Christmas in Arizona

Well, it's been quite a while since I've written on my blog, and people have been commenting on how it would be nice for me to keep one again....so here it is. I decided that Christmas time would be the perfect time to start it back up. After all, this is the first time ever that I have celebrated Christmas away from home.
Tonight I made dinner for Laura and I. I baked a ham, made really good scalloped potatoes, green beans with almonds, stuffing, rolls, and a gingerbread cake. It was amazing...I just wish I had more people to share it with. Then, I went to a service tonight at Word of Grace. It was nice to be a part of the service on the other side...it also made me think about whether or not it is a good idea to redo Christmas carols. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and creating new traditions, enjoying breakfast, maybe traveling a bit, and spending time with friends. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

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Last Day in Spain

My last day in Spain was rather sad. It was hard to say good bye to everyone. The time went by so fast. It was my last day to sleep in and enjoy the time I had with Matt and Lori and the girls. I spent most of the day doing last minute things that were on my list. I finished my stained glass, started packing things up, did some last minute shopping and finished washing some clothes. At 5:00 we went to church and had amazing pie that Lori had mad and then Matt led Praise and Worship and Lori led a Bible Study. It was a great time of fellowship. After church I did some more last minute errands and then went home for dinner. I said goodbye to Abigail and Isa before they went to bed because I was leaving early in the morning. I spent the evening with Matt and Lori and we talked about our personalities and just had a good time together. It was hard to pack everything up and leave knowing that it would be a while before I saw everyone again. However, I was looking forward to seeing my friends at school. I went to bed but wasn't able to sleep because I feared that I would oversleep and miss my plane. The next thing I remembered was my alarm going off and I got up to begin my travels home. The flight home went smoothly and I had a small delay in Chicago, but it didn't mess anything up. It was good to be home again.

I always enjoy being in Spain and spending time with Matt and Lori. They always teach me so much along with the other members of the team. Thanks guys for everything. I had a great time.

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Coming to an End

Today was my last day of working in the cafe. I worked two shifts today since I had yesterday off. I worked with Lori this morning, which was a little different, and then we ate lunch together after work. When we left the cafe I did a little shopping in the touristy shops and tried to stop at a candy store, but they were closed for siesta. When I got home I worked on my stained glass piece and then headed back to work. I made tapas tonight and cut some fudge and I was done early, so I talked to some of Scott's friends that are visiting. At about a quarter till I started cleaning up the back. Victor came back a couple of times and asked me some questions and I didn't know the answers and felt horrible. I was ready to leave for the night. Belen stopped by to say goodbye to me. I'm really going to miss her. I walked home quickly because Matt and Lori and I were going out for dinner. We dropped Abigail and Isa off at the Stribs and went to a nice restaurant for authentic Spanish food. It was a great meal and I had a great time just talking with Matt and Lori. After dinner we went out for some ice cream. Well, we tried to. Most of the ice cream places were closed. So, we ended up getting ice cream from a pizza place. We picked up the girls from the Stribs and then went home.

Early Morning

Yesterday I woke up early and helped Lori take Abigail to school and then we went to the cafe. I had a napolitana and cafe con leche. Really good. Then Lori and I went to get our hair cut. It was fun. Now I need to get some hair gel and a round hair brush so that I can do something with it. It stinks that I can never get it to look like the person who gave me the cut.

After we got our hair cut, I stopped by the cafe to get my stained glass piece so that I could finish it. We I got home I realized that I had forgotten my key and so I was locked out. I went to the park for a while and then headed back to the house trying to catch Lori. I figured it was around the time that she was going to be picking up Abigail and so I headed to the school. I was glad when I saw that she was there. I helped her get the girls home.

After lunch I worked on my stained glass piece and took a little nap before Lori and I went to the cafe. We met Belen there to talk and it was the last time I had to spend with her. Belen is so sweet. She is one of those people that you want to bring home with you. We said our goodbyes and Lori and I headed home.

Matt and I went to the store for dinner and when we got home, the Stribs girls were over because we were watching them while the Stribs went out with their friends. After the girls were in bed we ate dinner and watched Lord of the Rings. I got tired pretty quickly and went to bed.

