Home....

I miss home like crazy. I am really ready to comehome because I have not been traveling lately. It's really sad, because I know that I will be missing Spain in just a few short weeks. There are lots of things about Spain that I am going to miss. I have decided that I am going to list them, so you will know some of my favorite things about Spain.

-Salad with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, with salt, vinager, and olive oil for dressing
-Walking everywhere-litereally everywhere. I like being able to be productive on the bus
-Being able to be out of phone reach, planning ahead, following through and being patient when waiting for others to arrive instead of calling(not hearing cell phone ringsall the time)
-Being able to go to 3 countries in 3 weeks-for really cheap
-Seeing all my NEW FRIENDS whenever I want
-Watching the Tech games live from 2-6 am.....
-Spaking Spanish all the times (this really includes when I can't think of the English words for things, because all I can do is speak in Spanish)
-My Spanish family (and all that entails, which is a LOT...)
-Not having to express my emotions with everyone, because I don't know how to do that in Spainish-I do however love being able to say what I want, when I want....it's freeing
-Soup for lunch with FRESH warm bread
-Being stared at, since clearly I look good ALL the time. It's the blond hair....
-Talking in English and knowing no one will understand what I am saying...
-Saying Merry Christmas, instead of Happy Holidays
-The fabulous people at the "Casa de los Ancianos" All of them, whom I love!!!
-Tinto Veranos
-Dancing Sevillanas
-Parks and Tapas
-Easy school

There is probably more, but I don't know for now. I think next I will talk about what I miss most about the United States

-FAMILY
-TJ
-FRIENDS
-Mexican food
-Ranch Dressing
-Being able to talk to whom I want, when I want, no questions asked...
-Knowing everything about everyone back home. I just want to be informed, and be able to ease drop with EASE... not have to work to translate it.
-Central heat and air conditoning...
-Being able to throw my clothes in the dryer to shrink them up a little bit
-Chosing who I WANT to hang out with.....(even though I like people here, it would be nice to change it up a bit)
-Fast food American style
-Cheddar cheese, American Cheese, Black olives without pits, pickles
-Swing dancing
-A little responsibility....
-Driving my car

I don't know. There is more, but if I keep talking, I will make myself even more homesick. I will be home soon!

So where to begin???

You probably want to know about Switzerland, huh? Basically I loved Suiza more than anywhere I have been outside of Spain. (Ronda is the place in Spain that is my favorite) It was small mountian town meets Europe with an incredible result. We went to Interlaken, which is the extreme sports capital of the world, in case you didn't know. We had planned on going Bungee Jumping 450 meters, touching the water in the river below, but infortunatly it was closed for the season because it snowed the day that we arrived.... So, we rented 4 wheelers and went up into the mountians and went searching for waterfalls, which we found! It was great! The snow was melting a little, so all the mountians and cliffs had lots of HUGE waterfalls coming off of them. What beauty. People deny that a God created us?

I went to Suiza with a group of 12 people, including myself, which was great! These people are seriously some of my favorite ever!

While we were 4 wheeling, (6 of us) the other half were mountian biking. They were hard core, but we passed them in a matter of minutes, which made us feel really good. Anyways, when we were finished 4 wheeling, we decided that we would push the limits of extreme a little more and go skydiving. Sooooo, we went skydiving. That's right. Skydiving over the Swiss Alps! I went with Amy, Brian and Ryan. My friend Jennifer went with us to take pictures. I don't really feel like I can write much about it, because it was one of the best experiences in my life! I just don't have the words, but don't worry, I got pictures and video... so I will share when I return to the States! Let me say this, though: From 13500 feet, the mountians were breathtaking... It was stellar!

The next day, the whole group and I went and rented motos (that's what they call mopeds) for about 6 hours and we went riding around in the mountians. We had a moped gang! It was hillarious seeing (picture this with me) 12 Americans on 7 motos all bundled up riding through the Swiss Alps, and all these Swiss towns. hahaha! Don't worry. The next day we spent hours shopping around the whole city of Interlaken, where we all bought Swiss Army knives, Swiss chocolate and Swiss cheese.

