"Adios" Ha Venido Tan Pronto

Bueno.  Mi rato en Santander se ha acabado.  Ya esta.  Ayer, di un paseo una ultima vez por las calles de mi lugar de residencia.  No sera mas galletas con chocolate en las mananas, no mas paseando a lado de la bahia.  No mas viendo Matrimonio con hijos.  He despedido a mis amigos, mis senores.  

Well.  My short little time in Santander has ended.  It's over.  Yesterday, I walked around for the last time in my home city month.  There won't be any more crackers with hot chocolate in the mornings, no more walking alongside the bay enjoying the ocean breeze.  No more watching Married with Children with my Senor.  I've said goodbye to my friends, my host parents.

Likewise, my time in Spain is coming to a close.  I'm in the capital, Madrid, which is a beautiful city, but my mind is not here.  It's back home.  This is not to say that I am not really having a godo time in Spain, it's just that I can't wait to start life again in my home country, and most of all I can't wait to see all my friends.  One thing I have learned from being abroad is to appreciate what I have at home more.  I am grateful for a church that preaches the Gospel.  I am grateful for a nation, though it has it's problems, that still fundamentally accepts the principles of Christianity.   I am grateful for friends and family that share my values.  

What else has changed?  I am so much more aware of other perspectives now.  I had no idea how many assumptions I make every day about life, whether about the kind of service I will receive, what is acceptable to talk about, or how to study for a test.  A lot of those assumptions where thrown out shortly after my arrival in Spain.  

Also, I am more confident and independent.  I can live 3 months without my family, or anything with which I am familiar.  My faith has had to be my own, the Word of God my guide.  I thank the Lord for what he has done in my life during these three months.

See all of you soon!

Winding down

Well guys, I can't believe I am coming up on my last full week here in Europe.  This week has been one of readjusting to life in Santander.  The weather has been very nice, and I spent some time on the beach Wednesday and yesterday.    

On Monday, we reunited from our various trips for Semana Santa at Pizza Hut, a nice symbol of the America that we are soon going to rejoin.  

On Wednesday, I got interviewed by a television station here in Santander!  I have never been on TV in America, and 

I am here 3 months and get interviewed!  I was about to get on the bikes provided by the city as public transportation when a reporter and a camera man ran up to me, asking to interview me.  The questions were sencillos (simple)- Where are you going with the bike? (The beach- la playa)  If there weren't bikes, how would you get there?  Why am I riding the bike? (Because it's fast and cheap).  Do we have bikes in America? (Um, yes).  If I can find the video, I will post it, of course.  

But I will post, right now, some pictures of my recent Spring Break trip.

High Tea in London

Big Ben                                               

Bath

Sevilla

Semana Santa Processions in Sevilla

Semana Santa Summary

Hello friends!  It has been a week since I last posted, so I'll check you all up on what I've been up to.  On Sunday, after celebrating Easter at Christchurch, I went to the home of Pete Greasley to enjoy a traditional British Easter supper cooked by Jenn Greasley.  It was brill(ant), as they say.  I would love to go back to Christchurch some day- the people there are so lovely.  

On Monday, I headed off to Bath, which is a city that was really only built up in the 1800s in the Victorian era of England.  At that time, it was a place for the rich and fashionable to live.  There is one type of stone, Bath stone, that all the buildings are made out of.  This gives the city a very charming feel, not to mention the slow-running brook that runs through the middle of the city and the hills surrounding it. I was visiting there some friends I met on my Poland tour who have 3 college-aged children.  They gave me personalized tours, which of course included the Roman baths the city is named and famous for.  After one night's stay in Bath, I was off to London.

And what a city London is!  It is quite frankly enormous.  And the thing about London is that you can hop on the Metro in one place, travel for a bit, and hop off in an area of town that looks completely different, but it is the same city.  And there is so much semi-modern history here (and medieval also).  I saw Westiminster Abbey, that Edward I built, and Buckingham Palace, where the current Queen Elizabeth II lives.  I saw the original Rosetta Stone (!) and London Bridge (from the song).  I sat by the Thames and stood at attention with the Royal Marines.  It was good fun, despite the fact that I was there with no access to money thanks to my wallet-losing, card-cancelling situation.  But I made it- creatively.  

On Tuesday night and Wednesday day, I met Jenn and her friend Janelle in London.  I'm sure she has already told you all about it, but really did have a great time touring the town together, though we missed the Changing of the Guard ceremony.  Sadly, they had to go, but some other friends of mine from the Wales church came into town for the day Thursday.  In the morning, I went by myself to the Houses of Parliment and Big Ben and Westiminster Abbey, and then 10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives.  I then walked around Buckingham Palace (on the outside) and met my friends at the Borough Market, a large outdoor food market with food from all over the world. London is a very cosmopolitan city, where British natives are minority- I heard some many different languages, it made my head spin.  But all the cultures come together fairly well in the one city.  We ate lunch at the market and then went to the National Gallery, which is a huge art musuem.  One of my friends is a former high school art teacher, so we benefited from his knowledge of art.  Afterwards we went back to Westminster Abbey to attend a service in there.  Although I got yelled at by the priests for wearing a hat inside, it was still an enjoyable service.  After dinner, they had to go, so I was on my own again on Friday.

I decided I would act like a Londoner on Friday.  I got up relatively early and jumped on the Tube to take it into The City, which is the financial center of London as if I was a power broker.  Then I went to the British Musuem, equally as big as the National Gallery, but with historical artifacts instead of art.  This is where the Rosetta Stone is.  After that, I joined some other friends from my Poland trip for a tour of the shopping district- like Northlake mall stretching for 15 city blocks and 3 stories.  Finally, it was time to pack up and head to the southern shores of Britian, where I am was able to relax a little and walk on the beach.

