March 18, 2010

Today was a very busy, yet amazing day! My classes all went well today. After class we had pork with green beans, carrots, and potatoes. We really don't get many green vegetables, so it was nice to finally get them. At 3:30 I had prayer group at Parque de Los Principes. It was a gorgeous day, so we sat outside in the grass. We are doing Life Stories in our group right now, and each week someone shares their life story. It was my friend Rachel's turn that week. I love getting to know people better through that. We stayed until about 5, and then I quickly ran back to my apartment, and then walked to the bridge where I met my cousin Katie and Uncle Larry. He was here for a visit! We hung out for the afternoon. We walked over to Plaza de Espana, but it's under construction right now. Then we went to Parque de Maria Luisa. We rented out the 4 seater bikes, and rode around for about 30 minutes. That park is so beautiful! I want to just keep going back! At 8 I went to the Giralda of the Cathedral to meet up with 2 professors that are from Trinity, but they were out in Spain for the week. They wanted to take out the students from Trinity. We went to 2 tapa restaurants with them. Tapas are like appetizers where the portion is much smaller so people get them as snacks or you can get multiple of them for a meal. I got different types of chicken at both of them because I miss eating chicken so much! We do get it on occasion, but not that much. We were able to get drinks too, so I got some sangria, and then they ordered us some delicious desserts to end it. It was really fun to talk with them. I have already had one of them for a class, and I will be having the other for at least 2 classes this upcoming year, so it was nice to get to know him. We stayed out with them until about 11:15 pm, and then I went back and got ready for bed since we are going to Ronda tomorrow with school!

March 17, 2010

Today was a much better day! God is so faithful! He never leaves us no matter how frustrating life can get! I just had regular classes today, and then went home for lunch. We had lentils and zucchini. After that we went by the river and laid in the grass! It was 72 degrees and sunny! I was in LOVE with that weather! We stayed out there for about an hour or so, and then we had to go back since we had stuff going on that afternoon. At 6 we met up again with Arielle to try to figure out more information for our trips, because it can be difficult to get everyone together and figure out different schedules. We wanted to walk to the transportation office and buy our bus tickets to Portugal for in a week and a half, but they told us that we can't buy them until 5 days before we leave. That makes things difficult, because we don't know for sure that we will be able to get them, but we need to book our hostile and other tickets. I'm sure we'll figure it out. At 7 we had Encuentro, and it was a worship time that was perfect for me! After that we had dinner, which was cordon bleu and ham and cheese slices. It was getting pretty late, so I just did some more homework, and got ready for bed. Oh, I think we set a record today...we got hollered at/whistled at/called on 4 times within about 5 minutes. Crazy Spaniards!

Verse: Matthew 26:27-28

March 16, 2010

Well, I must say that the thing that got me through this day was the song "You are God" by Charlie Hall. This was a really rough day for me, but hearing the words from that makes me feel so much better. My favorite line is "You're closer than our troubles, more present than our any danger". That was so good to remember today! I had classes, and 2 professors from Trinity are actually here visiting for the week to learn more about the program. It was nice to see them. They are both great professors. Anyways, I was frustrated today by getting back my exam, and just feeling annoyed. I just feel defeated by Spanish sometimes, and wonder how I'm ever going to be fluent. I know that's something that will take consistent practice, but I just wish I could wake up one morning and be fluent! Oh well, I'll just hang in there. I still have 8 more weeks here, and I can learn a lot in that time! For lunch we had the gross spinach again! A whole plate of it! She asked if we liked it, and we said that we didn't really like it, and she was okay with it. That afternoon we went outside again to do homework. It was 71 degrees and fully sunny! I absolutely loved it! At 4 we went running, and when we got back we started another work out. We're going to try to keep each other accountable in our working out. At 5:30 I had Accion Solidaria (service work). It went well again. I talked to a different lady tonight that was really nice, so I'll have to talk to her again next week. After that I had to go to the grocery store because we are having a St. Patricks day party in grammar class tomorrow, and we have to talk about our heritage, but we also each have to bring a food that is green, so I bought green apples. For dinner we had chicken burgers. After that I skyped my mom again. I was feeling much better by that time of the day. I'm just frustrated by how long I've studied Spanish, and I still don't know it. Anyways, I just worked on a presentation and got ready for bed. I need to clear my head for a while. I should not worry about these things that I cannot fix.

