Spain in All Weathers

Hello, everyone! Sorry I haven't had a chance to blog very consistently--we've been doing so much cool stuff! However, I have several pictures and now have a chance to post them, so enjoy :)

Some girls from the church here took me and the other two interns on a fact-filled tour of the very historic town of Ubeda! Here are some of us in front of a no doubt very old & historic fountain. I think I'm beginning to catch on, a little, to the Andaluz accent.

Here are some more pictures of lovely Ubeda! Even though it's usually hot & dry in Spain, our stay began with several days of very enjoyable cool weather, though often rainy & cloudy.

Over the past few days, we've helped out in several English classes. The Lohrenzes' have a lot of fun games, some from the internet and some they've complied themselves, to help the kids learn English. We've also been working on preparing VBS crafts, visiting an older lady who is no longer able to attend church, going to church & youth group, and of course, eating amazing Spanish food! In addition to the aforementioned snail, I've also tried onion rings. Except, not with onion. I'll let you guess what was in them instead!

Next up, pictures of our trip to the Alhambra!

Spain: First Impressions

So basically, SPAIN IS AWESOME! I'm still a little jet-lagged, but feeling much better than yesterday. Everyone here is so incredibly nice and I can't wait to see what the days ahead will bring. Here are some pictures!

This is my room, aka the Lohrenzes' office :)



This is the view from our window:



This is a shot of the grocery store, which I believe was called Mercanton? or something like that:



And yes, this is me. EATING A SNAIL.



So basically we rested today, then in the evening drove over to Ubeda (about 15 min.) for a church meeting. We sang some songs and read a few verses, and I shared my testimony (in Spanish--I hope I was understood!) Afterwards we had a meeting about VBS, which I believe is happening our last week here. We're doing 5 different Bible stories with the theme of what it means to be a hero. Tonight we practiced acting out the story of Namaan, which we're going to do for the kids. I'm so excited about VBS--I think it's going to be awesome!

The pastor here is from Guatemala, and his wife is from Honduras. I found their Spanish much easier to understand than the Spain-Spanish. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it though! Oh, and everybody here greets with two "air kisses" on both cheeks. Thankfully the Lohrenzes told me about this.

After church we went with the Lohrenzes, the pastor & his wife, and two other people from the church to a cafe-bar for tapas (drinks & snacks). And no, there is really is nothing incongruous about that statement--bars are very different places in Spain than in the US! And as you saw above, France is not the only place they eat snails, and I did work up the courage to try one! They were actually so small that they didn't really have a taste or texture, but it's not something I would order again.

Tomorrow we're going to be cooking in preparation for a ladies' retreat on Saturday, and having Bible study. I can't wait for the rest of this journey to unfold!

The Arrival

Well, now that I am safely here in the Lohrenzes' apartment and (semi-) recovered from jetlag, I can share the story of the trip!

I left Huntsville via airplane at 6:35 a.m. I am not sure how many days ago (what with the time changes and all.) I met up with the other 2 interns, Meredith & Khyrstyne, in Dallas TX, and then we flew to Washington DC, where we learned that our plane to Madrid had a 4-hour delay. But, we survived, and soon enough the 8-hour flight across the Atlantic began. It wasn't too bad, though, because I managed to sort of semi-sleep on the way, and guess what movie they had on the plane!!?? GUESS WHAT MOVIE??!!

I'll let you guess.

Anyway, when we got to the airport, we met up with the Lohrenzes, who drove us to their apartment in Baeza. (NOTE: I told everyone we were going to Ubeda, well we are, it's just that the church is in Ubeda, but they live in Baeza. The towns are very close, and we're planning to walk between them at some point to practice for the hike on the Camino del Santiago, coming up later.) We had a sort of late lunch, then the Lohrenzes took us out for a tour of the town. It is an AMAZING town. There are so many old buildings and cool little streets--I can't wait for a chance to take some pictures. Unfortunately, it started raining about halfway through, so we returned to the apartment wet, cold, jet-lagged, but, I'm sure I speak for all 3 of us, very happy to be here.

Oh, and it's COLD here. This surprised me. Apparently it's because a storm came down from the north, and when the storm is over it will be hot again.

So...yeah. After the tour I took the first shower I've been able to take in I'm not sure how many hours, then went to bed. And slept for like 16 hours. So now it is 1:20 in the afternoon here in Baeza.

Spain at last!

I'm happy to report that I have made it safely to the Lohrenzes' apartment in Spain. I can't wait to post about the journey, but my jet-lagged self desperately needs sleep. So, more to come tomorrow! :)

This is my true blog!

Dear Friends and Family,

I am so dreadfully sorry. In all my support letters, I sent out my blog's address as http://theraininspain2010.blogspot.com. It's a long and sad tale...I thought I had lost my password. Then I thought I had found it again. Now I've really and truly lost it.

Hence, a new blog. Please share this new url with anyone you know who is still trying to follow my other blog. I'm very sorry about this!

-Kelly Ruff