Random

I go home in 11 days --- I haven't started packing --- I have -$0.10 on my UniPrint balance --- I can't sell back half of my textbooks --- I just read all my past Facebook statuses and can't believe how strange I am --- I like this weather but would like it even better if it were colder --- I think I should have gotten more sleep than I did last night to be this awake right now --- I've been thinking about the future a lot lately and how many possibilities there are... and I'm really excited.

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

[[I thought I should continue where I had left off my last blog. To understand this post better, you may want to read my Tuesday, April 14th post from my Oxford blog.]]

It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. Lamentations 3:22-24 (AMP)

Last Sunday I totally got what God has been trying to tell me this whole semester: it's all about Him. No matter what happens with my social world, everything I do - everything in which I invest my time, money, emotions, energy - is supposed to be for His glory.

Soon after I returned home from Oxford, I began to wonder if it had been a mistake. Why was I having so much trouble with life back at home? Then, once I got back to ACU, it got worse. I didn't know how to do these old friendships and I didn't know where my new ones were going. I have made several amazing friends through my Oxford experience, both from ACU and from Oxford. I have become indescribably grateful for my roommate, Rebekah. She is beautiful, compassionate, faithful, fun, encouraging, and an awesome woman of God. I love her to death and she is one channel through which God has changed me this semester.

Here's the revelation: I have been overlooking the blessing that Oxford was. Simple as that. It's like He's put this amazing experience into my hands and I'm just shoving it away. I've been overlooking how God has worked through me and in me, and it's only hitting me now. He has always been with me throughout the whole experience, and I've been learning of His heart, and I know that He is relational and created us to be relational, and He wouldn't want us to be in any sort of unrest because of our relationships. What I've been seeking for myself in my old friends has been nothing to fill this void; He is it. No matter who my friends are, He is the greatest one of all. Of course I treasure my friends, but He turned my world upside down when I went to the other side of it. I'm finally accepting this change. I embrace the changes He's done in me and will use them to worship Him. No turning back -- I've changed, and this DOES NOT mean that I just had a fleeting experience. I feel like He's grown me so much just in these past few days with this knowledge and realization.

Acceptance is a strange thing. I've accepted God's grace and mercy and Jesus' love, but for some reason, I've been blocking out this blessing that last semester was and not letting God work through it. I've been working against it. I've been agonizing over the changes, which is why it was so hard. I wasn't opening my eyes to see how He was at work, and I most definitely was resisting growth by trying to turn around backwards and force things into how they used to be. The truth, though, is that I'm different than I was last year and all my old friends are different than they were last year, and that's okay. God has grown us. He's telling me now to let it out.

Even so, I do count my friends as some of my greatest blessings. I love hanging out with my close ACU-Oxford friends and wouldn't trade them or our experiences together for anything. I'm also realizing that I didn't only make friends in Oxford with the group I went with, but I also formed relationships through God's work with those in Oxford: my friends from St. Aldate's. I knew that, but it's only lately that I've been connecting with them more, and coming to fully realize how grateful I am for them. I'm also beginning to appreciate the Internet as connector of people across the globe. ;)

God was telling me on Sunday, "I love you. I've blessed you with experiences and friendships that mean so much more than you have acknowledged. And it's all because of Me, and it's all for Me."

I am so grateful. Thank You, Jesus.

[[I am reminded of the song "For Good" from the musical Wicked. Here is the part that comes to mind:]]

I've heard it said 

That people come into our lives for a reason 

Bringing something we must learn 

And we are led 

To those who help us most to grow 

If we let them 

And we help them in return 

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true 

But I know I'm who I am today 

Because I knew you... 

Like a comet pulled from orbit 

As it passes a sun 

Like a stream that meets a boulder 

Halfway through the wood 

Who can say if I've been changed for the better? 

But because I knew you 

I have been changed for good

Into the Presence

I am wrapped snugly within the fragrance of sweetness. The alluring scent of flowers and the heavy heat from the sun pulls me under and I am suspended. The sticky, warm aroma crawls into my vulnerable nostrils, assailing my brain with euphoric impressions of beauty and contentment. The smell keeps me, watches me, holds me, cradles me. Lovingly, she draws me home into the presence of the King, Who speaks to me words of fondness and affirmation. I am shaped into the worshiper You created me to be and pressed into Your lovingkindness. Now I'm Yours.

New Blog

So I did it. I created a new blog. I don't know what exactly I'll put there, but it's there...