It was good.  I had some moments when things were tough, thanks to not having any way to take out money, but God got me through, just as I was talking about in my last post.  And now I only have little more than 2 weeks left here in Europe.  It is bittersweet, because I do enjoy life over here and I have gotten quite used to it.  But at the same time, I miss where God has put me back home.  I am looking forward to getting back, seeing my new house, serving in my old church, and hanging with old friends.

So I am counting down the days.  15 remaining!

Hooray Resurrection Day!

Well, today was Pascua, or Easter.  How wonderful it is to celebrate that Jesus is alive!    

Nothing will ever triumph against him, for He defeated even death itself.  These are very comforting thoughts for me, even amongst all the stresses that I have experienced recently, God has proven Himself supremely faithful.  

All my travel has been safe and basically uneventful, through 12 flights and countless bus rides.

Everytime I have spent a weekend somewhere, the weather has been beautiful, although this is not the norm in many of the places I have gone to. 

I have several good friends in my program from NC and now some in Wales and all over the world also

And countless other evidences of grace, like being able to use my credit card number (without the physical card) to pay for stuff, thus freeing up the valuable left-over cash I have, or getting to spend Easter Sunday at a Sovereign Grace church.

This trip has given me such a more tangible trust of His provision.  I am here alone, outside my comfort zone, in difficult situations, unsure of what to do.  Am I going to trust myself, my wits, my decisions, my skills?  Or I am going to assess the true situation; that I often am inexperienced, make bad decisions and am unskilled, BUT God is with me.  I cannot even imagine the plan He has for me, it is so much more creative and well-planned.  He is all-powerful when I can control almost nothing.  He is wise when I am confused.  He reads the thoughts of all people, all at once, when I can't understand the man speaking spanish next to me.

Now, sitting comfortably in Wales with good friends, I am at peace, and it is easy to trust God.  But the next time I am faced with a choice, what will I do?  Oh, that I would receive the grace to lay myself in my Creator's arms and believe the One who is Risen.

I received the care package that you all sent.  Thank you so much for the kind letters!  I really do miss you guys!  I return in only 24 days!

How was Resurrection Day?  I want to hear some of your stories and what God is doing in your lives.

Across the Channel

Where I was today:  

12:00 am- 7:25 am Hostel in Sevilla

-8:00 am  Bus from Hostel

- 8:30 am Taxi from Bus Station to another Bus Station

- 11:00 am Bus from Sevilla to Malaga

- 12:55 pm Wandering around Malaga

- 1:20 Bus to Malaga Airport

- 2:55 In Malaga Airport

- 4:45 (British Time, one hour behind)- Flight to Manchester, UK

- 8:36 pm Train from Manchester to Newport, Wales.

- Until now:  Hanging out with the Wales folks.

It's fun being down in the south of Spain, where everyone is friendlier.  It's a good opportunity to practice talking with people in Spanish.  Malaga is also a big resort town from Brits and Germans, so it was interesting to be in the airport in Spain with everyone speaking english.  I sat next to some delightful Brits on my flight over to Manchester and had a good time talking to them.

Noticias breves

Hello all- after a flight to Madrid and a bus from there to Sevilla, I safely have arrived in the Semana Santa capitol of the world.

I think Sevilla is even prettier than Barcelona.  There is an influence of the Moorish prescence here, and the weather can even be a little hot at times, which is a nice change.  I wish I could stay here longer, but I am off tomorrow.  

I slept in a bus station for the first time in my life yesterday morning.  Then I walked down to the River Guadalvivir and prayed for a while in one of the most idilyc scenes I have ever been in.

The Semana Semana processions are interesting but can tend to get repitive and move really slowly.  The gardens here are like jungles, but beautiful ones where it is tempting to just lay down and soak up the son, which I did today.

Whew!

Well, I know it has been basically two weeks since my last post...  Well, let's just say it's been a wild couple of weeks.  I actually had a blog post completely finished, one that I started in a train station in France and completed whilst in the train.  Unfortunately, I was writing it without a connection to the internet and I closed it down by accident and lost it.  And that would describe my last two weeks.   

When last I wrote, I was in Leon, enjoying a weekend with my American companions.  Leon was a wonderful trip, and we really had a fun time together.  The best part for me was being able to talk about all of our religious beliefs for a couple hours on the bus ride down.  It turned into a wonderful chance to share the gospel, not just in a basic form, but explain it and answer any questions.  Thank you Lord for softening hearts!  We some other crazy adventures, too, like going to a karoke bar that played only 80's American songs translated into spanish and going to a vineyard to taste wine.  Then we went to Salamanca, which probably has more impressive momuments per square mile in Spain.  Every building is made of the same time of stone, which can hurt the eyes a little bit, but still the city was amazing.  Both Salamanca and Leon have very impressive catedrals (Salamanca has two!).   Also, Salamaca is famous for its college students from all over Spain and the world.  I was cool being in that atmosphere.  

"La corazon de un hombre planea su proposito, pero Jehovah establace sus pisas."  Remember how in the last post I was talking about how comfortable I was getting over here?  Well, last week God decided to rock that confidence a little bit- because it was in the wrong place (myself, not Him).  Cosas contuaban ir bien (things were still going well)- I had a presentation in spanish for my business class, and that went well- I was beginning to feel very good about my spanish skills.  I was skipping one class on Thursday to leave Wednesday night for Wales (where the Sovereign Grace church is located).   Wednesday morning, I made a brief stop to exchange some euros for pounds and hopped back on my bike.  Unfortunately, as I pedalled, my wallet fell out of my pocket! (se me cayo de mi bolsillo).  I got all the way to school before I realized this.  The rest of the morning and the early afternoon was spent frantically retracing my steps.  I visited the national police and the local police to see if someone had turned it in.  Finally, I decided just to cancel my cards and cancel my trip to Wales as well.   