Verse: Matthew 6:25-29 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

March 15, 2010

I woke up at 6:30 this morning to do some more last minute studying for art. I put in new contacts this morning, but they were causing me some major issues. They were hurting my eyes so bad, but I was already at school and I didn't have my solution with me. I had to leave my history class to fix them. Luckily they were okay after that since I had to take my exams. I think they went okay, but I don't know. After that we went home and had potatoes and fish sticks for lunch. The afternoon was so beautiful so we went outside and did homework in the sun. It felt so good! Then we met Arielle at Mama Terra at 6 to start planning our next trips to Portugal and Granada. At 7 we had our flamenco class. I'm definitely not that good at it, but I think it's getting a little better. We tried on dresses tonight. After flamenco we had tortillas for dinner, then I skyped with my mom, did some homework and went to bed.

Verse: Psalm 138:1-7

March 14, 2010

Another long day of studying. I got up at 9 before church to start doing some homework. Then we were at church from 11-1. When we got home at 1:30 they asked if we wanted to eat early since they had to leave. That worked out perfectly because I had so much to do. We had chicken with some form of broccoli. After that I studied for my art exam from 2:30 until 6:30 and I met Jess at the local cafe, Mama Terra, to study for our literature class. We stayed there until about 7:30. When I got home I continued to study until about 9:30. We had fish with potatoes. After that I studied until bed. Luckily this craziness will end within a few days. 2 exams tomorrow, and then I'm done!

March 13, 2010

I finally got to sleep in! I got up at 11, and it felt so good to catch up on sleep! It was really nice out again, so we got to run! We finally have been having some consistent good weather! We got to have lunch a little earlier, and it was beef stew with carrots. Maria Luisa and Miguel were gone for the afternoon, so we ate quickly and got ready to enjoy our afternoon. We went to Parque de Maria Luisa, which is probably the most beautiful park I've ever been to! I loved it! They had little ice cream stands, and you could rent bikes, and there were people everywhere! We stayed there for a few hours doing homework outside. Later on we went to the mall that is very close by. We hadn't been there before, so we wanted to check it out. It was really small, and not really any good stores, but there is a really good supermarket with great prices, and a huge variety of food! We got some good stuff for really cheap! On our walk home there were parades going on through the streets, and they were practicing for semana santa. Outside the churches they had people carrying a replica of Jesus on the cross, and they were burning incense. There were people everywhere! We stood and watched it for a little while. Then we went home for dinner. We got chicken noodle soup, veggies, and then she made us an ice cream treat. After dinner Carrie and I watched some more episodes of "The Office" and ate our delicious chocolate croissants that we bought from the market. We made it until about 1:30 a.m. and then we were ready to crash!

Verse: Psalm 112:4,7

March 12, 2010

EXAMS....I'm so stressed out right now! Thank goodness two of them are over, but I just have so much to do right now! After school we went to the grocery store, SuperSol, for some snacks. For lunch we had a really good pasta with ham in it, and also some fish. I tried to take a siesta after that, but I just couldn't. I was too worked up about a bunch of things, so I just relaxed for a bit, and then I got to skype with two of the girls from home. It was so nice! After that Carrie and I went running, and we found Jess and her boyfriend running too, so we went with them for 5 miles. Jess's boyfriend, Mike, is here for his spring break, and he goes to Trinity so I already know him. It was a beautiful day! After that we went back and got ready, and just quickly had sandwiches for inner. at 10:15 we met a group of people by the Cathedral and we walked to Carboneria, which is a place where they do flamenco shows. The show started at 11. We got some sangria and got to relax for a while. The show was actually not what we expected at all, and we didn't really enjoy it. We were thinking it would be lots of flamenco dancing with the colorful dresses, and instead it was a guy singing, which sang really badly, and one lady dancing. It was still nice to get out for a while though. We're hoping to go to a flamenco show somewhere else sometime soon. We left before 1 a.m. and I was in bed by 2.

