Final thoughts...at least for now!

I have to cram in the last of what’s happened because I leave in a few short days and will return the laptop to Laura soon. So here are some bullet points of what’s left! In my dream world, I’d elaborate on these points post-Spain. Regardless, here’s the...cough... “short version” hee hee:

• School with Olga round II was fantastic. We connected so much better the second time around, and I also felt such a better connection with the kids.
• On May 20^th, I took an official Spanish exam (DELE) in Tarragona. Javi was both a huge influence and help in deciding to take it...as well as prepare for it. And like typical Spain, they never sent me the information my mail like they said they would. Javi had to call them twice before they finally sent it via email. I had sent several emails asking about the information, but that just doesn’t work here. :-) The exam covered everything: readings, written parts, listening, grammar/vocab, and an oral exam. Javi, being the incredibly generous and fatherly person he is, drove me to the university where the exam would be held and waited around with me until they called my name. He reminded me so much of my dad when he’s nervous. Pacing, asking last-minute questions...he even gave me an extra pen “just in case” and wanted me to call him when I was done with the exam. And I THINK the exam went well...it’s hard to know. I’ll get the results in August. It was by far the most official Spanish exam I’ve taken, and I was completely drained after taking it. But I felt such encouragement and support from Javi and the other teachers. There are lots of things to talk about with this, but I’ll leave it like this for now!
• I celebrated Javi’s birthday with him and his family at their house on May 11^th, and I just love spending time with that family. It also felt special to sing happy birthday in Spanish AND with a family. I miss doing that and look forward to celebrating birthdays with my family again!
• I’ve really gotten close to the other teachers in the ZER, especially in Pira and Barberà. Cristina, Cati, Laura (another Laura), Anna Maria...not to mention the English teachers and, well, everyone!
• I saw some of a feria (fair) in Montblanc with Carmen Torres and family, which included Montblanc’s famous giants, a king and queen. It was neat...but sooo hot that day! Later that evening, Anna Maria and I went to four different villages. It was a special time with her (we also saw her village), but it was pouring down rain later on!
• The English course we took on Wednesdays was fun and helpful overall. I now have some certificates and lots of teaching tips, and I develped a good relationship with the American teacher, Ruth. Several teachers from the ZER and I also presented a lesson on the Three Billy Goats, which was time-consuming and fun. :-)
• Tutoring increased a LOT in May! Paula and Josep Maria have been my “steady ones” since I first got here, and Anna Maria and I started back up again...but this time with two other teachers from the ZER and another English teacher I met in the English course. Also, I started playing with a little boy named Joan in English. His mom is a friend of another ZER teacher, and they live in Montblanc. The parents are so sweet, and they have another little one on the way. The first few times with Joan (2 or 3 years old) were dreadful, with him crying...but in the end, we became good friends and had a good time. He’s obsessed with all things Sant Jordi and giant related, as well as music...that kid can pound on drums and blow recorders all day! Hee. They gave me a cute children’s book in Catalan about Catalan traditions on my last day, and we exchanged contact info. They were really sad that we hadn’t met in October when I could have spent the year with Joan, and they said that if I ever come back, I have a “job” with them! :-) Great family.
• Church: such a blessing. I’ve gotten together with many friends these past few weeks for Sunday lunches, and it’s been great to just talk to believers! I also met another auxiliar from Canada, named Barb, and we’ve become good friends. She’s in her early thirties and only started learning Spanish since January, so I translate a lot of the service for her when I can. She’s a fantastic violinist!
• Specific names of people I’ve either eaten with or spent time with at church that I’d like to talk about more someday: Jorge, Elisabet, Miriam, Barb, Yolanda, and Edeli, and Pablo.
• I was able to see Dani and Miriam’s wedding, which was so neat! There are several differences from US weddings, but most importantly, it was so special to see these two great friends get married.
• I saw Jorge get baptized as well!
• Edeli told me about a “young people’s” Sunday School class, and I’ve been attending that since spring or so. I know this topic is debatable, but I have to say that it’s been so helpful and refreshing to attend a small Sunday School class designed for people my age. I never realized how much I missed that until I experienced it again. And to do it in Spanish? I love it! Pablo teaches the class usually, and he’s just great. He leads the music, preaches sometimes, teaches this class, is a lawyer by profession is super nice and has helped me grow spiritually so much, and is the dad to fun Miriam, one of my best Lleida church friends. I really hope to talk about them more sometime!
• Last days:
• The last day in Barberà was so special. The only downside was that Olga had a major migraine. But the kids all made things for me and gathered in a big circle outside with me in the middle. Cristina said some parting words (which almost made me cry!), and each class went up to give me their gifts (a booklet of drawings and pictures, a poster of the US flag, a diploma, a group picture, hearts with special phrases written on them, flowers, etc.). We then had a BIG group hug and went inside for some snacks, which specifically included US s’mores. I’m so glad Amanda was able to bring up marshmallows and Graham Crackers...it was so fun, and the kids LOVED them!!
• My last day in Solivella included everyone gathering in one room, shouting “surprise!” and giving me a notebook full of drawings and pictures. Later we had some snacks, and there were a lot of hugs!
• My last day in Rocafort (the final two weeks were with Laura) included more s’mores, another special booklet of drawings and pictures, me playing the Star Spangled Banner on the keyboard (thanks to Montse, the music teacher! It was a lot of fun. :-)), more hugs, and a promise to send a picture of me in America when I get back. Nuria told me later that it doesn’t matter what I’m doing...the kids are just obsessed with seeing a picture of me back home. :-)
• My last day with the entire ZER (all four schools) was an epic excursion in Barberà. We watched a film, made bricks from straw and mud, visited Barberà’s castle, listened to a man talk about Arab culture (and tried tea! Oh, and I HAVE to talk about the questions the kids asked that poor man. So hilarious!), a theater performance of the 1^st and 2^nd graders in Solivella (alternative story of Sant Jordi), a performance of the 5^th and 6^th graders in Pira (Cinderella), and finally...as all nearly-200 kids, 30-some teachers, workers, and parents were together in the theater, Javi and all three English teachers were up front and asked me to come up. My first reaction was to sink down in my chair, but after prodding from some nearby teachers, I walked down to chants of SARAH! SARAH! SARAH! They presented me with a beautiful plaque, which they so didn’t have to do, and I gave some parting words to everyone. Wow. It was just so...embarrassing and special! And there were so many hugs from the children afterwards! It was SO wonderful to have a last day with everyone together. And it was even more fun than the castanyada in October...because this time, I knew ALL of the kids! :-)
• Last day in Pira: this marked my very last day in the schools, May 26^th. The school as a whole gave me a notebook with drawings and pictures during the recess break the day before, with everyone gathered around. I showed each picture to the kids and said things like, “Oh, and who is THIS?” and the little ones would chant back, “Mariona! Albert! Arnau!” etc. It was so cute. :-) Afterwards, the teachers met in the room where we eat together and had snacks and, um, champagne. Laura didn’t drink any because she’s pregnant, and I was like...sigh. People still try to get me to like alcohol in this culture, and it’s just gross. Sorry. I did my typical Sarah sip that I do in similar situations, but the main thing is to do the “ching ching” with everyone. :-P Anyway, it was a nice thought, but I so snuck water later on! Haha. The REAL last day was extra special. The little ones (my favorite little ones are in Pira) were all prepped with the news since Anna Maria is their teacher, and we had a fun last day together, singing songs, telling stories, etc. They were also VERY talkative that day and told me all sorts of random things...how many teeth they lost, how many siblings they have, asking what I’ll do in America, declaring that they saw my plane to America yesterday, etc. So cute! The 1^st and 2^nd graders, another one of my favorite classes, were soooo affectionate. Hugs, kisses, high-fives, little ones plastering themselves on me begging me not to go...and then most trying to figure out the exact moment I’d leave for America. Friday night? Right after class? :-) Goodbyes with the 3^rd and 4^th graders was...interesting, haha. After the certificates (ah, I’ll explain that in a minute!), several came up and gave me more gifts...notes, drawings, totally random things like used pencils, erasers, highlighters, beads...haha. Anything they found in their desk, I’m guessing! And this sounds weird, but I have to talk about it. I’m no expert on crushes, but I’m pretty sure there are some boys in this class and at least one in the 5^th/6^th grade class that have crushes on me. Such an awkward feeling, haha. I shook everyone’s hands after giving them certificates in the 3^rd and 4^th grade class, declaring that Americans do that, and one boy specifically wanted to do the typical “two kisses”. That, naturally, led to all sorts of jibes to the poor guy, who looked red but happy, and then another boy declared in Catalan, “Hey! Why didn’t she kiss everyone??”. Ha! So I had to kiss everyone after that. :-P Silly cuties. Farewells in the oldest class were really special, and they gave me a little stuffed frog with a handmade “Pira” banner, an address book so they could write their contact info in it, a booklet of drawings...and a special, carefully thought-out message in English from three of the student spokespeople. And to read what some of these kids wrote...it brings tears to my eyes! After many hugs, kisses, contact information discussions, my final farewell was with Elisabet in the 3^rd and 4^th grade class. She’s a quiet, sensitive girl, and we’ve become good friends. I think my “breaking moment” with her was when I danced with her after the Carnival event in Pira. Anyway, she was crying pretty hard, so I had to give her an extra-special hug and kiss and try to convince her that everything’s okay. Her brother was laughing at her, which annoyed me, but I know he was just as sad as was trying to hide it. Ah, and Paula spent a long time trying to explain to me in English that if I come back, I can go to her house, knock on her door, and then I can stay with her and her family. :-)
• Thanks to Mom and Amanda back home, I had English certificates to give to everyone. They were a big hit and a good way to make my last days special for the kids. And to this day, the 3^rd and 4^th graders in Pira are obsessed with getting my autograph, so it was a good excuse NOT to sign 21 papers and arms that day. See! I signed it, right here! Haha. Ah, and this class also tried to give me their soccer ball, which Laura informed them that they can’t give away school property, so we compromised and I wrote a message on it. :-) There’s no way I’d be able to fit that poor dirty ball in my luggage anyway! :-D
• After classes, we had a teachers’ meeting, which is stuff I’ve gotten used to. It was mostly to talk about the upcoming school trips (that I won’t be apart of...I really wish I could’ve finished the school year with them!) and practice a song for the upcoming party for the ZER. The ZER, which is all four schools combined, is celebrating 20 years this year, so all sorts of fun things are planned. They chose a song, Hold My Hand, and Javi wrote some beautiful Catalan lyrics to it. We practiced it several times during the meeting, and as I sang this Catalan song that I could almost perfectly understand and ALMOST sing it all, I looked around at these teachers I’ve grown to love...and boy, it was hard trying to blink back tears! It was a good way to end my time with them.
• Based on clues I’d been picking up, I thought there would be a dinner or something for me after the teachers’ meeting. There wasn’t. I knew that the English teachers and I would all meet on Monday the 30^th, so I mentally figured that THAT must be the “surprise” dinner. Javi said that I needed to stop by their flat later that evening to sign some papers, and I honestly and truly believed him...
• When I came by their house later on, I was a little weirded out that they didn’t have me come up. Instead, Javi came down and proceeded to wait around with me by his car until Cati was ready. Okaaay. I was still thinking “sign papers” mode, but I thought that maybe Javi and Cati wanted to do something special with me afterwards. Cati came down eventually, and I was shocked when Javi told me to get in the car...because we had to drive to “look for” the papers. This was getting weirder and weirder! It was a good 5 minutes in the car when it dawned on me that this was all a set-up to take me to the surprise dinner. AHHH...I love these guys. Apparently there were teachers driving in front of us and Carmen Torres behind us, but I was totally clueless. When Javi parked and we walked out, I told Cati that I was pretty sure we were NOT signing papers. :-) She chuckled in her quiet way and tried to be vague, but as I walked in the fancy restaurant with my close-enough-to-Spanish-parents, I was welcomed by the majority of teachers from the ZER grinning and clapping. So fun and awkward!
• My last evening with them was fantastic. It was an Italian restaurant, and I had pizza that lasted a good 2-3 meals and tiramisu for dessert. I sat next to Cati, and I think we had the best conversation we’ve ever had...or else have had in a long time. I was able to ask her all sorts of questions I’d been wondering about her...what it was like to live in Soria, central Spain, and move to Catalunya, learn a new language, adjust to a new culture...anyway, I just had a fantastic time with her.
• Then came gifts and games. They gave me a personalized certificate saying that I acquired a certain level of Spanish among Catalans (haha), and they gave me pretty much the best thing ever...it was so sweet, so personal...it was a stuffed animal cat with a little ZER Conca tag on it. It was so me...and more importantly, it just showed me how well these people knew me.
• The game was hilarious! Anna Maria and Laura worked on a version of “Pasa Palabra,” which is a famous game show in Spain. The contestant goes through each letter of the alphabet and is given clues to guess a word. They personalized the entire alphabet to represent my time in Spain: places I visited, words I use ALL the time, school vocab, where I lived, how long I lived here, Sarahisms, and even a common “bad word” that they did just to hear me say it. Snort. Laura said that I couldn’t leave Spain without saying it, and I guess I did...but I almost refused to! :-) I also liked the ones about how much luggage I’d have to carry back with me and the one about Paris. For that one, the clue was (in Spanish): “the country you visited with your sister and that you said ‘We’ll always have...’. They had to have seen my Paris pictures on Facebook and the title of the album to be that specific. It just...I don’t know...warmed my heart to realize how well these people knew me!
• Javi was getting bored later on and somehow ended up with my ZER kitty. He pretended to make it drink wine, talk on a cell phone, and then he proceeded to toss it around to the other teachers. Somehow that started a game where a teacher caught the cat, said a phrase or word I use all of the time, and then would toss it to another teacher. It was like...like summing up my life in Spain! Cutre, chulo, guay, todo bien, un cacolat, fa goig, me ha pasado pipa, esto es España, me importa un bledo, banana...all phrases that have such a Sarah history behind it. I hope to elaborate more on it someday! To sum, it was a super special evening. And throughout all of these special events, I gave little speeches in Spanish. Whoa!
• Last day with the program director and the American teacher: Carmen Tinoco is the “boss” of my program for the whole Tarragona province. I met up with her and Ruth in Reus, thanks to Carmen Vielba taking me (she had to do shopping there), and since Ruth arrived late, I had a neat time alone with Carmen Tinoco for awhile. We talked about my experience here, and it came down to this: I was raving about everyone in the ZER, especially Javi, and she was raving about me because the other teachers rave about me. Basically, the ZER Conca is NOT a typical school, and I’m not a typical auxiliar (most prefer to do the bare minimum and then party). We made a perfect match. Carmen calls it luck, but I know for a fact that it’s the beautiful providence of my Lord and Savior. Haha, I can’t even write this without tearing up! I confirmed with her that there was NO way I’d be able to get the same school again, but she encouraged me to look into working with other ZERs in Catalunya, even ones close to my ZER. I don’t know...it just wouldn’t be the same. But we’ll see what the future brings! I at least need a full year at home, that much I know. :-) Anyway, Carmen gave me some menjar blanc, a typical pudding dish from Reus, a memory book, and then she and Ruth signed some certificates for me...and then we went out to eat a snack. Ruth also gave me a unique wooden bookmarker that she described as, “One, it won’t make your luggage heavier. Two, I thought you could have it, and every time you pulled it out, you’d think of your year in Spain. Then, years from now, you can pull it out and show your grandchildren and say, ‘Let me tell you about my time in Spain...’”. I just might do that, Ruth. I just might do that.
