Harry & Andrea

9

The number of countries I’ve visited in my nearly 30 years.

Considering I hadn’t been on a plane when I started college in 1998 and that I distinctly remember begging to go home while crying of unbearable homesickness at a week-long Christian camp in elementary/middle school, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been to 9 different countries!

I went to Canada with my family in between 6th and 7th grades, circa 1992 — back when you only needed a birth certificate to cross the border. I went with a school group (anyone remember Safety Patrol?) to Washington, DC, and my parents picked me up on the last day and we drove up the East Coast and on to Canada for our summer vacation. We spent a night in Montreal and a night in Toronto. I remember that even in July, the pool in Montreal was too cold for swimming. This trip and another one that we took to California, probably lit the travel fire for me. So, Mom and Dad, you have only yourselves to blame that I’m in South Asia!

In college, I had the opportunity to study in London, England for 6 weeks. And since my friend Jackie was studying in Germany, I came a little early and got to see Regensberg in Bavaria. I remember that the train from Frankfurt to Regensberg was having engine troubles, but since I didn’t understand German, I was blissfully ignorant!

While I was in London, we were blessed to have our Fridays and weekends off from classes. So, I found somewhere to go every weekend: Paris, France; Dublin, Ireland; Zurich Switzerland. And I enjoyed a few days with a friend from Birmingham in Cambridge, too.

After college, I had the chance to go on two cross-cultural trips with my church, leading worship for a group of expats in Eretria, Greece twice (and one time with Harry!) and Chiang Mai, Thailand once. In Greece, I experienced the clearest, most beautiful water and some of the hottest temperatures climbing to the top of the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. At least, I think that’s why we climbed to the top. Although, I’m not sure since I never got a copy of the group photo to prove it. (Kristi Smith, were you supposed to give that to me?

And then, last August, God sent us to South Asia* for the first time to see if this was indeed the place where God was leading us. And, here we are a year later, starting our fifth month here. On the way back from our vision trip, we had the opportunity to stop over in Paris for a short vacation together. (This trip was planned, unlike our unexpected four-day layover in New York in April of this year!)

*No, South Asia isn’t just one country. But, for security reasons, it is better if I don’t say which country I’m in, but feel free to ask privately.