November 13 (well, 14) - November 19

November 14, 12:35pm

My internship in a nutshell while having kids copy things.

Alex (the emcee) and Jenny at the open mic.

I'm in my anthro class but just wanted to write in an update about yesterday and this morning.  My kids were actually silent for once in English yesterday, probably because I actually told them to copy down exactly what I put on the board.  It was wonderful!  I was almost worried though because it was so abnormal, haha. In Spanish later on (after seminar) we talked about stuff that I kind of already knew and then we practiced for the midterm, and afterward I went to the open mic where I chatted with the servers who are Irish and have accents that I find hysterical.  I sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and dedicated it to my family because I thought of when Courtney was Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz at our middle school and sung it.  I don't think anyone recorded it but it was really enjoyable to do.  I stayed super late and enjoyed chatting and spending time with people, and then decided that since today is the international strike day in Europe and nobody would be at my internship not to bother going.  It was good because I got to get some household chores done that I needed to do and such.

November 15, 8:50am

Carli and Tito at La Bella y La Bestia.

After going home and having lunch yesterday I booked it over to Puerta Real to take a stab at getting people to fill out the surveys I made for our research, but since everyone thinks I'm selling something from first-glance, they all say "tengo prisa" (I'm in a hurry).  So, I gathered four in an hour.  Today will be better!  Then I studied with Antonio for Spanish and had my Spanish class, after which I booked it over to bible study where I began to spend my last few hours with Tito and Cristy.  A group of us went for tapas after and shared jokes and tender moments, and then finally at the end Tito and Cristy said a few words and we began saying our goodbye's (or rather, see-you-later's).  I hugged the both of them for a really long time.  I didn't shed many tears at all though, similar to when I left people like Gabriel in Monteverde, perhaps because of numbness or denial, but perhaps because I had gotten over the sad part already and now just look forward to seeing them again someday, somewhere, somehow.  I pray for God to be their guide and that He would lead them and guard them on their next adventures!

Ah, and then I had a great time walking home until I realized I was locked out of the apartment because I had left my keys on my bed.  Thank God Emi heard me. <3

Some people hanging around during the general strike.

Oh, I suppose I should also mention the general strike that happened here yesterday.  I don't know if it's just a biased perception, but it seems like it's way crazier here.  People turn into animals and do things without considering long-term consequences or really the people they're affecting, it seems like.  I mean, some of us regular people need to use ATMs for various purposes, so scratching out all the screens hurts a ton of us.  I haven't added minutes onto my phone, therefore, haha.

Yes, people have every right to strike.  I support that right.  Should people strike just to strike?  No.  Or just to destroy things, or be part of a crowd, or basically just to do it to act crazy for a day?  No.  People deliberately destroying property and littering the streets and all of that shouldn't do so.  One can cause a disturbance by manifesting peacefully, not showing up to work, and so on.  End of rant.

Today I have my internship and my Spanish midterm; hopefully both go well!

November 17, 8:18am

Café Bohemia.

Oh dear, I've been slacking in journaling.  Here's for the rest of Nomveber 15 and all of November 16: I'm progressing on planning for my senior thesis and graduate student plans, slowly but surely.  It's very exciting. That evening on Thursday, then, I took the Spanish midterm finally and while writing the essay portion started out with the theme "your childhood" and out of nowhere began writing my testimony.  I realized what was happening a third of the way through and couldn't stop; it was like I was being propelled into it.  After the midterm, I went and got food with Eileen, Analí, Avery, Tara, and Jonathan, and then went with them to meet (finally) this guy Driss that everyone keeps talking about so they could turn in money for Portugal, then we went to Café Bohemia and it's super cute and kitschy.

I love persimmons!  This is a little one.  They're yummy!

Yesterday I worked alone on our Spanish group project since my group is MIA.  I also got my midterm results (happy!) and talked for an hour with Antonio.  Later I went to youth group which was sooo refreshing and full of warm fuzzies, and skyped with Courtney Smalley before that, and had an amazing walk home with Aurora and Jenny after.  Blessed.  <3

November 18, 10:15am

Yesterday after walking all the way to the Mirador de San Nicolás in Albayzín in the pouring rain with Jenny to meet up with Luismi and Angela, I got a text message saying they weren't coming, so Jenny and I meandered back and went into random little shops on our way.  When I got home I spend a wonderfully relaxing day at home doing my Spanish essay the whole time and chatting with friends.  Probably the two highlights of the day were the following:
1.  God answered a confianza for me in a huge way, several times over, and it was incredibly cool.  I don't want to get too detailed because it's kind of special and personal but just know it's awesome.

Me in the Alpujarra.

2.  My plans for graduate school are going kind of haywire but in a good way.  It feels like they're starting to get lined up the way God wants them to be and stuff.  It's a little scary but so cool.

I feel like little by little I'm being more humbled, too, and that my heart is being conditioned and prepared not only for the here and now but also for what is to come down the line.  So cool!

11:27pm

Chocolate-tasting.

We spent nearly all day today in the Alpujarra.  On the way there I got very carsick for the first time in my life (even though the boat to Morocco was pretty bad) because the curves and changes in altitude and the speed we took them at were worse than driving from La Fortuna to Monteverde in Costa Rica (Abby and Ryan know what I mean).  Once we got there, we hiked all over the place and it eventually stopped raining.  It was fun being in a cloud again like in Monteverde.  Afterward, we had lunch and went and tasted tons of free chocolate samples at the chocolate factory.  The whole thing reminded me of Monteverde in a way, but the Spain version.  From the mini-economy to the businesses to the preserves, it seems like it's a cute get-away from city life and it was super refreshing.  I slept (ish) on the way back and then did sound today at the church since we actually arrived relatively quickly.  It was wonderful being able to see people again and I liked having the opportunity to serve and get to see Simón actually take a break from drumming and tech for once so he could rest and be filled with what he could gain from the service.

November 19, 10:32

Everyone was quite tired all day today from all the wonderful hiking we did yesterday, but it's all good.  After my internship and anthro class, the LFC people and a couple of other people had our mock interviews in Spanish to practice for future job interviews.  After that, I went out and actually had fun getting surveys done for my Spanish project, and even got to try out a segway because of the rapport I built up with the segway guys from during the surveys with them.  I also met a guy who didn't know how to write and I had to dictate the whole survey to him.  After that I altered my class registration, received an email confirming that my interim period after I graduate will be spent getting professional experience (hopefully in Monteverde!), and chatted with many friends online.  In Spanish class I learned about possible rule-bending that one can do with the subjunctive form (which doesn't exist in English) and basically chatted about our project with my group members before heading home.  Now here I am, just thinking how incredibly blessed I am in general and how great God is.