It was really a trip of a lifetime, because we spended the night in the Mailan airport, on the floor. We also met 3 other girls from our group there. All 15 of us were on the same flight back to Sevilla. One of the things that made this trip so fun, besides the opbious skydiving over the Swiss Alps) was really getting to know our group. We all slept in a hostel room with 12 beds-and it was like a slumberparty with 11 of your best friends every night for 5 days. What a way to get to know people really well, huh?

I feel like I need to take some time to talk about our group. The instructors and staff at TTU Sevilla say that we are the best group they have ever had. There are 28 of us and we ALL GET ALONG! Although there are people that we like more than others, (duh!) we ALL GET ALONG! We love eachother. We don't have spats. We want to know eachother. We love to be together. We share the same intrests BUT we are all VERY different. We would not be this good of friends, if friends at all at Tech. So how will we adjust back into society with out our Spainish friends? Or with our Spainish friends and other friends? How are we going to mesh our two realities? We don't know right now, but we do know that we are having a blast learning, loving and traveling together. :-)

Be jelous! (Oh, and we got repremanded at the hostel for yelling when TECH beat UT and we found out. We also sang the fight song and the kickoff song at kickoff-1 AM....)

Paris for my birthday

So I hate to be cliche, but I will have to agree with the rest of the world on thinking that Paris is the most romantic places in the world. This weekend was everything that I wanted it to be and so much more. Because I dan't have time to go into details, but I will hit the highlights-and let you know everything that we did in 3 days in paris. My friends that went with me are Jennifer, Erica, Maggie and Micah. Then, I had some other of our friends meet us there to participate in other evernts. They are Amy, Cayla, John, Nicole and Sasha.


We saw and explored:
-Cimetiere du Montparnasse
-Palais de Congrés
-Arc d´Triomphe
-La Siene
-Moulin Rouge
-Opéra Garnier-my favoirte building in all of Paris
-Palais du Louvre-WOW!
-Palais du Luxembourg-Sénate
-Jardins du Luxembourg
-The Pantheón
-Notre-Dame
-The Place where Princess Diana died
-Of course, the Tour Eiffel

Some of these places were explored extensivly while others we simply saw from a distance, but none the less, we saw it all. Are you impresed? You should be.

I don't know why the French have such a bad reputation in the states. The French have been the nicest out of anyone from any country that I have been in thus far. They all wanted to help is get around the city easily. When we tried to speak French, they helped us out (by teaching us Frnech) and then clarified in English. It was great! I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that France is run by tourists, but I don't know. They all went above and beyond about being nice. Long story short, I think lots of my friends will be going back again soon. Some for long term, other just to visit.

My new found love has become crépes. Crépes with chocolate, crépes with Nutella, crépes with Jelly, crépes with Cinnamon and sugar, crépes with applebutter and cinnamon. All sorts of delicious crépes. I would highly recommend them from France... ;-) Nedless to say, we tried delicious French food.

All these things + Paris+my birthday+my 22nd birthday+some of my favorite people=a really unforgettable weekend.

Lisbon, Portugal and all it's happenings!

Yes, my second try in Portugal was much more sucessful than the first, although it did rain again. It didn't pour all weekend, though, which was a definate plus.

We saw all sorts of neat things while we were in Lisbon. Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and it is very different than Spain. I have descirbed Lisbon as the San Fransico of Europe. It has a suspension bridge that the one in San Fransico was desinged after. It is right on the water and the city is huge. It has a very efficient metro system and LOTS of history in it. The city is WAY to big to feel like we explored the whole thing in 4 days. I would say we only hit the tip of the iceberg...We went shopping in a shopping center right under a bull ring. That was an adventure. We also got to see the aquarium. When I went out exploring, I happened upon a National Park of Portugal, which was beautiful. We also went to a nearby city called Sintra. This is the place where all the nobles of Lisbon when to build their summer castles. It was really neat to be able to see. Also, Portugal is the number one producer of cork in the world. We got to see all sorts of cork trees and fun things that were made out of cork. It was really neat climbing in the national park because cork trees were everywhere.

