"Blanco y negro" night

Above are Agueda & my roomie Yasmin-- Agueda speaks German which was fun for me to try out again with a Spaniard. Below Dani and I are showing off our theme "look." Never at a loss for party ideas, we had a "black and white" party with foods, clothing and decorations keeping the theme (along with slow jazz music and songs from the 40's!). Yasmin took favorite pics and printed them out in black and white (the Spanish term for that is opposite: "blanco y negro"). We played a game of charades with movies, where the partners had to be silent (reminiscent of the silent films... but using modern- day movies). Guess which movie is portrayed by Carmen & Abby here?

semana santa

Holy Week before Easter is celebrated with no greater pomp and passion than in Sevilla. It's called "semana santa" and is accompanied by about 50 parades of large statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary ... sometimes of 1,000 people (for ONE parade) marching through the streets of Sevilla

...who are all members of a society called an "hermandad." They do sort of a penance pilgrimage to the Cathedral from their home church, and back again. Sometimes the participants march for up to 6 or even 12 hours straight. The "Nazarenos" wear a hood, so that you cannot see who is in the parade, to maintain the anonymity in their dedication & repentance.

Flamenco party

Inga & Carlos are looking very dramatic? And aren't Carmen & Yasmin getting into the mood with those decorated fans??! ( Did you know that women really use them nowadays, in the heat of the summer?) This region of Spain is known for flamenco dancing and a famous festival every April in the city-- a fair lasting all week where women dress in flamenco dresses and people dance a famous style of dance called "sevillanas." And guess who is in that flamenco dress of green & red on the left??

So, using that theme, we hosted a Connexxion party at our apartment in late April. Inga did an excellent job helping get the living room looking like the inside of a fair tent!

Retreat in Germany

We had an awesome time in Germany in early May, with 34 attending our Connexxion retreat for students...

 and then followed that event with another retreat for our 9 staff & interns directly after it (see left-- Vincent, Vera, Birthe, Cheryl, Anja, Anja K.; bottom row: me, Yasmin, Thomas with baby Immanuel) ... I then spent some extra days, too, in Braunschweig in the north, in my old "stompin' grounds."

Bruce, my brother, came to speak, too and shared wonderful messages!

how the day starts in spain

What could be more typical in Spain, to start the day, than friends & café con leche? It is often served hot in a glass (not a mug). Coffee with milk, half and half doses. And believe you me, mine is always ordered with MORE milk, which is called a "manchado" (= "stained"). And on the other side of café con leche is coffee with just a touch of milk (they order a "cortado" meaning "cut"). Or you can drink full-blown espresso, black (be my guest!). 

Inga & Yasmin & I recently had morning coffee with a good friend José María, & his high school buddy Germán (on left).

birthday parties

Last week Inga had a birthday on Friday; and our friend Francisco had his on Thursday-- so they threw a party together at Inga's apartment! 

It was fun to celebrate with them, with various friends coming & going during the evening (Yasmin & I made pasta salad together, and Yas made brownies & a cake!). 

Under the long tablecloth is a space heater (electric), which is a typical method in Spain to heat your feet, even though the room may be chilly.

The next day we took Inga for a surprise picnic at the beach! Unfortunately it got a bit cold.

band visiting campus

Last week we had an awesome band visiting us from Texas. It was fun to have them do a little "jam session" on 2 campuses during the day. That night 3 friends of mine, Bea, Rebecca & Esther, came to the concert in a nearby town with Yasmin & I.

sunny days, cool evenings...

One evening we went to a flamenco place (the show starts at 11 p.m.! but it's free). Here are my friends Dani (Daniel) and Rosa, with her pal Jose Manuel. He looked so theatrical I thought if he went onto the stage to sing, people would have gotten quiet. After the show, we encouraged Inga to play some tunes - she is wonderfully gifted and creative in art & music!

I love these amazing ladies... Inga & Yasmin (left to right) are doing an internship with Connexxion. Inga & I got to be roommates for 3 + months and we know each other from Braunschweig, my last German home. She has such a heart to serve others! Yasmin just moved in in February, from Oklahoma. She already speaks Spanish & keeps us laughing. 

