Jesus loves me because....

I live next to a place that has THIS! Churros con chocolate :) Yum

Toro, Toro! (warning....kind of graphic)

Yesterday marked our second full week of school. We have class from Monday to Thursday, and then we usually have an activity on Friday (aka we basically go see the place(s) we talked about in History class on Thursday). 


This week we went to Madinat Al-Zahara. It was build around 900 A.D. and only lasted for about 80 years. It was a city that was built for the Caliph to live in, but it got destroyed during a civil war. All the marble floors we walked on were original. It was crazy to think about the history behind the place we were standing in. 

This used to be the outside wall surrounding the city

Right after the field trip, we went to a bull fight. I know, right?? How Spanish. A group of us girls took a bus to a little pueblo nearby called Pozoblanco to watch the festivities that afternoon. It was....interesting.

 Definitely nothing I had ever seen before...and I'm not sure I would be down to see one ever again...but I am glad that I went this one time. Initially, we were all HORRIFIED at how it worked. A bull runs out (already wounded so that he's mad) and then a group of matadors run around and distract it. Then one matador in particular does a fancy schmancy routine of distracting the bull with a neon pink cloak thing. 

Then another guy on a (blindfolded) horse comes in with a huge spear and stabs the bull in the back. This is when we REALLY freaked out). After this, about 2 of the matadors do some more fancy schmancy footwork and then stick these decorated hooks into the bulls back. 

Then the main matador comes out again with a red cloak and a sword and "dances" with the bull before he stabs and kills it. 

The first bull was unbelievably hard to watch....and half of the girls left the ring because they couldn't handle it. The rest of us decided to stay for the rest of the show. There were 6 bulls total! After the first two bulls, I realized that I could either dwell on the fact that it was horrible, or try to understand why this was considered such an art to the Spaniards. Watching the matadors, you come to realize that their ability to do well was dependent on how clean they could perform. The first guy missed with the sword and had to stab the bull many times, while the last guy got it in one quick motion. The second guy got the trophy (the two ears of the bull) and a standing ovation for the crowd. The Spaniards don't go to see bulls die, but to see the skill and agility of the matador and his ability to predict and control the bull's movements.. (And the bulls get eaten afterwards, so it's not a waste...that made me feel a little bit better) There is a high degree of respect that comes with this tradition (though it's hard to see, especially for Americans). 

Oh but fun/sad/slightly funny fact...the last matador definitely got hit in the knee by the bull! It was crazy! One of the girls got in on tape. We got some dirty looks because we were rooting for the bull. But it was already stabbed, so it died :(

so much to do in SO little time....seriously

I have no idea where to begin. We have been kept quite busy this last week or so, and I’m sure it will either stay this way or get even more hectic. I now have over a week of school under my belt. And yes. It’s official. All of my classes are in Spanish. It’s really not as bad as it sounds. The first couple of days were a bit rough, but it has been getting easier to understand each day. I am taking 3 classes: Spanish grammar, Spanish Art History, and Spanish History/Civilization. My favorite is History/Civilization...go figure. I usually hate history classes....but this one is basically storytime every day, and I LOVE stories. All of the professors are extremely nice. They all speak limited English, but they are very willing to slow down and repeat things as needed, which I am SO grateful for. It is getting easier and easier each day to understand this language...but as soon as someone asks me a question, I still freak out a little bit inside. It is definitely much harder to speak than it is to listen. After getting a bit frustrated at what seems to be NO improvement...I was quickly reminded that I haven’t even been here for that long yet! So I cut myself some slack. 

After our first full week of school, we had our first activity. My group went to La Mezquita. This is what Córdoba is known for. It’s huge! If I understood the guide right, it is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. Which would make sense...when Spain was taken over by Islamic influence, Córdoba was its capital. Cool, huh? I had no idea either. The mosque is really unique in that it also has a cathedral inside of it. It indicates how crazy the history was as the Muslims and the Christians battled over Spain many years ago. 

