birthday fun!

Wow the last few days have been super busy! I started work on Monday the 28th. Those 7 hours of work and training went by fast compared to my 8 hours yesterday. I really like the day shift better.

My birthday was really fun, though I missed family and friends. Thanks to all of you who called me or left messages. I'm sorry if I haven't called back, when I actually do get time, its usually 11:00 my time, 1:00 am your time. I"m sure many of you would not appreciate that. I felt very loved, yesterday though. My friend who works in the coffee shop gave me free breakfast, and some other friends bought me lunch. there were several other birthday surprises during the day, and last night after I got off of work, we went to Yosemite falls to see a moonbow. NOw this is something I've never heard of since before I came here so I"ll explain a little...
Moon bow is when the full moon rises and reflects off the spray of a waterfall. It creates a white arc, similar to a rainbow, but without the colors. Its really beautiful to watch and if you watch it awhile(as we did) the moonbow will go away and then come back depending on how much the wind is blowing and how much water spray the waterfall is creating. It was really beautiful and I cannot imagine what it looks like when its in full force. We only got to see a small one because the bigger ones do not appear until early morning, and I was not willing to stay up that late. So.. maybe next month we can all camp out under the starts and wait for the moonbow. It was a good birthday present. WE also went to the meadow Monday night and loked at the stars and today we went to the Devil's bathtub. Its a pool of water on the mountain side which is heated by the sun. It was really small this year, but it started raining when we were climbing up, and we could see the rain blowing across the valley. We were higher than the trees! and The rain smelled so good !I wish I could have taken a picture but pictures can never capture the true beauty here... its too bad, you'll just have to come here yourself and visit me...:)
I've had little time to develop new relationships except for at work( which is fun and I love all the people there) so I'm just working on existing ones. We invited several friends to the moonbow, and some people are able to guess that we are from crossway(I'm not sure if this is good orbad?) I'm all for standing up for what you believe in, but I"m not sure if its a good idea to overwhelm people with a huge group of people who all believe in the same thing. It could be intimidating, and its a good way to turn people away. So we usually do not tell people who we are with or what we believe in unless they ask. Its pretty easy to get on the topic, though. Lots of people here are very well educated even if they didn't go to college and have read a lot of "spiritual" "theological" material. It makes for some interesting conversations.
I hope to have more details to blog the next couple of days... a few friends and I are going hiking to Glacier point... its a four mile trail, but really its almost five. Luckily we can take the shuttle back down to the valley.

new address and a little history

I had some time to kill this morning and so I spent a couple of hours acting like a tourist. I went to the Ansel Adams gallery and the visitors center and an indian village. While at the Indian village I found out what YOsemite and Ahwahnee mean... I know you have just been dying to know... :) Ahwahnee, which is the name of the hotel where I am going to work means "large mouth", the Indian tribe that used to live in the valley named it that because of the deep V shaped crevice that makes up the valley. The INdians called themselves ahwahneechi, which means "people of the Ahwahnee". Now the other Indians who lived in the Northern part of the Sierras called these Indians Yosemite which means... pause for dramatic effect... "some of them are killers" How's that for a name... its hard to think there was ever much violence going on here.
If any of you ever get a chance to look up JOhn Muir on google or something, you should. He's one of the people who have worked hard to preserve the park and he is also the founder of the Sierra Club. There's a trail here that 's named after him that is more than 300 miles long.... wow, don't think I'll be doing that any time soon.

I did get a post office box here in the park, so all you do is add
Callie Pool
P.O.Box 1097
Yosemite, CA ( and then the zip code which I have posted on a previous post)

I should be able to recieve mail there, if not, it just goes to general delivery and I"ll still receive it.