Needless to say I was dispairing.  Then my program director (director del programa- there's an easy one for ya) called me.  Someone- definitely a kind soul, maybe an angel, had picked it up off the street and somehow thought to call my program director.  This is why words cannot express just how good God is!  Truly my worst day is still better than I deserve!  The rest of the day was a flurry of bus to the University to get my wallet (everything was still there), 2 buses to airport, flight to London, and 2 trains, a subway and a taxi to Taige McMahon's house in Wales.  Cars are under-rated.  But I got to Wales, albeit with two cancelled cards and only the money I had in cash before the incident.

But I was in Wales.  For those of you who don't know (Para los de vosotros quienes no sabeis), Taige McMahon, Ivy Gillette and Katherine Dixon from Crossway have spent the last 6 months in Wales helping to establish the singles and youth ministries at Christchurch (Pete Greasley's church).  They are all doing great- and God is using each of them in different ways to serve His purposes in the church.  I am so glad I went- I had a fantastic time hanging, serving and meeting new people.  (Not to mention a couple crazy car rides with Taige learning how to drive a stick)... One of the highlights was Vintage Jesus (a combination of Youth Group and Festival on the Lawn), where dozens of youth, many of them unsaved, run around on inflatables , eat candy or play 2on2 soccer/football.  That was great fun.  Afterwards, we somehow got to McDonalds and then someone else's house despite nearly dying of fright because of Taige's house and played Monopoly until 4:00 in the morning.  On Saturday, Taige (now a much better driver) took me down to Cardiff, where we had a very good time exploring and catching up.  

On Sunday, I flew back.  It was certainly a weekend to remember.  I am going back briefly to Wales this weekend for Easter Sunday, so I will give a deeper report of what God is doing at Christchurch next post.  

This week, I was left with a grand total of 15 euros available to spend on anything.  I don't have either my credit card or my debit card, so withdrawing money is impossible.  Simply put, these last three days have been spent figuring out how I am going to travel across Europe with no money.  You see, this weekend and the week following is my Spring Break.  I have flights booked to Sevilla and several parts of England (including London), but I wasn't sure how was going to be able to go without money.  This is on top of my camera randomly breaking (yes, again).  

I have things somewhat worked out, but everything is very complicated.  There have many times in the last few days that I have doubted God's plan or my competence (or maybe a little of both).  But faith isn't for when everything is going smoothly.  It's for when I am at the end of my wits.  The key is remembering that there is no end to God's wits.  And this has been a very hard thing to remember sometimes.    But here I am, sitting in the airport on my way to Sevilla now.

Nobody celebrates Easter like the Spaniards, so I am really looking forward to this trip.  I will keep you posted on how things go. 

May each and everyone of you have a blessed weekend, worshipping our Savior WHO HAS RISEN!

- Charlie

Adelentando (moving forward)

Adelante! Keep going!  I feel like things have settled into a nice little rhythm here in Spain.  I'm used to the schedule (horario) and the way of life.  It is going to take some re-adjusting  when I come back!

I will spend some time talking about the spanish culture and some differences it has with ours, but first let me sum up what I have been up to in the last couple weeks.  I got back from Berlin March 15th.  The next week was a pretty chill one, and the weather was amazing!  I lay on the beach on a couple of the days and now am pretty tan =).

Seriously, though, I was able to spend Friday morning on a island beach they have near Santander for a personal retreat.  It was wonderful to just hear from God and worship Him for an entire morning.  On Saturday, we went to the mountain town of Covadonga, where the Christian forces held off the complete Muslim conquest of Spain in 722.  Suposedly the Virgin Mary appeared to the soliders right before the battle to encourage them and help them the battle.   Later, we went to beautiful snowmelt lakes.  We were at the top of what are called the Picos de Europa.  Some of the most gorgeous sights I have ever seen.  What a great Creator we have!

This weekend, we are in two towns on the west side of Spain (near Portugal), Leon and Salamanca.  I write this from Leon.  Our group is really starting to get comfortable with one another, and I think it will be muy divertido for these fews days here. 

As for Spanish culture:

The most general thing I could say that the Spanish perspective on life is much more relaxed then ours.  The attitude is to not worry about the small things of life.  When the weather is nice, they stop what they're doing and go out and walk around.  They don't worry about eating rich food, or smoking.  Their schedule is crazy.  On a normal day, most people will get up no earlier than 7:30 (the owner of my house, a high school professor, leaves for work around 8:15).  I get up around 8:00.  Breakfast is something light- toast, coffee or hot chocolate.  Then everyone goes to work until 2:30, when almost everything closes for Siesta.  There is nothing open!  People do various things during the siesta, either sleeping, just watching TV, or walking around.  But it's hard to stay awake because the Spaniards eat a huge meal at 2:30, usually at least two courses.  With a full belly and not much to do, I usually do sleep a little ;).  

Stores reopen and life resumes at 5:00 in the tarde (afternoon).  Stores are almost open until 9:30, after which everyone comes back to eat cena (dinner)- usually just a sandwitch or leftovers. And then it is fiesta time!  The craziest partiers don't start partying until 2:00 am and won't finish until 5:00 am on weekends.  

Drinking by people of all ages is very common here.  It is strange to see young kids out on the streets around midnight and also in bars.  Many, many teenagers smoke also- and more than half the population smokes in general.  Another strange thing is to see very old people on the streets.  Walking around is called dando un paseo and many of these folks in their 80's or 90's have been making the same paseo for decades.  And they're still kicking!  

One other thing: Spain has the lowest productivity rate per capita en Europe.  Work is not important, and more emphasis is put on enjoying life.  The problem with this of course is that every person is called to cultivate the earth, not just enjoy it.  There is not the drive to progress, to improve, to diet, to work overtime like there is in America.  

Of course, there are hard-working people in Spain, not everyone is lazy.  At first, people do not seem as friendly as back home- they will not greet a stranger in the street or on the bus, for example.  But once you start talking to them, they are usually willing to help and are kind.  Some people are exceptionally warm and friendly.  They are wonderful to talk to, and you can practice your spanish with them!  There is amazing differences between meeting a American, even in Europe, and a Spaniard.  

