So, I have been thinking that I share all the highlights of my life here in Spain and might be giving you all the impression that life is just one party after another and that I never work, sleep, or do normal daily life things. Hopefully, I'll be able to remedy that a bit. My life in does have daily living aspects to it..life in Spain is definitely more social though. A normal weekday for me involves dragging myself out of bed of a late morning (rarely do I get up very early, especially now that I don't have to get up and wake up the girls in the morning...explain that later), maybe exercising a bit or going running, cleaning up around the house a bit (vacuuming the girls' rooms is what I'm supposed to do, but I am not good at walking past a mess in the kitchen left from a rush to school and not tidying up a bit), maybe do a bit of laundry (when there's laundry to do), and then whatever else I want or need to do. Just normal stuff! Occasionally, I'll go spend some time with Susi my friend on these mornings when I have nothing else pressing going on. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I have Spanish classes at the University. I help out in language lab for about 30 minutes on both days. I walk to the University (about a 25 minute walk) arriving in time to be available to students who are wanting to practice speaking in English. When there aren't any students to help, then I usually sit and use the resources available to study Spanish.. Then I have class for 1 1/2 hours with a bunch of Italians, a German gal, a girl from Holland, and a few from various other countries. It's quite entertaining most of the time. Our common language for communication is Spanish, the language we are all trying to learn...which can make things rather funny to sit back and simply watch. More than once I've been asked what I was smiling or grinning about...grin! I get out of my class at 2:30pm to speed walk home for lunch (it's quite common to eat lunch anytime between 2-4pm, and I've actually gotten quite accustomed to it). So, that's my free time for the mornings. Starting from when the girls get home from school I'm normally fairly occupied. Technically I don't start "work" until 4pm, but since I live with my work, I help out here and there with things and don't normally get much done for myself after they get home from school. Smile... At 4pm, I give each of them swimming lessons. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I take the younger two by car to swimming lessons in the evenings. Sometimes I go get groceries while they are in their lessons. Other times, I run the older gal and her friend to their dance class across town. Sometimes I have time to just sit and read or study or go running in this time, though lately I've been busy most of that free time. In the evenings, I get dinner together, make sure the girls do their homework, and other normal life stuff.... I'm technically "off work" at 9:30pm, but that varies too since I live with my work. Smile.. Some evenings I make plans to go out with a friend for a bit, but most nights I'm at home and ready to crawl into my bed and sleep. Grin!! That's a normal week for me. The weekends, well those are an entirely different matter and it's normally those that I spend the most time writing about!! Smile...so I won't go into details.
Life in Spain is social, as I mentioned earlier. People love to sit outside in the cafes and bars visiting, smoking their cigs, enjoying a drink (ranges from coffees & teas to various wines and beers), and just being with their friends. Shopping is big here as well, maybe because it's yet another "social" event they can participate in. I enjoy going out on an evening that is warm just to see all the people that are milling about the streets. Normally the streets are packed, the outdoor cafes and bars are full, and the plazas (kind of like neighborhood squares) are filled with bystanders, groups of people young and old visiting, and children running in between everyone and everything playing. It's quite a social gathering outdoors. 
The streets of the old part of town are all made from cut stone, and the buildings lining both sides are often made from stone as well..making it all quite lovely and old looking. This just adds to the atmosphere. Life isn't all grand here though...many people are lost spiritually. I'd say it's a fairly liberal country with much atheism and "live for the day" influence. In this aspect, there are many things that aren't so lovely about Spain and it can all be summed up in one word: sin. But then, that's all over the world so it doesn't make Spain different from the rest of those who are lost around the world, including in the USA. So, that's my interpretation of life in Spain and my little sermon to go along with it.. smile..