New

So this is my new blog. I don't know exactly what I'm going to be putting here, but I felt like I should keep blogging. We'll see what happens. :)

Sometimes I Wish Life Gave the Option for a "Fade In/Out" Transition

I haven't posted since Christmas, and I don't even know if anyone really read this while I was posting during last semester. But I'm posting again now, just as a recap of what's been happening since then, just in case people do read this and wonder if I'm still alive or if the tumbleweeds have gotten the best of me.

My first semester back in Abilene has been so hard. Of course there have been easy things, like doing the schoolwork and seeing Oxford friends, but hanging out with my old friends has been a strange, difficult, and stretching experience. I don't feel like we click anymore, and even though I love them to death, I feel so uncomfortable around them sometimes. It's gotten easier as the semester's worn on, since we've been building back up our relationships, but it's completely different than last year. I knew it wasn't going to be the same, but I had no idea it would be this hard. I'm trying to decide if I'm supposed to try to rekindle the good friendships I had or just leave them be, although it's a little more comlicated than that.

God has been testing me to see if I really desire Him the most. Out of anything. I want to honestly be able to say, like David, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you" (Psalm 73:25). He has been showing me how high and wide and deep and long His love is, and I am learning to accept it. It's kind of hard, though, when I'm wanting my old friends back so much.

So, along with all this emotional stuff, my semester has also been awesome. I changed my major to Social Work and I am so glad God led me to it. I'm loving my classes and my professors and I'm really excited for next semester already. I've also started helping out with the 1st through 6th graders at my church here, Beltway Park. I go on Wednesday nights for "Wednesday Warriors" and pretty much just help out with games and small group activities. I love it and have been reminded how much I love kids. I always come home encouraged and feeling like I've seen a side of God I hadn't seen in quite some time.

Probably the most exciting thing about this semester is something that hasn't even happened yet. I am going to be interning with Dry Bones this summer in Denver, Colorado. I went on a Spring Break campaign with them last year and loved it, which is pretty much why I applied. Simply put, I will be hanging out with the homeless youth in downtown Denver and also church youth groups that come to hang out with them as well. I am incredibly excited, but am trying to stay in the present.

Alright, well I don't know if I'm going to keep posting here. I suppose I should, since this post was rather dreary. I really only wanted this blog to talk about my semester abroad, so I might make a new one for everyday things. Perhaps. I'll let you know if I do.

Wondering Where Home is Now

I can't believe I've been home for two weeks and a day and I still feel like I can walk out the door and down the street into town, central Oxford. It's ridiculous how fast the time has gone, from the moment I entered the Study Abroad meeting during Passport before college started until this moment, Christmas night, after the semester is all said and done. I really miss Oxford and my friends there, but I think because it's more within my reach I miss Abilene and my friends there more. I'm really excited to go back (January 10th!) and room with Rebekah again. That'll be such a blast! :)

Cornmarket at night near Christmas

Quick update on the last week of Oxford:
- Thursday, December 4th: last cell group, last Risky. Cell was sad, but good. I'm so glad I got a chance to meet those people; they love the Lord so much and are so intent on spreading His word and love. I got a photo of all of us. Risky was good too and afterwards the usual group (me, Anne, Colin, and Ed) went to G&Ds and hung out. I got really sad that it was the last time we were seeing both of them! But fortunately I got a photo of all of us and I can see Anne at school in a few weeks.
- Friday, December 5th: We went to Hyde Park in London to see the Christmas lights and festivities. Then we saw the musical Wicked. It was SO GOOD. It had really cool sets and costumes, the songs were great, the performers were amazing, and it was hilarious!
- Saturday, December 6th: I further explored Oxford with Anne and Rebekah. I had never walked through Jericho just for the the heck of it, except to get to Port Meadow, but I'm glad I finally did; it's really neat. I did a bunch of Christmas shopping too. We ate lunch at this place on Broad Street called Cafe Creme ('tis fabulous).
- Sunday, December 7th: We went to St. Aldate's for the last time and it ended up being the children's Christmas play! It was so cute and it was great that we saw it because we thought we were going to miss it for sure.
- Monday, December 8th: That evening, we got all nice and went to dinner with the whole group at Freud's Cafe. Then some of us were going to go to The Bridge to hang out, but there was something going on and most of us didn't want to wait to figure it out, so we left and went to G&Ds. Then Anne and I parted from that group to go to club outreach, which was fun and kind of sad. I got a picture of our usual team (me, Turlough, Pete, Anne, and Gary) at the end, and I'm so glad because I can now cherish it forever!
- Tuesday, December 9th: I went to lunch with Turlough, Anne, and Pete at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and to Ben's Cookies afterwards. We were so glad to be able to hang out with them one last time. I'm missing them so much!! At least I'll get to see Anne in a couple weeks though, haha.

