Wise Words

I haven't blogged in... well, ages. And by ages I mean almost seven months. Seven months! I've been back from Europe for about six months, and I still can't fathom that it has already been half a year. Time flies. In the past seven months I have flown home, ached to be on some other adventure, completed a semester of student teaching and GRADUATED COLLEGE! This would seem to be a great accomplishment, but so far no employers have thought it to be so exceedingly noteworthy that they hired me. This has been the longest amount of time I have lived at home since before I left for college almost five years ago, and although it has been pretty smooth sailing, it hasn't had its lack of challenges. One of the difficulties is that I am not exactly surrounded by close friends. I am forever grateful for my life-long friend Stephanie, and being able to grow with her these past few months has been a sweet gift whose magnitude I will probably not fully comprehend until this season of life changes. 


My lack of a consistent job and mountain of friends biding for my time has left me with plenty of time to be idle (although I should be applying for more teaching jobs or working on my online class) and read books. The book I am currently reading is by Elisabeth Elliot and is entitled, "The Path of Loneliness." She has been widowed twice and is intimately acquainted with seasons of loneliness and has learned how to find joy in all circumstances. The number of wise gems in this book is staggering, and in order to better take them to heart and remember their application to my life, I wanted to share a few quotes:


"When the surrender of ourselves seems too much to ask, it is first of all because our thoughts about God are paltry. We have not really seen him, we have hardly tested him at all and learned how good he is. In our blindness we approach him with suspicious reserve. We ask how much of our fun he intends to spoil, how much he will demand from us, how high is the price we must pay before he is placated. If we had the least notion of his loving-kindness and tender mercy, his fatherly care for his poor children, his generosity, his beautiful plans for us; if we knew how patiently he waits for our turning to him, how gently he means to lead us to green pastures and still waters, how carefully he is preparing a place for us, how ceaselessly he is ordering and ordaining and engineering his Master Plan for our good- if we had any inkling of all this, could we be reluctant to let go of our smashed dandelions or whatever we clutch so fiercely in our sweaty little hands?"

"Loneliness/singleness/etc is a gift, not merely a condition to be endured."

Elliot talks a lot about how loneliness is not only a gift, but that we can offer it up to God. "The love of God in accepting such an offering is like the love of a father whose little child give him a present bought with money the father gave him. It is a very tender, sympathetic love. It recognizes that the child's loving gift comes out of his utter poverty. The father, who has already given everything, gives something more in order that his child may have something to give."

So sweet. So profound. 

"When we, through a willed act, receive this thing we did not want, then Loneliness, the name of the field nobody wants, is transformed into a place of hidden treasure."

"His work in me - his work in a soul is often 'without observation,' a hidden thing like yeast."

"Yet I find that events do not change souls. It is our response to them which finally affects us."

If anyone even reads this, I hope it was as enlightening for you as it was for me.

Tara

¡soy madrileña!

Dear Amy/Obadiah/Ames/Amos,


Of course you're next in my blog to be dedicated a letter. Did you really think otherwise? I haven't blogged in a month and I have no idea where to even start with this one. The last time I wrote I went to Milan, and since then I have been a busy bee! I have been much more social this past month and have met new people, had some awkward encounters, explored the city, and traveled to Athens and Paris. What a month!
Some things that I currently love about Madrid is that there are Christmas lights all over the center, it is not super cold during the day, and there are so many places to see and people to hang out with. I think I've laughed more in the past 3 weeks than I have total in the whole semester... yay for sarcastic humor! 


Anyway, while your Thanksgiving day probably involved sleep, family, football, parades and food, mine included going to class and eating meatballs with rice. Super exciting, right? At least I got to partake in a giant dinner a couple days later with a bunch of friends. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, and TONS more food. I wish I had some of that right now. 


Enough about food. Let's talk travel! On Wednesday, November 16 a guy I met in class (Paul) and I randomly decided to buy tickets to Athens to meet another friend there. Two days later we were in Greece! Insane. I absolutely loved every second of it. It was amazing to see ancient Greek ruins and be in a city with so much history. I got to stand on Mars Hill, where the Apostle Paul preached to the Greeks in Acts 17:16-24. I still can't believe it. As for the city of Athens, from the Acropolis it is beautiful and impressive, but once you are walking in it you can see that it is covered in graffiti and grime. There are also stray dogs EVERYWHERE. I wouldn't want to walk around there by myself. We walked through the main part of the city at least 3 times, took loads of pictures, ate Greek food, bought souvenirs, walked around a crowded market type place, sat on the roof of our hostel, and even danced a little bit. Even the plane rides were enjoyable. SwissAir is great because they feed you! (We had a layover in Zurich, Switzerland... I want to go back and go hiking/backpacking there someday. And after that I also want to go to Santorini, Greece). 


