Tear Down This Wall

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
In reflecting on the events which led up to the wall coming down, it seems there were a few key events which almost didn't happen.

• German Politburo member Günter Schabowski accidently blurted out at a press conference that East Germany would allow its citizens to pass through border crossings into the West, and then made it worse by adding that this would happen immediately, even though that was not what East Germany was actually planning to do. Because of that error, people gathered at the borders and at the wall on Nov 9, 1989. More about this here.
• According to this video, Ronald Reagen almost didn't say his famous words: "Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall!"
• Margaret Thatcher was actually not supportive of German re-unification, fearing that a unified Germany would be too powerful a force in the center of Europe.

But the wall did come down, and communist governments in Eastern Europe fell not long afterward. Nowadays its hard to imagine it any other way.

Here is a list of walls which are still standing around the world.

Boys Who Can Shave

Mark Driscoll on adolescense vs. being a man. Good stuff.

For the Love of Bill

A few years ago we took a trip through Serbia and Kosovo. It was 2003, so the Kosovo conflict of 1999 and the NATO bombing of Serbia was still fairly fresh.

In Serbia we tried to keep a pretty low profile as Americans, since many Serbs were obviously not too happy about the US having bombed their country. We had a good time in Belgrade, we liked the city a lot and found people very friendly and kind.

But in Kosovo, it was a completely different situation. The city itself is nothing special. Sightseeing in Prishtina consisted of visiting the UN headquarters, the big hotel, the (black) market (ok, that was actually pretty fun), and the money changers - like 20 guys standing around near a bus stop who changed money as a business (ok, that was fun too:) The cool think was that in Prishtina we were very open about being Americans, because since that same NATO bombing, many Kosovars love Americans. We got treated great - we were given free pastries in bakeries and free coffee in cafés, a good price on exchanging money - just because we were American.

America is viewed as having saved Kosovo - and the savior himself is Bill Clinton. And they certainly love him. The main street in downtown Prishtina is named Bill Clinton Boulevard.

We even saw his name on random other stuff, like this company which sells marble.


This past week, for the love of Bill, a 3 meter tall statue of him was erected in the Kosovar capital. Bill himself was there to unveil it.
Here's a video of it, and here is an article, which contains one of the pictures I took back in 2003.

Desiring God for Free

Until November 21, you can download a free audio copy of John Piper's Desiring God here.

I downloaded my copy a few days ago, and am really enjoying it.
I read Desiring God a few years ago when I was going through a dry time spiritually, and was greatly encouraged and uplifted by it. It's still one of my all-time favorite books. Enjoy!

Rules

I recently read the Rule of Benedict for my class on Church History. Benedict's Rule is essentially an all-encompassing list of rules for how a monastery should function (i.e. Benedictine monks). There were many "rules" written; one for each faction or group - but the Rule of Benedict is seen as a standard, and is even considered canonical by some branches of the the church.

Anyways, as I was reading it, I found some things interesting and/or funny:

XXII. How the monks are to sleep.- Let them sleep in separate beds, and let the beds be suitable to their manner of life. Let them sleep clothed, girded with belts or cords - but without knives at their sides, lest they injure themselves in sleep.
Yea, so no pajamas, and no knives in bed either! If they hadn't pointed that out, who knows what could have happened?!

XXX. Concerning boys under age, how they shall be corrected.- ...as often as such persons offend, they shall either be punished with extra fasts or, coerced with severe blows, that they may be healed.
Severe blows? In every monastery they had monks who functioned as doctors. I wonder if the referenced to healing them means that they beat the young ones so they could practice healing them???

XLII. On silence after compline.- Monks should practice silence at all times, but especially in the hours of night. Therefore on all days, whether fasting days or otherwise, let them sit together as soon as they have risen from supper (if it be not a fast day) and let one of them read the 'Collations' or 'Lives of the Fathers', or something else which may edify the hearers. But not the Heptateuch (the first 6 books of the Old Testament) or 'Kings'; for it will not profit weak intellects to listen to that part of the Scripture at that hour.
So, after dinner no one is allowed to read or listen to Genesis-Judges or Kings. I had no idea that was a problem!

And my favorite:
LVIII. Concerning the manner of receiving brothers.- When any new comer applies for admission, an easy entrance shall not be granted him...Therefore, if he who comes perseveres in knocking, and is seen after four or five days to endure with patience the insults inflicted upon him, and the difficulty of entrance, and to persist in his demand, entrance shall be allowed him...
4 or 5 days?! Insults inflicted upon him?! I wonder what that was like - Hey, you're an idiot, and you're momma's ugly! Go away or else I will insult you a second time!
Interesting. I wonder if it was anything like this:

Autumn in Eger

Now that Nate is getting bigger, he can really enjoy autumn a lot more.

He dressed up like Superman for Halloween:


He raked leaves in the backyard:


And he had a good time playing in the leaves in the park in his new winter coat:

English Grocery in Eger

Last week as Rosemary was walking in town, she saw an flier in the mud advertising an English import grocery store in Eger. The next day we drove by to see if it was for real, and were very excited at the prospect of getting English products in Eger.
One of our favorite things about traveling to different places is going to a local grocery store and seeing what kinds of unique stuff they have there. I've written about some of our favorite stuff here and here.
So, this morning we went out and check out what they have. Here's a short list:

• English Tea - Tetley's and PG Tips
• Real English Cadbury products - not the Polish Cadbury that Hungarian Tesco sells
• McVities brand stuff - like Rosemary's favorite Digestives
• Lots of canned soup - probably not going to go over well in Hungary...
• Crisps/Chips - English brands (Walkers) and English flavors > We bought a bag of Prawn (garnéla rák) flavored chips/crisps! Not bad actually.
  
• Malt Balls! (like Whoppers in the USA) - Nate tasted one, and wasn't sure what to think...but we like them :)
  
• English sauces, ginger cake, candies, cereals, Strongbow beer, etc...

Since the shop just opened, they are still figuring out what things to import. We made a few suggestions of stuff we would buy if it were available:

• Ribena drinks
• English muffins
• Ginger beer
• Yorkshire tea
  

The owner is a very friendly English guy from Liverpool. He said that this shop in Eger is the only English import grocery in Hungary, and he plans to send shipments from Eger to Budapest for Brits living there.
The prices are a bit high, since everything is imported, but I hope the business will be successful and stay around for a while.
Here's their business card. If you're in Eger, stop in and support them.


What British products do you think they should carry? What would sell? What would you buy?