After some down time yesterday, I went out walking after night fell and the town was gorgeous! I walked down to the Praca do Comercio and out to the water which was cool to see. Then treated myself to a chocolate waffle and apparently then walked around for the next 30 minutes with a spot of chocolate on my chin... fantastic. I headed up from our hostel and got to Rossio Square and found the train station that looks like a palace! Right next door is a local restaurant that I think we are going to try tonight and coming back I passed the elevator that the apprentice of Eiffel constructed - doing that tomorrow night I think! Last night we had dinner in the hostel - Portuguese tapas if you will called Peticos. There were olives, bread and butter, cheese and the hostelman roasted chorizo on a clay pig burner thing - he sprayed oil on it and then lit it up with a match! It was cute and I kind of want one. Apparently the Portuguese flavor things with ham - not too veggie friendly.
The pesticos time was a great time, good atmosphere and we met tons of people! Lots of people are studying abroad while some peeps are traveling the world! Crazy cool. I tried to stay up to go out but crashed and headed to bed. Tonight we are going to try to find some fado, Portuguese music/singing spots!
Today we headed to the Belem area and saw some really cool things!! In that area is the Jeronimos Monastery, Discoveries Monument, Belem Tower, Maritime Museum and the National Coach Musuem. It was all pretty cool to see but I just loved the Discoveries Monument! Right behind it you can see the big monument of Jesus looking out over Lisbon / just like the one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Also in that direction is the bridge that is identical to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran. Oh and I just saw this passing by on the bus but the monument for the fallen soldier is gorgeous. A flame is constantly going and the water is so blue - I'll put a picture below!



Something that was on my mind for a bit today. Top 3 sweetest things to see: 3 a cute puppy, 2 a dad playing with his kids, 1 an old man (over 60 years old) reaching for his wife's hand as they walk down the street. I don't think I even saw that happen today but I was thinking about it and how amazing is it to see such a sweet action! To see someone reach out and grab hold of someone they have probably been around for decades upon decades and they have yet to tire of them! It's like he would refuse to walk down the street if he could not walk down it holding her hand. Precious. Made me think more about the whole commitment that is marriage. What is it that you want in a mate? If I get married in the future, my husband is going to be the one comforting me when something happens to those I love. He is going to be the father of my kids and I want him leading them in a way that shows them the Lord is good and that we LOVE the Lord. He'll be the one I travel with, the one whose hand I hold... the hand I'll want to hold when I'm 60 and the hand I'll want reaching for mine in return. Marriage is long-term. It's cool to think about it as deep of a connection as it is even if I may not fully comprehend the bond until I'm in it. Something incredible, as well as incredibly difficult, to look forward to :)

Enough rambling... and Pirates 3 is on tv sooooo peace out!

Weekend Away

Greetings from Portugal! I am currently sitting in the SWEET Traveler's Hostel in Lisbon, Portugal typing on a Mac computer... crazy! This weekend is Andalucia Day in Roquetas and La Mojonera so schools are closed Thursday-Monday. Sarah and I took an overnight bus from Almeria to Madrid last night and flew from Madrid to Lisbon this morning. I'm starting to crash from being tired but I got to catch the sunrise at the airport and it was a fun little moment :) The flight was great and we made it to the hostel by 10 am. We caught the end of breakfast so had scrambled eggs and toast - seriously this hostel rocks! Then we met up with Jeanne and met a nice guy from Cameroon named Rudy. We all headed out to see the Se Cathedral and Castelo Sao Jorge! It was a good first little bit of sightseeing and then we finally found our way to Bonjardim and dined on some great rotisserie chicken and fries!
Here is the really cool part. For the past week I have been praying for God to teach me to be more compassionate, to show me ways to reach out to strangers and show them compassion. This guy Rudy who arrived in Lisbon this morning at 5am and is flying out tomorrow morning is the answer to that prayer! All day long he stopped and chatted with people, took photos with people, made an effort to "brighten someone's day and get my day brightened by them." It was truly a beautiful thing to watch. And how simple it seemed! Once you get past the ridiculous awkwardness that only exists in yourself, you will find that people are yearning for contact with other people. Nothing is so special as randomly meeting someone and sharing a beautiful moment together. Not only did Rudy teach me that, but he also picked up our lunch tab which was incredibly sweet and unnecessary. He wanted to thank us for allowing him to tag along, but I assure you it is me who is grateful he did. Blessings from Portugal!

