Mi Vida en España: Tres

¡Buenas noches!

It is 11 p.m. here in Alcalá and the weekend is wrapping itself up. In a few short minutes I will have successfully completed my first full week in Spain. The thought is so surreal. One part of me finds myself thinking that each day goes by so slowly, but the other part wonders where all the time has gone. Regardless, all my time here has been well spent thus far. I feel well-acquainted with the town and can walk to all the key places, like the train station, without getting lost...a much different reality than last weekend ;) Although my American roots make me stick out like a sore thumb sometimes, I kind of feel like a local now after one short week...it's pretty cool. I walk to school every morning, order tapas/dinner in Spanish, meet friends at the plaza, ride the train, and pay for everything in euros. Now, my Spanish still isn't where it needs to be, but I can definitely survive with what I do have right now. One day this week a waiter even complimented Maddie and me with a nice "muy bien" when we ordered lunch (it's all about the baby steps). It is definitely encouraging to experience the benefits of studying a foreign language firsthand.

For everyone who read my last blog post, I have some very good news about my foot. Brian (my teacher) took me to a walk-in clinic after school Wednesday. The lady was so nice and checked out my foot free of charge. She told me I have "plantar fasciitis" which is basically a painful inflammatory process in my foot (thank you Wikipedia). I left the doctor with some anti-inflammotory medicine and a much more positive prospective about my situation. The very next day I felt 10x better and was able to walk around Madrid that evening with little to no problem. My foot still feels sore at times and needs a little rest, but the Lord has allowed me to experience a great recovery in such a short time period. Thank you for all the prayers, I truly felt them this week.

On a much more exciting note, we have been on several new adventures since my last blog post. A big group of MSU students took another trip to Madrid together Thursday after class. We spent most of our time on Gran Vía browsing through shops, eating icecream, walking around, and eating dinner at a really yummy restaurant. We had the pleasure of celebrating Anna's birthday with her and she definitely enjoyed her Spain-filled, special day. We had a minor issue with transportation when we tried to go back to Alcalá, but we eventually got on a train and headed home. Maddie and I made it back to our house well past 1 a.m., but we did make it home safe and sound. Friday was our designated "rest day" after a long first week at school and late night out in Madrid. We went to school, took a siesta, and just spent a relaxed evening in Alcalá.

In addition, some of the Mississippi State group traveled to Valencia for the weekend, but another group of us chose to take a day trip to Toledo on Saturday instead. We left home about 9 a.m. yesterday morning and got to Toledo around 1 p.m. We fell behind schedule a little bit because of our train ticket situation once we made it to Madrid, but everything ended up working out. While this was not in our plan, we ended up having to purchase our train tickets in person from a Spanish-speaking train station worker. We waited in line, bought our tickets, communicated in Spanish, and finally hopped on the 12:20 p.m. high speed train for Toledo. Our little group was excited about visiting the city, but we really didn't have high expectations. When we got there, however, we were so incredibly surprised by its beauty. The Toledo I experienced was not the way I perceived Spain. Our day trip totally blew me out of the water and I had such a great time. We spent majority of our afternoon sight seeing and walking around. We didn't go inside any museums, cathedrals, or the big fort, but we did get a feel for the city and its history. It is the neatest site I've seen in Spain up to this point and would love to go back before I leave.

Confession time: While I have loved Spain along with its language and culture, I had to take a break today. Maddie and I had a very "American Sunday" and enjoyed every minute of it. We slept in for the first time this morning until about 10 a.m., had a devotional time together, watched Father of the Bride Part II, ate Sour Patch Kids, and just relaxed. I even got a bottle of Coca-Cola for dinner. It was awesome. With a little breather and lots of rest, I am now ready to take on week two of my journey in Spain. I am excited to see what this school week holds and am hoping to improve my Spanish even more. I am also looking forward to our afternoon trip to Segovia Wednesday as well (I will write blog post about it, promise).

Just like last time, I am going to end my post with lot of pictures from my Spain travels. Hopefully they will bring my words to life and give you a taste of this unique country. Here you go!