peluca=wig

Morocco!

Friday: Woke up at 3:45 and got on the bus to head to the ferry. It was a 2.5 hour bus ride and I slept almost the whole way. We had to wait an hour or so for the ferry and then I slept on that too until I woke up feeling sick. We exchanged money to dirhem and got on a bus to Rabat. They watched Forest Gump, but I was knocked out from the Dramamine and slept all the way till the break. I met Kalee and Tim from Platteville and Kelsey from Stout and Robby from South Carolina at the rest stop. We got back on the bus and stopped in Rabat for lunch. Cole and I sat with 5 girls from UNC. They were nice and funny at times. The girls said that I have a strong accent. We had this special food that was fried dough with chicken inside and cinnamon and sugar on top. It was really good. After lunch, we had a tour of Rabat, which is the political capital of Morocco. I liked seeing the ocean and people surfing. Seeing the Muslim cemetery broke my heart though. It almost put me into tears everyone time we saw one. All the coffins are above ground and facing east. It's so sad. In the US, when I see a cemetery that never comes to mind, but with theirs it's obvious that they don't have a relationship with Jesus. It's so incredibly sad. After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed to Fez, the real capital of Morocco. I read a bit and slept most of the way. We were on the bus A LOT! We had dinner at the hotel and sat with two girls who were studying in Cordoba. One had been there the whole year and the other studied in Ireland first semester and went home for Christmas break. I had fun meeting so many new people.


Saturday: We had breakfast in the hotel and checked out of the hotel and got on the bus. We watched The Office and Family Guy. I liked watching The Office but not Family Guy. I felt a little sick and wanted a break. One girl was sick and puking in the front of the bus every 15 min. or so. I felt really bad for her. We watched I Love You Man after the stop until lunch. We stopped at a Kasbah in Midelt for lunch. Cole and I sat with people from TCU. They all had Texan accents..hehe. One girl asked if Cole and I were brother and sister...pah! A Moroccan man came in singing and playing these instruments during lunch.. After lunch, we played a game with Toba, one of the leaders from Discover Sevilla, and he made us all fall on the ground and laughed. It was a pretty good trick. We got back on the bus and watched The Hangover, but I slept because I didn't want to watch it. After the stop, we watched more of The Office until we stopped at a hotel to get into the 4x4 Jeeps to take into the desert. Cole and I rode with the girls from Cordoba and two girls from CEA that we never met before. It was fun to go off-roading but after 1.5 hours of bumps, I was ready to get out. They drove us into the desert to get on our camels! We rode the camels for 30 min to the desert oasis. It was so cool to ride them through the sand dunes. It reminded me of Aladdin..haha. Once we got to the desert oasis, we had dinner with the berbers. They played music for us after dinner and then Cole and I climbed part of the big dune to look at the stars. It was really cool to see so many stars. God is in conrtol of so much from the expanse of the stars to the endless grains of sand and all of our lives. It was incredible to see! We pulled our mattresses out from under the tents and slept under the stars. It got quite cold but still a neat experience.


