Here's another one of my email updates that I sent out recently. I will forewarn you that it is quite long, but it includes updates from some of my travels to places like Granada and Cádiz.

Hi everyone!

How are you all doing? I miss you all a LOT! I figured I would write to you all again since it has already been over a week (can't believe it!). This last week was pretty busy, so the weekend was a welcome respite. Plus I got an extra hour of sleep because we changed the clocks back! I took two tests this last week and the last one I took may have kicked my butt, but I am hoping that I did okay. It is very difficult to write short answer/essay responses in Spanish, believe me! I had two tests this week that were very similar in format - one in Anthropology and one in Spanish-American Civilization. I am so glad to be done with them! Is it already time for midterms back in the States? If so, I wish all of you students good luck and blessings on your tests and papers! I honestly can't believe that October is drawing to a close soon.

To update you all on my last week or so here, last Thursday (the day before I last wrote to you), one of my friends (Swathi) and I decided to go watch the movie Agora in theaters. In case you didn't know, although it is originally filmed in English, the director (Aménabar) is Spanish. We were really excited to go see it! Swathi was especially excited because she couldn't find anyone to go at first because she wanted to go to the midnight showing and everyone was really tired. She must have caught me on a good night because I actually was up for staying out late (I'm normally not because I like my sleep, which is why she didn't call me). Anyway, we went to the theater but found out that they didn't have that late of a showing on Thursdays, which was disappointing. We ended up stopping by this little kiosk-type place and eating churros con chocolate (yummy!) and chatting about life until about 1:45 in the morning. It was really cool and better than watching a movie in the end. Swathi and I have had a lot of really good discussions about God, life, family, etc.

Speaking of late nights, I struggle a lot with the idea of going to the discotecas (clubs) here in Sevilla. Going out at night is a big part of the culture here. Drinking is also very big here, although people (not including teenagers) are generally less likely to go out and get wasted. It's more of a social thing. I understand the cultural aspect of it all, but I have yet to go to a club to go dancing with friends and the only alcohol I have consumed has been a few sips of sangria or wine to try it. To be completely honest, I feel totally uncomfortable and a bit afraid of the whole dancing/drinking/staying out till 4 in the morning scene. I know that for a lot of Christians it's not as big of a struggle to have fun in that environment and at the same time still honor God, but I have yet to find that balance. I don't know if that makes sense. I just don't see the beneficial or godly aspects in it at all, so I avoid it all together pretty much. It's just a personal decision for me and I'm not judging anyone else or saying they need to do the same. I just struggle with being "in the world and not of it" and could really use prayer for wisdom in that area.

Anyway, back to this last week... Friday I pretty much stayed home and only went to the school to meet up with my friends Katie and Margaret to start planning for our winter travels (as I am not coming home for the winter). It's all kind of up in the air and difficult to plan (another thing I need to pray more about).

Saturday I got up early and walked to the bus station to take a bus to Granada. I am going to preface this whole story by saying that Granada is now one of my favorite places in all of Spain!! Anyway, Fatima caught up with me on the way over there so we walked over together. We went with 5 other friends from our program: Geethu, Marta, Swathi, Jenn, and Zack. The bus ride was a lot more comfortable than the one to Lisbon, probably because it was only 3 hours and I was able to listen to music (Caleb and Sol!) on the way over. We also got to see a gorgeous sunrise in front of us as we drove east to Granada. It was kind of a pink lemonade color and was so pretty! Once we got to Granada we found our hostel and ate our lunches there. My host mom always offers to make me a bocadillo (sandwich) for my trips, which is so sweet of her! Our hostel was pretty cool. It had a great view of La Alhambra, which is a famous castle complex originally built in the 9th century. It used to be a Muslim military fortress, but was eventually used as the Muslim kings' home in Granada. It's name comes from two Arabic root words that mean red castle, so named because the walls and towers were a reddish color. Here's a little interesting historical fact for you: Granada was the last city to fall to the Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand and Isabella) in 1492, which is, yes, the year that Columbus "sailed the ocean blue".

Since La Alhambra is really famous in Spain (the most visited tourist site, I believe), we of course went there and ended up staying there for about 5 hours. Trust me, there's a lot to see! There are a few beautiful and very detailed palaces, towers to climb with amazing views of all of Granada AND the Sierra Nevada Mountains (yea-uh!), and beautiful gardens with bright flowers everywhere. It was so cool! One of the first places we visited inside it was the Palacio de los Nazareitos (I think that's how it's spelled), which was a royal house or palace. The rooms were decorated with tiles and extremely detailed stucco and ceramic work. Some of it was Arabic words written in a design all around the room. We spent a lot of time just wandering through and taking pictures. We were also in the room where Boabdil, the last Muslim king in Granada decided to hand over the keys of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs. I bought a guidebook outside the palace before entering, so I was reading random facts as we went along. This last one gave me chills. To think that something with that much historical significance happened in the very room we were standing in! Incredible.