First Sunrise

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday aka the start of Lent! Yes, I love Lent. While my childhood seasons were more along the lines of suffering 40ish days without chocolate or soda (pop for any northerners and coke for any atlantonians), I have really begun to enjoy the "add-on" concept for Lent. To me, this season is all about preparing my heart and getting my mind around the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on Good Friday. So while I still enjoy the challenge of giving something us and the "sacrifice" of no movies or no sweets, these days I get more excited about the things I am adding to my life for the next few weeks that will have me thinking and relishing in the Lord!
This year that involves watching at least 2 sunrises a week and writing on this thing every day. When I started this blog, my goal was to have it be my journal of my time here in Spain. I am not a good journaler in general and there was no way I was going to be writing in one every day about who I met or what I learned every day. Enter the blog. Big things I wanted to make sure I would remember and be able to share my experiences with my family and friends when I get home.
However, I do feel like I can learn a lot about myself and how I see God moving in and around me every day by writing a few thoughts down here. So welcome to Lent everybody (no one reads this blog)!

First sunrise - 7:45 a.m. Roquetas de Mar
I got up around 7:25 and headed outside. It was pretty windy but thankfully the sunrise is right smack in the middle of my view of the sea so I got to use the big "no one knows why this building is here" building as a wind shield. I see a few birds, back for the spring!, and a dog barks but no one out and about as of yet. 7:35 rolls around and some people exercising start to pass me. Only 4 in the end. The sky is getting lighter but I still can't determine where exactly the sun is going to rise or if clouds will block it completely. Then I start to see a break of pink right in front of me. No where else on the horizon is there pink so I'm betting this is where the sun will rise! And then, like I would never have been able to imagine, a bright streak of orange breaks across the sea and bursts into the sky. The sun slowly makes its way further into the sky and a boat on the horizon looks miniscule compared to the big, orange ball. Truly beautiful. A real WOW moment for sure. The first man who passed me earlier starts to walk back and recognizes that I wasn't a creeper but had been waiting to see the sunrise - ha! In only a matter of minutes the sun has broken free of the horizon and is pushing higher and higher. I really wonder how if that only took minutes, how in the world does the sun stay in the sky for so many hours each day.
A beautiful sight. Definitely glad this will be happening farely regularly in the next few weeks :)

watch the view
breathe in deep
awaken while the world's asleep
dispel the dark
usher in the light
with just one ray - there goes the night!

Carnaval

What a week! The past two weeks have been celebrations of Carnaval (although I didn't notice anything of the sort until Saturday night). Carnaval is like Mardi Gras but with less flashing and a longer period of time. On Saturday, there was a free music event in the auditorium in Roquetas that Sarah and I went to for a few hours. It was a competition for the best parody act (I think). There were 19 groups who each got about 25-30 minutes for their sets (yea it lasted until 5am I heard). The first group was fantastic! It was a group of about 18 guys, half of them dressed as new-age robots called the Pepito 2000.

It was a parody about marriage as the Pepitos were ordered as "perfect husbands." Other groups were: a group of women from the "street," a group of priests who "love Jesus but drink a little," and two guys parodying the government and Zapaterius (Roman name for President Zapatero). They were great! Then we headed to the best tapas restaurant I have been to yet!
This past Monday our school went on another field trip to a park about an hour away. I had no idea what to expect from it, but I knew 3 year olds were going and we would have them for 7 hours without nappage. Ha. But it was a WONDERFUL day. In true Spanish fashion, we pretty much turned the kids loose in this huge park and had a teacher barbecue! It was tons of fun! The kids started soccer games, played some strange game involving kicking a bottle, we went on hikes, etc. The pork we cooked was delicious too. MMM. So a great day, a great way to kick off the week of no school at school.
Tuesday I was at the high school for half the day where I helped lead a Pub Quiz for the English Department. There were two versions with a bunch of questions about Britain and the Jonas Brothers. The kids had a great time I think, probably because they got free Pepsi and Fanta. The French department was making crepes and they were delicious! Around 1, I headed back to the colegio and helped some mothers make migas!
Migas = flour dumped in a pan of water and oil and you stir, stir, stir until the fried flour is in crumbles. Don't know how the mothers made 7 batches of it because I could not do even one. But they tasted great and it was a beautiful day to get to eat outside with 100 people!
And then we get to today. GREAT DAY! Today was like Halloween in America (because Halloween in Spain is just scary). The kids came to school dressed as all sorts of things (dalmatians, knights, queens, superman, geishas, goblins, boys dressed as women, hippies, etc.). And so did the teachers (Cruella DeVille, a Native American, cowboys, a tuna - troubadour type musician, a Sultan)! All day long we took pics and sang songs and the kids ripped into piñatas with their bare hands. It was such a fun day and a great finale to Carnaval week :) Here are some pics: enjoy!

