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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Another day, another dollar... I mean euro.

We had another long and tiring day in Barcelona, but I'm liking this city more and more!

We started the day trying to figure out the metro system. I think it's going to be easy to figure out, but we had to walk a LONG way underground to find the platform we needed. Not only was it really strange being underground, it. was. so. hot. We definitely started the day with the stench of body funk. But it seems clean enough, so I'll probably use it over the next few months.

After figuring out the metro system, we climbed the stairway to heaven.

Ok, it was only the stairs to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, but after climbing that many stairs I was ready for a stairway to heaven.

The museum was beautiful and amazing! They hold many cultural events there, so hopefully I'll be back often. Plus, the view of the city is beyond wonderful. This museum isn't one of the biggest, and the main draw is the old gorgeous building that it's housed in. It held works mostly from the lesser known local artists, but there were several Picasso pieces. We only had time for a few exhibits, so I'll try to spend a Saturday there soon to finish up the rest.

After the museum we headed to El Poble Espanyol. This was built in 1929 for the International Exhibition (maybe the World's Fair?). Within this walled village you can find all kinds of handcrafted items and restaurants. Ceramics, textiles, food, guitars, leather goods... you name it and you may can find it. Plus it's got tons of neat cobbled streets and architectural details. We came away with some embroidered items, a few ceramic items, and gelato. Yum!

Then, we made our way back to the harbor to find paella. This was my first real experience with paella, and I LOVED IT! Mom and I shared paella with lobster and I stuffed myself full. Very very full. After a long walk down La Ramblas we ended up back at the apartment and have been sitting on the couch since then.

I'm really tired, and I'm very sorry about the lack of details and pictures. But I will leave you with a few more observations.

1. Spanish men are more attractive than Spanish women, but Spanish women are very graceful.
2. However, Spanish women are not very modest... at all.
3. The longer I stay in this city, the more germophobic I will become. I went through a bottle of Purell today.
4. Public toilets have more "sucking power" than private toilets.
5. It didn't take me long to learn how to crack a lobster claw.
6. You can spot an American from a mile away. We're awkward in foreign cultures.

Friday, August 29, 2008

A picture is worth a thousand words...

...and I've taken almost a thousand pictures. That's a LOT of words. The words will definitely outweigh the pictures in this post because it's too late and it takes too long to upload pictures on here. I'll try to upload more when I get little breaks during the day.

I guess I should start describing this trip from the beginning.

Our flight was scheduled to leave Mobile at 5 PM Monday afternoon. However, Fay had other plans and we were put on another plane for the next day. We were a little bummed out, but everything turned okay. We arrived in Barcelona around lunchtime on Wednesday. The flight was very very long. Very. And I had to use an airplane bathroom for the first time. It was horrific. I thought that I or my shirt might get sucked into the deep innards of the plane. This is gross, but I was so scared that I didn't even wash my hands. I ran out and then bathed in Purell. Silly, but it really had an effect on me. However, I sat beside a family with 3 young children (3,2, and 9 months-brave souls!) and before we got off the mom had given me her telephone number in case I needed anything and lots of tips about living in Barcelona. She was so so nice and gave me a very good first impression about the Spanish citizens.

Honestly, I'm not very sure what we did on Wednesday afternoon. I know we checked into our apartment and ate some tapas, but I can't remember much else. I would ask, but everyone else is asleep. Speaking of our apartment, it is awesome! I really hope that my next apartment here in Barcelona will be half as good. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.
This is our super sweet back porch/terrace/patio thing. You can't see it in this picture, but their are tall apartment buildings on each side of it. Thus, when we look up we see lots of underwear hanging out to dry. If we look to our right we can see the famous "Johnny Cash flipping off Folsom" picture.

This is the picture of the living room leading to the kitchen. And Grandmomma organizing her purse, or something.

I like the apartment a lot. And it's about 2 blocks from the busiest part of the city, Plaça Catalunya. It really would be okay if KEI called and said, "Surprise! You get to stay here until December!"

We (Mom, Dad, and I) slept until 11:30 yesterday morning! None of us really slept on the plane, and we were all worn out! We did a little of the tour (picture of map below) and just ate. That was it!

