Leaving Spain

Many of my faithful readers* may be wondering why I have been silent for so long. My silence can only be explained by two weeks in Germany, moving across the ocean, unpacking, repacking, moving again, going to Virginia, lack of internet, starting school...the excuses are endless.

Despite the reasons for my absence, I apologize. So get excited, because I'm back!

Let me catch you up to speed:

Just under a month ago, I visited my Spanish Starbucks for the last time.

That morning I met up with my friends Paola and Rosi in an attempt to see the Sorolla exhibit at the Prado museum. We were unsuccessful. So we saw the Matisse exhibit instead. After a cup of coffee we parted ways. It's always so hard to say goodbye!!

I then walked down the street to Starbucks for the last time, and they surprised me with my very own apron! They each signed it for me before I left for church.

Church was filled with many more hugs, goodbyes, and see-you-laters. But it was such a blessing!

The next morning I woke up at dark-30 to hop on a plane to Frankfurt with my friend Emily. Long before I knew I would be leaving Spain we bought tickets to go on vacation in Germany. Our first stop was the train station, where they had....Starbucks!!

It was not my intent to buy a drink that day, but we decided to stop and see what sandwiches they had for our picnic the next day. We were just looking, and then...the check-out boy asked if I wanted a free drink.

Fo' realz, yo.

So I got a free drink. :)

We spent the rest of the day wandering around town, walking by the river, attempting to enter closed museums, seeing the cathedral, exploring downtown, talking to strangers...the typical Emily-Laura vacation combo. I had heard that there wasn't much to see in Frankfurt, but we really enjoyed it and I wished we could have stayed another day to see some of the museums (they are all closed on Mondays).


One of our favorite parts of the day was wandering through the massive greenbelt that passes through the city. It's full of businessmen and women leaving work, soft green grass, fun statues, and bunny rabbits.



We attempted to get close to the rabbits, but they were a bit scared of us. I can't imagine why. but as we were reclining near our naked friend, a baby rabbit who had not yet learned to be afraid of humans came out looking for something to eat. He/she came and sniffed my hand, and gave Emily a little kiss on the elbow.

The next day we went hiking outside of Frankfurt, somewhere with some old Celtic ruins. The ruins turned out to be not very exciting, but what was exciting were the wild blueberries on the top of the hike. Emily and I picked blueberries for about an hour and snacked on them the whole way home. By the end of the day our fingers and tongues were bright purple.


The next day we hopped a train to Munich where we met up with our friend Darby. Munich was a GORGEOUS city and I would recommend it to anybody. The architecture was beautiful, the people were friendly, and there were plenty of museums to choose from.

We only went to one museum, but we had plenty of fun wandering around, having a picnic in the grass, playing frisbee, eating some weinerschnitzel (is that how you spell it??) and enjoying each other's company.

One of the coolest things they have in Munich is a surf river. In the middle of the city there's a river with machines that create a wake to practice surfing. Surfers take turns riding the waves while onlookers watch from a bridge above. I was inspired by a new passion to learn how to surf. The only problem is the lack of a nearby ocean...

We also went to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp that became the blueprint for the camps to follow. Dachau was a work-camp where they were worked until they died, as opposed to an extermination camp where they were mass-murdered. It was heart breaking to see. The gate entrance says "Work Makes Free" in German. It was a Nazi joke because they knew that the only way anybody left Dachau was through the chimney.
It's heartbreaking to see the horrors that mankind can commit when we give in to the darkness of our hearts. The Nazis who worked at the camp had normal lives outside of the camp walls - wives, children, hobbies - just as those inside the walls once had before it was taken away from them. The townspeople nearby knew all about the camp but chose to live in ignorance and deny the atrocities of what was going on inside. They may not have beaten and killed any prisoners, but their inaction against injustice revealed the same darkness within their hearts. The camp was a reminder that when apart from God, anybody is capable of committing any sort of atrocity. Even you and me, and it is only by the grace of God that I have done any good thing.


