Sábado (or Saturday)

I find it a little difficult to type here... some of the keys are stiff, though I think that is only on this keyboard. It seems to take me forever sometimes. However, the keyboards are different... the punctuation marks and all symbols but the letters are in different places. The period is the same, but I have to look down when wanting to make an @ sign or something as such... Today has been a good day... quite chilly though. I think it was around 10 degrees celcius. It also rained again. This is very strange. It was supposed to be hot and dry here... however, it has done nothing but rain and be cool since we arrived. I think today was the coolest day of all. The forecast says more cool weather and rain for tomorrow... I plan to dress in layers. Our group is taking a trip to Cazorla for the day. It is somewhere here between Jaen and Granada, I think. We are supposed to meet at 8:00 am to leave. I am going to walk to meet Charlie about 7:40ish and we will go together to the Plaza de las Batallas.

We are taking a bus. I am being sure to take my camera and lots of batteries... I think it will be a wonderful place for pictures! We have been talking about it and have decided that there will be more pictures from this trip than any other study abroad trip because there are fourteen girls here, I think... and everyone wants to take pictures.

I went shopping this morning with Amanda, Sarah, and Charlie. We met at the Cathedral and walked around down into the center of Jaen.

I bought an orange shirt (like I need any more clothing) for 10€. I like the pricing system here very much. What you see on the price tag is what you pay because tax is already included. I also bought a pack of paper for school. The paper is a little bit longer here than ours. It is interesting... nothing differs but the length.

This afternoon, despite my best intentions not to, I fell asleep during the siesta period of the day. Around 6:00 pm some of Raquel´s friends came over to celebrate her birthday. We had some kind of pie/cake with a filling in the middle. It was very good. We sang, talked a lot, and took pictures. It made me feel a little more at home and comfortable that people seem to be understanding that it takes me a little longer than them to get things on occasion. :)

We had empanada for dinner, which was filled with tomato and tuna, I think. But it had been baked all together, and I must say, was quite tasty. We had Pepsi Light, which always makes me smile... it was the same in Honduras. The diet things are called ¨light¨ usually.

Today I have felt a little more at home in this city/province, whichever Jaen is. With walking around, I was able to figure my way somewhat around the center part of the city. It makes things much easier once I can figure things out for myself. I am making an attempt to learn where I need to go for certain things.

While we were out shopping today, we passed a camera store where I think they can put pictures onto CD. Charlie is planning to go back, so I may go back with her when she does so that I can get some pictures up for everyone to see. I have been searching for a watch because I do not have one... and many times, I need one. I saw many today, but they are in the neighborhood of $30 and I am just not sure I want to pay that for a brightly colored watch. Also, I don´t normally wear one, so I don´t know how I feel about paying it for a short period of time... I may just break down and buy one sometime this week.

I find it fascinating to see all the things here... Even though it is difficult at times, I love being surrounded by Spanish. In a store today, we saw canisters for flour, pasta, sugar, etc. that were all in Spanish. Amanda and I wanted them very much, but they take up so much space. If people keep giving us things, we may never make it home! :)

There are so many pretty things here... the city is beautiful. I love the architecture, the ironwork everywhere, the tile sidewalks and in some cases, the cobblestone streets. Any and every kind of store is on the street. I am greatly enjoying being here, but at some moments, I desperately want to be at home... I know that the trip will be very beneficial, and I know that I will be home soon enough. When I feel this way, I just pray for peace and comfort when I want to call home so badly.

I doubt I will be able to post tomorrow, though I might... I guess it will depend on when I arrive home. It will be a long day, and I have to get up early to start school on Monday morning. There is much ahead of me; however, I am looking forward to it!!

2nd Post Today!!

Well, it is nearing 11:00 pm here. I have just finished with dinner as odd as that may sound. Usually I am done by 10:00 pm, but tonight we had our first tour as a group... so I didn´t get back home until around 10:00 pm. I will say that I was momentarily lost for a few minutes tonight. It was just getting dark, so I decided to try to find my way back to the house... If I didn´t, I was going to find a pay phone and call. We went to tour the Cathedral here in Jaen. It is huge and absolutely beautiful!!

