2nd Time Around

Well, the second orientation session happened and what an adventure it was! Prior to this session, all the people going to Spain from Minnesota talked on Facebook and we made instant connections. When we got back together, we all ate lunch together and to an outsider, it probably looked like we had been friends for a long time. It was such an amazing feeling that something so little, go to the same country around the same time (and we probably won't be even in the same city,) can bind us together into friends I will most likely keep in contact with for a long time!

I also was able to meet the girls who are here from Spain which made me feel very self-conscious about my Spanish when I talked to them... But they reassured me and said I was actually doing a good job! Were they saying that to me to make me feel better or did they really mean it? Doesn't really matter, they said I was doing fine! :] I also met two of the girls from Brazil and two girls from France, all four were just lovely people and I wish they were living with their host families closer to me! 

Prior to attending this session, I had to learn some facts about Spain and here are some of the most interesting ones I found out:
1) Spanish people speak with a slight lisp because one of their king's had a lisp and they didn't want to offend him! (But according to Angela, she said the closer you get to Madrid, the less lispy they sound)
2) Paul Gehry designed this museum in Bilbao...

 

 

... But also designed this museum in Minneapolis!

 

3) La Tomatia is held once a year, every year in August, where thousands of people throw tomatoes at each other because hundreds of years ago, a street fight broke out and people threw vegetables at each other.
4) Spain has the Pyrenees... Which look like this, aka beautiful:

 

 

(Hopefully, I'll be hiking some of these with my outbound Minnesota Spanish friends!)

I could keep going on and on, but in conclusion, I'm so excited to go, still a little nervous, but very excited nonetheless! I am thankful for my friends and family supporting me and the new friends I have already made who will share a part in this journey with me! 

Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of age ~Matthew 28:20
And of course, none of this could not happen without God. I know that He has a plan for me that will help further His will and goodness in this world, and if that is in Spain, I am willing to go there!

~Ashlyn