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