and that's when he converted to Christianity. Langston did very well. I kept giving him snacks and he lasted pretty well. Not much place to climb around in the chapel. I finallly saw the creation scene where God is reaching out to touch Adam's finger. Then Bob and Lynn wanted to eat in a special area of Rome. It took us quite awhile to get there. It was nice with sidewalk cafes and lots of paintings to buy in the courtyard area. There were several musicians and people dressed up kind of werid who would freeze in a certain position and you could give money to them. One guy was dressed all in burlap with mud all over his face. I don't know what he was suppose to be. One guy was all spraypainted gray leaning against a pole like he was drunk. We didn't give them any money. We did give 2 of the guitarists who played in front of the restaurant money. They were appreciative. Fortunately we took a taxi coming back and it only cost 8 euros! The ratio is one US dollar to 1.30 Euro. I think I said that right. Theirs is worth more but it's better than London! I'll send this on. I hope we can go to the catacombs where the Christians stayed tomorrow. Jan sent us some good info on where Paul was imprisoned and buried . She wins the next ride on the metro! ;-)

Nov. 16, 2004 We didn't go here.

According to tradition, Peter and Paul were both imprisoned in the Mamertine Prison/Dungeon beneath the church of S. Giuseppe dei Falegnami, via di Marforio, Rome. It is generally accepted as being identical with "the prison...in the middle of the city, overlooking the forum" mentioned by the historian Livy. Some time, you know, he was "under house arrest." The Abbey of the Three Fountains Church was built on the site where tradition says that Paul was beheaded. The story is that "his head made three leaps or bounced three times, corresponding to which three fountains sprang up." The legend is nice, but the springs were known in pre-Christian times as the Aquae Salviae. The Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls (Italian San Paolo fuori le Mura) is a major basilica outside Rome at the traditional burial place of St. Paul about two kilometers from the city walls by the road to Ostia. When Paul was first in prison in Rome (for two years, 60-62 AD) he wrote Ephesians, Philemon, Colossians, and Philippians. He was imprisoned again in Rome around 63-64 AD, and wrote Second Timothy. He died AD 64 (although some say AD 68).

Nov. 16, 2004 Rome continued

We are eating lots of pizza and their gelato. It's wonderful ice cream! I hadn't thought how good the food would be here. It is just really delicious! We travel mainly by the metro. I think the bus would be nice, and our tickets let us ride both. We rode a bus briefly today and it was nice to see the surroundings. There's nothing scenic in the metro! We've seen several beggars that hang out esp. in the metro. One lady was nursing her baby for everyone to see and wanting money. Hopefully before the week's over we'll ride on the bus more. We leave here Sat. morning well at 12 I believe. Tomorrow we plan to go to the Vatican museum. That's where the Sistene Chapel is, I think that's the main thing I want to see.

Nov. 15, 2004

Bonjourno everybody, You can write me at my regular address. We're resting after touring the Colosium and Circus Maximus. The Colossium is very impressive. Jon read that it was used for 450 years. That's pretty sad. He said the Romans started building it 2 years after the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. I didn't know Rome destroyed the temple. Jon will put pictures on our site when we get home so you can see a lot of it. Today was a beautiful day! I was so glad that it was sunny and pleasant. I still wore a jacket but it was nice all day. It was kind of funny. We weren't sure where the Circus Maximus was. IT turned out we were looking right at it. It's just a big grassy, long area now. There are still some parts of old buildings at one end. It's easy to imagine the long race track though. I want to show Langston the chariot race in Ben Hur. Being here makes me want to see Gladiator again, Jan. And yes, congratulations, Jan, for paying off your house! Seems like you should have gone out for Mexican food for that one. I've always heard when you finish paying off something you should keep putting that amount away for savings, or whatever. Langston enjoyed his day very much. He could climb around at the Colossium and run like the wind at the Circus. He found a big stick so he was happy. We got back to the hotel earlier today which made me happy. He doesn't seem to have a runny nose anymore.

