Here is a ninja picture for all you ninjas...



We be trained in many different arts...

My crazy family and other animals.....

Well i am back...

I have returned form a three week holiday in Cyprus. I was given the opportunity to work for a friends dad's company, which was really good, as you all already know. But what some don't know is that i got to spend time with my family, in the SNOW. I have some friends saying that they haven't had much snow, but in Cyprus, good old cyprus we have had snow, up in the mountains, bu it snowed when my family and i was there...
It was great to reconnect with my family and to spend time with them again, unfortunately it was only for a week that i got to see them, but i am greatful about that. I was also able to see all my friends there, which was a blessing.
Now that i am back, thoughts of the next six months are becoming reality. Please pray for me that i will not get scared by all the new things that i will be doing and just curl up, but that i will be able to try and see everything from a point of view of, how can i experience God in this new situation, and how can i be a witness....
Well guys the year is coming to a close... just one more day in the year 2006. That is kinda scary in a way, another year gone and another is coming, thoughts of have i done well this year, what will i do next year, fill my head when i think about it... But you can also think about it form the view of, okay, one more year has gone now lets tackle the next one that is coming and pursue God even more whole heartedly than last year...
take care guys
Alex

Yo Ninjas...

Chuck Norris knows what Willis is talking about...

Pride...

The great hunter, pride, lerks in the shadows and comes out whenever you feel you are on top. It searches and targets your weakest points, making you think that you are strong...

Have you ever puffed yourself up so much that a simple smile from a complete stranger can bring you down like a bag of bricks. It happened to me the other day. I was feeling really good and big with myself as i had a job that i was enjoying and i am growing up and doing new things and not fully realying on my parentals. That day i was heading back to the office with the cypriot, and we were in a hurry. We stopped off at the main shop in town to pick something up. We parked and ran in, picked up what we needed and ran out. There was a person in a car that was blocking our way out. With him was a female in the front seat and they were both looking at what seemed to be their daughter, who was outside the car. The daughter was unloading some bags with things that seemed to be newly bought. She was really excited and happy to be showing her parentals her new things. I got even more frustrated with the innocence of the little girl. Her father started to move the car and she realised that she had to move. she turned around to see why she had to move and looked straight at me (or at least it seemed to be straight at me) with a great big smile and just a lot of happyness to be with her parents... It completely broke me...

No matter how big we think we are, we are still so small and are nothing without love and for that moment in time i was without love and full of pride...
Take care
Alex

Work...

For those of you who don't know, i am in Cyprus, where i will be spending christmas with my family and friends here. Also i would like you to note that i have a job for two out of the three weeks of my stay in Cyprus. This way i will be able to raise some money for my next six months. Oh by the way my next six months will be spent in Wales. Some may know that at some point i was not sure where i should be spending my six months, but the decision was made and i will be staying in Wales, which i think is great for several reasons. One i get to learn some really cool things, eg climbing, kayaking, youth work, communication ect. Two the people there are excellent and so i know that i will learn so much...
However, this post is not about what i will be doing in the next six months but about my job. This job is a blessing. It is the first job which i have kept for longer than 24hrs. I have had two previous jobs, that within the first 24hrs i have quit. Now for me to stay in this job, says that i am enjoying it. And i am. Today is the end of the first week of work, one left and then holiday with my family...
Yesterday i went to Ayia Napa and Paralimny, where i helped install an electric lock and five hanging signs, and took a safe and a mini-bar. It took us all day to do all of this, which was really nice, i really enjoyed it. Apart from enjoying the work i also enjoyed the long ride as i was able to think about my future a bit and what i want to do. Life is so confussing...
Today unfortunately was not as interesting as yesterday. I helped set up an electric telescope automatic door, and well it still doesn't work. The person i was helping called and asked for a manual from the door suppliers, and the person at the other end was having a good laugh as he had stopped selling this particular module 10 years ago, and yet the door that we were working on was brand new, two years old, but not used...
At the office there is a selection of people from different countries. The big boss is a Cypriot. Then in the department that i am working in, there is a Lebanese man, a German and a Cypriot. These guys are excellent. Heka funny. I can't really explain it, it is just heka funny. The german is trying to fix up his newly aquired apartment and is always coming in with new problems or successess. The Cypriot loves to find the best deals around and to make fun of the German, while the Lebanese man keeps the order really... It is a pretty cool atmosphere, which is the main reason that i have really enjoyed staying and working with them.
Well have a great day and hope to see you soon, where ever you are...
Alex

These are the two who brought on the damage...



It was great getting to know you two... Helen and Erika... Ninjas... Alwayz Dat...

Time to show you what the girls did to our dorm...




There was more but we don't have the photographic evidence...

Just wanted to share some really cool pictures form the last week of the course...

Well guys you know how i have just told you about hitting the gilrs dorm, well here is a couple of pictures to show you what we did...


The reason for these tow boys coming to life is in the next picture but also toilet paper drapted all around the room, unfortunately we did not take a picture of it...

