Sometimes it seems that things just really can't be beautiful, but all things will be made beautiful at some point.
The pigeons here were nothing special until a couple days ago, when I realized the color of the feathers on their necks are exceptionally pretty. I didn't really mean to talk about pigeons when I chose the verse for this post, but I figured I could squeeze it in here. You should look more closely at the next pigeon you see.
It has been dawning on me these last days that I won't be getting fluent overnight. Struggling through conversation to get what I mean to say out there can be exhausting, but I know at some point I'll look back on this time as 'vale la pena'//worth the pain.
Also, in addition to being vale la pena (now you know a Spanish phrase!), it is totally fun. I have a friend here named Molly and we've been trying to translate phrases like YOLO (you only live once). Well it doesn't work so well...solo vives una vez: SVUV.
But it's fun anyway. And for those of you who know a little Spanish, my friend Brady and I came up with matándolo, for "killin' it".
So that's all pretty sweet.
Classes have begun. It seems like they will all be interesting: modern Spanish theater, Islamic Civilization in Spain and Northern Europe, economics of the European Union, and so on. All in Spanish!
Today we played (I watched) soccer in the rain and afterward Molly and I went for ice-cream to celebrate a successful first week of classes. By the time we got ice cream, at Burger King, we were really just celebrating that we finally found ice cream. It seems like the things you think about getting (slippers, ice cream, stamps) are everywhere...until you decide it's time to get those things. Then they magically disappear.
Never fear, though. Burger King came in for the win. And just so you get the idea of how joyous an occasion it was to eat ice cream, here's a picture:
Also, in addition to being vale la pena (now you know a Spanish phrase!), it is totally fun. I have a friend here named Molly and we've been trying to translate phrases like YOLO (you only live once). Well it doesn't work so well...solo vives una vez: SVUV.
But it's fun anyway. And for those of you who know a little Spanish, my friend Brady and I came up with matándolo, for "killin' it".
So that's all pretty sweet.
Classes have begun. It seems like they will all be interesting: modern Spanish theater, Islamic Civilization in Spain and Northern Europe, economics of the European Union, and so on. All in Spanish!
Today we played (I watched) soccer in the rain and afterward Molly and I went for ice-cream to celebrate a successful first week of classes. By the time we got ice cream, at Burger King, we were really just celebrating that we finally found ice cream. It seems like the things you think about getting (slippers, ice cream, stamps) are everywhere...until you decide it's time to get those things. Then they magically disappear.
Never fear, though. Burger King came in for the win. And just so you get the idea of how joyous an occasion it was to eat ice cream, here's a picture:
Here's a fun fact: Molly reminds me a lot of my good friend Kaitlin Gibbs. Same curly hair, fun loving nature, taller than me, etc. Found out they have the same birthday too! That's pretty neat.
Recently I was brought to this passage in Hebrews about treating hardship as discipline because, though it isn't pleasant at the time, it produces a harvest of peace for those who have been trained by it. It's no secret that I've been single this last year, and recently it's been a little hard to see couples together-especially when I feel 'alone' in a city full of people.
Still, I have found that- especially here- I feel so at peace when I am by myself because I feel that even then I am not alone. Christ prayed alone in the garden; Christ died alone on the cross. I never am alone because of His company, encouraging me with the scripture He brings to my mind and blessing me with friendships and a wonderful host family.
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