Christmas Break Recap: France

Paris has become of my favorite cities. We visited it in November, and I was excited for take 2. It's so classy, and the Eiffel Tower never gets old. We met up with Heather's and Emily's moms, with whom we rented a sweet little apartment with a view of the tower. We saw all the Parisian tourist spots (Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, etc.) and ate all the Parisian things (paninis, crepes, macaroons, etc.). We went to Notre Dame for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. I heard the best singing I've ever heard in my life! We spent a sunny Christmas there, and the leftover snow on the ground made it my first white Christmas! We also enjoyed more Christmas markets, of course.

On the train leaving France, I felt a bit sad because I felt like I hadn't gotten to know the French people very well. Then we ended up meeting a French guy on the train with whom we had to share a sleeping cabin. God blessed us again in this instance, because not only was he not a creeper, but we had the most interesting discussion on culture and the European Union! It was an intercultural comm major's dream! We were saying how we thought the European culture was beautiful, and he expressed his wish for more of a true European culture. He talked about how he wished the Union could be more unified, as in America. Though we have many states, we're all proud to be American, and he wanted the same sort of feelings among Europeans. He also said that he's frustrated with his own country sometimes because the French are quite critical by nature, and thus are less likely to open up to strangers to avoid exposing themselves socially. He wished that they would be more open, like Americans. I said traveling Americans can be pretty embarrassing sometimes, but he said he appreciated the free attitude we have. There were so many profound things in the discussion that I could go on and on. I was in awe because God had sent someone to shed some more light on French culture, and European culture as a whole. It also made me feel very blessed to have grown up in America, with the freedom and opportunities that we have. My time in Europe has been amazing, but it has also made me love America even more.

Now on to Italy!

Christmas Break Recap: Germany

We went to Germany next, where we visited Berlin and Heidelberg. Berlin is full of such history. (In the picture we are at the Brandenburg gate, the last remaining gate in a series of gates into the city.) We visited Reichstag (the Parliament building), the Berliner Dom (biggest Protestant church in Berlin), Checkpoint Charlie (former checkpoint between West and East Berlin), saw parts of the Berlin Wall, and got more than our fill of Christmas markets. They're one of my favorite things about Christmas in Europe. A series of charming wooden stands with everything from delicious baked goodies to adorable handmade ornaments. I loved tromping through the snow, admiring the products and the groups of happy people with bratwursts in one hand and steaming mugs of cider in the other. (No joke!)

Berlin was also where we had our first "angel encounter." We were a bit confused about which trains to take to get to our hostel, and I was going to ask a woman on the train whom I knew spoke English. But then a nice man came out of seemingly nowhere and offered to help us through the train station. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but he didn't ask any personal questions (which I deemed the test of potential creeper status), and I felt safe when he was leading us through the thick crowds. He even stopped to help a lady with her suitcase on the stairs. No one does that in Europe. It's difficult to describe, and it may sound a bit naive when we tell the story, but I really felt like he was an angel. That was the first of many times God came to our rescue. Whenever we would get into tough situation, an English speaker would come out of nowhere and help us. (We called them Germangels, Frangels, and Italiangels, depending on which country we were in when the help came.)

I also enjoyed Heidelberg. It's a cute town/small city. We climbed 300 stairs in the snow (uphill both ways) to the castle with a great, though foggy, view of the city. I bought Playmobil there because I mean, it's a German toy and we were in Germany! We also spent a few hours in a wonderful, warm little cafe. Good friends, hot milk (with honey! I felt like I was in Canaan!), my notebook, and gorgeous snowy scenery outside made for a fabulous time. I grew to admire the German people. I have to admit, in the back of my mind I was a bit nervous about going to Germany. Not to be racist or anything, but all the painful history we've learned in relation to Germany throughout the years has left me with a subconscious apprehension, though I know they're not like that in this era. They are a beautiful people, and it's amazing to see where they are now after all they've been through. We were sad to leave Germany, but we were excited for the next leg: classy, beautiful Paris.

Christmas Break Recap: Belgium

Over Christmas break, we visited Belgium, Germany, France, and Italy, an amazing 27-day whirlwind that I will never forget. I went with three other girls: Liz, Heather, and Emily. Liz (PUC, music major) and Emily (Walla Walla, nursing) are from northern California, and Heather (WWU, education) is from SoCal. I'll put up summaries of each leg of our trip, starting with our first city: Brussels, Belgium. Unfortunately, that was where I was robbed while getting off the train. My wallet with 150 euros and my credit and debit cards was stolen. Great way to start off the trip, right? I was really upset, but there were several good things about the situation. I had just moved my passport and Eurail pass to different pockets in my jacket, thus God protected the things I needed most to travel. Also, my friends covered for me the rest of the trip, so I ended up spending less because I didn't want them to spend any more of their money than they had to. Dad also cancelled the cards before anything could happen. Other than that, I enjoyed Belgium. We walked around the city, visited the Museum of Musical Instruments, and took in a lights show at Grand Place. They really do have great waffles there! We had them for breakfast and as a snack (strawberries and brown sugar over waffles infused with clumps of sugar..ohhh mann). A couple of days, then it was off to Germany.

Long Overdue..

Hey everyone! Sorry for having been extremely delinquent with this blog. I'm going to start updating this regularly again. Again, my utmost apologies, and thanks for caring enough to read this again. I miss and love you all and constantly think about you here in Spain! I hope, no, I know, that God is already doing amazing things for you all during this new year.

So here we are at the start of the second semester at ESDES (Escuela Superior de Español de Sagunto). We returned a few weeks ago from a long but exhausting Christmas break, the adventures of which I will summarize in the next few blog posts. The holidays made me really sad to be away from family and friends. But when we got back to school, we had a huge birthday party for my friend that all the ESDES students attended, and in the middle of all the cake and laughter, I realized that these people have become my family as well. God has a cool way of sending just the people you need to wherever you are.

While it's great to see everyone again, I'm sad to be back in the grind of school. Again, I have grammar, composition, and conversation, and the electives of Spanish literature and religion. The mornings are spent in class, and the afternoons are free for siestas and homework. Sometimes we walk/bike to town, where there are enough small markets and cafes to keep us entertained. Other times we'll take a 30-minute train ride to Valencia when we need a big city fix (it's the third largest city in Spain).

Time is flying by, and the pressure's on to finally get this language down. Please pray that we can all focus and work hard in these next few months. Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for sending me over here. I hope to come back not only greatly improved in Spanish, but greatly improved as a person. Well, this post is just to relaunch the habit of blogging. More later. Hasta luego!