Standing in Awe

Ok as you can probably see I am a bit behind on my posts, so I am going to write in sections.  Then you can read what you want, or do it in sections if you get bored.  First things first: the Festival.  I honestly have been procrastinating writing about it because there are no words, photos, or even videos that can begin to explain this experience.  Like I mentioned in the last post, at 2pm everyday the Mascletá erupts in the city center with deafening firecrackers and fireworks with colored smoke.  I attended a few times, and I honestly could not believe all the windows on the buildings did not break; literally every inch of my body was shaking from the noise.  Saturday, which is where I think I left off, we went down to the street to eat with the neighbors as usual, and as usual it was a lot of fun.  I have officially been named "Marieta" because no one here can say my name, and when they try to say Sig it just sounds like "si" which means yes in Spa...

This week is the largest festival of the year in Alicante.  It is called the Festival of the Hogueras (which is a large structure, more like a work of art-see photo).  It has been a great cultural experience so far, and it is also just a lot of fun!  We didn't have class today and we have Monday off as well for the festival.  Something that is huge here, not just twice a year, are fireworks.  This past Monday I saw a firework display that put any 4th of July display I have ever seen to shame.  But it doesn't stop there; each day at 2pm they set more off and have the loudest firecrackers I have ever heard.  In addition to that there is a large display every night around midnight!  All the streets here are closed off and each night all the families in the neighborhood go out in the streets and eat at large tables with family, friends, and neighbors.  This I think has been my favorite part so far.  We sit with Monolo's close friend's family...

I am at that point where there is so much I want to say, but I know that no words or pictures can do any justice to the experiences I have had in the past 4 days.  I am going to try to describe a few moments that I would love to share, but just be aware that these are moments that I will cherish forever and can't begin to describe how I felt. So Friday myself, eight of the people in my groups, and a group of kids from the University of Tennessee headed to Granada.  We mounted the bus and headed southwest on Friday morning, and honestly I can say that I didn't really know what to expect.  I was blown out of the water.  Before we even got to Granada, I was blown away by the beautiful countryside of Spain.  I recently learned that Spain has one of the two largest desserts in Europe, and I got to see it.  As we traveled further and further west, it became more and more mountainous.  Off to the south I could just see the snow covered peaks and to the nort...

I apologize for the slight break, things are seeming more normal therefore I do not feel the need to tell you every detail of every event.  However a few things have happened lately that I would love to highlight.  So this weekend I listened to two sermons that were basically the Gospel.  The first one was one by Mark Driscoll, and to be completely honest, it was the second time I listened to it because it was so intense the first time I had to turn it off.  However, this time I was able to finish it and I almost started crying on the bus ride back from school because I realized just how much I need Grace every single day.  He really emphasized how innately sinful we are, and that without Jesus, we are subjects of God's wrath and we are forced to drink our own cup which we fill every day and live forever in torture apart from Jesus.  The second talk I listened to was the first talk of the LT kick off retreat by Steve Hayes.  This one again emphasized t...

Oh how I have been waiting to write this post.  So I have decided to organize it starting with lunch yesterday and inserting events between meals. Lunch yesterday: After a long day at school including a half hour bus ride each way, I was so hungry.  Maria is nice enough to save me lunch and simply warm it when I get back.  So first I had a small salad that was so simple but soooo tasty!  It was just lettuce, these amazingly sweet tomatoes, olive oil and salt.  Simple right? Delicious.  Then for the main course lentils with chorizo.  For those of you that know my eating habits, you know I hate sausage, except chorizo (and maple syrup festival sausage, but that is beside the point).  After a big filling meal of course I needed a siesta which of course lasted longer than anticipated.  I then decided to go for a run by the water and it was great.  A measly three miles, but I figured I should ease back in after the marathon and not running ...

So I am finding it more difficult than I anticipated to keep up with this!  I don't want to bore you, but I am learning so many new things every day it is hard to not want to share them.  First things first: Sunday. After a VERY long night of dancing on Saturday, lets just say I didn't get out of bed early.  We decided to head up the coast a bit to a nicer, less crowded beach.  So after trying to get everyone together for almost an hour due to our lack of communication ability we got on the tram and took the short ride up the coast.  It was totally worth it!  We spent the afternoon basking in the sun and I almost felt like I had to pinch myself every once and a while to make sure it was not all a dream.  The water was crystal clear, so much so that I could see my toe nail polish when the water was over my head.  The gentle sound of the waves crashing and the children laughing with the warm breeze blowing off the ocean was like a sweet lullaby as ...

As the title suggests, little by little I feel myself sliding into the culture here.  Yesterday was a beautiful day and I got to see the university for the first time where I will be studying everyday, but not before grabbing a cup of cafe con leche.  Many of you know I have developed quite a coffee habit, and as far as I know my family here are not big coffee drinkers, not to mention the coffee here is much different.  As a result yesterday morning I took a nice stroll down to the meeting place and was conveniently early standing right next to an outdoor cafe.  I took a seat at a nice wicker table under a canopy of huge viney trees where I was greeted warmly by the waiter and sipped a lovely cup of coffee.  After meeting briefly at the hotel we proceeded up to the bus stop and got on the 24 to the university however we got about one third of the way up the hill and apparently the bus couldn't handle the weight so we had to get off and get on the next one. ...