Run. from. Laundry. with. Scooters.

This morning I took one of the most beautiful runs of my life. I woke up right after sunrise and put on the asics. I left the hotel and headed toward the Rhine River. I crossed the bridge and made it to a beautiful park on the other side of the river. I started running through the park and made it down to the edge of the river. I ran along the river and was stunned by the view of the mountains and cottages on the hillside. Then in the distance I saw a castle that I had to make it too. I ran to another bridge and crossed the river again. I ran toward the castle and made it to a little village below the castle. This was a well kept old fashion German part of the town. The streets were all coble stone and the buildings were all very close together. In front of every store front were tables and chairs and Old German men drinking their morning cup of coffee and reading the paper. I immediately decided when I got back from my run that I was going to take a walk after class, on the same path, to get pictures. Also I selfishly wanted to make you all covet the view... evil i know.

Today is laundry day. Anyone that knows me also knows that I am dreading this. I'll make it through I guess, maybe. I don't know what it is about laundry, I just immediately become a debbie downer when I have to do it. But to counteract my misery, yesterday I found a place where I could rent a motorized scooter for a day! It's only twenty Euro. So I've convinced all the guys on the trip that this would be a good investment of their monetary capital. I also figured it out so it would match our collective budget constraint compared to our indifference curve as a group. So I decided me and the boys are going to take the scooters up the mountainside tomorrow and grill out in the park at the top. Yeah, now that I think about it, I can make it through this devil of a task, they call laundry.

On another note I just finished the book by Mohammad Yunnus, "Banker for the Poor". This book is all about micro-financing for the bottom 50% of the Bangladesh country. Basically I have seen that through business I can do so much more than give a poor person in need food to feed them one day. It has pushed me to try to come up with business plans to give them a chance to get back up on their feet to feed themselves and their families for the rest of their lives. Don't get me wrong it is not a bad thing to give to the poor and donate things, but through this book I've realized that with business I may have the opportunity to do more than just help them for a short time. They will be able to get their dignity back. Through this I think that I may have a platform to share the gospel. I know that personally if someone gave me a second chance in life I would give them the time of day to share their heart with me. I guess it comes back to the old phrase "you have to give respect, to get it." Needless to say, I would encourage you to read this book even if business doesn't excite you. It's a really neat prospective. I just started Crazy Love today, by Francis Chan. I can tell already it's going to be a good one. I know a lot of you have already read this book so I will definitely be looking forward to talking about it with you!

I hope you all are still doing well! Love and miss you all. I just got done with about 5 hours of class time today, and we have an exam tomorrow... But it's so nice out. Pray that I actually have the self-control to study tonight. Maybe i'll just go to a coffee shop and study outside. You guys would be so amazed by how many coffee shops there are and every restaurant has outside seating right along the road. I love it. Everyone is sitting outside eating and socializing all through the town. It's pretty cool. P.s. I really enjoyed my sisters last post on her blog about the word Namaste. I think from now on that is how I want to end my posts. I would encourage you all to check her blog out. It's kyleedawson.blogspot.com. She's an amazing girl, if you don't know her, i hope someday you get the privilege to meet her. I feel so lucky to be her brother and I'm not just saying that either. She has blessed my life in so many ways. She has a pretty cool husband too. He's a baller. Well in the historic words of Ron Burgandy, "Stay classy San Diego!"

Love and miss you all. Namaste,

Trav