This and that: catching up on random events :-)

One Friday, I went to Lleida to do some shopping and see the Seu Vella (the old cathedral). It’s really neat, and I was able to get in free because I have a special teacher’s card that allows me to see cultural things in Catalunya for free. Woo! Anyway, there’s a castle as well, but for whatever reason, I wasn’t allowed to see it. I couldn’t figure out if it was closed for construction reasons, or if they just didn’t allow the public to see it. Regardless, I climbed the bell tower. That’s 238 very narrow and winding steps! :-) Now, I DID climb over 400 steps up to a bell tower in Florence with Katie, but those steps were much safer, bigger, AND there were several “breaks” in between the climb. But in Lleida? Nope! It was quite intense, especially since I was carrying a bag of clothes I had purchased that day. I had no idea how intense the journey would be when I first started, but by then, I was determined to finish it. :-) Fortunately, unlike crowded Florence, I was the ONLY person climbing these steps! I made it to the top, praising the Lord that I didn’t fall to my doom on the tiny stairs, and looked out to see an amazing view of Lleida. The river, the castle-like place where I was standing, everything! Truthfully, I find Lleida to be a rather...um...not attractive city, but from up there? Wow! It was great. Well-worth risking life and limb, but it’s not something I plan on doing again. :-P Because of that, I REALLY wanted a picture of myself up there. Traveling alone really isn’t so bad, but the most annoying part is not being able to get pictures of yourself without either 1) asking a stranger, 2) doing that awkward and vain-looking self-portrait thing, or 3) finding a tall and stable surface and take a timed picture. Since no one else was there, option number 1 was out. I tried option 2, but I just can’t do those self-portrait things well at all! Finally, option 3 dawned on me, and I found the perfect spot, right in the middle, to take some timed photos. So I now have proof that I was there. :-)

Another Lleida adventure that I wanted to share was the train ride home after eating lunch the first time with Eli, Miriam, and their family (the nice family from church). Before that day, I had always taken the 3:45 train home. However, since I was with them, I took the later (and last) train back to Montblanc that day. I was confused to find TWO trains, both pretty close to each other, advertising that they were headed to Barcelona (the ultimate destination where my train goes). Which one do I take? The one that seemed to be the correct one had shut doors and no one around, so I checked the other one. No one seemed to know which was which (or if it even mattered), but everyone just went on that train. Okaaaay. I went on as well, and was worried when I discovered that it left a little later than the one I needed did. And the other train? It left at the time I needed! I started worrying that I took a completely random train and would end up in Barcelona at night or something, but I decided to see what would happen. It was then that the train guy announced that the recording and signs that say what the next stop is weren’t working. Nice. So now I was headed back in the dark, not positive I had the right train, AND wouldn’t know where it was stopping! However, the train guy said that he would announce the major stops, and one of those was a stop that was only a few villages away from Montblanc. So I knew that if worse came to worse, I could call Laura or Javi and see if they could pick me up from that station. I hoped I wouldn’t have to do that, but I was soon distracted by another problem: the train stopped working and the lights went off! :-) I still don’t know what the problem was, but the poor train conductor kept going in and out the door, apologizing to everyone via the speaker set, etc. Honestly, I wouldn’t have cared too much if only I knew I was headed to Montblanc. :-) To calm myself and keep from being bored (the lights did turn on later!), I listened to my iPod. I had it on shuffle, meaning that the songs randomly rotate, and guess what? The song that “happened” to be playing next was about rejoicing in every circumstance! Seriously! I couldn’t help chuckling to myself, and after a prayer of “Okay, God. I get it!” I had yet another divine opportunity to put my faith in the Lord...AND rejoice no matter what happened. And everything worked out. After about an hour of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, the train was running again. It stopped in Montblanc, and all was well. I found out later that there really ARE two trains that head to the same places on Sundays, just minutes apart. Huh! Random, but good to know, right? :-)