Nov. 13, 2004 Our trip to Rome

Buongiorno Familia, Actually it's night here but I haven't really heard them say good evening in italian. I looked up the spelling in one of Lynn's travel books. Yes, we're here in the ancient city of Rome. It is quite impressive with its historical settings. Besides getting ripped off by the taxi driver coming from the airport things have gone well. It is pretty chilly here. It was real windy yesterday. Today it drizzled some but not too badly. We went to the Colosseum yesterday afternoon, just on the outside. It was closed since it was Sunday. Today we went to St. Peter's Basilica which has St. Peter's Square and the big Catholic church there. That's where the Pieta' is (Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion) and all the beautiful paintings on the raised ceilings. It's an enormous place. Unfortunately Jon had a knife and wasn't allowed to go in through the securuity area. This made Langston very unhappy for most of our time inside. We finallly came out so Bob and Lynn kept the knife so Jon could go in. We also went to the Trezi fountain (where Three Coins and a Fountain was filmed) and the Spanish steps. I think the steps go up to a hotel. There's a huge poster of Ghandi there right now that says "If you're going to send a message, it must be a message of peace." We wanted to go to the Vatican Museum where the Sistene Chapel is but it was closed already. You'll have to watch Roman Holiday to get some glimpses of Rome. I was surprised to see so much graffiti everywhere and the metro subway is covered with it. The city feels alot like London to me, just real big and dirty. We had to wait through several trains before we could get on one this evening at 5:30, after work traffic I suppose. They were crammed in there like sardines! There are signs saying watch out for pick pockets. As we were driving to our hotel in the taxi we saw several signs about Yasser Arafat saying "Thank you." I told Jon maybe it meant thank you for kicking the bucket! ;-) So far Langston is most impressed by the hot chocolate, it's almost like pudding, the gelato, it's ice cream that's famous, and watching the cartoons this morning in Italian. He enjoyed the pigeons at St. Peter's too. He'd like to meet some friends ( I guess like we did on our Egypt trip) but I told him we may not find any friends his age. I sure don't see a lot of kids around these tour places. We started this trip with a runny nose. I've been giving him Silver Solution. He's definitely better. We stayed in the hotel tonight while the others ate across the street. The food is really so good and pretty inexpensive. Joan gets the Golden Writing award for sending me email at our hotel!!! For her award she gets a free metro ticket or maybe the losers should get that. Ha!

Nov. 6, 2004 Liberty, Freedom and our trip to England

love my country, America. I am proud of our godly heritage and look forward to teaching Langston about our history. I'm not proud of the many immoral things America has done recently but I love my country! Going back to the States for the 4th of July was wonderful timing for us. I had this insatiable urge to buy anything with the US flag on it. I bought a poster dedicated to 9/11, calendars, art with the Statue of Liberty for Jon's office, patriotic shirts for all of us. I did refrain from buying the corn flakes with the flag on the box but God bless them for making it! Jon even bought a flag to fly while we stayed on the beach at Galveston. ;-) I love my country, America. I am proud of our godly heritage and look forward to teaching Langston about our history. I'm not proud of the many immoral things America has done recently but I love my country! Going back to the States for the 4th of July was wonderful timing for us. I had this insatiable urge to buy anything with the US flag on it. I bought a poster dedicated to 9/11, calendars, art with the Statue of Liberty for Jon's office, patriotic shirts for all of us. I did refrain from buying the corn flakes with the flag on the box but God bless them for making it! Jon even bought a flag to fly while we stayed on the beach at Galveston. ;-) Finally, our time in Texas came to an end and it was time to pack again. I don't know if I'll ever get good at packing. I seem to always have more to do or put in and end up leaving a mess behind. The comfort in this trip was that Mother and Jan would be going with us to London. We got off on our flight just fine. It was strange being in business class with Mother and Jan back in economy. We went back to see them and make a switch. I gotta tell ya, traveling in business class spoils you really fast. Talk about no leg room. Yikes. Jan went up with Langston for a little while. The crying baby in our section did make sleeping for me impossible. Maybe that evened out the comfort level somewhat. We were all glad to get off the plane . . . so we could wait in the customs line! That was a doozy. We made it to the train station to wait for the Gatwick Express. I had the notion that it would leave like the tube does - fast. So when the doors opened up we frantically started loading our luggage, sure the doors would close any second. Several other travelers had this same notion. We all made a mad dash for the few luggage racks. I dropped my stash of food items from the plane trip. At one point I was physically stuck in the aisle. I couldn't move because of being wedged in with my luggage. The man pushing with his bags finally made a shift so we could move on. After all our luggage was on Mother, Jan and I kept standing in the aisle bracing ourselves for departure. We finally realized we could sit down. We began to relax some and waited several more minutes before we left. It was so nice to return to the Foreign Mission Club after 10 years. They've built a jungle gym in back which Langston enjoyed. The rose garden is still lovely. We meet Wilma, a nice lady who lives behind the Club. She was keeping a little boy, Jasper and his sister Seline. She was a little younger than L. but they got along very well. We even went to the nearby park with them. We were thrilled to have beautiful weather the whole time we were there. August was rainy they said so we enjoyed the cool, clear days. Saturday we cruised on the Thames, saw the Tower of London, House of Parliament and Big Ben. We didn't go in any of them. I don't remember everything costing money when I came before. St. Paul's was in a major restoration process so we weren't able to see it as I had before. Mother and Jan enjoyed everywhere we went. By the time we'd ridden to Parliament area I was ready to go home. It was crowded and I was tired. We took a bus just to get out of the area and ended up in a less desirable neighborhood. It didn't concern me much since it was daylight but when a young guy stuck his hand in my purse I was ready to go somewhere else! Thankfully he didn't get anything that I know of. I was much more careful after that. The FMC seemed like a peaceful haven after the hustle and bustle of the busy day. Sunday we went to church at Highbury Baptist nearby and went to The Lion King musical that afternoon. We enjoyed it very much especially since we spent nearly $60 a piece for the tickets! Monday we set out for Buckingham Palace. It seems to take a long time to get anywhere - by bus anyway. We enjoyed St. James Park and were blessed that we could tour some of the state rooms - such beautiful paintings and ornate design. They were pretty particular if you sat down on the carpet (like I did to show Langston something) or the steps to the lawn. It reminded me of touring the Biltmore. Tuesday morning came very early. I had secured a taxi for the ride to Heathrow. Mother and Jan rode with us. it was nice to see London before it got quite so busy. After asking three British Airway attendants we finally got in the right lane to check in. We had a little breakfast and it was time to say goodbye. It's hard to say long goodbyes in a hectic, impersonal airport which I guess is just as well. We had an uneventful flight to Doha. I wish I had a picture of when Langston saw his Daddy among those unfamiliar faces at the airport. It was priceless. Jon greeted us warmly and the climate had its own warm welcome. We were back home! Mother and Jan saw Westminster Abby that day and traveled by bus early the next morning back to Gatwick Airport. They must have gotten on the first bus of the morning. They said they had no trouble getting their luggage on or making their connections. It was a trip of a lifetime. We all enjoyed it so much. It certainly made it easier for me to have family along for the ride.

