Gracia Sobre Gracia

Day 1 in Granada and I'm already blown away. I'm starting to wonder if I really love Granada even more than Barcelona, or if the excitement of each fresh adventure makes it seem more enchanting than the last.

This morning we walked around Granada before the city awoke, and it was refreshing to travel in a smaller group with the flexibility to roam, wander, and take plenty of pictures. After stopping at the tourism office to buy 3-day passes that get us in to the major attractions here, we went to the Granada Catedral and Chapilla. I bought a few postcards and a sticker for Libby the Jeep, of course. (Stay on my good side and you might see a postcard in your future.)
And then, perhaps my favorite place in all of Spain thus far...drumroll please...a monastery. What? A monastery? Yes. Absolutely. Loved it. I could have stayed siting in the courtyard there all day long. The history in the building, the beauty of its structure, the life in its gardens, and the discipline of solitude that it represents are all things my heart needed to see and hear & see today. I was stilled, I was stunned, and I was in awe once more of Christ himself.

It's interesting that this experience at the monastery was so intimate, because in most Cathedrals we have been in or near so far, my tendency has been to feel overwhelmed. The buildings are ancient and magnificent in size and splendor but something used to crawl under my skin...something that made me squirm a little bit because I know that the grandeur of the building is not at all necessary in order for us to be found in Christ and in the center of God's love.

But today, the simplicity and serenity of the monastery bridged a gap for me. I can appreciate the Cathedrals for the history and beauty, recognizing that they were built not so much in an effort to "get to" God, as much as they are intended to give him the glory that he is all so worthy of. Today, in the chapel of the monastery, intricately and ornately covered in paintings, gold, and garnet, all I heard was, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

GRACE. At the end of the day, it's still all that really matters to me in this life.

...Which leads me to share one more point- John 1:16 in Spanish says, "En efecto, de su plenitud todos hemos recibido gracia sobre gracia." In English, that verse says, "And from his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace."
Something about the Spanish words speaks volumes louder to me. The word "sobre" has different uses, but in this context it translates, to me, as grace literally layered on top of grace. Again and again and again, grace covering grace. May we never lose perspective of the power of the gospel and the strength in its truth..where life itself is found.

Now, back to my café in the streets of Granada- I think I'll pick up the word for a little while and get to know the heart of my God a little bit better. Maybe even with some vino blanco and ensaladilla rusa. After all, it is a sunny afternoon.

Alcalá Adventures

It has been about two and a half weeks since I arrived in Spain.  Some days it seems as if we've been here much longer, while other days I feel like it was just yesterday that I left the Pensacola airport. A lot has happened here, and I am settled in to life in Alcalá, so much so that I'm uncertain what life in Auburn would even look like right now. 

It's a crazy, beautiful experience that I am so thankful for- I am thankful that the Lord first put the desire to learn Spanish in my heart over 7 years ago, thankful that He provides everything I need financially through scholarships and my parents, thankful that my parents are willing to let go and trust him with my life and support my dreams and goals all the while, and thankful for my friends who push me to pursue this experience- because they care more about me than hanging out with me. 

So, what am I doing? Well, I could write about 20 pages this morning but I don't have time for that and neither do you, so here are some highlights of Spain thus far:

Weel 1: Tour of Alcalá, the Institute that houses our program, and tour of Madrid on Friday.  On Saturday I went exploring with my roommate, Kelsey, to the big national park here called Los Cerros. I'm pretty sure it will be my private get-away place for the semester, but it's a great place to walk and run with friends, too! Sunday, I went to Catholic mass for the first time in my life at a beautiful Cathedral here in Alcalá. We went to the family-friendly service at 11:30, which ended up perfect because the homily was much easier for non-native speakers to understand!  That evening we went to the mall, and I got a haircut because I fried my hair with my straightener.  Good thing I'm not incredibly attached to my hair...and getting it cut here was really a great opportunity to practice Spanish for an hour with the hairdresser!  Also bought a Spanish Bible at the mall, which is so cool to read because some of the words have a very different connotation for me in Spanish than they do in English. 

Week 2: Regular classes began! I am taking four classes: Service-Learning in bilingual context; Spain: Relations with Latin America; International Business: Communication and Culture; and Globalization of the Modern Economy. Whew! It's a mouthful, but I am enjoying them all! Aside from service-learning, all of the classes have 2 outside excursions included as part of the course.  All of the classes are taught in all Spanish (of course), so I am not taking a grammar or civilization class, per say, but I am most definitely still learning about grammar, writing, and civ & culture. I have a great mix of professors: one young woman who is lively and very approachable, a young man who loves the "drama" of history and always helps students navigate Alcalá and the university extracurriculums outside of the classroom, a woman who is more serious than most but has already taught me so much more and incorporates activities for different styles of learning, and of course the typical "he's a hoot," crazy, wild, energetic economist. He will rant and rant and rant in Spanish about PIB (GDP), standard of livings in different countries, politics, and whether or not the UK is going to separate from the EU27, and then bust out of nowhere with, "but I LOVE your country!" in English.  Whoever said economics is boring was wrong, very wrong.