La Mezquita

The red and white arches that I always use to describe the place...

After our activity, my housemate Angela and I went to Ronda. Ronda is a little town a little bit south of Córdoba. It is home to Spain’s oldest bullring, as well as many other monuments and museums and stuff. It is absolutely gorgeous. The city is separated into two sections, old and new, and the older part is on this cliff type thing separated from the newer part by a giant ravine. You have to cross a bridge to get to the other side. There are 3 bridges and the newest one was built in the 1700s, I believe. The architecture is incredible. We spent the morning exploring the House of the Moorish King.

It was a pretty sweet house...

After this, we were taking a few pictures by one of the older bridges, and this strange man comes up and starts talking to us. All of a sudden, he is gesturing like crazy, trying to get us to follow him, and telling us about Ronda, and just a bunch of other things I couldn’t understand/wasn’t paying attention too. Long story short...the reaction we usually get from telling this story is “What the HECK were you guys thinking!?!?” I have no idea. It sounds so sketchy. Part of me hates that I am automatically this skeptical about a person’s intentions...and the other part of me knows that I have to be. Two 20-ish year old girls traveling around without being fluent in the language....probably not the best idea to follow a random man. But at the end of the day, I had come to see the guy as a blessing. God was definitely looking out for his two daughters, that’s for sure. With no strings attached, the guy just wanted to show us his city that he was so proud of. We got into 5 or 6 museums or monuments for free because of him, and we got to see more of the city than we probably would have known about. It was a really fun day looking back on it, but dear Jesus, please don’t let me do it again!

In front of Puente Nuevo

Plaza de Toros

We came back on Saturday night so that we could go to church the next morning. What do you know, one of the few (if not THE one) evangelical church in Córdoba is right by my house. It was a looooooong sermon. But it was wonderful to be in that environment again, worshiping alongside people with the same heart, even if we couldn’t communicate that well. For the weekends that I’m in town, I definitely want to keep going to it! 

and so the weekend adventures begin!

We got to go to Cádiz this past weekend. It was ridiculously beautiful. Located on the southwestern coast, it is one of the oldest cities in Spain, known for its beaches and culture. I am fully aware that the last sentence sounded like a travel commercial. But really, if you ever get the chance, you should go!!!
 Here are some pictures:

You can't exactly go to Cádiz without seeing a legit Flamenco show!

me encanta siestas

Hola Todos!

Right now it is siesta time. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite times of the day. Everyone in the program is determined to bring it back to the States. (By the way... apparently the Spanish don’t actually sleep throughout the siestas. Maybe 15-20 minutes tops out of the 3-4 hours in the afternoon. But us Americanos are certainly taking advantage of that time and usually sleep through the whole thing!). It gives us some time to recuperate and get some energy for the rest of the day. Let me tell you about my week!

On Wednesday the entire city took a day of for the fiesta, aka everything shut down except for the bars and a handful of restaurants. I woke up a bit earlier and went to go explore the older part of the city with a couple of friends. The city of Córdoba is insanely beautiful. The buildings and the people alike. There were a few gypsies that walked around asking people for money. Some people from my program sounded off the warning and made sure that everyone knew to stay away/avoid them at all costs. Which is normal. The first thing I usually think when I see gypsies is, “If I don’t hold everything REAL tight and they start talking to me, they will definitely steal something!” And then you do that whole eye-aversion thing, thinking that if you’re not looking at them, they obviously can’t see you, right? You know what I’m talking about. But I had asked God to teach me how to see people the way He sees them at the beginning of my trip, and I definitely didn’t have to ask Him twice. I was quickly reminded that they are also people that are very much loved by God. I looked again at those gypsies and that second time I just saw some beautiful women. Nothing less. I hope they know how loved they are. And I hope that if I see them again, I will remember to have the attitude that Christ has been teaching me. Believe me, I will be the first to admit--these lessons are the hardest to remember (selective memory at its best) , but I guess Jesus isn’t going to let me play the ignorant card anymore. Gotta love the freedom in making conscious choices.