Verse: Psalm 108:3-6

March 11, 2010

This was another long day. We had normal classes. We asked our senora if we could have bocadillos (sack lunch), and they had really weird meat and cheese on them again, so we ended up going to McDonald's. We ate quick and then went to the public library for multiple hours. We stayed until after 7. The library was jam packed! It was mostly adults, but in Spain, students stay in school longer, and my teacher told us that they start studying about a month in advance for exams here! At 7:30 we met at school with a bunch of high school students that are studying english, and they will be our intercambios. Intercambios are students that we meet up with each week and talk to them so that we can both improve the language we are studying. We did it in the form of speed dating first, where we sat in a line, and we had 2 minutes with each student to get to know them. After that we got to choose one to be our intercambio. I chose one of the girls, and she was really nice, so I look forward to meeting with her! After that we went home for dinner, and we had chicken that had freezer burn, with potato chips, and some other food which I didn't know what it was, and we didn't like it. Our senora asked if we liked it, and we said no. She couldn't believe it! Oh well. We like a lot of her other food, but I just couldn't handle that one! After dinner I continued studying, and panicking. I have my history and grammar exam tomorrow, and I'm so nervous!

March 10, 2010

I woke up at 8 today. I definitely didn't want to. Today was a really bad day, and I just wanted it to be over. During my break between classes I looked for Spanish Business classes. I think I may have found some that I could take over the summer! After that I went home for lunch. We got a plate FULL of fried mushrooms. When I say a plate of something, I literally mean it. We got a full size dinner plate with only mushrooms. I couldn't even eat that much of a food that I actually liked. After that I had to meet at school because my art class was going to the Cathedral at 4. Well I was getting ready to leave my senora said something to me that was so rude! She's been kind of getting on my nerves lately, but I think it's just because I had a bad day that it really bothered me. Anyways, the Cathedral was painfully long. I liked going there, but because it's for class we have to stop at everything and talk about it for like 20 minutes. It just gets really long, and all the students were wanting to leave. After the Cathedral I went to Encuentro. That was probably the only good part of my day. I love encuentro! Sarah Bentley, which is kind of like our counselor at school, had her pastor come and speak, and he was so good! I am planning on going to their church soon just because I want to hear him again! Then we went home for dinner, and we had some chicken roll thing and she gave us ice cream treats. I guess what annoys me a lot right now is that I cannot understand my senora. She has such a thick Spain accent, that no matter how hard I try I just can't understand her. It's frustrating. Anyways, after dinner I continued homework. Soon after that it was definitely time for bed!

Verse: Psalm 106:43-45

March 9, 2010

Class until 1:30, then we went home for lunch. We had grilled shrimp, chicken, and sliced potatoes. After that I just did homework until 5:30, and then I had my service work. Now that I made my new friend, Conchita, it is much better. Once we were done we had dinner back at home. We had chicken noodle soup with eggs. It is my favorite soup! When we were done I just continued doing homework...nothing too exciting today.

March 8, 2010

Monday...new week. It's going to be a crazy one too. I have soooo much going on! Then I have exams friday and monday. Today I had a really hard time getting up. I was just so comfortable in my bed, and I didn't want to get out! Classes actually went fairly well today. After class I had a meeting for my service project that I have every week. After 2 we went home for lunch. We had potato carrot soup. We actually had some good conversation again. That's a lot for one week! I tried to do homework this afternoon, but I failed at that. :( At 7 we had Flamenco. I like it, but I can face the truth...I was not born to dance! I am so bad at it. I'm nervous for the final show. I don't know if I can really improve that much in the next few weeks! After that, it was raining super hard. Surprise...not. We got pizza for dinner, and also that yummy dessert again. Also, we finally got some of our laundry back. I don't know why it takes so long. It was sunny for most of the past two days, kind of. After that I did some homework and started researching classes to take this summer, because I have to take at least 2. It's so frustrating for me to deal with. And we're working on figuring out housing for next year too. Somehow it will all get done, I just don't know how. Anyways, it's time for some sleep!

Verse: Psalm 104:1 "Praise the Lord, my soul! O Lord, my God, how great you are! You are clothed with majesty and glory."