If there is anything you are curious about, I will be glad to answer you questions!

Missing you guys!

-Charlie

Un post comprometido (promised)

Buenas tardes everyone!  Well I promised to post today about my adventures in Berlin and Bergamo, Italy, and so I will.  

As you probably know, Berlin has had a tough 20th century.  First it was bombed by the Allies in World War II and then was divided into two sections during the Cold War.  The city has only been unified 20 years but there already are few signs lefts of the Soviet occupation of the east

 side.  If you go to the outskirts, you can see mass-produced

 buildings covered in graffiti but in the centercity, it is completely modern.  Berlin has an incredible mass transit system with hundreds of buses, trams and subways to get around.  I bought a 3 day pass for transit which was great until I accident sent it through the wash (argh!).  All that aside, there is a lot of history in Berlin.   My first stop was the TV tower at Alexzanderplatz, from where you can see the whole city (toda la ciudad).   Alexzanderplatz is also a transit center, so I took a bus from there to Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.  The church was bombed during the war and never rebuilt, so the steeple is half-built.  It is now a center for reconciliation and has a new chapel.  I liked this church a lot because there was actually some reference to the power of Jesus Christ and the church to effect reconciliation. 

Then I went to the Charlottenburg Palace, which is where Queen Sofie of German lived.  Her grandson was Fredrick the Great of Prussia.  Every room in the house was richly

 decorated with furniture and paintings.  It was cool to walk on the same floors that the King and Queen once walked.   The palace is also famoso for its large gardens (jardines) behind it.  Next, it was off to Tiergartden, which is the largest inner-city garden in the world.  I took a walk through there (di un paseo) to the Brandenburg Gate. 

 Berlin once was surrounded by a grand wall (in the 18th century).  This gate is the one gate still standing from that wall.  It is quite impressive, complete with a sculpture on top.  The Berlin Wall stood close by, so the Brandenburg is a symbol of free Germany today. 

 After lunch (pork, potatoes and beer), I went the Checkpoint Charlie museum, dedicated to the Berlin Wall also.  Checkpoint Charlie was an American checkpoint through which many people escaped from East Berlin into the West.  Afterwards (despues), I went to the Jewish Musuem, where they had an exhibit about eugenics and Nazism.  It was a quick spiral in the evil mind of man from Evolution to the thought that sick or less intelligent people deserve to be killed.  Scientist after scientist developed elaborate explanations for how infirmities were passed on from generation to generation, especially among inferior races.  The solution was to encourage the stronger races (i.e. Aryans) to have lots of kids and to kill the weak links.  Sadly, this occured in America too (although not the same extent). This finally led to the campaign to exterminate Jews and Gypsies.  It was a very informative and interesting (if sad) exhibit.

So 6 sites in one day.  I tried to fit a couple more in, but as I mentioned in the last post, I found out that museums close at 6:00 in Germany. The musuems I missed were the Pergamon Musuem, which features ancient artifacts (including an ark), and the NationalGalerie of art.  So instead, I went home.  

The next morning we went to the Baltic Sea (2.75 hours by train).  We went to a cute little seaside city and passed a wonderful day there.  Frank's young friends were a blast, peppering my with questions about myself and America and practicing their English.  It was worth my while (merece la pena).  

Sadly, I had to leave on Sunday before I could go to church with Frank.  But it did mean that I could get to Italy right in the middle of the day.  In constrast to the chilly, rainy weather of Berlin, it was beautiful there.  All the images we have of Italy are true!   The views are amazing, the people loud, the drivers bad and the food deliciosismo!  Yes, I did miss my flight, which was a good test of my faith for sure.  I was worried that I wasn't going to get back to Spain, but God knew what He was doing!

Speaking of which, I have a prayer request:  the church I have been attending needs your prayer.  They have been told that they cannot stay in their current building any longer and have to move.  They have found a new place, but it nees a lot of expensive renovations.  This is a church made of mostly immigrants, not people with tons of money.  So they are really leaning on God right now for provision.  If you can remember these dear brothers and sisters, pray for them!

Thanks for reading!

- Charlie

P.S. I know Recah and Eli are enjoying my posts, but I'm not sure if anyone else is reading them.  I'm not sure if I am going to spend so much time writing for just two people... 

:)

 

Marzo loco

Well, as Recah pointed out to me, it has been basically two weeks since I last posted.  Shame on me!  I think I also promised pics from Barcelona "as soon as I return from Santander."  Oops...  The week after my return passed breathtakingly fast.  I was back in late Sunday night, exhausted.  I woke up Monday feeling miserable- a product of three days spent in a hostel with 10-12 others and not to mention generally going non-stop in Barcelona.  A few days of school, and then I was off to Berlin midday Thursday.  

I have a friend named Frank who lives there, and I had a blast hanging with him.  On Friday, Frank had to work so I wandered Berlin alone.  I managed to stuff in a visit to almost every major site in the city.  Then on Saturday I accompanied Frank and 7 of his "friends" (aged 11-16) that he works with as a social worker to the beach.  Yes, Germany has beach, but it is pretty cold.  Frank and I walked into the water (the Baltic Sea) and it was literally painful.  Our legs numbed almost instantly.   On Sunday, I had to say goodbye to my friends in Berlin and flew off to Bergamo, Italy, which is very close to Milan.  While I was there, I sampled some real italian pizza.  However, I must have enjoyed it too much, because I couldn't get back in time to catch my flight!  In the end, I paid for another flight to Madrid from where I took a bus back to Santander, arriving 5:30 am on Monday.  I rested for two hours and then went to class.  

