Exploring a Pueblo

    Remember that pueblo that I found this morning while trying to find my church?  Well it was beautiful, so my roommate and I decided to go back this afternoon and explore.  We had nothing better to do, so we walked up and down the mountain.  It was a lot darker and overcast compared to this morning, but it was still phenomenal.

There were all these wood paths, and staircases made out of
wood and stone set into the mountain.

I hadn't realized until I stumbled upon this pueblo how much I missed not living in the city.  My host mom had mentioned just a couple nights ago that my roommate and I must feel claustrophobic at times since we aren't from the city.  When she asked, I said it didn't seem that bad.  However, walking through the village was extremely refreshing.  The air didn't smell of cigarette smoke and other city smells, and there were birds singing and plants!!

I definitely want to go back!!

Psycho Sundays

      The past few weekends, I have gone on several adventures in my search for the church I had planned on attending while here in Barcelona.  The name of the church is The International Church of Barcelona, and someone from Hope had told me about this church.  I had also looked it up online and was encouraged by what I read online.  The services are in English, and are apparently are similar to Hope's chapel services.  The first weekend I spent in Spain, I was on a mandatory study trip to Madrid so I was unable to go to church.  Last weekend,  January 20th, I was looking forward to go because I was getting slightly homesick. There are two services, one at 10:00 and one at 12:00 and I planned on going to the 12:00 service. However, I ended up getting on the wrong metro, rode it for twenty minutes, and missed the service.  I was upset about missing church, but I went on a long run while blasting Hillsong and I felt better.  This Sunday, determined to make it to the service, I decided to aim for the 10:00 service, and left half an hour early so I would have plenty of time to find the church.  I made sure that I boarded the correct metro line, got off at the correct stop, and then everything went downhill form there.  I was in this little pueblo, which was beautiful.  It was up in the mountains, there was mist everywhere, and no one was up.  I found a building that matched the address, but no one was around and when I walked around it, I could find no way to get in.  I decided to walk around the village adn ended up walking up and down the mountain on wooden steps, rock staircases, and driveways without finding anything.  I finally ran into this man with his son around 10:30.  I asked him where the church was, and he led me back to the original building that I had found.  he was really nice and helpful and made sure I found my way into the courtyard of the building   All the doors were locked so I decided to wait around and see if any one showed up. I read my Bible for about 15 minutes and then some people came into the courtyard and gave a really weird look.  This lady came up to me and asked her if I was at the church.  She told me that the church was back in the city, I was at the administration building where the Pastors lived. I got back on the metro, got back to the city center, and called my roommate.  She gave me directions to the church, but then I ended up getting lost and her phone had died so I couldn't call her back.  By this point, I was tired, hungry, and my feet hurt, but I was kinda having fun on my adventure.  I decided to head home at 12:15.  On my way back, I got a little turned around so it took me longer than it should've  but I ran into a woman passing out Gospel Tracks on the side of the street.  She tried to give me a track, but I told her I already had a relationship with Jesus Christ, and that I had actually tried to get to church that morning.  We had a good conversation which was really encouraging.  Hopefully, now that I have the accurate address, I will make it to church next weekend!! Third time is the charm right??

Exploring God's Creation

1-20-13

     It's seems like forever ago when I first arrived in Spain.  So much has happened! Last weekend the people in my program took a required trip to Madrid.  We rode the Ave, which is one of three high speed trains in the world.  We were going 200mph! Because we were only in Madrid for a weekend, we only visited the main areas of the city like the Plaza Mayor, El Palicio Real, and the Museo del Reina Sofia.  Because I had been there before, it wasn't as fun as it could've been and it was super cold.  But the hotel was really nice and it had amazing showers! I almost forgot to mention, a couple days before we left for Madrid, we took a walking tour of Barcelona's Gothic Quarter.  It was gorgeous and it was neat to see all the ancient buildings.  There were even ancient Roman Pillars that I have been preserved.  

    This past week was my first full week of classes.  I am taking a required Grammar class, The Modern History of Spain, Sports and Society in Spain, Music and Identity in Spain, and The Gypsies of Spain.  I originally was taking a Language and Communications class instead of the Modern History class, but it was a little over my head.  The professor spoke really rapidly, and the readings had a lot of academic wordings so that I would miss the meaning of the text.  So far I am really enjoying all of my classes.  There is a lot of reading, but it is interesting.  There is a lot of overlap between my classes too because my Gypsy, Music, and Sports classes all deal with the evolving of Spain's national identity over time and how these different elements helped create each distinct part of Spain.  I also really enjoy how small my program is.  My friends and I are in a lot of the same classes so we are able to study together and help each other out.

    Outside of classes, My friends and I visited a museum near Montjuic.  It was in a mosque type building that used to be a factory.  It was a historical museum and well as an art museum with outside walkways connecting the different rooms.  I thought it was very fascinating because there was a lot of stuff from ancient Bible times.  There were artifacts from Ur from Abraham's time and there was an architects map of the walls of Nebuchadnezzar Palace.  On Wednesday, we went to a Barca game!! It was awesome! Barca ended up tying 2-2, but it was awesome and the fans were crazy.  This weekend, we visited Parque Guell which was designed by the famous artist Gaudi.  I had visited the park the last time I was in Barcelona, but had only been to the main part.  Friday we walked through the different paths and it was beautiful.  Last night we went out for tapas!! We got all dressed up and went to a place in the Gothic part of Barcelona that our host sister told us about.  It was delicious and I felt like a true Spaniard.  

    I started running this week as well and it has really helped me map my section of the city in my head.  So far I have run to La Sagrada Familia, the Arc de Triumf, the huge Arena Mall, and the Zoo of Barcelona.  I also discovered a couple of parks really near where I live that I went to visit to do homework and eat lunch.  

El Comienzo de una Aventura

¡Hola a Todos!
     My first few days in Barcelona have been amazing! My battery charger broke, and then the batteries I bought didn't work, so I don't have any pictures to share yet.  It's been nice to just take in the scenery and to get my bearings exploring the city.
    My host family is really nice.  The mom talks really fast and sometimes it's hard for me to understand her, but she is nice and extremely helpful.  Plus she cooks amazing food! The first night we had Spanish tortilla and then last night we had pasta with a bacon sauce on top.  The daughter is a couple years older than me, and is taking classes at a university.  She is super outgoing and friendly which makes it easier to feel comfortable right away.  The son is a year younger and seems nice but slightly quieter around my roommate and me.  My roommate is from North Carolina.  We get along really well so far.
    Today, we visited this place called El Poble Espanyol.  It was representative of the different architectural designs found throughout Spain.  Because there are four main regions in Spain, the architecture is very different and shows many different influences.  Then we went to a restaurant for lunch that was paid for by IES.  We ate so much food!!! We had mussels, tomato bread with olive oil, salad, and calamari,  And that was just the appetizer! For the main course we had seafood paella. Then they brought dessert which was crema catalana.  It was like a pudding with caramelized sugar on top. It was incredible! Our professor kept putting more food on our plates when ever we'd stop eating so I ate way too much but it was worth it.  Then I went home to nap off the effects of lunch.
     Afterwards I met up with my roommate to do a little shopping/exploring.  Now we are back at the flat relaxing until dinner.
Adios!!