Always There With Me

Today, has been a very relaxing/chill day. It was the perfect thing for me to do, since I have been here for a week and have gone non stop and probably won't have the chance to sleep in for the rest of my trip. Might not seem like I am a little homesick from the way I go into description in my blogs, but it has kind of hit me lately. I did not want to sit there and feel sorry for myself because that will just make it worse so I turned to the one thing I knew would give me answers, God. I opened my Bible and flipped to the next devotion that I was suppose to do, it was called "Dry Ground". It was Joshua 3:1-7, when God lead the Israelites across the Jordan River. When they obeyed him, he gave them dry ground to cross upon so they were given a better life. From this devotion, I got that we must trust in the Lord and obey his commands to let him guide us through what is rough in our lives. At the end of the devotion it gave a reference to Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path". This devotion hit me hard because I have to trust that God is there with me with every step I take, especially here in Spain. I came into this experience knowing no one and grown to make great friends! I have grown so much closer with my family and friends that it has been hard without them here, especially when I get back to my host family's house and there is not much to do but get on the computer and see what all is going on in my friend's and family's lives through e-mail and Facebook. I just must continue to pray that this is only a phase and that when I start school on Monday, things will all kind of fall into place and I will be on a normal schedule. If you are ever struggling to believe that no one that loves you is there with you, always know God loves more than anyone else in our lives and is there with every step you take.


Now, I will fill you in on my weekend! Friday night was really fun to be with a bunch of the people in my group. We all met up and went to a bar. Now, my grandmother has already commented on the amount I talk about bars, so I will clear the air for other people who wonder about that to. It is a custom to just go to a bar and have a drink or two, not like the bars in the United States where people are throwing back liquor and taking a bunch of shots even though there are nights where it is chill in bars like that in the United States also. The people my age that actually live here do the same thing. At the bar where we met up, I had one or two beers and we just sat and talked with one another. Next, our group all met up at the chiputaria and were there for not even 30 minutes and these guys we had met told us about this place where all the young people in Granada go and just hang out and meet up with all their friends. It was a park that is outside and it is kind of a meeting place for everyone to go to. We all arrived there and I have never seen a place like this, it was crazy! There are tons and tons of people a little bit younger than me and older than me just there with their friends in this park. It was pretty cool that you can just meet up there. We were there just standing around talking for a long time and at about 3:45 in the morning our group decided they were ready to go to the discotecas. We finally got there about 4:00 and me and my roommate were just so tired, but one of the guys from New York was trying to get us to go inside but we didn't want to pay 10 euro to be in there for 30 minutes. He offered to pay for us and was very nice about it, but we didn't want to make him pay for us when we had the money so we headed back home. The discoteca was a block from our house so it was nice to not have to walk very far, my feet were killing me by this point. We got home and stayed up talking for a little bit and eventually fell asleep. Saturday morning, we woke up at about 9:00 and left to meet our friends Liz and her roommate Meredith at the bus stop to go to the beach. We got to the bus station but not in enough time to make the 10:15 bus to Almunecar so we had to get on the 11:00 bus. The four of us went downstairs and just hung out before our bus left. The bus was really full, we got on and Liz and I sat down in our seats and these two Spanish girls started dying out laughing... we were totally confused. They started pointed at us and we were like uhh is there something on my shirt or face or something? Finally one leaned over and started talking to us in Spanish but we could not understand her and they continued to laugh. We are still not sure what they were laughing at but we could only guess it was because we weren't in really nice outfits since we were going to the beach. Here everyone dresses up so fancy for everything, when I am able to put one of my t-shirts on I can't help but be in heaven, i miss them so much! We finally arrived in Almunecar and the Mediterranean Sea was so gorgeous! We went straight to the beach, Almunecar is a really small town compared to the ones we have visited so it was only about a 5-10 minute walk from the bus station. We got to the beach and I noticed at the beginning, it was rocks...and then I noticed the entire beach was rocks, no sand! WHAT? I have never seen something like that before. It ended up not being too bad but the fact that we looked like we were crazy trying to walk barefoot on very hot rocks back and forth to the sea was pretty humorous to other people I am sure. We also were thrown off when we walked down and there are women tanning with no tops on, it is accepted here to do that, also the men wear speedos or REALLY short bathing suits. The Mediterranean was pretty cold but I eventually made myself get in and go underneath, it is the saltiest body of water I have ever swam in before. Our tickets to go back to Granada were not till 6:00 so we decided we had too much sun since we didn't want to get burned and walked around the town. It was a really cool little town and we sat down and had something to drink before we got on the bus. On our way back all 4 of us fell asleep and we got home around 7:30. Once we got home Eli (I have been spelling her name wrong this entire time but it is pronounce like "Ellie") had dinner cooking for us. We ate hamburgers, french fries, salad, and watermelon for dessert. After dinner we got ready to meet for drinks and tapas at 11:00 with the people in our group. They all tried to make it to the beach, but they all woke up too late so all of them decided to go today. We sat around talking for a while and then ended up going and getting drinks and tapas at about midnight. After that we walked around town and then my roommate and I decided we were way too tired to do anything else for the night so two of the guys walked us home. I had rented a movie off iTunes and thought I would stay up and watch that, but once I laid my head on my pillow, I was out like a light! I slept till about 10:00 and we got up and had breakfast and just were being lazy. Not as lazy as our host mom Eli though, Heather said she went to bed about 3:30 and Eli was still not home. Eli told Heather today that she doesn't remember getting home since she drank and then she woke up at 11:00 this morning. Anyone every heard of a 60 year old woman doing that? ha, but it actually is accustomed that all ages stay out pretty late here in Spain. After breakfast, we decided to go to this department store and get a few ends and odds we needed before they closed at 3:00. Here in Granada most stores are closed on Sundays or they will close early like this one did. This store was a lot like a Macy's or Dillards and was called Cortes Ingles. It was 5 stories and had the same thing a normal department store had, same brands and everything! We came back for lunch and had this pasta with pork ribs in it. It was really good! Now we are continuing to hang out and catch up on everything before school starts tomorrow! Will keep everyone posted on my first day of classes, should be interesting! As for now, here are pictures from Friday night and the beach!

A bunch of the girls in my group!

the nice new yorker we met

almunecar beach

so beautiful