Diferencias

I've been thinking in lists lately. So I thought perhaps you might enjoy reading one of my lists. This is a list of things that have changed in me since I've been here. I'm probably kind of building this up. It's not going to be that exciting. But these are some things I've found interesting so I thought you might as well.

1. Fruit Cocktail: In the States I don't like fruit cocktail. Maybe we had it too often in high school. Or maybe I just really don't like canned pears. But I've never been a fruit cocktail person. However, here in Spain I really like it. Carmen sometimes gives it to us for dessert, and it's so yummy. I guess it's just better in Spain.

2. Keys: I've always been bad with keys. Ever since the time when I accidentally locked Matthew and myself in his bedroom, I've been bad with them. That's probably because I never ever lock anything. But here I've gotten pretty good at unlocking our apartment door.

3. Maps: Another thing I've always been bad it is reading maps. I have a terrible sense of direction, and I'm not usually good at knowing where I am. But here I am improving greatly. I love the feeling of knowing street names and being able to come up with shortcuts to places. I'm starting to feel a bit at home here. Side note: Best street name ever? La Avenida de Jose Maria Martinez Sanchez Arjona. Yes, that's a real street.

4. Tobacco Stands: I frequent tobacco stands. Well, "frequent" isn't exactly true. But I do visit them often. But not to buy tobacco. These stands are the best place to buy stamps. And sometimes to put more money on my phone.

5. Meat: I eat so much more meat here than I've ever eaten in my life. I think this past Saturday was the very first day since I've been here that I didn't eat meat (because Carmen was gone and I got to serve my own food). That might have even been the first time that I didn't have meat twice in one day. I miss eating vegetables. I don't think I'll still eat meat so much when I come home.

6. Light Nazi: During orientation they told us that it is really important to always turn off the lights when we leave a room because electricity is really expensive. I'm always getting on Erin's case for forgetting to turn off her light. I think that is probably something I'll still do when I come home. I mean, saving electricity is always good, right?

7. Texting: I never thought I would be one of those people who texted a lot. Especially not one of those people who texts while walking. And I don't text a whole lot (I'm still really slow at it), but I do it more here than I ever have in my life. It's a lot easier to contact my friends here that way and cheaper than calling them.

8. Mondays: I like Mondays. Weekends seem long. Weekends are also when I don't have Internet. So for this reason, I like Mondays more than I ever have in my life.

9. Attention span: I used to be able to study for hours at a time. Now I can't study for more than like an hour or two without completely losing my focus. Maybe that has something to do with being in foreign country?

Hmm...there are probably other things I could put on this list, but that's all I have for now. Sorry if that was kind of anticlimactic. I can't believe how fast this week has flown. It's already Friday! Tonight some of us are going to a pizzeria for supper and then to see a movie I think. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not sure what else is going to happen. But hopefully the weekend won't seem too long. Love you all!

Being Aquí and Why I'm never getting a dog

So I think that this is quite possibly the first time in my life that I have not been such a huge fan of weekends. Here in Spain, weekends are much harder than weekdays. On the weekdays, things are pretty much scheduled for me, and I don't really have to make a lot of decisions. Plus, it's really not much different than being at Taylor...I just go to class basically. But the weekends are when I would be hanging out with people, seeing people, being with you all. So weekends are when I miss you most. I miss watching movies on First South, I miss spending all of Saturday in the library, I miss eating popcorn with my Mom on Sunday, etc. And here I can't do that. The weekends are when it is easiest for me to long for home.

However, with that being said, this weekend I also noticed that even when I long to be home, I am still seized with this completely overwhelming feeling that this is EXACTLY where I am supposed to be right now. I don't belong anywhere else but aqui (here) right now. I don't understand it. I don't know why God wants me here. But I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He does. I KNOW that if I was at Taylor right now, it would be wrong, and I would not be happy. I suppose these thoughts should be comforting. And in a way they are. But in a way they aren't because...I'm just confused mostly. I know God wants me here. But why? What in the world is He doing?