• After my time with them, I met up with Carmen Vielba again, and we went to McDonald’s to meet Javi and Elisabet, the other English teacher I would have been with had it not been for her accident (and she still has trouble with that hand!). It was good to see Elisabet one last time, and I ended up going home with Javi.
• Last time with Anna María: she’s been a special and helpful friend since the beginning of my time here, and she has no “obligation” to do so. I mean, Laura and Olga are English teachers, and Javi’s the school principal. But Anna Maria? She’s done things with me, invited me to dinner, let me call home...all because she’s super sweet and nice. We met for the last time, and she and Oscar gave me a little booklet in Catalan about happiness. I said goodbye to Oscar, and Anna and I drove up to a high village where you can look out and see Montblanc. Unfortunately, it was really foggy, so we didn’t get to see much. But the village was still nice, and a little further down, we could see Montblanc. Mostly, I just liked being with her one last time. And when we got back to Montblanc and faced each other in the street by her house, about to say goodbye for at least awhile and maybe forever, she started to get teary, and that made me get teary...and that made her cry...and that made me cry...and we just stood there crying and hugging each other. It was the first time where I was actually crying in public like that! The funny part was that Anna’s father-in-law, who is exactly like Oscar in personality, looks, and sense of humor (just, you know, a little bit older), came by and saw us crying together in the middle of Montblanc. He was like...uh....are you two okay? :-D Anna had to explain that this was our last time together, and I think he took it upon himself to cheer me up. I left shortly after that, mostly so Anna and I wouldn’t cry harder, and Oscar’s dad walked me partially home (which is all of 50 seconds away). He kept talking about random things and then went on about how I could always come back or Anna and Oscar could visit me in Ohio. Then he started asking about the tornados and problems in the US, and talking to him distracted me enough to help. It was sweet of him, but I still felt kind of blah and teary that whole evening! Anna started it. So there! :-) It was still good to be with her again, and it turned out that this whole weekend has been with my best friends here. More in the next point!
• Last(ish) time with Olga: we were planning on going to the beach on Saturday afternoon, but the weather was just bleh enough to change plans. So instead, I went with her and her family to see a festival in L’Espluga. All about carquinyolis, a VERY crunchy cookie-like thing that I don’t really like and described it to Laura once as a sweet rock. However, it was good to hang out with Olga, say goodbye to Jordi and Pau, see more giants and hear more Catalan music, see Josep Maria play the drums, try food, and wander around L’Espluga for the last time. I also met some of Olga’s older aunts and relatives, and one woman asked me in slow, exaggerated Spanish, “Entiende español?” (she might have said castellano, which is what everyone says here, but now I’m forgetting). I sweetly quipped back in Catalan, “I català també!” (“and Catalan as well!”), to which another elderly aunt chuckled and said “TOMA!” (take that!...more or less) to her sister or sister-in-law. Tee hee.
• Last(ish) day with Carmen Torres and family AND Javi and family: Carmen Torres lives in L’Espluga as well, so we met in the plaza and I went with her to her family’s house, where everyone minus Josep Maria were going to eat together. Marta presented me with a professional photograph of their family and me at the medieval dinner. And like all of my close friends who know me well and give me things, they always say that “this doesn’t weigh much!” :-)
• Carmen Torres, her husband, the two girls, and I drove to Cambrils, a fairly elite beach area. I played several games with the girls in the car, and it was there that Marta, the youngest at 7, found out that it was our last time together. Poor little sad face! But we keep saying that I really need to come back sometime...or they could come to the US. We got to Cambrils before Javi, Cati, and Sergio (Paula had other plans), so we wandered around the beach area for awhile. It’s a pretty place to walk, and it was good to bid farewell to the sea. :-)
• Javi and family arrived later on, and Javi proudly showed us a cup/trophy that the girls’ soccer team won (from the ZER). This was also the big night when Barça played Manchester in London, and it made the evening more special to me to realize that these soccer/Barça fans spent that evening with me. Wow! The whole atmosphere of Cambrils was tense though...and there were several “sports bars” nearby where Javi and Sergio could peek in to see how things were going. :-)
• We ate at a nice place literally on the beach. We shared tapas and just had a great time talking and laughing. We just get along really well, and it was also hilarious to see Javi, Sergio, and sometimes Marta jump up and run towards a nearby sports place when people farther away were shouting from watching the game. And Barça won, making my friends supremely happy, the streets INSANE with crazy happy people, and me feeling special that Barça won the highest title in Europe the year I came to Catalunya. Spain won the world cup last year, which was also cool...because it was the year I was headed to Spain. Yeah, I take the credit! :-D
• After eating, all of us wandered around the beach area and a nice area for walking. We saw some neat sandcastles, I touched the sea and then wiped my wet hands on Segio and Marta, making them giggle, I talked to everyone, I asked Sergio about English class, and it was just another special evening. We stayed out really late, and I ended up going home with Javi and family. I said goodbye to Carmen and family (I’ll most likely see Carmen for a little bit on Monday though), and I was okay...but I could see tears in Carmen and Josep Maria’s eyes...and even the girls looked pretty bummed. I spent a lot of fun times with that family, especially this past month, and I learned so much about the Catalan language and culture from them. I’ll miss them!
• Sergio slept in the car, and I talked to Javi and Cati off and on and then ended up falling asleep as well, haha. They dropped me off around 1am (with church the next morning for me!), and I had yet another goodbye to do: this time with Cati. Javi said that we’d see each other later, but it was my last time with Cati. She looked misty-eyed as well, and from all of these many goodbyes I’ve had to do, I’ve realized how they’re done. Okay, so the typical greeting and farewell is to give two kisses on either side of the face. We still do that. But when it’s a special, special goodbye, you also give each other a nice long hug. That’s what we did.
• Last day at church: last week was part one of goodbyes, because several of my good friends wouldn’t be there my last week. But it was still a special and bittersweet day today. Eli, a good friend and Miriam’s sister (the newlywed) gave announcements and asked me to come up. She said some things, gave me the opportunity to say some things, and I suddenly found myself in front of the whole church with a microphone in my face, having to say goodbye to these dear people...in Spanish. A good preparation for this was last week when I was taken by surprise and asked to help collect the offering. Whoa! Yes, females are a lot more involved in this church. :-) It’s going to be weird to NOT see this back home! Anyway, one man prayed for me (another good friend) after I said some stuff (mostly mentioning that my only contact with believers was on Sundays here, so the church was super special to me and has helped me so much. I also said that as brothers and sisters in Christ, we don’t really have to say “goodbye”...it’s more of a “see you later!”. I think that’s what made the church parting so different that other farewells. Even if I never see these dear people on this earth again, I’ll see them again in heaven!) I heard some sniffles during my speech, but overall I felt okay throughout the day. I got a little teary singing in Spanish in church for the last time or what could be a looong time (I still love every minute of that experience!), and I also got a little teary when people were hugging me and giving me well-wishes afterwards, but only if they got teary first. Really, most of it was a kind of happy day...and it was good to connect with newlyweds Miriam and Dani!! They gave me a pretty bracelet as a thank-you gift for a wedding gift I gave them. It was also good to connect with Miriam and another girl who just recently got back from spending several years in the US and is now back home. Miriam lived in England for six years, the other girl is still adjusting to life here, and I’m on the brink of going back to the US after 8 months here, and I’m just reeling with all sorts of emotions lately. We just clicked and I picked up some good tips on how to deal with changes when I get back home! I also met another woman from Mexico that we hadn’t met before. She’s seen me, but we just never have been able to talk. She’s super sweet, and her 4-year-old son is adorable. It was also a special farewell to fun Miriam, a friend who has helped, encouraged, and exhorted me so much these past months here. She also said that if I’m ever in Spain, regardless of where, she’d visit me...then she added that if I’m ever in EUROPE, regardless of where, she’d visit! :-) She also made me promise to send a quick note when I get back to the States to let her know that I arrived safely. And with more email addresses, hugs, and prayers, I left my Lleida friends and church with a similar-yet-totally-different happy heart like when I left that church my first day there. My time there was totally from the Lord, and I’ve grown so much closer to Him from that experience. More bittersweet goodbyes, but...WOW...so many wonderful memories and friendships!!
• Last day with Laura, Jordi, and Quim: we met for an hour or so in my special cafe in Montblanc this evening. They gave me a pretty bracelet (that doesn’t weigh much, hee hee), and it was good to see them again. Jordi, naturally, had a kind of “sum up your time” discussion with me and had his typical round of difficult questions. His main questions were 1) of everyone I met here, who made the biggest impression on me and 2) who was the weirdest person I met, from the perspective of an American. Who just wouldn’t fit in the US culture. With question number one, the easy and obvious answer is Javi, with Laura coming in second. But seriously, like I told them, Carmen Tinoco, and wrote in my final project assessment, there is only one Javi in this world, and the guy just lives for the school and for others. I think it helps that Cati is a teacher in the ZER as well, but seriously...Javi is super nice, super funny, and completely and almost unhealthily obsessed with the school. And Laura knows me the best of everyone, I think, and I’d consider her my best friend here. We can joke and be serious, she’s helped me out so much and has done so many fun things with me...yeah. Javi and then Laura for question number one! Question number two was harder, and I almost couldn’t think of an answer (Jordi quickly said that he didn’t count!), and then it dawned on me: the weirdest person I met here, one that I never knew how to act around and couldn’t picture that personality in the States...is...the school inspector. Ha! He weirds everyone out, and it’s like he tries to be your buddy but it just doesn’t work out. Yeah. He’s definitely the answer to question number two!
• Saying goodbye to Jordi was fine, but poor Quim was sobbing when he realized what was going on. We calmed him down by saying that we’d keep in touch, and maybe I’d come back to visit him and his little brother, or maybe they’d come and visit me and my family...in the end, he was okay. I think he was also tired, so I don’t want that to get to my head too much, haha. But I really have grown close to Laura’s family.
• And now...after eight months...I’m actually at present day. This very moment. Typing some final thoughts at 12:30am with a laptop I’ll be returning tomorrow. I leave Tuesday afternoon to Barcelona and then Wednesday morning I fly to London where I’ll meet Amanda. It really is like my heart’s divided in two. Part of it is totally staying in La Conca. I think in the end, I put down “roots” and established deeper friendships than I expected. It’s just now so different from my time in Mexico. I hate to compare them, because they’re both so different and wonderful in their own way, but as Jordi prodded me today, I realized that I did love my time in Spain more, mostly because I’ve been here longer and have true friends. Saying goodbye has been a lot harder that I imagined, but somehow...God’s just guiding and caring for me. I’m just so incredibly thankful for my time here and the people He used in my life.
• Tomorrow is a final lunch with all three English teachers, and I think I’ll see Carmen Torres and Javi sometime that day. I also need to finish up packing....yuuuuck!
• So...eight months, three countries, several regions of Spain, good friends, special church, adorable children, Spanish and Catalan...so much has happened! Final thoughts:
• Favorite city in Spain: Toledo. Following ones: Granada, Girona, and Tarragona. I must have a thing for T and G cities, haha!
• Montblanc is an amazing place to live. I just wish I had a car.
• Best part of my time: THE KIDS.
• Second best part: MY FRIENDS. This includes teachers and church friends.
• Third best part: traveling and using non-English languages. Seriously, if you can get out there and experience other cultures...DO IT!
• Worst experiences: mice in the flat, the luggage issue in Italy, transport stresses with Amanda, the overarching Spanish “system” that’s so incredibly frustrating, especially for an American, and that limiting feeling of not having a car AND not having much public transport.
• Things I’ll miss: teaching in the ZER, hanging out with people from the ZER, using Spanish and Catalan everyday, never having to fight over the bathroom, being removed from the blah parts of “normal life” back home, stepping outside every day and being surrounded by European history, flan, crepes, cacolat, Spanish ham, earning money for just speaking English, going to that one cafe every single Sunday in Lleida and having a good hour to eat, pray, and read my Bible before heading to church, singing songs in Spanish in church and even, gasp, clapping my hands sometimes, walking into work with joyful cries of SAAARAAAH and being greeted with lots of little hugs, turning on the TV and hearing Spanish, being able to pop in a train or plane and be in another part of Spain or Europe, and being called “la Sarah” or “Sarita”. :-) Or even just being called Sarah with a Spanish/Catalan accent!
• Things I won’t miss: that stupid buzzer in my flat, hearing the drummer practice down the street, having thin walls where you can hear what’s going on everywhere, opening the squeaky blinds every morning, having a shower with no shower curtain, walking in dog presents, waiting for buses or rides in general, dealing with the overarching Spanish “system” that’s so frustrating sometimes, planning trips (the blah parts of them), dealing with limited or else dreadful internet access, drinking wine during communion (gag), being surrounded by the general alcohol atmosphere (wine at meals, champagne at celebrations, etc.), and trying to figure out if a phrase is incorrect or else British English. Ha!
• Things I’m looking forward to: seeing Amanda, traveling with Amanda, seeing the UK, landing on US soil, greeting and hugging my parents for the first time in eight months, SEEING MY DOG AND CATS, seeing (and probably hugging) my brothers for the first time in eight months, living in a house, seeing the renovations, watching Tangled and other fun movies I haven’t seen or else haven’t seen in a long time, seeing Valley Chapel friends and family, having access to a car, SEEING MY DOG AND CATS, seeing friends and co-workers, hanging out with my family, taking walks with my dad and dog, having a kitty lay by my feet at night or kneed claws in me and purr, having my sister as my roommate, shopping with my mom, showing my family the things I’ve collected from my time in Europe, sharing some experiences face-to-face, playing a REAL piano, growing in Christ even more, and just seeing what God has planned for the future. There’s a lot I don’t know about right now, but I DO know that God knows, and He has the perfect plan for me, my family, my church, and my passion for languages, kids, His Word, and other cultures. I also have a good 8 or so contacts here that have said that I’m always welcome to come back and stay with them, and my “professional” contacts have grown as well. And I truly feel like my time in Spain/Europe isn’t done yet. It feels time to leave FOR NOW, but...Lord willing, I think I’ll be back here again.
• And until I’m settled back home and have some time to kill, so ends this blog. The rest will probably just be tweaking or elaborations, most of which would be done for me rather than an “audience”. I’m sure Amanda and I will write about our time in the UK though! :-)
• Thanks for following my journeys, and a special thank you to those who have prayed, sent emails and cards, gave money, commented on my posts, liked statuses on Facebook, and took the time to read these dreadfully long posts. To be honest, I’m not sure if I’d read something like this...so if you keep up with it, thank you! If you don’t keep up with it, it’s okay...but if it’s anything like my time in Mexico, I’ll probably get all of these questions where the best answer is “Read my emails/blog!” :-) But that’s okay too!

