{La Feria}

La Feria de Sevilla is a huge flamenco celebration here every April or May. There are hundreds of small tents called "casetas" decorated on the inside and outside to look like houses. Different families, businesses, and social clubs own casetas. Each day thousands of people, all dressed in traditional flamenco dresses and suits, go to the casetas to eat, drink, fellowship, and dance! There is a traditional dance called Sevillanas that I was fortunate enough to learn last year. It's a combination of four different parts with similar footwork and the same arm movements. It's very fun to do but also a bit complicated because you have to move your arms a lot while at the same time moving your feet and also spinning occasionally, but it's very beautiful to watch. During the Feria, there are also tons of rides and food and game stands like you would see at a fair in the US.

These are my sweet friends Miren and Elena who taught me how to dance Sevillanas. One day we went to the Feria and just danced for 2 hours straight.

All the streets along the Feria are lined with beautiful paper lanterns and all lit up at night along with huge, colorful light decorations.

The Feria originally started as a horse fair, so now to continue the tradition, there are lots of horses prancing along the streets and horse drawn carriages that you can ride in around the fair or even take from your home to the fair.

These are the casetas where people spend hours upon hours each day socializing, dancing, eating, drinking, and listening to typical flamenco music. Sometimes the casetas even have live bands. Most of the casetas in Sevilla are private, so to get in you have to know someone and have them invite you. There are a few public ones, but they are typically really big and really crowded.

Me in my Feria getup! Most girls wear huge flowers on the very top of their head in addition to enormous earrings. I'm not so showy, so I opted for smaller accessories. And I loved wearing the beautiful, long flamenco dress covered in ruffles (even though it was skin tight and a bit hard to breathe in at times). Oh and in my mouth, I am eating a snail. They are called "caracoles" and a very typical springtime Spanish dish. Just boiled snails still in the shells that are typically in a spicy soup. You just take it, bit the head, and suck it out of the shell. But beware not to suck the whole thing because of course after I did, a friend said, "No, Lauren, you can't eat all of it because the end part is it's poop!" Thanks. Good to know this after I've already eaten a handful.

Sweet friend Alejandra who also joined us to dance Sevillanas for 2 hours one afternoon.

Dancing = Love

My flamenco dress!! I love it AND got a super amazing discounted price too!! Sometimes people take out bank loans to buy these dresses and there are some incredibly extravagant ones that can cost up to 800 Euros!! It's definitely a competition to see who can have the best dress! And this is my friend Ana who invited me to go to her hometown with her to experience their Feria. Most of the towns and cities in the South of Spain have this festival, but it is not celebrated in the Central or North.

{Semana Santa}

Semana Santa is the week before Easter. It begins on Palm Sunday and goes until Easter Sunday. This week is one of the most celebrated and well-known in Spain, if not Europe. Thousands of visitors come to Sevilla this week to see the week-long processions of bands, Nazarenos (the men dressed in robes with pointy hats covering their faces), and statues of Jesus and Mary. It is a few thousand year old tradition that brings enormous amounts of passion, emotion, and religious dedication that is not typical here during the other 51 weeks in the year.

Many Sevillians feel a great pride for Catholicism this week one of the year and are very dedicated to going to the processions each day, participating in the processions, praying to the virgin Mary, and even mustering up tears and sadness. The processions begin Palm Sunday and go until Easter, with the most famous and popular beginning Thursday at midnight and going until Friday around 4 or 5am. Thousands of people crowd the narrow streets of Seville, standing in complete silence, to watch the processions pass. The statues are enormous and this night is one of Jesus being crucified on the cross. It's interesting how much importance they put on his death and how much sadness and tears are shown this day; however, on Easter Sunday, hardly anyone is in the streets celebrating the resurrection of Christ. The most important day in history is hardly even noticed by the city. Pray that the victory over sin and new life we have in Christ because of the Resurrection would be made a reality here during Semana Santa, and that people's eyes would be open to the true hope there is in the death and resurrection of Christ!