Over the weekend, a group of us went to Barcelona! (See facebook for pictures- yes, I reactivated!)  We took an overnight bus there on Thursday, and an overnight bus back on Saturday. Friday night we stayed in a very inexpensive but very nice hostel. The whole weekend was a blast, with the right combination of sight seeing and one night out and an awesome tour of FC Barcelona stadium.  We all stayed together on Friday and toured various museums and Cathedrals, and made our way over to the port and the beach as well. On Saturday, most of the group went to the market but two of the guys and I went to Camp Nou to see if they gave tours, and we got a deal and saw a really cool museum of all the history and trophies of the club and then tour the stadium as well. Money very, very, very well spent as I got my "sports fix"! 

This week was our second full week of classes, and yes, I do have homework that I do in the afternoons! But a "typical day" includes going to class, walking around during the break between classes and shopping some, reading some or practicing talking Spanish with different people, class again...walk home for lunch around 2:30, and most afternoons I get to RUN! woohoo! Alcalá is a great place to run and I'm still learning my way around the city, but it is not difficult. People just give me weird looks for wearing 5-fingered shoes, but hey, they do that at home, too. Some afternoons we go out for tapas and wine, or hang out with friends, or hang out here at the house. I will be volunteering at elementary schools soon, some for the service-learning class and some for volunteering's sake, but they are still setting up all of that so for now I have a little more free time.  Tuesday of this week, I set in motion the rule for myself that I am not going to speak English anymore. The exceptions are when I am talking to someone from back home (cough cough mom and dad), or when another student who doesn't speak much Spanish asks an urgent question about homework or traveling or something like that. So far, so good! Although writing this entire blog post in English this morning has me a little bit confused...I feel like I'm breaking the law. Conversationally, I understand almost everything I'm hearing (at least at home and at school)  but it's frustrating at times because I can't listen and think and respond all at the same time, yet.  So far all the students in my program still speak a lot of English to each other, but I stopped participating in that on Tuesday! I would be so angry if at the end of semester I'm not fluent and I could have done more. 

That's it for now- headed to Granada this afternoon for the weekend! Please feel free to stalk my pictures, ask questions, or send me an email! 

Hasta luego,
EG

My Home in Alcala

Here are some pictures from our walking tour of Alcalá this afternoon!

Some of the offices of the Instituto Franklin

Front entrance to the Istituto

View from the front doors 

Hidden courtyard at the Istituto

Mural in a central hallway of my new "Alma Mater"...not sure exactly what this one means, yet.

La Plaza Cervantes (after Miguel de Cervantes, the most important person to come out of Alcalá de Henares) 

Christmas tree en la Plaza Central, where we are obviously still celebrating Christmas!

Feliz Navidad!

Another shot from the plaza, shows the unique and beautiful trees that border it

The most important and most beautiful building of the Universidad de Alcalá, where the Cervantes prize for Spanish literature is awarded by the King and Queen every April

Statue of Cisneros, the second-most important person (behind Cervantes), who first founded the University of Alcalá

My first selection for casual reading...War Eagle!

Christopher Columbus monument in front of another beautiful building

Day 1 in Spain!

Hola! This may be very jumbled, but there are 3 sensible reasons for that:
1) jet lag
2) for the first time, I am learning to be truly bilingual! Jumping back into Spanish is proving to be slightly more difficult than expected. I understand almost everything I hear, but responding and asking questions is a different story.
3) English and writing have never really been my strong suit, anyway! 

I made it to Madrid by 7:30 this morning, as planned, and waited at the airport until it was time to meet the rest of the group and the people from Alcalá, where we are studying and living! They brought us all here on a bus or two and we met up with our host families in the central plaza downtown, right across from the building that is home to our classss.  

My host mom brought us home and we got settled in, and i may or may not have taken a 4 hour nap...meaning that I definitely hibernated. I have one "roommate"ish; we each have our own room but we are with the same host. It's a condo-style apartment in Alcalá, about a 20 minute walk from class. We live with Mila and Antonio, who aren't married because she's stubborn but otherwise function like a normal family with Antonio's 17 year old son, also named Antonio. Mila is a short, trendy, healthy, and fashionista. 