Something else that I noticed this weekend (this is a little less deep), is that I hate dogs. Carmen went to visit her sister this weekend so Erin and I had the apartment to ourselves on Saturday night. That was nice. Except we didn't actually have the apartment to ourselves because Boli was there. Boli is usually a pretty calm, nice dog, but whenever Carmen leaves for more than like half an hour, Boli cries and makes horrible noises that a dog should not be able to make. Anyway, when we tried to go to sleep, we couldn't because Boli wouldn't shut up. So I got out of bed and sat on the couch with her on my lap until she fell asleep. But when I tried to dump her off my lap, she woke up and followed me into my room whining. Ugh. So, I got a blanket and curled up on the couch and let Boli sleep on my feet. I can't believe I would do something like that for a dog! I finally fell asleep, and when I woke up around 2, she seemed to be sleeping soundly enough that I could sneak out from under her and go back to bed. Ugh. Stupid dog. That is why I am definitely going to have a kitty when I grow up, and not a puppy.

Other weekend highlights included a Skype date, going in the cathedral with Sarah, an awesome brownie from Las Palomas, lots of time to read and relax, and learning that the ice cream at Rodilla doesn't taste as good as it looks. Oh, also, meeting with Pablo was a lot better this time. It was still awkward, but we decided to speak in Spanish right from the beginning so I felt like it was a lot more helpful. I think I'll probably still dread it next time, but it wasn't terrible. Nothing was terrible this weekend. There were a lot of good things. But, I can also say (for probably the first time in my life) that I'm really glad it's Monday.

Un Mes

Today is February 20. That is a special day. I left home exactly one month ago today. And exactly one month from today...my family brings a little bit of home to me!!!!!

So we have this weird time thing going on again. I've been here a month already. I guess it has gone pretty fast. But I feel like it's been a long time too. It's been a month since I've eaten Sunday popcorn or cereal, a month since I've ridden in a car, a month since I've read the comics, a month since I've walked the streets of beautiful Berne, a month since I've been in the same time zone as those I love, over a month since I've wandered the sidewalks of Taylor and the hallowed corridors of Mary Tower English Hall, over a month since I hugged my sweet wingmates goodbye...sigh.

Then again, a lot of good things have happened in this month too. It's been a month of making new friends, of exploring a beautiful city, of eating lots of ice cream, of learning how to understand (if not speak) this foreign new language, of...well, lots of good things really. As much as I don't really feel like being here today, I know that I'm supposed to be here, and that is a good thing to know.

And my family comes in just a month! I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THEM!!!!! I imagine that this month will probably go a lot faster than I think. There are a lot of things to look forward to: more exploring, more ice cream, more learning, school trip to Toledo, a free trip to the movies that we got for winning the scavenger hunt, more 20 Minutos (if I get up early enough), more trips a la biblioteca etc., etc. Though one thing I will never look forward to is Pablo. We're meeting tonight, and I am dreading it something awful. Ugh.

In other news...Erin and I are going to...London? Our goal is to go to Switzerland over Semana Santa so we were looking for cheap flights last night. We found a flight from Sevilla to London for zero euros. Yep...zero euros. What does Ryanair gain by giving away flights? Of course, by the time they tack on all the taxes and fees and such it ended up being more like 30 each. But still, that's not so bad. And then today Erin found tickets from London to Basel for about 7 euros a piece (and no taxes!). The thing is that we'll be in London for a few days before that flight. But that's cool I guess. I never thought I would go to London. This is crazy.

Sorry. This post probably seems really scattered. I accidentally slept late this morning (so I got to school only 50 minutes early instead of 2 hours) so I've been kind of frazzled ever since. Ugh. I don't know what to do with myself. I miss people. I don't really know what this weekend is going to hold. I'd be looking forward to it so much more if only it didn't hold Pablo...

Los Examens

The good news is that I survived exam week. The tests were all pretty intense and a lot of writing, but I think I did okay. It wasn't so much that the tests were hard, it's just that I'm not sure if I wrote enough. The most intense one was the Art exam for which we had 4 images to identify. We had 11 minutes for each image to write down EVERYTHING we knew about it. It was crazy. They were pictures of things such as La Giralda and La Cupula de la Capilla de Villaviciosa (say that 5 times fast!). We had to say who built it, when it was built, materials used, and identify all of the different art things. It was tough, but I felt good when it was done. A really great feeling is that it seems to me that the tests weren't hard because they were in Spanish, they were just hard because it was a lot of information to remember and write down. This is encouraging. I feel like already I have learned so much Spanish, and I was so proud of myself to look down at a whole page of Spanish I had written. I don't know when we'll get our grades back, but I feel okay about things for now.