Above is one statue of Mary that is carried on the shoulders of about 40 men for hundreds of miles through the city.

These are the Nazarenos above who come from different churches throughout the city. They normally walk barefoot for miles carrying candles and banners of Christ. Each church has a procession that leaves from the church, goes around the city, then ends in the main Cathedral.

This is a statue of Jesus on the cross that is on it's way to the main Cathedral.

{Answered Prayers}

Sometimes it's really easy to forget how powerful prayer is. Often we may pray flippantly without truly believing in our hearts that the Lord will answer. Or we only pray small things and aren't willing to pray big, extraordinary prayers. Oh what little faith we have. I have. How easily we forget the power and greatness of our God. And His promises. But what great promises we have from the mouth of Christ in Mark 11:24 and John 14:13-14. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Since being in Spain, I have seen a great need for prayer. It's an incredibly dark and spiritually dry place in need of the powerful work of the Spirit. I have seen a growth in my prayer life and a great desire to pray more for this country and the people around me. And I'm blessed to have people around me who have a great burden to pray for Spain as well. And God has answered! Prayers for boldness answered. Prayers for students to be interested answered. Prayers for hearts to be changed answered. Prayers for Christian community answered. What a great reminder that the Lord hears our prayers and answers.

So about a month ago, I was supposed to go to Morocco to renew my passport stamps as I've been present in Spain illegally without my visa. As many of you know, I've had many problems obtaining a visa, so every three months I leave the country then come back in. Well a few days before I was supposed to leave, the logistics coordinator for Spain called me and said there would be a change of plans. The company would be sending me back to the US to wait until my visa was ready! My heart sank quickly and my eyes filled with tears at the sound of these shocking words. I was devastated. On one hand it would be great to go home and see family and friends; however, I was extremely scared that my visa would never come, and I would not be able to return to Spain, a place I had come to love so much!

Later that night I proceeded to tell my roommate what had occurred, and immediately she said that we should pray for my visa (it's not like we hadn't been praying like crazy beforehand). So we sat down and prayed together. Literally like 10 seconds after we finished, my American cell phone rang and it was a lady from the Spanish consulate in Houston saying that my visa was ready and I could come pick it up any time!!!! Holy Smokes!!! This was so unbelievable and ridiculous!! Me and Lauren started screaming and jumping up and down in amazement at the incredible goodness and perfect timing of the Lord!

The next day, I flew to Texas to pick up my visa then on to Birmingham for a few days. It was such an encouraging week and a needed rest and time of renewal! The weeks before in Spain had been a bit frustrating and just plain hard ministry-wise. I felt like I was doing all this work for the Lord, but nothing was happening. I had forgotten that my purpose was just to be obedient and share the truth and love of Christ, and the changing lives part was up to God! My time with family, friends, and church was absolutely needed, and in the midst of this week God kept on with the miracles: a long-lost Christmas box was finally mailed to my house in Spain without having to pay any expensive fees AND my flight from Houston to Birmingham was moved up to an earlier time without having to pay anything!

The six months beforehand, I was continually wondering why God wasn't answering my prayers about the visa. I knew He was capable, but I just didn't understand why it wasn't happening when I thought it should. But God's plans were absolutely perfect because a trip to the US couldn't have come at a better time for me. And when I returned to Spain, I was rejuvenated and had a new fervor for constant, expectant prayer!

{I'm a Ginger}

So for the past forever, I've been wanting to dye my hair red. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I've always just loved red hair (I'm even typically attracted to guys with red hair. ha.). But anyways I've always been scared to dye mine permanently because my natural hair color is pretty, and I didn't want to mess it up. So, what to do?? Well, fortunately, the good Lord has blessed me with a precious Spanish friend here who has dyed her own hair before, and she used henna. Henna is a natural, organic hair and skin dye that highlights your natural hair color and washes out in a few months. PERFECT!! So the adventure began, and we went to buy some henna. Well the interesting thing is there are no pictures on the box, so you don't really know what color your hair will be. It just says for example, "if you have light brown hair then your hair will become bronze." Great. I love suprises!! Here we go.

