Kiwi Winner

I'd first like to tell you about my mad kiwi skills. The day before I left, my dad, John and I had a kiwi peeling contest and I may have come in last place. But due to being on my own and therefore having to peel my own kiwi, I have drastically improved my skills. So I challenge dad and John to another contest when I return. The results are sure to be different!

I have also become much more daring...trying seafood and OCTOPUS! This was not voluntary; Liz Hiz and my intercambio Jose made me. And I hated everything about it but at least now I can say I truly don't like seafood nor octopus. Liz was here visiting this weekend and it was so great to be able to see her and show her around Sevilla! Jose was our tour guide the whole weekend and showed us "the secrets of Sevilla". It has been really fun hanging out with some more locals. I am so glad I got an intercambio who wants to show me around the city and practice English/Spanish. It kinda makes up for having an older host family who can't do as much.

Our Saturday night was a bit crazy...we went to Carnival in Cádiz. We dressed up as ladybugs which later we realized means gay in Spanish...so we got some interesting shout-outs throughout the night. These are the little things you need to know but don't learn about in Spanish class! And for the Carnival, let's just say it was Mifflin on steroids and was a bit too crazy for us. There were thousands of people and no where to go! Our train home wasn't until 6AM and we were all ready to leave at 2AM, only 3 hours after our train got there. We were frozen by the end of the night but Lauren, Liz and I were able to laugh about it the next day and it will be an experience we will never forget...you always need some of those!

School has been going well. To tell you the truth, I haven't done much and these midterms are going to come around pretty quick so I have to get on my game and start reading sometime soon! It is just really hard to balance school with the study abroad experience because I came to Spain not really thinking about school!

We (Lauren, Kristen, Yessica and I) are going to Italy this weekend for 6 days! We just booked all of our train tickets and hotels. I am getting really excited because this is the first country I will go to outside of Spain! I can't wait to see more of Europe and eat Italian food!!

It is a daily struggle for me to put God as my first priority but every time I stray away, God brings me right back. It has been a blessing in disguise to feel so alone some days because those are the days I realize all I truly need is Jesus. "When we are in a situation where Jesus is all we have, we soon discover He is all we really need." -Gigi Graham Tchividjian. And I have been really feeling God calling me to go back to Uruguay sometime in my future to do mission work with Campus Crusade. I have such a heart for Spanish people and am really pursuing the language here so I can use it to bring glory to God's kingdom. It has been really cool thinking about my future while I am here because I am so removed from my day to day life that it helps me process through things and really listen for God's voice.

xoxo, Rebekah

Summing Up Madrid

I finished my 3-Credit Spanish class on Friday and three hours later Lauren, Kristen, Katie and I were off to Madrid! We took the AVE high-speed train. It was pretty expensive to get somewhere comparable to the distance of Wisconsin and Minnesota but it was really cool to see. We got into Madrid around 10PM and checked into the hostile. Let me tell you…this was culture shock. Sharing a room with five other people and not having your own bathroom and space is quite an experience. There was an older man in our room and he was nice but I was pretty creeped out sharing a room with strangers. It was also a pain having to lock up all of our stuff whenever we went to the bathroom, let alone left the hostile. But it was cheap and what I will be staying in whenever I travel so I have to get used to it! We went to a really cute restaurant by our hostile for dinner and then checked out a couple of bars. On Saturday, we went to the Reina Sofia Museum and the Museum del Prado (one of the top attractions in Spain). We saw Guernica by Picasso, Las Meninas by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Ribera and much more painters. Contrary to what some of you may think, I have started to gain an appreciation for art! My ticket stubs are pictured below, as proof that I was actually there Blake! :) Then at night we went to Kapital, a really famous club in Spain. There were seven levels with a ton of different bars and areas. Katie, Tico (a friend we made who is from Michigan) and I sang to the “Club Can’t Even Handle Me Right Now.” Needless to say, my voice was a little rusty but it was a lot of fun!

On Sunday, we went to the Royal Palace. It was cool to see portraits up that we had just seen in the museums! We then went to a park and had churros and chocolate. Katie accidently dropped my camera and it broke but luckily there are Rebajas (sales) until the end of February in Spain so I was able to get another one on Monday for a pretty good deal! You can't not have a camera when in Europe! Sorry for the double negative...but it was necessary.

Madrid was just the start to my crazy experiences here in Europe. I can't wait to have more and keep exploring the world!

A couple of random tips:
- The weather is gorgeous here in Sevilla but if you plan to visit (hint hint John and mom and dad) bring WARM clothes to sleep in because it is freezing inside the houses. Now I'm guessing the hotels will be centrally heated but my house sure isn't.
- When you want hot chocolate, don't directly translate it as chocolate caliente because you will get melted chocolate, literally. You need to order Cola Cao, which is their most famous brand of hot chocolate here (equivalent to saying Kleenex instead of tissue).

Tomorrow I am going to Encuentro again..I really liked it last Wednesday! It is with other Americans and it has been awesome diving into a Christian community here. I am going to a church on Sunday that a missionary I connected with here goes to. I am excited to be immersed into a Spanish service and connect with Spaniards.

Love Life! xoxo, Rebekah

Travel Plans!

Here is a complete list of my travel plans. Basically every weekend I am traveling somewhere. LOVING LIFE the three months I am here :)

February:
3-5 Madrid
11 Cádiz (Beach)
18 Carnaval de Cádiz (11PM-7AM Party); Liz is coming to visit!
23-28 Italy (Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Pisa)

March:
3-4 Granada
8-11 Paris
17 Córdoba
22-24 Morocco
29-31 England

April:
1-8 John is coming to visit!
13-15 Portugal
19-21 Barcelona
22-28 Mom and dad are coming to visit!
26-28 Sarah and Matt are coming to visit! They will be here when mom and dad are here :)

Elisabeth and Blake...I'm missing you guys and can't wait to see you when....

I return to the States May 11.
xoxo, Rebekah