School Excursions

Usually once, or sometimes twice, a month our school take us on an excursion to see some historical sights within a couple of hours drive. This past week on Friday afternoon we visited the towns of Simancas, Tordesillas and Medina del Campo. And then on Saturday we spent the day in Segovia. I'll post a few photos below of some of the places we visited.

This is the castle in Simancas. Unfortunately, they are building some kind of museum/archive center right in front of the castle and it ruins the view.
















In Tordesillas, we visited the Real Monasterio de Santa Clara. It was constructed in the 14th century and has much Arabic influence. Currently, there are 11 nuns living there. They apparently make delicious cookies that they sell to help with expenses.














This is the castle in Medina del Campo. So far, it's one of my favorites.













Here is our group in front of the castle in Medina. Three of the students are from Japan and Katie and I are from Colorado. The gentleman in the center is our teacher, José Miguel.

I'll post some photos from the visit to Segovia on another blog. I think I'm out of space.

Snow!

Here are a couple of photos to let you know that it does snow in Cuéllar, even though it is rare. In fact, this is the first real snow we've had this winter. The other times were just flurries and nothing stuck. These pictures are of the hill behind my apartment. The one below is across the street from the front of my building. It started snowing during the night Friday and hasn't stopped since. We (the students at my language school) had two excursions this weekend, one Friday afternoon and the other yesterday. Needless to say, we were pretty cold while exploring the sights. I'll post some photos from those trips on my next blog.

February Update

Language School
School is going well. It’s good to be back although it severely limits the amount of time I have for other things, like helping Jon and reading. I was enjoying having some time to catch up with some of the reading I’ve been wanting to do. I have also had to postpone my weekly meetings with my language helpers. I’m hopeful we can schedule a different time that will work for all of us. Our short-termer, Katie, arrived last week and it’s fun to have someone with me on the drive to and from school every day.

Internet
My apologies for the lateness of this update. I am having trouble connecting to the internet at my house so I have to take my laptop to Haleys’ and catch up with my email a couple of times a week. Pray for a quick solution to the problem. I am realizing how dependent I am on the internet and email.

This month’s quote:
Cultural balance - that almost unconscious knowledge of how things are and work in a particular community - gives us freedom. Once we have stayed in a culture long enough to internalize its behaviors and the assumptions behind them, we have an almost intuitive sense of what is right, humorous, appropriate, or offensive in any particular situation...Conversely, when we are having to learn and relearn the basic rules by which the world around us is operating, our energies are spent in surviving rather than thriving. It’s as if we are still figuring out the fingering for the scales on the piano while others around us are playing a Rachmaninoff concerto. Being out of cultural balance leaves us struggling to understand what is happening rather than fully participating in the event.

-- David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken, Third Culture Kids

Praises:

1. I passed the final test for my driver’s license. Thank you for praying!
2. I am enjoying being back in language school.
3. Some funding has come in to cover the expense of the Leadership Conference in South Africa in March, and funds continue to come in toward paying off the loan on my car. Thank you!
4. We had a great time in San Sebastian last weekend at our first annual WorldVenture Spain Women’s Prayer Retreat.

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for a quick resolution to my internet problem.
2. Pray that the contacts I have with my professors and other students at school will bring glory to God. Pray particularly for the salvation of my professors.
3. Continue to pray for the necessary funds for the leadership conference and my car.
4. Pray for Katie, our short-termer, as she adjusts to the culture here and attends language school. Pray for the salvation of her host family.

Women's Prayer Gathering

The women from the WorldVenture Spain team recently spent the weekend in Zarautz, Spain (near San Sebastian on the northern coast) at the home of our teammates, Pontus & Becky Karnsund. Pontus and their kids spent the weekend at a nearby hotel so we could all spend the weekend together sharing with, and praying for, one another.

We also spent a good part of Saturday exploring the area. Becky showed us the beautiful beaches in Zarautz and we even went to a very small amusement park on the top of the hill next to the castle and rode the bumper cars. I'm sure the operator of the ride thought we were nuts! But we had fun.

We then drove to San Sebastian and walked around that beautiful town. This is a very popular place in the summer, but since it's winter and it was very cold, we had most places to ourselves with very few tourists.

I feel very blessed to be part of this "team" here in Spain. Although most of us do not work together, there is a wonderful feeling of being part of what God is doing here and a caring for one another that reminds us we are not alone. Thank you for your part in God's work here in Spain.