Welll I'm glad I could enlighten you on the history of the park... actually it just shows how seriously ready I am to be working...

love and books

Well I've just been kinda relaxing the last couple of days. I thought I would get really homesick with all this freetime, and don't think that I haven't, but I have found things to do... especially hanging out with my new friends. Yesterday a bunch of us ran some errands in Yosemite village and ate lunch at the grill. We came back and I took a nap( geez I have been so exhausted lately!) and later that night a bunch of us cooked omelet in a really tiny kitchen. it was fun though, even though our omelets didn't turn out quite as good as we would have liked:) Today I woke up and intended to hike the four mile trail up to Glacier point with my friend Lisa, but we got lost and ended up hiking these bike trails for about two hours. It was still pretty though, and we walked through this green meadow and across the swinging bridge. (Good place for fishing, shawn..)We eventually made it back to curry village where i live and picked up a few more friends for lunch at a deli. I took another nap and a friend and I just made it back from going into Oakhurst, (about a two hour drive from the valley.)It was fun to get away for a while.

so I've decided i'm the dirty kid that nobody wants to be around. I haven't taken a shower in three days and I love it! Its kind of dusty here so i have all this black dust on my feet in rings from my sandals.... haha just wanted to give ya'll a visual...Maybe I'll take a shower tonight

So something cool... I 've been praying asking for real conversation and opportunities for me to share truth with others. I met this girl Lisa yesterday and she's working in the Ahwahnee gift shop with me. We hiked together today and I found out a lot about her life and it turns out that she is hoping this summer to find out what she really believes in spiritually. she was raised seventh day adventist and then presbyterian and went to a private christian school. Bu she said she just wants to know what she believes outside of her upbringing. we've gotten a few chances to talk about it and we hope to read the book Blue Like Jazz by donald Miller together and talk about it some. We also want to kind of start a discssion group when her sister comes in a few days... Wow God is so faithful in answering prayers... it has blown me away with how quick he answers. Maybe I just hae a lot more time to look for those answers... Please be in prayer for my conversations! love...

livin life

My heart hurts for one of my newfound friends right now!
The first night I was in the valley, I wasn't sleepy, so my roommate and I sat outside talking on the steps. Before I knew it two people who live nearby came up to me and introduced themselves, one was Ephraim(or E as he likes to be called)from Merced, CA and Bridget from Florida who I hung out with today and she is really nice. They had just met me but already were asking me to hang out with them. We decided to go to the meadow, where a bunch of hippies sit under the stars and play guitars and stuff on this little boardwalk that runs through the meadow. We never made it there, but I hung out with them for a couple of hours.
I really liked "E"; he was really nice and seemed really intrigued with my name, (actually a lot of people are... I guess they think a girl who is working in Cali whose name is Callie is funny...). Today I found out that he lost his job, and I"m so sad that he is leaving the valley. He was really nice and one of the first friends that I made here. HOpefully he can come back and visit.
That's just one picture of how real people are here. Even though my employee housing area is known as "party central" of the valley, and people are usually intoxicated along with various other things... they are real. They aren't just drunks or hippies or druggies... real people with real problems who I have come to love really fast. I laid in my bed last night thanking God of letting me make friends so fast. Now, a note to those who may be concerned that I am living in "party central": The only problem with living here is that it is loud at night. Its perfectly easy to avoid drugs and alcohol. Even if people offer them to you, they don't care if you refuse and most of them don't even ask why. They just let you be you and go on with thier lives. I like that a lot. So... I'm safe and I don't feel threatened at all... except when people steal my food in the kitchen, haha:)

So I've been chewing on this Jesus phrase for a while. "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." What does this mean? I guess I can gather the surface meaning...God desires us to love him and love other people rather than doing things for him...I mean "works" is part of the equation, but love and mercy is much more. I think this mercy comes first and then the heart of the person is prepared to do works in a loving way... does that make sense? but I think it means more than that. This phrase has been coming up a lot lately. its found in Hosea 6:6 and also in Matt 12... along with various other places in the NT. I've been asking God to teach me the real meaning of mercy and the meaning of this phrase. And I'm sure he will as I seek him out in this beautiful place.

Yesterday a group of friends and I hiked up to Vernal falls(which means springtime in Latin). Its the lower brother to Nevada Falls which is about fourty five minutes more of a hike than vernal. Vernal is a two mile hike, which sounds easy... but you can try hiking two miles uphill.. its no picnic. I was doing good for awhile until we hit the .5 mile trail of stairs... that was tough and I didn't think I would make it... but we got to the top and it was really beautiful. As soon as I learn how to post pictures on here, I will. bye for now!

boystown...

Well... here we are. I"ll have to admit I'm a little stressed right now. But, let me rewind back to Saturday, the day we got into Yosemite.

