Where did the semester go!?!?!?!?

Yah.....my deepest apologies that I have not written here in a long time. I have been super busy and distracted by the wonders of Spain. :D hahah

But i am now in my last week of classes, exams, and Spanish life. How sad is that?? I am very excited to come home, but as i keep thinking about leaving, I get quite sad too. i am going to miss my host mother's cooking...all the time. And the coffee here is amazing....i love my host mom's mannerisms. She is so funny. the friends i have made here are soo fun and it is sad that not ALL of them live in Michigan or Georgia. oh well....such is life. :D

This past weekend I did alot of homework, but also went to Madrid! We visited the two main art museums in Madrid, El Prado and the Reina Sofia. We also ate lunch at the McDonalds and had a coffee at Starbucks. SOOOO good. It was an all in all long, cold, but fun and educational day. I got to see some pretty famous paintings like "Las Meninas" by Velazquez and "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso and also some sweet ones by Dali and Miro and a ton of works by Goya. It was a great day. i loved it.

I finally listened to the music from "Spring Awakening" and i must say that some of the songs are pretty good. not all....but some. that music is catchy too. I have a few songs stuck in my head, and that is okay. I cant wait to get back to the US and listen to more Christmas music since I lost alot before i came to Spain

I started packing this weekend too....and i felt terrible when my host mom walked in. She was like, it seems like a lie that you are leaving so soon. I about cried. She has been so awesome to me and I am forever grateful to her for enhancing and allowing me to have such a good time here. I am going to miss my profs and their ridiculousness...for real. I have loved Spain. so much....and I will have so many fond memories of this place. I love LOVE Segovia, and i hope to return here one day again!

Buena Suerte to those who are taking finals this week and those traveling home to spend Christmas with their families!!! Be safe. I will see you all soon!! 5 days!!! WOOOO and God's Blessings to you all as we remember the TRUE reason for this Christmas Season!!!

-Emily

Hooray for 70 degree weather in November!!!!

Hello, Hola, Hallo, and Bonjour!

So, i need to talk about my SUPER exciting trip to Anadlusia this past weekend. It was amazing. I just love the south of Spain. It was cool to finally go somewhere and feel like I was living the stereotypical Spanish life, the one everyone in the USA things about when they hear "Spain."
On Friday we left for Cordoba at 8:30 in the morning. It is a 6 hour bus ride because we have to stop for an hour halfway through (its a law that the busdriver has to stop and rest for an hour...oh, Spain). It was a beautiful drive down south and it was sunny the whole way! When we got to Cordoba, we checked into our REALLY nice hotel (Hotel Serrano....i recommend it to ANYONE visiting Cordoba) and then walked over to the Mezquita. Holy moley...that place is gorgeous. When you walk in, there is a huge plaza full of orange trees, but you cant eat the oranges because they are super sour. Then the inside of the building is breathtaking....the red and white arches in long rows. I felt like I was in that scene from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in the Moria mountains. AWESOME. Then as you are walking through all this beautiful Arabic architecture, you walk into this huge, random Gothic cathedral. There is a cathedral inside this old Islamic mosque. it is crazy and very beautiful. its such a contrast from the dark and orthodox mosque to the tall, luminous cathedral. I really enjoyed the Mezquita alot. After that we went to the Palace where Isabel and Ferdinand( The Catholic King and Queen) met with Columbus and we walked throug the beautiful gardens there. We also visited some old baths during the reign of the Moorish Caliphates in Spain. FUn times. We then had free time and so we went to this cafe that had like, 1.5 ft long bocadillas....and i got one with tortilla espanola and tomato. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! it completed my day.

