Fall Break :)

Over fall break (we had a week off of classes) I was able to travel to a few more European countries and see many many new sites.

First stop: Heidelburg, Germany to meet up with my parents and spend a couple days with my fiance. Germany is a beautiful country, I would love to go back someday! :) We visited a few ruins by the city, drove to another town and saw a waterfall and a castle, and drove down to the southern part and saw 2 castles. It was all very beautiful and really neat to see.

Second stop: Netherlands. We visited my mom's cousin and stayed at a bed and breakfast next door to his family. He was able to show us around on Wednesday. It was nice to be there and see all of the dutch things!

Third stop: Paris. Did a bunch of touristy things and saw the places that you would expect to see in 2 days in a huge city.

Favorite: probably Germany. I would not mind moving there for a couple years.

Ok. So that is a really brief update on the break...

I have about 5 1/2 weeks left here and then I will be back home and graduated. That is a crazy thought! I am very excited to be done, but it will be weird to not be a student anymore. Next spring I am hoping to work and maybe take an online class for interpreting and maybe travel the US a bit to see friends.

I'll try to write a more meaningful update soon on what I'm learning and experiencing while abroad.

Que Dios les bendiga mucho!

So it's been awhile...

I figured this would happen. I fail at updating things on a regular basis. A lot has happened since the last update so I will just give you an overview.

I've been on a couple more trips. I went to Lagos, Portugal with a couple girls. There are a bunch of beautiful caves and beaches there, and we were able to go on a boat tour of a bunch of the caves and swim in the ocean! It was interesting being in a country where we couldn't understand the main language. I also went to Huelva with the school group. This is where Columbus set off from so it was interesting to see replicas of the boats they sailed on and see the places where he stayed. Just this past weekend I was blessed with a trip to Madrid to see my grandparents! They had done a tour of Spain and ended there so my roommate and I went up to spend a couple days with them! Madrid was a lot different than Sevilla - so big! The first day we were there it rained a lot so we were pretty miserable, but it helped us to appreciate the beautiful weather we've been having!

Last week Aaron came and visited me for a couple days because he was on break! :) He flew in on Tuesday night and left again on Thursday afternoon. The most exciting part of the trip was Tuesday night when we went down by the river and got engaged!!!! :)

My other big news is that I decided not to accept my spot on the Word Made Flesh Bolivia Team. I decided it would be too busy and stressful and that I wouldn't be able to really enjoy my time here, or my time there, because I would always be longing for the next step and not able to fully live and be where I'm at at the moment.

Also - I would really appreciate some prayers right now! The last couple days I have been missing home a lot - people and places and activities. I guess this is all part of culture shock, which I think I've experienced more on this trip than ever before. I'm not really sure why that it, but it might have to do with reality being different than expectations, or the fact that I'm studying here and so it is similar to being away at college where as before I've always done more mission type trips and they've been so different than life at home.

Dios les bendiga

Bolivia?!

Yes, I am still in Spain. It's pretty great, for the most part.

Went to Cordoba with the group on Friday and saw the Mezquita :) (pics on facebook)

Cultural fact that many of you may already know: Spain is a "Catholic" culture, but that means that people celebrate the festivals and maybe go to a church every once in a while. As soon as people here the word "iglesia" they just want to forget the conversation. I do have an awesome opportunity here to be part of a great church where I can fellowship with other believers; however, just as important as that, I have opportunities here to serve and to get out of my comfort zone to share God's love. Today, a group of us went to the University here to have lunch, and we're going to continue this each week. Today was more to just show us around and introduce us to what's going on there, and in the future, we'll be going up to people and asking if we can eat and talk with them. Pretty scary for someone like me, but I'm excited as well. Hopefully we'll have some good conversations through that, and bring someone closer to accepting Christ. My other opportunity to serve is through hanging out with some kids each Thursday afternoon and just loving on them. We are visiting there the first time this Thursday, so I will know more about this after that. mmm God is good!

So. Today is a special day. It's the 21st today. Which means Aaron and I have been dating for 6 months! yay!

Anyway, back to the title of this blog. Bolivia.

Some of you may know/remember that this past spring I was looking into a trip to Bolivia through Word Made Flesh for this coming spring. They didn't have any of their short term trips going out, so I inquired about an internship. After not hearing from them for a couple months I thought it just wasn't going to happen. So the other day, Thursday, when I opened my email and saw that I had an email from them I was pretty shocked, to say the least. Turns out, they've added a trip to Bolivia for this coming spring, and I could still apply if I wanted to, but I only had the weekend to get my application in. After initially saying no, and then praying about it A LOT, I felt like God was calling me to send in my application, and at least be willing to still go, even though it would mean giving up the time I thought I would have at home to work and figure out the next stage of my life. So, with that being said, my application is sent in, and the references are on their way (I hope!). A little more about the trip... I would be in El Alto, which is like the slum part of La Paz, the capital. The Word Made Flesh missionaries do a lot, including street evangelism, in a red light district and they have a Casa de Esperanza (house of hope) outreach. I am really excited about this opportunity! If God is calling me to go, I pray that He will continue to make that very clear, and if not, I pray that He will close the doors. I know either way that He has amazing things planned for my life, and that I can be used at home as well as abroad to bring glory to His name. Will you pray about this situation, and that God's will will be made clear?