And I just want to end with a special thanks and very clear message to and about my God and Savior. I COULD NOT have done this journey without Him, and I’ve seen and experienced His hand every step of the way. Every good thing about me comes from Him and Him alone. He gets the glory, okay? And just thinking through how I got “here” is just so cool. If you don’t know Him personally, you probably don’t understand a lot of what I write about and why I write it. And if you want to know, just ask. I now know so many wonderful people who don’t know Him, and it truly breaks my heart. If I’ve learned nothing else from my time here, it’s that Christ and His Word are THE most important things ever, and being forced to depend on Him for everything is one of the sweetest and hardest things in the Christian life. All the travels, experiences, friends, and cute kids in the world are nothing compared to His awesome plan, power, goodness, love, care, and holiness. Read Romans 8 and John 14. Your life is nothing without Him, and life is everything with Him!!

From the Valley to the Basin...soon heading from the Basin to the Valley,

Sarah 

Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Medieval Montblanc

Unlike the US where our society barely recognizes Easter or Good Friday, schools in Spain and probably most of Europe get an ENTIRE week off school...and in Catalunya at least, we get even more time off for the Monday after Easter, here, known as the Mona...which is when families get together and godparents give a special cake to their godchildren.

My Semana Santa plans were all over the place. They went from thinking about a huge trip all over Andalucía, to visiting Germany, to visiting Rome, to visiting Galicia and the northern/eastern part of Spain, to visiting Mallorca, one of Spain’s Islands (close to Catalunya), to visiting Zaragoza, to...haha. Basically not going anywhere! :-) Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t sit around all day staring at the wall. Noooo sir. Here was my week!

Some days and afternoons were spent relaxing, getting things done, and most importantly, studying for the upcoming DELE Spanish exam. Javi really gets on me if I don’t study, so...yeah. I definitely devoted a day or two to that during Easter week! :-) Palm Sunday, Laura, Jordi, and cutie Quim and I all traveled to the province of Girona, which is about 2.5 hours away. I had seen three of the four Catalan provinces and their capitals (Lleida, Tarragona, and Barcelona), and I was just missing Girona. It was so fun doing a day trip with this fantastic family, and I’m so glad they took the time to do it with me!

First, we went to Figueres, which is a town outside of Girona the city. I’m not sure if there’s much there, but the main thing to see is the very famous Dalí museum. Now, I’ll be honest. There’s a lot of art that I don’t like. And there’s a lot of Spanish art I don’t like. But Jordi once said that he’d recommend this museum as THE thing to do in Catalunya just because it’s so unique. Also, I studied a decent amount of Dalí in Spanish classes, so...yeah. It seemed good to do!

The outside is crazy and unique, with a redish color and eggs, yes, huge eggs on top as decoration. Also, bread was all over...not real bread, but bread shapes...on the outside AND in the inside!

And the whole museum was just sooo weird, cool, and different. Some of it, like most strange art and their artists, was like...um...this is awkward and uggggly! But a lot of it was just fun to see. I enjoyed seeing the “melting clocks,” Dalís interpretation of Las Meninas (a famous Spanish painting that’s in the Prado and one of my favorite ones ever. If you don’t know what it looks like, Google it! You should know!), the famous bread painting and it’s golden bread statue thing, several other “famous” ones that can’t really describe...and I loved some ceiling art, a strange cubed cross, and all sorts of stuff! You just NEVER knew what you’d find there, and it was so cool!

After that (ah, before AND after that, we went to a park for some snacks and to let Quim use up his energy, haha), we went to beach town that I don’t remember the name of. Whatever it was, it was BEAUTIFUL. Okay, maybe not the town itself (it was fine though!), but the beach? AMAZING. I think I gasped out loud when I first saw the view. I couldn’t figure out what seemed so different about that beach compared to others. Something different struck me, and whatever it was, I loved it. It was a few minutes later when I realized that there were rocks instead of sand. That totally changes the dynamics of a beach. It felt more...like...I don’t know. A dramatic movie, Wuthering Heights (all literary people now try to remember if there’s a beach in Wuthering Heights. Ha. I don’t think there is! :-D), some sort of Great Britain scene from a book or movie...I don’t know. I just knew that it felt different than you’re typical (but still amazing) sandy beach with tourists wandering around. Anyway, that beach will always have a special place in my mind/memory. Wow.

We ate outside at a neat restaurant with an amazing view of said beach. Add that plus the company of three people I’ve grown to love so much, and it was such a great afternoon! And if you remember anything about what I said about Jordi, you’ll know that we never lacked for conversation topics! I mentioned that a lot of Jordi’s questions reminded me of my dad. :-) When I gave an example of a question my dad asked me during one of our few-and-far-between phone calls (“How’s the crisis in Spain?” “Uhhh...I don’t know.” :-D), he was like...ohhhh...I want his number so we can talk! He definitely would’ve given dad the juicy details of the crisis in Spain. :-) We joked that Laura and I could translate for them. Heh.

