Moving!

This is a sad day, but it had to come. I am jumping to a new, different blog, simply because I really REALLY can't claim that I'm in Kensington anymore. Since I am one who hates change and loves to hold on to the old, I have named my new cell phone "Kensington" to compensate. So far so good. But on to the good news: you should all check out my new blog, www.thiswillbevkc.blogspot.com, and follow it if you'd like! Hope you're all well!

Jamón!

The nearer I get to heading back to the states, the more I realize how accustomed I've gotten to things in Spain that really are quite odd. It would take several posts to explain it all. For now, though, I'm going to tell you my jamón story, and that should give you a pretty good taste of it. No pun intended. (Dad, why did I inherit your cheesiness?) ;)

If I had a euro for every minute I spent in conversation about jamón (ham) in Spain, I would just quit my job and cruise the rest of the way through May. I might be exaggerating a bit, but hardly. One night at tutoring, we veered off of the topic I had prepared (typical foods in Spain and the United States and how to order at restaurants and such) with no hope of return. I spent that whole hour listening to the many types of fantastic hams you can find in Southern Spain. Listen up: there's this type of ham, called Pata Negra, that comes from special pigs. These pigs are never farmed. They run free in the cork-tree forested hills of Andalusia. And you know what else? They don't feed these pigs. They only eat the acorns that fall from the trees. And that gives their meat a unique, nutty, dark element. And their meat is very lean. They don't have animal fat like other pigs--oh no! It's lean, delicious, healthy fat on these pigs! And there's a festival every year when they kill the pigs and eat the first ham, and there's a restaurant near El Rocío that has the best cut of jamón on special in the spring, and it's very expensive, and Oh! you should bring some back to the states for your family...I was interested, maybe even fascinated by all of this at first. An hour later, I didn't really care to hear much more about ham. Since then, I've had the same explanation about 4 times from various kindly people. Sometimes I just don't have the heart to steal their joy and tell them that I know all about this ham. But you know you're in Southern Spain when...you have a lengthy conversation about ham at least once a week. :D

In honor of the occasion: a picture of my friends and me in front of a café with a typical display of ham. Ummmm, my favorite food. 

Adventure Update

To put a long story short, the gap between my last post and today is far too long to actually write about. You would probably have to read it in three installments or something horrid like that. So, instead, I'm going to let the pictures do the talking! Here we go:

This is my fantastic friend, Julie, and I outside of the Château de Chantilly, a magnificent castle that is very reminiscent of Versailles. Julie lives just outside of Chantilly, and she was sweet enough to host us and be a fabulous tour guide for the few days we were with her. I wish we could have stayed longer! Also, this castle is known for their créme de Chantilly, which we Americans call "Whipped Cream." This is the real stuff though--the castle is famous for their specific homemade cream throughout Europe. I even spotted a mix for it in the supermarket here in Sevilla!

(ok, so I went overboard on that description--maybe you will be reading this post in 3 installments! Ha!)

 Me and Ellie outside of the Fairytale Castle in Bavaria! We've wanted to go since our time in London sophomore year...and we finally made it. What a lovely day it was. 





Salzburg! If you climb up quite a few stairs just past the old area of town, you reach a hilltop park with some gorgeous views of the whole city. I loved seeing the rooftops and spires of the city peaking through this really old "Burgerwehr." Love some German. ;)





In Salzburg, there was also a dwarf garden with oh so many interesting characters. Here's my favorite. One of the dwarfs is featured in Sound of Music! 





Our next and last stop was to the Czech Republic, where we got to visit and catch up with Johnny and Annette Johnson, church friends from Faith. I still remember loving the Sunday school class that Annette taught back in the 3rd (I think?) grade, and it was wonderful to hear about their ministry in the Czech Republic. They were beyond-fantastic hosts, even in the midst of their busy lives, so I was taking notes about how I'd like to be some day. It was such a refreshing, encouraging 2 days, and I'm so glad they were up for us crashing their apartment! Behind us is the Archbishop's Château in Kromeriz, an impressive castle with beautiful gardens surrounding it. We headed back to Spain on Easter Sunday morning. And as the train pulled away from Otrokovice, the nearest station, it was snowing. Snowing on Easter Sunday!


After our whirlwind trip, I settled back into my workweek in Sevilla and we enjoyed a free weekend. I can't believe my time here is almost up, and there's so much more I could share. But I'll save it for another day. peace!

News!