We also went to the Neuschwanstein castle a few hours outside of Munich. Many say that this is where Walt Disney got his inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle (however some say it was Segovia, in Spain). I can see where they would have got the idea. The castle is amazingly similar and fairy-tale-esque.


After Germany I had one more night in Spain. I went out with my friends Sebas, Rocío, Fede, and Del (who is actually an American and was staying with some of my friends that night). We ate dinner at the place where I had my first Spanish dinner. It was fabulous. Then we walked around downtown enjoying the beauty of the city at night. We walked past Sol, the palace, the opera...it was beautiful.
The next morning some friends took me to the airport to say farewell. While I didn't cry at the airport, I couldn't hold in the tears once the plane took off. I cried from Madrid to Dublin, all through the airport (I think scared the customs agent!), and from Dublin to Chicago. Chicago to Dallas I was able to calm myself down, but when I hugged my brother at the baggage claim, the tears began to flow again. I finally got to hold my nephew for the first time! Hayden Charles was born January 5th, 2009. On August 8th, I finally got to hold and kiss my little nephew.

The next day (Sunday) we went to none other than Jason's Deli for lunch. Oh how I missed their salad bar!!
Later I met my best friend Julie for coffee. It was so good to catch up! And now that we're finally in the same time zone, hopefully it will be much easier to keep up with each others lives!

And at that, my dear readers, I shall leave you. This update is already too long. Later I'll update about Mineola, my new car, Virginia, moving to Ft. Worth and beginning seminary.

Until then, ¡hasta luego!



*Do I even have any faithful readers?

Starbucks and Sushi

Once upon a time there was a girl named Bruner.

Bruner had no fear of strangers, an insatiable curiosity, and an utter lack of an efficient inner monologue to stop her from saying the first thing that crossed her mind.

One day while Bruner was at Starbucks (because really, when is she not at Starbucks?) she noticed a deep looking soul sitting not too far away. She knew he was deep because of his shaggy hair, little black notebook, and self mumblings as he scrawled his deepest most profound musings into the notebook.

"I wonder what he's writing? Is he a poet? A song writer? A philosopher?. It must be deep because that's a Moleskine, used only for the deepest, most profound thoughts."

After that day she saw the deep, shaggy haired poet every so often and constantly asked herself what kinds of tragically romantic thoughts he might be scribbling that day.

Until one day...

Bruner sat across from Deep Boy. She watched him mumble to himself with furrowed brow, his lips silently composing, his hand drawing tiny circles in the air before jotting down his latest revelation. As she was studying for a Spanish exam, and he was Spanish, she found this was the perfect excuse to begin a conversation.

"Excuse me, could you explain to me what (insert Spanish idiomatic phrase here) means?"

After his polite response the two returned to their tasks. He with his deepness and her with her Spanish. Until suddenly her auto-stop failed - she could no longer resist the temptation - she gave in to her curiosity and said:

"Do you mind if I ask what you're writing?"

She prepared herself for the most philosophical of responses, most certainly far beyond her scope of understanding when he replied:

"Jokes."

Jokes?

Really?

And all that time she thought he was deep and sensitive.

Deep-Boy-Turned-Comedian was named Alvaro.

From that day on Bruner and Alvaro always found each other on the sofas and spent the evenings talking and laughing; Bruner using Alvaro as her own personal Spanish dictionary, and Alvaro using Bruner as a test audience for his jokes.

Their friendship grew and grew as each night they sipped coffee until closing time, accompanied each other home, Gchat-ed the next day and then returned to Starbucks to do it all again.

They carried on like this for months and months, but alas, all good things must come to an end.

Bruner had to return to the land of pick-up trucks and BBQ, and Alvaro got a job in another city as a comedy writer for late-night TV. All of those jokes finally paid off.

The day before he left, Alvaro took Bruner to her very first Sushi restaurant.