Back to Córdoba. The more I walked into the city, the more I fell in love with it. We saw a few monuments along the way, but my favorite part was walking along El Río Guadalquivir to El Puente Romano (the Roman Bridge) and by the famous Mezquita. The walk by the river was absolutely beautiful. It was so cool to think about how long everything had been there for. For example, El Puente Romano dates back to the Roman Córdoba era (2nd Century B.C - 1st Century A.D.) Here are some pictures:

Roman Temple Ruins

El Puente Romano

The next day was our first day of school. We had to take placement tests earlier in the week to figure out what level of Spanish we were to be in. I did well enough to take the Art History elective I needed for some GE credit at UCSD. That HAS to be a miracle because you can ask anyone here, mi espańol es bastante roto (my spanish is quite broken). It’s really hard to focus in class because it’s all in Spanish...and you DEFINITELY can’t zone out because you will miss everything the professor is saying and will never be able to put it together. Gratefully, all of the professors are very nice and patient. It’s a good thing for all parties involved that they understand that us Americans are probably going to give them blank states for at least a good month. 

Hasta que el tiempo próximo! (Until next time)

PS: just so you know, these are long just for you Mom!

Mi Familia de Córdoba (Warning: SUPER long)

The past few days have been extremely busy. All of us got to meet and move in with our families and we also took some placement tests for school. Tomorrow is a holiday....I'm not sure which one...it's just called "La Fiesta!" We officially start classes the day after that. 

I seriously can’t get over how blessed I feel with the family that I was paired with. My friend Angela and I are now “sisters” or “hermanas” as we were paired off with the same host-family. First, I am so glad to be paired with her; for those of you that don’t know, Angela and I knew each other before studying abroad through UpperRoom, a Christian club on campus. By living with her we are able to keep each other accountable throughout our time here, and pull each other up if one of us needs it. The other thing is that she absolutely insists on speaking Spanish all the time as well, so I definitely do not have an excuse to not learn! God definitely had the hand in putting us all together. Our host-family consists of Valle and Enrique (the mom and dad) and their unbelievably adorable children Lorena and Enrique (who we call Quique for short). Lorena is 5 and Quique is 2. Our first day, we were picked up at the hotel by Valle, and walked back to her house. Valle has had many students stay with her in the past, so along the way she showed us many cafes, stores, and bars we could go to. She can’t speak English, so it is a must for us to speak Spanish in her house, but since she is ridiculously kind and patient, it has been much easier to communicate than I thought it would be. She speaks slowly to us and corrects our terminology when needed (which is QUITE often, I must say), as she is determined to teach us how to speak Spanish. Oh hey...that’s exactly what I wanted! She usually stays at home with the kids while Enrique works with some type of commercial company. Unlike most of the host-moms or señoras, she has asked us many times if we would like to help her in the kitchen to learn about how to prepare Spanish meals and stuff like that. Usually, the kitchen is the señoras’ domain, and we aren’t supposed to enter unless we are invited to. Our first day, Valle taught us how to cook “tortilla de patatas,” but it wasn’t a tortilla...it was more like a frittata or an omelet with potatoes (Spencer, she is teaching me how to cook stuff here!!) and it was really good. I have been able to adjust to the Spanish diet quickly...to me, all the food has been delicious. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the Indonesian diet is FILLED with fried foods as well, so I was already used to it (Thanks Mom!!!). A few of the students are feeling sick already because they aren’t used to having these kinds of meals. I mean, we even have fried foods for breakfast; our first morning at her house, Valle made us fresh churros! (not the Disneyland kind, but the legit kind that you get when you come back to the border in Mexico...SO yummy). 

