Real Life- The Good and the Bad.

Hello Blog World! I promised multiple people I would keep up with my blog and I am slacking! But Happy Dia de La Mujer! Yea, that’s right-IT’s WOMEN’S DAY! (Ok, I wrote that on Friday, and today is Tuesday-But I still wanted the blog world to know that Spain had a Women’s day! My grammar teacher even wrote on the board: “Dia de la Mujer! Felicidades, Chicas!” haha)

Well, so much to tell and so little time!

Joys/Highlights:

*Pakistani Restaurant with our Japanese friends* 

We've been good class friends for a month or so with some Japanese girls, but last weekend we thought it’d be fun to hang out with them outside of class. So we met at the central market and we took them to our favorite Pakistani restaurant.

Yes, Americans and Japanese in a Pakistani restaurant…in Spain! Talk about culture overload! And the whole dinner we talked in Spanish. Because their first language is Japanese, ours is English, so the language we have in common is Spanish. I love that!! Also, this night Bethany was able to share the gospel with them because it came up in conversation! They seemed to be really receptive!! Praying for them!

*Beach with Japanese friends*

One of the best parts of Alicante is living on a beach! So, Fridays we usually pack our lunch and head straight to the beach after classes. I know my life is rough!

*Les fonts de I’Algar*

We took a day-trip to these beautiful waterfalls!! I didn’t realize how much I had missed the quiet of nature until we spent a very calm afternoon here.

The water was SO blue and clear!

*Cine Class*

This month I’m taking a Spanish cinema class and I LOVE IT! Great teacher and it’s super interesting!

*Bed{in a}room = Bedroom* 

Last Friday it rained, so we couldn’t go to the beach. So we rented movies from our school library and brought the "OBU bedroom" to Spain! This includes bringing Brynn’s full-sized mattress out of her room and into the living room, watching our movies, and eating! We went to the big central market before and bought fruit, cheese, and stuff for sandwiches. So it wasn’t ALL junk food! We actually watched a Spanish movie too- La Nina de tus Ojos. It was super dramatic, but I love it! I think I’m going to return to the States a foreign films fan.

The bedroom had a special visitor! Brittany and...Swanson. haha

*Ellen's Haircut*

This past week, Ellen experienced a successful Spanish haircut. During her haircut, Bethany and I read Spanish gossip magazines and discussed our opinions on the dresses of the Oscars. (in Spanish) 

And I USED THE SUBJUNCTIVE! Anyone, who knows something about Spanish, knows that that is a big deal! It was only a sentence, but I’ll take it!

*Domestic Divas de Domingo*

(my alliteration is out of control. haha)

3 words: Chicken Pesto Pasta. After church on Sunday, Ellen and I made a pesto pasta with sautéed chicken, tomatoes, and mozzarella! It was delicious if we say so ourselves! We were proud!

Before...

After! 

So blessed to have a great "piso" mate and chef!

The not so great...

Despite all these joys, sometimes I think that the study-abroad experience can be perceived as a semester-full of perfect days. However, that’s simply not true! There are days where nothing goes right. Things are not perfect here. Yes, there are bad days even in Spain. The worst days for me always seem to be connected with not communicating well. I desperately want to know Spanish. And, more times than not, I can’t catch a break. I feel like Grumpy Cat. (haha)

Despite my eyes hurting, there is a bright side. My speaking is FAR from being fluent, but my grammar is so much better. My numbers are great, I can even say 1954. (Mil, novecientos, cincuenta y cuatro.)If I had said that in class, people would have clapped, years are hard! Haha 

I’m using demonstrative pronouns like a boss. My writing is a lot better.  Directs objects make sense. And the subjunctive almost seems easy now. Yes, it is slow progress, but it is progress.

"Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do."

-Pinterest (haha)

**Shout-out to the world's best parents for the constant encouragement! 

In addition, Saturday night, I had a perspective shift on my bad days.
For those who don’t know... Spain is currently in a crisis. It’s an economic crisis and many people are unemployed. Due to the unemployment, there is an increase of homeless people on the street. And the church I am attending here, in Spain, is doing something about it! So on Saturday night, I participated in “La Ruta Solidaria.”

