Aventuras de España: Learning to speak human

Hola todos! Yet another week has passed, and I can hardly believe it! I know I say it practically every week, but time goes by so incredibly fast here, I can hardly keep up with it! So this week was a week of getting to know people better and spending time with friends. While I didn't go on any big excursion, I had a lot of great small ones here around Sevilla.

I guess I have to start at Monday. On this day I had my Flamenco dance class as always, but today we also had to pick a partner with whom we would dance for the rest of the semester. While this sounds so simple, this was a really big decision, and I had to laugh because we all seemed like we were in middle school gym class, and no one wanted to make the first move. Fortunately, by the time class was over we all had chosen a partner and survived ;)

On Tuesday and Wednesday I had my small group and Encuentro respectively. While I always feel spiritually nourished after these, this week was especially great. Between what I have talked about in these groups and the conversations and activities I have had with people here this week, I have really been able to understand how to listen and act upon the will of God more clearly and have seen how God works for the good of His people. It has been really exciting to see God work within and through me these past 6 weeks, even if its only something small!

Thursday was also a day of connections for me. First, after school I was able to go out with a small group for coffee to celebrate my friend's birthday. While it wasn't a big celebration, it was great to simply take a break and enjoy each other's company and celebrate together (and I tried my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of my life... call me stereotypical, but it was pretty good!). In the afternoon I went over to the hospital where the old me now live to play Bingo again. This time there were only 3 of us students who showed up, but I was really glad I went! The men are very sweet, and you can tell it means a lot to them that you are there... even though half the time I can't make out what they're saying! Plus, I have a friend there who I see every week when we go for Encuentro, and I had told him I would come back for Bingo. Overall it was a very fun night, and I was really glad I went!

The next day we decided to go out and celebrate the birthday of another one of my friends here. We all got dressed up and then met up together for a Flamenco show, which was amazing! For those of you who have yet to experience one, in a Flamenco show there will be 1+ dancers, and then a guitarist and usually a singer. This show had 2 dancers, a man and a women. The show was absolutely wonderful- the passion and talent of each of the performers was very obvious, but not in an obnoxious way. Every song they were so in sync with each other, it was incredible. Before one of the songs, the singer talked to the audience and said, in effect, "Flamenco has no language. It doesn't matter where you come from, everyone from every language understands it," and it's true. The majority of the song is about the emotion you portray, which is done through more than words. I think this is why I love watching and listening to Flamenco so much! After the concert we all went out for tapas and just had a really great night in each other's company.

Yesterday I also had a really great time simply in the company of others. In the morning I did a little exploring around the city with friends, and was able to visit 2 museums really close to my house that I didn't even know existed! For lunch we ate at my host mom's mom's house (host-abuela?) because my host family went on vacation this weekend (this is a holiday weekend over here). My host-grandma is also a host mom, so this weekend we have been fortunate to eat with 2 other girls from our program and get a glimpse into their home life (and eat some really delicious food!). In the afternoon I went with some friends to the movies, which was a really exciting experience. We decided to watch a thriller/mystery movie that was made in Spain, and it was something else. The movie itself was really good, but between the 6 of us we maybe got 70% of the plot. Most of the time we were just laughing at things that in reality were not supposed to be funny, and trying to figure out the main points of the plot. Even though the movie was a little more gruesome than I prefer, I still had a great time and hope to go back some other time this semester.

Today for church I decided to try out a new place where a Spanish friend of ours goes, and it was a really good decision. Just in the first 10 min of walking in I was approached by 3 or 4 members of the church who immediately approached me, talked to me, and made me feel welcomed. This warm reception is something that I have really missed being here, where strangers usually look at each other with a blank stare, if they look at all. I had a huge grin on my face the entire time, because it was the first time I could do so and not look like a huge flirt/American!

As I look at the upcoming week there are definitely things I could use prayer for. First, this week I have 3 exams (midterms I guess) in two days, as well as a very packed schedule the days beforehand. On top of this, I have been having some signs of a cold coming in, which is definitely a pain in the butt! So prayers for health, strength, motivation, and endurance in this upcoming week would be much needed and appreciated! Thanks again for all the support and prayers this past week, I can definitely feel them! Remember, feel free to Facebook/email me any time, I love hearing from you all (I also love mail, hint hint ;) )

Love and miss you all!

Hasta luego,

Rachel :)