We arrived in El Portal, which is where Steve lives late afternoon. After that we drove into the valley. It was such a beautiful drive in... there are granite cliffs in all directions and a waterfall just about every few minutes. Pine trees everywhere and beautiful green meadows. gosh, I just can't explain it. You will all have to come see it for yourselves. We ate dinner with some of the tribe members we haven't met, and then went to our campsite in Backpacker's camp. We camped there for four days this week, since Saturday night. We were so exhaused, most of us went to sleep. I wanted to sleep in the straight outdoors, but I was too tired, and the mosquitos are kind of bad. Sunday morning I woke up and we hiked up to this waterfall called hidden falls, none of the tourists, (also called "tourons" but the local people) are supposed to know about it. It was about a four mile hike round trip, the first hike I"ve done in awhile. Once we crossed this bridge the terrain started getting rockier and we hiked up and up until we could see the falls. They were so close you could feel the water droplets on your arms. I was content just to sit and take in the beauty, but little did I know that my journey was not yet over. I looked up and there was this rope hanging down from this steep faced rock. "We're going up there" one of my friends said... oh boy, but I"m always up for a challenge, so I grabbed the rope and pulled my way to the top. Once at the top of the falls, the view was beautiful...man it was great. I think the worst thing about that day was coming down the rope on the steep rock face... especially since the spray from the waterfall had gotten some of the granite wet, nothing's scarier than wet granite. We spent some time in the valley that day and that night we did something really cool.
Steve has all these secret plans for us sometimes, we have done some really cool things during orientation. After dinner that night we had a little worship service and annointing of our new members that we not annointed at Discovery weekend. At first I thought this practice was a little wierd, but its really encouraging to have someone praying over you. After that there was this big secret thing that we were going to do, but only the elders knew about it. WE put on our headlamps, (essentials in the valley but really funny looking) and took off on a night hike. We hiked for a little ways until we got off the trail and all gathered in a circle. Then Steve told us to close our eyes and we were all blindfolded. We were told that we were going on a journey, a hike in the dark blindfolded that was symbolic of the spiritual journey we were going to take this summer and also our friends that we are going to meet. I took the hand of the tribe member next to me and we were led through tiny crevices, boulders, low hanging tree limbs, cliffs and finally roped down into a cave. Once down there we had a little share time and then we were left a lone, our only instructions were to follow little glowsticks that the elders left for us on the path and not to take off our blindfolds until we were told. We sat silently in the darkness for a litle while and when we did take them off, we were amazed at how dark it was. I was allowed to break a small light stick and the light flooded the cave and we saw what we had climbed down blinded, in the dark. Zach led us in a few worship songs and it was really spinetingling to hear our voices harmonize together and bounce off the cave walls. As we made our way out of the cave together, I was amazed at how much I trusted the people who were leading me. (EAch of the elders took turns leading us through the hike) If I had been asked to do that in the dark with my eyes open alone, I don't know if I could have done it, but there was something about trusting the person leading you and knowing that they were not going to let you fall. It was also cool to see the symbolism of the dark path to our own spiritual journeys. That was a really neat night. The next day we got up and drove up to sentinel dome, this huge rock dome ontop of a very high point. It was so windy and you could see the mountain tops and waterfalls in all directions. We also drove up to Glacier point which is right above the valley( okay well 10,000 feet up). That night we ate at Steve's house in El Portal. The next day I was really excited about because we had heard that we were going rock climbing! I haven't climbed very much, but like I said I'm always up for a thrill, so this was really exciting to me. WE drove up to the high country for about an hour. This is high in the Sierras, so there was still a lot of snow on the ground and it was really cold! I didn't know how i was going to climb rock in the wind...and I was kinda nervous. Once Steve, Ethan and Amber and Paul( a rock climber on our team) got the ropes set up, we suited up in our rock climbing gear( harnesses and shoes) and watched as other team members climbed up. The thing about rock climbing is that you are in this harness and you are held up by this rope which people are securing down below, but you have to put your feet on the rock with no foot holds and no hand holds and expect to be able to scale it. I definately made it( I wouldn't let my stubborn self not make it to the top) but there was one point where I had to climb over this ledge and I was not so sure I could do it. But the the encouragement of the team, I made it to the top and scaled another face shortly after. ITs hard work getting to the top but the adrenaline rush you feel is really worth it. ( And the view when you get to the top) I really want to look in to getting better at this sport.
Last night we spent the night at Steve's ( we had enough of camping and all the rules you have to follow to keep the bears out of your camp) and this morning we reported to Human resources and got our jobs. I already knew I was working at the Ahwahnee, but we had to get fitted for uniforms, which are really ugly green and tan with high waists and flooding( yikes!) pants. I had a pretty funny encounter while getting fitted... if you really want to know I'll tell you over the phone:)Ah me, my big mouth got me in trouble once again!
To finish what I started though, today has been stressfull for several reasons. For one, we have just spent about a week hanging out, destressing, getting to know our tribe members and doing whatever we want for about a week. Today we were turned lose to get our jobs all straightened out and get housing set up. I felt like a little lost kid... it just helps to have someone hold your hand sometimes. The tents are what I expected but not really what I wanted...First I was put in a wasp infested tent that was right by the basketball courts, but that wasn't going to work, so fortunately, we got the housing guy to change it. I"ll just have to get used to interesting neighbors and I"m sure I will and I got my roommate,who is nice, but I"ll just have to be brave and try to get to know her really fast. Her name is Leslie. Most of the tribe is living in Boystown, a name of the employee housing here.(Hence the name of the blog and the beginning of my stressing out today) I guess I'm just really overwhelmed by all the craziness and knowing that I am about to get face smacked by all this stuff that goes on in the valley. There is a little insecurity too knowing that we are "ministering" to people but subtley. I mean we talk about Jesus like we normally would but sometimes we have to be careful about what we say or word things a little differently because people do not know the "Christianese" or "spiritual lingo" that I am so acquainted with. I am glad though because this makes Christ more real and more accessible. So... just be praying for adjustment to the valley and for my insecurities not to get in the way of my free living for Christ out here. I think tonight I"ll go sit in the meadow underneath a giant rock face and look at the starts... how's that for a little stress relief? I really am glad to be here, it will just take some getting used to... real life begins!