March 7, 2010

We got up for church this morning. It actually wasn't raining for once! Church was good. It was really long...about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I'm so used to hour long services in the U.S. that those services can feel very long to me, but they are also very good, so it works out fine! After that I went home to do some homework. Their whole family was over and also the girl that used to live with them visited again for lunch. We had paella con mariscos (kind of like a potato thing with a bunch of random seafood mixed in) and shrimp. At first the meal was really awkward because nobody was saying anything, but it got better. At 4 Carrie and I went to Starbucks to do homework because our internet wasn't working. While we were there it started downpouring so we waited for a while. Finally it stopped, and at 7 we met Arielle to go running. It felt so good! When we got back we did some more workout stuff. Then I skyped my mom, ate dinner, and got ready for bed. We had tortillas and my favorite pudding! I cannot wait to make that pudding in the U.S. so you all can taste it! We actually had a very good conversation with Maria Luisa. That doesn't always happen. Anyways, I just did more homework. Tomorrow's monday. This is going to be a very long week...exams friday.

Verse: Psalm 103:1-3

March 6, 2010

I slept until about 10:45 this morning. I was so tired from our trip! Carrie was still sleeping, so I just stayed in my bed for a while. It was raining a lot so we didn't get to run. We just got ready for the day, and later on the rain stopped. We met Jess at about 3:45 and went to the Alcazar. It was so gorgeous! It's like a castle/palace place. It was free for students, and we didn't get to see it all, so we hope to get to go back again soon! On the way home I stopped at a little gift shop and bought some souvenirs for people! :) After that we decided to go back to our apartments and get some stuff done. I found my old worksheets and quizzes for Spanish from high school, because I brought them with. It was interesting to look at them, and see how far I've come since then! We didn't really do too much the rest of the night. At 9:30 we had dinner. After that we went to Arielle's house because her family was gone, and they said she could have friends over. We sat there for a few hours just chatting and relaxing. We played some card games too. It was nice to just chill out for the night. at 1:30 we were really tired, so we went home and went to bed.

March 5, 2010

I got up at 7:45 this morning. There was a continental breakfast in the hotel. I have never seen such an amazing breakfast before! There was tons of toast, croissants, yogurt, fresh fruit, danishes, and different types of tortilla things. There was so much food! We left the hotel at 9:30 to go to the Cathedral. It was really cool on the inside, and it was nice because in my art class we are learning EVERYTHING about the design. However; I was getting really sick of being there because we all had an ear piece that our teacher was speaking to us through, and we stood at one painting for probably 30-40 minutes to hear every detail, and I was really tired of listening! It was just getting too long for me, and lots of other students. People started taking out their headphones. Finally, we left there at 2:45 and we walked through the cities. The cities we get to visit are so amazing! I bought a small plate from a shop. I like to buy at least one small thing each place that I visit as a souvenir. We stopped for some hot drinks because it was actually really cold there. We continued walking and kind of got lost a little bit, but we had to be back at the hotel to leave, so finally we found our way, and only had time to grab McDonald's. Then we got back on the bus. We already had to leave! We drove for a little over 2 1/2 hours and stopped at a cafe for about 40 minutes. The bus drivers there aren't allowed to drive for more than 3 hours at a time without a break. Then we finished our 6 hour trek, and got back to school around 9. We just ate a smaller meal, then Miguel got a phone call that one of the past girls that lived with them, Alissa, is in Seville. She came over and we chatted for a while. She was really nice, and we asked her a lot of questions. She ended up staying until after 12:30, but we swapped numbers, and we might go to a Flamenco show with her tomorrow! Anyways, I really wanted to run tomorrow, but it's supposed to rain, once again, all day, so I probably won't. Also, us girls are going to try really hard to speak spanish everyday to each other until 5 p.m. We don't speak as much spanish as we know we need to to become more fluent. We tried it today, and I could already feel that it was beneficial. I feel like I'm learning a lot, and getting more fluent, but there's just always so much more to learn!