After that, we went to Girona the city/capital. Ahh...it was such a great feeling to step out of the car and realize that I’ve been to all four capitals in Catalunya! Woot! And I have to say that’s it’s quite possibly the prettiest of them all. Tarragona will always have a special place in my heart, and I love the epic Roman remains there. Lleida is mostly ugly to me (sorry Lleidains if you ever read this!), minus the river, the Seu Vella, and the church. Barcelona, I’d find out later that week more about it, but seriously, regardless of how many cool things places like Barcelona and Madrid offer, they’re just NOT my cup of Cacolat (haha, that’s a chocolate drink I love here. Sorry, it’s 1:10 in the morning! :-D). So...all that to say that Girona is totally different than the other provinces. Very peaceful, very quaint, very lovely...one of those places where I looked around and thought, “Huh...I could live here!”. I could live in Montblanc (haha, duh!), maybe Tarragona, Toledo, and now Girona. The other places I’ve seen are cool, but not somewhere I’d like to live. But that’s just me.

The two most famous things to see in Girona are the colorful houses that are suspended in the air a bit. Okay, that sounds weird, and I’m definitely not describing it well, but they’re along the edge of the river, and the foundation is just...different. If curious, I’m sure Google has a bunch of pictures of it, and if we’re friends on Facebook, I have pictures on there. Anyway, the other famous thing to see is the cathedral. You’d think that by now I’d be tired of cathedrals, and actually, in general, that’s true. But certain ones still pop out with a LOOK AT THAT ONE! IT’S AMAZING! and the one in Girona was one of them. Of course, pictures weren’t allowed. :-P It was also fun looking at the cathedral with Jordi, because he has such and eye for archetectual detail. He took the time to show me how straight the pillars were, how detailed some locks were...just things I wouldn’t have thought of. And when we walked out of the cathedral, there was an epic sky view with rays of light streaming from some clouds...I took some pictures, and they’re okay, but it didn’t do justice to what we saw. There were three “epic sky moments” for me during my time in Spain. One was during the Calçotada with Javi and family, another time was this time, and the last one was a few days after Girona when I went to the Montblanc train station to head to Barcelona. But more on that later!

We did more wandering around, and really, we didn’t “do” a whole lot (I have a feeling that quiet Girona doesn’t offer too much as far as “things to do”), but I totally loved walking around the old Jewish streets, leaning on a bridge and staring at the river, feeding ducks...talking, laughing, and sharing my heart with Laura and Jordi...being silly with Quim...ah. Special times.

And speaking of special times, since it’s now officially know to all the teachers in the ZER, I’m going to share something else that Laura and family shared with me on the way to Girona. They’re going to have a baby! In October! I felt very honored to be one of the first to know (aside from family and a few close friends and teachers, and even they knew just the week before). I knew way before Olga did! :-D Laura prodded Quim, and Quim told me the Catalan version of “Mommy has a baby in her tummy” and I was like, whaaat? Did I hear him correctly?? :-D I did, and it made our time even more special. She’s doing well, by the way, and she found out this week that she’s expecting a boy. Quim and even Laura were kind of hoping for a girl, but I think they’ll be a fun family with two boys!

And more about Quim. I sat in the back of the car with him, and we played so many games and did so many things! Our relationship has gotten so much closer than I ever thought it would. I can actually converse with him in Catalan, and he knows enough Spanish to help me out when I stare at him with a “what did you say, little child?” look. :-) We played around with my cell phone and camera, taking pictures, recording our voices, etc. and we also played a favorite game of ours (coughmyinventioncough) where I randomly start saying, “Quim! Where’s Quim? Where arrrrre you?” (but in Catalan :-)) and then proceed to look all over the place minus where he’s sitting or standing (as in right next to me), including in my purse, my shirtsleeves, etc. He cracks up laughing and typically ends up playfully shouting in my face AQUÍ!!! :-) We switch roles sometimes, which is also delightful. I also drew some pitiful drawings for him, specifically of Sant Jordi, the princess, etc. If you don’t remember anything about Sant Jordi, trust me, you will after this post and the next one! He kept me pretty busy during the car rides (in a good way, usually!), and another “I’ll remember this moment forever” moment was when he suddenly looked at me with his big brown eyes and little face, stared at me sadly, and asked if I had to go back to America. Ouch. Then he, for whatever reason, reached out and started playing with my hair, all the while staring at me with his close-to-tears expression. Seriously, HOW do you explain this stuff to little kids? Laura happened to glance at us just when he was affectionately stroking my hair (okay, that part weirded me out a little bit, but it WAS cute :-)), and she was highly amused and in that whole “Aw so cute” mode moms do. She also joked that I’m with kids even on my off days. :-) I’ll miss that little guy when I leave.

We arrived in Montblanc pretty late, and we left really early that morning. So after a full day, Quim and I BOTH ended up falling asleep on the way home! :-) It was a good day and one of my favorite ones with Laura and her family.

I went to Barcelona on two separate days during Semana Santa, but I’ll describe them together. First, the initial idea to spend la mona with Olga and her family was changed, and even though I was invited to spend it with Carmen Torres and her family (mother of the boy I tutor), I opted to get some other things done. Anyway, onward to Barcelona!

One day was more touristic, and the second day was more logistic to figure out blah luggage storage, airport info, lodging close to a train station, etc. I’m guessing that..um...NO ONE wants the details of those sorts of things (this is all related to the fact that I have both mine AND my sister’s luggage, so I just have to plan well!), but I will say that I went to the actual airport to figure out where I’d need to be. It turns out that my airline to London, Easyjet, has its own terminal area...a nice loooong walk from everything else. Heh. Irony. Anyway, I have a hotel booked right next to the Sants train station (you know, that huge one I hate) and will leave bright and early from the train station to the airport (you know, that huge one I hate) on June 1^st.

As far as sight-seeing goes, the number one thing I HAD to do in BCN was see the inside of the Sagrada Familia. For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, this is a cathedral/church/temple that was started by Antoni Gaudí (if you had to pick the most influential person or artist in BCN, it’s by far Gaudí! You can’t get away from the guy!), but he...well, he kind of died before he could finish it. He had plans and ideas, and builders continue to work on it, staying as faithful to Gaudi’s wishes as possible. Anyway, again, it’s the “Eiffel Tower” of Barcelona, probably Catalunya, and one of THE main sights of Spain. Seriously.

So anyway, I bought my ticket online beforehand, which turned out to be a SUPER SUPER SUPER good idea. The normal line was horrible. Sooo many people. I was able to go in a special line that was a lot shorter and faster, and it was because of this that I was able to see the Sagrada Familia at all. I’ll explain in a minute!

The outside is amazing, but the inside? Sooo cool. It’s just so different. It’s by far the most unique cathedral I’ve EVER seen, and by now, I’ve seen...um...a LOT of cathedrals. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite cathedral (Toledo or Girona might fit that better...but maybe it’s because I love those cities so much? I don’t know!), but it was totally worth seeing, and if you go to Barcelona, SEE IT. It’s hard to describe, and if you don’t have access to Facebook pictures, it’s worth your time to Google it for two minutes.

I had a great time wandering around, and being the cheapskate and I-hate-audioguides person I am, I didn’t pay extra to take the elevator to the top or use audioguides. And THAT turned out to be good as well!

As I wandered around soaking in the details (note: I loved the doors to the cathedral, with different names of Christ written all over it. I have a mini-calendar of the Sagrada Familia from a former classmate, and that picture always stuck in my mind. It was so incredible to see it in person!), I noticed that some steam-like stuff was coming out of one of the areas. I thought it was some sort of ceremony, so I walked closer to see what was going on. It seemed to get thicker and darker, and it wasn’t long before I realized that...this was SMOKE. As in FIRE. Ack! The people nearby were getting more and more curious, and soon several security guards were quickly heading to the area while still trying to look not panicky. I hung around for awhile and took pictures of the smoke along with everyone else (meh heh heh), but I knew it wouldn’t be long before they evacuated. I just knew it. I didn’t feel in danger though...I just knew that we would only have a few minutes in the building. So I headed outside where a lot of people were hanging around, hoping things would clear up, and I couldn’t help but smile as people were desperately trying to listen to every section of their paid-for audioguide before someone took it away and made them leave. By then, you could see smoke from the outside as well, and soooo many police cars, firetrucks, and emergency vehicles came by! They later evacuated the actual cathedral, so we all hung outside. And here’s the ironic thing for me. Okay, in Florence, Katie and I weren’t able to see a lot of stuff due to strkes. In Paris, Amanda and I ALMOST didn’t get to go up the Eiffel Tower because of....some sort of problem that I still don’t know what it was. And the ONE day I decided to see the inside of THE Sagrada Familia? A FIRE! Hahaha! I’m just so glad I got to see it!!

They later kicked us out of the entire area, and I felt so bad for people who had been waiting in line all morning only to be told that they would have to leave. But I tried to leave as quickly as possible because I knew the poor security people were going to have to deal with so many questions and annoyed people. I went to a souvenier shop nearby and bought a few things, and couldn’t help but laugh when the store owner was trying to figure out what was going on...and when he realized that his store was filling up with people because they were kicked out of the Sagrada Familia, he was like, say! This is good for business! :-D To clarify what happened, there was indeed a fire, and I think they tried to cover it up by burning incense at first. Some weirdo started it. I don’t remember why. But they caught him at least! It did do some damage, which is a shame because it’s such a beautiful building and cultural symbol that still isn’t finished because of financial issues. No one was injured, although some people might have had some smoke inhalation issues (probably their own fault for staying in there so long!).

After the SF, my next priority was the Park Guell. It was also designed my Gaudi, and the most famous thing to see is this lizard statue. Another famous symbol of Barcelona! I liked the park and the fun Gaudi stuff, but...it was so uncomfortably crowded. Yuck. So I really didn’t stay very long, but I did see Gaudi’s house-museum (remember, I loooove seeing famous people’s houses :-)). I did enjoy that! It was much less crowded and very nice.

Other sight-seeing places include the Picasso art museum, the Pedrera (another famous house created by Gaudi. I saw the Casa Batló with Olga and Ines that one day, so I just need to see the Pedrera), part of the Montjuic park (lovely area!), some other cathedrals (just the outside), and one of my favorite things: a chocolate museum!

The Picasso museum was cool because for ONCE I could use my epic teacher card to get in free. I can use it all over Tarragona, but in Barcelona? So difficult! And...well...it was kind of boring and blah, minus the section of Las Meninas (see the Dali museum section if you forget what I’m talking about :-)). Yes, pretty much any artist who was anyone painted various impressions of las meninas! And I think I studied every single one in Spanish classes...:-D

The Pedrera is cool, but both Gaudi houses are...I don’t know. I’m glad I saw them both, but the lines are so gross and long, and it’s....it’s just like seeing weirdly designed buildings. Fun to see if your into architecture, but I think you can live without seeing them (at least both) if you aren’t a huge fanatic. But that’s just me.

But something you shouldn’t miss in BCN? The chocolate museum! Katie mentioned it, and I’m so glad I went. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but first, the ticket is a chocolate bar. Epic. The museum explains in detail the history and importance of chocolate, but because I might, gasp, learn something, I kind of...didn’t pay attention. :-D Yes, even chocoholic Sarah gets bored with too much explanation. Heh.