The bad news is that being done with exams wasn't quite as awesome as I thought it would be. I had kind of built it up in my mind that everything was going to be perfect after exams were done. And for the most part, yesterday was a good day. It was sunny, I wore my new shoes, I finished exams, I got to read the Echo, I got to Skype with my family, I got an ice cream cone for 80 cents, I went to the library, I got to talk to Wolfie, etc. But there was still homework to do (actually...I don't really mind studying), and I still have Pablo hanging over my head. I'm seeing him again on Friday afternoon and have been dreading it for a week. I don't know why he flusters me so much. It's only about an hour out of my life every 2 weeks or so. It shouldn't be that big of a deal. But I feel like he's always hanging over my head. (And I still wish Pablo was that intriguing 20 Minutos guy. Today he was passing out free candy with the free newspaper! What could be better?)

One interesting thing is that yesterday when I was talking to Wolfie, he said something to the effect of "You've already grown a lot. If you came home today, it would have been worth it." But when he said that, I said, "You know what? I don't think I'm ready to come home today. I feel like there is a lot more I am supposed to learn here." So I guess that's a good thing.

But the bad thing is that I only felt that way for a couple hours. And then I got sad again. It seems that every time I get to talk to my family or my friends, it's really great. But after I talk to them, I feel sad. I guess it's like talking to them reminds me of what I'm missing. Sigh. So I suppose the solution is to just stop talking to people from home. But something tells me that wouldn't be so great either. I'm just frustrated by the fact that every time I start to feel good about being here, I start to feel sad again. Sigh.

The Fourth Weekend

I can't believe that this was really our fourth weekend here. Time is such a funny thing. In some ways I feel like that time has gone so fast, but in other ways I feel like we've been here forever. And in a lot of ways I feel like it is still forever until I get to come home. The other weird (stupid, irritating, annoying, etc.) thing about time is the time difference. I still hate the feeling of waking up when all the people I love are still sleeping and going to bed while you are all still going about your days. I feel like I'm not even in the same world as you.

But anyway, it was a pretty good weekend. Since we didn't have school on Friday (!!!) it began after class Thursday. Sarah, Erin, and I bought a cheap blanket at the Chino, and then we took our computers to the park and watched a movie. It was so relaxing and nice!

Friday was not exactly what I expected it to be, but it was still nice. I got up fairly early and went to the park to study for a while. It was a beautiful day, but a bit chilly for sitting outside. I was kind of discouraged though because I used to be able to study in the library for hours (4, 6, 8) at a time, but now I can't study for more than like an hour and a half without getting bored. Anyway, I got bored and cold in the park so then I went to the library. I love the library. I should hang out there more often. In the afternoon Erin and Sarah and I went out for lunch at this excellent Chinese restaurant. It was so funny to be sitting in Spain eating Chinese food, but it was yummy (and cheap!). We were going to go see this castle place, but we didn't have time to do that before it closed so we just went to the library again, and then we sat in the park.

Saturday was a lot of fun because we went to the Mercadillo (Gypsy market). It was this huge outdoor market where they sold basically everything. It was so much fun!!!! It was perfect day to be outside (probably in the upper 70's), and it was wonderful. I ended up buying these goofy gray sneakers that are so comfortable...kind of like sweatshirts for my feet. I also bought a shirt that I probably wouldn't have bought if I had tried it on, but oh well. It was a really pleasant way to spend the morning.

Yesterday was a very interesting day. We went to a church that is very close to our house. I really really liked the service...it was the best out of the 3 churches I've visited so far. I felt like I could understand very well, and the worship was so good. The people there seemed very genuine. Sarah and I want to go back next week, but we feel kind of bad because it is a very small church, and a lot of students already go there. We'll see.

The interesting thing though was that after church there was a lunch for "foreigners." That was very nice. We met some other American students...the city seems to be crawling with them! Anyway, there was a little program thing where people from different countries spoke. We had people from Bolivia, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, El Salvador, France, England, and the US. It was interesting, but the whole thing lasted 2.5 hours, and it got really hard to focus and pay attention. Erin and I were the people who had to present about the US. We did it in English and a girl from the church translated. It was very awkward but fine. I realized some things during it thought that I'll try to write about later. Anyway, we were at church from 11 until 5:15. It was a long day. In the evening, we went out for pastries and coffee for Sarah's birthday. It was nice.