Verse: Deuteronomy 6:4-6

March 4, 2010

I woke up at 5:15 this morning. We had to be at school at 6:20 to leave for Toledo. There is NO ONE out in the city at this hour of the morning, and it is completely dark outside. As soon as we got on the bus everyone tried to go back to sleep. I got maybe about 2 hours in, of course in a painfully uncomfortable position. We stopped at a cafe around 9 for some breakfast. After that we had a little over 3 more hours of driving. It was about 6 hours total. We stopped at the Don Quixote spot, which has huge windmills on the top of a mountain. It was so beautiful! The pictures I took do not fully describe how amazing it was up there! We spent about 30 minutes there. Then we continued on to the hotel. We stayed at Carlos V which was a really nice older hotel. We had a 2-person room with a balcony outside the window that looked over a small street. We had some time to eat our lunches and walk around, and our group ended up going into 2 art museums that were free entrance. We had to meet up a little later with our class at an art place that was also kind of like a Cathedral. We looked at some of the art that my art class has been studying. After that we had free time for the rest of the night, so we walked through some of the little tourist shops, and then stopped at a little restaurant for dinner. I got some chicken that was really good. At this point the stores were starting to close, so we got a cono kit kat and went back to the hotel. We met at Jess's room and there were about 12 people there to play the game "fishbowl" which is a combination of catch phrase, charades, and a few other things. It was so much fun! We played that until a little after 12, then I got ready for bed. It had been a long day, and we have another one coming!

March 3, 2010

It was my second day of classes for the week, and also my last! Thank goodness for short weeks. I went to school, same as always... For lunch we had a super delicious pasta! She gave us each a HUGE portion, literally enough for probably 3 people, but it was so good! For the afternoon I just kind of relaxed because my homework isn't due for tomorrow since we have our trip. We went to the grocery store, SuperSol, for some snacks to bring to Toledo. At 5:30 I had my prayer group. Right now we are taking turns sharing our Life Story. I think it's really cool because it helps you understand people better when you know what they're coming from. After that at 7 we had Encuentro. Once again, I am amazed at God's goodness! I love having Encuentro. It's such a comfortable place that we can all come together to worship! After that we returned for dinner. We got AuGratin potatoes and fish. After that I started to pack up some stuff for the trip, and I skyped my mom real quick. I am also very excited because the first White Sox spring training game is tomorrow! Baseball season has finally come! It has been way too long for me! I am so excited for going to games when I get back! Too bad Spaniards don't like baseball...

Verse: Psalm 95:1-7

March 2, 2010

Class this morning. We only have two days of class this week since we didn't have it yesterday, and Thursday and Friday we are going to Toledo with school. It feels so good! For my art class, I really am scared of her sometimes. She is strict, and always puts people on the spot to answer questions. If you don't know the answer, she does NOT like it! Oh well, I guess it really makes you pay attention! In my short story class my group had to finish a small presentation, which went fine. After school, it was raining again. What a surprise. We didn't end up eating until 3:15! That's really late for us, and I was so hungry! Carrie said to me right before lunch, "let's just say that we're having espinaca (spinach) because then whatever we get will be better than that." What do we get for lunch?...espinaca. I actually like a lot of the food we get from our Senora, but espinaca is one thing that I do not like. It is not good spinach. It looks like run over grass that is smothered in oil. Plus we got a plate of peppers again! We have refused to eat them so many times, I don't know how many more times we have to do that. I eat everything she has ever given me, but I will not eat a plate full of peppers! Oh well, we really do get a lot of good food, so I can't complain. At 5:30 Jess and I went to our service place again. I really didn't feel like going today, but God is good, and he had me in for a surprise. It was by far my best week there yet! The people that I normally don't like working with weren't there. There are some people that don't talk to me, and they don't want me to help, but they were gone today. There were other people there that were really nice, and they understand that I'm learning Spanish, so they help me out. Also, there is a lady that they normally assign me to work with, but I can't really understand her, and she is very hard of hearing, so you have to practically yell, which I don't want to do since I don't know if what I'm saying is correct. They told me to work with her again, and at first I was kind of afraid, but I started asking her questions, and it went great! She started telling me stories and I think she really just needed a friend to chat with! She invited me to walk her back to her room and look at her family pictures. She was very sweet, and I look forward to visiting her again next week. God is so good to me! After that was done I went back for dinner, and we had lasagna! I was so excited! Then I just did some homework and got ready for bed!