I'm gonna miss crazy British signs like this

So...
I really feel like this semester I've gained a lot of confidence, not only in navigating through places I've never been but also in evangelism and speaking about the Lord. Club outreach definitely helped with that (because it was experience) but so did my cell group. Something that Tom, one of my cell group leaders, said one time has stuck with me ever since he said it. It was regarding Matthew 28:19 ("... go and make disciples..."). Usually when we think of this we think of an intentional mission, a purposeful movement out of ourselves to speak about Jesus, specifically. He put a new spin on it: "In your going, make disciples." As you live, with everything you do and say, always be thinking about spreading the Word and be intent on that as you live your daily life doing daily things, no matter what they are. Kind of like that St. Francis of Assisi quote, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words," but I like the Matthew paraphrase better. :)

Under the top bunk in our room

I'm a little nervous about returning back to Abilene. I've missed meeting most of the new freshmen and anyone else that may have arrived at lovely ACU, I've developed new relationships, I've not kept up old ones like I should have, and I'm not sure how things are going socially there. I feel like everything is going to be so different and I'm just hoping I can cope with it alright. I'm scared that good friends that I had last year will no longer be good friends and that where I'll want to be is not going to be possible.

Something I Don't Have to Say

I'm hardly in the mood to update this, as I'm currently in hate with Christmas (the commercialized version of it anyway) and very frustrated, but I figured since it's been two weeks since I've left Oxford and gotten back to Escondido, I should say something. Well. I'll just let "Oxford Spring 2007 KEB" (whoever that was; but thank you if it happens to be you) speak what I'd like to tell future travelers:

From the inside of a wardrobe in the biggest room (ours), House 10

Real update coming soon.

Thanksgiving Break

November 23-29

Overall, our trip to Greece was relaxing, partly because we stationed ourselves in Athens for the entirety of the week, with trips out of the city on a couple of days. I'm not gonna lie; I was not expecting what I experienced. I didn't anticipate that the Parthenon would be covered in scaffolding or that the street signs wouldn't match the maps. I also wasn't expecting, however, that the food would be so good or that the people would be so kind.

My travelmates were Rebekah, Katherine, Mary, and Kristi, and we stayed at this hostel right in the centre of Athens called Hotel Dioskouros. From there, we were right across the street from the Temple of Zeus and about a 15 minute walk from the Acropolis. Since we stayed in a private room, we got our own bathroom. That also wasn't what I expected it to be: the "shower" was nothing more than a square of porcelain on the floor next to the toilet with a faucet and showerhead/hose. It looked like a water fight happened after anybody took a shower.

Oh, you know how I roll... just chillin' on the Areopagus

Our first full day in town we went up the Acropolis, the huge flat rock with several monuments and temples. That is where the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena are located, among several other structures. (Those ancient Greeks were really dedicated to their gods. MAN.) One of the coolest things up there (well, not exactly... It's not on top of the Acropolis, more like off to the side) is the Areopagus , which is the rock hill on which the apostle Paul gave his sermon about the temple to an "unknown god." For dessert after lunch after we explored the Acropolis, I had Greek yoghurt and honey, which was amazing, but waaay too big!

Traffic in Athens is monstrously frightening. It is a big European city, and along with that comes a lot of cars, buses, trams, and motorcycles. Just in case anyone reading this plans on visiting, a word to the wise: don't trust the crosswalks, even if the green man comes up - vehicles WILL go whenever they please, especially motorcycles!

Another interesting (and much safer) aspect of Athens is the fact that uncovered ruins are sprinkled throughout the city. You will be walking down the street or through the underground station and there will be a preserved and roped off section of crumbling stones that were once some sort of structure. It is very strange and such a clash of the centuries.

Yeah, he's really following us home

A couple of times we had random dogs follow us back to the hostel, because there are so many wandering the streets. There are a lot of cats, too, but many more dogs. I began to take photos of every dog I saw, if my camera was easily accessible. It was like a scavenger hunt I was guaranteed to win.