Not only was it her first sushi experience ever, but it was also the best in the city, making Bruner very happy when she finally tasted the more-delicious-than-she-could-imagine-raw-fish, plus she got to eat with chopsticks and we all know that Bruner loves chopsticks. Alvaro knew just what to order to please the palate.



Just as they met at Starbucks and thus began their friendship, so they must also say farewell there and thus begin a new phase - the long-distance friendship. So they went to Starbucks to enjoy one last drink together on the oft visited sofas.



As it turns out, Alvaro really is a deep, sensitive soul. But he just so happens to be a funny one, which is much better than the emotional moody poetic one she originally thought he was.

Bruner was sad to say goodbye to Alvaro, but thankful to have known him, learned from him, laughed with him, and enjoyed his friendship. And when he comes to visit her in the land of pick-ups and BBQ, she'll buy him a drink at Starbucks. :)


Thanks, Alvaro :)

Salamanca!

Last weekend a few friends and I went to Salamanca, Ivan and Rocío's hometown. The city is famous for it's university, the oldest in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe. Ivan, Dámaris, Sebas, and Rocío and I all piled into Ivan's car and made the 2+ hour drive to this ancient city.

While Sebas and Rocío spent the day with their family, Ivan and Dámaris showed me around town, beginning with the Plaza Mayor:


Later we went to the old university. On the facade there's a frog hiding out somewhere, and legend has it that on the first day of class students had to find the frog, and if they were able to find it they would succeed and complete their degree, but if they couldn't find it, they were sure to fail. I was determined to find it, but after straining my next for just three minutes I said to Ivan, "I'm not sure I have the patience to find it." Now, I didn't mean I was going to give up just yet; I was just commenting. But Ivan took that to mean "I give up" and proceeded to tell me exactly where it was. Oh well. I guess it's a good thing I've already got my degree. :) Now see if you can find this famous frog:


Later we went to a juice/smoothie bar. I got pineapple/raspberry juice, Dámaris got a raspberry smoothie, and Ivan a strawberry smoothie. Here we are enjoying our refreshing drinks on a hot Summer day:


At one point we toured the free part of the cathedral (the "new" part, built in the 1500's), and later in the evening (when it wasn't so hot anymore) we were able to climb to the top and explore the roof of the cathedral, as well as view the old part (the part you have to pay for). From the roof we could see brides galore, all waiting to get married in the 12th century cathedral. Each bride got a 15ish minute wedding. They all walked in, sat down, the organ played, the priest gave them the wafer and the wine, pronounced them man and wife, and as the cameras flashed he shooed them out so the next bride could take her turn. Not exactly what I dream of for my own wedding.

In the "new" part of the cathedral they had a mirror underneath the dome so you could get a better view without straining your neck. But I saw greater potential:


All in all it was a great weekend with great friends. I enjoyed getting to know a new town, getting to know my friends better, and replacing the noise and bustle of a big city with the calm and quiet of a town.

Basketball!!

For the past two weeks I've been helping out in our annual basketball camp. This year we had more or less 120 kids each day from ages 4-15.



The first week I found myself translating a LOT. So much so that by the end of the week I had nearly lost my voice. And while I wasn't with any one particular group, I had the blessing of seeing all the kids on a daily basis as they came to my station to learn about good sportsmanship, giving your best effort, playing good offense and defense, and of course, being like Jesus. During that time I got to know these three girls pretty well:



In the second week I was translating for the 12-15 year old girls' coach, so I had the opportunity of getting to know these girls a lot better. I had so much fun!



Of course, it was stinkin' HOT, but thanks to the prayers of many, it wasn't intolerable. Nobody got heatstroke or dehydrated that I'm aware of, and my sunburn was only minor. :)

Next year I won't be living here anymore, but I'm hoping to have the opportunity to come back with the volunteer team to help out with the camp. Who knows, maybe I can bring a team over myself? Anybody ready to sign up?

Russian Tim, Women and Fire Jumping

A few weeks ago one of my friends from college, Tim, came to visit with his mom. Tim's been working in Russia for nearly a year, so when his mom went to visit they decided to take a little European tour and come see me.