Sunday: The berbers woke us up with their drums and we climbed the large sand dune to watch the sunrise. It was really beautiful and so cool! Cole and I got sand from the dessert and put it in our water bottles to take home and got on our camels to ride back to the hotel. We ended up on a line with Kelsey, Kalee, Tim, Robby, and Molly. Meeting these people and Alexis too was incredible! Seriously, possibly the best thing. I mean the desert and stars and camels and tours and all that I saw was really amazing and so unique and cool but I love people and these people are great. I loved spending time with them and getting to know them. They are so fun and kind. I really really loved getting to know them. So we had breakfast at the hotel after our 2.5hr camel ride. I talked to a berber man on the ride and he was saying how he never leaves his town. It made me realize to an even greater extent how blessed I am. God has given me so incredibly much! I mean I was in Africa and he's never left the dessert. What a blessing to even travel within Wisconsin! How easily I took that for granted. Since I was last in line, I spent a lot of the time on my camel realizing the blessings and talking to God. It was neat. After breakfast, we took quick showers and headed to the pool. I was so excited there was a pool!! We got to soak up the sun for 3 hours or so and I even went swimming with our new friends. The water was pretty cold and green but it was so hot. We had lunch and then got a tour of a desert village. We saw their water system and how the women go to the well and pour water into their jugs each day. They had houses built of straw and mud and other materials and when it rains hard, their houses collapse and they have to build them all over again. They had an oven that made bread for the village. I don't know where they get their other food from. They showed us their rugs that they make and different things that are original to Morocco that people could buy. It was eye-opening to see how they live. We are so privileged to just get water from the faucet and have all that we do. Even coming back to Sevilla and not having to use bottled water to drink and brush my teeth is incredible. After the tour, I took a little nap in the room and then Cole and I went out to the desert to see the sunset. We missed the whole group going out there but caught the end of it. We came back to the pool and talked with Kelsey and Tim and the others joined. Then we had dinner and listened to the berber men play drums. Some people danced but most didn't because there were a lot of teens from Casablanca there that were dancing. Cole went to bed early and Kelsey and I went outside to star gaze. We had really good conversation and saw shooting stars!
Ok..I'm going to make this a little more brief now. I've written too much and the desert was the best part anyway!

Monday: We took the Jeeps back to the hotel where we first were dropped off and hung out by the pool for awhile until lunch. It was so hot that I sat in the shade by the pool. I got to tell Molly and Alexis more about my internship and how I hope God uses it, which was neat. Molly wants the link for World Team so that's really cool! She said she'd be interested in an internship. After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed to Fez. We stopped at the largest Oasis in the Sahara to take pictures but it was over 7 hours in the bus. We arrived around 10pm and had dinner and went to bed.

Tuesday: We had a tour of Fez. We went to see the Royal Palace and then headed to the old Medina. We got a tour of the tannery, which smelt awful but was really neat to see. It was like a whole different community with all the dyes and working men and drying skins. Then we got a visit of the pharmacy where they showed us different spices and lotions and things for the body. I bought a couple gifts for people there. Then we had lunch and after went to a rug place and then a scarf place. After those tours, we got free time in the medina to barter with people for gifts. We went back to the hotel and had dinner. After dinner, we had a little party with Discover Sevilla people. It was a girl's 21st so everyone got free beer or a soda. It was my first Fanta here..haha. They also got birthday cake for her. It was nice. I miss real birthday cake though, like with Mrs. LeClaire’s frosting..mmm. They had live music for us too and also brought in a belly dancer. They first had Toba come in and belly dance and then brought the real girl in. Once she left, they began the talent show where anybody could perform if they wanted to. This one girl rapped and beat boxed and was so good and another girl did step dancing. The other ones aren't really worth talking about. .haha. The girl who rapped won.

Wednesday: We checked out of our hotel and went to Assilah where we had our picnic lunches and free time. We sat by the ocean for awhile and Cole and I went and bought gifts in the Medina. We rode the bus to the ferry, took the ferry across, and took the bus back to Sevilla. I got home around 3:30am and crashed.

FERIA!!!!!! (I LOVE Feria!)

Thursday: I woke up feeling really groggy and gross but went for a run. I was craving a run after not being able to for a week. I came home and showered and then Concha came home and was like get ready, let's go, we're going to my caseta for lunch, hurry up. So I quickly changed and went with her and Pablo and Kelsey (my roommate). I met her sister and niece and her child. Her family is very beautiful. We had lunch in her caseta. Nacho came and had lunch with us too. It was a really neat experience. Most of the casetas are private so you can't get in unless you know someone. I'm so blessed to have a senora who has one and took me there. It was way cool to be a part of. After dinner, I met up with Cole and our friends that we made in Morocco. It was fun to see them again and hang out. I love that our friendships didn't end in Morocco!