The kids have also been very fun. We watched Dora the Explorer with Lorena (by the way, in Spain, Dora teaches English to her viewers instead of Spanish. Instead of singing “Backpack, backpack..” and saying “Hola! Me llamo Dora!” she sings “ Mochila, mochila...”   and “Hi! My name is Dora!” haha! It’s really cute). With Quique, it’s a little more difficult, because he is just beginning to talk. You know how hard it is to understand small children? And to figure out the code of what they’re saying or asking for? Yeah, well it’s like that...but in Spanish. I’ve figured out that “qui!” means “aqui” (here), “tetete” means “sientete” (sit here) and “cheche” means “leche” (milk) and “nena” is “Lorena.” But he is really stinkin’ cute. 

This is Lorena

This is Quique. He squashed the doll's head. Pobrecito!!

PS: I had to buy a beer to use the internet to post this and check email and stuff...IT'S SO GROSS. 

SUCCESS

After a day of exploring, this is the end! PTL for gelato.

bienvenido a España!

I am here! Safe and sound. After a total of about 19 hours of traveling, I arrived at Hotel Selu in Córdoba. It was a long journey, but an easy one (including the smoothest plane landing ever into Madrid), for which I was so grateful for. I arrived a day before orientation. Later today, I will meet everyone in my program, and tomorrow we will be meeting our host families. After taking some placement tests, we will all begin classes on Thursday. Oh, by the way....all of my classes are in Spanish. I know right!? My abilities to speak this language are fairly close to non existent....if you don’t believe me, the people that I had to talk to along the way would probably confirm that statement enthusiastically haha. I really am looking forward to learning Spanish though. (Also, according to SOME people, I’m not allowed to come back unless I am fluent....right Taylor?)

Since I am here early, I’ve had some time to do some exploring by myself. It is still tripping me out that I’m in Spain, but from the little bit that I have seen, I know I’m just going to love it more and more each day. As I’m on my own, I have just been people watching like crazy. My first dinner here was on a Saturday night, so there were lots of couples out. If you’ve ever watched the movie Date Night, you know that Tina Fey and Steve Carrell played a game where they would make up stories about each couple. That movie was fresh in my mind since I watched it on the plane, so I DEFinitely did the same thing. It’s funny to see how people interact in various cultures, both in similarities and in differences. But as much fun and rejuvenating it is to be alone sometimes, I am really looking forward to the rest of the group being here. It is really strange to travel on my own, but even so, 

God’s faithfulness has been so present. Even in the tiniest of details, it is so clear that He has been right next to me the entire way. I am confident that it will stay that way. It kinda has to...without Him, I’d be screwed. 

For tomorrow. Next prayer request. Dear Jesus, please help me find a gelato shop!!!

I am bad at goodbyes. And titles.

The time has finally come! Since I can’t take everyone in my life with me to Spain, I decided to make this blog so that you can join in on the adventures. Also, because my mother asked me to...I think she just wants to know that I am alive, healthy, normal...you know, the works. She told me that she’s always going to be checking up on me until the day I die, even if I leave the country...so I figure I’d just accept it. (HI MOM!) 

Well, I am all packed (for real) and I’ve got a passport with my face on it in one hand and the boarding pass in the other. Bright and early tomorrow morning is the day. It is absolutely unreal. To be honest, I don’t think it will hit me that I am going to be in the lovely city of Córdoba until I return home. But that’s alright, it’s just going to add on to the fun of it all. 

I have enjoyed relaxing these last few weeks in Huntington Beach, and I am so grateful for the time I was given to reconnect with old friends and family before leaving. And just so you know, one of THE most amazing church families can be found at Hope Chapel Huntington Beach. They are all so wonderful and each person there is an absolute blessing to me. After some amazing send-off prayers, I know that I am most definitely ready to go. (Can’t really leave without those!) I am crazy excited for what is to come and for the lessons I am sure to learn. This past school year, I entered in with expectations for specific things I was so sure that God was going to teach me. And He blew me out of the water with something completely different. (What else is new.) As I’ve told some people already, this time, I figure that I’d do my best to let Him do His thing without me getting in the way. (Not that I’d be able to stop Him or anything...) I’ve decided to be expectant of something great, but to let God choose what that something great is going to be. I will leave it at that for now. Here I go!