Sometimes I forget I'm in Europe

Yes. It's true. It's actually quite easy to forget.

Well, except for lots of Spanish speaking people. Living in an apartment with Spanish speaking hosts. Different food. Totally different style city than I'm use to. Different styles of clothes. etc.

But in other news.

I went to a Spanish church this past weekend with my roommate. It was so nice to fellowship with other believers again in Spanish, I've missed that.

Week 2 of classes is done! Cordoba tomorrow with the group :)

I'm sitting in the computer room at the school and everyone is talking in English. It's supposed to be Spanish only.. hmm...

Culture shock is not fun :/ well. there are some good things too. I think this is the most frustrated I've ever been on a trip before though.

Bolivia is back in the picture. maybe. I need to make a decision about that asap.

I really don't have a lot to say right now, I just thought I'd give a super quick update a minute.

oh life, how interesting you are...

It's (only) been a week (already)?!

Culture/Life Abroad 101

*Be prepared for HOT weather! It's been in the 90's or warmer most days and today is in the upper 80's. With the breeze it feels great but it's going to warm up again this weekend.

*Everyone smokes. Even in the houses, so if you hate the smell learn to deal with it.

*Bluntness is the norm. If you don't like something, just say it. You don't have to pretend to really like the food or anything, they won't be that offended. They would rather make something else you'll like better, especially if it means you'll eat more.

*Be prepared to eat at different times. Breakfast is when we get up in the morning, lunch anywhere from 2-3, supper around 10 usually.

*Siestas are wonderful... even if you don't like to take naps :) Siesta time lasts from after lunch til 5 or 6. Almost all the stores are closed during this time, and it is great to get out of the heat of the day and relax inside.

*Cold showers. If you want to take a hot shower make sure its quick, the hot water tanks are small. Angeline and I have been taking mostly cold showers, and then we can take longer ones. If our host is there when we shower we ask her to turn on the hot water though so that we don't freeze. With as hot as it is the cold water feels pretty nice though.

*Night Life. Yes, people stay out VERY late here. More so on the weekends, but even during the week I hear a lot of people outside our window. It's too hot to be out during the daytime hours, so that makes sense.

*The people are really nice. We did a photo scavenger hunt around the city on Saturday and had to ask people where different things are. The people were really helpful, and even if they didn't know exactly, they were still nice about it. This is not the same in stores and restaurants, however. Don't expect to be treated very well until you're a regular and they can tell you're not passing through for a one time things. The people in Sevilla grew up here there whole lives, it's not like in the states where people move around a lot.

Ok, that's enough random cultural things for now.

In other news, my chacos broke already :( :( This is very sad because I wear them all time and besides them I just have a pair of sandals here, flats, and tennis shoes. and the sandals make my feet hurt. I guess it's time to replace them, but I haven't found anywhere to buy something like that.

I think the siesta makes it seem like we've been here for longer than a week.

A bunch of us from the program went to a Corrida de Torros (bull fight) the other night. It was interesting. I'll get around to posting pics on facebook at somepoint.

Classes started yesterday. They're pretty good so far. :)

mmk that's all for now, I'll update again in a week or two!

Dios les bendiga!

Espana!

Hola todos,

I'm in Spain :) It's great. It's really warm here, but we're inside for the hottest part of the day, so it works. Classes start Monday, and this weekend is pretty free to do whatever.

The trip over went well. Some people's bags were lost, I'm not sure if they're all here yet or not. I didn't have any problems so I was thankful for that.

Anyway, I'll update more later.

Dios les bendiga,

Katie

Preparation.

So.

I leave for a semester in Spain in a week from Tuesday.

Am I ready?

Of course not.

I tried making a list of things I still need today, that's a start anyway, right? Actually getting these things and packing will come later.

Casi no he practicado mi espanol este verano, que triste! No se que esta pasando en Espana tampoco porque no he leido las noticias...

In other news, summer has been quite interesting.

Mostly, I worked and lived at home.

But a few fun things:

*Worked at Pine Trail Camp as a counselor and small group leader for the high school week.

*Went to Orlando, FL for Edge debrief 2 and got to see many wonderful people :)

*Spent a week tent camping in Colorado with Aaron's family and friends. Becky (sister) got to visit too!

*Went to a wedding in northwest IA and got to see some friends from NWC!

*Spent 3 weeks total with Aaron before we both leave the country for studying abroad :)

*There were probably some highlights from earlier in the summer as well, but this is a good summary of the last 5ish weeks...

Well. That's about all for now.

I'll try to update once more before I leave.... maybe. I'll for sure update a few times throughout the semester; however, I'm not making any promises of weekly updates or anything like that. But who knows, maybe I'll surprise myself and actually update that frequently. We shall see...