Rain in Glasgow

I must apologize, I haven't been posting on here as much as I originally anticipated. This has been one of the most interesting tours I have ever been on and I will try my hardest to fill you in on what my life has been like over the past week.

London: We flew into Heathrow last Sunday morning at about 11 am. When we finally got into our hostel, which was atop a small pub called the Green Man, we got a beer to celebrate our long awaited arrival to the UK (It was around 7 in the morning our time and we had been up all night). That night we were all too tired to go explore so we find some food nearby and headed back to the pub for happy hour with the intention of meeting our fellow travelers at the hostel.

That night I met a wide veriety of people from different cultures and background.

Mikhail was a canadian atheist jew with a love for politics and a quest for knowledge. I ended up talking to him for hours about his views on politics, religion, God as a whole, and music. I could tell he was a genuine person. Although we didn't agree on much in any of those categories we had a mutual respect for each other.

Ester was a feisty one. She moved to London from spain in pursuit of a career as an actress. I think she would be really great at that if she learned a little more english. But her sweetness and broken english were endearing to say the least.

Patricia, also from spain, was in London on holiday but she was actually living in Glasgow finding work as an intern for the film industry. She comes in later in the story as well.

*There are so many more people to talk about but the starbucks I am in is closing so I have to make this quick.

After 3 days in london we were ready to start our tour and play a show. We waited for about 4 hours for the van to arrive. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and got in the van. The van is a sprinter van, not much more than a utility van with a couple seats and a table bolted to the floor. It is definitely not to welcoming.

The first show was in Basingstok on the floor of a club called "the bang bar". I believe that will remain one of my favorite shows on this tour, at least so far anyway.

I'll skip some of the boring stuff and lead you up to wear I am now and fill you in on the overall feelings in the group. We are all broke and the tour isn't doing quite as well as any of us hoped. It has been a long time since any of us toured at this capacity and it is wearing us thin. Rain has been a frequent visitor in most of the cities and we are used to being damp most of the time. But overall we are hanging in there and we are trying to make the best of every situation. Right now I am sitting outside a starbucks in Newcastle and admiring the old buildings. Getting a good dose of people watching as well.

I've had a little bit of a hard time figuring out why God has me out here as I still believe I am supposed to be here. Last night I had a very encouraging talk with a guy named Ali from a band called dweller and it made everything feel right. Even if I was only meant to come here to encourage and be encouraged by him and a few other people I think it was worth it. (not to mention how much fun it actually is to play music with some good people). I have to say I am pretty homesick though and I can finally say that I don't feel at home anymore on the road. Funny how things change like that. God has showed me the power of personal prayers as I have needed constant communication with him while I am out here. And for that I am eternally grateful.

To all of you who are important to me, I miss you emencely and I can not wait to see you again to tell you in more detail about this trip. this post was incredible rushed and I left out a lot of incredible details do to a lack of time. Ill post again as soon as I have time. Love you all.


stephen