Two weeks later I was off to Paris! Our flight was supposed to leave at 8:30 but it didn't leave until after 9:30. Ignacio and I were standing in line to board the plane when they announced that the gate number changed. With this particular airline it is first come, first serve seating so everyone started running like maniacs to the new gate. It was seriously like a stampede. Naturally, both of us ran as well and I could barely breathe because I was laughing the whole time at the ridiculousness of it all. Wish you could have been there to see it. By the time we finally got to Paris it was too late to catch a train so our only option was a 55 euro taxi. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled. We spent the next two days exploring the city/taking pictures. Every single building is beautiful! I can't even imagine how incredible it would be in the Spring. I would live in Paris if I had the chance... at least for a while. I wish I knew French! My favorite part of the city would have to be...... uhh.... I can't pick. I got into the Lourve fo' FREE thanks to my visa, and it is the best museum I've been to, mainly because it was the least boring. :) I saw the Mona Lisa, and she is incredibly small. It definitely didn't change my life, however the Egyptian section was pretty sweet. 


We also walked along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and shopped, bought sandwiches from  some vendors, saw the Arc de Triomphe, and ate at Quick, a French fast food chain. It was a great trip and I definitely want to go back someday. 
This week I only have 2 days of class, so aside from the fact that I really need to be productive, it's going to be a great week.


Love you so much.
Watch this for old time's sake :)


Your one and only Turra.

i'm a travelin' man... er, woman

I've decided to mimic my lovely friend Maddie, and write a few blog posts in the form of letters. In her honor, the first shall be to her :)


Dear Maddie Moo,
      If it isn't obvious, I MISS YOU! Your blog inspires me to try to be a more interesting blogger. I'm so happy to see that you seem to be loving Murray and college! It's great, isn't it? It's seriously been the best time of my life. Just today I was thinking how wonderful it is to still be a college student. I'm living in Europe, I don't work, I have loads of free time, I never have class on Fridays, and I'm traveling the world! How much better can it get?? Perhaps I could have a few more friends...good thing I'm practicing my conversation skills. If it weren't for the internet and social media I'd either die of loneliness or be hyper productive and active. I have suspicions that the former would occur.
      Anyhow, life has been a whirlwind! This past weekend I went to Italy. Did you get that? ITALY. Although I wasn't able to grace Rome or Venice with my presence, I did make appearances in Milan and at Lake Como. For the fashionista, fancy pants or richy rich, Milan is the epicenter of Italy. The streets are full of people walking madly around, in and out of shops and boutiques, with their hands full of recently purchased designer goods. For the not-so-wealthy, such as myself, it is a game of "try to find something cheap---I just want so say I bought something from Italy!!" This worked out pretty well for me, as I came home with a nice grey blazer. After a 50% discount it cost me 18 euros, which is less than $30! Not only did I get a blazer for this amount, but that $30 also bought me the opportunity to experience one of the lovely cross-dressed shop employees. As soon as she opened his mouth, I knew she was a man. (Did you catch that?)
       Just a hop, skip and a jump from all the shopping lies the historical center of the city, complete with a cathedral, the Duomo, and one of the oldest shopping malls in the world, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, home to Louis Vuitton, Prada and of course, McDonald's -- Is anything complete without it? (Don't believe me? Take a virtual tour.) The Duomo is spectacularly spooky. What a perfect place to visit right before Halloween!

 Amazingly, entree is free, which does not happen very often at cool places in Europe. I've heard that it took around 500 years to build and that there are about 3,500 statues on/within the cathedral. The inside is dark and daunting, and although taking pictures and video was supposedly prohibited, I snuck a few (hey, all the Asians were doing it!). 

      Although it may surprise you, my favorite part was not the grandeur of the architecture, nor the magnificent pillars and spires but rather the numerous dead priests I encountered. Oh, you think I'm joking? I'm not. there are quite a few all glass "caskets" lining the inside of the building, each one home to the body or skeleton (depending on when he died) of a different priest. They were all wearing robes and shoes, and most of them had face coverings, but you could see their creepy dead hands and parts of their heads, some of which even still had hair. One of the older ones was not wearing a mask and thus his skull was just hanging out on a nice white pillow. I desperately wanted to take pictures to prove what my eyes could not believe, but I thought that would be extra disrespectful to Catholic tourists. Luckily there are other people in cyberspace who are a little more cavalier than I am. ***Warning*** Grab a barf bag before you click here or here.
     Aside from hitting the main attractions I also went to an annual medieval festival, located at the castle in Milan, complete with lame reenactments and pricey souvenirs. However I did meet a nice British couple so that was pretty joyous to actually have a conversation in English. They directed us (my friend Sarah and I) to walk around the GIANT park and see the monument built by Napoleon Bonaparte (is it bad that I almost typed Dynamite?) when he captured Italy. Pretty cool stuff, even for a non-history buff like myself! The next day we went to Lake Como, a mere hour away by train, took a boat tour, walked around, finally ate pasta from Italy, and then returned to Milan. 

     Although Milan was fun, I think I would prefer Rome, or somewhere a little more beautiful. Needless to say, I had never been so happy to be back in Madrid. I think one of the best things about this experience is that I have now legitimately traveled (went to the airport, got my boarding pass, flew to Italy, bought a bus ticket, rode to the city, and vice versa for the way home) all by myself. Independence is thrusting itself upon me, and today I love it. I'm not sure about tomorrow yet.
Since being back in my quaint home away from home I have written a research paper, written an essay, and taken two midterms, all in Spanish. BLECH. The good news is that my weekend began about three hours ago and I now have three and a half days to do what I want. Oh sweet relaxation! 
     Also, today on my way home from class I gave a homeless lady a clementine. That might sound so pathetic that it's funny, but it was all I had. I see her almost every day and today I happened to have two clementines, one that I was eating and an extra one. I just walked up and handed it to her and she gave me a big smile and said "Gracias! Gracias!" I felt bad that that was all I gave her. :(


Well that's it for my adventures this week! ttfn


Love you lots,
Tara

dedication

It has occurred to me that since I do not keep a diary, aside from pictures my blog will be the only record of my time in Spain... so therefore I want to post more frequently. Of course this will mean shorter posts, and perhaps entries that are not the most interesting. From now on my purpose will be to keep track of my life here, so that I can remember in the future. :)
This past weekend I went with Ignacio to Valencia to visit our friends Sarah, Borja and Luis. It was really fun and a change to be around people 24/7. On Friday afternoon we hung out and relaxed a bit in Sarah's apartment, then later went to see the Mediterranean Sea. I can't wait to go back someday when it is warm and I can swim! That evening we met some of Sarah's friends and all went to a popular bar with an outside terrace called "100 Montaditos." Montaditos are like tiny little sub sandwiches (like 3.5" X 1.5") and there are 100 different kinds on the menu. The least expensive ones are 1 euro and the most expensive are 2 euros. This is really great because you can try all different kinds without spending tons of money! That night I had 4 (relax, it was my dinner): shrimp with allioli, spanish omelette with allioli, grilled chicken with sauce, and BLT (sort of). They are warm and so delicious! 
Saturday was a day of walking. Downtown Valencia is beautiful, and there are lots of great parks, old bridges, and an ENORMOUS group of modern museums. Sadly they cost about 25 euros a piece to enter and I am poor. The city also has this incredible bicycle system - for only 18 euros a year you can take any bike from the various stations throughout the city and ride on the specially made bike paths. All include a basket on the front as well. I want that in Madrid!

http://www.valenbisi.com/

Sunday was a day of relaxation and then going to eat a lunch of paella, salad, pork, bread, and ice cream - all for 5.50 euros! Chinese people give good deals. 
Also, Sarah and I spontaneously decided to buy tickets to Milan, Italy this weekend, 4 days before leaving because we have a 5 day weekend. No big deal. I leave on Thursday and I'm kind of freaking out.
Today is my birthday. I'm now 23. That sounds like an adult, right? Don't let the number fool you. Yesterday I got a package in the mail from my mom. I'm pretty sure my mom could be a professional box packer because she fits insane amounts of items into one small box. You know those flat rate boxes you can get for free from the post office? She sent me a medium flat rate box that had the following items:
Full size jar of peanuts, small french press coffee maker, 3 mini coffee bags, creamer packets, Mentos, 6 FiberOne bars, 2 healthy candy bars, 2 Fastbreak bars, 2 energy bars, candy, a box of brownie mix, icing, sprinkles, a jar of peanut butter, 2 mini cans of Diet Dr. Pepper, gum, playing cards, a little pumpkin thing, and possibly something else I'm forgetting. I'm so impressed. 

I'm currently doing laundry to prepare for Italy, then I'm going to workout*, shower, do some homework, and go to the Bonet's to make brownies.


*I tell myself this everyday and it actually comes to fruition about, errrrr, maybe 20% of the time. I need Stephanie Durell! Therefore the title of this post refers to my henceforth efforts to be more committed to my blog, exercising and various other life-improvements.

video-logging

 I just decided to make a video instead a type this time. This is from last week, but I just was able to put it on my blog. 


I sound manly because I was sick. Lo siento.

aprovechar

aprovechar: to take advantage of


Everyone is telling me to take advantage of my time in Spain, but the problem is is that I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that. I have found it incredibly difficult to make friends, thus there is not much to do that seems really fun alone. I went to the international club last night and met more people, so that was really good. Maybe things are starting to look up. I keep having dreams that I have already returned home and in my dreams I think, "I was in Spain for 2 seconds and didn't do anything. I have nothing to say to people about it!" It is pretty depressing. Luckily I wake up and realize that I still have two more months left, however it makes me analyze my time here thus far. Everyone told me that studying abroad would be a life changing experience, but I do not feel like my life has been impacted at all. Yes, I am learning a lot about the language and culture, but just like in my dreams, if I were to go home right now, I feel like I have nothing to say to people about Spain. I haven't had any great adventures or tons of laughs. Of course there has been laughter and fun activities, but other than that, I feel like all I do is waste my time. On a good note, I have recognized this and can now try to change it.


***Note: I'm not sitting and crying in my room all day, nor am I sitting around feeling depressed. Just to make that clear.


Enough of that personal stuff. I really hate writing what's on my mind, but for the sake of remembering Spain, I did.


I haven't really noticed more cultural differences. I have been here for about five weeks now and things that used to be abnormal are now normal to me, so my observational skills are somewhat lacking. I have really come to enjoy the mealtimes in Spain, and I would love to adopt this tradition in the U.S., but I'm sure that won't work out well, since no one else will want to follow suit. In case you forgot:


Breakfast - when you wake up
Snack - 11-12
Lunch - 2 - 3pm
Snack - 6-7 pm
Dinner - 9 -10pm


This is a great schedule because in the states we eat all our meals by about 7pm, which means that from 7pm until I go to bed I have to resist food. This usually does not work out well for me, and I end up snacking a ton, which leads to unhealthy overeating. Since dinner is so late in Spain, when I snack between lunch and dinner, I am able to be much more self controlled because I can tell myself "Oh, I don't want to get full because I will be eating dinner in a few hours." The dinner that follows is usually pretty light anyway. The other night I went to a big dinner at the Bonet house and it consisted of an appetizer of ham and crackers, a main soup/dish of potatoes and salmon, a course of 6 different cheeses, jams and bread, and a dessert of ice cream. Lunch is definitely the biggest meal and I like that. 


Welp, I decided to write this post instead of going running, so I suppose I will go do that now. 


Oh, one last thing. Two new shows were recently introduced to me- New Girl, thanks to Amy bo bamy, and Up All Nigh, thanks to Stephanie. It would not be a bad decision to go watch some episodes. Right now. Do it. They provide laughter and "American" humor for me here in Europe.

I have been making a list of things I want to remember/blog about for the past two weeks, so this entry will most likely be a little lengthy. I just cleaned and re-organized my room, and I am currently sitting on my bed next to my open window enjoying the brilliance of the natural light and listening to the hustle and bustle of the city outside my window. It being a Sunday, it is quieter than usual, but by no means is silent. 

My current view

Since my list of observations is so long, I’ll get right to it.

-Motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds: They are allowed to go wherever they want, and do not necessarily have to follow the rules of traffic. Yes, they have to stop at red lights, but they are permitted to weave in and out of cars and go to the front of the line at stoplights. The other day I saw someone riding a moto and apparently he was a little impatient for the light to turn green and decided to just turn and drive on the sidewalk. They are also allowed to park on the sidewalks.