So that was last week.  This week the weather has been gorgeous, just gorgeous.  We all have been doing all we can to stay outside and soak up the sun.  Yesterday we spent a while on the beach.  When there are days like this, it's like going to school in Hawaii.  You go to class, put on your bathing suit and head to the beach.  

So I am not suffering.  In fact, I feel like I am really getting into the swing of things.  My spanish is really improving- praise the Lord!- and I am now completly adjusted to the spanish daily life.  When I was in Berlin, where they operate under a schedule similar to us, I thought I could still try to go to a musuem after 6:00.  In spain, everything is open until 9:00 (which is nice)- but in Berlin, I was greeted with a resolute "closed" sign.  It was a suprise, because 6:00 is not late at all in Spain.  

This weekend, I am staying home, which is good considering that I have a couple projects to work on.  But I am glad that you have missed receiving more posts from me.  I will try to post more often!

On Sunday, I will post more about my adventures in Berlin and Italy.

In Christ,

Charlie

Blogging from Barca

Hello dear friends:

I am enjoying a little down time right now in Barcelona where we are spending the weekend. We are all resting right now because we got in at 2:00 am earlier this morning! Barcelona is kinda like the New York of Spain- very cosmopolitan, very hip, and huge. Coming from little Santander, we were suprised that it took an hour and a half to walk from the city center to our hostel.

Before I go any further, though, let me tell you about our trip over here. It was all of our first experience with Ryan Air, which is a super-low cost carrier here in Europe. Basically, there is no assigned seating, no ramp into the plane, nada. But the flight was only 85 euros round trip. Boarding was fine- once it is announced, everyone crowds to the r0pes, hoping to be the first to be allowed past and be able to walk out on the tarmac and thus board the plane. We got on easily because there was almost nobody on the flight. In fact, we all had our own row. But the wind was terrible! We got to Reus (about an hour and a half outside Barcelona) in only about 45 minutes (it was suposed to take 75 minutes).

It was landing that was the hard part. It was blowing so hard, that the entire plane was getting pushed off it's course towards the runway. Occasionally, the plane would take a brief drop downwards. It was scary! However, our pilot was excellent, and steered us with wonderful skill onto the runway for a perfect 10 landing. Once in Reus, we took a bus to the city itself.

We checked into our hostel (actually pretty nice, but requiring some getting used to) and tried to get to sleep as fast as possible. This morning, we went to the Sagrada Familia, which is a unbelievably impressive chapel designed by Antonio Gaudi. It has several huge spires and sculptures everywhere on the chapel. It's kinda hard to describe, so I'll post pictures as soon as I get back to Santander. The work began in 1896 and is not yet completed. Afterwards, we took a lesiurely stroll through that part of town. The city is both metropolitan and beautiful.

Thank God for once again blessing us with beautiful weather. Tonight, we go to the part of the town that hosted the 1992 Olympics, where there is a fountain that goes up and down timed to music.

- Charlie

Granizo!

Granizo is the spanish word for hail.  Today, when I came out of the gym at 2:00 PM, the weather outside had transformed from a cold, wet, miserable day to a snow day.  In a matter of 30 minutes, the entire ground had been covered in ice!

Anway, antes de todo, here is the promised picture of me as a pirate.  

So, this weekend (fin de semana) we went to Bilbao, a city about an hour and a half to the east of Santander (see the map from last post).  Bilbao is a city in the Basque region of Spain- a region with it's own distinct culture and language from the rest of spain.  Today, the dominant culture of Spain has overwhelmed most of the Basque culture, but there are those who hold onto the old language and culture.  

Bilboa itself is a gorgeous city, with a slightly more gothic and older feel than Santander.  It has a river that runs through the center of the city.  Now, it is picturesque, but it used to be contaminated with sludge from Bilbao's industrial complexes.  God blessed us with beautiful weather on Saturday, so we mostly just wandered around and snapped photos. Thank You Lord for simple graces like sunny days.  Later, we went to the Guggenheim Musuem there.

  It was amazing on the outside!

On the inside, however, it was just plain weird.  I came in prepared to have to take art for art's sake, but there is a line across which you can pass into disgusting.  A lot of the art in the museum did just that.  On the good side, as we came out of the musuem, one of the more famous local politicians emerged from the musuem, dogged by a dozen cameramen.  We all angled ourselves to get on TV- and two people from our group suceeded.  That was fun.

Then the next day we went to church for the second time.  Praise the Lord for such, dear, dear people!  We were immediately welcomed into this church made of about a dozen nationalities.  There were people there from Ukraine, Colombia, Ecudor, Brazil, America (us), Moldova and Romania.  Sadly, I didn't find any spaniards.  The worship is lively and full of "Amens" and "Gracias, Senor" (addressed to Jesus).  I really enjoyed the message as well.  Last Sunday, was had communion, which was a great opportunity to ponder the precious blood of Christ.  Afterwards, we socialized over Colombian-style fruit salad.  I am going on Sundays with two members of my group that are also Christians- another blessing!  One of my friends led the church in the singing of an english hymn that they also sing (but in Spanish).  We have an open invite to go over to the pastor's house for dinner.

Thank You Lord for faithful believers all over the world!

More pictures of Bilbao:

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

Hello all:

I know you have busy lives; that's why I appreciate anyone who reads this silly blog.  Over here in Espana, the vacation has gotten a litle busier as well.  This actually does not come as a bad thing, but I have to be more purposeful with my time.  This weekend, I had my first homework assignment (tarea) in 2 months (hehe), and went to church.  Also, I found time to enjoy the gorgeous weather and attend Carnaval.

Carnaval is the celebration of the beginning of lent in Espana.  For you Protestants, Lent is the 40 days before Easter, and is observed by practicing Catholics by make little sacrifices

 throughout the 40 days and forgoing meat on Fridays.  The little sacrifices are reminders of the full sacrifice Jesus made.  However, the Carnaval itself is similar to Holloween.  Everyone dresses up and just celebrates for the whole weekend.  In fact school was out all the way through today.  I really enjoyed the entire event.  

