Hola otra vez! (Hi again!)
Like I said in my last email, I decided I’d split up the email to make it easier for you all to read and to catch you all up on my last month here. On the 4th of January, the day after I moved, I spent most of the day just chilling at home getting settled in, but that night I went to visit my friends Swathi and Geethu. I spent a part of almost every day with them last week after they would finish with their volunteering work. We had a fun week!
On the 5th, the day after, we met up with my friends Lea (from Germany) and Abraham (from Sevilla) to go watch the Cabalgata de los Reyes (parade of the three kings, the three wise men from the Bible). Here in Spain El Dia de los Reyes (the day of the three kings) or Epiphany as it is called in English, I believe, is a bigger deal than Christmas day. Most children receive their gifts on the 6th of January “from los Reyes” rather than on the 25th from Santa, although that tradition is starting to grow here as well. Anyway, we watched the parade with our friends, met a few more of Abraham’s friends (including a girl named Narjis from Morocco and a girl named Lenka from Czech Republic), collected the candy that they threw from the floats, and had a ton of fun! It has been so neat to meet so many awesome people from so many different countries. Afterwards we went to a place nearby and just sat around talking for a while. This study abroad experience has given me that opportunity and I am so, so grateful for that and for each person I have been able to meet here.
The day after that, Los Reyes Magos, I went to visit Swathi and Geethu again. They also had Abraham, Jake, Lea, and Lenka over, and we had fun eating dinner together and learning how to dance salsa, bachata, and even some Bollywood or classic Indian dance moves! Fatima came back from traveling that evening, and the guys and I surprised her when she walked in. She had no idea we would be there! It was really good to see her again.
On the 7th (Friday) I spent some time at CC-CS using the Internet to send emails and what not (as my Internet in my house is a bit unreliable), went to the supermarket for food, and then stopped by the girls place to see them all for a half hour or so. I then met up with Lea, Jake, and Abraham to hang out for a bit and spend some time in prayer. The next day, I went to visit my host family, and they were SO sweet: chatting with me, happy to see me, feeding me lunch, and giving me a bag of oranges from their house in the country. I got to meet the two girls who are living with them too, and they are really nice. They're only here for a month, so they're pretty busy with classes and traveling. After being here for 4 1/2 months already (time flies), one month seems like SO little time! I then just chilled for the rest of the day and then met up with my Intercambio, Mari Paz. It was so good to see her again and so fun to just chat about life, school, music, etc.
After that I went out with a big group of friends to go salsa dancing!! We went to our usual place and had a ton of fun! I think I’m starting to get the hang of the steps and can dance a bit more gracefully than I did a few months ago. I’m so glad we got to go out that night too, as Fatima had to fly out the next morning and wanted to hang out with us all before she left for Alicante. It was tough to say goodbye to her when she had to go, but it’s comforting to know we’re still in the same country and go to the same college, so it’s more of a “See you later!” Anyway, I never thought I would be dancing salsa in Spain, but it’s turning out to be a favorite pastime of ours! Several of us actually ended up going out to the same place again Saturday night to celebrate the birthday of our new friend Katie, a friend of Lea’s who went dancing with us on Friday too. Boy was I tired after that!! Two late nights in a row really wears me out. Haha
Sunday I spent either sleeping or at church. I am starting to get to know more people in both of those churches, which is really neat, and I can understand all of the messages in Spanish. Praise God! This last Monday I had the opportunity to lead an English Club for the Spanish students here on one of the university campuses. It’s part of a ministry that my friend Martha leads. It was a lot of fun to just sit and talk to a small group of students in English! It was interesting being on the other side of the communication – the side where you know the language and they are learning. They all spoke good English and are working really hard to learn it. I really had to concentrate on what I said though because I couldn’t just talk really fast, as they are not used to my accent. It gave me a good perspective on how Spanish students probably feel when talking to me!
On Tuesday I was pretty busy… I had an appointment about classes in the university in the morning, met up with Mari Paz to go over an assignment, went to tutoring with Lucia (which is still going really well), and then went to Swathi and Geethu’s place to eat dinner and spend time with them before they flew out. It was a busy day but very good! Lea, Jake, Abraham, Narjis, Lenka, Katie, and I all spent some time with the girls making and eating dinner, chatting, and just hanging out. They then all left to go home, and I spent the night there so I could get up early and help the girls get everything ready and say goodbye. I was sad to say goodbye to them but I’m hoping I’ll see them again soon!!
On Wednesday I led another English Club on another campus, and that one went really well too! It’s been a lot of fun to help out with that. I also met up with my friend Rosa, a Spanish girl that I met through the salsa dancing/Connexxion group that I just started doing an Intercambio with, and I chatted with her for an hour before going to tutoring. I then went to Charlemos, the Bible study I’ve mentioned before, and had a really good discussion with my friends about receiving the kingdom of God like a child (Mark 9 and 10). It was awesome! The last couple of days I have been trying to rest and relax a bit more and finally get around to updating everyone. I met up with Rosa again yesterday and spent some time with her talking in both English and Spanish. She is super cool and a lot of fun, and it’s been neat to be able to hang out with her.
Well, that's all for now! You’re all finally caught up on my life! Haha. Hopefully I didn’t wear you all out! I miss you all and hope your new year is starting out really well and continues to be an amazing year of growth.
Much love and hugs,
Sierra
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