Here is what happens. Every Saturday night, 5 people meet at the church to assemble 20 bags of food. The packs of food include orange juice, a sandwich, a pastry, and I think a couple other things that I can’t remember. There is also hot coffee and milk prepared. After that, la ruta begins. Marcos (the head guy and youth pastor) explained what we were about to do and the “rules.” We put on our yellow fluorescent vests and began. (The vest served multiple purposes- safety in the traffic, clearly signaled we were helping, and there was a symbol on the jacket that could potentially start conversations to share our faith.) But, before we could get in the car and begin there were already 3 guys waiting outside for food. (More on this later.)

The rest of the night unfolded like this... Marcos has a predetermined route that he followed every Saturday. Throughout this route we would look in the entryway of the banks (the location of the ATMS) and see if there was anyone sleeping there. If we saw someone there… we would park the car, walk up to the glass door, knock, show them the bag of food, and they would motion for us to come in. The first question we would ask is if they wanted hot coffee. If the answer was yes, a couple of us would return to the car and prepare the coffee. Those not preparing the coffee would begin a conversation with the resident of the entryway. The typical questions were: What’s your name? How was your week? And how long have you been living on the streets? It was interesting to see that over half of the people we visited Marcos already knew by name. We continued this process for about an hour and a half or until we had passed out all 20 packs.

This experienced impacted me in multiple ways!

Be in the Moment -Do something-Relationships-Uncomfortable- Even More

Be in the Moment!

Back to the story of the 3 guys outside the church. We were already running late-typical Spanish style. But instead of saying we have to go and be somewhere. We stopped to talk with these guys and listen to their story. We stayed in the moment. 

I didn’t understand a lot of their story, but in the end we gave them each a pack of food. God’s provision was also seen in this because we only had 20 packs of food and who knew how many people we would visit that night in la ruta. But at the end of the night we returned to the church to find out we accidentaly still had one bag in the back of the car. God provides!

Do Something!

This church is doing something! They saw a need and stepped-up to help! They didn’t complain about it and wait for the government to take care of it.They did something! The food was probably equal to only one meal, but it was something!

Relationships!

We didn’t just drop the food and run. We walked into the bank entrances (met people where they were), asked their name (gave them dignity and a sense of importance), and carried a small conversation. It was the beginning of building a relationship and ultimately showing the love of Christ through meeting their physical needs first.

Uncomfortable!

These situations had the potential to be dangerous. We didn’t know these people super well and they are in a desperate situation and could have done anything. Marcos knew one of the guys had a gun. And we went by one bank and the comment was made that we were lucky tonight because the normal guy wasn’t there and he is very disagreeable. All this to say-The potential of danger didn’t shy or alter the route. It’s not about being comfortable, but being uncomfortable for the cause of Christ.

Even More!

Not only did we hand out food packs, but one guy asked if we could bring water next week. Yes, we can and we made a note of it. One guy didn’t have a blanket. Another supply for la ruta was a bag of blankets in the back of the car. So we gave this guy a blanket. 

“Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.” –I Thes. 4:1 EVEN MORE!

This was an unique experience and I am so glad I was able to experience it. I hope you can see it touched me in many ways and I hope that it is encouraging to someone else too. I wanted to share about this experience for many reasons, but also to remind myself that no matter what kind of day I’m having, my life is pretty darn good compare to some of the people I met Saturday night.
I have been blessed in uncountable ways! A sampling...The opportunity to study-abroad, food everyday for three meals, a clean place to live, wonderful friends, and an awesome and supportive family! Speaking of which-I will see them in London in only 3 DAYS!!! 3 DAYS!!
Prayers appreciated for safe travel of myself and my family this upcoming week, encouragement in the Spanish language, and for our Japanese friends to desire and know Christ!
Thanks again for reading my blog! Besos!