¡Viva España!

Home again!

2008-06-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Well I'm finally back home in the US of A! I've been here for nearly a month now, and it's great to be back. It's been an adjustment to be "normal" again, but altogether I feel like I "fit" just fine here. Thank you for looking at my blog this semester! It's been fun to post pictures and tell my stories.

Our RUF group on the beach at Summer Conference

Holding my friend Amy's precious baby Emmie

Playing games! (Or "housesitting," as some people call it...)

Beautiful Tech friends I missed so much!

Ronda

2008-04-28T03:10:00.000-07:00

Blake, Michelle, Zach and I took a day trip to a pretty little town called Ronda. It's on top of a deep ravine, so there are lots of interesting bridges and waterfalls. Also most of the buildings are white stucco, so the city itself is beautiful. We had a great day!

This trip was our last... we finish class this week!!

Some of the white buildings with the beautiful view

Mi casa

2008-04-15T04:03:00.000-07:00

At last some pictures of my house! Michelle and I live in an apartment on the 9th floor. We live with a Spanish family-- our dad Jose Luis, brother Oliver, and sister Diana. (I'll put pictures of our whole family up here sometime soon.)

Our beds.

Our shelves and the foot of Michelle's bed. (This is the view from the door)

The bathroom we share with our sister AND brother! I'm standing in the shower.

The kitchen

The living room

The balcony with clothes hanging to dry. There's a great view!

La Feria de Abril

2008-04-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

Sometime long ago in Sevilla they started having a horse show every spring. People would come out into the street and enjoy themselves. Today it has transformed into a week-long party that people from all over Spain and all of Europe come to celebrate! The horse history remains-- horseowners dress up in their finest and ride through the streets of Feria, either solo or in fancy carriages. Families/ groups of friends own "casetas," which are basically tents where they eat and dance the night away. They are private and have bathrooms, wood floors, bars... the whole nine yards. The "uniform" of Feria is suits with flat hats for the boys and beautiful ruffled dresses for the girls. And by boys and girls I mean everyone from age 1 to 91! There's special food and drinks, music everywhere, and beautiful lights at night. Spaniards definitely know how to party!

Me next to the grand entrance to the fairgrounds

My Spanish sister Diana in her Feria dress. Beautiful!

A carriage driver taking a descanso

A shot into one of the huge casetas

A tiny caballero with his lady!

Proud horsemen

So many people!

You could win prizes such as a guitar or other toy... or a leg of ham. :) I'm not joking-- that's Spain for you!

Friends from the last night of Feria. Can you spot the American? haha

A Tale of Two Cities...

2008-03-31T09:41:00.000-07:00

... is a really great book that I read in high school. As everyone knows, it takes place in Paris and London, both of which I've now visited! Michelle and I spent the weekend with her family in London, and it was really great. We flew in on Friday really late and left Sunday afternoon, so it was a short trip, but totally worth it. Everything was green and beautiful, but it was rainy on Saturday. But what's a weekend in the UK without a little drizzle, eh?

The famous phone booths

The Tower Bridge

The Queen's quarters at the Tower of London

Fish and chips! (With salt and vinegar, of course.) Delicious.

The London Eye

Me and Michelle in front of Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Another shot. I couldn't take enough pictures of it!

Wonderful English breakfast at the hotel

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (white building)

Picadilly Circus

I found it Melynn!

Classic double decker bus

Ooh la la!

2008-03-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here it is-- the Paris entry. It was definitely one of the best weekends EVER! We flew into Paris Orly airport on Thursday afternoon and had planned on seeing the Eiffel Tower that night but ran into some hotel problems and were happy to call it a night after those were resolved. The next morning was the Palace of Versailles, then around lunch we went to the Tower (where we spent about 2 hours just looking and taking pictures!). Afterwards, Notre Dame, dinner with a Parisian friend, the Tower again (this time at night), and finally back to the hotel. A very full day!

The next morning, Saturday, we had a great crepe breakfast then headed to the Louvre. We saw as much as we could take in, including the Mona Lisa of course, but there was still so much more! We ate lunch back at the Tower, enjoying street performers and eating more crepes for dessert. We wanted to go up the Tower and enjoy the view, but the lines were horrendous. So instead we walked a bit and experienced French culture at its best-- an outdoor "market" street called Rue Cler. We saw, smelled, and/or tasted amazing produce and lots of kinds of cheese and beautiful flowers and fresh pastries. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! After Rue Cler we went to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. Paris has so much to see! Again we went back to the hotel after dark, tired but happy. The next morning we flew out at 11am. And thus ended our French adventure.