Friday : I went to Concha's friends house to try on her flamenco dresses! One of them ended up fitting me and she sewed the hole in it. I played with her granddaugher while I waited. She was so sweet and had the cutest laugh. Concha's friend was so nice to me. She gave me so much and helped me a ton with everything. She said if I ever wanted to come back to Sevilla and Concha couldn't have me at her house, then I could stay at her place. What?! This was honestly the 2nd time I spent time with this woman. Why do I keep getting offers to stay here? They are so welcoming and open. Is it because I'm an American? I don't understand. I don't have her phone number or email or anything to contact her after I leave, but still, she offered. It's crazy to me how easily she offered it to me. I mean I know Concha says nice things about me, but still I hardly know this woman. wow! They are all so open and welcoming.
Kelsey (my roommate) and I went to Feria around 5pm and met up with her friends from Sevilla. We went into 4 of their casetas and enjoying rebujito, apple wine and sprite mix, and dancing. I hadn’t really learned sevillana yet but could dance a little bit. Around 2am, we met up with Nacho and his friends. We went to one of their casetas and danced sevillana and rumba. His friends and Kelsey taught me the steps. It was really really fun! Kelsey and I got pretty tired but Nacho said sitting was forbidden so we danced a lot. We left their caseta around 5am and called it a night. It was one of the best nights I’ve had here. Feria is such a cool tradition! I was trying to soak it all up while I could as it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Soo neat! I’m so thankful for all that God has given me and allowed me to experience. Wearing the dress and hanging out with Kelsey’s friends and Nacho and learning to dance, was great.

I can’t really explain Feria very well. It’s something that you have to experience to really understand and appreciate. My best try atdescribing it quickly is that Feria is their fair that begins at Midnight on Monday night and lasts until Sunday night when they have fireworks. They have hundreds of tents (casetas) where families pay for them together. Most of them are private and you need to know someone to get in, but there are a few public tents. The public tents don’t compare or give you the real feel of a private caseta though. Each caseta is different from the next. Each one is a different size and has its own decorations and food and style and people. They play sevillana music and people dance all night long. There is also a section with rides and games that would be more like our fair. The streets are lined with lights and filled with people. It’s incredible! Everyone dresses up nice and most women wear a flamenco dress. I love seeing everyone dress up and all the men with their suits on. It’s really cool, and I wish that everyone could experience it.

I was able to meet up with my friends from Morocco again last night. We rode the ferris wheel and danced a little bit in the public casetas. I’m heading back today to enjoy the last bit of it that I can. I LOVE it!

la cesta = basket

Time with my parents in Sevilla, Italy, and Madrid…
Friday afternoon, Cole came with me to get the bus schedule for Italica, and then we went to try and check into the hotel, but they wouldn’t let me. Cole went home for dinner and I went to meet my parents at the train station.

I was really excited to see them and they were excited too! Both of them had tears in their eyes when we hugged. They were pretty wiped from the extensive traveling. We walked to our hotel and checked in. They didn’t have much time to gather themselves as it was so late and Concha was leaving for a day and Nacho was leaving the next day until Tuesday, so we went to my house right away to meet them.

Nacho went out for the night by the time we got there so they didn’t get to meet him. He left a hand-written note in English for us though! We sat in the living room and talked with Concha. Kristen came out of her room too and sat with us for awhile. It was fun having my two worlds combine for a bit. We took the metro back to the hotel and crashed.

On Saturday, we went to a café to get breakfast. I told my parents before we went out that they should drop any expectations they have of what Spain should be like. We had a few things go wrong in the morning and things yesterday didn’t go well for them. I told them that was one of the biggest things I learned is to not have expectations. You just have to go with the flow. Some things don’t work out or aren’t what you think they’ll be like, and you just have to roll with it and not let it affect you. At breakfast, my dad looked at the menu and said, I can’t read this, where are the eggs? I just laughed and said you have to drop your expectations..haha. They don’t serve eggs for breakfast.