Verse: Deuteronomy 11:13-14

March 1, 2010

Wow, it's already March! They were still celebrating Dia de Andalucia here today, so I didn't have school. I slept until about 10:30 and then got up to do homework. I did that for a while, and then continued to search flights. At 1:30 we met Arielle to go running. I did 5 miles again today. I'm so glad that I'm able to run that. I just have to keep increasing it slowly up until my race. There are some other races before that that I wish I could be there for. My Dad's running them, and I wish I could do them with him! But, there's always more in the future! We came back and had lunch, and had this onion-ey potato thing with a piece of flan (caramel desert). After lunch we met Jess and Arielle at Mama Terra's, a small restaurant, to plan out our trips. We bought our trips to Paris and London for one of our weeks off, which is called "Feria". We're still working on our other week "Semana Santa". I have found that I absolutely hate planning trips. It's so frustrating to get all the details together, and still have everyone be happy. There are so many things that we all want to do, but we don't have enough time or money. But, we bought our trip for now! Thank goodness. After that I went back and did homework, skyped my mom and dad again, and took a few minutes to paint my nails. For dinner I had a cordon bleu. This week we only have 2 days of class because our school is going on a trip to Toledo on Thursday and Friday!

Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:7 "For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight."

February 28, 2010

Last day of February. Wow, did that month go by quickly. I feel like the next 10 weeks are just going to fly by! That makes me sad. Of course, I can't wait to see my family and friends, and there are some days that I am home sick, but I don't wish the semester to go faster either. We went to church at Prosperidad again. Afterwards, Carrie and I went to Rodilla for sandwiches because our family wasn't going to be home for lunch. At 3 we met up with Jess to go to the Alcazar, which is a beautiful building with gardens and other things that cannot explain yet because it was closed when we got there. It is Dia de Andalucia today, so a lot of things were closed. We decided to walk to the Cathedral instead. It was really cool, and we got to go to the top of the Giralda, which is a tall tower that overlooks the city of Seville. It was 35 ramps up that we walked, but there were windows on all sides that we could look out of. The city looked so awesome! At the top there are no windows so the wind just blows in on you, and it was amazing! Also, that is where they ring the bells from each day. After that we went to McDonald's for cono kit kat and walked around. Those never get old! It had starting pouring rain, AGAIN, so we went to a small cafe for hot drinks and sat down for a while. Then we all went home, and I looked for flights for our 2 separate weeks off, and I found some great ones, so hopefully we'll buy them tomorrow. Also, I skyped my mom so I could fill out the FAFSA. We don't have school tomorrow, so I plan on sleeping in, but I still have all my homework to do.

February 27, 2010

I slept in today until about 12:15, and finally got up around 1:30 to have lunch. We had chick pea soup with celery chunks in it. After lunch we got ready for the day. We met Jess at 4 at the main bridge and walked through a bunch of tourist shops. Surprisingly, we hadn't done that yet. We like to think of ourselves as citizens now, not just tourists! :) Then we went to the outdoor market. I got a scarf for 4 euros. It started to rain, and it was sooo windy! Our umbrellas were blown inside out and you could barely walk against the wind. We decided to leave the market, so we went to El Corte Ingles which is a giant store with about 4 floors, and part of it is like a grocery store, and the rest of it is like a giant Sears. I found pretzels and Ritz crackers, which I haven't found anywhere else, so that made my day! I also got some golden grahams that I love to snack on. After that we went to an Heladeria (ice cream shop) and I got chocolate con tronos, which is chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks in it! It was delicious! After that we decided to walk back home. It was starting to get cold and more windy. During the day it was over 70 degrees, but it definitely went down once it started to rain. We went home for dinner and had the potato tortillas again. At around 10 pm we went to Arielle's house to watch Disturbia because her family was gone and they told her she could have friends over. It is very rare that they have friends over to their houses here, so that was a special treat. We haven't been allowed to do that yet. It finished right after 1 a.m., so we left and walked home. I got to bed around 2:15. It's a good thing we don't have school monday so I can sleep a bit!