Saturday we got up early for a nice continental breakfast, provided by the hotel, and then got on the bus for Sevilla. Sevilla is about 1.5 hours away from Cordoba. We first visited the cathedral in Sevilla, the 3rd largest Gothic cathedral in the Europe behind St Peter's Basilica in Rome and St Paul's in London. That place was cool....plus it also had the tomb of 10% of Christopher Columbus' bones. ;) that was an interesting story. haha. After the cathedral we went to another palace where all the business was conducted if someone wanted to come to America. If you were in Spain and want to visit America, you HAD to go to Sevilla. Then we had free time for lunch....i had an amazing one too. I got the menu of the day, which consisted of Gazpacho(cold tomato based veggie soup), chicken and potatoes, a drink, and a dessert for 9 EURO. it was a steal of a deal. :D and the food was fantastic. After lunch we met up again and got on the bus for the Plaza de Espana. The second Star Wars Episode (attack of the clones) had a scene filmed here, at the Plaza. It is beautiful and full of again, Arabic architecture. I took quite a few photos here. All in all, Sevilla was gorgeous...OH and the weather...wowzers. it was like 68-70 degrees all day. It was awesome, for being in the middle of November. ( Now all of Spain is getting wind and snow. its just cold, cold, cold.) We drove back to Cordoba after visiting the Plaza and I watched Lord of teh Rings: Return of the King with my roomies and some friends. A fantastic day, i if i say so myself.

Sunday we got up to have yummy breakfast again and then we set off from the hotel to the Jewish neighborhood of Cordoba. We walked around there for a while and visited the old synagogue. Then we got on the bus again for an old ruined Caliphate town called Medinat Az-Zahara. That place was like a labryinth but sooo cool. The sun was also out, providing mid-upper 60s for the day. We walked around there for about 1.5 hours and then got on the bus for the ride home. It was long...and we watched two of the saddest movies in Spanish....one i liked even though i cried a TON. The other i had seen before. The first movie was "Las 13 Rosas" and the other was "El Laberinto del Fauno" aka Pan's Labyrinth. The Rosas movie was sooooo sad but both were about the SPanish Civil War here and when Franco came into power and stuff. When we got back to Segovia, I went and got churros with some friends and then i walked home to some yummy home cooked food from Julia.

Now, it is the 26th of November....Christmas is less than a month away and I will be home in like...24 days! That is just crazy....and i turn 21 in 23 days. I know that i just threw alot of numbers at everyone. my apologies. :D I love it here, but I am getting quite ready to come home. I have found a job here in the meantime to earn some extra money before i return home. Maybe i can get myself some cute boots that EVERYONE seems to wear around here. hehe. Tomorrow though is THANKSGIVING. i love this holiday. we even get to celebrate it here. A restaurant has agreed to help prepare turkeys for us and we students all have to bring a side dish. I am making mashed potatoes and am sooo excited. I cant wait cause I also do NOT have classes tomorrow. Thank you Marian for unerstanding. ;)

Well, my other class is going to start soon and so I must get going. May God Bless everyone who is traveling this holiday weekend and let us all be thankful and grateful for what the Lord has done in all of our lives. I know that i am INCREDIBLY thankful to be here this year. I have loved this experience, that is once in a lifetime. :) God has been gracious to me throughout ALL my life and even more here in Spain. I am also thankful for my loving family....i miss you all, i love ya'll, and cant wait to see you. I am also thankful for my friends at Concordia...I miss you all more than you can ever know. And last but certainly NOT least, I am super thankful for my boyfriend, Caleb Abraham. He is my best friend and I am so glad that we are together. I love you. :D :P

Bye, Adios, Auf Wiedersein, Au revoir!!

PS- pictures are up on photobucket! if you have problems viewing them, please email me ehmuhlee1219@yahoo.com

Sin tetas no hay paraiso

Hello y Hola!!!

I am sorry it has been quite a while since i have updated here. I have been distracted.

Last week was sooo long, but some parts of it were quite enjoyable. I am singing in the choir at the Evangelical Church and it is sooo fun. I have been blessed by our Lord and Savior to have found such a loving church family. The pastor, Carlos, and his wife Raquel are amazing. They are super nice and they also have two daughters named Carla(12 years old) and Paula (7 years old). They even invited me and a friend over to their house (which is something very rare in Spain). The conversation was awesome and it was great practice for me as well. The daughters were shy at first, but after the snack food came out we all started to get along great. I even was able to talk to Carla in English for a bit. She is so cute.
The choir is going well too. We are singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and another song in Spanish. Our concert is the 18th of December, so its a great sending off for me since i leave for the airport on December 19 (my 21st birthday!!)