One of my other favorite parts of the Alhambra was the Generalife, which was an huge garden area outside of the palaces. It was absolutely beautiful and I really don't have words to describe it accurately. The flowers were in every color possible it seemed: bright orange, cheery yellow, deep pinks, light and dark purple, and so many different shades of roses!! The shrubbery was really neat too. It was pruned and trimmed in different patterns, and I could totally tell that they spend a lot of time taking care of the gardens there. They also had quite a few fountains spread throughout the palaces and gardens. That's really not surprising though because there are fountains EVERYWHERE in Spain.One of the last places we went to in La Alhambra was the tallest tower in the Alcazaba, which is the oldest part of the Alhambra "reconstructed upon the ruins of a castle in the 9th century", as my book says. I really want to know who built the first castle, because the 9th century was a long time ago! Anyway, the tower that we spent the most time at was the Torre de la Vela (Watch-tower). It is the most distinguishable because it is the tallest and has a bell at the top, along with several flags. From the walls of the tower we could see all of Granada spread out before our eyes. I spent a long time just standing in one spot, thinking, talking to God, and staring at the Sierra Nevada Mountains. For some reason, they made me think of Idaho and of my family back there. I thought and prayed for you all, for my family and friends, while standing there. I really wished I could go back and see everyone at that moment, but I was also very, very glad that I was where I was, taking in all that beauty. I just felt a lot more alive while standing there. Even though I have been reading my Bible every day, I have been feeling spiritually dry at times, so that moment, and a few others this past week, have helped me to get back on track.

That Saturday night, as we were leaving the Alhambra, we had a chance to watch a beautiful sunset. God is an amazing artist! We then retraced our path down the hill and into town in search of food. We ended up buying some tasty kebabs (in tortilla) at this little eatery on our way back to the hostel. We also bought some sweets for dessert, which has become our tradition on our trips to different places. We are all really bad and can't resist all the pastries and ice cream and such. Haha. We also went out that night and watched some flamenco at this little bar. We were only there for a little bit because it was really crowded and we couldn't see very much, but it was still pretty fun. The funniest part was that we all ordered juice when the server came up and asked us what we wanted. He then looked really confused and asked us if we were minors or of drinking age. We all paused for a second and then said that we were older than 18, to which he gave us the most priceless look EVER. It was a "why in the world are you ordering peach juice when you can have wine, sangria, etc???" look. We got a pretty good laugh out of that one.

On Sunday, our second day in Granada, we got up and ate breakfast at the hostel. We were also able to check our email and Fatima was able to give me the good news that our Linfield football team had a pretty sweet win at Homecoming, which was exciting! Once we checked out of the hostel, we joined a free walking tour led by this pretty funny English guy. He had been living in Granada for 7 months or so and just walks around talking to people and living off of donations that he gets from people he gives the tour to. He knew a lot of interesting facts about the city and the history there. I'm still not completely sure of the accuracy of some of his stories, but it was a fun tour and we got to see a lot that we wouldn't have seen on our own. We even walked up into the hills a bit and saw all of the houses that people had built out of caves. I also met a guy named Gil from Quebec, Canada and talked with him about Quebec, the U.S., and all of our travels so far for a good part of the walking part of the tour. One of my favorite parts about traveling is meeting and talking to people from different countries. After our walking tour, we stopped at a store and bought sandwiches and ate by a children's playground. A few of us played on the teeter-totters for a bit, which was fun. We ended up reading the sign nearby when we were done and found out that we weren't allowed to play on the play equipment. Woops! But seriously, haven't these people ever read Peter Pan? Who puts an age limit on having fun?? We eventually split up our group because Fatima and I were leaving an hour earlier to head back. We walked around the city a bit more and bought some really yummy ice cream (a must) before taking the bus home.

Monday through Thursday was pretty busy for me. I had those tests on Wednesday and Thursday, so I had to study (although I have to be honest and say that I did procrastinate on studying, as usual). Bible study on Tuesday was a little shorter than normal, but it was still as awesome as ever. We talked a lot about God's peace (Philippians). I love that group of people! We had to all meet in Starbuck's this time though because it was really raining that day. I must admit that I was humbled that day because I had been bragging that Oregonians know all about rain and don't need umbrellas. Um.... yeah... We do need umbrellas here in Sevilla. Here it doesn't rain that much, but when it does it's like the skies just dump water all over you for a short period of time. Oh, and the drainage systems really aren't that great, so in some places it's practically flooding. On my way back home that evening I DID have an umbrella, but it was basically useless because the wind just blew the water all over me anyway. I was thoroughly drenched, but I learned my lesson!

This last Friday I pretty much stayed home again. I only went out to go buy my bus ticket to go to Cádiz for Saturday (a small city on the coast). It was nice to just have a day to relax and get a few things done though.

Saturday was a lot of fun! I met up with my friends Phil and Zack at the bus station to go to Cádiz. We visited a few sites in the city when we first got there, including a really interesting art and archaeology museum (Museo de Cádiz). There was so much history in that building! I like the Roman statues and artifacts best (just because I like Roman history), but the museum also had some pretty cool Phoenician artifacts, including two sarcophagi. Anyway, after that we stopped to buy some sandwiches and ate them on the steps of the cathedral while listening to some Native American men (random, I know) playing some really pretty music in the plaza. We then headed for the beach and spent a few hours there. It was perfect temperature and the sky was clear - a perfect day to go to the beach. I took a few walks along the shore in the water and collected some shells. It was a very relaxing time and another good opportunity to talk with God and just breathe. I also helped Phil build a sandcastle, which turned out pretty cool considering we didn't have any buckets or shovels to help us out. The guys also threw a tennis ball back and forth in the water and took walks at separate times as well. The beach was huge! You could walk for a while before getting to the end of it. We walked back into town as the sun was starting to set and got some ice cream (of course!) on the walk back. The sunset was breathtakingly beautiful! All in all it was a super fun day!

Well, today was also good... very relaxing. I went to church again this morning (it was hard missing it for two weeks) and really enjoyed being able to worship and hear a message. It takes a significant amount of effort to concentrate in another language for that long, but it is good practice! Other than that I have just been hanging out at home and starting to get ready for the upcoming week. Thanks so much for keeping in touch with me and for reading my really long emails! =) I miss you all!! I have really enjoyed hearing from you!! I hope you all are very blessed this week. Until next time!

Con amor y abrazos,
Sierra