But what makes it totally worth seeing is all of the amazing chocolate figurines. They were so detailed, so unique, so creative...I loved loved loved them!! Ben Hur, Roman gladiators, Don Quixote, the Arc de Triomphe, Astérix comics (quick rabbit trail: this is a comic strip series that’s originally French and pretty popular here. It’s about a small village who fights against the Roman Empire. Javi let me borrow a book to practice Spanish, and I loved it. I want to buy some! :-) Anyway, it was good timing because when I got to the museum, I was like, hey! I know what this is!), Mexican pyramids, Bambi, rocket ships, a piano, Monserrat’s organ and virgin (Monserrat is a very famous mountain in Catalunya. I feel kind of sad that I wasn’t able to see it. Boo. Next time, right?), Mary and Jesus after he was cruicified (okay, personal...that one weirded me out. I think it also frustrated me because everyone is so obsessed with Christ’s death, but his glorious resurrection? NOTHING! It’s all about Him suffering and Mary sadly caring for Him. So much to talk about with this, but I’ll leave it at that for now!), the Sagrada Familia, Pixar’s UP, Catalan gigantes (giants), probably some I’m forgetting, and my very, very, very favorite one...Sant Jordi, the Princess, and the dragon!

Anyway, I had a blast in that museum. It was fun, cool, and different.

The Montjuic Park is really pretty, and I definitely only scratched the surface of what you can do over there. I enjoyed the scenery and found a Cat Fountain (I was hoping to find the “Magic Fountain” that a former Spanish classmate recommended, but I couldn’t find it and was kind of tired and not caring by that point. Hee. So the cat fountain was a good substitute. :-)), and I also went to a Joan Miró art museum. Haha. Well, I saw some sort of building and didn’t know what it was, so I walked it and stood in line. Hee. I realized it was a modern art museum (gag), but...since I could get in free with my epic teacher card, I decided to do it anyway. I’m so glad I didn’t pay for that waste of time. Haha. Sorry, that sounds harsh, but it was seriously THE most boring and ugly art museum I’ve seen in my life. So yeah. Not exactly a Miró fan. Hee.

So all in all, Barcelona and I have become better friends. I still would HATE to live there, and I don’t even quite understand why the world in general is so obsessed with it (kind of like Madrid). In general, people either love Madrid OR love Barcelona. If I had to choose...I don’t know. I think I liked the history of Madrid more....actually, I KNOW I LOVED the history of Madrid more, but Barcelona is part of Catalunya, and so it holds a special place in my heart. And while I feel like I did almost everything I could in Madrid, there are still a lot of things I could do in BCN. But I’m content with what I saw, and I’d recommend both places to visit...but personally, I vote you get out of the crazy cities to enjoy some of the other ones. :-)

Another afternoon during Semana Santa was spent with Olga. We went to the nicest restaurant in L’Espluga and an amazing Rural Life/History museum afterwards. It was a fun and special time with her! I don’t know why, but I’ve clicked with her so much more during my second round of schools with her. I really enjoy spending time with her! I still don’t feel very close to her family, but I like her. :-)

Good Friday was so unique! I met Carmen Torres in the morning and saw Josep María play soccer (“football”), which was neat to see him play AND to see the sport that’s so very popular here. Later and throughout the day, we saw people from Montblanc dressed up as Roman soldiers marching all throughout the village. Trumpets, drums, shields...everything! They also had several processions, with musicians, people walking, and several figures depicting various scenes from Christ’s death (the passion). People were dressed up as monks and also a very popular costume in Spain/Europe for Semana Santa: robes and hoods, and they look exactly like the Ku Klux Klan. Some looked “nicer” than others, but all gave me an inward sting of horror. All I could think about was the KKK, even though it’s unrelated. However...I haven’t looked up the history, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the KKK took the idea of the people here for their costumes. Anyway, in most parts of Spain, especially in Andalucía, these people self-inflict themselves with pain...walking while whipping themselves, wearing chains, etc. It’s just scary. It was tamer in Montblanc, but I still saw some carrying crosses, walking bearfoot with rope tied around their ankles, stumbling on the stone pavement...I don’t know. It weirded me out.

But I will say that the whole day and evening was such a visual representation of Christ’s death. It was by far THE most unique Good Friday I’ve ever experienced. I also had a good time spending the entire day with Carmen Torres, her husband (another Josep Maria), the other JM, and the two fun girls, Clara and Marta. We ate lunch at Carmen’s parent’s house and dinner at Josep Maria’s parent’s house. I know so many grandparents! :-D I also ate a very typical dish for Good Friday: a type of crust filled with spinach and raisins. It was amazing. It sounds weird, but that combo actually works!

Seeing the Roman soldiers in the evening was the coolest part. At the very end, the marched REALLY fast  throughout the square, making criss-crosses and all sorts of things. It was a neat but kind of disturbing day. There’s just so much emphasis on Christ’s death and Mary’s maternal care...and just nothing about Christ’s glorious resurrection. And most of the stuff I saw was done from tradition (cue Fiddler on the Roof song) rather than belief. It was neat...but kind of sad at the same time.

And then came Saturday, April 23^rd...my dad’s birthday and the day of Sant Jordi. Sant Jordi, which is Saint George in English (and that sounds totally weird to say!), was a “hero” during the medieval times, and to be honest, there’s so much legend to him know, I don’t know what he did for sure. Haha. I definitely need to research him sometime! I do know that he’s honored throughout Europe and the 23^rd is celebrated ALL throughout Catalunya. In Catalunya as a whole, the tradition is for guys to give girls a red rose (will explain in a minute) and for girls to give guys a book (in honor of Cervantes, whose birthday is also the 23^rd. Ask my dad who else has birthdays on April 23^rd. That day just keeps getting more famous, Dad! :-)) However, in my special medieval Montblanc, there is SO much more to Sant Jordi!

The scheduling was kind of weird due to Semana Santa, but they still did some Sant Jordi things...and did a lot more during the following weekends. Carmen Torres (I’ll refer to her as Carmen from now on) asked me several weeks ago if I wanted to experience all of the Sant Jordi/medieval stuff with them, because they’re all heavily involved in acting and planning. I readily agreed, and she asked me if I wanted to see things from “outside” or “inside”, meaning as a typical spectator or more involved with the events. I decided to be more involved, but I had NO idea what that really meant! I’m going to lump all the medieval stuff in this post, even though they happened several weekends in a row. But my first medieval experience was when I met Carmen and family at her in-laws house (they live in Montblanc). This became quite a habit for the next few weekends! We changed into medieval outfits, which Carmen has a TON of, and it was so neat wearing stuff like that! She had head covers and everything, even a purse that was more appropriate for that time era...a shawl...all sorts of stuff! On a random side note, I had brought a pair of clip-on earrings with me, and they turned out to be perfect for a lot of the events. The strangest part was not wearing glasses!

Once we were all ready, we walked out to meet the rest of the “medieval people”. It was so funny walking around Montblanc with tourists everywhere...oooh, can we take your picture?? :-D And I bet no one knew I was American, haha! And when we were waiting around with more medieval Montblanc people (which includes Tere, a good teacher friend. Oh, if I never mentioned it, Carmen used to teach in the ZER). It wasn’t long before I realized how involved I truly was in this event. I was basically IN a parade/procession! :-) So there I was, with Carmen and her daughters, walking with other medieval people....king, queen, Sant Jordi, the princess, nobles, peasants, jesters, the whole deal...with spectators watching. So many students called my name! Sarah! It’s la Sarah! :-) I didn’t see all of them since I was halfway blind, but it was cute to hear their voices. Actually, ALL of those weekends were full of little ZER Conca students! Such special kiddos.

Anyway, for the specific day of Sant Jordi, they pretty much had the nobles/royals do a dance, say some things, have people do the procession...and then later Sant Jordi rode on a horse and presented the princess with a red rose (legend says that Sant Jordi saved the princess and people of Montblanc by killing a dragon. When the dragon bled, his blood turned to a rose.). It was full of medieval dancers, music, all sorts of goodies! And I was dressed up with the others, in a spot where most can’t go. SO COOL! The funny part was sneaking pictures. I hid it behind my shawl and took what I could. :-)

Other medieval events included the Dracum, which was on a Friday night. That was by far the strangest of the events. This one, people pay money to see, and I was once again an “actor” in it! :-) It’s basically all about the evil forces and the history of the dragon. I was a peasant, along with Carmen and some others, and all I had to do was stare at the evil people and then get upset when Clara stole an apple from our market stand. It was a little weird because I kind of missed a lot of what was going on since I was IN the performance, but they did have a screen in the back where we could watch what was happening. It was creepy, but still cool. :-)

The reenactment of when Sant Jordi killed the dragon was EPIC. I just wish that I could have been in the reenactment AND watch it as well. This time, I was dressed as a noble and wore a flowing cape. Wow...picture wearing medieval noble outfits with a long, flowing cape...and walking around a medieval town with a medieval wall that always makes you feel like you live in a castle. Ahhhh! It was a neat moment that will stick with me for a long time!

For this event, I was with everyone who were the “villagers” and cried out that the princess shouldn’t sacrifice her life. Everything was so neat, but the most frustrating part was when we were watching the screen in the back and the performers who were supposed to get ready weren’t getting ready...so the director turned off the screen. :-( (yes, I thought of my brother Josh! Hee). However, Josep M later sent me a link with the whole program, so I can watch it later. :-) Anyway, it was cool...and to walk passed all of thsoe people watching from the seats? Wow. And at the very end, they lit up the Montblanc walls and shot fireworks with epic music playing in the background. Visca Sant Jordi! Visca Montblanc! Visca Catalunya!

Other events included a reenactment of Catalan Courts from 1414, a medieval market that lasted two weekends long (SO MANY TOURISTS! I’ve never seen Montblanc so crowded! It was like a safe, mini-version of the Valencia fallas crowds!), sword fighting, medieval jobs, falcons, food, activities, things to buy...sooo many things. And one of my favorite things was a medieval dinner, which is usually really expensive, and Carmen and family treated me to it! Josep M was an actor in it, and there were more dances, more shows....haha, and a hilarious team of entertainers. One was a crazed hunchback who kept escaping from his rope, climbing on tables, climbing up terraces, you name it. The other was his “master”. In the street, the hunchback would come up to people with a creepy toothless grin, which just cracked me up. He really scared Clara and Marta though! I remember one time when I was talking to Carmen and some others, and I turned around to find the “hunchback” literally right in my face with his corny grin. I just stared back and said “hola!” haha. In the dinner, they performed a fun and silly gig where they tried to rip a piece of paper in half with a whip.

The food was pretty good, and we had to eat it all with our hands! And at the very end, everyone minus me was fairly tipsy and started dancing around. I was basically forced to join in, which it was fun, but I could tell that the atmosphere of the event changed after midnight or so. I left as soon after that as I could, with Carmen walking me back to change. It was a fantastic event, but I’m sure it got crazy after I left!

I also saw Ines and her boyfriend during one of those weekends, and it was great to see them again!

Carmen and her family were so great during those times. I’ve experienced so much more than I would have without them! Special times.

And that ends the basic summary of Semana Santa and Medieval Montblanc. Thanks for reading!

Sarah

"We'll Always Have Paris" --Amanda--My perspective on the week with Sarah

Hello all! At long last the older sister is going to post her perspective on our Paris trip, I was waiting around for Sarah to post first, so she could get through the main details, and I could just add a few of my thoughts. I will start off by saying it was an amazing trip and I LOVED seeing my sister again, that was my absolute favorite part of the entire time…seeing Sarah! Buildings, palaces, history, all that doesn’t compare to seeing your best friend!

So in a similar fashion to Sarah here’s how it went on my end, I won’t go into the massive amount of details she did so that you won’t get bored by too much repetition, but will mention the highlights for me of each thing we did, and maybe add a few minor random details that she may have forgotten. J

Sunday-Monday, March 6-7, 2011

First, a little history, I originally planned this entire trip thinking I was still going to be in management at the time, so I booked an evening flight, BECAUSE I was planning on working that day, rushing home, then rushing to the airport. However in the wonderful providence of God, I ended up being out of management before the trip, so I happily had the day off! However, I was still stuck with my 7pm flight.