A Real Snow Day!

I remember when I first started working back in October that our school would be taking a trip up into the mountains come January or February. Obviously we were excited to be getting a free trip to the mountains, but I totally ended up underestimating the fun of the field trip!
Last Monday we met at school at 7am and got on a bus with the three oldest grades and headed for Granada. It was a pretty warm morning but ended up being a ridiculously warm day!! We got to Granada and a tour guide jumped on the bus and we made our way up the winding mountainous road. About 30 minutes later we spot a tiny little mountain town in the middle of snowy peaks - beautiful!! The mountains are the Sierra Nevadas and I'm pretty sure that's the name of the town too. We kept heading up until we reached the sledding hill!! The whole purpose of the trip is to let the kids see and experience snow since it NEVER snows in Almeria/the La Mojonera area.
So we paired up and went sledding for about 45 minutes! The kids were so cute and so happy to be out playing in snow! It was clear to see that I was ecstatic to be sledding as well. Nothing like the Bent Tree hill but it was fun to have to maneuver your way through crowds of people not paying attention haha After sledding we went to a high altitude sports training facility! They have a soccer field (covered in snow), swimming pool, lots of basketball/handball courts, a practice sprinting track and then a pole vaulting area. It was ridiculous. No sightings of Michael Phelps or Fernando Torres sadly. I almost went to ask the secretary woman if people of that caliber would be showing up any time soon but resisted.
Next we headed into the cute ski town and ate lunch! It was such a cute little town with a delicious bakery! Why we decided to eat before heading back down the mountain is beyond me though. About 5 minutes into the ride down the winding mountainous road, the barfing began. SO GROSS. Poor little kids who couldn't help themselves. Apart from the smell it was a beautiful, scenic ride down with a lake straight up in the middle of the mountains. Thankfully we made it back to level ground and the kids started feeling better!
Our next stop was downtown Granada to go ice skating! How I have missed ice skating! A new mission for when I return home is to learn how to ice skate like a hockey player - lots of fast skating, quick turning, backwards... no twirling or jumping like formal ice skating if you will. I would surely injure myself from that.
The kids were hilarious at ice skating! One little girl fell just about every 20 seconds but she had the biggest smile on her face every time she hit the ice. The teachers got out there as well and were pulling kids up and helping them stand and skate - it was a fantastic trip! Funny thing about Spanish ice skating rinks - they make you put plastic bags over your socks before you step into your skate. Also, the ice skates were rollerblade style with buckles instead of laces. I liked that style - maybe NC has just not gotten up to speed with the times and newer ice skates. Highly possible.
Then we came back to La Mojonera. Some good flicks were showed on the bus and the kids now think Stephen has 7 wives and I have a husband named Max. And tomorrow we are taking another field trip to begin the festival week!! Can't wait!

Discipline

God was definitely in discipline mode today and I'm so thankful He was. Here's the scene: I went to Almeria this morning to get a credential for the Camino de Santiago. I finished up around the Cathedral area and was craving some McDonald's fries. When I reached McDonald's, there was a homeless man at one set of doors asking for change and feeding some pigeons. I used the other set of doors and went in, ordered my fries and sat down to read "The Irresistible Revolution" - a book about Christians LOVING the people of this world. I'm sitting in my chair facing the doors where the homeless man is and a guy who just put in an order comes walking by me, heading towards the front doors. He's got a cheeseburger in his hand, he opens the door and gives it to the homeless man. He comes back inside and sits and eats his food.

Wow.

Talk about showing love. The realization came to me... that notion had never even crossed my mind. How sad is that? Feed the hungry. I had walked right past this man and probably even thought "oh good there is another set of doors so I don't have to politely refuse to give him some money." And I am sitting there reading a book about Christians breaking away from the posh, political side of church to get out and actually meet and affect people. I am thinking "yea, I love people... I rock" and then PUNCH right to the heart. What a simple action that absolutely made that man's day and made him feel LOVED.

God, THANK YOU for continuing to show me ways to love You and Your children. THANK YOU for calling me out. You are so good.