We have a local tour guide who will be with us when we go places around Jaen over these next couple of weeks. After we toured the Cathedral, we went to another church that was in a plaza down the street. When we were arriving to the church, my professor told us that all the finely dressed people were attending a wedding. Well, what did we do? For lack of anything better to say, we busted up in the church while guests and even the bride and groom were still in it!! I was horrified. Of course, just like with everywhere we go here, everyone was looking at us. I suppose we look distinctly American. I didn´t think we looked that out of place. However, I was truly and honestly embarrased that we were just touring around this wedding party and guests. The tour guide did not even act like it was a big deal. She continued to use her microphone and fanny-pack speaker to tell us about anonymity of statues in the church and the history of the building. I wanted nothing more than to get out of there... Goodness... After we finally had to leave the church because the people there were about to say the rosary, we went outside into the plaza. I took a picture in this plaza because there were orange trees growing along the fountain. It was so neat to look up and see the oranges there!!

We decided as a group to go and get some tapas, which for those of you who don´t know, I will tell a little about them. Tapas are appetizer-like foods such as ham or cheese or meatballs or chips... they can be many things. But Spain is famous for them. They are found in the bars... generally, people go have tapas and a drink either in mid-day before lunch or in the evening before dinner. I had a bite of cheese. I didn´t want to eat much because I knew I would come home to dinner. When Amanda, Charlie, Sarah, and I decided to leave the group after making a stop at a second bar, I walked with them back to the Plaza de Santa Maria which is at the Cathedral. For a few minutes I found my way, but after that I became lost. I wondered around for a little while prepared to ask some nice old couple on the side walk. Finally, I found my way past Correos, which is a place to send correo - mail! I knew I was headed home. At long last, I saw Barchafe, which I assume is a bar in the bottom part of this building. I yanked out my keys and hurried inside, determined never to walk home by myself again so late in the evening... yes, I know. I shouldn´t have done it in the first place, but I did. I guess I wanted to prove I could make it home. Which, I have exciting news to convey... I FOUND MY WAY HOME FROM THE UNIVERSITY TODAY!!! All by myself!! I was so excited!! Yesterday I was absolutely stressed out because I couldn´t remember after I got off of the bus where I was supposed to go. But I found it very quickly! I just kept following what I thought looked familiar, and I finally made it home for lunch.

We went to the University this morning to have a meeting with the President and to have pictures taken for our Universidad de Jaen ID cards. We are supposed to get those on Monday. Our classes also officially begin on Monday morning at 9:00 am. This means I will need to be up and ready to catch the first bus at 8:15 am if I am to be there on time. If I end up having to walk, I will need to leave by at least 8:00 to make it on time/be un poquito early. The only problem is that I don´t know how to get there walking. I don´t mind taking the bus. It isn´t bad at all! I have to catch the #9 bus to take me to the university and the #7 bus to bring me home again. They run every half hour and on the hour. I think it costs about fifty cents for each ride.

For lunch today, I came in to stir-fried green beans, ham, and other beans and an ENORMOUS serving of fish. It was about the size of a steak. I think it must have been a filet, but it also must have been an absolutely huge fish! It was very good. Then we had fresh pineapple for dessert. I also had half a chocolate filled donut-type pastry. Raquel´s (my host sister) father Luis is a baker. We have a lot of bread and pastries here that he makes. For dinner tonight I had a pork chop and some green beans. I turned down any fruit for dessert because I am stuffed! People MUST STOP feeding me so much. I am so tired of eating that I am almost never hungry... but I eat because it is necessary.

Tomorrow, I think I am going shopping with Amanda, Charlie, Sarah, and some of the other girls. I am looking forward to adventuring around. I think it will be a lot of fun!! In the evening, we are supposed to be celebrating Raquel´s birthday. It was last weekend before I arrived. Her mom is supposed to be making things I think. I think she also said that her dad is bringing home some kind of pie. All should be good!

These first few days have been hard, but everything seems to be getting better. I have missed home very much... I know it is due to time for adjustment but I think also because I haven´t had as much to do. Once this next week begins, we will be in class and going places quite often. I think time will pass much more quickly this way. I have been reading and listening to some music on my iPod which has helped when I seem most overwhelmed. And then I am reminded that many have made journeys such as this before, some in much less fortunate circumstances. People such as Paul have been places and done things with much less hospitable stays and journeyings. :) It is something that reminds me that I am never separated from God, no matter how far away I may be from home or things comfortable. Thank you for all of the encouragement!!

I am beginning to be able to understand more of the Spanish. Some of it I still don´t understand just because everyone speaks so fast here, and the accent characteristic of this region is to leave out their ¨s¨ whenever they say anything. It is difficult sometimes to discern what they say. Often I have to ask for a repeat or something of the sort. Today was better, and I know that with more time, things will only improve.

