Days 44 & 45.. not quite the end of the Summer! Couple of hours to go! #45daysofsummer

Well I'm not quite finished as there is still one more evening left of the summer! And I've not yet posted about yesterday either! So here goes..
Yesterday will be summed up in more photos than words (but a picture paints a thousand words though, right?!) and today's events as well as an overall (short!) summary of my entire summer follows at the bottom..

Laura gave me a brief but detailed tour of Bilbao in around 2 hours! I decided that if I would live anywhere in Spain (although of course I haven't been to every place in Spain) I would live in Bilbao. I loved it there! The atmosphere, the buildings, the river. Everything. We started our tour at what I think is the Old Square.

And walked round to the New Square (which didn't look that new to be fair, but was wonderful and was lined with cafés and bars and later on there was live music here!)

The library was rather modest and hidden, I felt. But had a grand door that was worth a snap.

A tiny little stage for the City Orchestra.

Live music in the street! This was on one of the main streets in the city, and had lots of shops and gorgeous little pastelerías (cake shops).

We reached the Guggenheim Museum! Selfie necessary.

A giant puppy made from flowers. Why not?

The Spider in the distance... Can you see the bride and groom in the distance having their wedding photos with said spider? Weird.

And the exterior of the museum was enough to look at without having to go in! 

The spider...! Crazy. Weird. Bride and groom finished and moved on to some other unusual spot for the rest of their shoot.

View down the river.

Arty bridge.

We went for a quick bite to eat in a gorgeous little Tapas bar in the New Square.

 

There was sooo much to choose from!

 Really, so much!! But the kind Spanish waiters helped us decide what to have and poured my mosto (grape juice) for me in a wine glass with ice, an orange slice and an olive on a stick. Wonderful.

Basketball World Cup fever - this year it is held in Bilbao!

There were loads of people milling around and taking part in all the activities in the streets.

We got free balloons :) yay!

And then, after a spot of lunch, and really all to quickly, I caught the bus to the airport.. Where my case was 26kg instead of 23kg and I had to get rid of some stuff and move some things around in a fluster as the queue for the Vueling desk was huge and out the door of the airport! After misunderstandings about hand luggage and being sad that my last proper Spanish conversation was a total muddle, all was well in the end and I reminded myself of my competent and lengthy conversation with Juanma the previous day, and my entire time with Laura which was almost totally in Spanish!! I landed back in London last night where mom and dad met me to take me home! Phew! (We did get lost in the countryside looking for a pub to eat dinner in, but alas gave up and ended up having pizza in Oxford services.) Home and bed. Yes.

Today, on my last official day of my Summer, I had a well-needed lie in, before heading to church at Zion. It didn't occur to me at the time, but thinking about it now, it was very nice to be sat in an English service, to be able to understand everything without my brain working on over time to try and translate. And how good to worship, and let God revive and refresh me. And don't get me wrong, I'm still tired and I'll be hitting the ground running as I start back at work tomorrow but I am so excited about what He is doing in my life at the moment and how clearly I can hear Him speaking to me, challenging me, encouraging and inspiring me. I hope and pray that in the busyness of this new season, I will still be able to hear Him and make time do so. 

This afternoon, we celebrated with some close family friends of ours. Two birthdays and three wedding anniversaries in these past couple of weeks! How exciting to be able to celebrate 55, 52 and 25 years of marriage with those couples, in a world when so often marriages have broken down. What a blessing to share with them in their celebrations today :)

And finally tonight, a brief but detailed and very exciting meeting about the future plans at church and about where God is leading us as a community in terms of our building plans!! 

Sadly no time for Grey's Anatomy tonight (soon I hope!) because the last 1.5 hours of this summer, I intend to be sleeping in order to be up for an early start tomorrow!

But what an incredible Summer it has been. Of adventure and challenge. Of learning and growing. Of new places, new people and new opportunities.

And what an incredible God I serve, who takes away, but who also gives in abundance. Who mends and restores what is broken and lost (and is continuing to do so). Who I don't always understand but who I am learning to trust more and more. Who makes my paths straight. Who sings over me and whispers words of love and truth to me at the times when I most need to hear them. Who is faithful to His promises. Who has said 'yes' to much more than He has said 'no'. Who has given me so much more than a great Summer. He has given me hope. He has given me Jesus. He is all I need.

#45daysofsummer #blessed

Now, what's next?!