Ok, so it hasn’t quite been a month, but it’s been far too long. But the delay is for good reason—I’ve been busy in a wonderful way. First, a friend of Ellie and I’s from Samford came and visited us in Sevilla for 4 days. She’s studying in London this semester, and we saw her there earlier, so it was perfect that she got to pop over to Spain for the first part of her Spring break. We had so much fun exploring the city anew with her and just catching up. A highlight was definitely going to the Arab baths here in town, too. It was a splurge, to be certain, but Nancy, as a classics major, was really excited to experience a bath as close as possible to the Romans’ system. It was indeed fantastic and relaxing, and unlike anything I’ve ever done before. If I lived in Sevilla for good, it would be very tempting to go every once in a while. Which made me recall that my Spanish teacher for the first month of my stay here in Spain said she goes at least once a month. I believe it!

Next, my parents and Jeffrey came to visit! They showed up the very morning Nancy was headed out, so the touring and visiting just danced on happily. :) We had SO MUCH FUN while they were here. We traveled almost non-stop! I’m afraid I ran them a bit too ragged and hope they can recover this week. We started in Sevilla, took a train to Granada and enjoyed that lovely city (and also ended up scaling a mountain in the dark on a free night tour—not exactly what we expected, hoped for, or wanted…ha!), and then we headed to Barcelona for a few days. We also detoured to Montserrat from Barcelona, which is a truly magical mountain village based around a monastery with a legend and famous virgin statue that people take a pilgrimage to visit. We went on a sunrise hike to the highest peak of Montserrat, and goodness. It was absolutely incredible. I would go back there in a heartbeat, and I’ll store those fantastic memories away for life.

Also, I have other big news! It’s rather anti-climatic to snuggle this in with so much other stuff, but I don’t have much of a choice. I know where I’m headed with RUF! I’m headed to the University of South Florida in Tampa. It’s the 8^th largest single-campus University in the nation. Woah! It will be quite a change from Samford! I’m really excited and can’t wait to hear more about it and to get in touch with the campus minister there. It’s really happening—I’m really going to start being an RUF intern! Praise the Lord.

Welp, that’s all folks. ¡Abrazos from Spain!

I'm Back! I'm Back!

Hi friends!

Here I am, back from a whirlwind week of London, a trip to Doñana National park, school, and flamenco shows. Where do I even begin? Since London is officially my favourite ever, I say we start there.

We went to London.

We met up with our friend from Samford for dinner at Harrod's food hall. We strolled in new and familiar parks. I drank Mountain Dew. (OH! The joy!) We ate cadbury creme eggs. We woke up at 5 a.m. to wait for theater tickets and chatted with a new friend from New Zealand. We saw "Singing in the Rain" and "Matilda" the musical. We visited the tallest escalator in the London tube system. We wandered around Hampstead and its beautiful heath, which we've been pining after since February 2009. And we felt very much closer to home.

It was wonderful to be surrounded by English, go to a church service in English, and see familiar faces. And since it's the city I know the best this side of the Atlantic, it really did feel very much like going home. (though only in comparison to living in Spain!) In all, Ellie and I were both overwhelmed with how blessed we are to be able to find ourselves in London in February, 3 years after our semester studying there. In fact, I remembered as we were walking through the city that we had dreamed about coming back to London in 2012 during our sophomore year days. A reunion for the olympics! Though we didn't quite make it to the olympics, it still felt like a joyous reunion, and the only other thing I could have wished for is that more of my London friends were there as well.

We got back to Spain late Wednesday night, and I headed out with 150 1st year students to Doñana National Park the next morning. Whew! I was tired, but the park was so beautiful, it didn't even matter. There were birds galore, wild boars, horses, deer, and supposedly otters, though I didn't see the otters. Shame, shame. There was also a 3 hour long ride down the pristine beaches and through the sand dunes. There is nothing quite like jumping straight into a sand dune, knowing that nothing will hurt, because the sand is like the best of fluffy gym mats at the olympics. By the time I got back to my flat around 9:30, I was ready for the weekend. Two early morning classes later, it finally came.

Enter flamenco show stage. Last night, I paid a measly 5 euro to enjoy a brilliant flamenco show in a small but lovely venue. I went with two girls who also work at my school--one American from Maryland, and one Italian girl from Pisa. As in the leaning tower. Again, I found myself in a circle of foreigners in Spain all speaking their second languages. It's such a neat, beautiful mix of cultures. One of the best parts was hearing the Italian girl use her fantastic accent talents. She is able to flawlessly speak Spanish in a Spanish accent, Italian accent, or an American accent. And the latter two are simply hilarious. ;)

I'm looking forward to catching up on all of my planning and work and also to a "normal" week. I suppose weeks are never quite normal in Spain, but this is the closest I get. So. With all of those grand adventures squeezed into a few bursting paragraphs, I'll let you simply enjoy the pictorial evidence of it all. Take care!

London, Beautiful London. As seen from the Tate Modern, which I finally had the opportunity to walk around and shake my head at. I'm not much of a modern art aficionado. hehe.

Me and Ellie, jubilant at Kensington Gardens.

The beautiful location of Singin' in the Rain. :)

Our huge jeep/land rover things parked on the dunes to let us play...

Me with two of my fantastic students!

A weekend in Sevilla

Hi y’all. I couldn’t help starting that way, just to make up for all of the “y’alls” I lose here—not really on the tops list as far as words I use. ;)

Big news! Big big! I was accepted as an RUF intern! I should know my campus placement by the end of March, at which point I’ll start raising funds. If I’ve raised 85% of my budget, I’ll get to move ahead and go to my campus sometime in August! [I’m very excited about this.]

In other news, last Friday night was fun. Picture this. A French girl, a Polish girl, and 3 Americans, all speaking in Spanish, go out for Mexican food (which is quite a rarity, let me tell you) in Seville, Spain. Yep. That’s a regular Friday night for me. I’ve found myself in situations here that would be nothing but ridiculous back in Birmingham. But here, 3 different nationalities and a second language all around is quite normal. It was quite fun, for the record!

Also, Ellie, Sara, and I have decided to find a favorite cafe in Sevilla this semester. We live really close to this area called “La Alameda de Hercules,” and it is positively surrounded by little cafes and restaurants. On Thursday, Friday, or Saturday evenings, it’s swarming with socializing Spaniards. It’s so very festive! Instead of having people over to their apartments, Sevillians just meet out at a cafe, many of them in the alameda. (which means “mall,” to give you an idea of what it's like.) So, as we live 3 minutes away from this jewel, we’ve decided to find a cafe to call our own. We started this quest on Sunday night by eating at a little restaurant that had rather delicious pizza. It is only a restaurant, though, so it can’t count as our favorite cafe. On our way back home, there was a jazz group putting on a concert in one of the cafes near us. How delightful! I’m all full of new appreciation for this unique area in Sevilla.

I have a regular week of work this week, and then on Friday Ellie and I head to London again. This time, we’re staying for 5 nights! So exciting. We hope to see Matilda the musical, which I’m reallyexcited about. So. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep this blog somewhat updated. But if not, I apologize in advance. Just expect lots of interesting things upon my return. :)

Peace!

Here's a picture of the Alameda. Hopefully I'll take some of my own some day soon. :)

Help Me, Ronda!

Hi there! Happy Tuesday! Though technically, there’s only a smidgen of Tuesday left for me. ;)

Last weekend was a good one. We started it off by meeting up with four other auxiliars (with a great mix from CA, NY, England, and Scotland) for dinner at “Peggy Sue’s American Diner.” This place is as close to Johnny Rockets as you can get in Spain. Except, get this—the jute boxes at your table are free! No coin needed! Fun. Unfortunately, this restaurant plunged me into the most difficult position: trying to pronounce English words in a Spanish accent. I’ve gotten fairly good at reading whatever I need to in Spanish with the correct pronunciation. But if it’s an English word, I can’t help reverting back to the, well, correct pronunciation. You would think that’s fine. But no, not ok. Spaniards literally won’t understand you. So as I ordered my “Elvis Presley” pizza, I found myself struggling to say “Elvees Prezlay” instead of his real name. But only after I got the blank stare at the true pronunciation. It’s so hilarious! So yes indeed, familiar English words pronounced correctly are the most difficult words to communicate now.Who would have thought?

After that, we had a great weekend of catching up on things we needed to do, followed by a lovely trip to Ronda on Monday. This little “pueblo blanco” is snuggled into a rather mountainous region, and about halfway through the bus ride, it becomes impossible to read or sleep because the bus is whirling around curves on the edge of mountains faster than you think is advisable. The real treasure of this town is the “Puente Nuevo,” or the “New Bridge.” New, as in built in 1751. Ha. Makes you realize how young our history in the U.S. really is, eh? Ellie and I enjoyed our leisurely day wandering around the pueblo, the beautiful parks that overlooked the mountains, and our hike partially down the epic gorge. Ooh! And there was a sheep playground. That’s right. The whole play area for children was bedecked with hilarious, frolicking sheep. Maybe I’ll get some pictures of that up one of these days. Alan, I wish you were there. I would have loved to hear/ see your reaction. ;) All of that’s not to mention the delicious Spanish cuisine we indulged in for lunch. I had “revuelto de patatas,” which is a dish with eggs and potatoes. Of course, it had ham in it too. Here in Spain, there’s almost always an extra meat add-in that is left out of the description. I’m quite accustomed to that by now. It was also topped with two grand grilled peppers. Yum. The day was lovely, and I was so glad we got to visit this little village I have been wanting to see for quite some time. That’ll do for a Monday, let me tell you. :)