That's 1 Corinthians I'm pointing to, ready to read

On Wednesday, Rebekah, Mary, and I took a trip to Corinth to see the ruins of Ancient Corinth. We were a little apprehensive about going because everyone had been asking us why we would even want to go there and there weren't any easy ways for us to get there, but we learned that nobody plans travel ahead of time in Greece, so it was a lot easier than we thought it would be (i.e. Bus and coach tickets). It was quite an adventure figuring out how we were going to get from place to place (there were many steps and stops), and we were never quite sure if we would be able to get to where we wanted, but it was a lot of fun and well worth it. We took a ton of photos and spent about an hour and a half just wandering around the ruins of this once great city. We read Acts 18 and portions of 1 and 2 Corinthians. It was bizarre to think that we were in a place where Paul stayed and spread the Gospel and built relationships and bridged gaps between Jews and Greeks.

That night, our friends Josh and Erin flew in from Rome and were staying in the same hostel as us. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and had a ton of fun. On Thursday (Thanksgiving!), all 7 of us went on a day cruise to the islands of Hydra, Poros, and Aegina. The islands were all fairly similar to one another, but they were still quite picturesque and the water surrounding them was the most beautiful, clear, turquoise water I have ever seen. The houses and other buildings were pretty, neat, and white. The cruise ride itself was heaps of fun, as having Josh and Erin along adds a lot of excitement (woot woot - Marriage Game! Hahaha). Lunch was included in our payment: meatballs and cabbage/carrot salad for starters, some sort of Greek-style lasagne for the main, and yummy lemon cake of some sort of dessert. On the last island, Aegina, we got to see the sun set over the water. It was gorgeous, absolutely amazing. Combined, we probably took about 300 photos of that alone, haha.

God truly is the greatest artist

On Friday, all of us, minus Josh and Erin, took the tram to Glyfada, which was supposedly a neighbourhood with fairly good beaches. Well, we got there and did not find good beaches, but they were good enough. First, however, we ate lunch at a place called Goody's that we'd been noticing all over the city. It turned out to be a fast food place, but it was, of course, European style: real dishes for eating in. Also, I ordered a meal and with it came a stuffed panda bear! Katherine and Kristi got meals as well, but they got a stuffed dog and monkey. It's so funny! They weren't even kid's meals or anything. Anyway, back to the beach part. We found a pebbly beach, but the sun was hiding behind the clouds intermittently so it wasn't very warm. The water wasn't freezing (only at first), but the pebbles made it hard to stand and wade around. It was really clear water though, yet again, even so close to the big city.

There's this section of Athens called the Plaka, and all it is is shops and restaurants. Well, there was this one road where there are a ton of restaurants, one right after the other on either side, which we dubbed "the gauntlet" because whenever we'd walk through we'd be barraged with insisting waiters trying to get us to eat at their place. They always jumped on us and tried to get us to at least look at the menu, and at first it was really annoying but by the end of the week I found it to be quite humorous. Much to the delight of one of the waiters who we'd passed several times throughout the week to get to and from the grocery store, we gave in to his request and ate at his restaurant on the last day. I enjoyed moussaka (which was apparently what we had eaten for lunch on the cruise but didn't know it) and baklava for dessert. That was the most amazing dessert I'd had in a long time.

The gelato in Greece = YUM. We had our last one (until our next European adventure, whenever that may be) on the last day we were there, Saturday.

I think, honestly, my favourite part about Greece was the people and how helpful and friendly and kind they were. For instance, when we were trying to figure out our way to Ancient Corinth from the modern city Corinth, an older lady started talking to us and told us what to do (she happened to be taking the same bus route that we needed) and we talked to her until the bus came. Before she got off at her stop, she even came up to where we were sitting and made sure we knew when we were supposed to get off for the ruins and how to get back to the city. She was so sweet, and it was amazing that she spoke English (very well, too - she had lived in the US for quite some time earlier in her life).

I finally finished writing about Spain

And since it took me so long just to type it up, you get no pictures. Check my Facebook albums.


October 2-7

Girona

Since they're within an hour and a half drive from each other, we stayed in Girona and drove into Barcelona a couple different days.