And finally, another Lleida adventure I wanted to share occurred on a Sunday morning before church. The train arrives about an hour before Sunday School starts, so I use that time to go to Pons, a little café nearby, to eat something and relax. If you’ve heard my stomach growl during church, you’ll know that having some extra time to eat a sandwich is a good thing for me. :-P I also get to see the same ladies who work there every week, and they now know what I’ll order. :-) It’s fun being a “regular” customer! Anyway, I also walk around before church, and this particular Sunday, I decided to walk in a direction I never had before. I bring my Spanish Bible with me to church, and it’s too big to fit in my purse. I also don’t have a Bible cover with me. What’s my point? Hang on, hang on. Anyway, I was walking around with my Bible tucked under my arm when an older guy came up to me and started rambling something about the Bible. He was speaking in Spanish, but he was talking really fast, mumbling, and also...well...was missing quite a few teeth. So it was a bit hard to understand him. However, he started telling me that Christ would soon judge the earth, and as I tried to tell him that I was a Christian, my brain was quickly trying to determine if he was saved, lonely and saw me holding a Bible, or else...um...a little crazy. I quickly realized that he wasn’t interested it discussing spiritual topics and just used that as a way to get me in the conversation (again, I was not-too-subtly carrying a Bible around). He then started telling me his life story, mostly about how he loves this woman but she doesn’t like him, how much money he makes post-retirement, and how he isn’t crazy. His words, not mine. :-) Traveling alone has really sharpened my “spider sense,” as my dad would call it. I think of it as my “creepy radar”. :-) Anyway, this particular guy was setting off my creepy radar big time, and I was quickly trying to figure out how to get out of this conversation. The poor guy probably has few friends and just wanted to talk, but after about 10 minutes, I interrupted his life story and said that I had to go to church (which was true). He then thanked me for listening, said I was really nice, and asked if I wanted to get a coffee sometime. Um...no thanks! :-) I left with a friendly farewell but a determination NOT to go over that way again. Haha. Like I mentioned before (and trust me, I’m about to mention it in other posts!), people just talk to me. Sometimes it’s fun, and other times...eek. Due to this situation, I carry my Bible in a plastic bag now. :-) I’m not “ashamed of the gospel” or anything, but I also don’t want a weirdo using it as an excuse to talk to me! :-P  

Tarragona: On Dec. 17^th, coincidentally the day my tourist visa from Chicago expired, I headed to Tarragona to pick up my official TIE: the card that has my photo, fingerprint, and NIE on it. I headed to the police station where I went in November, waited in a line, and easily got it. Yay! I’m legal, folks! After months of paperwork, I finally have the little card. Happy sigh. I also went to several bookstores and picked up the Spanish books I’d need for some upcoming exams, and then I wandered around in the open-air market to find a gift for the “amigo invisible” project the teachers do every year. It’s basically a Secret Santa, and I had Anna from Rocafort. Unfortunately, I don’t know her very well (well, I do NOW, but then, I didn’t), so the safest thing seemed to be a necklace. I can think of very few, if any, females who don’t like getting necklaces. :-) Anyway, I found a really neat one: silver with a white stone. She definitely struck me as a silver person over a gold person, and I was sooo tempted to keep the necklace for myself! :-P But I didn’t. I really like those Friday markets in Tarragona (see, the thing is, I love almost everything about Tarragona. I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s over there, but for some reason, I could wander around all day there), and you can get some pretty good deals. They’re essentially like yard sales in some ways (people trying to get rid of their junk), but I’ve found some neat stuff. :-) So anyway, Tarragona Day was a success!

And one last random thing I wanted to share but haven’t had time yet. Actually, I just never knew where to put it! It’s the Spanish/Catalan greeting. If you know anything about Spanish culture, you might know that kissing each other on each cheek is the general concept of how people greet each other over here. Well, it’s true. :-) I’ve officially kissed and been kissed by more people in the past three months than I ever have in my life. Male, female, old, young (well, not TOO young), married, single...everyone does it! It’s definitely done when you first meet someone, and then people do it at other random times: if you haven’t seen each other in awhile, if you want to thank someone, and then if you’re generally really happy to see someone. I have no problem doing it with females (it’s the same idea as hugging someone back in the States), but it took me a looong time not to feel awkward doing it with guys. :-) I still don’t know if it’s weirder kissing married guys or single guys near my age. But like many things here, it’s only awkward if you make it awkward. I had a taste of it in Mexico, where the custom was to kiss someone on one side of the cheek (again...male, female, married, single...the whole deal). But doing it on “both sides” is a bit different. And now? Frankly, it makes you feel loved, welcome, and special. What would just be a handshake or at most a hug in the States is just so much happier and warmer over here! And I mean, you shouldn’t take it the wrong way. There’s nothing weird or romantic about it. It’s just the cultural greeting! So don’t be surprised if I greet you with two kisses when I return. :-P It was hard not to do it after 5 weeks in Mexico, so imagine 8 months in Spain. Yeah.

Okay! I think those were the main random things I wanted to share. Onward to more Christmas and travel posts! Coming soon to a blog near YOU!