Los Últimos Días.. helado a medianoche, haciendo las fundas y probando la morcilla. Días 41 y 42 (y hoy, día 43) de mi #45diasdeverano

Don't worry, the whole post isn't in Spanish - just the title!

I haven't had as much time to write recently as the days have been full (yet restful, hurrah!) On Wednesday we went to León for the afternoon, where Betsy and I enjoyed yet more Tapas. I have been told my a few people that I need to try Morcilla, as it's typical Spanish food and a typical Tapas choice. Morcilla, for those of you who don't know, is blood (and vairus other parts of a pig). The time we went for tapas I didn't even consider trying it and flat out said 'no'. But Betsy convinced me to at least try it while I am here. And so, I have to admit here, I did. Needless to say, it was gross. And just the thought of knowing what it was made from was enough to make me dislike it. It's appearance didn't do much to help either:

La Morcilla. Bleugh.

On the way back, we all went via the new church in León, which is in the process of being built. We had a tour of what is currently there and were updated on how the process is going. They have a number of supporting churches in the US who are helping to fund the building and have even had sponsors from the Catholic church in the city (who apparently wanted to be seen to be a part of it, because it's been such a huge talking point in the city!)

The baptism tank.

The work is still very much underway. They think it will take another year to complete.

This is upstairs - the rooms for the kids and youth.

The group wandering round having a look.

Manuel (the guy in the middle, in the hat, he is one of the elders of the church) explaining the process, the plans, and after this we prayed together for it all.

That night, Betsy and I went late night exploring (originally to find somewhere that sold ice cream but we ended up giving up and simply walking and exploring!) We managed to find a perfect spot where the village lights were hidden by trees and we could see multitudes of stars and  constellations. I said, when we were there, that we should have taken some blankets and hot chocolate! But we weren't there for too long and said perhaps tomorrow night! We walked far enough to find the edge of the village though which I found quite exciting (admittedly, this was not far as the village is quite tiny!)

Looking a bit wild but wanted a picture with the sign at the end of the village!

But while we were taking pictures, creatures started moving in the darkness of the bushes. Perhaps snakes, perhaps frogs, but creatures making usual noises and even the smallest of innocent little beings can sound scary in the dark of night out of reach of help. So we made our way back fairly rapidly!

Yesterday, we spent an hour at a market in Valencia don Juan (the same town that our big concert was in a few weeks back). It was heaving with people, very hot and smelled strongly of fish. It wasn't one of my favourite experiences..

Antique-looking objects

Fruit and veg looking fresh and tasty (loads better than the fish stall!)

But later, while some families went to the water park (weather was much better yesterday!), some of the ladies were doing crafts and being creative down in the basement, so despite being in swimming costumes ready to go, we changed our plans and Betsy and I got creative instead! Here were some of our finished products:

Not quite finished - Betsy midway through making her 'leather-style' case.

Mine :) Rosa y amarillo con los corazones.

Another example from one of the women there! I love the big buttons but there weren't many left of the same colour.

Again, another - with a mariposa (butterfly)

I decided to make another for my notebook, with buttons!

Betsy's first one, it inspired me to make some too!

I have spent a lot more time with Betsy again this week, and it has been really good getting to know her a lot better (and talking about loads more than food, weather and whether I'm happy haha). We are two of only very few here without their families, so have ended up spending lots of time together, exploring, being each others family and fumbling our way through deeper conversations in Spanglish. She wrote me a beautiful letter this morning, which she left on my bed. In her broken English, she wrote down some of the experiences we've had, some of her hilarious English words and phrases, her thanks for various things and generally lovely words. I wrote her back this morning too, in Spanish of course and left the little letter wrapped in some Union Jack ribbon that I brought with me for gifts! It didn't take me long to write a page or so, which just shows me how much I have advanced in the past four weeks, in vocabulary of course but mostly in confidence in the language! I don't think I would have really known where to start this time in July!

Oh and last night, we managed to find ice cream after La Noche de Talentos! Finally!!

Helado a medianoche (ice cream at midnight!)

