I have now been here for one whole month. One month. Today. How crazy is that?! 30 days already gone!! I feel like I have done so much but also so little! School is in full swing now, I am beginning to start sports and other activities. Today I went to a rowing practice (we only did core exercises,) last week I went to modern dance (45 minutes of copying someone dancing. ACTUALLY SO MUCH FUN!) On Wednesday, I will go to a soccer (fútbol for us Europeans) practice, and on Thursday I have my second guitar lesson. Phew. Add in school, my desire to travel and see friends, time with the family, God time, and alone time in there, my schedule fills up fast. Now, I won't be able to do ALL the things I want to so these two weeks are meant for trying things out to see if I like them and then seeing where they fall in my schedule. I know I will be doing rowing and guitar lessons and depending on how fútbol practice goes, I will decide then. School is getting better and worse depending on how I look at it: better because I am understanding more and can communicate more easily but worse because the teachers are preping their students for the big tests at the end of the year so lots of note taking and listening to teachers talk at you all day (coupled with the fact that I don't change rooms very often, I get bored and tired fast...) To cope with this, when we aren't taking notes, I doodle profusely. Currently, I have decided to work on a black and white series of things that remind me of Minnesota. Since I can't take an art class here, might as well do it when I don't need to pay attention!
This past weekend I went to Vigo to visit some exchange students friends!
Me, Xenia (Taiwan,) and Hope (Pennsylvania) at one of the best icecream places ever!
Seriously, look at all those flavors.
BUBBLE TEA EXISTS HERE. I CAN STILL HAVE MY TEA GARDEN!!
My family doesn't keep Nutella at home... So I ate a lot at Xenia's....
Pato Beach.
Those islands.
I can't get over how magazine-esque those islands and water look.
So I took a bus for 3 hours to get to Vigo and then Xenia's host mom and Xenia picked me up! When I walked into their apartment, I was mesmerized: Xenia's host dad is an artist so every wall has some sort of mural, paintings, mixed media, drawings, etc. etc. on the walls and every wall is a different color. Xenia has a host sister who is 17, 15 (but she is currently in the USA,) and 10. The family is so incredibly sweet and I adored staying with them. Since Xenia has only had a few months of Spanish and I have taken more years of Spanish than Hope (as I am older,) I was one of the translators for the weekend. Meal times were filled with lots of laughter and attempts to speak English. Friday night, Hope, Xenia, and I had dinner and met up with Johan (exchanger from Sweden.) I went shopping for the first time there and probably bought way too many things... Oh well, right? I also went to a movie with Lola (10 years old) and Xenia on Saturday night. What is odd is that when you get your ticket, you are assigned a seat like a theater that shows musicals or plays. We saw "Gravity" and I understood the general idea of what they said, however, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney should not be dubbed over with Spanish in my opinion. Sunday, Xenia and Hope had surf lessons so I met up with another exchanger, Eric (Oregon,) and we just hung out at a café. I then had lunch with Xenia's host grandparents, hopped on the bus to come back home, and made it home in only 2 hours. They are the closest exchangers to me, so I liked seeing other Galacian kids as they understand me when I say that the rain here it getting a little old... (It rains every day, sometimes multiple times.) When I got home, I was pleasantly surprised to find a new rug and comforter/pillow cases (with cats, pears, and artsy things on it... Sounds weird, looks great) as well as a glass baking dish!! Now I can make any hot dish and brownies/cakes. I will learn the art of making time and fit that in my life too.
And God in all of this? Well, I have been watching the podcats of church at home and I could not be more thankful for technology nowadays so I can do that. The series is about Revelations and as always, I love when Joel (my pastor) teaches. It sets me on fire for the week which is supplemented with sporadic devotionals and almost daily readings of the Word. Not to mention that God is still using my gifts here. Last week in religion class, the topic of gay rights to adopt children was being debated. Spanish and Gallego were flying at a million miles an hour, none of it I understood and had classmates translate for me. I did not take a stance, but listened and waited (like James 1:19 instructs, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak") and when my classmate said, "Ella quiere hablar [she wants to talk,]" I used this opportunity to use the words that God gave me. I explained to them, in another language keep in mind, that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength and the second greatest is to love they neighbor as thyself (Matthew 22:36-40.) Now, even if you don't believe in God, that second commandment should always be followed because then all will be respected and we wouldn't have problems like this. Will all the problems be fixed if a few people, or even a majority follow this law? No. People will still have their own opinions and how they interpret that, but that is not my place to be. The conversation lulled and I proceeded to exit the room to free myself from any entanglements that might occur. My gift of evangelism is still with me, and God is still using me like He was back home. How great and reassuring is that?!
If you could or would like to, please pray that God helps me with my college choices and remaining on the rock that He is while I am away from the community of Christians I was accustomed to in Minnesota. God obviously gave me this experience and I will use it to grow as much as possible because without challenge, then how will my faith be stretched or change in new ways?
~Ashlyn
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