Exams/Granada

Exams are done!!! I studied SO much this week, hours and hours for history. One of the questions on the exam was, "Explain the history and conquests of Spain from the 8th century to 1492." Ha. Because I studied so much though, I think I did ok. This weekend was amazing, Friday was the best day ever. After 4 exams in 2 days, I felt so relieved. For my grammar class we went to a cafe for coffee, so that was really fun too. In the evening, we had a movie night at school, and ate pizza and junk food. It was pretty great. :) Saturday a group of myself and 8 amazing people left for Granada! We got up at about 5:00 am and caught a train. That day, we visited the Alhambra (SO beautiful - google it!), which is the last and most ornate muslim temple built before the Christians conquered Granada in 1492. Their goal was to leave no space undecorated. After, we walked around the city and watched the sunset behind the Alhambra. The next day, we hiked up some trails and saw the gypsy caves (literally gypsies who live in the side of the mountain). We also ate these AMAZING kebabs, first and best I've ever had! That evening we caught a train back to Sevilla. The trip was so much fun, but not just because of Granada, but because of the fun group I went with. I cried from laughing. I like doing that. And I think we all need to do that every once in a while.

Toledo/Madrid!

Wow, this week is a crazy one! As was this last weekend. We had a 2 day week, then left for Toledo at 6:00 am with the school on Thursday. On the way to Toledo, we got to see the castle and windmills that Don Quixote supposedly fought. In Toledo, the first day we got to see the cathedral with some of Greco's most famous paintings. Toledo is a beautiuful city! No huge, modern buildings, castles, ruins...and it wasn't just like old buildings spread here and there, it was a huge city of them! I felt like I was going back in time. It was beautiful. That night our school put us up in a 4 star hotel, so that was really nice. The next morning we went to a monestary, and had time to shop/sightsee in the city. In the evening, a group of 11 of us caught a 20 minute train to Madrid, the capital of Spain. The city was soooo beautiful! In a different kind of way. It was like the NYC of Span. Big buildings, and city life. It was so fun to be there, but I'm thankful to live in Sevilla. It just feels more Spanish I guess, haha. Madrid was an adventure...I did not have a return ticket home, and we had not found a place to stay. So we took our backpacks and found a hostel, which was such a blessing! It was very nice (for a hostel), and cheap...and near the heart of the city. A couple of the guys and I then hiked across the city to buy return tickets home, and ended up getting some of the last few. The next morning we started a full day of sightseeing. My friend Enrique has a friend from the US who has been living in Madrid for a few years, so she showed us around. We saw the palace, cathedral, an Egyptian temple, and went to the Prado and El Museo de Reina Sofia. Those museums are comparable to the Louvre and had masterpieces by Valasquez, Greco, Goya, Picasso, and more. Finally, that night, we caught a bus leaving at 10:00pm and arriving in Sevilla at 4:00 am. I slept a lot on the bus, but it was a long night. But so worth it! I had such a fun, adventurous weekend with great people. This week I have 4 tests (2 Thursday, 2 Friday), each worth 20% of my grade. I had a 50 minute group presentation today too, and a paper to write. So it will be a busy week.

Portugal!!!!

Wow, it´s been a week! And a busy one at that. Which is normal. :) Flamenco on Monday, worship and small group on Wednesday, and service project (working with the homeless) Thursday. The weekend, though, was amaaaaazing! Friday afternoon, some friends and I left for Lagos, Portugal! We went with a local organization who planned the trip. After arriving in Lagos Friday night, we dressed up and went to dinner with the 75 other group members (most from the U.S., a few from Europe), then had a welcome party. Saturday we slept in some, ate an amazing breakfast at our hotel, then took a sailboat cruise to see some of the caves off the coast. It was so fun, and we got to swim in the beautiful ocean! The water was so clear, yet cool...I had never experienced anything like it! After the cruise we went to the beach for a bit, then headed back to the hotel, got ready for dinner, and went out. We wanted to try authentic Portugese dishes, so I ordered swordfish. It was actually really good! I also tasted the best steak of my life. Sunday we went to a beautiful "virgin beach," without any buildings or developments. It was so beautiful. We swam in the ocean, relaxed on the beach, and took in the beauty. That night we went out for dinner at a cute Italian restaurant owned by a man from Italy. Sunday we slept in, then walked around the teeny city of Lagos. It is so cute, like I stepped into a story book! There were no big buildings, only tiny cobblestone streets, with old, colorful buildings. We left at about 4:00 to take a bus back to Spain. The bus ride was fun too though, because we got to watch American movies and TV shows. The weekend was amazing, but this week is HARD! We only have 2 days of classes, then a 2 day school trip to Toledo for my art history class. I have lots of homework and studying though, classes are really hard. I also have a 50 minute class presentation to write. So...I´ll be back on Saturday night from Toledo/ Madrid, and I¨ll have more to write then! :) Pictures will be on facebook soon.

Huelva/5K!

Yesterday (Saturday) was amazing! I went to Huelva, near the beach, with the school. We took a charter bus first to the coast where Columbus left on his famous journey of 1492. We saw the monastery where he stayed while he was waiting for the "ok" from Ferdinand and Isabella to leave on his trip, and the chapel where he prayed right before leaving on his journey. We also saw life-size models of the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria. From there we went to the beach, where we just hung out all day and had free time to do whatever. Mostly I just soaked up the sun, listened to the waves, and talked with friends. Saturday night, Nicole and I met up with some of our friends in the park and watched a movie on our laptop (it's NOT customary to invite friends over to your house), and ate ice cream sandwiches (best, cheapest snack ever - $1.25 buys a huge block of ice cream AND cookies). Today I woke up early to run a 5K for breast cancer research. We started in Plaza de España and ran through the city. I pushed myself, and made it in 24 minutes, which is really good considering I haven't trained AT ALL! Afterwards, there was this kind of aerobics/dance lesson for everyone, it's hard to explain, but it was really fun. We learned dances to some songs from Grease and Abba. :) Now I'm in the park studying/catching internet, and I'm going out to coffee later tonight with a friend. I'm so not ready for the weekend to be over!

Jules and I in front of Plaza de España!

This picture just seemed Spanish :)

My bedroom :)

Yay Friday!!!

So...Wednesday night I went to our worship service, Encuentro, and met with my small group. It was really good and very encouraging. Thursday night was good, but stressful. I had my first night of my service project working with the homeless. Basically we split into 3 groups of about 3 or 4 people, bring coffee and cookies, and each take a different route and visit and talk with the people. It was frustrating sometimes because they were very hard to understand (even if they had been speaking English), and I was with native Spaniards, so I didn't talk much this first time. But it was an amazing experience, and I definitely have a passion for talking with the homeless. The frustrating part was that we were there for about 4 hours and I didn't get to bed till 1:30am...and had class the next day. And that's how it's likely going to be every week. But oh well...I know God will give me the strength I need. Today after class I came back, took a lovely/needed siesta, and had a really good quiet time. I was going to hang out with friends tonight, but to save money on dinner, I'm just going to hang out with them later. Oh, I forgot to say, this week my "travel group" of friends bought our return tickets for our 10 day trip. We got tickets from Frankfurt, Germany to Spain for about $40! What a blessing! I also decided to go to Portugal for a 3 days next weekend. There's a lot of cool stuff to do there, and the program we would go with provides a hotel, city tour, some food, etc. The beaches are supposed to be gorgeous. This weekend will be really fun, we are going to the beach tomorrow to see the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria (Columbus' ships), and hang out. Sunday I'm running a 5K to raise money for breast cancer research. More on those later. :)