So, since I happily had the day off work, I went to church as usual in the morning, and went to our Flock Group afterwards, it was really neat to see everyone so excited for me as it was well known I was leaving that day. I got lots of prayers, hugs, and encouragement; it was a good way to spend the day of your flight. Dad drove me to CVG, we got me situated, and I went through security and headed to my terminal for the typical long wait you do before flying. I got an overpriced milkshake and fries at the McDonalds in the airport, mostly because I knew I was in for a long flight and wouldn’t be eating any “real” food for awhile, sat, paced around, talked to Dad and Mom on my cell phone some, tried to read, and mostly wasted time being restless and bored. J

Oh, one other important thing to note…I hate flying. Seriously, I really do. Unlike my sister who thinks that flying is the most amazing experience EVER! I am one of the people on this planet, who still think humans shouldn’t fly. J Not really….but I really don’t enjoy the experience. I’ve flown twice before to South Carolina, and that was with Sarah, so this was my first flight out of the country and going by myself. Fortunately, I don’t get sick or anything, I just am stressed out and wishing I was on the ground. J Anyway, all that to say….my first flight ended up getting a slight delay, some sort of airline door problem or something, I forget, all I know is that it took forever. J Eventually we boarded, and it was a very small plane, short flight about 45 minutes to Detroit. I had a window seat and had a guy sitting next to me. I think he worked for the airlines, I pretty much ignored him the entire time, (I was not overly thrilled and I was wishing I didn’t have a seat mate on this first flight) I’m sure he noticed at some point how nervous I was. Every bump of the plane before and during landing, I grab my armrest and close my eyes and grimace. J Anyway, eventually we landed in Detroit and I had to run to my next connecting plane, the lady who pointed me in the direction of my next flight said “Paris, I wish I was going there.” Funny, but when you’re worried about missing a connection, you don’t really care. J Happily, I did get to my flight in time, but it was boarded already! I was shocked! I don’t think I’ve ever been on a flight where practically everyone is seated but me…not a cool feeling. I tried calling home as I was running through the terminal, but for whatever reason my cell phone wasn’t working, once I was in the plane, I did manage to have time to send a text saying “hi or bye” something like that just so the family would know I made it to Detroit, after that I wouldn’t have any contact with family until I saw Sarah or got to a computer.

I finally settled down some once I was in my seat in the plane. There were four seats in the row I was in, someone on the very end, an empty seat, me and another empty seat…ahh…ideal, here I was for a long 8 hour flight or so and I had elbow room, life is good…as good as it can be on a plane. J When I booked my flight, I purposely tried to find empty seats…even more important than a window seat to me. J Anyway, the plane was really huge! My first “big” overseas flight, the attendants had French accents and I thought the whole thing rather neat. All the seats had their own personal televisions attached to the seat in front of you, and the arm rests had little remote things, and you got a packet of free stuff, ear buds, eye mask, ear plugs, and something else probably. Anyway, it was really neat, although I was rather confused if the movies were free or not, I eventually just decided that they were. J

I also realized something…flying in a big plane is a lot better than a small plane! Even though I probably had more turbulence issues with the big one, for whatever reason, I felt the bumps less, or wasn’t as concerned about them, I think my philosophy is: if the plane is bigger it can handle this stuff better, not sure how accurate that is, but I did finally start relaxing more on that flight than I ever have before when flying. Anyway, so highlights from that flight: One it was really long, two, I didn’t sleep, maybe an hour or two at the most, but yeah, sleeping just doesn’t work for me on my first major flight overseas…I knew it wouldn’t. J So, I had originally planned on reading, however, that didn’t work out too well, since they dimmed the lights, because the REST of the plane seemed to have no problem sleeping, and I felt weird turning on lights that might disturb others.

SOO, I watched movies! That was fun, they had one called “Tangled” which I saw in theatres last November and loved it then! I was so excited to see it as an option to watch! It was my favorite part of the flight. Watching Tangled from 11 to midnight…just have to be careful not to laugh too much. J They also had these options to listen to music, so I was able to listen to some classical music and doze for a little bit, that was neat. I did get some reading time in, I brought the book “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by Victor Hugo to read, I’d never read it before, and since I was going to go see the REAL thing, I figured now was a good time to educate myself on it. I probably got about a third-half way through it, still haven’t finished it yet! It’s umm…kind of boring…hopefully it gets better; I’ll try finishing it one of these days. J I noticed that one of the flight attendants noticed the book, I think he was probably intrigued/curious why an American was reading that book on a flight to Paris…maybe he saw the irony, I don’t know, he never said anything to me about it.

Anyway, at some point during that flight I was finally starting to get REALLY excited about the trip! It was real! I was actually leaving the US and going to see my SISTER! I think I was grinning a couple of times. J Those are my main memories of the flight, oh, and the food, it was tolerable, but left something to be desired.

I finally landed in Paris (CDG) airport, and then went through the masses of people, shuttle stuff, to the next part of my journey…customs! I got my passport stamped for the FIRST time! (which is very cool) and then went through so much security I forget how the entire processed work. If you’ve never flown or been through security…imagine massive amounts of people being herded like cattle…that’s pretty much what I imagine it’s like. J Anyway, I was finally at my next point of waiting for the flight that would take me to Barcelona, and I had a little bit of time to spare, I really wanted to find a bathroom, but for some reason I couldn’t find signs anywhere pointing to one. I was rather frustrated, how on earth could an airport this HUGE not have a restroom?? Anyway, I didn’t want to waste too much time looking for one, and decided to just wait. However, ANOTHER delay ended up happening, and so I was able to relax enough to search harder…and I did find the bathroom. A very brightly painted one too… Anyway, so, I waited around some more, felt tired, someone tried asking me a question about Spain, but I didn’t really know the answer so I wasn’t able to help him. Finally, we boarded! This flight I had a window seat, and seatmates, but at this point, I was so tired, I really didn’t care. J I just wanted to get out of airplanes and see my sister! That flight was maybe 1.5-2 hours long.

I eventually landed in Barcelona, and got off the plane and began the fun process of figuring out where my luggage was. Oh joy! I found the luggage rack thing, and waited, and waited, and it soon became sadly obvious that my luggage wasn’t going to magically appear like it’s supposed to. (it wasn’t just me either, several others on my flight had lost luggage too, actually, I think the guy who asked me a question in the Paris airport was one of them!) Anyway, I kept standing there forever, just praying that it would appear, this was so not on my list of things to happen this week! J Anyway, after wasting a lot of time standing there, I headed over to the lost claims place. I finally talked to someone, gave them description of the stuff, and Sarah’s contact info etc. One thing they didn’t tell me was that I had the option of getting reimbursed if they didn’t get my luggage in time, I figured that out when it was kind of too late. J

Anyway, so, I’m in this haze of “my luggage is lost” and headed to the next thing, that I thought I had to do. Customs. J Yeah, I had done something in France, but Sarah had made it sound like I had to go through customs here too, so I started wandering around, and trying to insist to the Spanish security people that I needed to you know…get processed or something! J They insisted I was fine and could go through, okay, whatever…weird. So, I went to where the doors were, they opened, I didn’t see Sarah that first time she screamed, and then they closed, and I went back again to try to convince the people that I was about to enter their country and I didn’t have a stamp or anything in my passport. J They again insisted I could go through, I went over there, was SHOCKED by my sister screaming in public! Hee! Anyway, we hugged, were excited to see each other, but I still kept rambling to her that they didn’t stamp my passport, I wasn’t sure if I could go through, and oh yeah, my luggage is lost. J I for the third time, went to the Spanish security people trying to insist that I was about to enter their country, and they finally convinced me I could leave. I think I was amusing them by how confused I was. J (hey, I’m about to enter a foreign country, my luggage is lost, I don’t want to get deported or anything!)

Anyway, I finally leave the place, and Sarah and I head into the confusing world of shuttles etc. I forget all the details of what happened next, but we eventually arrive in the train station in Barcelona where we get some food, chat and wait for the train. J I think once we were over there, is when I started feeling the “weirdest” I didn’t know what to expect jet lag to be like, since I’d never experienced it, I felt, obviously tired, and very lightheaded, but was that jet lag or just…lack of sleep? Anyway, regardless, food helped some, but for most of the evening I felt very “off” and like things just weren’t normal. J
It was nice to eat some normal food with Sarah while we waited for the train, and while we chatted something else that happened, which Sarah forgot to mention. We had finished most of our food, but had a few chicken nuggets and fries left, and a guy came by, and asked in Spanish (I think, unless it was Catalan, I have no idea) if he could have them, Sarah conversed with him, and let him take them. It was really unusual to me! But we were glad someone could enjoy them. J

We eventually get to the point where Sarah goes through her whole panic thing about “ahh! We missed our train!” I kind of just stood there and tried to get her to tell me what was wrong, and kept saying, “we’ll be fine!” I mean, my sister has been living here for months; I had absolute confidence that it wasn’t the end of the world, and it would get figured out. (maybe this was exhausted jet lag too) The ironic thing is, I am a very panicky person in situations like that and Sarah is the calm one, it was rather funny to see our roles reversed! We finally boarded my first ever train ride experience, which was neat, but I was kind of too tired to really care. We arrived at our next point, where Sarah made me RUN to get to the bus station thing. Sigh, asking your older sister to run when she is very tired, it’s late at night, in a new country, and trying to absorb everything, and all I want to do is go to bed is…not really fun. J

So, we’re finally on board the bus to where we get to go to Sarah’s friend’s place who will be taking us to Sarah’s flat. I was really excited to actually get to meet Sarah’s teacher friend Laura and her husband Jordi! I had originally wanted during this trip to meet some of the kids, and more of Sarah’s teacher friends, but it wasn’t going to work out. So I was, even though very tired, super excited to get to meet some of the people who’d been taking care of my little sister for the past several months!

I also knew that I’d be getting the typical Spanish greeting, I’d read enough of Sarah’s blog to know that handshakes don’t happen, but it was still hard to try to remember that and not freak out when perfect strangers start kissing your cheeks and hugging you. J I think I managed to hide how weird I thought it was though. J Anyway, we got to eat some food, and chat for a little bit, I got to see their sleeping son Quim, which was neat! It was just so cool to see Spanish hospitality first hand! It was also a “proud big sister” moment where I could observe my sister talking to these people in another language…it was really cool! I could catch words here and there and sort of follow parts of the conversation with my limited High School Spanish, but for the most part, I was confused…but that was okay…it was just neat to see these people, my sister interacting with them, and experiencing hospitality! I was also grateful for a toothbrush…it was the one thing I knew I’d have to get if I didn’t get my luggage back quickly.

We eventually said good bye, and Jordi drove us to Sarah’s flat, Sarah and Jordi did most of the talking up front, while I tried to concentrate and pick up bit and pieces of words I knew and tried to follow their conversation. I think I did ask Sarah to ask him why the tops of most of the trees were cut off, something about a pruning process, I think. Finally, we said goodbye to Jordi and headed into Sarah’s…FLAT!!!!!!! Yay! We were there!