Last Thursday we went to the Cathedral here in Segovia as a mini excursion during class. The Cathedral is gorgeous on the outside and I was not let down with the interior either. The building as a whole is enormous and the detail is just stunning. My favorite are the complex designs of the ceilings where all the arcs are crossing one another. We werent supposed to take pictures inside, but i did. I even snagged a video of the organ playing, which was a nice surprise! After that i went to the market and bought a bag of dried fruit and one of cashews. oh goodness.......sooo delicious. The dried fruit is a tropical mix too...I just love the Market here in Segovia. I can buy anything, if i wanted. They have shoes, jackets, jeans, boots, PJs, fruit, nuts, veggies, olives, meat....EVERYTHING. haha. I might bring back some dried fruit because it is sooo cheap!

This past weekend I did not do anything exciting. On friday, I met with my friend Stephanie to the book fair that was around til Sunday. We also bought really cheap churros and they were fresh and hot! yummmmm!! We then went to the Oso Blanco because it was cold outside; i got a glass of wine and she got a beer and we just talked for like 2 hours. It was awesome. She and i just girl talked forever. Sunday I went to church again and its always a surprise what the topic is going to be. I had a Lord's Supper discussion with my pastor, Carlos which was very interesting but that discussion kinda led into a Baptism discussion....and well, I suppose it will lead to other doctrinal discussions as well. He is a good sport about it and respects it when i just refer him to the LCMS website because i do not want to mislead him.

I pass my evenings in Segovia watching TV every night with my host mom while doing hw. it is not the best habit to get into, since i can get distracted from doing the aforementioned hw.....but, i am not too worried since I do not watch much tv in the US nor do i enjoy lots of tv programs. Plus I am going to have WAY more work to do next semester.
OOO! i forgot to mention about this weekend! my mom here made this AMAZING lunch on Saturday. it was roast lamb and traditional Segovia soup, Sopa Castellana, and bread and this dessert thing that reminded me of watery pudding.....but it is way good. trust me. :D

I was worried alot last week because i recieved news that Caleb's grandmother had just found out she had ovarian cancer. Her health was declining rapidly but then the doctors have now found the cause and she had surgery yesterday. Please keep her and Caleb's family in your prayers though as she recovers and please let the surgery be successful in removing all the cancerous cells in her body.

This week however, has been going VERY well. Monday and Tuesday i was invited by Raquel to come to the school were she teaches and tell a story and teach a song in English. I came on Monday and Tuesday and it was SOOOOO FUN! The kids were adorable and they can understand alot. They start teaching English here around age 3. haha. SOOOOO, i read them a story on Monday and then came to tell a story on Tuesday. I told them the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Then we did the Hokey Pokey and Baby Shark. :D I had soo much fun.

I am sorry this entry is not super exciting. We are heading to Andalucia this weekend, for the whole weekend (Cordoba and Sevilla). Then next week we are having a Thanksgiving feast at a local restuarant who is preparing turkeys for us....we all just bring a side dish. :D I can not believe that this time next month I will be packing to go home, to the US. It will definitely be a bittersweet time. I am sad to leave my host mom, for sure. Especially to leave some of my friends here who live far away like in Oregon and Idaho. :( I am VERY happy though also to come home because i miss my family, friends, and boyfriend. Its nice that I can come home close to my birthday and to Christmas!!!

Thanks for bearing with me ya'll! I promise after our WEEKEND in south Spain I will have more to talk about! God's Blessings on your week! And safe travels to those who are visiting family and friends for Thanksgiving! Adios y que Dios os bendiga!!

-Emilia

Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall....

Greetings to all of you! It is just another cloudy and cool day in Segovia and I have spent it in a good way! Like most Saturdays here, I slept in this morning, with no agenda to attend to today. I ate some breakfast and got dressed…then I did my grammar homework to get it out of the way. I felt pretty accomplished, even just doing that! Then I decided to watch Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

BEST. IDEA. EVER.

It made me miss David Appold a lot. And then , that made me miss Liz, which lead to Bethany and Erin. And well, then I just missed everyone at Concordia. It was so good to watch it again. Mainly cause I love hearing those familiar quotes that David and I integrate into everyday situations. Cause my life has the same exact hardships as Frodo and Sam’s. ;) hahahah. I smiled a lot.

Speaking of movies, I watched V for Vendetta on Wednesday, cause it was November 5. It was a nice moment for me. Except that I am running out of movies to watch, in my own collection here. I might have to start asking the other students to see if they have movies to watch. Cause I love watching movies.

