Standing in Awe

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. ...

I have finally made it home to my family for the summer.  My family is great!  Mi madre y papa are so kind and help me with everything.  My room is purple (my favorite) and I am the middle of two sisters, Estefania who is 26 and Elana who is almost 18, oh and I cant forget Luna (moon) our albino cat!  I live right downtown in the shopping district, but still only 10 minutes from the beach.  It is  great.  I am so excited to get accustomed to the lifestyle and learn more and more about the city.  Next week I plan on starting running again (near the beach of course).  So far  I have been to the super market, the beech, a hotel, restaurants, and tomorrow we are headed to the university which is up the hill north of the city.  I have also met the other 9 people that are in my program for the month of June and they seem nice, but I think I am different than a lot of them.  There seems to be a few party animals, but I hope that nothi...

I have finally made it to Alicante! I had a long but wonderful day yesterday in Madrid full of new sights and new friends.  I spent the morning with three girls that were on my flight and we had a picnic in the Plaza Mayor and just walked around the city for a while.  In the afternoon I met up with my friend Jenny and her boyfriend who live in Madrid.  I took a much needed siesta there and then we went out and saw some beautiful sights and had some tapas.  It was a long but wonderful day.  I already love the culture and putting my Spanish to good use! An Egyptian temple in the middle of Madrid at sunset. Today I rode the long bus ride out to Alicante where I hung out and walked by the ocean for a while.  It is so beautiful here and I can't believe that I am going to be calling this home for the next few months!  I have met some people from my program which is great and I can't wait to finally move in with my family tomorrow and unpack. ...

Well here I am on the airplane getting ready to embark on a wild adventure. I kicked of the trip in total Sig fashion by Fallon over due to the grandiosity of my backpack right into the TSA man's podium and then as I finally got back on my feet and went for attempt two at crawling under the rope I knocked it over. I honestly felt like I was in a movie about a girl that is a total mid fit. It was hilarious. All that aside this is completely surreal. I am excited, scared, sad, and everything in between. I constantly have to remind myself that I have a protector unlike any other and I need to continue to trust him to keep the butterflies at bay. I know that tomorrow this time I will be in a foreign land by myself, but that really I am never left alone. On a different note, i am feeling better little by little after the marathon. I finished and that in itself is a beautiful testament of Gods power. It was a wonderful learning experience and i couldn't have done it without the su...