Nov. 6, 2004 Summer happenings

Since it's Nov. I thought I should finish writing about last summer before it all escapes me. As always, relationships are what stand out the most. We went back to Texas knowing one of our friends, Shayne, had cancer. I didn't know when I went to visit my next door neighbor that she would tell me she had cancer as well. Shayne was healed, Gloria died. Maybe she was healed too, in God's perfect way. I can't say I was close to Gloria. She was a retired school teacher from Conroe but God brought our families closer together when she opened her home to her niece, Jackie and her two young daughters, Chelsea and Haley. They became fast friends with Langston during our year before going to Qatar. I admired Gloria for her willingness to let family come and live with her when she could have sat back and relaxed during retirement. I can't say I was close to Gloria. She was a retired school teacher from Conroe but God brought our families closer together when she opened her home to her niece, Jackie and her two young daughters, Chelsea and Haley. They became fast friends with Langston during our year before going to Qatar. I admired Gloria for her willingness to let family come and live with her when she could have sat back and relaxed during retirement. She gave me her difficult news when I went to ask when the girls could play. (Jackie and the girls had moved back home at the end of the school year, before Gloria's ailing health. ) She had been diagnosed just weeks before with liver cancer, I believe. I was shocked of course. I prayed with her. She expressed her faith in God. As Jon said later, he hoped she had the right faith. She was to begin her chemo that next week. We went on our family trip to Branson. As we pulled back into our drive a week later at 10 p.m. an ambulance with lights flashing was in front of Gloria's house. Surely she just needed a little extra assistance. There were several cars around so we didn't go over. It was the next day I learned she had died early that Sunday morning. Doctors had given her another year to live but it wasn't to be. I was able to meet Gloria's brother. I was able to go to the funeral and learn more about her life. The disturbing thing for me, besides her untimely death was that she had tried to call me while we were out of town. It's a strange feeling to realize you can't call a person back. What did she want to talk about? Was she in pain? Did she want me to pray for her? There's nothing to do but leave all those questions in the hands of the Lord. The verse "Teach us to number our days" rang loud and clear in my mind during that time. I hope I can somehow reach Chelsea and Haley to give them a word of hope. Gloria was like a mother to them while they lived with her. Gloria was 54 when she died. On a happier note, it was such a blessing to be in our home church when our friend Shayne gave the news that the doctors had given her a clean bill of health, those wonderful words "cancer free" that all cancer patients hope to hear. We had learned of her cancer last spring. She had lots of chemo in the interim. She said the turning point was when a lady in Wal-Mart stopped and asked if she could pray with her. I guess she could tell Shayne had cancer by her head scarf, I don't know. But the lady prayed for her healing right there on an aisle in Wal-Mart while the kids pushed the shopping cart up and down the aisle. Shayne continued her treatments and had a big series of scans. It was at the consultation with her favorite doctor that the doctor said she was cancer frree! I got to be one of the first to hear the great news. Shayne came by the parsonage and told Ruby and me. She called first saying she wanted to come by. Somehow I'd forgotten about her big appointment. I thought she wanted to bring a meal over to the Suels since she does that sort of thing. (Sometimes my brain is somewhere else! ) It was just wonderful to get to hear that and pray with her and look at her in awe! God had really chosen to heal her and she and Gerald would continue to praise HIm even as they had in the midst of the struggle. What a special Sunday service we had that next week as they testified to what God had done in their lives. Amen!