This afternoon, I didn't have enough time after lunch to say goodbye to everyone so I ended up addressing the whole camp while they finished there food and said a few words of thanks and apologies that I couldn't say goodbye to everyone individually. Before I left as well, I spoke with Laura on the phone (the girl who's house I am now at!) to confirm travel details and make plans for tonight. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but actually, it was my very first phone call in Spanish :) and I was reeeally nervous about using the phone but it was actually really fine! She spoke very slowly for me but it was way easier than I thought it would be! Hurrah!
Juanma drove me to the station in León. We left with like 38 minutes to get there, and it is about a 25minute drive. Ok, not exactly necessary to panic but more rushed that i would have liked. Of course, the only time in my four weeks here that I experience traffic is the journey to the station with not much time to spare.. A lot of praying occurred. But it was all OK in the end and I got on the coach! Actually, the journey with Juanma was really cool because he was the first person who I met in Spain, he picked me up from the Airport on my first day here. Our first conversation on the drive to the camp was almost totally in English. On our drive to the station, for him to drop me off on my penultimate day here, our conversation was almost entirely in Spanish! Woo!! And it was really comfortable. We both commented on how it is a sign of how much I have learnt these past few weeks!

My bus journey to Bilbao was about a 4.5 hours. It wasn't much like the buses I have previously caught here - more like a near-luxury coach to be honest, with black and gold seat, far-reclining chairs and loads of room. Very nice!
And I am now here in Bilbao, lush and green (it was raining when I arrived - preparing me for my return to England I think!) And here I will spend the night and the first part of tomorrow exploring Bilbao with Laura (who I met at the Music camp and who speaks only a little English!) before my flight back to England tomorrow evening...
Oh wow. #45daysofsummer nearly done! Mañana, England here I come!

(I have also updated my post of Day 39 with a picture of Josué and the snake at the lake (that wasn't meant to rhyme!) for those who are interested to see it..)

Day 40 - Museum of Chocolate. Educational and Tasty. #45daysofsummer

Two posts in one day is a record I think! But while I have the time, I'm taking the opportunity because I never know when the next chunk of free time long enough to write in will be!

Today, we didn't go to the water park because the sky was threatening rain, but also because some people wanted to go ahead with the original plan, to visit Astorga.

Got more time to read today as well (during siesta time.. Instead of sleeping! Ahh couldn't put the book down!) While walking back to the camp earlier, I remember the House Martins that I wanted to take a picture of. They have nests EVERYWHERE here. It's amazing! In the morning, just outside the windows of the top floor where us girls are sleeping, there are dozens of them flying around welcoming in the morning!! I will try and get a photo of them but today I only managed to get a photo of some of their nests and one little guy in the top right corner. 

I'm glad we ended up in Astorga this afternoon. I was there last weekend too (with Bianca and her family, to visit El Palacio de Gaudi and for the church plant there) but this time I was with Lluna, her parents and a couple of other families from the camp and saw lots more of the city.

First stop?

El Museo de Chocolate. (Which ticks off another activity in the Earls Summer Scrapbook! Go to a museum!)

Oh yes. It was tiny, but very interesting! We watched a video of how the chocolate there was made in the olden days, and then how it has been improved using machines but, although a fairly long process, it looked quite simple! And we got some free samples at the end too!

Lots of signs saying 'no tocar' (don't touch!) Wasn't sure if this was real chocolate or not..

The original process of how they made chocolate. (Toast / Roast the beans, then separate the parts with your hands, melt it on a hot rock, mix with sugar, mold in to the tablet shape, mark to make pieces, allow to set and wrap.) Simple, right?!

Then we took a wander through the city, past beautiful churches, Roman ruins, and gorgeous views of the surrounding areas.

Thought this was great! Chess!

In the summer, they have concerts in the square but we were there a bit too early for that. We were there in time for the 7 o' clock chime of the bell though - and the two little statues at the top move and chime the bells.

A lovely little catholic church but really busy with decor and painting at the front!

These Roman ruins were really interesting. They are apparently one of the best conserved / preserved (not sure which is correct there?) of a Roman house, with baths and mosaic floors. 

It was so nice spending time with Lluna and her family. She has four siblings, and they all get along and are so sweet! Her folks have made a real effort to involve me in things and make sure I understand what's going on at various points this week. I actually find their accents (they're from Barcelona) really easy to understand - it's one of the clearest accents and makes things some much easier in a conversation!! The learning process feels very easy :) I even been able to chat with them about England and places they should visit next time they go - they love London and have been quite a few times but want to branch out and visit other places!
People here have a lovely expression, 'tienes casa' - 'you have a home'. I know we say that in England too, but Mihaela and Lluna have both said that to me and how lovely it is to know that I have homes here in Spain! :)

Day 38 & 39 - Baptisms, Rock jumping, and catching wildlife. #45daysofsummer

Last week was my intended week of rest, but it has actually turned out that this week is looking more like that. There is a lot of room in the schedule for time to rest (descansar). I'm really enjoying it so far! I've had time to read (I'm reading A Thousand Splendid Suns at the moment and it's heart wrenching but really good and so I love that there are a spare few minutes every so often, which means I can have a quick lie and down and read of another chapter or two!!)