The group and I also went to a huge monastary dedicated to one of the great explorers of Portugal. There were so many different parts of this city that I don't feel like I can do it justice by describing it. The architecture of this city was incredible. There weren't two buildings next to eachother that were both the same shape. Everything in Lisbon was different colors and shapes and styles. It was a haven for people that love and can apperciate architecture-needless to say the architects in our group were happy...

Anyways, I leave for Madrid by bus tomorrow. Then Thursday morning I fly out with some friends to Paris. That's right. I will be there Thursday monring through Sunday morning. Awesome trip, huh? I'm excited!

Guess what? I also voted today. I finished my absentee ballott and it will be sent in soon. My second presidental election, and I have now voted from two different countries... cool, huh? I thought so! Love you and miss you all!

Venice

Yes, the rumors you heard are true. I spent the weekend in Venice. My roommate, Maggie and I had a roomies trip. We flew from Sevilla to Milan (the fashion capital of the world) and took a train to Venice from there. The train station was everything I had hoped it would be. The train was great because we got to see lots of the countryside, which was beautiful. Here is a picture of the train station.

We spent Thursday and Friday exploring Venice. We stayed in a cabin/hostel thing. We only had 2 real Italian meals, in a successful effort to save some money. We got lost in Venice, which was planned, because we left our map at the hostel. We met our neighbors, Max and Sarah from Seattle. We also met some Gondola friends, Jess and Ian. That's right! I said Gondola! Not only did we get to ride a gondola, we got to ride it for 1/2 price because we made friends with the drivers! Great job, huh? We thought so. We also saw St. Marcos Plaza and the Grand canal.

We left Venice and it's all Italian autmosphere to view Milan on Saturday morning. We spent the day in Milan. No one there speaks English or Spanish, which made communication quite difficult. Maggie even dared to get her hair cut, although she couldn't speak the language. It turned out great, though. After a long day of shopping (and not buying) we headed to the airport on our first double decker bus! We had the whole top layer to ourselfes.... which is dangerous with a camera.

We spent the night in the cold, cold airport on the ground because our flight left at 6:30 am. We didn't want to get a hotel. Only catch? The airport closed at 10:30 p.m. hahahaha. Fun night overall. We came back into town exhausted, only to find we were locked out of our house and our family wasn't home. They quickly came to our rescue and we slept the day away. All in all a very good weekend.

Culture differences

-smoking is everywhere. Everyone does it

-Everyone here thows thier trash on the ground because the street sweepers come every night and clean the streets

-There is only one trashcan and one clock in the whole house...and no kleenex

-There is no phrase in Spanish for "Can I please have" only "I want" and "I need" Everyone here is very upfront. Oiga!

-You must wear shoes at all times, even walking around the house

-They don't ever drink milk... only EAT CHEESE!!!!

P.S.-My birthday is in 10 days. If you want to mail me something, you better get to it. Here is my address:

Jessica Fowler

44 Recaredo

41003 Sevilla, Spain

I expect lots of packages and mail!

Lagos, Portugal

We went to Lagos, Portugal this weekend. It is just the beach... it was beautiful...

and it rained all weekend. That pretty much sums up the weekend. I had fun.... but it rained... the weekend when I was supposed to get my last tan of the summer.... it rained. SAD....

But, Maggie and I leave for Venice in 2 days, so I still have hope. Be jealous! ;-)

Granada and Toros

I spent the weekend in Granada. We got to see the famous Alambra, which is a castle built by the Muslims and adapted by the Christians. However, most of the Muslim Palace was left in tact. The grounds included a fortress, a castle, summer castle, gardens of Generalife (pronounced herneral-eefe). Although this was very impressive, if was just like what we have already seen but on a much alrger scale. I really liked the city of Granada--It was larger than Sevilla, but used to many tourists. We got to speak English for a little while, which was nice. Many people loved the city of Granada more than any city we have been. I liked it, but I didn´t think it held a candle to Rhonda.

