Sunday, September 11

            Today has been a nice restful day. Church didn’t start until 12, so we were able to sleep in again before heading to city center to take the bus to la Iglesia Evangélica Bautista de Sevilla in Sevilla East. We were able to remember the bus stop pretty easily, and we got there way early, so we sat in a park for a bit and practiced our Spanish with each other.

There was a group of four of us at church today, and we all loved it. Everyone who has spoken there so far has been easy to understand, and the messages have been pretty good. Today the pastor talked about how our first reaction to the question “what should I do” should be to pray. He used examples from the Old Testament of when faithful kings looked to God for direction and were blessed for their obedience. It was an encouraging message for us because it seems that time spent in another culture is always filled with wondering what the right thing to do is. I was especially encouraged by the worship and the reinforcement of the teaching that God always takes the victory.

After church, we were greeted by the pastor and the youth pastor, who invited us to the young adult Bible study next Sunday, which we’re all excited to check out. We also met another student from the US studying here for the semester, so we had fun getting to know her on the bus ride back to central Sevilla. Once Corinne and I got back to the apartment, we warmed up the lunch Rosa left prepared for us and enjoyed some downtime in the afternoon. Rosa had gone to see her newborn grandnephew and then another friend in the hospital, so she had lots of fun news to share when she got home.

I spent most of the afternoon reviewing material for my classes and preparing for the week. I’m feeling a whole lot more comfortable with my course load now that I’ve been in the grove of classes for about a week, and I’m excited to see what this week brings. It will likely be a bit busier, with prayer groups starting up and other activities getting organized, but I’m feeling refreshed and ready for the challenge. This weekend has been full of reminders of God’s faithfulness and His extreme care for me. I’m amazed looking back at the path He’s brought me on and encouraged and excited looking ahead, knowing that the challenges He brings are to draw me closer to Him and sharpen me as His child and that the blessings He pours out are constant and wonderful.

Saturday, September 10

What a fun, relaxing day I had today! I slept in a little bit and then Corinne and I headed over to the bus station to catch the bus to Matalascanas beach (which is on Spain’s Atlantic coast) for the day. The rest of the group was there or on their way when we arrived at the station, so we asked where to board the bus, headed back there and got right on. As soon as everyone was loaded up, we left. An amazing thing happened at that bus stop…our bus pulled out of its parking spot at EXACTLY 11:00. I have never experienced a departure executed quite as smoothly as that one.

Everyone was disappointed in the sketchy air conditioning on the bus ride, but we managed to survive the whole hour ride to the beach, where we walked about a block to the beach. We found a huge spot (there were about 20 of us), laid out our towels, applied sunscreen, and ran for the water. We all took turns keeping an eye on our stuff, and we had a blast tanning, swimming, and walking up and down the beach. There was a huge rock in the ocean near where we were situated, so some people climbed it and went cliff jumping. Getting up the rock took an incredible amount of upper body strength, and it looked all together too dangerous to me, so I stayed away, but it was fun watching.

I got lots of sun and enjoyed some reading and talking with the other students, and at 6 we got back on the bus to Sevilla. Upon our arrival back here, everyone walked home, and we had dinner and unpacked our beach bags before settling in to chat a little bit with the people at home. Our host, Rosa was excited to share with us that her niece had a baby today, and we joked with her a little bit before going to bed. It’s always nice when we get to connect with her over the little things in life, and I’m so grateful for her wonderful hospitality and marvelous meals.

Friday, September 9

            I had kind of an exhausting day today, and although it started out rough, it ended on a note of eager anticipation for tomorrow’s trip to the beach. We had a late start heading out the door to meet everyone for our daytrip to Cordoba, and I needed to remind myself that flexibility and grace are essentials when living in another culture, and with other people in general. Despite my worries, we got to the school right on time, and we soon boarded the bus for the trip to Cordoba, about an hour and a half away. I totally fell asleep for most of the ride there, and it felt good to get a little extra sleep in.

            We started our day at the mosque in Cordoba. It was an amazing visit because it was such a huge, beautiful mosque and we learned a lot about how it was constructed. The mosque is full of red and white arches held up by pillars, and by looking at the pillars you can tell whether that particular section of the mosque was built during a time of prosperity or poverty for the Spanish Muslims. During times of poverty, they used pillars taken from any number of different buildings they had conquered, and during times of prosperity the pillars were elegantly build in patterns. Another interesting aspect of the mosque is that there is a Catholic cathedral build right in the center of it. When the Catholics conquered Cordoba, they decided to take advantage of the mosque rather than destroy it entirely, so they just build their cathedral in its center and put in chapels along the previously stark walls. The cathedral and mosque are both beautiful, and the stark contrasts between them are incredible.

            After that tour, led by our professors, we headed to an old Jewish house that has been converted into a museum displaying all kinds of aspects of the Jewish lifestyle. We had a tour there and then got to listen to a mini-concert of traditional Jewish music before being dismissed for lunch. We were all starving, so we made our way to the closest plaza, where we camped out for the rest of the afternoon, eating, talking and relaxing for a little while. Soon, we made our way back to the mosque where we met our professors and the rest of the students and headed back towards the bus. We took a scenic route out of the city, which provided some amazing views of the old city.