There is a nearby town called Santona (San-Ton-Ya) were Carnaval is the most important day of the year.  You are not allowed in the town without a custume (disfrace) and all the streets are filled with partiers until like 10 am Sunday morning.  I did not go to Santona.  

The festivities in Santander were still fun, but, true to the atmosphere of the city, more family-friendly.  Groups from all of the city dressed in coordination and performed dances on a stage while everyone danced and laughed.  There was a school of fish, a posse of Egyptians and a Roman Legion.  On Saturday night, all these groups marched in a great parade, which I also attended.  I also got dresesd up, buying a sword and a hat to become a pirate.  (Don't worry,

 pictures are forthcoming).  It was overall a great time, and the most fun was to whip out my pastic sword and poke people with it until it broke.  

A couple of friends and I also went to a Baptist church on Sunday, which I will tell you about next time.  

We have our exam on Friday to complete our first month of (not that) Intensive Spanish training.  Thus, I have been spening some time studying for that.

Finally, this weekend we are going to Bilbao, which is a nearby town in the Basque region of Spain.  Pictures and a summary of this trip next!

Here is a map showing where I have been:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=40.480381,-3.55957&spn=9.757169,19.775391&z=6&msid=101129060515329838183.000463c6737508f90879e

School Finally Starts (Las clases empiezan por fin)

It has been a long time coming, but this past Monday, I finally started my spring semester.  I have to get up on time, get dressed properly, take the bus to school, everything.  Still, it was a welcome event, something to give structure to my days.  Also, I know going to class is going to help my Spanish dramatically.

Class starts at 9:10 and ends at 12:10 and is divided into two parts, grammar and conversacion (gramatica y instrucciones orales).  Our grammar professor is maybe the best professor I have ever had.  He has more energy than anyone I have ever taken a class from.  During class, he jokes, sings, slaps people with rulers, sits on desks and sweats.  He gives people nicknames and calls them up to the blackboard for writing, all while he pretends he is holding a mic and gives play-by-play.  But Manuolo is also a genius at making the sometimes difficult concepts of spanish gramm

ar comprehensible, which mnonic devices and other things.  We all love his class.

After a short break, we then have conversation, which is ironically with a much quieter (callada) lady named Susanna.  She is a little harder to understand, but still explains things well and I think does a good job.  In conversation class, we practice speaking (always humorous) and learning how to talk in conversational ways (duh, claro). 

The only thing that frustrates me is that we are unable to practice more as group members.  It's just much easier to talk in English to each other, so we do, with some simple Spanish thrown in.  I am hoping that this changes as we grow more comfortable with the language.

Now, in Spain, people live in what are called pisos, or flats, apartments.  Very few people have more than one floor, but there are exceptions.  Like large cities in America, usually the bottom floor of every building is a business of some kind, and there are tons of businesses- this place is a shopper's paradise.  The second floor is either used by the businesses or is more like office space for lawyers and doctors and etc.  After that, you have where people live. 

 I take an elevator up to the fifth floor everyday to get to my piso.  I imagine that houses vary somewhat, but mine has a living room/dining room off to the right as you enter the piso.  Going forward from the door and two the left is a narrow hallway, with the kitchen (cocina), office (despacio), and bathroom (cuarto de bano).  At the end of the hallway is another office (my

 Senor y Senora have seperate ones), and the two bedrooms across from one another.  It's small, but plenty of space for 3 people and easy to get around.  I like it alot, but it is such a change from the newness and spaciousness that I am used to.

Though trials may come...

This weekend looked to be very promising.  But of course, "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes His steps."  

I rose early on Saturday (about 6:00) to go skiing.  The mountains are huge (compared to North Carolina) in Spain, and I love skiing.  A couple of friends and I rode up with a ski instructor at the resort name Cuco and we got backstage access to rentals and such.  Also, it was a beautiful day- not too cold, the sun was shining.  The view from the slopes was gorgeous and I snapped a few pics.  

After skiing around for a bit, one of my friends who is a very good skier asked me to come with her to the top of the moutain.  It was about a 15 minute ski lift ride.  We went on one slope that traveled along the edge of the mountain ridge so that you could peer down and look on the other side of the moutain.  I took another photo.

Finally, we decided to go down another slope that was more difficult, actually the first advanced slope I had ever been on.  I took a brutal fall, sliding down half the moutain.  I lost a ski, both poles and my camera.  Meanwhile, my one leg with a ski was dragging behind me, putting a lot of stress on my knee.  Finally I stopped and skiers behind me picked up my ski and poles.  It was a bit difficult to explain to them in spanish what I felt.

My immediate thought was that I had blown out my knee.  Fortunately, I was able to walk down the slope and actually skied more later.  However, I never found my camera.  

The plan for the rest of the night was to celebrate Valentine's day as a group. We were all going to get dressed up, and the guys bought the girls roses.  But I could barely walk.  Today, my plan was to get up, spend some time reading the Word and praying, and then go to the Racing Santander soccer match.  Instead, I spent most the morning in the emergency room.  It turns out that I damaged my meniscus on one side of the knee.  The doctor (medico) said that I should take it easy for 4-5 days, and after that no competitive sports for 2-3 months. 

This has been a hard test for me.  First, of all, my knee hurts.  Walking is quite painful and slow.  Secondly, I had plans to make spanish amigos playing soccer, continue to practice my basketball skills, stay in shape by running, and pick up some chicas, I mean challange myself, by learning ballroom dance.  Well, that's all more or less out the figurative window.  So today, it's been a challange.  I've had to ask myself: who's plan is better for this trip?  My (man's) plan or God's (the actual) plan.  I am hoping that I find other, less active ways to spend my time (suduko mastery, perhaps?) and that my knee heals. But I have to believe that God's plan is the best plan!

