snaps!

water park day

sea did a concert

club mayhem: Philip (Brett) and Bubba Rub (Aisea)

THE PINK JUMPSUIT+ cut off jeans=80s madness

this photo does no justice to how packed the room is

moses keeping the beat during club music

anarchy!banana eating competition...with nylon overhead

our awesome, AWESOME soundtech!!

and our incredible stage hand

an update with some details that i may not have addressed

Yesterday was a chill and successful day. The sound system and arrangement of the clubroom has stayed the same; kids have become aware that the arrangement will remain and so they race to the front of the room in order to get a good seat.

Program put on my favorite club of all: 80s. Mom, your hot pink skiing jumpsuit was a big hit.  Even while I was on stage playing music, I kept getting hoots and hollers from different kids in the audience. It is pretty sweet if I do say so myself. I wore that with some tennis shoes, headband and my Raybans. I don’t think I stopped moving and grooving (I was cutting up a rug, even while I was busing tables) from 5pm until about 11 that night. Yes, this morning I woke up sore. But it was so worth it. So epic. And the kids loved it. To get kids pumped, Aisea came on stage dressed as his character, Bubba Rub, after he had been publically dissed by Brett’s character, Philip. He needed inspiration when LO AND BEHOLD, our camp speaker’s, “Smittie”, sillouhette came onto the screen complete with a cardboard cutout flat top. It was probably the most hilarious thing program has done thus far…in my opinion.

We played a couple 80s songs and had some Billy Jean bass lines pumping as they entered. Although Brett didn't play these, he's still doing an excellent job on the bass via keys! Throughout practice and set up we were quasi freaking out because we couldn’t get the songs down and kept having some technical difficulties with the keys. When those kids poured into the room in their spandex and metallic fits, we didn’t even have to worry about it. Who knew that “Livin’ on a Prayer” would be so popular and so well known? We wrapped it up with the classic “Don’t Stop Believing” (which I still abhor, but it’s all for the kids).  The second set included “Wabare Yesu” and “Fools Rush In” which Sea and I did acoustically to calm the kids down. I teared up when I looked down and saw the girls in the front row really worshiping with their hands up high as they sang “Fools Rush In.” So filling.

All of this fun prepared the kids for the Sin Talk, and our speaker. After the message hit some kids hard, we finished up the night with karaoke and a dessert bar. Dang, high school kids really love karaoke. The club room was packed full with screaming teenagers belting their little hearts out. 

Skits went well. We played Musical Boys which is musical chairs, but we used boys as chairs while girls paraded around them and competed for a spot on their laps….yes there was pushing, yes there was shoving. I need to take some snaps of Sea and Brett in their costumes….they’re riiiiidiculous. I also need to take pics of Brett and I in our dining hall costumes. Jaja and Lady are huge hits…I’m so disgusting and happy that I surprise and scare myself. It’s way fun.

I love building relationships with these kids through the characters that I play and the songs I sing. We’re kind of looked at like the “rock stars” here, but it’s so nice that kids find us approachable; as I walk through any hallway and any door of the hotel I can always count on hearing, “RAY RAY!!” Yesterday, as I was parading and roboting through the dining hall in my pink 80s jumpsuit I got kis to dance with me Molly Ringwald style as they were walking through the buffet line for food. What was even better is that I got one section of the dining hall to belt out Aha’s “Take on Me.”

The other day, Brett and I hosted the Leader’s Challenge, which was kind of like and Entertainment night, but more of a game show. We came out, Brett dressed as his 8-year-old Philip kid, and I was a 3 year-old baby in my pink onesie complete with puppy dog feet.  I didn’t talk at all, I more so imitated one of the CUTE CUTE babies here at camp, Cecil. I ran around while I was attached to Brett by a leash, and played ball with kids and cried when they took it away from me. I also stared into the faces of many campers and spontaneously picked my nose like many little ones do. I wish I could have filmed the reactions when I pretended to eat it…

The team has been really intentional about having devos to fill our spirits and I love that. We are able to come together stronger as a team and family on stage because we process and pray together. We are constantly reminding each other of our intentions here, and we keep each other accountable when it comes to seeking Him on our own.

