Middle Ages, the beach, futbol and a few of my favorite things...

Spring is here! I'm so happy to shed my winter coat and soak up the sun in Southern Spain! Soon the orange trees will be in full bloom here... I can't wait!

Two weekends ago I went on a trip to Toledo in Castilla-La Mancha, which is in the middle of the country. It is a fascinating city, in which you feel like you have stepped back in time about 700 years or so. We also stopped and saw really cool windmills before going into the city. There are so many buildings from the Middle Ages and tons of shops selling swords, which is what Toledo is famous. Random tidbit for any Lord of the Rings fans: The city of Toledo is where all the swords were made that are used in Lord of the Rings, as well as some other movies. This trip was through the school, so they took care of our transportation and lodging, which was nice. The trip included touring famous sites like the cathedral and a monesterio with interesting explanations from my art teacher, Carmen. We also saw a few of el Greco's famous paintings. We also had some time to explore the city on our own, which was interesting.

Last Saturday, I took a little day trip to the coast of Spain with some friends. We went to Cadiz, which I learned is the oldest continously populated city in Europe. It was founded in 1100 B.C. Crazy! We went to an art musuem, walked around the city, which is pretty small and surrounded on three sides with water, and spent some time just relaxing on the beach. It was a nice getaway weekend.

Also, last Sunday afternoon I went to a Betis futbol game here in Sevilla. Although I don't usually go to soccer games in the States, it is such a part of the culture here that it was really interested to experience a game firsthand. Unfortunately the game ended in a tie, 0-0, so I didn't get to see the crowd's reaction to a goal. But we still had fun!

I also feel that God has been teaching me a lot this semester. Living in a different country often puts me out of my comfort zone of what is familiar and comfortable. But this is good because I think there is some danger in being too comfortable. Regardless of where I am, I want to be challenged to trust God more fully and let him to direct my steps.

Living abroad has been amazing and I feel like I'm getting to live out a dream that I have had for such a long time. I'm so thankful to have this opportunity. Even though things can be stressful sometimes (after all, I am taking 18 hours here all in Spanish), there are so many little and wonderful things that are part of my life here. Here are a few of the things I've been enjoying about being in Spain:
1. Walking across the Guadalquivir River every day and seeing La Torre de Oro and La Giralda as part of the landscape.
2. Dinner conversations with my senora, Esperanza, and hearing her talk about how guapo George Clooney is (as well as a whole list of other actors)
3. Going to church in Spain. I love worshiping with the body of Christ and seeing God at work in another culture.
4. Cafe con leche. Coffee here is great (but comes in very tiny cups!).
5. Getting to learn about history and art and then actually getting to see so much of it firsthand. It's so cool how things are so well preserved in Europe.
6. Learning new Spanish vocabulary or new grammatical rules that I hope are improving my understanding of the language.
7. Walking around the city. Although there are sometimes I wish I could just hop in a car and drive where I want to go, usually it is quite enjoyable to walk around the city.
8. Traveling, of course. I love it! (Although trying to figure out the logistics of everything, I am discovering, can be quite complicated and at times frustrating.)
9. The kids at my Service Learning site. I go to a convent in Sevilla to help kids with their homework. Although challenging at times, I feel like I'm better able to help the kids now and like I'm getting to know them better.
10. Hanging out with friends, laughing, going out for coffee or churros, etc. It's been a lot of fun.

Of the park, the sea, classes, my señora and God's love

Greetings from Spain. It's a chilly, gray afternoon, and I'm back at the apartment during siesta. Tonight's plans involve homework and going to a cafetería called Guadalquivir that's up the road from me. I find that even when I have things to do, sometimes it's nice to just get out of the house for a while, and I love all the little cafés.

Let's see, the highlights since I last wrote... two weekends ago I stayed in Sevilla. It was a gorgeous weekend, and for the first time I discovered the beautiful Parque Maria Luisa that is in Sevilla. I spent most of the day that Saturday just soaking up the sun, hanging out with friends... and riding a Ciclobus. In this contraption everyone peddles like on a bike, but you're in the sort of open car/carriage. We decided to rent one for 30 minutes and had a blast going around the park, and being totally dramatic about everything! As the weather becomes nicer I hope to spend many more afternoons reading, writing in my journal, doing homework or hanging out with friends in that park.

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Marbella, Spain, on the Mediterranean coast with five great girls. One of my friend's parents had a timeshare for Marriott hotels and said we could use it at this five-star resort in Marbella. So we had our lodging taken care of and it was totally free for us; we only had to pay for our transportion and food! We spent the weekend resort just chilling and hanging out, or as we put it, having "an extended period of doing whatever we want." This involved watching TV and movies, going to the pool and sauna, and playing on the beach. It was fairly cold, but that didn't keep us from jumping in the waves of the Mediterranean.

On the academic side of things, classes here are getting more and more difficult. From discussing Romanticism and analyzing the poetry of Bécquer in my Spanish Literature class, to learning about Gothic architecture and all the vocabulary that goes along with that in my Spanish Art History class, to learning about the Spanish reconquest and Medieval society in History class, to practicing many different aspects of the language in my Grammar class, things are getting crazy. The expectations in classes are quite high and it's easy to get overwhelmed at times by the sheer volume of information being presented. I made it through round one of classes and ended up with solid grades on all my tests, so that was a relief, but I also had to spend a lot of time studying. Grammar is definitely the most practical class and the one that helps me the most with actually understanding and being able to use the Spanish language, so that is the one I want to put the most effort into... that's hard sometimes though when I usually have a ton of literature homework every night!

I don't think I've written very much yet about Esperanza, my "señora" with whom I live. She is such a sweet lady and often times she cracks me up. She's just so silly and she keeps dinner conversations lively... she likes to talk a lot and has told us so on multiple occasions. She often sings or dances around the house and talks about actors she thinks are "muy guapo" (she really likes the guy who plays House on the TV show!). I'm thankful to have such a kind and friendly señora.

And now, since I have been reading through Ephesians in both English and Spanish (in my dual-language Bible) I will close with a passage that encourages me and that is one of my favorites. Living in a foreign country where there are so many new and unfamiliar things can be both exhilarating and intimidating, sometimes depending on the mood. It's wonderful to know that it does not matter where I am, God's love is unfathomably deep and that he is always with me. Like the verses say, I want to be filled with the fullness of God, to be salt and light wherever I go.

"Y pido que, arraigados y cimentados en amor, puedan comprender, junto con todos los santos, cuán ancho y largo, alto y profundo es el amor de Cristo; en fin, que conozcan ese amor que sobrepasa nuestro conocimiento, para que sean llenos de la plenitud de Dios." -Efesios 3:17b-19