We also got to see La Alambra get lit up at night. We spent a long time climbing the mountianous streets to get to the lookout point. From the lookout, we could see the sun set, and the Alambra light up slowly. It was breathtaking. We spent the night here. Then next morning we went shopping in the local Morrocan market. This was a fun place to find lots of souveniers... but they were all African, and not so much Spanish, so I didn´t buy much....

We returned Saturday evening to a house full of Spaniards. My host mom (Manuela) had her birthday last Thrusday, so they had the whole family over. It was also a good night because after everyone left, our host sister Lola and her fiancé took us dancing. It was a group of us, and about 5 other Americans and about 7 other Spainiards. We had met all the Spainiards before, and I think we are all friends.... which makes me excited...

Sunday though, was my favorite part of the whole weekend. We went to a bull fight. I can´t tell you how incredible it was. We learned all about the bull fight last week. In one fight, there are 3 matadors and each one gets 2 bulls. There are 4 parts to each bull fight.

1) When the bull first comes out, from a dark tunnel into the bright bull ring (they are colorblind and only watch for movement)

2) Picadors (guys on horses) weaken the bull with only 2 stabs with a long stick.

3) Bondaeros (3 sets of 2 each) are but into the neck muscles of the bull to weaken their neck muscles. This will make it more difficult for them to keep their heads up.

4) The final kill, made with one swift sword pass by the matador--only after studying the bulls movements for several passes.

The bull fight was awesome. Many of the guys in the group didn´t like it, but the girls all did.... The fight we went to was with smaller bulls and matadors who were trying to make themselves know. I want to go to a large bull fight now.

That´s all for the weekend....But this weekend, I really felt like I was in SPAIN, which is exciting!

Everything

Everything here is different. Everything here is later in the day. Everything here is new. Everything here is natural. Everything here is good. Everything here is in Spanish. Everything here is more complicated.

I like it here, but I will be glad to come home. I miss reality. I feel like I´m in a spectacular dream. I want to be able to wake up for a bit, and go right back to sleep and keep dreaming. Does that make sense?

Tomorrow we are off to Granada. It´s supposed to be more beautiful than Ronda, but I can´t believe it. I will let you know. I finished my 3rd Seviallans dance class, and I´m worn out and tired, but I´m hopelessly addicted. I will give you all shows when I get back. If you are lucky, I will buy a dress, and dress up for you all. The shows will cost you though, depending on how much money I spend while I´m over here.

Venice instead of Barcelona-- because my flight got cancelled. Paris for my birthday, then backpacking through Sueza (Switzerland). All in all, I´m excited, but I wish you all could be here to experience it with me.

A weekend at "home"

I feel as if I´m in Sevilla, but I know what I´m doing... I feel as if I am finally comfortable with the people I am around, the place I am in, and the things that I am learning. Let me tell you, I am learning a lot. I´m not just talking about Spanish, but I´m learning a lot about myself and other people. This weekend, a bunch of people went to Cadíz, a local beach, but I decided that my time and money would be better spent at home. I spent the weekend walking around Sevilla, getting to know everything about it. I went to the famous Plaza de España and took lots of pitures. I have started to meet new friends, Spanish friends, and hang out with them. I met a lady walking home from school who said we could come over and practive our Spanish. She lives just two blocks from me. Also, Maggie and I met a guy who plays baseball in Spain, but he´s from the Dominican Republic, and he wants to hang out with us too. Also, I have met some friends at work that want to hang out and do an intercambio of English and Spanish. I finally walked to school, and it took me 53 minutes, and I walked really fast.

