torpe = clumsy

Tuesday night before I went to visit Carmen two weekends ago, Kelsey (my roommate) and I made cookies! It was a lot of fun. I bought some cookies and put peanut butter in the middle and then dipped them in chocolate to bring them as a gift for Carmen’s family. Carmen said her brothers friends usually bring food, and this was my best idea without having to use the oven. I loved baking and it was fun with Kelsey. Praise God for the joy I get from baking and fun time with my roommate.

It was such a blessing to visit Carmen and so good to see her. I skipped 2 classes on Thursday to make sure I was at the train station on time. I had never taken the bus in Sevilla before and was thankful I had been to the train station before because I was able to recognize buildings around it and know when I needed to get off. I read my devotional on the bus, and it was right on. It was “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26 and about how we’re never alone and the Spirit is always with us, guiding us.

Carmen and Pedro, her boyfriend, were at the train station waiting for me. I was greeted with a hug and kiss from Carmen and immediate Spanish. I was a little lost in conversation with her and Pedro because they talked so fast, but I got most of it. We took the train to Tres Cantos, a smaller town outside of Madrid where they live. We dropped Pedro off, and I got a tour of the house and met her family. Then we were off to mass. After mass, they had a service where you could pray and confess your sins to the priest. I didn’t understand much during mass because it was difficult to understand the priest with the microphone and different acoustics, but Carmen was able to explain it to me. It was nice to be able to spend time praying.

Friday morning we woke up early and went to the center of Madrid. Carmen showed me different monuments, buildings, and good places to shop. We had fun walking around and seeing all the different things. It was rainy and a little cold but not too bad. We came home and had lunch with her parents. Carmen’s dad is learning English and practiced with me while we waited for lunch. He’s pretty good and liked to ask me questions about different words too. His phrase is “little by little, step by step, slowly but surely.” It’s a good reminder for me because sometimes I can get frustrated with my Spanish. Praise God for reminders like that.

That afternoon, we went to Corte Ingles to get Carmen's computer and walked around for awhile. The store is huge! You can buy everything from groceries to shoes to wedding dresses. It's crazy. We bought Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream on the way home. Pedro came over and we shared it; what a treat! Then us 3 sat in her room talking and looking at pictures and youtube. Her mom made torrijas and made Pedro and I eat one. She said I was going back to Sevilla 4kg heavier and I probably did. We went out to dinner with her friends at Wagaboo in Madrid. It was a unique place and pretty modern. I didn't understand much of the conversation because there were 8 of them and all talking at once, or so it seemed. I got frustrated but then just stopped trying for a bit and looked around and thought about how many people probably don't know God. It made me sad to think about that, but it was a good reminder. We left the restaurant around 1am and just went home because the it was raining and cold.

Saturday, we walked around Tres Cantos and Carmen showed me where she went to school and stuff. We talked in Spanish all morning and that was so great! We went to pick up her brother from Decathlon where he works, it's a big sporting goods store like Dick's or Scheels. I really liked doing that and felt very much at home. It reminded me of something I would do with my family. We went shopping in the afternoon, and I found exactly what I wanted for souvenirs! I wanted spoons like they use here for dessert and found some with ice cream on top. They're great! I'm waiting to buy more until later. If I open my own bakery/cafe, then I will definitely want to have more. We went bowling with 5 of her friends and I loved it! I could actually talk with them and have conversation and did well too. They were so nice! We got little sandwiches after for dinner, and that was fun too.

Sunday morning we went back into Madrid to do more site seeing. It was nice to be able to walk around and talk. In the afternoon, we baked a banana and chocolate chip dessert! It was so great! I wish I were joking when I say that I want to have my own bakery/cafe because I sound kind of crazy, but I'm not kidding. I'm really praying about it. Her mom taught us how to bake torrijas and that was really fun too. I loved it! Her mom is so great. We went to mass and then stayed for this thing with other people her age in the church and her priest. We read a text and the priest explained it and then they all commented on it. After that, Carmen’s priest played the guitar and sang a song for us in English about the prodigal son. It was really neat.

On our walk back home, Carmen shared about her priest and things with the church. We got into a really good conversation that carried on until we went to bed about our relationships with God and different beliefs. We both shared what God was doing in our lives and I was able to ask her about her Catholic faith. Pray that God would provide good Christian friends for Carmen. Praise God that for such good conversation and encouragement.

On Monday, I went with her to school because she had one class she had to go to. I sat in the library and had a quiet time so it worked out well. We walked around in the afternoon and took had fun in the park. I'm so glad that God brought us closer together and opened doors. I feel like we've been good friends for a while and we both agreed it felt like no time had passed. I am so thankful God provided such an incredible weekend! I felt so spoiled in her home and loved getting to know her better and her family and friends too. I learned more language skills and my need to practice more and more about their culture. Her family is much more like the typical Spanish family I was told about before coming here. I'm so thankful God has blessed me with a friendship with her. She's so great. Praise God for an amazing weekend!