Meanwhile, there won't be any pictures for a while, until someone either turns in my camera or I buy a new one.  I am not happy about that!

Well, it seems like I have gotten long-winded again.  I planned to tell you about my spanish house, but I guess I will do that later.

Peace to all!

~Charlie

See things from my point of view

Here are couple of videos I took while walking around Santander.  You can hear very well just how windy it can be here at times.

The weather here can be quite brutal at times.  The temperature has been between 35-60 degrees since I've been here, since we keep having big storms roll in and make the temperature lower.  What makes things brutal, though, is the wind, which can reach 50 mph.  Sometimes it's just plain hard to stand up.  Also, there is a lot of rain- I think for the first 6 days of my stay here.  But even with this weather, it is still incredibly beautiful, as you can see from these videos

Conociendo (getting to know) la gente

From reading the comments made on my blog, some of you are very impressed with the number of posts I have been able to make so far.  Well, the thing is that I have a lot of time on my hands- spaniards take a siesta from 2-4 every day.  Some people sleep, but others, like me, just lay in bed and blog.  

Anyways, yesterday, today and tomorrow is orientation for international students in the Universidad de Cantabria.  There are about 150 students that were there at the orentation, studying for all parts of the globe - Mexico, France, Germany, England, Italy, Australia, Bulgaria, and of course, North Carolina, carolina del norte.  After a quick tour of the university (which was kinda hilarious because the tour guides were from a different organization and didn't know the university well) we meet for some tapas.  It was facinating to mingle with people from so many different backrounds.  Some spoke english, others spanish.  I had so much fun.

Especially fun was meeting some real Italians.  I felt like I was at home- mama mia!  And yes, it seems most of the stereotypes about Italians are true, but they are so nice (simpaticos) but at the same time crazy (I heard they stayed out until 5:00 am) last night.  It was also good to meet some english-speakers who know a bit of the pain that we are going through.  Hopefully, I made some lifelong friends, but we'll see.

After mingling, we headed out for a tour of some of the best parts of Santander.  It was so cold and so windy outside.  Of course, this was the day that I decided it was warm enough to go without a jacket.  Typical.  Nevertheless, it was really fun.  I've posted a couple videos that might give you an idea of the miserable weather here.  After a bit of a bus tour, we went down to the port where we boarded a boat and took a tour of the bay (bahia).  Us crazy people went on top to the viewing deck and nearly got blown over- but it was worth it for the gorgeous view.  We just don't have places like this in America.

After yesterday, we added a few new members to our group- two Australian guys and two Australian girls, a British guy and girl, and a Belgian guy.  Also, we have made friends with some Spanish speakers, which we help me immensely with my spanish.  It's a very dynamic group of people.

Finally, we went to watch the match between Spain and England in soccer.  We mixed right in with the locals, enjoying the game as much as anyone else.  Of course, the party rolled on from there, but I had to give it up and go home at 1:30 am, well before the Italians were finished.  

Today, we went to the little town of Comillas where there was a old fortress and a cathedral.  From there, we proceeded to the mountains called Picos de Europa.  These moutains are amazing!  I took tons of pictures until my camera ran out of bateries.  I was hoping that we would go up to the top or be able to hike but we stopped at a little town halfway up and walked around.  I hung out with a group that had people from Germany, Spain and Denmark.  These were the advanced spanish speakers, so I mostly just listened.  But I think I picked up some helpful spanish phrases.

Tonight, I am taking it easy- I actually write this as I watch a documentary about the military coup Spain had to establish it's current government.  I am watching it with my host parents.

Let me know how you guys are doing! I hope that things can final progress well now that you have be out of the way.

In Christ,

Charlie

Boy in the Spanish City- with pictures!

I feel like I have already been in Spain forever!  I think this is because some many changes have happened all at once and there are somemany different things that I have done already.  Information overload.

Ok, to pick up where I left off: 

- Sunday we went to the Maritime Musuem and then to a little tavern.  

-  Monday was our first real day of "school".  They purposely make sure that we never have too much to do

 on any day so that we have time to see the town and 

also recover from jet lag.  Anyway, we had our placement test to determine our spanish ability.

  This was a regular scantron test, but with the additional element of an oral interview during the test.  One my one, we were called away from our tests to be interviewed, just outside the doors of the testing room.  It was quite imposing to suddenly be faced with two smiliing spaniards talking rapid fire spanish.  However the questions were easy (Como te llamas- what is your name?  Cuantos anos tienes?- how old are you?) I felt

 pretty good about the test.

Additionally we toured the university a little bit- here are photos of the main building and the gym:

Finally, we all returned home for siesta and lunch (2:30).  Later, most of met for coffe (cafe) in one of the plazas in town for some delightful sipping and chatting.  We wandered around for a bit and then headed to the windy beach.  Right now all we have is wind and cold, but I hope later to get some real beach time in.

I headed to the computer lab at school, always an adventure, for you have to get the keys from the janitor, which is not easy in spanish.  Later I went with a couple others from the group to a ballroom dancing class- more on this later.

And that was about it for a night, on to Tuesday

- Today (Tuesday), was a day 

off.  I woke up early, however, and tried to take a run.  The only

 problem was the huge storm that suddenly blew in from the ocean and dumped water on me.  I can say for a fact that the streets of Santander are pretty bare at 7:00 am.  Anyway, after breakfast and devotions, I then headed back to the school to talk with our director of activities, Ken.  Ken gave us a rather long-winded explanation (as is the way of the spaniards) about the various trips we could take for the weekends.  We were told to go to the office of jovenes (youth life basically) and register and then take our money to the bank where we can deposit it into the youth life's account.  Apparently, spaniards do not trust each other much.  This sounds simple, but of course I got it mixed up, and went to the bank first, confusing the poor teller much with my statement that I had money to give to la oficina de jovenes.  And then I tried to help my groupmates find the office, but it took us a

bout an hour, thanks to my great knowledge. 