Other culture changes

-When buying fruit, they ring up the fruit at that part of the store, not when you pay
-When you are dating someone, you wear a ring on your ring finger of your left hand. When you get married, the ring moves to your left hand.
-Mini-Coopers are a regular sized car here.... I have only seen 1 truck since I have been in Spain.
-Crosswalks are used. Only cross the street at a crosswalk, unless you want to get hit. Also, the stoplights are low, so people roll all the way up to them. There is no 20 foot behind the stoplight rule in Spain. This is why you stick to the crosswalks.

More later. I´m off to work!

A typical day in Sevilla

I don´t know if I have already written about any of this stuff, but I´m going to tell you about my typical day, what I´m doing now, and what I´m planning on doing. I will also throw in some more culture stuff, if you want me to or not...

Every morning, I ride the bus to work about 8:30 in the morning at the Residencia de los Ansianos (Residents of the Ancients-literally translated) and I help them eat breakfast and get dresses. Then I take a brisk little walk to school, where I go to class from 10:30-12. Then I walk back to work, where I work from 12 ish until 1:30 or 2. Then I ride the bus home for lunch and take a siesta (which is usually longer than I plan for it to be...) The second half of the day varies, depending on the day. I eaither go back to school for internet use (which I´m doing now) or do various activites around Sevilla. Dinner is around 9:30, and if I go out, it´s not usually until about 11 or 11:30. This brings me to some culture differences, but I will save them until later.

Here´s an update on my life. I have been meeting all the residents at the place that I work, and all the nuns. I love them all. I have learned to feed people that can´t move/walk as well as how to have conversations with old women in Spainish (which I think is pretty impressive...) Today I got to help everyone work out in the gym, and I got to toss different colored balloons around. It was my favorite time at work so far!

I also had my first exam in my clase de literatura infantíl (Children´s Lit.) and I´m pretty sure I´m making good grades. I will be able to tell you tomorrow. The book study that Maggie, Jen and I were starting has continued to be passed around most of the group. We are all taking turns writing in the book, which will be really interesting. The book is on the outlook of God on Sexuality in refrence to United States culture. It´s been really neat being able to hear the responses of other people who have read the book.

Sunday I got to go to the market with Ana, my host sister. We went and looked for many different things, but ended up coming back with new towels and sheets for Maggie and I´s beds. She also bought some clothes, I think. It was an experience, to say the least. Maggie and I also sucessfully walked home from the middle of the city last week, which was a HUGE success. It didn´t end up taking us as long as we originally thought, but we haven´t walked from the school yet. It´s really nice to know that you know where you are going, and don´t have to worry about getting lost for hours. Something about it makes me feel less like a tourist, and more like I live here. I spent a few hours yesterday with a new tutor. He was very good with helping answer Maggie and I´s questions about the Spanish culture, but he didn´t do a very good job helping us with our Spanish, which was frusterating.

While walking home yesterday, Maggie and I were speaking only Spanish to eachother, and we made a friend. IT´S OUR FIRST FRIEND THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SCHOOL!!! We were really excited. We were speaking Spanish, and this lady, named Beatrice, tols us that our Spanish was very proper and correct. She lives only about 2 black from us, and invited us over to come and practice our Spanish whenever we want!!! She also gave us some hints about the neighborhood that we live in, as far as where to go to get good icecream and coffee. We will have to go and visit her later....

I´m feeling great about being here. I´m finally feeling like I fit in a little more in the culture. I also am learning to put myself out there and try to talk. At first, I just like to listen because I pretty much understand everything that is said to me. I´m learning to ask questions more now, and not let Maggie do all the talking. ;-)

Future Plans- This weekend we are going to the beach called Cadís. We are going to Paris for my birthday and I think I´m going to end up going to Switzerland for my long vacation...backpacking with a bunch of people from the group. It´s either that or Ireland...I haven´t quite decided yet. Also, I´m going to Barcelona in a couple of weeks for the weekend. It should be a grand adventure.

