boulder couple plus thoughts on the US of A

view from the airbus 380

it seems that so much has changed since we last posted on our personal blog, our eyes have been opened to an american culture that we had only witnessed via the media and we know that there will be so many other surprises during the next few weeks but we thought we'd better get something down in writing before it all becomes a bit of a blur.

last thursday morning we made our first transatlantic flight, which just so happened to be on an almost empty british airways airbus 380 which was a true Godsend, boy those planes are BIG, and upon our arrival in washington we were met and then hosted by our 'boulder couple' kyle and sammar.

washington memorial

we met kyle and sammar on a boulder in camps bay, cape town, about eight months ago, they were in the middle of a round the world journey of a lifetime and minding their own business enjoying the beauty of their surroundings, the ocean to the left, lions head rising straight ahead and to the right the mighty table mountain which majestically sits a watch over cape town itself.

our first meeting was one of those moments when you realise that there is this divine figure orchestrating much of what we would see as random acts, this meeting and our further time with kyle and sammar is perhaps best seen by the post on their blog soon after their time with us, follow this link for their thoughts on the topic!

honest abe

we didn't have much expectation around our time in washington DC, we knew of some of the sights we might see but to be hosted by two people who have a very similar outlook on life and therefore sorta enjoy doing and seeing the same type of things it has been easy to let them guide us towards both the touristy things and the real life america that so many people who visit this nation would miss.

steps where martin luther king spoke

kyle and sammar live in a wonderful home quite close to the city centre, this neighborhood seems to be very up and coming but we are very aware that our local surroundings have a very different recent history and the city a much more of a world wide impact. last night we spent some time listening to around 20 drummers in what was unofficially called the malcolm X park and the race riots that followed the assassination of martin luther king happened only a few blocks away from where we're sitting right now.

vietnam war veteran by the vietnam war memorial

it's been funny to watch our own reactions to those things that we had only experienced on TV or seen on the movies, our first real american fire truck, or fire hydrant, newspaper stand, trashcan, even a target store and experiencing taco's,  black beans and cheese dip. but then there are the those things that we thought that we'd see which were so different to our expectations, the white house is so small and the theater where lincoln was shot has a modern facade that takes away the immemce history of the place.

the white house!

kyle and sammar hosting!

that said we have also had some incredibly semi spiritual experiences, the time spent wandering around the world war 2 memorial which sits between capitol hill and the lincoln memorial was very special and to stand on the very spot where martin luther king delivered his 'i have a dream' speech and thinking around the impact that that had for both him, this nation and even the world was so powerful.

a few bottles of bourbon later

over the weekend we had the opportunity to visit our good friend helen and her husband chaz at their beautiful home in maryland, it seems that americans live up to their expectations with food playing a huge part of the way they host and spend time. chaz fired up his gas weber bbq and cooked us some amazing ribs and real hamburgers, we also enjoyed some real bourbon over the meal. tim even got to watch the first grand prix of the season!

helen has visited the village of hope on five occasions so to spend time with her and also introduce her to kyle and sammar was very special, we certainly will be back!

maz and helen at the friary 

on sunday we attended church with helen, it was our first time in an american church and a catholic one at that, two firsts there!, the service was short, the music a little unfamiliar but the sense of God via His Spirit through His people very evident. the church wasn't just a church either it was set on a friary and was led by some of the monks that live there, thankfully they seemed very friendly and welcoming which bodes well for the rest of our trip when we return to england where we have a week at a monastery planned in july.

helen and chaz

we returned back from the countryside of maryland, which still had drifts of snow lining the roadside and hedgerows, to georgetown, a small and very upmarket part of washington where it seems the architects had visited parts of london for their inspiration, after a walk along the canal and river potomac we attended evening song at christ church in georgetown, this was also a simple service and although very different to the catholic expression of the morning captured the diversity of God who meets men where they are in whatever way He sees fit for them to engage with Him.

today we've spent our last day in washington where headed out to hike in the great falls national park, this was a an amazing end to this part of our trip, the snows had just melted so the potomac river was running very high over the falls which was a sight to behold. we also enjoyed a pic-a-nic overlooking some crazy guys kayaking and even paddle boarding around some rapids.

around georgetown

so tomorrow we head down to augusta to join nicki and robert for their wedding this coming friday so will hopefully update this blog sometime next week after that part of the adventure.