Today we got up and did more of the tour. Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia. WHOA!!! It's so crazy that Gaudí worked on that for the 40 years leading up to his death in 1927, and it won't be finished in our lifetime. That's intense. (There's a picture from the front facade below- it's Jesus). Then we spent some time at Gaudí's Park Güell (the picture of the city).

Before leaving you with a little more eye candy, I'm going to give you a few of my first impressions.
1. The city is very very clean. The population is abundant (especially around the harbor and Plaça Catalunya) but the trash is not. Once you get out of the main areas, the streets are filled with quaint shops and cafes and lined with trees. It's very picturesque. There's not even any noise pollution! People don't yell, honk their horns, or drive super loud cars here. I'm not sure why, but I like it!
2. The food is good, y'all! I have to admit that I haven't had much of an appetite since we've been here, but the little I've eaten was soooo good. I had the best sandwich today. Bread, tomato, bacon, and cheese. And it was unlike any bread, tomato, bacon, and cheese sandwich you will ever eat... unless you visit the Alaska Restaurant in Barcelona. We're still not sure why it's named "Alaska Restaurant." Isn't that an Indian word?
3. Barcelona Bus Turístic is awesome! There is an abundance of hop on/hop off bus tours in cities, but this one is worth remembering. The buses (busses?) are so clean and there is one at each stop every 5 minutes if not sooner. With 3 different lines for 3 different parts of the city, I would recommend this for anyone wanting to be quickly acclimated to Barcelona. And, it uses headphones with recorded information in at least 8 languages.
4. People like to show their panties. Maybe I'm just behind the times, but girls like to wear very thin dresses and panties in a contrasting color. If they're not wearing that, they're wearing pants that reveal the elastic on their panties. I'm fairly certain this look should be left to male rap stars.
5. Toilets in Europe are intense. I didn't remember the vortex-like suction that these things have until my first flush! I now push the button and back up against the wall. It's almost as bad as the airplane toilet.

I think that's enough for right now... and I'm ready to get some sleep. Have fun with these pictures! I'm sorry I haven't edited them yet... The ones I haven't mentioned are Dad in front of La Pedrera and a picture of the Mediterranean. Yes, it really is that beautiful!





Sunday, August 24, 2008

This time I'm really leaving.

Tonight is my last night in Alabama until December 19! The process to make this study abroad trip happen took so long, and it seems like we've been planning for years. I wondered if the day would ever come, but it's only a few minutes away. I can't write a long post (international travelers need their rest), but I just wanted to mention again a few matters for prayer.

1. My new roomies- I'll be living with these people for almost 4 months. Please pray that we would build friendships and become like a family while we're in Spain. At least for a while, each other is all we'll have!

2. A church- I've been in contact with some missionaries that live in Barcelona, and they have started a church outside the city. I'm supposed to meet with them once I get settled in. They say that there aren't many good evangelical churches in Barcelona to start with, much less English-speaking ones. While it would be awesome to find a good English-speaking church, I'm thinking that I might be attending a church with services in Catalan. Basically that means I'll be learning very quickly, or I'll just be talking to a lot of people after services to figure out what was going on. I say it's a win-win situation no matter what! Finding a church (and hopefully friends there) is very important to me, so please pray for that.

3. Homesickness- Today Lu called and I cried. I'm already getting really sad about leaving my family and friends here. It's weird because I'm usually not one to get homesick unless I am physically sick. I know I'll gain so much by being in Spain, but I just wish I could take everyone with me! I know that this is what I'm supposed to be doing, and I'm praying that I will be reminded that lasting peace/comfort/etc. can only be given by the Lord.

I hope all is well with everyone. The next post really will be from Barcelona!

P.S. Please leave me comments to help out with #3 a little. :)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Forgiveness

I heard Don Henley in my head as I typed that title. "I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter, but my flesh gets weak. My thoughts seem to scatter, but I think it's about forgiveness, forgiveness..."

Sometimes it is easy for me to forgive. There are people in my life that I sincerely love (and like) and want to maintain a close loving relationship with, and it is easy for me to forgive those people. I usually realize very quickly that their presence in my life is much too important for me to push them away by not forgiving them. Then there are people that, honestly, are hard to even like...people that I don't get along with. Typically I just think these people are ridiculous. I don't understand them, and they probably don't understand me. My bad attitude takes over 89% of the time, and it shows when something happens.

