So the second week I was living alone because my partner Lauren hasn't come yet and the two German women helping with the "Week of Welcoming" had left. I loved having time alone to explore the city some, decorate my apartment a little, and just rest and get acclimated to this new life. I have really enjoyed running by the river and through Parque Maria Luisa [below].
Monday, we had English club and about 10 students came, which was the biggest group yet! We use English club as a primary way to meet people and invite students to our other events, and already we've had some English club students come to our other events...PTL. After English club, I had an intercambio (where we speak English for a while then Spanish for a while) with Ana, a pharmacy student. She's really nice, and I hope to continue meeting with her. She also took me to the nearby student gym to help me register and we're going to go to some classes together! Then Monday night, we went to a Flamenco bar with some students and watched the gypsies singing and dancing Flamenco.
Tuesday, I went with three Spanish friends to Italica, an ancient Roman city that was located in Seville. These are the ruins of the old city, a mosaic floor that was in one of the houses and the coliseum where they had gladiator fights [below].
Wednesday, we had another English club with many new students as well. I had another intercambio with a university student I met the first week, Alejandra, who studies Arabic. She is so friendly and has already invited me to hang out with her friends some. I really love being with her, and at our intercambio last week, we had a long talk about God and what the Bible says about Him. She listened well and seemed very interested, so I'm excited for more opportunities to talk to her. Later, Wednesday night, we had some students over to my apartment to watch "Pay it Forward" and after, we discussed some themes in the movie and how it relates to our lives. It was a really good discussion, and we want to do these movie nights more often. We're hoping this will be a good, relaxed way to talk about Biblical themes with students and have some good spiritual conversations.
Thursday night was very interesting! I had to teach a dance class to about 30 Spanish old women. Apparently they really like learning country line dances, so I taught them the "Slappin' Leather" dance IN Spanish...pretty difficult!! But it provided some good laughs and good memories...and I think they actually learned a little too! Then after, I went with my two German teammates and two Spanish guys we know to this amazing restaurant!! The food in Spain isn't so fantastic, but this restaurant is really good so I definitely think I'll be eating there a lot! Then we went to the church to play ping pong a little because one of the guys has been bragging a lot about how good he is at ping pong, so I wanted to play him. He won, but it was a pretty close game [Erasto is on the right, and he's the one who wanted to play ping pong with me. Erasto and Pedro are also the two I went to Italica with and another girl].
Friday, I had another intercambio with a Spanish girl, Elena, who actually studies English. It's been helpful having intercambios for speaking purposes and also just to build relationships with students. Later that afternoon, I got to play tennis with a friend so that was really exciting because I've missed tennis a lot! My friend has a court at his house, so that was really cool to go there and play although it wasn't full size, but it was still a great treat to play! Then that night I had some friends over for dinner, and we all cooked together. I made a chicken casserole that my grandmother makes a lot. It was pretty crazy though trying to convert all the measurements! And Spain does not have sour cream, so I had to use Greek yogurt...but it worked ok. The casserole definitely didn't taste like it does in America though! Then we had a squid dish that my Spanish friend, Pedro, made. Squid is very popular here in Spain! And for dessert, my Belgium friend, Clemence, made crepes for us with nutella! These were definitely the best part of the meal!!! [The two guys above are who we had dinner with...I'll try to get a picture of me and Clemence up soon].
Saturday night was really encouraging because I went to a big Spanish church in town that was started by some missionaries about 50 years ago. It's called Seville Este church, and it has about 150 members from Spain, Latin America, Africa, and America. It's the biggest evangelical church in Seville. On Saturday nights there is a service for young people, so I went to that and worshipped with fellow Spanish believers. It blessed my heart to see that there are young Spanish believers here, and to see them worshipping our Lord gave me hope that God will continue to bring more students to Himself! I look forward to going back to this service every Saturday night! It was definitely a great way to end a really good second week!
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