The kids went off to the water park today. Supposedly there is a slide that has a double loop—you stand incase in a pod with your arms crossed when the floor beneath you collapses like a trap door and you fall straight down into this water tunnel with no light and go soaring through the slide at about 40km/hr. FREAKISH. We didn’t have to go if we didn’t want to. And so I am sitting in my hotel room writing to you, snuggled up and ready to watch a few movies, read my Bible and take several naps. Absolutely glorious. I am one of about five that stayed behind to rest; many went to the water park, to downtown Innsbruck, hit the slopes, etc.

We are coming on the tail end of camp. After day one and two things kind of slowed down, but once 80s club was over, things are all downhill. Please, please pray for our strength and energy. Every one of us on the program team woke up with the sniffles and Aisea keeps losing his voice. I’m jumped onto that wagon with him this morning and I definitely felt it while we were practicing Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”—dang, its so my guilty pleasure, but I can only sing it in folsetto now. We are tying that song into a super grooving medley. The mandolin has been used a lot—I’m really, really glad that I brought it. In our sets, it imitates the sound of an electric guitar in reggae music. Legit.  

Tonight, we will play “Deal or No Deal” at dinner. My humped and hideous character will play the banker…which means only my silouhette will show and it’s going to be funny. We’re trying to rig some sort of Austin Powers spoof that’s much cleaner. Something like a cist popping on my hump complete with puss squirting as if I’m a whale breeching. Haaaaa.

That’s a wrap! For now..Much love.

hello! is it me you're looking for?

no i'm not mad in this pic. we were supposed to look serious like sea..but brett's always happy or something.

again, hello from austria. and no, i haven't been kidnapped, its just been crazy hectic here. BUT all is well and i find myself in good spirits regardless of the busy schedule. let me run you through the past three days...

Day 1 of camp

the whole of the afternoon was spent doing prep work. there was a lot to do as far as the clubroom was concerned. to paint the picture, the club room is the discoteca of the hotel, meaning it is a bar complete with "hot tub" style tables and chairs (the tables are literally put into the ground, so when everyone is sitting around, it looks like we're hanging out in a hot tub). there is also a dance floor with awesome lights and whatnot, but it's sectioned off into the back room making the clubroom ultimately appear as if there are three rooms. that's a huuuuuuge problem when it comes to fitting almost 400 kids in the room. our initial idea was to keep the back dance floor as a backstage prop/dressing room and to bring the stage out onto the carpeted area where the largest section of the room is so that we can be more involved with the kids.

soooo night one, the kids came in and we played some awesome music and program was perfect and the kids kind of fit....but there were parts of the room that were not engaged at all. if you know young life and our vision at all, it is our goal--and sayin--to "reach every kid". so with our hearts so concerned about those who are not fully engaged because they cannot fit, or they cannot see, or what have you, our eyes were scanning the room and worried for the kids whose backs were turned to us. overall, though, the energy in the room was AMAZING. but with another group well on their way while we were having club, we knew we had to strategize a way to fit another 70 people into the room.

Day 2


the entire day...and i mean the ENTIRE day...was spent rearranging the club room so that we could fit more people. we decided on clearing out the backdance floor and making that our stage, while kids could come into that room and wrap around us. we had about 3 feet of stage, with kids' screaming and sweaty bodies crowded up right in front of us and it was glorious. it was hard to see much of what was going on in the back, and we were worried that the kids in the back were not engaged (again), but friends who were sitting back there with them had nothing but positive comments to say about the energy that was present throughout the entire club room. a few technical difficulties, but berto is the man and took care of it so great!

Day 3


and so today we woke up and had club this morning with the exact same setup and all went really really well. it was a ton of fun and the crowd's energy was amazing. dang, i need to get some video up here of what goes on in that club room. moses has been documenting each club behind the drum set, so hopefully i can get some of that footage up here (if the connection isn't so poor). we took the kids to innsbruck for the day which was crazy and way fun. it was COLD today, but everyone had a great time hanging out, getting away from the hotel, and participating in the photo scavenger hunt that brett, moses and i made up. it was really good.

instead of club again (which is usually held at night around 8 or 9) we had a talent show where there were over 30 acts! a bunch of kids got up to share their talent; some were goofy and hilarious (one kid covered lionel riche's "hello"), and some just melted my face right off (a young girl's rendition of tina turner's "rollin") dang.

so i could go on and on and talk about the kids ive met...how they are either very outgoing, or very stand offish because of the lives that they live and the way that the are up and gone after each PCS. they are such an inspiration and so different from the hundreds of kids that i've met throughout my involvement with younglife.

