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!

Aventura Nueva: España

Everything comes later in Spain. Flights. Dinners. Jet lag. Reality. It took awhile, but it finally hit me that I’m actually in Spain, the magical European country of deeply rich history, charming people, and savory paella (which I have yet to try). I miss my family and friends, I miss Hawaii, and I miss baseball on the TV, but I have to say that this is an amazing country and I’m extremely excited to be here. ☺ I’ve only been here three days, but they’ve been packed. A bunch of us went exploring (don’t worry, Mom, we knew where we were going) and checked out the market about half an hour away.

All the kids here are fabulous. Mostly from the various Adventist colleges, they’re here to learn Spanish for all sorts of reasons, be it getting on course for a future career in the UN to finding it useful in the medical field to seeking a doctorate in order to become a professor of the language (like my roommate, who by the way is a bubbling fountain of hilarity and awesomeness). Yesterday we took our first trip to the beach. The Mediterranean is AMAZING. Gorgeous, cool, clear waters only a fifteen-minute bus ride from the college. We just cruised in the waves and sunbathed, and on an impulse I went and had a conversation with a safe-looking local (not far from our big group, Mom, don’t worry) in order to practice my Spanish and get a feel for the Spaniards. They’re pretty chill people. Though I haven’t been around much, the attitude here kind of reminds me of Hawaii. Maybe just because I went to the beach. Anyway, top off the day with gelato, and I officially love Spain.

So what about studying? Oh yeah, that’s coming. Today we had orientation and our placement tests, and tomorrow is our first day of classes. It’s also the beginning of my English drought. Besides this blog and Facebook, I’m going to try to speak nothing but Spanish here. I signed up for the required composition, conversation, and grammar classes, and my electives include the history of Spanish literature and a religion class. Seventeen credits. I know it’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to be tons of fun. It already has been. Well, I’d better be getting to sleep so that I can wake up for 7:30 breakfast and the 8:50 start of classes. Goodbye family and friends, and goodbye English. More later. God is opening so many new adventures to all of us while taking good care of us. No need for worry.

Cuando en Guatemala...

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY: probar (pro-BAHR): to try

Buenas noches, hermanos! (Greeting from anyone who takes the stage in the Guatemalan churches.) These past few days, I've gotten to delve deeper into the Guatemalan culture. We've learned most of the traditional phrases... Dios le bendiga=God bless you; for greetings and farewells. Gloria sea a Dios=Glory be to God; said after every song service/special music. Buen provecho=Bon appetit; said after each person gets up from the table after a meal. I've gotten a taste of the traditional dress... The lady who always picks us up, Ericka, had a traditional Guatemalan outfit, and she let me borrow the whole kit and caboodle: skirt, blouse, shawl, sandals. I wore it to preach one night. Sweated like pig, but it was worth it for the experience. And I've sampled a whole ton of food, sometimes with my eyes closed and nose plugged... From tamales (delicious!!) to nance (small fruit that is 60% seed, 40% yuck) to homemade platanos fritos (AMAZING!!!) to a small, strange green "fruit" that tastes like sour cardboard (found in bunches in trees; I forced a grin when they picked me a whole branch). I even drank hot chocolate. Only because of a miracle. I didn't want to refuse it, so I prayed really really hard to God that it wouldn't taste bad. Took one sip...and it actually tasted good! Watered down chocolate! Mmm! Gloria sea a Dios!

Also, I'm finding more time to hang out with church members during the week. On Sunday my adopted family took me on a "aventura secreta" (secret adventure). They said we were going underground. I thought they were joking. We always joke around. They weren't. We visited a nice park, and there it was! The gaping hole into the earth. We spent the next hour and a half exploring mind-numbing, jaw-dropping caves that ranged from cathedral-sized to half-an-Asian-sized. I didn't have enough Spanish adjectives in my vocabulary to describe the awe I felt, so I probably said "Que lindo!" at least 50 times. Then we had a picnic in the park and played futbol (our team won 10-5 and I scored five goals..I think they let me). On Wednesday I'm going to the "beach" with another family. Looking forward to developing more relationships.

As expected, there've been lots of tics here and there that I've had to get used to, but I just keep telling myself, "C'mon, Intercultural Comm major, suck it up!" And even when it's uncomfortable, I love it. There's nothing quite so beautiful as getting to know another culture. Well, I'm exhausted and I have the hiccups. Gotta go. Good night! Dios le bendiga!

Lo más importante es amor

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY: vencer (vehn-SEHR): to overcome/defeat

Hello everyone! Thank you for your prayers and wonderful words; they encourage me every day :) May God continue to bless you all!!

So...it's a roller coaster every day. It really is. My spiritual mood usually goes something like this: I get really excited in the morning when I'm preparing for the sermon, because the message is amazing and I'm thinking of creative ways to present it. Then after the sermon in the evening I feel like I'm on a spiritual low, because I feel like it might have been boring or hard to understand. But as many people have said, that's just the devil working, trying to make me feel like my efforts are in vain. We've all kind of felt like that every so often during this trip, but we keep having worships about persevering and just doing God's work, then letting Him handle the rest.

A couple of the guys made their first baptismal calls in their respective churches last night :) They called quite a few times, and no one stood up. So Danny started on the closing prayer, and when he finished, there was a man standing up in the back. Praise God! At the other church, Wally went through the calls and the prayer without any commitments. Then after the service, two young people came up to him and told him they wanted to be baptized. Double praise God! It's just another testament to the fact that we can never give up. The Holy Spirit is working in ways that we can't see.

I also take comfort in the fact that even if they don't understand my sermons, I can show them one thing that transcends all language barriers: love. If they don't quite grasp the 2300 day prophecy, I know they will at least understand a warm handshake and a hearty "Buenas noches!" If they get bored during a sermon about Revelation, I know they will at least enjoy a small gift of cookies. And they've shown me so much love. Today a church member offered to do my laundry. Another wants to take me around Flores. They may not have much, but they have love. So actually, they do have a lot.