Well, I don´t guess I have much else to say at the moment. This blog is brought to you courtesy of the fixed wi-fi in the house!! Yay!! So now, unless it messes up again, I should have internet here.

I hope everyone is doing well!! I love you all and am grateful more than you know for the prayers. Continue to pray that things will go well over the next few days. The weather says more rain for Sunday. I have no idea about tomorrow. I guess we´ll see! [As a side note, tile sidewalks, rain, and flip-flops DO NOT go well together... I have learned that lesson.]

I hope to post more soon! All of my love to you all!!

The Rain in Spain...

has not stayed mainly in the plains!! It has been here in the hills of Jaen yesterday and today. It is very unusual, I think, for it to rain here. The temperature has been cooler. Yesterday was a long day. I am still adjusting to nights being afternoons at home and morning being just after midnight at home. I am not sleeping soundly, but I think it is because my sleep time is so different. My host family is treating me well. I have good food - too much if I have to say so myself - from everyone here. I will not go hungry!! Though I would prefer to have less food at times. The first night I had internet at the house, but it is now broken, so I will have to use the library until something changes. It is around 1:30 pm here and I know it is just early morning at home. I am trying to answer emails from people... there is just so much!! Bear with me!! :)

Classes officially begin on Monday. I have one before lunch and one after lunch. They have been giving us all kinds of things. We got a Spanish grammar book and a real Spanish dictionary. They gave us a bag of things from the University and an umbrella this morning. We are going to tour the Cathedral here in town tonight. I look forward to getting some good pictures.

I live so far away from campus. Yesterday I rode the bus back with a boy who is on the trip with us that is staying near me. This morning I rode it to campus by myself, but I had no trouble finding what I needed to. It is just different. I am adjusting. It is a little difficult, but nothing is too bad.

I will give an update when classes and a normal schedule begins. Until then, all at home, know that I miss and love you!! I will keep you updated as I have the opportunity!! Hasta luego (see you later)!!!

Estoy Muy Cansada (I am very tired)...

Where to begin? I guess I could start by saying that I am safely here in Jaén, Spain. It has been a long day!! We had our first flight to NJ last night and then had a six-hour something flight to Madrid, Spain. We landed this morning and loaded a bus that drove us several hours here. We arrived at the University of Jaén to find all of the host families waiting for us. I am staying with a 24 year-old girl and her parents. She is in school studying English... interesting, huh? :) Our bus stopped for lunch at this little restaurant in the middle of nowhere. I had a ham and cheese sandwich. It was good but different. The bread was very toasty and crunchy. The ham was more like bacon (because it had the strips of fat) and was sliced into very thin pieces. I think it was cured ham. Anyways, it is just now 9:00 pm on May 7th (I think) and we will be having dinner soon. It is strange to be so ¨late¨ and yet it is still not dark. For dinner we are having salad and Spanish tortilla, which is like a big hashbrown cooked in a skillet like cornbread.

I am very tired this evening. I have pretty much done nothing but drift in and out of sleep all day. I slept well on the plane last night, but I still have rest to catch up on. I am praying for help, patience, and understanding because I feel so alone and out of place here. I know this is a time of learning and growth... I just feel like I don't know anything. My brain is so very foggy. I need sleep and time to understand what is happening. I am honestly a little overwhelmed and scared at the moment.

Our classes begin tomorrow. I think we have a meeting at 9:00 am to find our classes, meet people, etc. I guess we will see how it goes!!

This is all very interesting thus far but indeed different. Please pray for me to continue my acclimation. It is a tiny bit scary to know that I am going to have to take the bus and remember where to go by myself. Pray that things will work out each day. Right now my brain isn´t functioning at it´s best. I hope after tonight´s rest, it will be much better!! Until later!!

Almost...

How crazy is it? I leave on the first plane on my journey to Spain in a matter of hours. I don't know what I feel today... not much really. I am excited about going, but I am a little tired. I am praying that this day goes well.

I must finish packing, so I will close for now.

Oh How I've Forgotten...

that packing makes me tired!!

I am getting tired this evening, but I know it is a most necessary evil. I am packing up to make an adventure to the beautiful olive country of Spain! :) I am very excited for I leave in about 19 hours.I hope to post frequently while gone... but I am not taking my laptop. I plan to use internet when available. So, keep a check, and surely you can find out how things are going!

I cannot wait for everything this trip brings... I am praying even tonight that God will use everything for His glory!! :) Yay!!