That was the morning.  

After lunch, it was time to shop.  There are stores upon stores upon stores near where I live, so it's to just walk around and spend lots.  Clothes are the one thing in Spain that are not cheap.  However, they have sales once a year, in January (extended to February because of the

 recession) that make things very cheap.  My friends and I were able to find some things after a good deal of wandering around (again thanks to my infalliable sense of direction).  We almost went to go see a movie, but in the end decided not to- everyone was way too tired.

The end.  I'm tired.

Vale

Ok sorry that I did not post yesterday- life is so much different here that my schedule is all thrown off.

Those of you holding your breath can exhale now...  

Vale- it's a word that I love and hate.  I love it because it's useful as filler to make it seem like you are actually capable (capaz) of having a conversation with a spaniard.  Basically if all you say in a conversation is vale, you can get away with it sometimes, because the spaniards say the same thing.  It means ok, and is often repeated 3-4 times for effect.  I hate it because of the way it can chrush my feelings of spanish adequacy.  This happens when a salesperson (invariably a lady) finishes a long monolouge explaining one of her products to me, standing, nodding and desperately repeating vale at what I think are appropiate intervals.  I am not comprending, and she knows it.  So at the end of the monolouge, she finishes with a simple vale?- like "I said all this and you should understand it, ok? Like you poor, poor helpless extranerjo (foreigner)- I know you can't understand me, and you never will- There's nothing I can do for you but hope that you somehow get the point, behind all your nodding and vale-ing, vale?" It's sad- I can always get the general point, but am never exactly sure.  So I wait for the part where she tells me the price, pay and take my stuff, feeling very far from fluent.  

Now this all seems very triste- sad, but I then realize that it's only my fourth day here, and I am improving very quickly, and I haven't really started class- intensive spanish class- yet and that God is in control.  These are the days...

Day 1 in Espana!

Hello everyone!  Thank you for all your prayers for travel safety- all of my trip went quite smoothly.  For this blog, I will try to introduce everyone to a little spanish- so you will see selections of spanish in my postings.

Friday:

Llego al aeropuerto y dije "adios" a mi familia- I got to the airport and said goodbye to my family

It was sad to say goodbye, but everyone held up very well, knowing that this trip is God's will for me and that He is going to do much good through it.  There I met (conoce) the other members of my group.  It is a really fun group of people to be with, and I'm sure I'm going to be good friends with all of them in 3 months.

We hung out in the terminal of the airport next to our gate for a couple of hours (por una pareja de horas), and then finally we got on the plane.  We flew to Newark, NJ first- circling around the airport a couple times before landing, and then quickly hopped on our next flight to Madrid- the all-nighter.  The Newark airport is huge!  Similarly huge was the plane we boarded for our trans-atlantic flight.   On both flights I sat next to my friend Nate, who is studying economics at Nc State.

I tried very hard to sleep (yo trato mucho de dormirse)  but it was very hard on the plane- I couldn't stretch out enough, even when I moved back to a row where there was one unoccupied seat.  In the end, I think I only fell asleep because watching House in Spanish was so boring...

I spent 7.5 hours in between sleep and being awake, but finally the plane arrived in Madrid's Barajas airport.  We stumbled off the plane and into Madrid, where it was quite chilly (about 35 degrees).  (A side note: I have yet to see any of the warm, sunny Spain I was dreaming about).  One girl lost a part of her luggage, but for the most part we were fine.  We met our tour director, Greta (I'm sure I'll talk more about her later), and boarded a big orange bus bound for Santander (about 6 hours away).  

Our driver's name was Pablo, and he was the first person I talked to who only spoke Spanish (except for the flight attendant who laughed at my sleepy attempts to ask for assistance in Spanish).  But he is a funny guy whose favorite soccer team (equipo de futbol) is Sevilla.  He also says the Pau Gasol is the best basketball player in the entire world.  Our trip went smoothly- most of us slept (we arrived in Madrid at 3:00 am our time, so we were exausted).  I tried not to sleep and I think only slept an hour.  

Some things that suprised me as I looked out my window at northern Spain:

- Spain is very, very hilly.  There were very few times we were driving through flat terrain.  The peaks and valleys were often breathtaking.  

- There was snow everywhere!  Every single area, not just the mountains, was covered in snow, and it even snowed pretty hard on us during the trip.  However, as soon as you get toward the cost, the snow turns into a miserable, cold rain.  

- I haven't seen any religious statues yet. I have seen many monasteries and little churches, but not much religious art. Me sorprende mucho! I'm very suprised!

Anyway, we arrived in Santander a las seis, at six.  Santander is a very old-fashioned city which I will tell you more about later, but it is very pretty and very close to the sea.

As soon as I got off the bus, I met my homestay mom- Victoria.  She is so nice, and really interested in learning about me and america, and pretty much anything.  She has no problem talking to me, which is very kind of her considering how bad my spanish is.  I am hoping that we still have things to talk about after the three months, because we have already covered my family, Obama, homeschooling and race relations in the first two days!  Her husband, Luis is also very very nice, with a good sense of humor.  He is a history teacher at a local high school.

I will post next about my apartamento or house, but it is plenty of room for me, Louis and Victoria.  I can see the harbor from my window.  

Today we went to the Martime Museum of Santander and then to a local tavern.  It is still rainy, so not much fun to walk around, but I had a good time.

This post is getting long, so I will post more tommorow (manana) or martes, Tuesday.

Now it's time for a spanish quiz!  Que significa estas palabras? What do these mean?

Llegar (llego)-

Adios (easy one)-

Familia- 

Conocer (conoce)-

Pareja- 

Hora(s)-

Tratar (trato)-

Dormirse- 

Equipo de futbol-

Sorprenderse (Me sorprende)-

A las seis-

Apartamento- 

Manana-

Martes- 

Ready to go