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 33 - Deciding to make a change. Why not? #45daysofsummer

When I heard last night that we were going to the beach today, I was well excited! When I heard that it was just Mihaela, Bianca, Betsy and me, I was even more excited. Girls day out at the beach?! Wooo!

Then I heard it was a two and a half hour drive away.
Less excited at that point.

However, today has been a truly wonderful day!
Admittedly, I slept a lot of the way for the journey there (hey, what's new?! Everyone knows I sleep in the car all the time! And I did warn them beforehand..) But we stopped on the way there, part way up a mountain, almost 2000m above sea level on the winding roads that took us to Gijón, to marvel at the breathtaking views.

It was freezing. But it was gorgeous.

We continued the journey (I went back to sleep) and before I knew it, we were in Gijón. Ready to party.
Well, we were certainly ready for a day on the beach at least, but the sky was rather cloudy and it looked like a storm was brewing in the distance. We braved it anyway!

Waves!

Waves enough for surfing!

And other people with the same idea as us - who cares about the storm?! We're at the beach!

And something occurred to me today, that I hadn't thought of up until now on my travels. There are some definite challenges about coming to new places on you're own and trying to make friends when you can't fully function in their language.. But there are some really great opportunities too.
I realised today, that even though I have spent almost 10 days with these girls, they still don't know all that much about me (herein lies both the challenge and the opportunity). I wasn't about to spoil the party and tell them how much I liked the look and idea of the beach, but that actually I really don't like sand or sea pretty much at all... So I didn't tell them. And therefore had to pretend at first (or persuade myself) that I did actually like it. They knew no different. And rather than it feeling like lying, it occurred to me that I had a chance here to start something new, to change something, to try something that I had previously not liked, amongst people who were getting to know me and find out for myself that I don't altogether hate it. In fact, I loved it!
We only spent about an hour, maybe a little longer, on the beach. And a lot of that time, Betsy, Bianca and I were in the sea. First paddling, then running into the waves! And the waves were big! Huge, crashing, salt-in-your-mouth-nose-eyes-and-everywhere kind of waves. I tried to keep my hands and face out of the water initially, but it was impossible so I gave up and in that letting go, ended up having so much fun, getting drenched and finding out that I can enjoy something that I have previously dreaded! Such an amazing feeling!

We got dry (freezing whilst doing so!) And went in search of other bonitas vistas (beautiful views)...

Salty hair!

Getting dry before lunch.

Ideal spot for viewing the coast.

 

Selfie necessary.

Another, more smiley selfie, necessary.

Host-mom, Mihaela! She drove us all the way, and around the city, and looked after our stuff while we swam. Superstar. 

Oh and then we got chocolate con churros. Oh yes. 

Something else that's new today. I also decided to be brave try and start speaking my thoughts out loud. As yet, I haven't really been quick enough to translate a passing thought in to Spanish and speak it out loud in time for it to still be relevant so I've just not bothered.. I have managed a couple of witty responses and sarcastic comments, but today tried to forget about making mistakes and put in to words some ideas and thoughts I had at different points in the day - about how funny it is hearing little kids speaking Spanish, asking more about where we are and verbalising geneal observations.. And its amazing how much new conversation and vocabulary it opened up! Today felt a lot richer in so many ways. :)

I only slept for a short amount of time on the journey back. Mostly, I watched out the window as we passed yet more stunning scenery. We drove through various mountainous regions, and I kept thinking of Moses and wondering if these were anything like Mount Sanai.. Probably not, but I liked the thought and felt close to nature and to God! Particularly with all that is in the news if late, I just feel so thankful and so very blessed. Trying not to take these experiences for granted.

Days 29 & 30. Even at my weakest, I am loved. #45daysofsummer

In some ways it feels like these two weeks have gone so slowly, yet in other ways, I can't believe I've already completed two camps and I've survived for this long in another language!

I suppose most of all, I can't believe there are only 14 days left of the summer holidays. That's 13 of my adventures and 1 little day in there at the end for recovery and cultural re-adjustment before going back to work (and it's a great feeling to be excited about the next year at Earls and then about whatever God has planned for me after that!)

But for now.. the past two days! 

Yesterday, the last full day at the camp, we all went along to the football training. The honest intention was for me and Eli to beat Betsy and Bianca in volleyball, but we didn't have a ball so we couldn't play. Instead, we joined the monitors as they played the Brazilians in a final game of football. I can proudly say we drew. 0-0. And I touched the ball about 3 times in the match. I'll take that!

Later in the afternoon, instead of going to the swimming pool, we had group water activities stationed around the block that the camp is on and in the local park. These planned activities turned in to a village-wide water fight with around 50 kids and adults running round the streets with buckets of water!

I actually made the video again last night (the end of day video that the brasilians make with photos and video clips from the day, and a short devotional message). This time I was on there with my epic fall in one of the water activities, that happened to be recorded on someone's mobile. You can trust me that it was hilarious, and in slow motion too. Yay! Haha. Honestly though, I did hurt my head a bit and my neck has been quite stiff since.. Plus I've had tooth ache (wisdom teeth mean I'm getting wiser, right?) and I cut my finger quite badly on Thursday, although thankfully it has healed really quickly! For some reason I've been clumsily in the wars the past couple of days but I'm still standing and think (hope.. pray..) that the next week should be less hazardous. Can't say that for the week after as have no idea what the final camp (de familias) will be like! I'm flying by the seat of my pants this summer, and learning to be OK doing that! God hasn't let me down since and I've been provided for in every possible way with absolutely more than enough!