After my extended siesta, my roommate Kelsey and I had lunch (at 17:15...weird).  We took a walk around town, bought a hair dryer, and watched the Lion King, or better yet "El Rey León", and I took my second nap of the day during the movie. Blame it on the jet lag...this will not happen again! Antonio cooked dinner, which we sat down to eat around 21:00.  Tonight we ate a salad (YESSSS SERIOUSLY PRAISE THE LORD!), sausage made with onions, a Spanish tortilla-type dosh made with potatoes and cheese, and, of course, bread. 

Orientation starts "bright and early" tomorrow- but Spain bright & early is really not bright and early at all, compared to what I'm used to. I have to be at the school at 9 and finish around 2, which is similar to what my everyday schedule will be like once classes start next week.

Other interesting sights and discoveries so far:
- saw all the branches of the armed forces while traveling, including one of my friends from Auburn who was on the way back from basic headed to Pensacola- that was such a blessing!
- saw 2 monks while traveling
- storks sit on top of the buildings where our classes are around the central plaza
- found a Catholic Church close to home
- found a couple of places to get my ice cream fix...this is critical
- heard about a few 1/2 marathons in April in Madrid that are very realistic possibilities! It's a step down from a Tough Mudder, but that's not completely out of the picture yet, either. Heck, why not both?! 

That's day 1 in not-so-small nutshell. It's past my bedtime!
Hasta luego,EG

This One Goes Out to Leah C. Peterson

[newsflash: I leave tomorrow to study abroad in Spain for the semester]

I'm sitting on the floor of my bedroom, thinking through the packing lists to see if I covered it all.  At this point, it's either in the bag or there is no room for it anyway, so what does it matter?  So I start thinking about the things I am most excited about for this semester, the goals I have set for myself, the destinations and adventures that the next four months might possibly hold, and the things that I'm really going to miss.

One major thing on that list of things I'll miss are my weekly breakfast dates with Leah. So, to avoid titling this post with something cheesy like I normally do ("aaaand we're off," or "hasta luego"....) I decided that this one indeed goes out to Leah C Peterson. Fitting, considering that her New Year's resolution is to read my blog. Cheers, Leah; tell Barbecue House that we'll be back in August!

Speaking of food....back to the many positives that lie ahead! I look forward to experiencing the culture in it all of it's fullness. Spain will be "home" for four months, and to reap the most benefits from this season, I will be fully immersed in the culture- food, drink, dancing, language, business, religion, and relationships- I long to experience it all.

I am so, so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with this opportunity to study abroad. This semester certainly is a gift. And while yes, the above paragraph is true, the Lord has blessed me with the chance to go, and in turn I commit the journey to my all-powerful Provider and Creator- I'm giving it back to him. Surely this will only bring on even more adventure!  I am thankful for a chance to unplug and experience life at a more relaxed speed. I am thankful that my parents are supporting me every step of the way. And I am thankful that I don't have to be anxious about anything in Him!

Christmas break could not have been a more perfect send-off for the journey. I had the chance to reconnect with missionary friends who were home for the holidays, take a quick trip with Mom and have quality time with her while visiting friends, go camping with a few of my closest friends from Fort Walton, and attend Passion conference in Atlanta. Wow! And then the past three days have been full of sweet time with loved ones and long chats with those who are out of town? Thank you Jesus for filling me with JOY! Shout-out to all of my family and friends who love me so well and fill my heart with laughter!

I hope that you and your families have enjoyed the Christmas season and the kick-off of 2013. May this be a year where you commit to "that one thing" in your life, and may you live like Nehemiah, who proclaimed, "I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down."

As for me, my great work will be primarily learning Spanish!  I look forward to seeing God as the God of every nation, tribe, and tongue. Other than that, I have zero expectations.  It's bound to be an adventure, and it starts in just a few hours!  I fly out of Pensacola around 11 tomorrow morning, to arrive in Spain on Tuesday morning. I will be living with a host family and one roommate from Auburn in Alcala de Henares, Spain (just north of Madrid) and studying at the Instituto Franklin de la Universidad de Alcala. Classes start on January 14th are Monday-Thursday.  I have never been to Europe before, and I plan on traveling as much as possible- both within and outside of Spain!  This is not a private blog, so I am not posting my mailing address, but email me if you would like that contact information. I will be sure to update this blog with pictures and stories so that you can follow the trip, if interested. Beware of the occasional post written in Spanish!

Tonight I learned that I am terrible with goodbyes; but sometimes that's okay because it's really just a "see you later!"  That's all I've got for today, but that's quite the mouthful considering I haven't even left yet. Looking forward to the journey,
Emily Grace