Castle on a Cloud

 What a week! 

I can't believe that we are almost halfway through our third week here!
I feel like I have finally developed a good schedule and it is nice to have some sort of idea of what to expect from day to day.
This past week has been another week of new and fun experiences, as well as a week of planning trips! 
This past week, we were so excited to finalize all the plans for our long weekend in Italy next month!! We gathered around in Pepita's living room on our laptops and booked our tickets. We are so lucky to have two amateur travel agents in our group- Hayley and Ellen. They have gone to so much trouble to look up the best prices for flights, trains, and hostels. It has been fun
to plan a trip to such an exciting place.
We also are taking our very first trip away from Alicante this weekend! On Thursday, we will take a bus to Madrid and stay until Sunday!

Last week included a lot of random fun things: having a movie night at Hayley and Ellen's apartment, going to the cutest little cafe for coffee after school, going back to the market with Brynn, looking around at a small gypsy craft fair set up in a park near our apartment, and of course, the big beautiful random saint parade that that Brynn and I got caught up in. We also had some fun nights at Brynn and Jo's apartment. I love how we always get together there to watch a movie, but

we just end up laughing or playing a game all night. We have such a fun group of people from OBU here and it has been fun to become better friends with everyone.
(Ellen's face in this picture makes me laugh every single time I look at it.)
Speaking of friends, I am so excited to be making friends with a group of Asian girls from my Cine class! On Friday, Brynn and I went out with them to get ice cream at the Valor Chocolate store here by the beach (Valor is a really famous chocolate here). We enjoyed sharing about our lives with them and asking them questions about their culture! I thought it was so hilarious that each time Brynn and I talked to each other in English the girls would squeal and say que chulo! -- "soo cool!" Its strange for people to think that English is "beautiful," as they said! Also strange to think that while we were talking to each other in English, all it sounded like to them was "blahblahblahh." Its just part of being a foreigner for a change. The other day at school, I got lost on campus and had to go to an information desk to get help. 


The lady had to call someone on the phone and the first thing she said when they picked up on the other line was "I have an estudiante extranjera here who needs help." Foreign student? Oh, that's me! 
Being the fish out of water is giving me a different perspective on everything, and a new appreciation for the exchange students back at OBU.
On Saturday, we went to a Bible study especially for international students that is at the church that we have been going to. The turn out was small. Only a girl and a guy from France showed up as well as a girl from Slovakia. Still, it was really great to meet believers from different parts of Europe. The leader of the group had us go around and tell our salvation story to the group- in Spanish- which was a little challenging but really neat as well as great practice! The next day we went back to the church for the Sunday service, and again I was so encouraged at how loving and friendly everyone was. It seems like such a healthy body and great community. After the service was over, we hung around and talked with the Slovakian girl (Martina) that we had met the day before. She speaks great English, so it was kind of nice to not have to use Spanish for a little bit. We were planning on climbing up to the castle Santa Barbara that is on a huge hill (in Arkansas it would be considered a mountain) in the city, so we invited her to come along. I am so glad that we did! She has been living here since 

November, but will return back to Slovakia in only 9 days! I am so sad that she will not be here longer, but I am glad that we got to hang out with her.
Anyways, 
The. Castle. Was. Incredible
But man was it a hike! One of the neatest things about it was the fact that you did not have to pay to enter it. It literally just sits on top of this gigantic hill and all you have to do is follow the steep trail up and just walk right in! So at 5:00, we met and 

started the hike up! As we got higher and higher, the view got more and more incredible. You could see every part of the city and next to it, the sea stretched into infinity! The castle was HUGE! It was absolutely unbelievable that we were actually walking through thousand year old corridors and archways. We finally got to the highest point of the castle at the exact same moment that the sun began to set and I could not believe my eyes. The sky was on fire. It reflected in the water of the sea, illuminated the 

whole city and made the mountains in the distance dark outlines against the golden sky! I wish I could have captured everything about how it felt to stand up there on the highest point on the castle with the sea on my left and the city on my right! It was amazing. On our way down, Martina and I sang "Castle on a Cloud" from Les Mis (I know that sounds incredibly cheesy, but in case you didn't see facebook last month, I'm a little excited about the new movie) and we talked about how cool it is that we are from different parts of the world and both love that movie!

As it started to get dark, we made our way down the hill and decided to go get chocolate crepes at the Valor shop (its quickly becoming our favorite place). As we drowned in chocolate, we sat around the table and talked with Martina! We asked her what her family does at Christmas time, and she told us that every year, her family watches the Czech version of Cinderella! We all thought that was pretty cool, especially when she told us she wrote her own English subtitles that she added. She asked us if we wanted to watch it with her sometime, so on Wednesday, we are going to go over to her apartment to watch the Czech Cinderella! Again, I am sad she is leaving so soon!
Some other noteworthy events were: making a huge vegetable stir fry on only 3.50 euros. We bought SO MANY VEGETABLES! All fresh from a vegetable stand. And it only cost 3.50. Can't get over how cheap that is.
Yesterday, we tried to go to a free movie that the university puts on every Monday at this big bookstore, but after waiting around for 2 hours with no sign of the movie starting, we decided to go get Pakistani food instead. One plus was that one of our Japanese friends, Midori, came with us to see the movie so we got to hang with her more, as well as drink some delicious tea. The Pakistani restaurant was delicious-- and would you believe it, they spoke English! English is quickly becoming a precious (and rare) commodity to us!
Pepita continues to shower us with love and always makes us laugh! One day last week, the three of us were talking about something in English at the table. I guess we kept saying "oh my gosh" a lot, because all of the sudden, Pepita started imitating us with her thick Spanish accent- Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! It was hilarious, and now she likes to say it around us to make us laugh!

The presidential inauguration was yesterday, and it has been so interesting to be here in Europe while it was going on. I have gotten a lot of questions from international students about the traditions involved. It has been kind of fun to talk with them about it and answer their questions about my country. Also interesting how the rest of the world takes such an interest in the U.S.

School continues to go well. I am learning a lot about my identity in Christ and how it makes me different. The school is beautiful and interesting.. but it is a dark place. Still, I feel set apart here. I feel like my eyes are open, while everyone around me has their eyes shut. I really understand what it means to live in the light. Its a cool feeling. I don't feel like I have ever experienced this before, probably because I have been going to a private university and because I was so immature in my faith during high school. But I am beginning to understand a little more the refinement by fire that 1 Peter talks about. I am not saying that I have been suffering intense persecution or anything even CLOSE to that. I really haven't at all. But everyday life here is definitely not as easy as it is back at OBU in the States, and sometimes it is uncomfortable to be a believer at school here. But- I am realizing that when life is difficult, that's when you grow. And its cool. It does not make me want to live a comfortable life. I am also realizing how important it is to spend time with the Lord every day, especially when you are surrounded by non-believers.
Anyways, its been really great to experience the real world outside of the bubble (though I do still love OBU!).
Please continue to pray for me! Pray that my time with the Lord would be the most important part of my day, and pray for opportunities to share hope with my new friends!

I am continuing to love life here in Spain. Somedays I look around, unable to believe that I am actually here.

Thank you for all your love and prayers.

Adiosito!

Extra pics from the week....