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

We have about 30 mins before our good bye party, and i have about 7 dvds to copy and then more tomorrow and i need to get ready for the party and here i am writing on my blog...
well to redeem myself, i am at the other end of the building all alone and burning dvds...
there is a lot to write about soon. i just need things to die down a little more. But just for a taster, ther have been certain wars between the dorms, wars as in things appearing, such as toilet paper everywhere, or rubber cloved/yellow bag head men, and such other things. I need to get the pictures and show you exactly what i mean...
well for now i will see you...
take care
Alex

Hey, this is a big thank you...



Thank you so much...
Alex

New look with a view of my bed in the left at the back of the room... Always the best bed in the room, far left...

Alex

Two more pictures that i really like...




Alex

Bling Bling...

Oh happy day, i have decided for my placement that i will be staying in Wales. It is really cool here, i really like it here and there are some really cool people that i would get to be working with. The more that i think about it the more it makes sense for me to stay here. I will be hanging out with youth, which is what i love to do, plus kayaking, climbing, mountainerring and all that good stuff along with meetings about stuff i don't know about and student promotions and really fun things, with a bit of travelling thrown into that.

Please pray for me that i will be able to get along well with all the people that i will be working with and hanging around. Also please pray that i will find a job during christmas in scotland because it would be good to have one to gain a wee bit of money for the rest of my year.

Also please pray for the end of these three months. Some really good friendships have been made here and it is harder every time to say goodbye. It never gets easier, never. There are some really stinking cool people here who i can really just talk to and enjoying talking to and using their phrases and all, so please pray that the goodbyes will be done well and that we will all really feel that we were able to say our goodbyes. Some of the people will still be here when i get back but others will have left...

Well thanks again for listening to my messages


Take care
Alex

A few India shots that friends took...

India Pictures...

Friends, Foes and Contrymen/women...

Well let me tell you some more of my thoughts...
Main struggle at the moment is where to go for my placement. I am looking at staying in Wales and doing a variation of things, or going to a different country... My fear is that i will not grow... I wanted this year to be a time of growth, and so far i know that i have grown, how, well that will take me a while to say and i don't have my trusty yellow note book with me, which is where i try to keep track of the rampage of thoughts that i have each day.

This morning i was reading my bible, the gospel of John, and i had the same feeling that i had, had yesterday when reading John. This feeling was so warm and just releaving to know that Jesus was truth and still is. That Jesus is the way and the only way. Just how incredibly amazing it would have been to see Him and to witness His attractiveness even though we are told that He did not have anything which would catch people's eyes, but that it was what He taught about and talked about. It was the way He was real with the people. So sincere and loving and calm and wow. It really made me feel peaceful inside...

Enough thinking
Time for more pictures...
Take care
Alex

My new look... What do you think???

TROUBLE SLEEPING...

Back form India... and I am awake. That is not right. India is five hours behind us and travelling back took about 27 hrs form hotel to home, and i have only slepted about 9 30 hrs, and i am awake and kicking. Oh well it fits perfectly with my original theme...

Well it is really good to be back. For the past three days, in my mind, it was all about travelling to get back. We went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and for that we had to travel to get there and then we had to get to Delhi, more travelling and then there was the flight, well that took a long time. So being at my final destination is really good.

India... well how can i put it simply. For those of you who have been to Egypt or live there, it is very similar i feel. The traffic, the look of the locals and then all the craziness and madness that surrounds you when you are out of the comfort of your building. Going back into a culture like that was hard for me. Also the people there are really friendly, a little overly friendly at some times. They see a foreigner and they think, great time to practise my english. That is a much better view to have than most westerners about foreigners, but still, by the end of about 2 weeks i was ready for a bit of coldness towards me.

India is huge, and so to get anywhere, you have to spend a long time travelling. We took the overnight train to Lucknow, which took about 12 hrs. In Lucknow we got to go to a college that one of our leaders had been working as a volleyball coach for about a year i think. It was really good and a lot of fun. I think that out of the entire trip the following time was my favourite. We were about to travel to Agra to see the Taj, but we missed our train, not by 5 minutes or 10 or even 30, but by a whole 24 hrs. The ticket was wrong. That day i was really ready to leave Lucknow, but that extra day there was really needed, personally. We got to go back to the college and play more volleyball. After the games, just like before we went to one of the players dorms and had chia (the indian version of tea, which grew on me). This time was different than the last time. I felt more comfortable with the guys and i think that they felt more comfortable with us. I really enjoyed their company and the next day i felt really relaxed about leaving.

Did i enjoy myself? On the whole i was struggling with not wanting to be there and the fear of maybe going back for 6 months. So on the whole no, i did not enjoy myself.
Where there good times? Absolutely. The best was descibed above. I also got to meet one of the language students in Dehra Dun and spent the day with him and his three friends on the back of a mototrbike. We went up into the mountains to see a Hindu temple, which was not my idea of fun, but i could not say no to them as they had planed the whole day. We then went to a restaurant and then to each one of their homes. That was fun. I enjoyed that part, of talking to them and jsut getting to know them. It made me a little homesick... but all is well.

A lot has happened in the past two weeks, but for now i will leave it for another troubled sleeping time...
Take care
Alex