It was so great to see a friend from home - somebody who knows me, understands me, and now that he, too, is living internationally, somebody who can relate to living cross-culturally, learning a new language, and so many of the strange experiences that are so hard to describe unless you've "been there."

I had so much fun showing he and his mom my city. I love this city so much and want for everybody who comes here to have a great experience and fall in love with it as I have. That's why I'm starting to think I might enjoy becoming a tour guide. :) Something to think about for the future...

We also went to Toledo one day. And without knowing it, we went the day before a huge festival, the Corpus Cristi, when the city is packed. So we got to see the decorations and some of the pre-holiday festivities without the massive crowds.

One of the pre-holiday festivities involved marching these giants through the city. They were probably about 15-20 feet tall and dressed as men, women, old Spaniards, Moors, and various other characters. Check out the guy behind us scratching his belly:


The day that Tim and his mom left I went on a women's retreat with my local church. What a blessing! There were women of all ages - from 20 and 21 (or 24 like myself) all the way up to "señoras mayores", women who usually don't tell you how old they are. :) I loved getting to know more women from the church, learn from them, worship with them, and spend a weekend out of the city. I also made a new friend, Cristina, who's just as crazy as me, or maybe crazier:


Two days after the women's retreat I went with my friend Paola to the Fiesta de San Juan, the day of Saint John. When she invited me, I was expecting a late-night picnic, families, music, and other benign activities. What I found when I got there was much different:


In the park behind a large church hundreds upon hundreds of 20-somethings has set up bonfire after bonfire and were taking turns jumping through them. They explained to me that it was originally a Celtic pagan ritual, but when Catholicism took over they turned it into Saint John's day.

What Paola's friends told me is that you're supposed to write down the bad things that happened over the past year and throw them into the fire, and then jump over it. It's a rite of purification, a sort of "cleansing." Knowing that I'm a Christian, they asked me if I was going to jump. I told them that I've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and I've got the fire of the Holy Spirit, so I'd already got it taken care of. We all had a good laugh, drank lemon Fanta (well...some of us), and watched people burn their leg hair jumping over completely un-safe bonfires. All the while a woman pushed her two year old child on a nearby swing despite the fact that it was nearly 1am.



Overall it was a great week - time with an old friend, making new friends, and getting to know better some recently made friends. :)

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!! (and usa)

Today is July 4th! And we all know what that means!

It's Melissa's birthday!

Yup, that's right. Our own personal firecracker, Melissa Jane Baxley (formerly Bruner) was born on July 4th, 1978 (I think it was around then - I'm terrible at remembering how old people are!).

Since I can't be there to give you your gift in person, I'll just have to get creative.

So...

Get ready to open your gift!!

Open the bag and pull the little box out...


Open the box and pull the little packet out...


Open the paper and begin to see...


Happy birthday!! I hope you like it!!


We saw this necklace at a store when Melissa was visiting in May and she just LOVED it. So I went back to buy it, and while they no longer had the same necklace, they had this one that's almost the same.

I hope you can enjoy it just as much as you would have the other!

Since I'll be seeing you in just over a month, I decided to hold on to it to give it to you in person. Plus...now you'll have time to look for some matching earrings!!

I love you Big Sister!

A Family Affair

On My 20th, 2009 my Mom arrived to Spain for her second visit.

To start the trip off, we went to Barcelona. I had been there once before but it was for a conference so I didn't have much time to do any "touristy" things. So we went for two days and saw everything we could possibly squeeze in, beginning with the cathedral.



While we toured they were having mass so I stopped to listen. I must say, I was quite heart-broken by what I heard. The priest was talking about heaven (a topic about which we all like to hear) and how we will spend eternity in the presence of God. That sounds great to me! But then he began to say that the way to heaven is by living a good life, and that those parents who love their children will baptize them so that, should they not live good lives, they will still be allowed to enter heaven. It broke my heart to see the people in the pews listening, knowing that they trust this man to give them words of life, and instead he is leading them down a road that leads only to death, for we know that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no man can boast." (Eph 2:8-9)

But I shall continue with our visit.