The one thing I didn't do this weekend was study. Exams are this week, and I am so afraid! I have History tomorrow and Cuentos and Art on Wednesday. I think they are going to be so crazy much writing, and I just don't think I'm going to be able to remember everything. I've been totally slacking off on my studying lately. I miss the Emily who could study all the time without getting tired. Erin keeps telling me, "You shouldn't worry about it too much. There's more to Spain than school." I know she's right, but I also know that I basically haven't been doing ANY schoolwork. Sigh. I'm going to feel so much better once exams are over. Please pray.

I was in sort of a weird mood much of this weekend. I miss you all so much, and I thought about that a lot this weekend. Another thing I've been thinking about is all the pressure I feel to "make the most of this opportunity." I know that this is a blessing, a once in a lifetime thing, but still. It is hard to be happy all the time. It is hard to not get discouraged when I miss people. I feel like I KNOW all the things I'm supposed to be feeling/believing/doing, but it is so hard to actually practice them. Sigh. I miss you all. May is still an eternity away.

Los Ancianos

So I don't remember what I've written here about the service learning class I am taking. There was a bunch of complicated stuff because I thought I wasn't going to be able to take it and then I was and then I wasn't, but now I am, and it is good. Every Monday evening I will be going to a Convent for Ancianos (the Elderly) to help out with supper. This past Monday was my first night.

We met at 5:30 to have a tour of the convent. That was a bit overwhelming because I didn't understand a lot of what the Mother Superior was saying. But in other ways, it was so wonderful because it reminded me so much of Swiss Village and University Nursing Center. Oh, I love nursing homes! Me encantan ancianos!

The people who go on Tuesday and Thursdays left, but since I'm a Monday person, I stayed with Jenelle. I was pretty nervous. We started in the upstairs dining room at 7, and it was kind of awful. I almost killed a woman. The nurse told me that I had to feed the woman so that she wouldn't eat too fast. But I didn't really understand, and she seemed to be doing fine on her own. Then the nurse came over all frantic like and made choking motions like "No, no, no! She's going to choke and die!" I felt awful. So then I had to steal the fork from the woman and help her finish. She was not happy. The people in that dining room are more severely handicapped and less capable. They kept asking me things, but I could not understand anything. All I could do was smile and say "Lo siento, no se." I don't know if I couldn't understand because they were mumbling or just because I don't know any Spanish. I had no idea what I was doing, and it was horrible. I felt so stupid because I couldn't understand anyone. I almost cried. The only thing that was nice was when a couple people would smile at me. Smiles are glorious. But at that point I was really wondering what in the world God was trying to do.

At 7:40 we got to go to the downstairs dining room. That is where the more capable people eat. It was so wonderful!!!! We started talking to the ladies who work there, and they were very nice. I felt like I could understand so much better. Jenelle and I followed them around while they served the food so everyone could ooh and aww about how "guapa" these new Americanitas were. Our job was to bus tables after they ate. Then at the end of the night we set up for breakfast the next day. It was so good. It reminded me soooo much of Swiss Village!

I think this is going to be an awesome opportunity. On the one hand, it will take me out of my comfort zone because it will force me to speak Spanish. But on the other hand, it puts me right into my comfort zone because even in Spain, nursing homes are much the same. I'm excited to do this...excited to serve...excited to get to know people there. Praise God for this opportunity!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was an incredible day. I had Skype dates with my parents and my friends at school, I got 2 Valentine's Day cards in the mail, I had a chocolate muffin, an Oreo, gelato with Sarah, and Carmen made us Flan, our prayer group met for the first time, AND it was sunny! But, after the wonderful day, I had kind of a rough night because I started feeling really sad and lonely and upset about some stuff I thought I wouldn't have to deal with anymore. Prayers are still greatly appreciated. I love you all!

Account of a blind date and other weekendness

So it's a real struggle to get used to this whole not having Internet all the time thing. That is definitely something I take for granted in the States. Now that I've been offline for about 3 days I feel like I could have a lot to say.

I suppose you have all been waiting with baited breath to hear about Pablo. Or even if you haven't, I guess you'll get to now. Oh my...what an absurd situation! Essentially, I went on a blind date with a 29-year-old Spanish man!

