Old photos

I just found some old photos I had taken at Pine Mountain Settlement School Reading Camp in 2005.

The top picture: Haunting.

Middle: bee and flower

Bottom: work of the hands.

St. Patrick's Day Photos

Above is just a preview of my pictures from St. Patrick's Day Weekend. If you'd like to see more, copy and paste the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/aaasay09/StPatrickSDayWeekend2007

I'm a religion major, and I find this funny. :)

Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

Old Warsaw

The flowers in Warsaw's Old Town

Krakow Market

A lone musician in the Krakow market

Nozyk Synagogue, Warsaw

Warsaw was once home to over a half million Jews. In 2006, only one active synagogue remains.

I visited the Nozyk Synagogue in May 2006 with the March of Remembrance and Hope. This picture was taken from the second floor women's balcony, and does not come near to describing the sweeping beauty of this place.

Preparing for a year of travel

If all goes according to plan, this year is going to be positively amazing. The first week in April I'll be in Glasgow, Scotland at the World Irish Dancing Championships with my dad; May I'll be in Turkey and Greece; June in Poland and Germany; and finally I'll depart the US in late August for a semester in Morocco.

An insane amount of traveling. In effort to make the most of my traveling experiences, I've decided to start this blog. I want to have a record of all that I do, and also make my adventures easily accessible to friends and family who might be interested. This seemed a better method than sending mass emails. This way, I won't have to annoy anyone with loads of emails; people can stop by my blog if and when they want to.

I'll post here occasionally leading up to departure for Scotland. Hopefully I'll be able to update my Irish dancing family on the Worlds while I'm there! It will be fantastic!

Here's to a year of globe trotting!