painted deserts? not so pretty

So I'm enjoying this road trip with friends who share my liking of indie music and Garden State. We stayed at a cabin last night, like I mentioned which was at 8000ft. elevation. No wonder I was winded! I just thought I was out of shape. The cabin had no running water or electricity. It was awesome though because I got to try out my sleeping bag for the first time for real. It was really warm which was good because the temperature got down to at least thirty. And... I didn't know that the sun rose at like five oclock in the morning, so I got up to watch the sunrise at about four thirty. Its been awhile since I was up that early. Later we drove into the Grand Canyon which was awesome by the way... no words can describe it. I felt like I needed to be quiet, but I really wanted to yell and hear my voice echo in the canyon. It was so so big and so so deep. We hiked a little way down but we needed to get to Southern California by tonight so we didn't go far. I'd like to go back though... and get a hot air balloon ride in Sedona...

I didn't know how thirsty I was for Christian community and companionship. I have felt so energized and encouraged by this group and its really great.

We've gone through so many elevation changes and temperature changes and scenery changes this trip... but we have gone halfway across the country so that's to be expected, i guess. New Mexico was definately prettier than arizona. We got a little stir crazy today in the car because all we saw was dirt and small shrubs and wind and jagged hills for about 300 miles. It was a little rough. But hey we made it ok and we're all sane still... I think. We've averaged about eight hours a day.. but I don't feel that tired because we've switched drivers a lot. Although we did go through the Mojave desert. I can check that off my list because I probably will never go back there. Hot and windy and sandy.

We stopped at In and Out burger for lunch, and its weird to me because I'm craving spinach and tomatoes and stuff that I don't even like! That just means I'm serious deprived for veggies and real food. But Kelly said we could stop at a fruit stand tomorrow on the way into the valley so maybe I'll get my fix.

We stopped for dinner and starbucks(yay! ) around six and then continued on into the desert. The sun was setting over the desert( this was the first day we've driven at night) so we decided to stop on this random dirt road in the middle of the desert, drive up this sandy hill and get blown away by wind while we waved to the truckers on this ridge. Oh yeah, our main intent was to watch the sunset, which we did do... just got distracted by trying to attract the attention of the truckers below the ridge. Once we accomplished that, we stood on the side and yelled into the "infinite abyss" (garden state anyone?) ok it was a ridge with an interstate about 100 feet below but it was still cool.