I got to the square early on Friday so I just sat for a while and watched people. Every time a boy passed, I wondered if he was Pablo. Honestly, I was hoping Pablo was going to be the 20 Minutos guy who passes out free newspapers on the corner every morning because he intrigues me, but it was not to be. Anyway, at 6 I wandered over to Starbucks. There was a guy standing outside the door so we made eye contact really awkwardly several times, and then he finally said, "Emily?" It was Pablo! We walked into Starbucks, and he bought us coffee. We were both very confused about the whole thing so in the end I spoke in Spanish, and he spoke in English. I gathered that he is a 29-year-old man who is currently working as a computer guy at a school, but would someday like to work for the city of Sevilla. Oh my. It was so ridiculously awkward, although not necessarily in the way I thought it would be. It wasn't really much different than making awkward small talk with any random strange guy except for there was the whole language barrier thing too. Oh dear. He was really nice, but I'm not necessarily just bursting to see him again. Although I think next time it would be more helpful if we just picked one language and stuck to it. Oh my. We were there for about 45 minutes when he asked me if I had to be anywhere afterwards. I said no and then spent the next 20 minutes mentally kicking myself for that. Finally, around 7:10 I said, "Uh...I should probably go to the library..." (I really did have something to return). He jumped up like he had just been waiting for me to say something. When we walked out of the restaurant and parted ways, I just burst out laughing. It was such an absolutely absurd situation! But like Dad always says, "Nothing bad ever happens to writers...just new material!"

When I left Starbucks, I did go to the library, and I sat there reading for a while. I love the library so much! I walked back home around 8:30 and felt genuinely happy. Maybe it isn't terrible to be here.

The rest of the weekend wasn't all that exciting or interesting. I'm trying to remember now what I even have to say about it. The highlight of Saturday was trying churros for the first time! For those who don't know, churros are essentially fried dough with this awesome hot chocolate sauce for dipping. Yum! Erin and I wandered around with some others and were surprised how many people were out on the streets. There were a lot of street performers and people selling stuff on the roads. It was a little like Swiss Days except not quite as awesome.

Sunday Sarah and I walked to a church that was about 45 minutes away. It was a beautiful day for a walk though. This church was much different than the one we went to last week. It was a lot more contemporary and the people seemed a lot more enthusiastic. We sat with some girls who are studying here with a different program through Cedarville University. There are so many American students in Sevilla right now! Anyway, the church was nice, but I think we're going to keep looking before we settle on one. Um...the rest of the day was spent in relaxing, reading, resting, a trip to the park, etc.

I was feeling really...pensive yesterday. I've just been realizing how important it is to be intentional. I feel like I'm not being intentional about seeking Jesus while I'm here, and that really frustrates me. But I don't know how to do better at it. And also I know that I need to be more intentional about using my Spanish, instead of only using it at school. But that's hard. However, I was also reading through some old journals yesterday, and I found a part that I had written during the time when I thought I might not get to come to Spain. It made me realize that this trip, Spain, all of this, was something that I really wanted. And now I am here. I am convinced that if I was not here, I would forever wonder what would have happened here. So it is good to be here. I am learning a lot. I am being blessed.

Grrr...I just tried to post a picture here, but Blogger won't let me. Anyone know anything about good ways to put pictures online?

Also, Correction: Happy Hippos do not contain peanut butter. It's hazelnut. But they're still incredible. Have a good week everyone! I love you all!

Alemania y la sombra de Pablo

So if it wasn't for la sombra de Pablo, I would be feeling pretty good about life right now. And when I forget about Pablo, things are looking up. But right now I have this Pablo shaped sombra (shadow) hanging over my head. (And since I've never met Pablo, I don't even know how big his sombra is.) Pablo is my "intercambio." When we started the semester we had the opportunity to sign up for an intercambio. This involves meeting once a week with a student from the University of Sevilla (I think) who wants to learn English. One week we speak in Spanish and the next in English. I wasn't crazy excited about this prospect ever but signed up because I felt like I "should." I didn't expect to get a boy. But anyway, tomorrow at 6 I am meeting Pablo at Starbucks. Oh dear. I am very nervous. I can't talk to boys in English. How am I going to talk to a strange boy in Spanish? (And since Spaniards don't go to college until later in life, he could be as old as 30!) If you think of me around 11 or noon your time tomorrow please send up a prayer for me!