we (our program team) went to a cathedral while we were in innsbruck and lit a candle for these kids. most of the songs that we sing in club are about peace and freedom, which is empowering for these kids; singing "price of peace" with kids who are here at camp because of a lack of peace is humbling. it's not like they're over-patriotic or anything....rather they are well aware of war and peace and the way that it effects not only their lives directly, but the masses...something that i do not understand. and something that i may not understand in my lifetime.

that's all for now everyone....short and sweet. show peace and love. and mean it. mom, dad and tanya...miss you. commie seeeester, i miss you too and think about you when i see the local people of eastern europe. staci and gracie, your generosity with letting me borrow your electronics is appreciated beyond words. russ and chritsi, brett is well although he is beardless now, which he shaved for his program character. ha...i'm counting down the days until it grows back.

and megan, i miss you and we'll skype soon.

christmas in austria

let me start off by saying merry christmas to everyone at home! although it doesn't feel much like the holiday here, i pray immense blessing and joy on his wonderful day. we have been given the gift of gifts, so let us rejoice the day that love was born! i celebrated christmas on my own by lighting a candle my aunt marcia prepped me with (the fifth of advent), and by opening a small gift given to me from her. thanks sha sha! :)

just a lot of prep work happened today. i'll report the highlight:

brett came in my room this morning around 8:30AM. it had snowed all night leaving a good two feet of fresh powder to play in. 

"c'mon! get up! let's go!"

i rolled out of bed and pulled my skii clothes on, grabbed a banana and walked outside to the rental shop (which was about 100yards away). did you know that to skii all day and rent equipment, it only costs $40USD?! riiiiiidiculous! for those of you who don't skii too much, think $40 (at least) for equipment at home, and around $60-80 for the lift ticket... there's no petty and tedious paperwork. the rental guy was super chill and hung over from the night before--later when i saw him and asked if i could return the rentals he just said, "oh ja, later" with his breath smelling of beer. that's the life. 

it was still snowing when we headed up and it literally snowed all day long. even as i write this at 10:30pm, i still see small flakes falling down. there were a few lifts that lead to big trails and one main gondola that fits about 50 people in it. it looks like the trolly at shadowbrook lounge in capitola only A LOT bigger. the gondola rides up on tracks for about...10 minutes and we find ourselves at the top of the mountain. today (because it was snowing and because we were so high) it was a COMPLETE WHITE OUT and it was probably the scariest thing. however, i all of us are like young puppy dogs, so ignorant and clumsy, that we jumped right in full force into the white-out conditions and the fresh 2 feet of powder. PLUS there are no trees at all to mark the trail, which made things even more difficult. there were a few yellow and black flags posted every few hundred yards, but that was it. all was welll! no falls, no breaks, nothing. amen!

there are NO CROWDS AT ALL! i think the most people i've seen are in the gondola. that's because everyone here is practically professional and they take off to the hardcore stuff. the runs that we were on, there were about 5-6 people max sharing the same slope. these trails are about 6 km long each (so that's about 4 miles)... talk about exhausted. i did about 3 runs up and down that big gondola (which took a good 2.5 hours) and was done for the day. the boys kept going for another hour until they all stumbled in from the cold looking WORN OUT. it was such a blast; we'll go a few more times once kids come.

program team met together for some practice time. we went over music for the next two days and the guys started sorting out their lines for the walk on characters. this all totaled about 3.5 hours and we were tired. but we feel great! and well prepared! i can't believe kids are coming tomorrow! whew. i will try and load some pics of practice and actual leading soon. videos take FOREVER to load because of the poor internet connection so we will see if i can post those too.

i'm hoping to get the guys to write a small excerpt here. stay tuned!

much love.

peace

frohe weihnachten!

christmas eve in austria--they do it big. think new years eve in the states. i mean BIG. last night around midnight there was an enormous fireworks show just 100yards away from the hotel. we heard a few explosions which roused us from our jetlagged slumber and were startled. when we thought that the spectacle would end after a few bangs and pows, it only went on for a good 10 minutes. full disneyland spectacle and finale! we estimated the show to be about $10,000USD in fireworks. amazing.