I have decided to stay for a little bit longer this summer. Here is a little bit of the process…
This past Tuesday, Carmen, the woman I work for, told me that I can for sure stay with them in between the internship and being with Carmen in Santander. It was such an answer to prayer. It’s cool to look back on my prayer journal and see God answer my prayers. Here are parts of two entries…
February 1: “Thank you that Carmen is so willing to share her life with me. What a blessing! If it be in your will Lord, please provide a way for me to be able to stay with her in July. Please provide the funds and housing to make it possible.”
February 8: “Thank you for the opportunity to stay with Carmen in July and be in Spain longer. Please help me know what to do. Provide a place for me to stay between the internship and Santander and the money to stay longer.”
What an incredible God we serve! Thank Him for always hearing our prayers and answering them.

This past Wednesday, I really felt that God was leading me to stay, but I was afraid. There are still so many uncertainties with everything. However, Kate and I went to Encuentro, the worship service with Trinity, and it was really great. A man from a church in Sevilla talked. He's originally from Mexico but grew up in Los Angeles and is a missionary in Sevilla. It was so cool to hear about how God has used him and his ministry now. He djs where kids botellon and then preaches the gospel! He brings the gospel to people in ways that fit them. He was on fire for Jesus. He told us the history of Spain and how historians think a spiritual rival is coming in the next few years. My eyes were opened again to how dead this country really is. A lot of the songs were about following God's will and not being of ourselves. It confirmed my thoughts with staying this summer and I got teary eyed. I was afraid to commit to stay, but I really feel it is God's will for me. I really felt God leading me to stay here and at that point I decided to stay. I was still uncertain about many things, including a job for the month of August when I return. However, today Ken and Lynne confirmed that I could work for them again. What an answer to prayer! I got teary eyed as I thought about how everything is working out so perfectly and seeing God put things together. I’m overwhelmed by His love. He continues to blow me away!

So I'm done with the internship July 7 and then will go to live with the family I'm working for. They have 7 different houses so I'm not sure where I'll be but probably somewhere in Andalucia, maybe Sevilla, maybe not. I will meet up with Carmen around July 17 or 19 or close to that in Madrid and head to Santander until July 26 or so. Nothing is really set in stone yet as it's a pretty recent decision. Praise God for leading me to make the decision. I’m excited to see what God has in store! Pray that God would be preparing me for the longer duration and bless it.
This past Tuesday night, Cole had skyped me and said he wanted to see me for 5 minutes and would come over. I didn't know why but I said of course. I went downstairs to meet him after talking to my mom on skype. He gave me an encouraging note, a little cookies n' cream ice cream cup, a cooking magazine with all the corners of the pages with desserts folded for me for inspiration in my future bakery, and fake flowers because he knows I don't like real flowers. It was so sweet of him and such a surprise! I’m not sure how I’m so blessed to have such a great boyfriend that makes me feel so special, but I thank God for the blessing he is in my life. Friday night, I went out with Kelsey (my roommate) and met her friend Maddy from NYU who's studying in London but on spring break in Spain. Maddy had 4 guy friends with her. We went with them while they ate dinner and hung out after. 2 of the guys were a lot of fun to hang out with. Kelsey and I laughed for probably 5 minutes straight at one point when we were dancing. The one guy was so fun to watch dance because he just had the perfect body type for the funk music to be hilarious. We walked by the river and joked around for awhile before heading home. I enjoyed meeting new people and laughing with them. Isn’t laughter wonderful?

Friday, we went to Ronda with the CEA group. We had a 3 hour time and then free time to have lunch and explore a bit. Ronda was not my favorite city but walking down to this one point was pretty neat, and I got some pictures that I really like.

Saturday night, a big group of us went out for tapas and a movie. The bar we went to had really bad service, which isn’t unusual here, but the tapas were really good. Our group ended up getting split because we were going to be late for the movie so Kate, Heather, Leah, and Kelly left once they paid and said they'd buy us our tickets. Kelsey, Cole, and I had to wait to pay with Jenny and her boyfriend and his sister. We got there a little after the movie started and I got a text from Kate that said they couldn't buy out tickets. We decided to see Shutter Island instead. It was an interesting movie but glad I could understand the gist of it.

Yesterday, I got to meet Concha’s boyfriend and her mom. It was really neat. Her mom is so beautiful! Concha had a test today for her back. Pray that the doctors find what’s wrong. I haven’t seen Concha as much now that she’s back together with her boyfriend, which makes me kind of sad. However, I’m happy for her because she’s happy.

Kate and I had the opportunity to share some of our struggles and pray together yesterday. It’s such a blessing to have a sister in Christ here in Sevilla that I feel so comfortable sharing with. Praise God for friendship. She has been such a blessing to me. We’ve committed our time together to only Spanish this week until we head to Paris. Paris! I’m excited!

I’m thinking about changing my English minor to a TESOL minor. I’ve really enjoyed teaching the kids English. While I love to read and write, I don’t know that digging into the literature and history of it is something that I want to continue doing in my classes or in my own future classrooms. I love the opportunities another language provides for you and really like the idea of helping someone have access to those. Many of the people I’ve talked to here express the need for good English teachers. They start learning English so early in school but so few people retain anything. I would like to help people really grasp the language. I’ve contacted some advisors at La Crosse and am praying about the decision. Please pray that God gives me wisdom to make this decision. During my flamenco class today, I also thought about how it’d be cool to have my bakery/café during the day, and then hold little English classes at night in it. I like to daydream about my bakery/café : )

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers!