Charlton Heston on a Sunday afternoon

I am sitting in my living room, enjoying my chamomile tea and a little square of dark chocolate. Yes, it is a little square; no, it is not a whole bar. I believe in everything in moderation (although today, I may have eaten everything in moderation).

My fuzzy IKEA throw blanket is draped around my shoulders. I wish it were a Snuggie. The old Charlton Heston flick 55 Days at Peking is playing quietly in the background, in Spanish (the TV screen is about the size of my little square of dark chocolate).





I love my life.

Two weeks have passed since my last blog entry. I know – poor form. So, I hereby declare a renewed, concerted effort to blog at least twice per week (even if I only write a sentence or two). So, some random bits and pieces...

Favorite quotes of the week:

Me: Si yo vuelvo (?) a Madrid, me gusta…ría (?) vivir en Malasaña.
Adriana: Tu hablas muy despacio, pero hablas muy bien.
Adriana: That was a compliment.

Me: You reach a point where playing Lego’s with your one-year-old niece is more important than traveling to London and Paris.
Katrina: Yes! It’s so true.
Me: We are so 27.
Katrina: Yeah.

Siobhan: I have socks issues.

Adriana. I smile at the mere thought of Adriana. She is a nanny; and if I were the nanny-having type, I would want her in my kids’ life. She is a vivacious, generous, hilarious Colombian gal who isn’t afraid to sass airport officials who hassle her solely for being Colombian.

Katrina. Katrina is a new friend from San Diego. We connected in Spain through a mutual friend (yay, Kristi!) and discovered we have several connections back in San Diego. Some of my favorite new cafés and restaurants were discovered during little adventures with Katrina, including this Argentinean café just a few minutes from my flat:





I look horrid in that picture but it’s all I got! We also stumbled upon an elementary school with the creepiest statue out front. I mean, you can see the kids playing basketball in the background:



Is this how they get the kids to obey here? Threaten them with a similar fate? Anyhow, I am so excited that I’ve made a new friend that I can still chill with when I get home (unless she marries some Spanish man – don’t do it Katrina! Come home!).

Siobhan. Siobhan is a fabulous, fun new friend who actually doesn't have socks issues. And I'm not just saying that because she's probably reading this. Last weekend we had her birthday dinner at this stylish little joint:

Before the party started, I watched the first event of the Carnaval weekend, which happened to be in Plaza Mayor, just outside the restaurant.

We also spent quite a long time taking pictures of the group. Some would argue that we spent an hour and a half on pictures, but this has been disputed.

Anyhow, classes are plodding along. I watched the short film Living in Oblivion in my film class, which I highly recommend. I had my first exam – a 3-page essay exam, totally in Spanish. If you ever need an esoteric essay on Hispanic culture further obfuscated by imperfect grammar, I’m your gal. My pocket dictionary has become my new best friend (along with Google translator).



Here’s a little week-in-review:

• Wednesday: Ash Wednesday service on Calle Espiritu Santo. Arrived late, as always, but loved the life in the liturgy of redemption.
• Thursday: A club for a salsa lesson (horrible DJ) with a German, a Turk and a Spaniard. Turned out that the lesson was reggaeton not salsa (yikes!), and I opted out of most of the dancing.
• Friday: A bar that reminded me of Aladdin (excellent DJ) with a Brit, an American, and the Germans (they are everywhere and I really like them!). I also watched live news coverage of the potential tsunami in Hawai’i for several hours. While I am so thankful that Hawai’i was relatively untouched by the tsunami, I am also praying that Japan would receive an outpouring of love & support from the church & the global community.
• Saturday: Skipped the costume party, the pub-crawl, the intercambio camp, & the reunión de jovenes for quality conversation and a few pinchos with Hilde & the inimitable Adriana. It was the best choice, I think.

Currently reading:

The Glorious Pursuit by Gary L. Thomas. It’s not perfect, but it is the best Christian book I’ve read since Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Here are a couple of quotes (expect more in the days to come):

We want God to take us – people who are stuck in old habits, trapped in the living death of boredom or irrelevance, possessed by own possessions – and to deliver us from ourselves by a long miracle of spiritual transformation. (pp. 18-19)

Our “rest” in God continues when we stand before Him in total honesty about our loves and hates, our desires and ambitions, and recognize that this is the daily exercise of our journey of spiritual growth in Christ. We begin by saying, “This is exactly who I am, what I want, and what I think right now. Train me how to become like You.” (p. 33)

Selah.