CULTURE CHANGES

-Here we eat meals MUCH later. Everything starts later. People don´t think about getting out of bed until about 8:30 here and thier days go until after 12 every night. (everyone, not just the college students)
-Men and women walk into and back out of elevators. There isn´t sufficient space to be able to turn around to face the right direction. It´s a little awkward if you don´t know it´s coming.
-Every meal has several courses. They eat a soup usually first, then the meat, then the salad, and finally desert of fruit. All the meals have bread along with them. It´s really funny to eat salad last....
-You CAN¨T judge the conversation by the tones of the voices used in the conversation. You will get your feelings hurt or think everyone hates eachother. They are much louder here, all the time, and exchange workds very loudly when they are passionate. Don´t be offended...
-Birthday parties are just family (because everyone lives locally) with maybe 2 gifts. It´s really just a time to socialize with the family, but the person with the birthday isn´t the center of attention... it´s different than in the states.

I guess that´s all I have for now. I will post again soon. Please feel free to pass this link around if you would like. Also, you can respond to my post by sending me an e-mail, at jessimcute@aol.com if you want to.

Pray that God continuest to give me strength to want to be here. Pray that I come in contact with open hearts and that I will shine a light that will be pleasing to Him. Pray that I remember that I´m on a mission trip, but have fun as well. Pray that I keep praying. Thank you!

Past e-mail posts

August 25

Things here are going great! I´m here at my first day of school, even though I don´t start class until 10:30, I am here at 9. Everyone else is in class, and I´m just sitting on the computer. It´s nice, because it´s quiet, and I can use the computer now, so I don´t have to use it when everyone else needs it. I timed it this morning, and it took Maggie and I 25 minutes to ride the bus from our house. We are going to ask them if there is any way that we can get another bus pass on them, so maybe they will feel bad and give us one. We are eating well, with lots of green tea and seafood. We have had lots of shrimp. Yesterday we mostly ate just leftovers from the week, but we got to hang out with Manuela´s other daughter, Lola (Lolita) and her finace Jose. The people here live very frugal lives,20which is very interesting. They don´t live to work, they work to live. People here don´t make as much money as they can, but rather enough money to survive. It is very different than the United States work ethic. People spend lots of time on meals, but there is nothing social that goes on in the home. For example, it´s NOT ok to bring friend over to the house, EVER. The home is viewed like a sanctuary. If you want to hang out with friends, you go meet somewhere. Also, you can go the there house and buzz up, and they will come down.... but you never have parties or anything inside the home. The little things here are very different. Yesterday, we re-arranged the furniture in the whole house. The furniture can move and fit every room. No room does only one thing. We also went swimming again, in a pool, which most people don´t have. It was fun last night, because Maggie and I went into the breezeway room, and set up a small lamp. Then we read, just the two of us, in scilence (as much as possible when you live 5 stories above a busy street and un parque de amates) and we just got to be. It was really fun.Maggie and I are getting along great. We have had some very deep discussions. We went to chuch yesterday, and it was very interesting. Not only was it Catholic Mass, but it was in Spanish, which made it even more confusing. It was fun though, because we were in a huge Cathedral. We plan on going every Sunday, just to have a cultural experience, and get a little connect with different churches. I have heard that there is also a protestant church (I think Baptist) somewhere outside the city, but nearby, so we might try to visit that church.Manuela y Ana don´t go to church, and Maggie and I both think that is why we were brought here. We are going to try to live a life that will reflect the way of the Lord. We are planning on inviting them to church with us in a couple of weeks. We are also planning on making them an AMERICAN meal, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. They have had hamburgers and pizza, so those are out. Let me know what you think. I don´t really know what else to tell you. Let me know if you have any questions. I´m just kind of going off what goes on here. If you want to recieve e'mails about what we are doing around town as a group, let me know what your e'mail is, and I will put you on the list. I love you all very much. I´m trying to avoid the crash of the culture shock, so I¨m trying not to love it here too much, or get too excited. I will e'mail again tomorrow, probably....Jessica