My sleep wasn't too bad despite the confusion of the time. I woke up around 2AM, then 3AM, then 4, then 5...and finally gave up and got up around 6:30AM. It rained lightly all this morning and turned the snow into slush. I joined the Cuellars to have breakfast: bologna and cheese sandwiches...with nutella. very different from the standard amaerican hearty breakfast. very good though. i had a second breakfast with the guys once they woke up and made it down around 8:30. it was fun trying all of the different spreads and breads that they had available. this food isnt settling well with my stomach though...it's all too heavy.

after, we had a meeting and briefly went over the schedule and what was to come. very short. Moses, Brett and I took off to downtown Innsbruck to do some shopping and to find some fun clues/places for the scavenger hunt which is scheduled to take place on Tues. when we are tucked away in our little niche at the hotel, it doesnt feel like we are in a different country. today, however, when we ventured out onto the cold and damp streets, I knew I was far away from home.

the streets are very...well...european. the sidewalks (if you can call them that) are cobbled stone and the buildings are grand and very old, much like the city. every couple hundred yards there is a statue of some saint (a majority of the people here are catholic) and it was fun to look around and shamelessly be tourists.

here are some snaps:

 That'd be Moses in my hand.

 I'm excited about the horses.

 cool door

we practiced our german today...it went something like this..

(excuse the spelling)

"Hallo!"-us

"Hallo."-them

"ves gayt" -us

"danke"-them

"gud gud, ehh....sprekenschet english?"-us

"yes."-them

"oh thank god."-us

what we have found so far is that there are two different types of austrians: those who are super accepting and accommodating. they don't laugh at our silly accents, and they patiently help us with what we need and answer our questions on how to say different german phrases. even just now, as im writing this at 2am, a man came down and covered my barefeet with his blanket to be sure that i don't get sick.

the other type there are those who are rigid and rude, arrogant and treat us like..tourists. they laugh at us as we take silly pictures and push us out of the way without the slightest ent schul digung. this all adds to the experience and i luuuuuurve it.

we practiced music for a while which was pretty epic. aisea and moses are just...ridiculous musicians and i learn SO much from them. fun. they have me on the mandolin and vocals. brett's on the keys (aisea rigged it to sound like a bass, and brett's doing just fine.) i love playing with really talented musicians. it really forces me to step up my game. 

afterwards we had dinner (reminiscent of the swedish christmas at home) and santa made an appearance. all the kiddies LOVED it. then everyone (as in the local hotel guests) sang christmas carols. it was funny listening to them sing jingle bells, which was the only english carol that they knew.

OH! JINGLE BELLLLZ JINGLE BELLLZZZ JINGLE ALL DA WAY! OH VAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH...

....

.....

....

OH! JINGLE BELLLZZ!!...

ha. 

the crew got together after "family time" (meetings/fellowship) for some holiday cheer in the discoteca which we will later convert into our club room. we celebrated the birth of love with our friends from austria and the netherlands: daniel, ono, and danny. ono, the bartender asks, 

"when these kids come, how old they?" 

"around 14-18 years old" 

"ah, yes. so half drink and half don't drink." 

"well...no it's not like that..."

it's amazing how many languages they know! they're practically fluent in english, german, french, spanish and italian because their schools systems MAKE THEM DO IT! i wish we had this integrated into our school systems; we learn one language and we think we're set for life. 

::::::::

the slushy rain turned to snow--48cm worth. we're boarding for a half day tomorrow with these guys then more prep. that's all for now guys. 

Gute Nacht!

Yes, the Hills Really Are Alive With Music!

Five words: Julie Andrews said it all... Not only is The Sound of Music an all-time epic classic, but currently I'm in it. I mean, I'm on the set. Really. It does not deceive: Austria really does look like the picture-perfect-green-rolling-hills- wildflower-picking-singing-with-your-arms-stretched-out-wide scene that is depicted in the film. 

Sigh. Glorious. Before I go on, let me just say that I'm a little loopy from traveling for 15 hours and also confused into thinking that it is 11AM when really it is almost 9PM--oh excuse me--20:00 here. 

No problems with traveling at all. No delays, no cancellations, no frisky pat-downs at the airport, and best of all, no lost luggage. We endured a painful 10hr flight here from SFO to Frankfurt. Let me just say that before this morning (was it this morning, or was it yesterday?) I had never flown on any airline except fro SouthWest...I'm super classy. When I stepped on board United, I was filled with joy when I saw the super fancy space bubbles with immense amounts of leg room. I was certain that the space bubbles would incase us and a harmless sleeping gas would dispense into our lungs letting us enjoy a 10hr flight in peaceful slumber. I let myself believe this until we advanced towards the back of the plane...too good to be true. Economy class is CRAMPED! Not to mention that I am a pretty tall girl traveling with pretty tall men who are carrying musical instruments and other carry-on bags....But, nothing that a little Tylenol PM couldn't fix.