Later we went to the Aquarium, which is supposed to be the largest in Europe. If you want to make me happy, take me to the zoo or the aquarium. I will then be your best friend for life. This aquarium had a really awesome shark tank (the kind with the moving sidewalk and the tunnel effect) and I finally figured out what one of my favorite fish (to eat) is! Here in Spain you see "sepia a la plancha" on menus all the time, and I must say that it's quite delicious, but I've always wondered what the fish actually is. Well, it's cuttlefish! These guys:



I'll be honest, I'm glad I ate the fish before I saw the live version of it. I'm not sure I would have had the bravery to eat him knowing what he really looks like.

Our second day was our "Day of Gaudí". We went to the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló (but only from the outside, they were both expensive and the Sagrada Familia had a LONG line), and toured La Pedrera, which means "the rock quarry."



The top of the building looks like ice cream cones, but the outside of the building looks like smooth boulders (sort of), which is where it got it's name from.

Then on the 26th my sister, brother-in-law, his mom, and my niece and nephew came! I can't tell you how awesome it was to finally see them, and show them this place that has captured my heart, and see Garrett and Vivian who are so much bigger than they were the last time I saw them!

The first day they were exhausted, so to keep them awake I took them to the park where the kids played on the playground and fed ducks and goldfish in the pond, and then we ate at a neat little café before letting them crash at the apartment they had rented. Little did we know that our first day would leave such an impression on the kids. All week long all they wanted to do was go back to the park.



Really, who needs more than a playground and some ducks? Apparently that's the key to happiness in life. While you can't see the water, they're feeding the ducks in this picture.

I ended up spending the night at their apartment a few nights. Even when I didn't, usually they were just having breakfast when I arrived at their place, meaning that every morning I got to wake up to this:



After calling my sister's house my home for so long and living with them during my transition period, it sure felt good to see those precious faces in the morning again.

We also toured the palace, went to the zoo, rode the cable car over the city, had some of my friends over for dinner, saw a flamenco show, and visited the majority of the playgrounds in the city.

Now most people who know me well know that I'm terrified of birds. I had a bad experience. So at the zoo, we went to the bird show. It wasn't my idea, I can assure you of that. But I didn't want to be a party pooper and since everybody else was interested, I wasn't going to say anything. Besides, they're all trained birds, right? At one point a hawk flew out and landed on somebody in the audience's head, way on the other side of the stage. I thought, "whew! I'm so glad that's over there." And then...it flew over and landed on...my sister's head. Right next to me.

I knew what came next. I squeezed my fists, closed my eyes, and prepared myself for the worst. It hopped onto my head. I could feel it's claws in my scalp. I could feel it's mighty weight, pressing down on me. And just as soon as it began, it was all over.

I realize that my fear of birds is slightly irrational, therefore I don't jump and scream every time a pigeon crosses my path. But a hawk? On my head? Talk about immersion therapy. When I opened my eyes again I was laughing and crying, rational enough to recognize the humor in the situation but still unable to control the tears. My wonderful brother-in-law was astute enough to get a few seconds of the moment on video. I'm sure my red face will be posted all over the internet very soon.

On their next-to-last day we took a day trip to Segovia. We saw the Roman aqueduct (how can you miss it?) the cathedral, and the Cinderella Castle, as Vivian called it.




Finally it was time for them to go home, and I could hardly believe that it was over so quickly. Those eight days flew by and I think we only accomplished half of the activities planned, but that was okay, because the number one activity - just enjoying each other's presence - was completed. Saying goodbye at the airport I was able to laugh and have fun knowing that I'll be seeing them soon - in August, to be exact - when I move back to Texas. But until then, I've got a plethora of good memories to dwell on. :)