Thursday we took a class excursion to the Alcazar in Segovia, which is the fortress/castle here. That was a fun time because I have wanted to see it since I first arrived here. The castle is beautifully constructed with gilded ceilings of gold and very intricate detailing. Those Arabs knew how to decorate their architecture. We climbed the large tower after touring the castle, and there were many steps to the top. 152, to be exact. I took more pictures from the top. Haha. I just loved having a working camera now!!!

Yesterday was our 4th excursion to Salamanca and Avila, which are 2 cities 2 hours and 45 minutes from Segovia. It was a beautiful city, Salamanca. We were advantageous enough to see a large, working, Roman bridge. This city is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe. The University of Salamanca also was the first university to have a library in it, in Europe. We also were able to go inside the cathedral there to which is also attached the old cathedral. The choir section with the organ was BEAUTIFUL. It reminded me of Westminster. I wish I could be there to hear a choir sing or hear that organ play. I am sure it is amazing. Our lunchtime was great too. One of the students’ mothers is visiting and she just has some great stories which made us all laugh.

Avila would have been a lot better, had it not been raining the whole time. We got some far away pictures of the cool wall surrounding the city, but once we got into the city, it began to pour. And it was not fun cause the roads would just accumulate water….and I wore flats, so my feet were wet.  ahah but then we visited an old convent with a relic of Saint Theresa…her finger. It was gross and odd cause it also had a ring on it. I did a lot of sleeping on the bus on the way back to Segovia. We had started the day quite early (8:30) so the naps on the bus helped.
Now I have to work on a presentation for my European Union class about The Netherlands for Monday. I have all the information on slides, but now I need to cut back and make a lot of those slides into notes. I don’t like a lot of words on my slide show presentations. I need to have something to say in Spanish too! Haha. Tomorrow is church and then a full week of class! WOO. Not. I am getting to that point in the semester where I just want to enjoy Spain, and not worry about class.
Let us all remember that God has a plan for our new president whether we all agree with him (and his ideas/platforms) or not. We can only pray for him and his new administration. :D

God’s Blessings to everyone during this next week!

Feliz Noviembre!!

Hello again!!

Its the beginning of a new month and a new week!

I can not believe that I have already been here for a month and a half. It is CRAZY!
Last week was our week for Mid Terms and they were not as frightening as I thought. I got them all back today and did very well(a's and b's). It was a stressful week for some people. I was just so relaxed about the whole week....I almost felt like I should have been stressed but i didnt. Thank goodness. That is the last thing i need is to get sick from worry and stress! haha

This weekend was Halloween, yes, but more importantly REFORMATION weekend. What an exciting time. I seriously contemplated printing out the 95 thesis and taping them to the cathedral door.....but, i thought that i might get in trouble if caught. so I averted incarceration for my warm apartment and I chuckled at my idea. :D I did not do anything for Halloween but just ate some YUMMY macaroons with my host mom. They were raspberry with rose hips in them! sooooo good. I later decided to meet some friends for coffee and even met some girls from the other American group here! They were very nice and it made for some good conversation!

The rest of the weekend was nothing too exciting. Saturday was my host mom's birthday but she left really early to visit her father's grave (it was All Saints Day) and i am assuming she spent the day with her mother. I stayed home all day, did some homework, watched a movie, read my book, napped. it was an overall, productive day.

On Sunday I was able to talk to my Mother and sister on Skype, so that was exciting. Finding internet in my apartment is always an interesting time. haha. I also had received my memory card for my camera on Thursday from Caleb (Thanks Boyfriend!!!) and so i began taking pictures of random things...of which are now up on photobucket.

This Friday we are going to Salamanca and Avila, two cities close by Segovia. I can NOT wait to go. I am excited for that. More later on! I hope everyone goes out and votes tomorrow and if you are away from home, let's hope those absentee ballots were rolling in! I cant wait to see how this election turns out. The Spanish news is even covering it! I may stay up and watch(since results wont start to come in MY time until about 1 or 2am)!

God's Blessings everyone!

Finding an internet connection is like a not fun scavenger hunt...