We stayed at this quaint hotel; I roomed with Rebekah and Katherine and we had a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen (which was good, because we were responsible for all our own meals)

I loved the streets in Girona, at least up in the northern portion of the city, the "old city." The buildings, of course, add to the effect. Tall, four to seven story buildings with flower boxes in every window; cobbled streets and sidewalks (which make it hard to remember that cars actually do go down them); cathedrals and churches reaching to the sky. It almost doesn't even feel like a city at all, or even a town. I can't quite grasp how it feels. Well, when you look right above you, you see all the tops of the buildings because they're so close together. Everything lends itself to a sort of "theme park" feel, though not in the touristy sense; it's more of the feeling of being enclosed, but not trapped. It's not unwelcome or given to producing anxiety; it's just the way it is. I almost want to describe it as being in rat cage or something, although that does sort of give it a negative connotation and I do not mean it in a bad way at all. Most of the time it's rather cool and shady because the sun doesn't reach most parts of the streets. The stores are "hole in the wall" style, with tin doors that pull down when they close up and usually have some graffiti sprinkled on the outside of the door. I think another thing that makes it feel so enclosed is the low volume level. I would expect it to be a lot louder, echo-y even; but there really isn't much noise. A lot of people ride motorcycles or Vespa-type vehicles; there are whole parking lots of them.

The first chance for a characteristically Spanish experience: siesta. Basically, this happens between about 2 or 3 until 5 and it means that most shops are closed and there are fewer people on the streets. A couple times during this trip I actually even took a nap during this time. I love the idea of siesta and I think it enriched the experience. I wish America would take a chill pill and think about slowing down for a couple hours like a lot of Spain does.

Trying to get by on the little Spanish I do know was interesting, especially when really, most of the signs are actually in Catalán, not Spanish. Catalán is a language that is kind of like a mix between Spanish and French and that's what they speak a lot of in Catalonia, which is where Girona is in Spain.

One of my favorite parts about Girona was the old city wall. My "moment" was one afternoon when Katherine, Rebekah, and I got gelato (which was amazing at this particular place) and walked up through the ruins of the wall, overgrown with vines and trees, up stairs and more stairs to get to the first lookout tower. It started to sprinkle and the clouds spread themselves out over the city, which we could see splayed out below us as we ascended higher and higher. Oh, while we were up there I also threw chocolate gelato all over my face; I suppose that's what I get for dancing (just ask me what happened... or I bet Rebekah could tell the story better).

Oh - another awesome thing: Faith called me one night! It was great to hear some of what was going on back in Abilene.

Barcelona

Three notable things about what I did in Barcelona:

1) Fat Tire Bike Tour - so much fun! Even though I haven't ridden a bike in years, I eventually got the hang of it (somewhat) again. It was awesome to be riding on the streets of Barcelona. Imagine a horde of 24 bicyclists (we split our group in half) riding on the street of a big, busy city, and on the "sidewalk" at times... kind of annoying right? Well, all the pedestrians and cars annoyed us too, so there. hah! Anyway, our tour guide, Buster, was really cool. He looked like he just stepped off the page of a skate magazine from California but he actually happened to be from London.

2) While most of our group went to the FC Barcelona game ("soccer"), a group of 10 of us stayed in the city for the night. We split off further while trying to decide what to eat, and I ended up eating a whole pizza at this delicious pizza place. But, really, there's nothing to do in Barcelona at night except eat and drink. Hm.

3) Sagrada Familia - the most amazing piece of architecture I have ever seen. Gaudi is so creative and it just blows my mind. It's a big church that's still under construction and it has been for over 100 years. It would be so cool to go back and see it if it gets finished in my lifetime. Inside you feel like you're in a monstrous cavern, with ornate, odd, and interesting ceilings. The view from the top of the towers was cool (have I mentioned I love aerial views? Like, a lot.)

I got another awesome phone call one night from Ashley! :)


October 7-10

Granada

The hotel we stayed at in Granada was pretty nice. We got delicious all-you-can-eat breakfasts everyday.

The Alhambra was beautiful. The palace was ornate, but the Generalife, the gardens, was the hugest most pleasant garden ever. The beauty of the palace, I thought, was mostly in the belief that Muslims hold that they're not allowed to portray God in any kind of image they make, so the decorations were these intricate carvings on the walls of parts of the Koran and its imagery. It was amazing because almost every wall was covered at least partly with them.

Did you know that vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream have two different textures? Well, I found that out one night when we ate dinner, since I couldn't taste because I had a cold. Vanilla is very smooth, but chocolate has a very slightly grittier texture... Almost like you can feel the cocoa powder.