Now, I knew a little bit what to expect, Sarah had done a video of the flat, and so I had a general idea of what her area looked like. I did not get to see the hallway/step area that leads up to her flat though, and it was really pretty and decorated very nicely, I mentioned it several times to Sarah that week. J I was also weirded out/intrigued by the fact that the door knobs were in the center of the doors! Strange…but interesting. Sarah’s flat, yes, I had seen the video, and quite frankly, if you’ve seen that video, I umm, thought it looked really….ugly. J I really did, but seeing it in person it was a little less so. Still it had very colorful walls, which I knew it would, it’s just weird seeing it for yourself! Also, the flat is very small, which works for Sarah and myself for a couple of days…but I don’t think I could live like that all the time…I need…space! J Anyway, we talked some, and we finally went to bed around midnight or later, I forget when but…ahh…sleep!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I was awakened by a horrible noise around 7:00 am…Sarah’s alarm…good way to have a heart attack. J We decided Sarah would get up and get ready then wake me up when it was time for me to get a shower. Haha, she however decided to let me sleep for a lot longer than I planned! Nice of her, but a panicky feeling when you aren’t expecting it! J She eventually woke me up, and it was a really weird feeling to know I had just slept an extra hour or two…it didn’t feel like it at all! I really felt like when she woke me up again, I’d maybe only slept an extra 20 minutes or something. However, a shower helped a lot, I felt alive again! Still tired, but functional! J We then took some to eat some breakfast…and wow…another weird experience. Ahem, big sister, shall now go into a long tattling experience of how Sarah’s lives…. J

Sooo…first thing, Sarah doesn’t have bowls. Yeah, seriously she doesn’t! The apartment didn’t supply her with any, and Sarah thinks it’s unnecessary to invest into any…weird! J She was kind enough to buy a Spanish brand of Honey Nut Cheerios for me to eat though…which I did…in a coffee mug. Yeah, not my normal morning routine, the mug, haha, yes, a big silly blue face looking mug thing, that Sarah decided she COULD buy. J Anyway, I poured my “Spanish” honey nut cheerios and milk into a coffee mug and had that, I think a croissant roll, a tangerine, and maybe something else. Interesting thing about the cereal: It’s really funny to see foreign brands “copy” US brands, you know the Bee on the box of Honey Nut Cheerios? They have it on there too, but it looks really different it’s hard to explain but it made me smile to see the differences. J Also, the cereal itself was a little different, kind of “flatter” and maybe a little sweeter. The milk is also different, you don’t have to refrigerate it, if you don’t want to. Sarah explained all this to me, but I forget everything she said now. J

Anyway, we finished our breakfast and then headed out to the train to go to Tarragona. I was very excited to visit, I had seen Sarah’s pictures of all the Roman history and ruins, and it was something I wanted to see for myself. We had a good time wandering around, chatting, getting snacks, and just enjoying the atmosphere, I think it was the most relaxed I was all week. We also were going to take the time to buy something called, churros, I think that’s the name, they are these stick like pastry things, almost like…French toast sticks, if you’ve ever had those, but thinner, and different, anyway, they’re good. J We were standing at this outside vendor thing debating on what to get, when an older man who just purchased some, took one or two out and gave us the rest! It was again…neat, but different! Sarah told me he said they weren’t good for him, and he only wanted one or two. So we ended up not buying any. Not sure what the people who were selling them thought. J

Oh, one other thing, I loved the experience of riding trains for the first time…except, most of the time I was so tired I had a hard time appreciating it as much as I wanted to. Still, trains are way more fun than planes, in my opinion. J

We also got the phone call that my luggage would be delivered the next day, you can read Sarah’s post about the details on that call. Eventually we headed back to Montblanc, I got to see the library, post on facebook to let people know I was alive, albeit luggagless, and wander the streets of Montblanc at night, and then go back to the flat, where Sarah and I stayed up until 3:30 am talking! It was great! We kept saying we needed to stop and go to bed…but we didn’t. J I got to hear all about the horrible mice details more, discuss her church, tell her what life was like back home, and all the other fun sistery stuff you talk about that you haven’t been able to tell someone for 5 months about. J

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Ahh, Wednesday, we got up fairly early (which was difficult when you went to bed really late) because the luggage people were supposed to be around that morning to give us my luggage. We waited forever, and had a hard time enjoying the morning because we were just waiting for them to come, but they didn’t. It was frustrating, but we knew that we had to get over it and start planning on enjoying our time in Paris regardless. I was so excited to show Sarah all the stuff I brought for her and my new things too…but…oh well! Eventually we headed out, took the taxi, got on the plane and we were on our way to Paris! It was exciting. J We arrived in a different Paris airport than I connected in, and took this bus thing which took about an hour or more to the center of Paris, it was a long trip, and I dozed some. We got word from Sarah’s landlady that my luggage arrived…yay! At least it wasn’t lost forever. J We finally got off the bus and started this really long process of looking for metros, wandering around trying to find our hotel, and starving to death. J Along the way, we saw the Eiffel Tower, it was exciting, but I think Sarah was a little more thrilled than I was, I just wanted to find our hotel, drop off the luggage, and eat something! But it was very cool seeing it in person! We did find the hotel, and it was nice, it was recommended by friends who had stayed there a couple of years ago, we were on the sixth floor…more on that later. Anyway, we got settled, and then headed out to find food and explore.

Sarah unsuccessfully tried to convince me we should go up the Eiffel Tower that evening, I told her we needed to eat something first. J We also got some medicine for Sarah that evening. We wandered around forever trying to find food that looked normal and not too expensive. (who wants to spend a ton of money on something you might not even like??) We did get the famous jelly donut thing, that I snatched my half from Sarah and promptly ate…she found it much funnier than I did. J

We finally decided to go to a grocery store. We stocked up on stuff for that evening and for our breakfasts while we were in Paris, and got some other snacky things to live on. I think it was money well spent! We did buy a couple of things that were not so great…they had these things that looked like “cereal” bars, you know the kind that are soft and have jelly type filling? Well, that’s what I thought these were, but they were actually hard and crunchy…Sarah hated them, but I managed to eat a few, I also got these things that I thought would be mini cookies with icing in them, however they had cream cheese in them, not icing, I didn’t care for those much… It’s hard buying things when everything is in French. J I also thought it was kind of neat, that they charge for plastic bags. I thought it was a sensible way for people to think about how many plastic bags do you really need, and be motivated to get the recyclable ones.

Anyway, we finally took our food back to our hotel and ate…it was one of the best meals we had all week! It was so nice to sit and eat. We decided not to go back out and just go to bed, Sarah went down to check email in the lobby and I opted to go to bed…she took a really long time though, I thought she’d only be gone for 30 minutes or so, but it was more like an hour, I was starting to worry about her, and was trying get up the energy to check on her and make sure she hadn’t been kidnapped or something. J She did finally come back up!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Our main Paris day! It was fun, but insanely crazy with us rushing around getting lost all the time. J All I can say is, if you consider yourself to be friends with Sarah and I…NEVER travel with the two of us…you won’t like us anymore! We’ll make you walk, run, get lost, starve, and won’t let you take time to do normal things. J You can read Sarah’s post for the main details of things we did that day, but here are some of my thoughts and memories:

· The Lourve…wow…it was so HUGE! My first thought when I saw it was: “I feel small” It was a really neat experience, but after awhile I got kind of bored with all the art, and seeing naked statues everywhere, and being surrounded by people. Business majors don’t study major art pieces in college, unlike Sarah. J I was amazed at how big some of the art was in there. It was frustrating though, all the art pieces were in French, so most of the time I didn’t know what I was looking at, I’m sure they have guides or something you could pay to have things better explained, but we didn’t have the time or interest to pursue that route. The Mona Lisa was interesting, but I didn’t brave the ridiculous crowd to get a better picture, unlike Sarah. I did really like seeing painters doing their own paintings of the originals, it was really unique and different, I didn’t expect that at all. Finally, I did enjoy being there, because Dad had been there years ago, and it was fun being places that your parent had been in once. J

· The Notre Dame…the inside was nice, and I liked the windows, I think looking back, I should’ve taken some more time to relax and enjoy the atmosphere, but I wanted to get started on the line that would take us to the top. Before we got in line, we got the infamous crepes Sarah loves so well! First, a word on how my romantic imaginative mind works…Before I left the US, Sarah and I emailed about how we wanted to eat lots of pastries in Paris…and one of those was crepes, I had the romantic notion that we would sit in this cute outdoor café, eat crepes, enjoy the Paris atmosphere and just “soak it all in.” J However, life rarely works out how you dream it will, and here’s one example of how reality works… We ordered our crepes, it was neat watching the lady make them, headed over to the wall of the Notre Dame, stood in line, and then attempted to eat these crepes standing up, in the cold windy weather. Yeah. Oh, and one other thing to add to the atmosphere…my strawberry crepe decided to drip all over me, my jacket, my purse, my fingers, the ground…yeah, this was not how I pictured this! J All I can say is, if I ever eat crepes again, it will be sitting down, with a fork and a plate. J The crepe was good though…just messy. Anyway, we stood in line a long time, and finally we started the climb up the Notre Dame…so many steps! The view at the top was neat, and the gargoyles were interesting, but ugly. J I enjoyed watching my sister get frustrated with the obnoxious Americans. Hee! Anyway, it was a good view of the Eiffel Tower and I’m glad we went up there.

· The infamous crypt…yeah, don’t do it. It was boring. But it was really neat to wander around see the guy playing the accordion and just get some of that “Parisy” atmosphere, we wandered around one section that reminded me of the movie “An American in Paris” with Gene Kelly that was cool. We got some good pictures during our ramble trying to find this crypt.

· The Pantheon…which we didn’t get to go in, that was discouraging! But it was neat to see the outside and take the time to eat some more pastries.

· The Orsay…yeah, you can read from Sarah how fun it was trying to find that and how we eventually spent the money on a taxi. J It was really neat in there, so much quieter than the Lourve, and felt just very serious, and I liked the art in there a lot more than the Lourve.

· The Arc de Triomphe! My favorite site. I think I enjoyed it so much because, we were sooo tired, and just wanted to be done for the night, and we had to climb MORE stairs, and when we finally got to the top, we got to see the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle! It was just really special and neat, and I’m glad we did it. J It was so worth the effort!

· Staring down the Champs Elysees …a classic Amanda and Sarah moment, it was late at night, we looked down the street that was going to have a bunch of overpriced stuff we would never buy, and said, “yeah, this is NOT worth walking down just to say we did this…let’s be done!” J So we didn’t see it, and if you’re a shopping fanatic, sorry…

· Seine River Cruise…it was a fun way to end our evening! We debated on buying a picture they took of us, and I would have it had a famous landmark in the background, and not just night sky and buildings.

· Finally back to our hotel! Ahh, it had been a long and exhausting day, but fun! We then went to go up the elevator back to our room…and for some reason the elevator wasn’t working. Rather than asking someone about it, we trudged up six flights of stairs to get to our room. Yes, we had walked all over the city, climbed the Notre Dame, climbed the Arc de Triomphe, and were now walking up MORE stairs…I think maybe that was the most whiny I felt all week. Not sure if Sarah knew that or not…but all I can say is, I am never complaining about our 23 steps up to our house again…EVER, they are NOTHING compared to the amount of stairs and walking I did this day…whenever I feel like complaining when I walk up the stairs to our house, I think, nope, this isn’t bad at all. J We finally got to our room and collapsed for the night.

A couple of other random things before I get started on Friday…

It was really interesting having the two of us wander around at night in a huge city by ourselves. It felt very safe though! We would SO never wander around by ourselves in Downtown Cincinnati at night alone, but it was a very fun and special time wandering around in the dark with your sister in Paris.

