Last night I stayed with my host family and got to visit with everyone, which was really nice because every time I’m around them I realize how much I really do love them, and feel apart of their family.

This afternoon I went with a few girls to see the movie Kingdom of Heaven. I’m sure with a guy like Orlando Bloom the movie is a huge hit in the States; however it was a bit awkward to watch here. Premise: “Christian” Crusaders trying to maintain a stronghold in Jerusalem, which was previously controlled by Muslim Arabs.

Although that period of time embarrass me to know end, and in no way represents my faith – I realize that for many people I meet in the region, history is very much alive, and the Crusades don’t seem so long ago for them. Knowing I represent those horrific events for others deeply disturbs me.

In addition, the movie itself, while entertaining (especially hearing O. Bloom speak a few phrases in Arabic), is quite inaccurate in terms of its settings. It’s pretty irritating actually. For starters, he lands in what I can only believe was meant to be the Syria of 1,000 A.D. which is today Lebanon – land of mountains, and greenery… not of sand dunes… but apparently if you’re shooting a movie that involves the Mid. East you need to throw in some sand dunes anyways.

Secondly, the entire layout of Jerusalem is completely off. They put the Church of the Holy Sepulcher up on a mountain top, and have the walls of the city shaped totally differently than they should be – after all, the current walls are THE Crusader walls – it shouldn’t be that hard to get correct.

Also, at one point the Crusaders are talking and say “Salah ad-din has marched his men across the Jordan [River] and are on their way to Kerak Castle”. It would’ve taken about 3mins for them to check and see that Kerak is on the East bank of the river – not the West.

Anyways, I doubt anyone else really cares, but I just had to get that out there.

This evening my roomie Chrystal [pictured in red] and I went for dinner at some Korean friends’ house. They are studying Arabic here, but plan to end up in Iraq in the future. They told us some of the amazing things going on throughout the CIS (Central Eurasia – aka, all those “stans”), including Korea and China’s place in all of that.

I had no idea, but they showed us video from a service in Uzbekistan, which is something I hope to show when I return – it really touched me to see what’s happening there. Also, they explained that estimates in China are as high as 120 million believers and that in 2008 they anticipate the country to open with the Beijing Olympics and plan to send out 1 million workers throughout the 10/40.

It was so encouraging to hear what’s going on in another part of the world… I think its important to always keep a global perspective.

Anyways, my thoughts are a bit disorganized because I’m tired, so I’m going to head to bed.