Funny thing - I got lost. Yeah.. Hah... It was one of those situations where you know where you are, but not really... Like, you know how to get back to the place where you know where you are. I was walking and was just too curious, I guess, because I kept walking because I remembered how to get back to where I knew where I was. Turned out, my curiosity got the best of me and I ended up going to far to remember how to get back. I did find a grocery store though, and I bought the cutest jar of Nutella (it had a Spanish cartoon painted on the side). All the time I was walking I was thinking how to phrase in Spanish a question about how to get to the square where our hotel was located. Fortunately, I came across a city map with a "You Are Here" sticker on it, and was able to navigate my way back to the hotel safely.


October 10-13

Toledo

We just stopped in Toledo en route to Getafe (a suburb of Madrid where we stayed). Basically, it's a tourist trap. Lots of stores selling earrings and daggers and swords. The museum I wanted to look in was closed (go figure) and the Alcazar (castle) was also closed. Oh, and their famous marzipan sweets were gross. Fortunately we were only here for a few hours. The best part about Toledo was driving there from Granada; rolling through the mountains covered with olive trees is a surreal experience because it lasted for over an hour... and for a while after we left Toledo and continued on to Getafe. I felt peace.

Getafe

Nothing much to say about Getafe, seeing as we were only here to sleep in the hotel and buy groceries from the store around the corner. The most exciting part about Getafe was the first night at the hotel. Rebekah, Katherine, Meghan, Holly, and I were all sitting out in the hallway (our rooms were all on the same hall) when all of a sudden, from around the corner comes a group of about 4 or 5 Spanish guys, probably around our age. When they saw us they started whistling and talking to us but we just jumped up and ran into Rebekah and Katherine's room. A few seconds later we heard a frightening sound: a knock at the door! It was them. But we didn't open the door. So, from that night on, we always asked who was at the door before we opened it.

Madrid

1) City walking tour in the rain with no umbrellas

2) Reina Sofia (museum): a lot of modern and abstract art, not really all that interesting to me, but still fun. We also saw a lot of Picasso, Dali, and Miro.

3) Prado (museum): absolutely ginormous! Here, my favorite painting was called The Garden of Earthly Delights; it's actually a triptych. It depicts the Garden of Eden on the left; everyone else in the world enjoying worldly pleasures, each with a piece of fruit symbolizing sin and temptation, in the middle; and on the right is a dark and destroyed earth, overrun by death and sin. It's very detailed and pretty big and I really could have spent a long time in front of it. Other great paintings by El Greco were another favorite from this museum.

4) Immanuel Baptist Church: the most diverse church I have ever attended. It's an international English-speaking church and there were people there from several countries and a wide range of ages. It is fairly small but not tiny. Emily and I talked to the associate pastor afterwards and he told us that many times people from other countries will come to this church and then take the message home.

5) Spanish-speaking countries parade: the most disorganized parade I have ever seen in my life, but I guess that's how they do it there. The crowd basically mobbed the performers.


October 13-16

Avila

We stayed in the Residencia at the Monasterio de Santo Tomas, which was really cool, partly because they fed us amazingly, especially lunch that first day. During our stay here we took a city tour with a guy who runs a language school that teaches Spanish, English, and German. We also happened to be staying in this city during the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila, so that meant that all sorts of celebrations were under way.

We went to Catholic Mass one morning and the cathedral was kind of funny because there were TV monitors sprinkled throughout it; such a clash of the centuries. The first of the songs that were sung was the most beautiful and haunting and irreproducible song I have ever heard. I can't even bring it to mind (I couldn't even remember how it went a second after it ended). I felt like God was massaging my insides. I reveled in the pure beauty of the melody.

The bullfight we watched was interesting. I saw 6 bulls die; more than that, they were murdered. There were mostly older people there, since a lot of younger people are against it (reasonably so). It's strangely interesting and I couldn't tear my eyes away, for the most part. After the death of the first bull and the taunting done to the second, I was kind of desensitized to it.

We had the best ending to our two weeks in Spain: the most amazing fireworks show I have ever seen, not because of the amount, but because of how well-executed and unique the display was. They were fired off the top of the old city wall. My favorite part was the waterfall of fireworks flowing over the side of the gate in the wall.

Definitely before even this point I was ready to go home. We were all ready to go home, back to Oxford. Two weeks is a really long time to be away from a place held so dear. It was a different experience traveling around with everybody, all 36 students and 5 teachers. It was like all we had was each other, and I laughed to myself that we had everything that meant anything to us on this travel break whenever we all rode around in a coach.