So we've been talking of nicknames for all the tribe members and I've been dubbed squints(?) thanks shawn, or socal... I'm not sure... its hard for them to think of names for me... but we've named all the other members. Examples being woodsie, k.rae, Paulo, mom and specka bekah... this is neat.

Well I'm getting really tired and hot, we've crammed the six of us into a hotel room to save money so here we are, this should be interesting...

I'd like to make a shout out to all my friends and family... I miss and love you all. (nana it was good to hear your voice today)
Love....

first and second day

It still feels like we’re on vacation, but it’s starting to feel a little more real now. Yesterday was really fun. We drove for a total of 11 hours through all of Texas and half of New Mexico. We had fun though, and stopped in Amarillo at Cadillac Ranch and took some really great pictures. Maybe we can post some of those later. The scenery was beautiful. It started out flat with these fields that stretched out forever. When we got out of Amarillo we started seeing a few Mesas on the horizon, and as we got closer to Albuquerque, where we spent the night, it was more and more beautiful. The mountains surrounded us on all sides and as we drove down a hill into the city a huge mountain rose before us. A storm was starting to blow through the range and it turned them purple. It was so beautiful! The houses were all built into the hillside. Later that night, after we had eaten dinner, we watched the lightning over the city. The air was so fresh…
Today we had a lot of fun. All we had to do was make it to Flagstaff by dark. That was a bout a four hour drive that turned into about a seven hour drive. We got lost a few times and made a lot of stops. Once we stopped at an Indian outpost where they had all these crafts( mainly touristy souveniers). We drove through the petrified wood forest and stopped at the continental divide. There we met a man who was bike riding cross country from California to South Carolina. He was really cool and had hiked and backpacked in a lot of the United states including Alaska. We met another team member, Kelly at her cabin near Flagstaff. We ate dinner and took a hike through the Aspens later that night. I haven’t had a shower in a few days or worn makeup or changed my clothes. Its amazing! I feel so free and so like myself. As I get farther and father away from my hometown, I feel the burdens of the past couple of semester lift off my shoulders and fly out the car window. I can really be myself with this group, and we’ve laughed a lot today. Its really good and everyone is really chilled out. There has been no drama, no disagreements, no arguments. We are making good time and really having fun! I can’t wait till we get to Yosemite, we’re so close now, and I’m starting to get really excited. I still have that butterfly feeling in the pit of my stomach but it’s the good kind now ☺ Grand Canyon tomorrow!

well, I leave for Yosemite in less than twelve hours. Yesterday I was really stressed, but by the time i unpacked and packed again, got a backpack and had some time to think I was better. Today was just a blur... the time seems to move by so fast! I have been waiting for this day to get here for months, its seems that was all I thought about and now its here and every time i think about it my stomach hurts. Its not that I'm really scared or anything, I'm guess its just the unknown. I'll be going to a place i've never seen, to talk to people I've never met and driving four days in a car with people i barely know. I will camp straight outdoors(I've never done that before) and live out of a backpack.
I will miss summer in Nac though. I will miss the gorgeous sunsets, the smell of the air and the slow country porch swing sitting atmosphere i've come to love. I'll miss picking blackberries and blueberries, too. And family! yes I'll miss family too! And shawn!And friends! and... well there are too many things to list.
Here's a shout out to all the people who put up with me this semester. I love you and will miss you more than you know.
Well we're heading out tomorrow at eight a.m. First stop, albuquerque new mexico. First step to an experience of a lifetime.

new address

Hello everyone!

Here is my address in Yosemite, I think. I'll update the blog if it changes:

Callie Pool
General Delivery
Yosemite, CA 95389

I think I should also throw out a disclaimer here about my blog. I do not claim to know everything; I know some of the things I say here people will disagree with, and I'm o.k. with that. I am just trying to learn about myself and write out my feelings here(this is much easier than keeping up with a journal). So, If my views about theology or whatever or life in general seem questionable to you, throw in a comment...I've got a lot to learn. thanks.