On Sunday, a few of us made the journey back to León for baptisms at the church there. 8 people were baptised, including Bianca and Robert (the daughter and son of the family I stayed with). It was quite formal and there were definite differences between baptism services that I have previously been too (for example, they all had to dress in white, and they can't take communion until after they are baptised so that was their first time taking it) but there were also lots of similarities (the baptism tank was under the stage, they all shared their testimony of how God has been at work in their life and why they are getting baptised, they also say the same phrase only in Spanish, 'on confession of your faith, I baptise you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit'). Interesting service (although also very long - just over two hours) but a good experience!

Bianca sharing her testimony

About to be dunked.

Robert giving his testimony.

Afterwards, we hung out with a larger group of the young people from the church as a kind of after party with nibbles, before taking a stroll to the park. Thankfully I had my mini suncream bottle with me so didn't burn because it was so hot. Before getting the bus back to Toral, we swung by McDonald's for a McFlurry (they are pretty much exactly the same as in England only the staff are kindly willing to give you extra sauce so I had Oreo with Caramel sauce (McFlurry de Oreo con salsa de caramelo) mmmm...

That evening, we tried to watch 'In Time' but it was getting really late and some of us were feeling pretty tired so we called it a night.
On previous nithts, we have played games together and I was quite excited to be able to co-lead one of the games (thankful for my experience helping in Resound with the young people at Zion which has meant that I have a bank of ideas for games stored in my head!) I was all ready to explain it to everyone, nervous, but felt I had the words to explain the rules and the aim of the game, but the girl leading the session got a bit carried away and explained it all before I got the chance too.. But the intention was there! And I got to explain parts of it to different groups.

Explaining to members of each group what their task was!

A different game that night - groups had to act out a famous story for people to guess what it was. I think this was my favourite ever rendition of Little Red Riding Hood. Very impressive!

Actually, something else that I've noticed and really enjoyed about the atmosphere here, (and I don't know if it's just because they are away at camp but..) the adults are well up for getting involved with games, activities and action songs! 

Yesterday, we made a one and half hour drive to a 'local' lake (Lago de Sanabria), and in the sweltering heat, feeling rather travel sick, I sure was hoping that it would be worth it.

It was.

The water was FREEZING though. They say 'helada' to describe reeally cold, which is like saying it's as cold as ice cream! We had packed lunches and basically just sat around, chatting, eating (we had yellow watermelon again today - had to take a picture!!), swimming a bit, the kids were catching fish and frogs and snakes (!!) And we swam out to those rocks on the photo. People were jumping from them and I really tried but I just couldn't do it. It's one thing that I hope I will be able to do one day in my life, but sadly today wasn't the day. I'm not frightened to be up at any height really, but the prospect of jumping from that height is just too much and my legs won't move. Even though my head reeeeally wants me to and I can think of how excited I would be after doing it, and how I'd probably really enjoy it, and how it's not really that far down to jump anyway.. it doesn't matter. I can't jump.
Perhaps one day. I hope one day. It is so frustrating but something I haven't managed to conquer yet.

Sandía amarilla. Mmm :)

Joel with the frog he caught. He also caught four fish in a bottle and brought them back to camp, I think with the intention of keeping them as pets. But this morning, I was told that they died over night. Sad times..

Joel's brother, Josué, with the snake!!!

With Betsy, little Elsa and Maria. Look ridiculous in my hat but it's been a necessary burden in my time here, to protect my head as my hair does a very bad job of that!

The journey back (less car sickness this time) had us singing Musicals and Disney songs - the girls singing the Spanish versions and me singing the English versions, and Maria's dad in the front starting off songs by the Beatles and other old school famous tunes!

Today I have heard rumours that we may be going to some kind of water park but it is a little over cast and I'm wondering whether that will still be the plan as sometimes, weather like this is suggestive of a heavy summer storm that hits out of the blue! We shall see..