AUGUST 28

Hola Todos! So I have officially completed my first week in Spain! I can´t tell you all what I have been busy doing, because that would take forever, so I will hit the highlights...I have a "job" working at a local nursing home, which is run by nuns, which I will beginning next week. I´m really excited about it. I saw some nuns yesterday getting on the bus with me. They aren´t Sound of Music nuns, because they wear white, instead of the dark blue, but other than that, they are exactly the same!I took my first dance class this week! Although Flemencos is the offical dance of Spain, we will be learning Sevillano, which is the regional verson of the same dance. This one is much easier, though I must admit, is NOT easy. It´s fun though. We have 28 people in our group here, and I think 20 of them are doing the class. It´s a cardio workout, plus LOTS of laughing at the guys who have never done an actual dance step before.... (hahahahaha)Tomorrow we are going to Ronda, a city not too far from here. We are going to see one of the highest bridges in the world. It´s a beautiful city, and when we are done, we are going to the beach! Then Sunday we are going to a bull fight, which I´m super excited about. Although we missed the regional Tomatilla (Festival of Tomatoes) we will still have fun. The festival was yesterday, but it was about 7 hours away, and we all had classes. Bummer... But we got to watch=2 0lots of clips of it on TV. Sevilla and Spain are very concerned and paying very close attention the the coming up election in EEUU (The United States). It´s interesting to talk to people here about it. They definatly have an opinion... too bad they are ALL wrong... hehehe. Maggie (my housemate and good friend) and I have had the pleasure of spending lots of time on the bus. We will call this a cultural expereince, but it has been really interesting to observe how this culture really works. We found out just a day or two ago that our hose sisters boyfriends, who we have had meals with and met on multiple occasions, both speak English... FLUENTLY... So we were shocked, and a little mad, because we didn´t always understand, and then we would ask them questions in spanish. We would then say "Como se dice wetsuit" (for example) and they would pretend like they had no idea what we were talking about. Then we found out they spoke English, and we were REALLY mad, because they had understood us telling eachother, "I have no idea what´s going on..." and had kept talking. Jerks. It was funny, though. We love our family.Maggie, Jennifer and I are going to be having a Bible Study once a week in a local park. We plan on it just being us, but we are praying for God to provide the opportunity to share it with someone else. Our host family knows how we feel and what we believe, I think. We are going to try to get Ana to come with us maybe, be cause we are going to be studying the Proverbs woman. We also feel as though we have opportunities to minister to the people here in our group. I know we have one Mormon and one guy who doesn´t believ for sure, but I don´t know where everone else stands. We are finding a fun mix between experiencing the culture and being a light in the world. It´s interesting, you know, because the culture here is VERY different from the United States. Here are some cultural differences that I have noticed..-No one ever enters the house, unless they are family. A house is a sanctuary, not a local place. If you want to meet someone, you go out.-Everyone here takes public transportation-You only eat food that is healthy, that way you can eat more-Kids live with their families until they get married... no exceptions-There is no "bad words" in the home. Everything is just kind of out there-When Americans come to Spain, the spaniards talk FASTER, (if they don´t know you) so they can test your language skills-People don´t really want to know English-Spain is about 7-10 years behind the united states in TechnologyI will let you know more later, but I´m off to class, now!Te Amo!Jessica