So, surprises...Last Sunday after church I hopped in my friend Mili's car headed to Susi's house. Susi had to work, so she hadn't been able to come to church. We headed to her place with developing plans to make her a surprise lunch to have ready for when she got off work at 3pm. Not long after we got there and got started, Mili (Susi's sister) remembered she had to be at her parents' house for lunch, so she left. I finished making lunch and had everything prepared for when Susi got home...she was nicely surprised. Smile. It's fun to bless a friend who blesses me sooo much and so often (though I don't think she realizes how much of a blessing she is to me). Sunday afternoon, we got a group together to play some basketball. I was smart and did some Michael Jordan "wanna be" jump to block the ball and ended up with a scraped up & bleeding palm, but other than that had a great time and came out in good shape. Joined a group of friends from church to watch a movie at the local theater. My first movie in a Spanish cinema. Good times, good popcorn, and an okay movie...Smile. We got out of the movie with most of the group hungry, so we headed to a restaurant for dinner.. I shared a HUGE sandwich with a friend of mine... I didn't order, just ate what I was given and it was fabulous. I'm pretty sure that the sandwich had two or three kinds of meat along with cheese and other stuff... Smile.. Yummy!! Great weekend!!
Monday of last week, I helped Susi paint her bedroom...we painted it two shades of purple and it looks great. We did paint the walls this time and managed to keep most of it off of us.. I was good and didn't get into any paint fights with her.. grin. Tuesday on the way to my Spanish class, I stepped off a walkway and twisted my ankle. Well, had to keep walking because I wasn't there yet...so I just prayed for it and kept going. Thank the Lord!!! My ankle never swoll up much (though it got slightly puffy around the ankle bone), and I was able to walk there and back...then took a LONG walk that night with a friend. PTL!!! It only ached a little for a day or two...PTL!!! Thursday was bible study as normal. I just love being a part of a Bible study group here and learning from the Lord. I got a Spanish Bible given to me this Sunday.. PTL!!! I had been trying to buy one for weeks now, and now I finally have one and free!! PTL!!! I've been having trouble sleeping lately for some reason or another, so the people in my Bible study got together and prayed for me. What a huge blessing. Though I didn't sleep a lot that night, I slept great! PTL!!!
Friday, I hopped a bus to Noia to visit the Towners. They are in the midst of packing to return to the US. I think I have mentioned this before. Anyway, I went to try to help and mostly to be an encouragement. After a few weeks of packing everyday, it can get a bit discouraging I'm sure.. I ended up making lunch for them followed by craisin muffins... I helped pack a tiny bit, but guess I was more helpful in the kitchen. So thankful that Mom taught me to cook and that the Lord has been helping me with ideas. It's one thing when you have been planning something to cook and entirely another thing when you're put into a kitchen with rice cooking on the stove, some cooked chicken, and told to go at it. Smile. I was cutting veggies while asking the Lord what I was making. He's a great help!! It was a good day, but I was exhausted before reaching home and I still had to work that night. On top of that, my boss had invited over a few friends for us to entertain and she had mentioned to me that she'd have to leave part way through their visit.. I wasn't sure if she was expecting me to entertain her friends or what.. It turned out great though. The Lord gave me strength and we had a good time with my boss, two Greeks (one is her Greek teacher), and another American gal. By the time I finally got to bed that night, I was tired!! What experiences I get here...
This weekend, a church about an hour from Santiago was having a special speaker. Occasionally on Sunday evenings, Susi and I have driven to this other church for their evening service... So, on Saturday evening and then again Sunday evening, we drove down with a few other people to hear the visiting speaker and enjoying the meetings. Both nights were a blessing. Great times in the presence of the Lord, great times of ministry, and good messages...All in Spanish, so sometimes a challenge to understand the messages, but getting easier. I understood the second night better than the first...smile!
So, that's been what I've been up to lately. It's been busy, fun, and a little exhausting. I slept VERY late today....trying to catch up on some lost sleep over the weekend. Smile.. Please be in prayer for the church of Santiago. Right now they are going through some changes. They are starting a new church, which is in a neighboring town of Santiago. A large portion of the people at the church are from that small town and some are in confusion as to where they are supposed to go now that there will be a new church closer to their home. On top of that, the pastor has recently stepped back and allowed new leaders to step forward. Just praying that none will be lost in these changes as I was especially concerned for new believers and those who aren't such strong believers yet. Appreciate your prayers for wisdom for myself as well in encouraging those that I'm close to as they are expressing their uncertainty.May the Lord bless you all!!
No comments:
Post a Comment