After breakfast, we went to Carmen’s house to meet her and the family. We sat in their living room with Carmen and her husband, Fernando, Manuel, Lucia, Carmencita, and Lucia,their cousin. The maid/nanny rolled in some appetizers and drinks. It was fun talking with them. Lucia, the cousin, knows English pretty well and helped translate as there were often more than one conversation going on. Carmen got me a lot of tourist information about Sevilla and Semana Santa that was really helpful. They were really kind and invited us to Ecija, the city they have another house in and where I’ll be for the summer. We had to agree to go on Sunday because Monday wouldn’t be enough time.

We met up with Cole and decided to cancel the trip to Italica so we could go to Ecija with them. We spent the afternoon touring Sevilla and bought our bus tickets for Ecija. Carmen called and said that Carmencita was sick so they wouldn’t be able to meet us. She said she would call if Monday worked. I was pretty bummed because my parents and Cole were going to be able to see where I’d be living this summer and get to know the family a bit better too, but we were able to go to church then so that was great. We bought cereal for our next two breakfasts, and Cole went home. We went back to the bus station and returned our tickets. Then my parents and I got dinner and went back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we met Cole and went to church. My parents of course didn’t understand anything, but they got to experience it, which I was really grateful for. They recognized some American worship songs in Spanish and just sang the English..haha. Cole went home for lunch, and my parents and I got paella at a restaurant near the river. It was beautiful outside again and so nice to sit in the sun. It was fun realizing what a blessing it was to be doing what we were doing. I am still so blown away by God’s blessings in my life! Cole met up with us and we went to see a procession for Semana Santa. We didn’t really understand the routes but saw the people lining up for it. The city was packed with people like I’ve never seen it before. The metro was so busy too. It was nuts! Everyone was dressed up really nice too in their suits and dresses. I loved that part. I took a little nap in the room and then we went back out. We had to walk back to the center of the city because the metro was too full. Mom and Cole got Starbucks and we waited for a procession. I can’t believe how much goes into that. It is quite the site to see. It makes me sad that so much of it has become tradition and culture and not for Jesus.

After we saw enough of the procession, we went to get dinner. We played cards together in the hotel room. It was fun and relaxing. After carsd, I said goodbye to Cole for the week, and we went to bed.

Monday, we got up a little later and checked out of the hotel. We brought our bags to my house and then went to buy my bus ticket back from Madrid. I showed my parents this market on our walk back, and they seemed to like that. I brought them to this place that has good churros, but it was closed. I felt bad that we walked all the way there because my dad’s feet were hurting from all the walking and his blisters and then they wouldn’t be able to try churros : ( We got lunch and then headed to the airport. It started to rain and my dad was worried we wouldn’t make it on time so that was kind of a damper. We ended up being way early for our flight, like I said we would be :), but at least we didn’t miss it.

We flew to Madrid and then to Venice. We checked into the hotel and watched a little of the news. I ate the rest of the cookie dough that my parents had brought me because we didn’t have a fridge, and of course because it was delicious : ) I was shocked that they brought it for me but so happy! I love cookie dough : )

Tuesday morning we had breakfast in the hotel consisting of little pastries and croissants, typical European breakfast. We took the bus into the city of Venice, and we stopped at the tourist information center. I recommended we do this as it was really helpful in Paris, and she gave us good information. We took the boat to San Marco Plaza to begin our adventure. I loved seeing all the boats, different canals, gondolas, little streets, cute shops and buildings, and being surrounded by water. We walked around the city, trying to see some not so touristy parts and stopped at some bigger sites too. We had lunch at a little bar they refer to as a bacaro, which is said to be a great Venetian tradition that for centuries locals have gathered there to chat and have a glass of wine with cicchetti, savory snacks kind of like tapas. It was fun and a really quaint place that felt very traditional. I tried canolis and had my share of gelato too, as I found it’s cheaper there! After dinner, we took the boat back to the bus station and battled the rain getting back to our hotel.

We had breakfast at the hotel again and packed up to leave Wednesday morning. My dad rented a car that we took to our hotel in the countryside outside of Florence. The drive to Florence was pretty cool with the mountains in the background going through tunnels and over bridges. When we got into Florence, it was time for lunch. Then we did our site-seeing until dinner. Florence was much less touristy than Venice and quite peaceful looking over the city from the gardens. After dinner, we drove out to our countryside hotel, about an hour outside the city, which was a charming little room with wood-beamed ceilings, brick overhangs, and wood shutters over the windows, very cute.