Orchestra de Galicia

Today I woke up early to meet Crystal and Matt at the cafe for Art Club. We didn't get our projects finished on Monday, so we were trying to finish them before I had to work. I got most of the outline finished, but it took a long time to dry. I ended up having to work before I got it done. I worked with Belen again which was fun. I had to go to the bank and get some change and make a lot of fudge. It was a good day at the cafe. After work, I went to the park because it was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. It really made me not want to go back home to snow. Oh well, it can be fun.

In the afternoon, I watched Abigail and Isa while Lori went to teach. It was pretty fun. She played her Dr. Seuss game for a while and then we put some of her music in and danced around the room. She had a great time. When Lori got home she made some pancake batter. While she taught the neighbor kids English, I made the pancakes and fed the girls.

As soon as Lori was done, went left for a concert that I had read about in a brochure. We went to see the Orchestra of Galicia. We ended up getting free tickets because they know a girl who hadd tickets and wasn't going. She just put our names on them. The orchestra was really good and I had a great time. The conductor confused me alot and I'm guessing that is because the pieces were in weird times. I don't know. It amazed me how long the applauding lasted for after the songs. At the end I would say it lasted a good five minutes. The conductor came on the stage three or four times. The whole time I was thinking that there would be a standing ovation. No, they just clapped forever. I thought it was pretty funny. I enjoyed watching people's facial expression. Especially the concert master. He was practically dancing. After the concert, Lori and I went out and got drinks and talked for a while, until midnight actually. Then we realized that we had to get up early and booked it home. I'm really glad that I got to go to the concert. It was a great experience.

There is Nothing Like a New Pair of Shoes

Yesterday was a great day. It is hard for me to remember everything that happened, but I will try my best. I know that I worked from 12-3 at the cafe. I left to go get groceries and when I was almost to the store, I realized that I forgot the money. So, I had to go all the way back to the cafe. Belen thought it was funny, but told me she has done the same thing before. When I got back from the store, Belen and I talked for a while and then she showed me some pictures of her niece, her sister's wedding, and some funny deformed pitures that were hilarious. We were both laughing so hard that she had to close out of the pictures. (Abigail wanted to play Dr. Seuss, so there was a long pause and now I am back) I had a lot of fun talking with her, but I had to get to work. I made fudge and some stuff for tapas and then I was done.

After work I went homw to eat and I worked on finishing my design for art club. I watched Isa when Lori went to teach and then I met her after class to go shopping. We walked all over the city and I finally found a cool pair of shoes. They are yellow and black, sporty and unique. I really like them. When we got home we made dinner and then I went back to the cafe to help Matt close.

Time Flies By

Let's see, yesterday was a pretty busy day. I worked at the cafe from 12:00-3:00 and then went home for lunch. I watched Abigail and Isabel for a little while in the afternoon and then met Lori after her class. I went to art club at the cafe which was fun, but hard. Matt, Crystal, and I were the only ones last night. We were making stainglass squares and we were supposed to draw a picture of a symbol of our life. The three of us spent our entire time trying to come up with ideas and so we are going to meet again on Thursday morning to actually do the stainglass. After artclub Matt and I talked for a while at the cafe before we went to the GBU Bible Study. By the time I got to the Bible Study I was pretty Spanished out. Matt lead the Bible Study this week. The students were supposed to design the ideal church. They were starting from scratch and they had to make the church what they wanted it to be. They definitely came up with a different church than I would have, but most of their ideas were very attainable. I think it was good to hear what they want their church to be like and to get them to think about what church should be. It is a very challenging questionm and I still don't know exactly what I think, but I definitely have a lot of ideas. After bible study, I watched a movie to relax from the dat.

This morning I got up and went to work. It was a busy day in the cafe. As soon as I walked in I had to make a batido for someone. Then before I made it to the store I helped Scott do the dishes. This was my first time helping with the dishes. Then I went to the store and when I got back someone had ordered a fruit plate. When that was done I finished putting the rest of the food away and entered everything into the computer. Just as I was ready to make some fudge, Scott said I needed to make three bocadillos de tortilla y queso and patatas fritas. As I was making those he said that we needed another bocadillo with queso. I got those finished, made the fudge, cut some fudge, made four mint chocolate shakes, and cleaned up the kitchen. Now, to some this may not have been a busy day, but for me, I think it was the busiest day so far. This is kind of exciting. The students love the cafe, especially the foreign students.