But other than that, things are looking up. I am very excited because...Voy a Alemania! It all happened rather quickly, but just this morning I bought a plane ticket for Germany! Angy once said that you shouldn't get excited about someone coming to visit until they have bought plane tickets. But get excited, Angy...I'm coming to see you! I'm not going until the end of April, but I am still very excited. It feels good to have some sort of travel plan. And I am very glad that Erin was here to help me figure out Ryanair and get my tickets arranged. It feels so strange to be buying tickets to go to another country. In the States this would be such an ordeal. But here...not so much. Everyone is getting excited about traveling everywhere, and now I am excited too! Yay!

So there are lots of things to be excited about: I'm excited about Germany. I'm excited about an upcoming weekend. I'm excited to talk to my family in a couple hours. I'm excited about going to the library to get more movies today. I'm excited about playing Bingo at the hospital tonight. I'm excited about the last Happy Hippo in my desk drawer. I'm excited about starting to volunteer at the nursing home next week. I'm excited about the day it stops raining (Agh! It rains ALL the time lately!). I'm excited about putting on dry socks when I get home from school today. I'm not excited about Pablo, but I'm excited about the first meeting being over. And maybe it won't be so bad. Jesus is here with me, and I think things are good.

(By the way, the mystery letter was from Rachel Wenger. Thanks, Rachel! I forgot that she was still at school in South Carolina. Yay for mail!)

Rabbits and a lack of motivation

Hmm...I don't really know what's wrong with me. It is only the second week of classes, and already I feel so disgustingly unmotivated. I'm so tired, and I'm not really sure why. Last night I got almost 9 hours of sleep! Carmen (the professor, not the senora) told us that it is bad for you to sleep a lot during siesta so I've been trying not to lately. Plus, that seems like a good time to do homework. But maybe I'll sleep today. I don't know. I just don't want to do anything...least of all Spanish. Right now I'm wondering if I was ever passionate enough about Spanish to come on this trip at all. I feel like I should be making a lot more effort to practice my Spanish, both in and out of school. But right now I don't really care. It's looking like I'll never be able to teach those children in the basement how to speak Spanish. Sorry kids.

With that being said, I guess I have learned a lot already. I mean, there are so many things I can say now that I couldn't say before. And I've only been here 2 weeks. I guess I just need to be more patient. Ugh...patience. Actually, yesterday I felt really stupid in Spanish at school, but at home it was good because I actually had a conversation with Carmen! We had rabbit (conejo) for lunch so we had a nice long discussion about where the rabbits come from. And then she randomly told me that her birthday is next week, and when I said my Dad's birthday is close to that, she asked about my family. When I told her that they are coming in March she got really excited. (I'm excited too!) So it was good.

Another highlight of yesterday was getting a letter from Rachelle! Mail is so much fun (*hint, hint*), and the note was so sweet...full of good Bible verses that were a great comfort. I got another letter today, but I can't figure out who it's from. I'm saving it for siesta today...so, thanks in advance, mystery person in South Carolina!

A lowlight of yesterday was the fact that it rained a lot so I didn't go out at all after I got back from school. I spent most of the day in my room doing homework very slowly. It was so cold in my room. I had the heater turned on and I was wearing a t-shirt, a long sleeved t-shirt, a cardigan, a hooded sweater with the hood up, and Lauren's scarf. (Of course, I probably would have been wearing Lauren's scarf even if it was really hot, but that's besides the point.) Anyway, though, I was still cold. Cold and exhausted.

Sigh. I know I need to learn to be content here. I know I need to want to want to be here. Maybe I'll work on that after I get some sleep...

A relaxing weekend

Wow...it's been an interesting weekend. Interesting in a good way. And very relaxing. I'm not even really sure where to start.

The highlight of Thursday was getting my Spanish library card with Sarah. I am now a full fledged patron of the Biblioteca Publica de Sevilla. Yay! Also on Thursday night we had a girls night where we went ice skating at the mall. It was a lot of fun. It was really good to just get out and relax and see people outside of the school. Ice skating seemed like kind of a funny thing to do in Spain, but it was quite enjoyable.

Friday was the school trip to Cordoba. That was so neat! All week in my art history class we were studying the mosque at Cordoba and seeing slides of it. It was so incredible then to see it in person! It was kind of mindblowing to be seeing these things that were built so long ago...some as early as the 8th century. It was a beautiful sunny day, and and we sort of had a little picnic outside with the lunches our senoras packed for us. I felt like a little kid on a field trip and just wished my Mom was there to write my name on my lunch for me. Also it was just so delightful to not have classes!