Thursday we got up and had breakfast at the hotel, which was the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time. Then we drove to Siena, stopping along the way to take pictures of the incredible rolling hills of Tuscany and in two little towns. They were so cute and I think I’m in love : ) I really really like Italy. We drove back from Siena a new way, but I didn’t stay awake. I had to take Dramamine to knock the motion sickness and it put me right to sleep. We had dinner at our hotel and enjoyed more time in the room.

Friday morning we got up and had breakfast in the hotel again. Then we drove to Milan. I slept almost the whole way there. I don’t know why I was so tired, but at least I didn’t get sick. We flew out of Milan and arrived in Madrid around 5:45. We took the metro to our hotel and dropped our bags off before heading to the center of the city. We bought grapes on the way there! I didn’t have grapes since the U.S; it was a treat! I showed my parents the area that Carmen showed me the first day I visited her. We had a delicious dinner downtown and then continued to walk for a bit. We got churros! I wanted my parents to try them in Sevilla and am glad they got to before they left. Then we took the metro back to the hotel.

Saturday morning, we got up and had Starbucks breakfast : ) Then it was time to say goodbye to my parents. I was comparing how long it had been since I’d seen them with my previous semester at La Crosse when I didn’t go home until the weekend before Thanksgiving break. I think this was sooner than that time, and so I thought well I did it last semester, I can do it again since they’ll be back in June. It wasn’t too hard saying goodbye initially, but when they were gone and I couldn’t see them walking down the street anymore, it hit me. However, it was such a blessing to have them come and visit and be able to spend a week with them. Praise God for time with family and the blessing of a loving family. I am so thankful that they came.

I met Carmen at the futbol stadium and we went to her house. We hung out and then had lunch with her family. After lunch, I took a little nap and Carmen did stuff on the computer. Then we met her friends and rented a movie and bought groceries to make a pastry. We went to Pedro’s house and made the same pastry that Carmen and I made last time. It was fun to bake again! We looked at Carmen and Pedro’s pictures from their week in Italy while it baked. Irene forgot the egg so it took a little longer to bake..haha. It was still very good though. We watched La guerra de novias (Bride Wars), got dinner, and hung out at Pedro’s house. I had a lot of fun, and it reminded me of being back home with friends. I got pretty tired later in the night, but it was a really good night.

We slept in on Sunday morning and then looked at pictures of Carmen and her family from when Carmen was younger. It was fun to see them and learn more about her family. I showed her pictures from my week with my parents, and then we went for a walk. We had lunch with the whole family again. Carmen’s mom is a great cook; it was delicious again! After lunch, Carmen and I watched an episode from a TV series that she watches before I had to go to the bus station. Carmen’s dad was really nice and drove us there. Carmen showed me where to be and then left. Praise God for the friendship I have with Carmen! I am so blessed to be able to spend time with her and her family and friends.

I took the 6 hour bus back to Sevilla, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

LAGOS!
Portugal was great. We took the bus Friday and saw the "End of the World" or what people used to think was the end of the world, which was really pretty. Then we went to the hotel and got changed for the beach. We took the bus to the beach and a group of us walked down a ways and laid down. It was so incredible to finally be on a beach again and just lay in silence and soak up the sun. I just wanted to praise God the entire time! Seriously, I felt so blessed. Kate and I went body surfing in the ocean which was a lot of fun. The waves were so powerful. We got tossed around and honestly, in a foot of water, couldn't stop. I got some scratches on my back from it. Then we sat in the edge of the water and let the waves come in and just talked. We marvelled at how God has blessed us and how far we've come since last semester. We had to go back to the hotel around 6:30, which is early here.