I'll NEVER forget this trip. (It would be hard to with all the pictures and video I took!)

The chapel in the Palace of Versailles

The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

The gardens

Another part of the gardens. Look how far they go!

Crepes! This was seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten.

One of my favorites

Christmas card

The Tower sparkling!

The Louvre-- there were so many rooms!

The actual Mona Lisa. Sorry she's so small-- it was hard to get close!

Arc de Triomphe

Portuguese is NOT the same as Spanish

2008-03-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

I love Portugal. Lagos, a small ocean town that I visited a few weeks ago, and Lisbon, where we just spent a 4-day weekend, are really different but both wonderful. The drive to Lisbon was about 5 hours. We entered the city by a huge suspension bridge over the river Tajo. (There's a picture below.) Lisbon is a sprawling city right by the ocean. We visited a castle, a monastery, and a tower by the river, among other things. It also has a modern feel-- there's an enormous aquarium, lots of museums, and even a metro system! The bullring in Lisbon (which was 2 blocks from our hotel) is a good example of how the new and old coexist-- the beautiful old building has a shopping mall under it!

This trip was lots of fun for us also because we had a few tastes of home. Blake, our friend Zach Barnes, and I played lots of frisbee right in front of the bullring. Portuguese TV has a lot of American shows-- we found Grey's Anatomy, America's Next Top Model, Pushing Daisies, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and more. Our first dinner in Lisbon wasn't especially American but definitely memorable. We went to a restaurant called "Chimarrão," an all-you-can-eat meat place. They served us about 8 different types of meat off the skewer, as much as we wanted or until we exploded! Among the meats was beef, which we NEVER eat in Spain, so in that sense it was homey, for sure.

Next weekend-- Paris. Look out!

The bullring, with the mall entrance under it

Rachel, Michelle and me enjoying the grass in the cloister of the monastery. I love this picture.

The Cristo Rey, a massive statue on a cliff overlooking Lisbon. There's one a lot like it in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The view from the base of the Cristo Rey. Here's the suspension bridge-- yes, built by the same guys that designed the Golden Gate.

Trent leaning off the wall of the castle. In the distance-- more castle, Lisbon, and the river/ocean

Michelle, Vicky, Chaille, Sara, me, and Rachel

I love this game

2008-02-27T01:19:00.000-08:00

A big group of us splurged on a Sevilla soccer game and went Saturday night. It was amazing! The opposing team wasn't even "big" (we won 5-0!), but the place was still electric. There was singing and chanting and clapping... lots of spirit.

We had 4th row seats! (Sevilla is in white.)

Blake all suited out to cheer for our team!

Lance and Rachel

Huge stadium!

26.2 miles

2008-02-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

Something about Sundays… we’re always having the craziest adventures! Today was no exception. This weekend we’re in Sevilla, which hasn’t happened for a few weeks and won’t happen again for a while either. So Michelle and I got up this morning excited to go to church. Well, we had some problems. Sounding familiar? Oh yes.

We started at a little before 10 am as usual, heading out to our normal bus stop to catch bus #20. The #20 and one more bus would take us to the big bus station where we ride a “suburb” bus to Bormujos (where church is). We knew something was different when we saw the police directing traffic on our street. As we approached we asked a guy if the buses could still come through and he seemed to think so, so we waited for a while. No bus. Meanwhile we realized what all the commotion was about: a marathon! We’d seen signs about it for a few weeks but hadn’t noted the date and never thought the route would pass by our house. After a while we walked to another nearby stop on a major street, but still no buses. We even tried to call a taxi and some guy flagged it down before us. As we stood there, stuck, we watched more and more and MORE runners come down the street. This race was a BIG deal—hundreds of runners from all over the world! Finally a bus came and we got a little closer to our destination. We tried to catch our next bus but had to get off after about 30 yards because the route was blocked off again. After walking about 2 miles we found a smaller bus that took us where we needed to go and tried to relax.

Just for some perspective as to how badly our plans had failed so far: we needed to be at the bus station at 11 am to catch our “suburb” bus. (They leave on the hour.) It was 11:20 when we got on the little bus! Oops.

Ok, back to the story. We arrived at Plaza de Armas bus station at 11:45, now planning to catch the noon bus out of town. We waited around a little, then realized that everyone else had a little ticket and wasn’t paying with cash. We dashed back upstairs to the counter to buy tickets, but the lady told us they were done selling noon tickets. Crap!! As a last ditch effort we tried the lady in the next window, and she sold us the tickets we wanted! We sprinted back to the bus and yelled at the driver to wait. Sitting down on that bus was one of life’s little victories, for sure.