SEPTEMBER 2

So we went to the most romantic city in the whole world this weekend. At least what part of the world I have seen, it´s been my absolute favorite....The city is called Ronda, and it was built many years ago. It started out as two cities, but they wanted to merge. These two cities happened to be built on the top of 2 mountians. The city is connected by a bridge, a HUGE bridge, that goes across the gourge between the two cities. From far away the city looked like Greece, with white buildings. The view from the bridge was magnificent. All the was very classic.... I will send a few pictures later. We then went to the city of Marbella. This is one of the most touristy places that we have been to. Most people spoke "English" there from England, I guess. We were on the coast of the Mediteranian, and so we got to swim in it! That was lots of fun. The beach was beautiful as well. It was nice for a change being able to look like you fit in somewhere. I seriously think there was more money here than in Hollywood, no joke. Classes have been going well. I had my first day of work with the Nuns yesterday. It went ok, but I´m not convinced that I ever want to go back there by myself. I didn´t really catch everything that was going on. A group of us is going tomorrow so that we can all work together. I´m still really excited about it though. I talked to a resident of the nursing home, Rosario, for over an hour yesterday. It was fun getting to know her! Here are some more interesting facts about Spaniards....-When riding the bus, which everyone does, they always stand in second position. (that´s dance lingo for their feet slightly closer than shoulder width apart)-Some of the grandmothers will swim with thier grandkids without a swim suit top on, and it´s no big deal-Cuss words here are not really offensive. They are thrown around A LOT... but no one seems to be offended-Everyone sleeps in until at least 8. Mostly 8:30 or 9, and then they work late. Siestas are my favorite part of the day-Time is a liquid thing, because of the public transportation that EVERYONE has to wait on....-Spaniards live with thier parents until they get married. Then they move out. Once thier parents get too old to live on thier own, they move back in with the married couple. -Everything here is much smaller than it is in the states-They don´t have A/C, and if they do, they don´t use it... I don´t know why.-They are all extremly enery efficent. They turn off lights EVERYTIME they leave the room, even if they are coming right back. They turn off the water heater after every shower....- In Sevilla, they quit building things underground, for example parking garages, because every time they would start digging, they would discover some ruins. They didn´t want to get evicted by the people studying it and the government, so although everything is built on some sort of ruins, they choose to ignore it, so they can continue to live in their houses...Just a little glimpse into my everyday life. I´m sure I will have more to tell later...I love you all! Keep me in your prayers....We (Maggie, Jen and I) are starting to get pretty deep into this God stuff...

This weekend-Cordoba and Sevilla

This weekend was an adventure, to say the least.

I learned a lot. We went to Cordoba, and saw a HIGE mosque, which was amazing. I can´t tell you how beautiful it was. I had some trouble taking pictures of this building, because I didn´t feel as if I could capture it in just pictures. You really have to see it to believe it. There were many different cultures that have built on top of other cultures. This one started with the Romans, then went to the Viasgoths, and then to the Arabs, and fianlly to the Christians (Roman Catholics), so every building that we go to has SEVERAL layers.

We spent a long time going around Cordoba as well. Overall, worth going to for the Mosquita, but the city wasn´t nearly as impressive as Sevilla. Which is ok, because that´s what we did on Saturday.

We stared off with a place called "La Casa" (The house) which is a castle that was built when Sevilla was the capital of Spain. One cool fact about this was we got to go in the room where Queen Isabella gave Christopher Columbus the blessing to go exploring for the new world. We actually saw the alter that he prayed to before he left, The Alter of Explorers. All in all, beautiful gardens, an awesome veranda, and a still lived in castle for royalty. Really incredible.

Then we went to La Giralda and the Cathedral.....can you say majestical? The biggest Gothic cathedral in the world, the 3rd largest Christian cathedral in world, just behind the Vatican city and one other. Pretty impressive, huh? I thought so. An alter, from floor to ceiling made of solid gold, Christopher Columbus' tomb, King Ferdinand is burried there(the indstructable body-still intact, skin and teeth, since the 1700's when he died)and the most beautiful architecture ever...

I could ramble on about lots of facts about this for hours. Trust me though, it left me speechless....really. I just had to sigh and walk away. The good news is that I will be able to go back and visit any time I please, because I live in this city!

Maggie (my roommate) and I went to a 4-string quartet Saturday evening, in the palace gardens with my host sister and her fiance. Then we went out for a night near El Rio.

All in all, a memorable weekend....More later!