We got ready and went to dinner. I had asked the front desk for a recommendation for fish earlier in the day and we headed there. It looked kind of iffy but we trusted their recommendation, and I'm so glad we did! It was so good! The cook came out and showed us the fresh fish that he recommended for us and then grilled it. We got bread and sardines for appetizers too. We got veggies with the fish too. That fish was the best I've had. I was soo happy we got it! It was perfect. It was a very non-touristy place and excellent, fresh fish. I'm going to miss that for sure being back home. After dinner, we tried to get into a supermarket for dessert but they were all closed. We got a little ice cream from some little shop instead, which was a perfect way to top off an incredible meal. Then we all sat out by the pool and talked before going to bed.

Saturday, we got up and had a great breakfast at the hotel. Portugal is an hour behind us and I ended up getting up early, but it was great because then I had a quiet time. I read Psalm 23 in my SV bible that Jackie gave me and it's in the NLT translation. I loved the end! "...My cup of blessing overflows. Surely, your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. And I will live in the house of the Lord forever." How great is that?! I was just thinking the day before about how much God has blessed me and that maybe He's preparing me for tough times and the blessings will end. What lies from Satan. I love how God showed me truth so immediately! I memorized it and kept running it through my head all day. Seriously though, how cool? goodness, unfailing love, PURSUE, ALL the days of my life. wow! We serve an incredible God!

After checking out of the hotel, we went to some point and saw incredible views of the cliffs and the water. It was beautiful. I was once again blown away by God. Then we headed back to the beach. It was windy and the sand was pelting us on the soft sand so we moved to the harder sand and enjoyed that better.. We left around 5 and got back into Sevilla around 9:45. I felt like I was hardly there because we spent so much time on the bus, but it was really beautiful on the coast.

God's love!

I know I haven’t updated my blog in awhile and will get to the updates about what I’ve been up to in a bit, but first I just have to say what’s on my heart. I am so overwhelmed by God’s blessings and love right now. I don’t even know what to do. I don’t deserve anything, and God keeps pouring blessing upon blessing down into my life. I wish I could explain this feeling better. God loves his children so much!!!! Have you ever thought about how much God loves you? I mean really sat down and thought about it? If you haven’t, do it. Start with the fact that He sent his son to die for us on the cross that we might have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. He loves you and me that much! Then think about who God is and the eternal blessings that He gives us like peace, forgiveness, grace, mercy, joy, and love. These things that never run out, that God constantly is pouring down into our lives, which last forever. God could stop there and it would be enough. Doesn’t that blow you away?

If your socks aren’t knocked off yet, think about what God has given you today. Are you breathing? Can you walk? Did you eat and drink today? Did you sleep last night? Do you have a family and friends? Did you hear I love you lately? I mean, I could go on forever with the little things that God has blessed us with that I can often take for granted. Go bigger picture, what has God given you in the past month, 6 months,1 year, 5 years. How have you seen God move in your life and in the lives of others? Are you blown away yet?! Seriously, God is so real and alive and full of love! Can you feel it yet?! God’s love is so unfathomable!

I know that God has blessed me in incredible ways. Since coming abroad, He has given me new experience after new experience. He’s shown me His beauty in four different countries, in countless ways each day, and in new people I continue to meet. I am so blessed to be here in Sevilla, to see God at work here and elsewhere in Europe, to have so many opportunities to travel, to have worship and fellowship, to realize my family and friend’s love for me from home, to make new friends, to strengthen old relationships. I don’t deserve any of it. All I can do is offer my life to God, to obey Him, to allow Him to work in and through me, to strive to glorify Him in all that I do. I had some apprehension about coming to Spain and not knowing what it would be like, but God has shown me what He can do when I trust Him with every moment and decision of my life. His love is just so incredible!

My intention in writing this is not to brag about how God has blessed me. Instead, I pray that reading this would help you also realize how God has blessed you, that you would feel His all-encompassing love around you. That you would seek to glorify God, trust Him, let Him lead your life, allow Him to show you His love and goodness and pour out His heavenly storehouses of blessings on your life.

“… My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:5&6 (NLT)