After that the day was smooth sailing—church (we only missed the singing!), fellowship, a delicious lunch with the Actons, and bus back home.

Loving a place for it’s lovely sights and smells is one thing, but Michelle and I have passed a threshold today. We felt as if Sevilla was doing everything possible to mess up our plans, but we love this place unconditionally. We are Sevillanas!

Lagos, Portugal

2008-02-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

Friday of this past week we had a Tech trip to Huelva, where Colombus raised support for his journey to the New World. We saw some of his original letters and went on board reconstructions of his 3 ships. After lunch we drove 2 more hours into Portugal, to the beautiful ocean town of Lagos. About 30 Tech kids stayed in Lagos for the long weekend. It was 3 1/2 days of paradise-- nobody wanted to go home to Spain! We spent our hours hanging on the beach, making music, walking around Lagos, and just having whatever adventure we found-- it was a wonderful weekend.

Rachel being a Red Raider

Me and Gabe making some music on the beach with our new hippie friend Anthony

Lance's glasses-- cool reflection

Walking with our bags. We stayed in the pink hotel in the background-- it had a beautiful view and was cheap!

The rocks made the beach different from anything I'd ever seen!

Carnival in Cádiz!

2008-02-12T01:20:00.000-08:00

About 60 of us Tech kids left in a bus at 6pm this past Saturday and rode about an hour to Cádiz, a city right on the coast that has a huge carnival every year. We all wore costumes and got ready to party! There were HUNDREDS of people all in one plaza, showing off their costumes and dancing and making noise and having a great time. We were SO tired in the morning but really glad we went.

Me and Michael

Lance and Gabe

The love of Christ is rich and free

2008-01-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

I have a rule for living here in Sevilla: don’t go out looking for anything specific. You won’t find what you’re looking for and be disappointed. Instead go out with an open mind and find what you find. Often it will be better than what you wanted in the first place! This rule proved true even in today’s church-finding adventure! I’ve been in contact with some missionaries here in Sevilla and today we went to attend church with them.

9:45 am-- Michelle and I leave our apartment
10:40 am-- Two buses and lots of walking later, we arrive at Plaza de Armas bus station and meet our friend Heather
11:00 am-- Our bus leaves from the station headed for Bormujos, a “suburb” a little ways outside of Sevilla
11:15 am--We get off the bus and start following the directions to the church that we were given
12:15 pm-- Still wandering around, calling the missionaries’ intern Darby repeatedly for help. Unfortunately we are so far away from where we need to be that she has no idea how to find us or give us directions!
12:45 pm-- Darby and Chanelle (one of the missionary wives) finally rescue us—we climb into their big red van.

I was in charge of navigating for this excursion and so I was completely frustrated and upset by now. Chanelle informed us that church had been over for a long time. Great. “We’ve come so far and tried so hard, and we MISSED IT!” But she kept driving. She invited us to eat lunch at their house. I wonder if my emphatic “Yes!” was too obvious—we were tired and hungry.

We walked into their home, a “modern” house with glass doors and tons of space. (At least by Spanish standards!) We talked to Darby and drank sweet tea while Chanelle whipped up some Thai food. Meanwhile the kids got back from Sunday school. David and Chanelle Acton have 4 kids—3 girls and a boy. The 2 Blacksten kids (a boy and a girl) were also with them; their parents Sean and Shelley were in Germany for a conference. There’s something about missionary kids—unbelieveable. These 2 families have worked together for years in Germany and now in Spain, making them incredibly close. The kids range in age from 8 to 14. They welcomed us into their “domain” and entertained our curiosity with patience—“So what was your house in Germany like?” “Was it hard to go to school here before you knew Spanish?” and such questions.

I think the most striking feature of these families is how they treat 11-year-old Christopher (the Actons’ boy), who has cerebral palsy. All of the kids included “Chrissie” when they could, always being considerate. Chanelle’s patience was incredible-- constantly cleaning up after him and getting him what he wanted, but never loving him less. “Chrissie, I love you. Please don’t yell at Mommy.” What a clear display of the unconditional love of Christ.

These new friends showed us the love of Christ so many ways in just a few hours. On the bus ride home we talked about how the day had gone so differently than planned, yet we couldn’t have planned it to be that great if we’d tried! (Michelle even noted that if we hadn't been so hopelessly lost, we might not have gotten that great lunch!) The Lord works in mysterious ways indeed.