That evening Erin and I decided to stay in and "go to bed early." We checked out some movies from the library. One of them was broken so we couldn't watch that one. Uh...como se dice "This DVD was broken when I checked it out"? In the States I wouldn't be at all nervous about talking to library people, but it is so much different when you can't come up with the words. But anyway, after supper we watched "Finding Neverland" (in English) on my computer. And then we stayed up talking until past 3. It was so great! I love my roomie. We laughed a lot this weekend, and it was so incredible!

Oh, another thing about Friday: as we walked home after the fieldtrip, Erin and I were talking about how we are finally starting to feel a bit settled in our new home. Thus, I was quite surprised when I walked into my room and found all of the furniture rearranged! I was so surprised that I forgot to speak in Spanish, and said to Carmen, "Oh. You reaarranged!" We think that she told us that the plan is to move Erin's bed in there as well. But that hasn't happened yet so maybe we misunderstood her. That could very easily be the case. Communication with her is still so hard. I feel like in general, I can understand my professors fairly well, but for whatever reason, I cannot seem to understand Carmen worth anything. Talking to her makes me feel stupid. Sigh.

We slept in on Saturday and then did homework during the afternoon. We only left the house for about 3 hours in the afternoon so we could go to a cafe for Internet, and I could talk to Lauren and Wolfie! It was excellent. Although talking to people from home always makes me miss people a lot more too. We went back home for supper and then spent another night relaxing (coloring pictures) and giggling. I love having a roommate that I love to hang out with.

Yesterday was more successful than last Sunday as we actually found a church to go to. It was in Triana so we could walk instead of taking the bus. It was a pretty small church, but there were a lot of other students there too. The service was interesting. I could understand some of it. The main pastor was fairly easy to understand which was good. I was suprised that we sang several hymns that I knew like "How Great Thou Art," "The Old Rugged Cross," etc. (though in Spanish of course). That was kind of comforting. I also drank alcohol for the first time in my life. It was just a bit of communion wine, but it was enough to show me that I don't like alcohol at all. When we left church it was pouring rain and so nasty. By the time we got home, my pants were drenched all the way up to my pockets! Thankfully, the magical estufa dried out our pants and shoes pretty quick. That thing is amazing! Rain is nasty, but some days it still seems preferable to all the snow you all are getting!

In the afternoon we just rested/did more homework. I was really lonely yesterday, and I missed people a lot. Sigh. I hate feeling like I am missing out on everything you all are doing. But then we went out again to use Internet again so I could Skype my family. And it was wonderful to talk to them and see them!

The crazy part of last night was our Super Bowl adventure. Erin is a Steelers fan so she really wanted to see the game. I was happy to go with. We had the name of this Tex-Mex bar that we were going to go to, but when we got there, they were charging 30 euros for a "private screening." I'm not sure that's even legal, but whatever. We headed back towards school and found some other girls who were going to a bar to watch. We tagged along with them, but the bar was so crowded and loud and smoky that we left after about 2 seconds. Carmen had told us to go to Calle Betis so we tried that next and just happened to find a tiny bar where about 15 other Americans (not from our program) were watching the game. It was decently quiet, and we found seats. We got Cokes and ate snacks that we bought at Open Cor. We had gummi bears and my new favorite Spanish treat...these cookies called "Happy Hippos." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Happy_Hippo). They are hippo shaped cookies filled with white chocolate and peanut butter. Pure awesomeness! First South girlies, you MUST try these some day. I'll bring some back for you. Anyway, though, we were disappointed because the game was in Spanish. And there were no comercials. So it was actually kind of boring. And also there was a lot of smoke in the bar so we felt like we were contracting lung cancer as we watched. So in the end we only stayed for the first half. But it was a fun adventure!

Um...I successfully dropped my grammar class that I'm not getting credit for. So now, here is an official class schedule:

Cuentos: 10:50-11:40
Spanish Art: 11:45-12:35
History: 1:35-2:25
Accion Solidaria (the service learning class): every other Tuesday and weekly volunteering.

This schedule feels pretty good to me. Hopefully I'll continue to adjust. I'm sad today though because second semester is starting at Taylor without me. Sigh. I miss Taylor. I miss you all. And I love you!