February 26, 2010

Today was an amazing day! Definitely one of my favorites in Seville so far! School was just normal, but at least we have a 3-day weekend to look forward to! For lunch we had that garbonzo bean soup again. After lunch Carrie and I decided to watch "The Holiday". I hadn't watched a movie in probably 7 or 8 weeks, so it was time! After the movie we went shopping because I am out of jeans! It keeps raining so our laundry never dries! It always takes like 4 days to get my clothes back. I got jeans and some brown shoes. After that we went back for dinner and had chicken burgers. Then we went to Mama Terra to make plans for tomorrow. At 11:45 we went to Azucar for Salsa dancing again and met people there this week! The guy Stephen in our group is really good, so he was teaching us girls and the other 2 guys how to salsa. It was so much fun! After a while we were so thirsty, but the drinks were so thirsty, so the four of us split one margarita and it was 6 euros!!! So expensive! Then we got back to dancing. The other girls and Jess left so it was the three guys and us girls, which was perfect because then we always had a partner and didn't have to dance with any of the random people there. We weren't very good, but two of the guys were learning too, so it worked out fine! There also was a live band. Phillip and Stephen in our group both tried to ask some spaniard women to dance, and they got rejected. Then Stephen asked the lead singer from the band to dance, and got rejected again! It was so funny! We stayed there until about 2:45 a.m. and then we went to Alimbique which is a small bar on our street. We sat and got a tinto. We talked for a long time, and it was so nice. We got back to our apartment around 4:30 a.m. It was the latest night I've been out so far in Seville, but it was definitely worth it! I'm definitely sleeping in tomorrow!

February 25, 2010

Another rainy day. The Spaniards here keep telling us that all this rain is really out of the ordinary...I'm just wondering when it will ever stop! I've seen people go through more umbrellas in the past month than ever before! It's ridiculous! After class, we went home for lunch. We had chicken, french fries, and some sort of fish thing. I don't ask what those things are, I just eat them. At 3:30 I met up with my prayer group at a cafe. I love my group, and I feel like I can share a lot with them, and they will respect me and pray for me. It's nice to share praises and concerns, and just have a chance to pray for each other. After that we met at school and walked to a nearby place where old men from the hospital live. We played Bingo with them for about an hour and a half. It was pretty fun, and the men are so sweet! They just love to play and get little prizes and they love to give us girls "besitos" (little kisses)! After that we went back to do homework. I skyped my mom to start working on the fafsa. For dinner we had potatoes with a white fish. After that, it was time for bed!

February 24, 2010

We serve such an awesome God! Encuentro was so amazing tonight! I'll start with the earlier things in my day first though. School..just a regular day. For lunch we had garbonzo bean soup with carrot chunks in it. It's pretty good I don't mind it. However; she gives us a plate with meat pieces on it, and they are SO gross looking! I love meat, but these are half meat, half fat, and they expect us to eat the fat. When we don't eat it, she re-gives it to us the next day. It's not cool! Anyways, for the afternoon we just did homework, and we sat at the plaza outside again. God blessed us with a gorgeous day again! Although, the weather is not looking too great from here on out. After that we went to the grocery store. I bought a chocolate bar! Chocolate is my absolute weakness...I'll admit it. I must have it! After that I did more homework, and then we went to Encuentro. It was Lectus Divinia tonight. It was a time of making ourselves absolutely quiet before God, and letting Him just speak to us They gave us the verses I Peter 5:5-10 to read and meditate on. We had about 15 minutes to reflect, and we all got a pad of paper and pen. We could write or draw or do whatever we felt led to do. This was so cool. I haven't done something like that before. After that we met with a small group to discuss what we found from meditating on that passage. We finished it off with a great praise and worship time. God is so good! I love that I am in my program with fellow believers and that we have Encuentro every week. If you didn't know "encuentro" in spanish means "I meet"...meaning, I meet with God. After that was done, us girls tried to figure out what we're going to do this weekend. It's frustrating because we can't agree on something, and everything is so expensive! We'll see!

I Peter 5:5-10