In other news, I’ve decided to apply for the RUF internship for the next two years. (!) If you haven’t heard me talk about it before, I’m surprised. :) I’ve been thinking about it and praying about whether I should jump in to this opportunity since the first semester of my sophomore year at Samford. I’m so very excited to see where this will lead. My interview is next Monday—so soon! I’ve been reviewing the guiding questions they provided about the interview today, and it’s only made me more excited. I’m also quite nervous, because it just seems so, well, nebulous and unguaranteed. I have to raise $33,000 dollars, for goodness sakes! And nothing in me wants to be calling people up asking them for money. But everything inside me wants to be a part of this college ministry, and my heart has been yearning for this opportunity for years now. So I finally stopped running away. Awkward phone calls, here I come. But I trust that God will work even the awkwardness out for my good in the end, no matter if I raise enough support to reach a campus next August or not. So there we have it!

What an epic post. Whew! Congratulations for reading all of that. You’re quite good to do so. Abrazos from Spain!

The view from one of the lovely parks on the edge of the town...and the edge of the cliff.

Me and Ellie with the impressive Puente Nuevo behind us.

And there it is--wow!

Suddenly I am such an Epic Blogger--Emily, be proud!

Sometimes, I have the privilege, or the unpleasant shock, as the case may be, of having a distinct moment of clarity just as I wake up. It’s as if all of the clouds are suddenly pushed away, and everything looks clear. Or as if I’m given a ten second ticket to the moon, where I can be outside of my own life, looking in and evaluating it in a split second. Today I had a cloud-clearing moment. And I’d like to share it with you.

I got through with school an hour early and skipped merrily home. Then I got a text from the family I tutor, and they said they couldn’t have any classes today. Suddenly, a day that was going to be quite busy was clear. Since I didn’t get much sleep last night, I decided to indulge in a nap. A power nap, to be specific. I mastered the art of the 15 minute nap between classes in college, and it still comes in handy here in Spain every once in a while.

This is all very ordinary, boring information right now. But here’s what happened. When I woke up, the first thing I saw was the picture of Alabama I have hanging on my wall. It’s an artful drawing of some of the main attractions in our state, all in blues, greens, browns, and yellows. I mounted it on scrapbook paper and enjoy displaying my home sweet home here in my little bedroom in Spain. Here’s the thing, though. Two years ago, I would never hang a picture of Alabama on my wall. Why would I? Though I was fond of my home, there has never been a part of me that is particularly in love with my home state. No need to make any crafts in the shape of Alabama, or anything. Leave that for the Texans.

But Spain has quite changed that. Since living in Spain, I’ve realized how much we have to be thankful for about life in Alabama. For starters, it’s a whole community of people I can communicate perfectly with. Well, not perfectly, because we still have our issues, but I at least have a fighting chance. I feel so prepared to deal with things like problems with the internet, electricity bill, or the error in my total at the store. After haltingly attempting to solve those problems in Spanish, shoot. Bring them on in English. What’s more, Alabama is a beautiful state. As I teach my students about my home, its culture, and its landscape, I can’t help but realize how lucky we are. We have gorgeous mountains, parks, trails, and wildlife immediately around us in Birmingham. Not so in Sevilla!

So there I was, lying there looking at this sign of Alabama with this phony sense of love for that good state. And marveling at the fact that life has brought me here, to this small, white-walled room in Southern Spain, for 9 months. If you had told my 16- year-old self that I would live in Spain for almost a year (or England for 4 months, to boot), I would have been certain you mixed up your predictions. That must be for some other Katie. Yet here I am! What better illustration can there be of God’s magnificent control of this world? Life surprises most of us. I can count myself on that list many times over even at the age of 23. But nothing surprises the Lord. And He’s working it all for our good, which comes through His glory. Looking at that picture of Alabama, I understood that anew for just a moment. It’s going to be hard to wrap my mind around how much I’ve learned when this adventure in Spain is all over. But for now, I’m thankful to see just a glimpse of it.

Apart from these deep moments of reflection, I’ve got some other plans for this extra free time. Tonight, I’m cooking. I hardly have time to really make a good dish, and today’s the day. I’m also going to make brownies, hoping that my Spanish roomie Sandra will love them and be converted forever. (Though that would actually be sad, as they might be difficult to make here in Spain…). I’m going to plan some trips that we hope to take in the next few weeks (Cadíz, Málaga, and London, here we come!), and watch part of Matilda in Spanish. (My brain can only handle so much at a time!) And all of this with the new mini-heater I bought last night close by, making my flat about 95% more comfortable. What a lovely day it has turned out to be!

And so I’m forced to do it at some point because I told you I would, I must update you on church in Sevilla as well as tell you about a typical day for me sometime soon. We’ll see how that goes. Yep. Ya está! (That’s it!)