            I crashed again on the ride back to Sevilla, and then a huge group of us walked to the bus station to buy tickets to the beach tomorrow. I thought there would just be a small group of us, but it turned out that almost everyone wanted to go, so that should be fun. We eventually made it home, tired and dirty from the beach, and the evening passed quickly with dinner, preparations for tomorrow, and a little bit of homework. 

Thursday, September 8

            I had a pretty good last day of classes for the week. Everything went pretty smoothly, and there were even a few moments of affirmation that I’m starting to get a grip on things. For starters, I’m having very little trouble understanding any of my teachers or assignments. There’s quite a bit of vocabulary in my reading that I don’t know exact definitions for, but I’m pretty easily able to get the idea of the texts, and our in-class reviews of homework have been going pretty well.

            I’m especially loving my grammar class. The teacher for that class, Carmen, is really invested in us, and her explanations are thorough yet easy to understand. She is always willing to answer our questions, and since the class normally goes on a tangent based on what we don’t understand, she brings a summary of the most important points to class the next day for us all to study. I was a little worried that wouldn’t be at a high enough proficiency level to take this class, but so far so good.

We got our first written assignment for grammar class back today, and Carmen encouraged us to take a good look at her corrections over the weekend. I reviewed the composition after my classes were all finished. The errors weren’t overwhelming, but I wanted to be sure I understood the corrections so I could do better in the future. I was a little nervous, because office hours haven’t been discussed, but I asked Carmen to look over the paper with me, and she was super happy to help, so we sat down and went through the whole thing. I learned a lot of really helpful details about how a few words work, and I was so happy I asked for help. She assured me that she’s available from about 12:30 until 2 every afternoon and that I could ask anytime I was confused.

After that, I talked with Katie, the Student Ministries Coordinator here, and asked if I could talked to her a little more about last night’s message at Encuentro. She was really willing to help too, so we set up a coffee date for later this afternoon. I studied in the park for a little while and then went to a meeting about Accion Solidaria, a service learning class I will be taking this semester. We talked about the volunteer opportunities and selected our preferences, so hopefully next week I will find out where I am going to be working once per week for the rest of the semester.

There was a break in the afternoon for a long lunch, and then I headed back downtown to meet with Katie. We went out for coffee and talked in her apartment, which was really fun. Continuing the action-packed day, Corinne and another friend of ours, Danielle, came to meet me after my meeting with Katie so that we could get more information about taking the bus to the beach this weekend. We’re hoping to go to Matalascanas, a beach on Spain’s Atlantic coast, which is only about an hour away by bus. We walked down to the bus station, got the information we needed, and headed back to the school for an event planned there. Everyone was going to meet to go out for tapas (basically, a meal made up of appetizers) with a few students from the University of Sevilla.

We got there a little early, so we stopped for some ice cream and checked out a few technology stores, hoping for a new camera for me and a camera charger for Corinne. She was lucky and found one, but I’m still going to go with buying a camera online and having it shipped here…hopefully it gets here soon! When it was time to meet the group, we headed back to school and joined smaller groups headed to different restaurants. The Spanish girls who went with us were really nice and helpful, and they picked out the most typical and well-liked tapas for us all to try. It was really loud where we were eating, and I was really tired, so it wasn’t my favorite thing ever, but it was still nice to go out. After dinner we got ice cream, happened to see a procession going down a street, and then they took us to a park where lots of university students hang out on the weekends.

It was a fun activity, but we were all really tired, and getting back really late after a busy day was a little too much for me. I spent some time reading my Bible and praying for strength for the rest of the weekend before going to bed, and it was good to remember that Christ is my strength no matter what I’m going through or how much is going on.

Wednesday, September 7

            What a week it’s been! Today feels like a complete turn-around in comparison to the last couple of days. For one thing, my cold is continually fading, so I feel the best I’ve felt in a while today. In addition, I bought “café con helado” (a shot of espresso with soft-serve ice cream in in) after class today at the McDonalds right below our school. It was amazingly delicious…easily my new favorite drink ever, and the caffeine in it really gave me a boost of positive energy. While I was drinking that cup of bliss, I sat in the park and studied for a while again, which was wonderful, and then I walked home and listened to some awesome music because Corinne wanted to take the metro and I wanted to spend some more time outside.

            I’ve discovered that alone time like that…when I’m doing something and have happy thoughts to dwell on is a really healthy thing for me. I was filled with awe as I walked home, remembering how amazing it is that God has brought me here and that He has big plans for my life here and for how I will use what I learn here in the future. I’m so grateful to be in such capable hands every day J

            My classes are going progressively better, and today I feel much more confident about my schedule. I talked with my grammar teacher, and she doesn’t think the class will be too much for me, which was reassuring after the difficult placement test we took yesterday. I didn’t really get enough sleep last night, and we watched a movie in a hot room during my first class, which was a killer, but the homework assigned was really easy, and that time of tiredness is what convinced me to buy some coffee later, so I guess it paid off. I love my literature classes so far, and the professor who teaches them both is excellent and very gracious…he didn’t assign any homework today!