First step: Put an entire bowl full of green mud in my hair! My head was so heavy, I thought it was going to fall off. Seriously it was like a bowling ball for a head. And I had to sit like this for 2 HOURS!! But at least it smelled like green tea and not chemicals!

Second step: Wash it all out (seriously took like 30 minutes!). Dry and style to see new look! And this was the result: Ariel from the Little Mermaid!! Seriously, my hair was bright orange and this picture totally does not do it justice. I was a little shocked at first and not quite in love with it because it was a lot different than I expected and wanted. But, fortunately, I got used to it after a few days and really started liking it.

With every wash, it fades a bit, and now it's at a color that I really like a lot. So this is me now, and it's definitely more muted than it was at the beginning. This first experience with hair dye was definitely a good one. And I think I will do it again very soon. Stay posted for future hair color updates!

{Mission Team}

So in March, a group of college students from my church came to work with us for a week. And my brother, Michael, got to come too so that was really great to have him here with me! This week was super packed with so many activities such as going on campus and doing spiritual surveys with university students, english clubs, days in the park playing ultimate and soccer, and lots of tapas!! We were able to meet a lot of new Spanish students that week in addition to just enjoying the company of the American believers. It was a really fun week blessed with many good spiritual conversations and new friendships. I think the coolest thing that week though was hearing how the Lord worked in so many of the hearts of the American students giving them a burden for Spain and a desire to return to do more long-term stuff.

Two sweet girls, Carmen & Esther, who we were able to meet that week.

Having a picnic in the park one day.

The whole group of American students with two of our friends, David & Jose Luis.

Everyone at the park on the last day! It was an awesome time of food, hanging out, and playing lots of sports!

{Tapas y Temas}

This semester we have started a new type of Bible Discussion Group called "Tapas y Temas." We will have dinner at our house and hang out a bit then sit together and read a story from the Bible and talk about it. The purpose is to expose students to the Scripture in a comfortable and fun environment where they can feel open to discussing their opinions. It's been amazing to see the number of people that come each week and especially the students who continue to come week after week. This time has definitely provided for deeper conversations with students after the big group time, and it's been such a blessing to see how the Lord is working in hearts!

Two friends, Ana & David, who come to "Tapas y Temas" almost every week. They are really fun and sweet people who are not sure if they believe in God or not, but they always come ready to listen and learn. They are asking questions and very participatory in the conversations each week.

My sweet friends Ana & Leticia. It's been cool to see the transformation in Leticia over the past few months. In the fall, she wasn't interested in the Bible or gospel at all, but now she comes every week to "Tapas y Temas" and always is very involved in the discussions. Last week I got to talk to her a lot about what we believe, and she took a Bible home with her to read. We're going to start meeting to read some together and discuss, so please pray for that time!

Our sweet friends Jose Luis & David who wanted to cook authentic Spanish food for us one night. They are such a joy to be around, and always provide some good laughs. Jose Luis now lives in Scotland, so we definitely miss having him around, but we are praying the Lord will use this time alone to really work in his heart.

{Milan}

So in February we had two girls who come to our English clubs ask us go to Milan with them for a few days. This was a huge deal because Spaniards are not the most open to inviting outsiders into their friend groups...let alone to travel with them for a whole weekend! We were definitely stoked about this trip and excited to have more focused, intimate time with these girls to talk about spiritual things!

These are our friends Alejandra & Cecilia. They're two really sweet girls who always come to our English clubs. We had a great time with them in Milan and were able to share the gospel with them and have some really good discussions. We even read some of the Bible together. Please continue to pray for the Lord to give us opportunities to share with them!

The main cathedral in Milan. It's beautiful on the outside, but feels very dead and creepy on the inside. The presence of the Lord is definitely not in this place. Please pray for God to fill the cathedrals of Europe with his truth and spirit!