So yesterday was our 3rd excursion. What a good time. The day was sunny and brisk when we left Segovia at 11:30am to see a mountain. Now, i could not tell you the name of the mountain because there are soo many around here. However, it is in this little pueblo called Valsain. We all hiked up the mountain (it took about 45 min or so) to find HORSES everywhere, just grazing. it was sooo cool. I was so excited, almost like i had never seen a horse before. We all were a little over the top about them, but it was still cool to see random horses. Our prof, Edu, talked about the different mountains that surrounded the one we were on. We hiked our way to the different battle sites on the mountain.

This mountain was a huge site from the Spanish Civil War between the French Nationalists and the Spanish soldiers for the Republic.....or something like that. Anywho, there were bunkers and pits all over the summit where soldiers slept and fought. They were pretty darn cool. Edu also talked a little about Earnest Hemingway(who i detest) and how he wrote about this site in a book of his, which i did not listen to cause again, do not like him too much. :)

The day was PERFECTO for an excursion. It was chilly so we all got to bundle up in cute stuff but it was sunny so it wasnt TOO cold. On our way down the mountain we encountered a spring...from the mountains! It had been tapped with a spout i am sure by the environmental agency in the area but we all filled out water bottles with the cool, non-chlorinated water. SOOOO YUMMY! haha

Later that evening i went to the church for choir rehearsal again. I switched to soprano yesterday because they did not have enough people...but then the pastor's wife showed up and she can sing loud enough for 3 people. I wanted to switch back down, but oh well. we'll see! After that i met with some of my friends from school to visit the Plaza Mayor because this weekend is the Festival de San Frutos, the patron saint of Segovia. There was a large band giving a concert in the Plaza...we all began dancing and taking ridiculous pictures until we saw this group of couples....so we decide to join them! They were so nice and welcoming to us college kids from America. They were all from Andalucia (southern Spain....specifically from the city of Cordoba!) We just danced with them for like an hour! We taught them the Electric Slide too...dont worry: we danced it to Spanish folk music. (and Dont ask, it just fit in the rhythm.) it was a BLAST. i mean, how often can YOU go to a city square in the US and dance with (adult, 50-60's)strangers for an hour and still be friends, without the awkwardness?? it put me in such a good mood. they were such a cheerful bunch. My friend has pictures which i am sure i will get later.

Anywho, its late on a Saturday afternoon and i have to do some homework. Next week we have mid terms! YIKES. haha God's Blessings to everyone!!

1.5 months down, 2 to go!

Today is October 20, which is CRAZY. it does not feel like i have been here over a month. And now, October is almost over which is also insane. Since fall break is now over, I just have to stick my nose to the grind and just do some work. Which shouldn't be a problem since i rarely have a TON. But i just dont feel motivated here. The motto of everyone here is my favorite: No pasa nada!

Friday was our second excursion to El Escorial and el Valle de los Caidos. El Escorial is the largest building in Spain. It houses a royal palace, a monestary, a cathedral, a library, and probably other things that i can not remember. All the old kings and queens of Spain are buried there and we saw their "chamber". It was cool. We were not allowed to take pictures inside nor were we allowed to carry anything like a backpack. It was a beautiful building and we spent a good 2.5 hours in it! El Valle de los Caidos( el vi-yay deh los ky-ee-dos) is the home to the largest stone cross in the world. it is 152 meters tall! it towers over the mountains and can be seen from the highway! Under the cross is the Basilica that we visited.....it is under the mountain. CRAZY! it was so beautiful....but we also could NOT take pictures. lameos. However, the old dictator of Spain, Francisco Franco, was buried there so it was fun to see that. i dont really understand why he was buried in the church...since he was a DICTATOR and a communist. oh well. the spaniards are strange.....sorry, not strange. DIFFERENT. ;) haha

My weekend was pretty easy going. I stayed in on Friday and Saturday night. I went on a walk with my friend Lana on Saturday around the Alcazar. It rained while we were walking, but it was still nice. Sunday i went to the small protestant/evangelical church around the corner from my house. I forgot how nice the people were there! I am very glad that i found this place because its nice to have some place where i can worship at all with others. I am also going to be singing in their little "choir" for a pre-Christmas concert on December 18. That will be cute. I am even singing alto! It is the Spanish version of Hark the Herald Angels sing....so fun.

well, i need to finish a lit paper for Thursday sooo yah. I better get on that. :D God's Blessings to you all!

Con carino,
Emily