            When I arrived home, I talked to Rosa a little bit about my wonderful day and then Corinne got home and we ate lunch. Rosa made pallea, a very typical Spanish dish, for us. Pallea is essentially a saucy stir-fry, and it’s delicious! It’s typically served with lots of seafood in it, but Rosa made it with chicken for us because she wasn’t sure if we liked seafood. I’ve been trying to convince her to let us at least try some, and hopefully our eagerness at lunch today will lead to more seafood in the future. Rosa served the pallea with a wonderful salad, and it was probably my favorite meal here so far. I asked if she would teach me how to make it next time we have it, so I hope I can catch on and bring some of that goodness home with me!

            Lunch was followed by some busy work for me…I’m trying to plan a trip to the beach this Saturday in order to avoid being cooped up too much, so I talked to Rosa about good places to visit, and she gave me the name of a nearby beach and some other cities we should see while we’re here. I looked up the places and bus schedules, so hopefully I’ll be able to find some people to go swimming this weekend! I also worked on a little bit of planning for fall break, when I hope to visit my friend Emily during her weekend stay in Portugal. I don’t have much information about that yet, but I really hope it works out because it would be so much fun to see her!

            I worked on a little bit of homework on my own and then met some other girls from my grammar class to work on our homework before heading to “Encuentro,” a Wednesday night worship service organized by our school. Studying as a group was a really good idea for my grammar homework because it was helpful to talk though the concepts as I was working on the homework, and I enjoyed talking with the other girls in Spanish a lot!

The church where encuentro is held is incredibly tiny, but I liked it a lot. Worship was amazing, and the student ministries coordinator who spoke gave a great message about being ambassadors of Christ everyday and in every aspect of our lives. What a challenging exhortation! We talked about our semester so far and our spiritual journeys a little bit on the way home, and we made a quick stop at a supermarket to pick up some odds and ends. After that it was a pretty relaxed evening. During dinner we watched TV, and it was fun to see how much I could understand. The process of learning a language is an interesting thing, and everyday my hunger for being fluent in Spanish grows more and more.

Tuesday, September 6

I had a little bit of trouble really living every moment to its fullest today, which was really discouraging for me. Adjusting to classes and the daily schedule here will definitely take some time for me, but a few conversations I’ve had this evening remind me that I need to have patience and faith that this is where God has me now for a reason. I want to wait on Him with all of my heart, so this reminder is very helpful. I’m struggling with the tendency to compare my experiences here with those in Costa Rica, which isn’t really fair to either semester. To make the comparison even less fair, I’ve found that I’m remembering the richest parts of my time in Costa Rica in my times of greatest homesickness or frustration here. When that happens, I just need to think of how I felt during my internship when I was covered with scabies and thought those three weeks would never end.

The thing with studying abroad is that it requires four whole months of your life. By the end of the experience and 20 years later, this will seem like a very minor commitment, but the first few weeks seem to go pretty slow and are draining, so it’s hard to stay motivated. During these weeks of vulnerability, I can hear Christ whisper to me “lean on me,” and I want to obey this request from Him with every ounce of my being. Not only are the first days a time of adjustment to a new culture and schedule, they’re a time when God is preparing me for what He wants to do this semester. They feel like a time when God pulls me away from all of the comforts I use at home to keep myself away from Him and asks me to let Him take complete control of the semester. Please, God, take it away…you can do it way better than I can.

Today was the second day of normal classes. Again, it seemed to fly by, and I was pleasantly surprised that because I did a little too much homework last night I had less to do tonight. In between classes, I tried using someone else’s battery in my camera and was able to confirm that it is indeed my camera that is broken, not the battery. I’ll have to figure out what to do about that soon…shipping and ordering things online from here is a little confusing. After my classes finished, I studied in the park near school for a little bit while Corrine finished up, and we enjoyed walking home for lunch together. The majority of my afternoon was consumed with homework, but Corrine and I went to a park to study for a while, so that was nice.

Later on in the evening, we had a girls’ night at the school, which was a great chance for us to get to know each other a little better. I had tons of fun hearing about everyone’s highs and lows so far this semester and getting to talk more with some girls who I haven’t gotten to know very well yet. After our talk session at the school, we went down to the beautiful river and went paddle boating in groups of four. Again, I picked people I didn’t know very well, and it was really fun. I liked seeing the city from the river and talking with the girls I went with. On the walk home, I got to talk more with some of the girls who live near me, which was great.

It got to be kind of a late night, but I got to call home and talk for a while with some people I miss, so that was a huge blessing. Retelling the tales from today and remembering more of the positive moments has made me more encouraged for tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see where God graciously leads me during the rest of my time here.