This afternoon we went to Scott and Shelly's for Madelines birthday party. She turned three. We had a really good carrot cake. Abigail was funny because she wanted Madeline to share all of her presents, especially the bubbles. At first Madeline didn't even want to open the bubbles, but once they were playing with them they had a great time. I enjoyed watching all the guys sit and stare with bordom.

Today was a good day. It is crazy how fast three weeks can go. There is so much that I would still like to do before I leave, but I know that I won't get to everything. I still haven't found anyshoes. Oh well, if I do it will be fun, and if not, I don't really need them anyway.

A Day in La Coruna

This morning I woke up early and got ready to go to the train station. Matt and I were meeting Scott, David, and Brian to go to La Coruna. We arrived about twenty minutes early and bought our tickets. Matt went first and only had a fifty. The guy wasn't very happy. He did not want to break a fifty, but that is all Matt had so after much hesitation he gave Matt change. Then I got my ticket and we went to grab a cup of coffee while we waited. Scott and David arrived shortly after and they came to get some coffee. As David sat down he said, "I think I really made that guy made because I didn't have change for a fifty." Matt and I laughed and explained what had just happened to us. We were waiting for Brian as Scott's phone rang. It was Brian, he thought we were meeting at Scott's place and that the train was leaving later. He had ten minutes to get from far, far, away to the train station. Matt and Scott thought for sure that he was going to miss the train. We finished our coffee and were getting ready to get on the train and as Scott said, "There is no way Brian is going to make it," he ran in the doors to the train station. Matt told him to get his ticket quickly as we stood outside waiting for the train. Brian comes running out, out of breath and says, "Do you guys have change, he won't take my fifty." It was hilarious. So, Brian made the train and we were off to La Caruna.

We first went to Vida Nueva, a church that was planted maybe a year ago. Everyone there was really nice. I really enjoyed singing the songs, many of them I already knew either in English or from CAV. It is so awesome to worship God with people from other cultures and people who speak a different language. It always reminds me of how awesome my God is and gives a little closer glimps of what heaven will be like. There was also a teen leading some of worship which was very powerful. We spent some time praying for other churches in the area and for that church. The message was about the church and what it is supposed to look like. I think I cought the just of the message. At least bits and pieces of it. After church I really had to go to the bathroom and when I was exiting, I couldn't get the door opened. How embarassing! I thought I was stuck in the bathroom. I finally got the door opened and was very happy that I didn't have to start knocking from the inside for someone to let me out.

We went to Roberto's house after church for lunch. He is the Pastor of the church and I met him last week when he was visiting Santiago. His wife Nancy and their two kids Sophi and Josue, I'm not sure how to spell them. Lunch was yum, yum, delicioso. After lunch we went to a close cafe for a cup of coffee. As we were sitting there talking the place got really dark. They had pulled all of the blinds down and turned on the television for the soccer game that we were going to go to. We called a taxi which arrived in two minutes. Now, most taxi's hold 5 people max, but we made this one hold six. It was a very tight squeeze. I felt like I was either never going to leave my seat, or pop out. I'm glad that the ride to the stadium wasn't extremely long.

We got our tickets for the game and then found our seats. We were a little late, but still got to see most of the game. The stadium was packed and very loud with passionate fans. One guys got injured, for real, and they pulled him off the stage with a stretcher. Then a ref. made a really bad call which made the crowd go wild. Then towards the end of the game our team scored. We thought we were going to win for about a minute when the other team scored. The game ended 1-1. It was a gorgeous day for a soccer game. I would have to say it was a pretty impressive game, being my first ever Spanish soccer game live. Leaving the stadium was crazy. Masses of people were walking on the streets. We finally made it to a taxi line and when our taxi pulled up we all crammed in. The taxi driver looked at us like we were crazy and explained tha he was only taking four passengers, so Matt and David got out and went to the next taxi. Back at the train station many college students were heading back to school, so it was packed. Today was a great day. Beautiful weather, aawesome church experience, coffee, great food, and a soccer game. Wow, I'm tired.
Hasta Manana