Last night was the final dinner of the camp and I was totally overwhelmed by everyone singing a simple song of thanks to the cook (which is a normal 'summer camp' thing to do I think!) which turned in to a raging torrent of thanks and celebration, people waving their napkins, standing on chairs, shouting, singing, clapping. United and grateful and enjoying every minute! It was such an experience! 

I also made a little friend called Isra who has been my shadow this week. He's about 12 I think but he's only tiny! Although he spoke very little English he persisted in talking to me, sitting on my table every meal time, next to me during the songs and games on the evenings.. even though I was constantly asking him to repeat his questions and talk more slowly! He bought me an ice cream the other day with his tuckshop allowance, so I gave him a box of my skittles last night in return. He's a proper little gentleman and I'm going to miss him!! 

I think his example, and generally the experience that I've had with most people here has been so deep and profound for me. In some ways over the past few months, I've definitely not being at my best, yet in other ways I think I have been because I know that God has brought me to this place in my life (not literally, to Spain, but to where I'm at spiritually, relationally, emotionally etc.) and I arrived here in Spain still dealing with so much head and heart stuff, balancing feeling broken and messy and yet complete and walking in God's plan for me, with so many prayers and having so much that I hoped God would do.. I can barely speak the language so communication is obviously the biggest challenge. I have spoken very little compared to normal, had too much time to think sometimes, misunderstood instructions and got things wrong, been too nervous to try things sometimes (not often, but sometimes!), felt like such a burden when asking for things to be repeated again and again, made mistakes when speaking..

The people I've met here haven't had me at what I would consider my best.

Not in the slightest. 

And yet, they have accepted me. Loved me. Shown me patience. Taught me new things. Been my friend. It's been a challenge on both sides. But they haven't minded. They haven't judged. 

How this reminds me so much of what God does for me. Accepts me. Loves me. Shows me patience. Teaches me new things. He's not only my God but He's my friend. And he judged me worthy of the death of His son so I might know Him.

He has been so close this week, whispering encouragement and truth to me in the times of quiet and confusion and questioning. Stirring things up that I would rather He not, but in the process, showing me that I am loveable even at my weakest and even when people fail me, He does not and will not. 

Thank you God.

We had to leave the camp pretty sharpish this afternoon because the minibus driver wanted to go quickly (I think he had a whole day of driving ahead, taking people to various places, stations, airports etc.) And this sadly meant that I didn't have much time to say bye to the people who were still there! Some I will see tomorrow at church, and some next week at the final camp of the summer, but some I had to give a quick hug to and then I was off (yay for Facebook!) And now I am here at my hosts for the week, in León with Bianca and her family, and Betsy will be arriving later tonight. I am so thankful for their hospitality and welcome - and its really exciting to be in a family / home environment for a short time to have some time to properly rest and unwind... Ahh.
Here's to the holidays.

Day 26. Betsy, La Cumpleañera. #45daysofsummer

While the kids are singing, I have snook (is that a word?!) out to get some WiFi, and want to write quickly and tell you about Betsy. She is the director of this camp - the Football and English camp.

 It's her birthday today, she turned 29, and she is truly amazing! We have sung happy birthday (Cumpleaños Feliz) to her about 7 times today and she's getting a bit sick of it haha but I think she appreciates it really!

(Not a great pic!) Betsy blowing out the candles on her cake during La Cena (dinner) this evening. Little Sara (who is blurred her!) bought the cake in for her :)

The gift we got for her - a jar packed full of her favourite sweets!

She has an incredible voice and sang a solo in the concersts on the weekend, but she also writes a lot of the songs that the kids sing here, complete with actions, and yesterday she wrote one especially to go with the memory verse of the day. It's brilliant, and is about having humility - just another great way for them to remember the verse and take it to heart.

Singing in the Velada tonight!

But not only is she creative and super talented, she is hilarious. Like, really really funny.

I have been praying that at some point I will start to be able to understand jokes in Spanish because that's one of the hardest things really - following the conversation enough to fully understand and reach the punch line. To be honest, I can't say I've managed it yet, and miss most of the funny things that are said (which makes me feel a little sad, so that's why I've been praying specifically for this!) but God has blessed me so much with meeting Betsy because she is really sarcastic and even though I can't understand funny stories in full yet, I can get some of her one-liners or come backs and have laughed a lot this week! Plus, when she tries to speak English, it's the most hilarious thing you've ever heard.
Today she said 'please can I put my body on the plate of the shower' when she was simply asking to go for a shower! I know it's not quite as funny reading it like that but it was a rather hysterical moment for us and the chicas in my group who tried correcting her!

So today (and this week generally), I am so very thankful for Betsy, for her fun and gentle spirit, for her creativity, her warm welcome and for all that she is doing at the camp in the lives of these young people!!