We made it to Frankfurt and were immediately swept into the hustle and bustle of a busy, industrial airport. It was cut-throat traveling through customs; those folks give you no mercy. Somehow everyone could that we were Americans. It might have been my Cal Berkley shirt, or Brett's mixed up Chicago/North Carolina accent. Or maybe it was because Aisea never took off his sunglasses and the loud obnoxious way that we would all laugh at our own jokes...I'd like to believe that everyone around us was just extra intuitive.

 After standing in lines during our two hour layover, however, we finally boarded the small aircraft in the runway and were on our way to Innsbruck. Of course, this couldn't happen without a little spending in the airport. Brett and I bought water bottles which cost about $8USD and Aisea grabbed three sandwiches, which he shamelessly ate in one sitting. If you know Aisea, this is normal and perfectly acceptable. I practiced my German with a vendor, who laughed heartily at my attempt, and bought a Käse-Brezel (cheese pretzel), which later tied my intestines into pretzels.

The little aircraft held about 50 people at most. It was cozy and the legroom was much more comfortable than what United gave us. The flight was only one hour, complete with...just a little turbulence. 

But talk about a view. MOUNTAINS!! They peaked upwards to an infinite space with dramatic edges and grooves that make you feel sentimental enough to write poetry. The snow on top of the mountains sat nervously idle ready to give way as the whips of cold air and condensation formed smoke-like clouds; it was something like the breath that rolls out of God's mouth after He whispers wonderful promises to creation.

We landed and it took everything within me not to do a Maria impression--it was that beautiful. We stood on the runway in compete awe of the magnificence of creation. I mean really, whose airport looks like this?!

So now, here at the hotel, all is well. I know I'm leaving out a lot of details, but you can ask me those questions later I suppose. The hotel is pretty beautiful. We're literally higher than the elevation that planes fly at. 100yards away are the ski slopes too! Mom, you'd absolutely love this place. The hotel's design itself is stuck in the 1970s which is kind of charming in that thrift-store, cat lady, Napoleon Dynamite way. We are holding club for the kids in the hotel's discoteca, which has cougar den written all over it. It's going to be so epic. My room flashes the orange, blue, green, and pink neons of the enormous sign out front. Oh, and people can smoke inside here. Good thing I brought my inhalers. I think the hotel will redeem itself once the sun comes up and the mountains are visible once again.

Tomorrow's adventure awaits! We will spend the afternoon in downtown Innsbruck. I can't believe it's going to be Christmas Eve already...Ciao Ciao!

Here we go!

I feel like every blogger has a first post like this... But, after much encouragement from others, and deliberation and whining on my part, I've signed up for this thing. Secretly, it's a dream come true.


Does anyone know any handy German phrases? Really. 


In three days I am leaving for Austria to embark on an incredible journey. There, we (a Young Life team from the San Francisco Bay Region) will be serving teens of military families who are stationed in the area by hosting a weeklong Winter Blitz camp. We will be nestled right into the Swiss Alps and our entire purpose is to create a "platform for the Gospel" for kids (if you're not sure what this means, ask me). This all hasn't hit me yet; I'm actually more overwhelmed than anything. I'm sure, however, the moment I touch ground and hear the lederhosen bass lines, I'll explode with excitement--hopefully it's not too messy. 


There are two on the program team, Brett and Aisea, and two others who are on work staff, but act as "special forces" for program: Moses and me. This basically means we, alongside the wonderful staff and team members, organize all of the waking moments of camp. It's going to be very hard work: a week of skiing and snowboarding in the Swiss Alps, playing basketball, going to indoor-- and heated--water parks, and not to mention the dozens of skits, songs, and games program will have to perform and lead. Sheesh. 


Again, here are the specific members of our team you guys can pray for:


Brett
Aisea
Moses
and me (Rachael)! 


Once there, I will document our adventures nightly (fingers crossed in hopeful expectation) and complete it with some fun pictures. Some will be breathtaking and some outlandish; I'll be wearing a uni-brow and drawing on a huge mole all in the name of Jesus.


Here's an appetizer. We will stay here. Adieu für heute!