-Speaking of parking, drivers are crazy here. Since it is a city, parking is in high demand, so there are often times when parking spaces are impossible to find. When this happens, people invent their own parking spots, such as half-way on the sidewalk, halfway in the road, or just double parking in a traffic lane next to an already-parallel parked car. I even saw a smart car that evidently could not fit in a parallel parking spot next to the sidewalk so the owner decided to park perpendicular to the sidewalk. I guess he thought since his car was so small, it wasn’t that big of a deal that it stuck out into the road a little bit.

-Smoking: Everyone smokes. It’s kinda gross. I was hanging out with a group of 7 Spanish girls one time and 5 of them were smoking. It’s not just one cigarette either… it’s like 8. 

-Windows: I have yet to see windows with screens. They don’t exist, but everyone leaves their windows open all the time. The great thing is that since it is a city, there aren’t really any bugs! Even at night I can leave my window open and not see a single moth or mosquito. It makes the outdoors so much more enjoyable. 

-The sun currently rises at 8:05 am. That is so insane to me. This means that when I walk to class in the mornings, it’s pretty chilly. 

-Beer: Multiple Spaniards have told me that beer is a huge part of their culture, and it’s true. You can find beer easier than you can find coffee here. In the United States, oftentimes beer is related to partying and drunkenness, but here it is totally different. People drink a beer with their meals, they drink a beer while having “tapas”, or they drink a beer for refreshment. You can even order beer at McDonald’s. It’s basically just another drink.

-Soda: Spain only has about 4 sodas; Coca Cola, Coca Cola Light (Diet Coke), Fanta Orange, and Fanta Lemon. I don’t drink Fanta at home, but the Coke here tastes different because it is made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I was craving Dr. Pepper and had to search high and low for it until I finally discovered an American shop. Sadly it didn’t taste the same. I much prefer high fructose corn syrup to sugar cane! That sounds so gross, but it’s true. Also, when I order a Coca Cola Light at a terraza or restaraunt, it is served to me in a 200mL glass bottle. 200mL! That’s it! Do you realize how small that is?? I’m used to drinking 32-44 oz which is like 5-6x that. 

-Wedding rings are not that big of a deal, from what I have seen. Lots of people don’t wear them, and two girls I met wore them on their right hands. I’m still not sure why, or if other people do that, but I thought it was interesting. 

-Milk: One of the most confusing things to me about Spain is the milk. The first time I was in the grocery store looking at milk I discovered that it was in 1liter cartons...on shelves! GROSS. I am not sure how it is made, but it is not fresh milk and therefore doesn’t have to be refrigerated before it is opened. Obviously it tastes different and I don’t drink it because it makes me want to barf. Just knowing that it can sit on a shelf and not in a fridge freaks me out. 

-Dogs: Uhhh, everyone has dogs and walks them all the time. Maybe next time I’m out I’ll try and count how many dogs I see, but there are hundreds. I guess that is typical of a big city?

-Drying clothes: Some people have dryers I suppose, but most people hang dry their clothes outside. I did laundry the other day and had to hang my clothes do dry on a line outside that is strung between two of my windows. I used clothespins and everything! Haha it was definitely a new experience. I was afraid my clothes were doing to fall off and plummet three stories down. 

-Metro- I have only been on the metro like 5 times, but it is like a whole other world. It is huge! It is 3-4 stories underground, and it is very nice and clean. It is definitely a great system.

There were a few days when I first moved into my apartment that I was all alone and crying every day because I just wanted to go home (sort of), but now I have 2 roommates! One is from Bulgaria and she moved in two days ago. The other one moves in next weekend. I want to enjoy things that are different here, but I’m also realizing how many things I love about the United States that I didn’t really know I loved. For example, Panera (and other places with unlimited free wifi), giant sodas, milk, my car, etc.

Taste of home!

I ate that! It was delicious

One thing I really love is the bread. I can buy a fresh baguette for .40 €… that’s like 

$.56! So basically I eat a lot of bread. And cheese. Presidente brand of brie cheese is only 2 € here, and at home its like $6-8. I also drink a lot of juice. My favorites are orange juice and peach grape juice. 1 liter costs about .70 €. Yesterday I went to the supermarket and bought the following items:

Orange juice, peach grape juice, tortilla española (big potato omelet thing), some sandwich paste stuff, a baguette, eggs, chocolate, and sweetener, all for just 6.86 €! I thought it was pretty cheap.

Well I’ve written a novel, so I’m done for today. :)