The Love of Christ is rich and free
Fixed on His own eternally
Nor earth nor hell can it remove,
Long as He lives His own He’ll love

His loving heart engaged to be
Their everlasting surety
Twas Love that took their cause in hand
And love maintains it to the end

Love cannot from its post withdraw,
Nor death nor hell nor sin nor law
Can turn the Surety’s heart away
He’ll love His own to endless day

Love has redeemed His sheep with blood
And Love will bring them safe to God
Love calls them all from death to life
And Love will finish all their strife

He loves through every changing scene
Nor aught from Him can Zion wean
Not all the wanderings of her heart
Can make His love for her depart

At death beyond the grave He’ll love
In endless bliss His own shall prove
The blazing glory of that love
Which never could from them remove
Which never could from them remove

NO8DO

2008-01-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

Sevilla has a symbol that is used EVERYWHERE in the city-- "NO8DO". It's a play on words-- the part that looks like an 8 is actually a skein of yarn, which is "madeja" in Spanish. So when you put the "no" and "do" on both ends it sounds like "No me ha dejado"-- "You didn't leave me" or "You haven't left me." It has some historical significance that I can't remember exactly. Some prince was in a war and the Sevillanos stayed by his side the whole time. They didn't leave him. Hence the phrase.

Sorry if this is all really confusing. I just think it's cool that everyone knows what "the NoDo" is and what it means.

Bus stop

Bike rack

Sidewalk post

Wall decoration

My favorite bridge

2008-01-21T14:29:00.000-08:00

There are numerous bridges across the Guadalquivir, but I like this one best. It was designed by some guy named Eiffel. They say he also designed a tower somewhere north of here...

Tortillas y fútbol

2008-01-21T04:46:00.000-08:00

No theme this time... just some pictures!

Rachel displaying Spanish tortilla. That's right, tortillas here are not a kind of bread-- they're an omelette made with potatoes and cheese! Very yummy though.

Me in front of the Guadalquivir, the river that flows right through Sevilla

There are 2 soccer teams in Sevilla-- Sevilla Fútbol Club and Bétis. This is the entrance to Seville F C´s stadium. For perspective, those little glass things at the bottom are DOORS!

Los Amigos

2008-01-17T04:46:00.000-08:00

I have had requests from various viewers of this blog to include pictures of myself and friends, so here you go! We've only been here for a week but I've already met some great people and had many grand adventures.

Michelle, Lance (aka "Lanciepants"), and Rachel at one of our really nice meals at the hotel

Lance, Heather, Rachel, and Gabe eating toast. We found this great little café that serves big pieces of toast with butter and jam, plus cafe con leche and fresh orange juice. We've gone there every day after class so far!

Michelle, Blake, and me, again at the toast place.

Me and Michelle with our Spanish sister Diana. She's really funny and carries on very slow conversations with us during meals! We like her a lot.

Lanciepants in front of the Torre de Oro

Michelle in front of the river Guadalquivir. It's gorgeous at night! The Torre de Oro is the lighted building on the left and the Giralda (tower of the Cathedral) is in the distance on the right.

Me in the same spot

Itálica

2008-01-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

We went to some Roman ruins a few miles outside of Sevilla today. They were partially rebuilt, but larger than we had pictured and very cool!

Exciting parts of the trip:
--the hour-long trek across Sevilla to the bus station (involving much walking)
--a great view of a Roman amphitheater
--the best orange juice in the WORLD! They have juicers in all the cafes for fresh juice!
(For you Spanish students out there, they don't call juice "jugo" like you learn in school. It's "zumo.")

The pictures:
1. The tunnel where the lions came out to meet the gladiators in the arena!
2. An aerial view of the arena. The yellow clay is native to Sevilla... it doesn't get goopy when it rains. They have the same clay in the bullrings so they never have to call off bullfights for rain!
3. An arch, and some friends' backs. :)
4. A gorgeous Roman FLOOR! I can't believe they walked on this.
5. The amphitheater

Post #2

2008-01-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

We went on a walking tour of Sevilla on our first full day here and I got some great pictures!

Post #1

2008-01-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

I’ve finally arrived! The trip was long… about 17 hours… but it went fairly quickly. Michelle and I got to do such grown-up things as sprinting to departure gates (yes, more than once!), going through customs, and hailing a cab all by ourselves!

And so it begins...

2007-12-03T14:44:00.001-08:00

I know it's a little early to be creating this blog, but I'm so excited about sharing my adventures, I want to be ready!