My thoughts on metros—I hate them. They are so confusing to me! I’m glad Sarah was around to navigate because I really don’t think I would’ve found anything on my own. I also was freaked out the entire week because both on the metros and trains reminded me of too many movies where people get blown up, have weirdos waving guns around, get in crashes, etc. Anyway, my over reactive imagination was constantly on the alert, but nothing ever happened, we didn’t get robbed, blown up, shot at, or crashed, and mostly we were just crowded. J

Another thing, maybe this is just because I’m the daughter of a fireman and pay attention to this stuff, but it was interesting noting the difference between the sound European emergency vehicles and US ones. Have you ever seen a movie where you hear a police car in Europe and compared the difference to a US police car? Well, it’s real! There is a difference! The US sounds much more whiny/wailing and Europe’s sound more like how I picture a World War II bomb raid siren sounding. It was neat at first to hear the difference, but after awhile it started to annoy and stress me out. J

Also, a word on the cultures I experienced. I really liked that feeling of being a “foreigner” it was just neat to experience it first hand, and realize how important knowing other languages are. I liked observing people on the metros and trains. Although, one thing that's hard to get used to is how affectionate everyone is, and they don't mind getting in your "space." On our long bus ride from the airport into Paris, there was this couple in front of us that kept kissing, Agh! It was driving me nuts! One of those things we don't see here that often, but over there it's very normal. I will say though, that it was always refreshing to hear English being spoken! And I was glad to get home to my normal life when it was all over with. It was neat to experience, but I think it would be exhausting to live like that all the time. J

Anyway, back to other things…

Friday, March 11, 2011

Another early morning, after a late night! We were off to Versailles today! It was a sobering morning though; we had the news on and found out about the Japanese earthquake that morning before we headed out.

We took a train to Versailles, and I think dozed again during that trip. J The palace was amazing! I loved being out of the crowded, hectic pace of Paris and seeing something different. Again, it was so huge, everything is huge and old in Europe…and it’s just neat to experience that! Yes, I did listen to the audio guides, and loved being able to have an explanation in English of all the things we were seeing! The Hall of Mirrors was by far the best part. Definitely see Versailles if you ever go to Paris! It’s totally worth getting out of the city for the day and it’s just an amazing place! We did get some overpriced tarts at the café there, and the pear tart I had was amazing! The best thing I ate all week! Sarah’s chocolate one was awful…but she liked it. (I’m not a fan of chocolate) That was our lunch for the day. J We headed out to wander around the gardens and see some of the other things on the property. I wish the gardens had been in bloom with all the water running in the fountains…but they were still neat to see! I enjoyed seeing the trees that were…uh, what’s the word…”special” “trimmed” I’m not sure, but the reminded me something out of Alice and Wonderland. J I doubt I’ll ever go back, but if I did, I’d love to go when the gardens are blooming. Another memory I have of Versailles, is discussing our thoughts on the French Revolution. We wondered what the people now think of their past etc, I really wished we could’ve talked with someone to get their perspectives. After viewing the wealth and opulence of Versailles it was easy to see why the French people who were starving were upset and had a revolution. We finally left the palace and took the time to buy some postcards and souvenirs outside the actual palace.

Oh, one other thing that happened, as we got ready to leave and go back to the train station, something scary happened. I don’t know why or what exactly happened, but this older guy approached us and scared Sarah and I to death, it’s hard to explain what happened, but it was by far the scariest thing we experienced all week. Weird timing too! It was in the middle of the day and we were crossing the street! We were fine, but we did take off running… J

Eventually we got back to the train station, and then stopped off near the Pantheon! Yay! We finally got to go inside! It was neat in there, but very cold…seriously! They had heaters there! Sarah as usual, knew a lot more about the stuff in there than I did, but I did like see the tombs of Victor Hugo and Alexander Dumas (French authors). I also liked seeing the Joan of Arc paintings, the Curie’s tombs, and Braille’s tomb, again, the Pantheon is huge and has some really neat architecture in there.

After the Pantheon we went to a fun pastry shop and ate the fun hotdog things Sarah mentioned, they were really good! I liked that shop. J

The Eiffel Tower…again, Sarah explained stuff so well, I don’t want to go into too many details. It was really neat, and I enjoyed going to the top, seeing it go from dusk to night and it was a great way to end our time in Paris.

After the Eiffel Tower, we went shopping for more souvenirs and pastries. J One random ramble, when we were in Versailles I saw this pretty blue china thing that had sites of Paris on it, I really wanted it, but it was kind of pricey and I dreaded walking around with something breakable the rest of the day, so I skipped it. However, after the Eiffel Tower when we started shopping, I found it again in Paris for about half the price! Yes, I got it. J

I loved the fact that we got to talk to someone and get a discount when I got a fried donut and Sarah another crepe. Anyway, we had a good time wandering around in the dark again, getting our pictures taken together by some other Americans, and eating our pastries with the Eiffel Tower in view. J

Eventually we went back to the hotel, I think that’s when I finally took the time to write some emails, and experience the French keyboard, and we ate some more of our food from the grocery store, and then crashed for the night. It might have been the earliest we got to bed all week. I think it was before midnight. J

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Another early morning, we toted our heavy luggage, and eventually got to the bus thing we needed to get to the airport. That airport seemed big and crowded and I was worried that we were going to be late the whole time. J It was a different airport than the other two I had been in that week, and I was in a total of three different Paris airports that week! We got on our flight, and headed back to Barcelona…we had hoped to arrive in time to catch some trains to go back to Montblanc to pick up my luggage, but that didn’t happen. Once we got to Barcelona and headed on a train to get to our hostel, it was kind of a depressing ride, because we knew the luggage was going to be stuck with Sarah for the next couple of months, but one thing that was neat and kind of cheered me up, was there was this Spanish guy playing an instrument on the train. Again, it such a neat cultural thing to experience! Actually in the course of that day, we saw three different people playing three different instruments, it was cool!

We got to our hostel, where I made a call to the airlines to talk to them about my luggage, and yeah, that may have been one of the most frustrating conversations, realizing there was no way in the world the airlines would ship my bag back to me…sigh. We finally left the hostel and went to find food. We again searched forever, and found a pizza place. It was really good and nice to sit in a restaurant for a change and eat food! After that, Sarah proceeded to drag me to some famous church in Spain…the Sagrada Familia. Yeah, it was rainy, and if you ever see the pictures of my expression it depicts well what I thought of the whole thing. After that we went to a shop to get some breakfast food for the next morning, I think it was there, that I was looking at some apples and trying to find the best one and put one back, which I think annoyed the store keeper, but I’m not sure. (I have trouble remembering if that was in Spain or in Paris now) Anyway…we went back to our hostel and tried to go to be early, since we’d be getting up at 1am to get to the airport for my flight. (actually, THIS was the day we went early to bed, around 9pm or so)

Memories of that hostel…I wish I had taken a picture of it, Sarah was very impressed with it, and since it was my first hostel experience, I was very…unimpressed. It felt very sparse, and well, like a prison! But Sarah says it’s nice, and I’m sure it was. J I also have memories of talking with Sarah about my luggage, sorting through all of our stuff of what I’d take home with me, and chatting about our England trip in June. I’ll always remember Barcelona as being the place where I lost my luggage and stood in the rain to stare at a church…yeah… J

Sunday, March 13, 2011

I was awakened by my sister trying to get me to wake up. It was weird, I always hear alarms, but I didn’t that time…ugh, getting up at 1am is NOT fun! I got a shower, snacked on some of our breakfast food and headed out with Sarah to find a night bus thing. Wow, Barcelona at 1am on a Sunday morning, yeah, there were A LOT of young people out, it felt very…weird! I was like, why aren’t these people in BED? J It was maybe the second weirdest/scary time during the week, but nothing happened, it just felt strange. We found the night bus and eventually arrived at the airport. I checked in, and said goodbye to Sarah. I wasn’t sure how I would handle the goodbye and even the hellos, but I wasn’t emotional at all either time. I had an amazing week with my sister, was glad to see her, but I was ready to go home. I was tired. J I got through security, and of course remembered AFTERWARDS that I was going to give her some of my extra euros…oh well! I found my area to wait in, and then went to McDonalds to get some real breakfast food. I had to wait for it to open, and had to practice some of my Spanish there in ordering. J

Eventually I got on the plane, which, ironically, took me back to Paris CDG where I then connected to my flight that would take me back to home sweet home! I got some great pictures on the flight from Barcelona to Paris in the early morning hours. My flights home were pretty uneventful; I slept quite a bit, more than I did on the way up. But I also was extremely restless and bored on the trip from Paris to home. I was just…ready to be home and out of horrible planes! I was in 7 different planes in the course of 8 days! That trip did have movies, but not quite like the ones on the way up, the tvs were on screens more where everyone could see, and the airlines chose the movies.

Anyway, picture being on vacation when you are a kid and you are tired of sitting in the car and are whining to your parents about “Are we THERE yet?” that’s how I felt on the way home. Sadly though, I didn’t have anyone to whine too, and I’m a grown up, so I have to resist the urge to run around screaming, “I want out of here…NOW!” J The food on the way home seemed a lot worse than on the way up too, they had something they called pizza…but…I don’t think it was…it was a microwaved soggy piece of saucy bread. J Anyway, I did eventually get off that plane, and then headed through customs to enter the US! I was home! It was cool having the airline lady tell me “Welcome home!” and the border guy who checked my passport, welcomed me back, and also noted the street I lived about a Café we have here (weird…how do people know about that so much?)

At some point, I think there was a delay because I was later getting to Dad and Mom than I was supposed to, but I don’t remember why. J It was fun to see my parents again, tell them about Sarah, my trip, explain about the luggage, and finally get in the car to go home! I think by the time I got home it was between 4-5 pm, but I have trouble remembering. LONG day, LONG week! Home felt good! Mom had Skyline for supper that night and I was glad to finally eat some “REAL” food. J After doing some other things, around 8pm, I decided to “rest” on the couch, I didn’t want to sleep yet, but I did end up falling asleep, until midnight! I didn’t hear anyone walking around, the phone ring, or anything, I was totally out of it. I got up at midnight, got ready for bed, and went upstairs to my bed.J I woke up around 8am…I had slept for 12 hours! I felt quite refreshed and ready to do something that Monday! I had taken the day off work, so Mom and I went out and shopped some, mostly because I was bored, and after a week of constant activity I needed to do something. J I got some things that week to tide me over until I could be reunited with my luggage…mostly earrings, skirts, and some shirts. J I also stopped in at work to say hi to people and let them know I was alive.

I think the time difference hit me more at home than it did when I was overseas, it was weird, the entire week I was there, I never felt that it was supposed to be a different time, the time always felt normal. At home, it took several days to get used to, I’d get really tired around 6-8pm, and then by the time I’d go to bed, I’d wake up around 2-3am and be ready to start my day. J

A few other closing thoughts…

The whole luggage thing, wow, it was such a weird experience! Parents never tell you how to prepare for that kind of stuff growing up. J Thinking back I wish I would’ve thought through the whole thing better, but I lived and learned. J It was neat though, I really think God gave me extra grace during the whole experience, I didn’t panic, get mad, cry, or “lose it.” It was a neat learning time to trust in the Lord.

I’m so thankful for the time I had overseas! It was special spending that week with Sarah, experiencing a new culture, seeing so much history, and despite all the crazy stuff that happened, I’m glad I did it!

Thanks for taking the time to read…and get ready for some more posts about England! Sarah and I meet up together in London this coming Wednesday, June 1^st. I’m dreading another long flight alone, but am SOO excited to see my sister again and to see the UK! We will be spending two weeks together and have a very packed itinerary planned…it’s going to be great! London, Spurgeon’s church, Jane Austen stuff, Bath , Stonehenge Tour, seeing “Pemberly” from Pride & Prejudice, Bronte Parsonage, York, Edinburgh…

It’s going to be another great trip with I’m sure a lot more getting lost, starving, staying up late, sister chats, and experiencing tons of cool history…oh and this time we KNOW the language…I can’t wait! J