I am officially done with my semester as of Monday! I took my last final (Anthropology) that day, and I was really glad to be done with papers and tests! It was a little bittersweet though, as Tuesday was our goodbye party at CC-CS, and I had to say goodbye to some amazing friends that I have made in my time here. It's weird to think that we never would have met if it wasn't through this program. Now I have friends all over the U.S., which is cool, but I do wish they all lived in Oregon!
I was looking at the last time I wrote, and I realized it's been almost two weeks since I last sent an update, which is crazy because it feels more like one week. Life has been busy here! The Tuesday before last, the 1st, I went to Bible study as usual after class, and I was super encouraged by the message that one of the girls, Alli, shared. We talked about the verses from Hebrews 12 that talk about running a race and fixing your eyes on Jesus "the Author and Perfecter of our faith." It is such a good illustration for my life right now, because I feel like I have been distracted with so much recently and I lose my focus on Jesus and start to fix my eyes on me, and on my agenda, which is a complete waste of time! I cannot run the race the way I should unless my eyes, my focus, my life are fixed on Jesus and on HIS glory and HIS will. Anyway, that's just some stuff I've been learning recently!
That week of the 30th-4th was busy but fun! I got some work done on my papers (although there was of course some procrastination involved), but there was for sure some fun activities too! We helped decorate CC-CS for Christmas on Wednesday, which was fun! It was cool to see a Christmas tree (although it was fake). My host mom, Edu, put up a small tree on a side table in the dining room area too, which made me smile. I love Christmas decorations! The next few days weren't too exciting other than Friday night, when I went out shopping with my intercambio. I had a lot of fun just chatting with her and wandering in stores to look at clothes. Sevilla is a pretty stylish city, I have to say!
The next day, Saturday the 5th, I went on a trip to Morocco with several of my close friends that I've made here: Marta, Geethu, Swathi, Jenn, and Phil, along with some other cool people from our program. We all (about 10 of us) had a super fun time in Morocco!! We went with a traveling group called We Love Spain with a LOT more people (mostly students) from all over the place (U.S., Canada, Germany, Spain, etc.). It was neat to meet people from so many different places! Anyway, we went to four different cities in three days (Saturday through Monday): Ceuta (Spanish city in Africa), Tetuan, Chefchaouen, and Tangier. We got to see a lot of the countryside on our lengthy bus rides, and the view was beautiful! Tetuan and Tangier were both interesting cities, and it was fun to walk through them, but Chefchaouen was by far my favorite. We went on a walking tour led by this funny short Moroccan man who was HILARIOUS and said things like "super-duper". He was great! The city was really pretty too: charming little streets surrounded by light blue and white walls and doors of the houses (white to block heat during summer, and blue I believe to help against mosquitoes somehow...), marketplaces with a lot of fascinating things to buy, friendly people, and mountains/hills that you could see in the background.
The Moroccan culture is very interesting. I wish I could have spent more time getting to know the people, but what I saw really caught my interest. I, being a language major, was especially blown away by the fact that there are so many people in Morocco that know Arabic, French, English, and Spanish, just because their country relies so heavily on tourism. Our tour guide, Larby, told me that he speaks 4 or 5 languages. I heard him switch back and forth between Arabic, English, and Spanish, and he speaks the latter two (which are not his native tongue) VERY well. The other interesting thing to mention was the food - it was so good! They make really good soups, couscous, salads and meat, and they had some really yummy tea that I have never had anywhere else. All in all, it was fun to try new things, but the only bummer was that most of us (including me) came back and started having stomach problems, which for me JUST ended yesterday. Yeah, that was fun to have during finals week! Oh well, it could have been worse, and I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to go to Morocco because it was worth it!
Tuesday the 8th was pretty much a study/finish paper/procrastinate all at the same time day. I did go to Bible study again, which ended up only being me and my friends Becca and Jake, but we had an awesome conversation about life, and it was great to have that time with them and be encouraged hearing what God has been doing in their lives. On Wednesday, I finally got my paper for my Civilization class done, which was a relief! Wednesday and Thursday were the last two days of class, so there wasn't a whole lot of "fun" time as I had to get cracking on studying. It was tough having a not-so-happy stomach too, but God helped me through it and gave me the motivation to study. And I had a chance to talk with Salena via Facebook, which really encouraged me. Thanks, twin! =)
Friday I had two of my finals, and did pretty well on them, I hope! After that, I gave myself a break and hung out at home before going to a Christmas party with Fatima and a bunch of new friends (a lot of the people we met through Bible study and salsa dancing). We had a ton of fun chatting, eating goodies, opening White Elephant gifts, and singing Christmas carols (in both Spanish and English!). I had a great time with some awesome people! The next day, I did a bit of studying throughout the day and then ended up going out salsa dancing again with the group, which was a ton of fun! I thing I'm learning the steps better and better every time!
Sunday I went to church with my friends (one of them, Marta, for the last time, as she has headed home already), where the pastor talked about gratefulness and how it affects our everyday attitudes and walk with God. That message really helped me this week! Later that day, I met up with a woman named Martha, who runs a Christian ministry here in Spain and who hosted our Christmas party, to have a coffee date and chat about life. It was a really good evening - Thanks Martha! Afterwards I went back home to study more for my last final, and then hit the hay. Two late nights in a row can be tiring!
Well, I finished my last paper and final on Monday, and since then have been saying Goodbyes or "See you later"s to a bunch of great people. Our last Bible study of the semester was yesterday, and almost all of us were there, including a few new people, which was great. We all shared what we had learned over the semester, and how God had touched our lives through the Bible study and just being here in Sevilla in general. I know I definitely thank God for that Bible study, that group of believers that got together every week to talk about Jesus! It was weird to say goodbye so soon though. Time really does fly by! After that, we had our CC-CS Goodbye/talent show party. A lot of people played music or danced, and they were all quite talented! Two of my friends, Swathi and Geethu, danced an Indian dance, which was super cool! Then we all started the really long, drawn-out process of saying goodbye, which actually didn't end in CC-CS, but in McDonalds of all places (we were hungry and it was late!). I was exhausted emotionally, but I'm glad I got to spend that time with such great people and see them before they all left (although thankfully a few are still here).
I'm now starting my 7 weeks of no-school time in Sevilla, which will be interesting! I have a lot of hope and excitement for this time, and I have an open heart to God and what He wants to do in and through me here, especially during this time. I can't believe that the semester is over and that there are so many great people that I won't see again for some time, but I have realized that the harder the goodbye, the closer you are to a person. It's worth the pain to form awesome friendships! It reminds me of how I miss you all and wish I could see you! I am not ready to go home though, because I know God wants me right here, right now, and I am excited to see what He's going to do here!
Thank you so much for reading these very lengthy emails and for all your thoughts and prayers! I think of you all and miss you a lot! Please keep in touch and let me know if there is any way I can pray for you. I will write again probably after I get back from Rome (could use prayers for safety!), so I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! God bless you all!!
Besos y abrazos,
Sierra
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