When someone hurts me, my family, or any of the previously sincerely loved people I get mad. Very mad. Then like Don Henley says "my flesh gets weak. My thoughts seem to scatter..." I'm definitely not trying to take a lesson from Don Henley, but that song is now in my head. I overthink many situations, and it leads to worry and anxiety. Before I know it, I will have created a scenario in my head that may or may not happen, but I'm already reacting as if it will. That's been a struggle of mine for quite a while, and if I'm not careful I'll go off on a tangent and completely forget the point of this post.

Ok. Forgiveness.

The Bible speaks a lot about forgiveness.

Following the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

In Matthew 18 Jesus uses the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant to explain forgiveness and tell us to forgive "seventy times seven."

Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven"

The list goes on and on and on.

Maybe it's just me, but forgiveness is easy to understand in theory, but in certain situations with certain people, it is nothing but... a pain. Forgiving someone can be such a blessing. Forgiving someone creates the opportunity for us to become more like our creator and learn more about him. However, because of our very sinful nature forgiveness is counterintuitive. I think we can all agree that it's easier to just hold a grudge, at least in the short term. I also think my personality lends itself to grudge holding.

So, I have a few questions that I would really like answered. I'm not necessarily looking for the right answer. I just want to know what people think about this. How do others react? What can I learn from them? Here are my questions:

-What are practical things to do in order to forgive someone? (It's always good to have a reminder of the basics!)
-How do you forgive someone while still dealing with the hurt of the offense?
-While dealing with the hurt and trying to forgive, how do you take thoughts captive and lay them down before the Lord in order to forgive someone?
-Is it okay to forgive someone and then separate yourself from them? What if it is someone who repeatedly offends you?

I'm anxious to hear others' thoughts.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

I'm going to Spain!

...well, not yet.

In 11 days I will pack up several very large suitcases, pay extra fees for weight to have them put on the plane, and start my 117 days journey in Europe. I don't know if I'm really prepared to spend 4 months in Europe. I am terrified. I've never done anything like this on my own. I feel like working at Pine Cove last summer helped me prepare for this in some ways. I started that not knowing anyone there and not having a clue as to what I was supposed to be doing. Horses + Caroline = VERY scary. But I lived through it and actually had an excellent time. God provided so much during those 7 weeks. However, even going into that was a little familiar. At least I was familiar with the culture. I knew that I would be working with Christians in a Christian environment. Spain will be so different. Luckily my parents, grandmother, and I will be there 10 days before the program starts, and I'll have some time to get used to Barcelona. I have to keep telling myself that God will provide everything I need just like he did for me in Texas.

If you feel so inclined, I ask that you join me in praying for a few things:
1) Church. I've been looking around on the internet with little luck for a church to attend while I'm there. It's my hope that I can find one and have some sort of Christian community in Spain. Barcelona is a very large city, so hopefully I will have some luck when I get there.
2) Roommates. I haven't spoken to anyone that I will be studying with. Spain has a reputation for being the country to study abroad in for the purpose of partying. I'm not strictly against it, but I don't necessarily want to be surrounded by it all the time. That would be a LOT easier if I lived with at least one person with the same mindset as me.
3) Attitude. As the time to leave draws closer, I keep getting more and more sad. I know it's going to be such a good experience, but I am so sad about what I will miss here. Just know that I will probably check the internet all day long on the first gameday (and 2nd, 3rd, 4th...), I will be looking at old pictures of Hayride Hoedown in October, and will definitely cry anytime someone puts up pictures of something fun on Facebook. And there's a certain person that I will miss constantly. I really don't want my attitude to ruin the experience I could have in Barcelona.

That's all for now. My next post may or may not be from Spain!!!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

I should be studying...

...but instead I wanted to share this with you. You'll probably recognize this ditty as made popular by Chris Tomlin.



How cool is it that a group of young people in Romania is worshipping the same God that we worship, and with a song that we use so often?! Often I get so caught up in myself and (un)intentionally have the mindset that all Christians are like me and should respond to God in the same way that I do. This video was a great reminder that God is much bigger than me, more concerned about places other than America, and his kingdom is much bigger than anything we can hope or imagine. I'm so thankful for unity in diversity.

Now for a familiar passage from Romans 12.
"(3) For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (4) For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, (5) so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."