Maria just came for a couple days visit from Jena, Germany-- she & her twin sister Lydia & I have been friends for about 5 years. Don't you love the palm tree shadow in the background? That night we had "CookIng-A" which was created by Inga to teach others to cook, and share recipes. This time Maria made sausage balls Germany style. Seated here in our furnished apartment (above) are Maria, Daniel, Fran, Yasmin & Inga.

beach & soccer game

My first soccer game in Spain was last weekend, in the city of Huelva, about 1 hour away. "Fran" (Francisco) is a friend of ours who is from there and has season tix. Before that we had already had a full day-- a worship service in a pueblo across the river, with a visiting band from Texas. 

Followed by the biggest paella (yellow rice with meat & mussels) I've ever seen!

Then a short visit to the beach near Huelva, with friends Yasmin & Inga, as well as John (exchange student from North Carolina) & Maria (visiting from Germany).

After that rooting for Fran's home team-- Recreativo Huelva! (they tied)

cordoba & maria visits

It was truly a big treat to have Maria R. from Jena come visit us from Germany. She & I used to be in the same discipleship group with Connexxion for several years there and are special friends. She also did an internship with the Bapt. Student Union in Norman, OK a couple of years back, where she was the roommate of Yasmin (my cool, present roommie!!). 

So we had a fun reunion and those two plus my good friend Inga got to visit the city of Cordoba last Saturday. There we saw the Mezquita, which is a former moorish mosque and now a cathedral. Imagine this: 85,000 square feet; mostly low ceiling; red/ cream arches all over the place!

messy stalls

Growing up my Mom would lament the sometimes crazy and un-tidy nature of our home on Dixon Avenue. Particularly since she had 3 kids, one of whom was mentally handicapped, my precious brother Paul. She would quote this verse, Proverbs 14:4 - "Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest" (for my friends in Deutschland- "Wo keine Rinder sind, da ist die Krippe leer, aber die Kraft des Ochsen bringt reichen Ertrag.").

It means, basically, that you could have a perfect magazine- photo, everything- in - place house. But it would lack the production of a home that serves as a "workshop" of sorts-- where you have activity and also creativity! This reminds me of my apartment at times, like yesterday in fact, when more important things (like sleeping in, having breakfast with a friend & intern, even MORE students coming over for dinner, and celebrating 2 birthdays during the day for lunch) necessitated not fully cleaning up after our Valentine's party (yet!). It will get done, but not quite as soon as I would prefer. 

But the "manger" of my home-- a "feeding trough" to serve up & dish out love and God's Word and true fellowship-- now THAT is most certainly not empty. And we have "working" people here (hopefully a lot more attractive, however, than bulls!). It's messy. My schedule included. I cannot get it "picture perfect" -- especially with still getting used to living in Spain and a totally different lifestyle than Germany. My agenda is not all layed out, in pastel, coordinated colors, and exquisitely balanced and "tidy." I am off balance.

But we're seeing harvest. God is challenging me. I am sensing my need for Him. 

What more could I wish for?

Valentine's Party

Our college semester kick-off party this week was a belated Valentine's party in Sevilla. It included an interesting poetry match with 2 teams competing to create the most unique Valentine's poem (they even acted it out!), using the same 5 words (beauty, bicycle, etc.). I was really glad that so many students came from our friends as well as those attending our English Clubs.

brunch @ inga's

Inga has a new apartment just down the street -- and I got to have brunch on her BALCONY with our friend Francisco last week -- yahoo!! On the only day that it's been warm enough in awhile to do that.

An hour later it started to POUR down rain so we continued talking inside ... but Fran was kind enough to pose for a photo beside the railing, showing you the difference! (see both views of same shot)

Tortillas are not just Mexican food

A few photos to show you another kind of "tortilla"-- the kind that they have in all the Mom & Pop bars & restaurants in Spain. It's served cold, made only with eggs & chopped up potatoes (sometimes with onions, too; & a few people eat it with mayonnaise on the side). Well, the mayonnaise touch is from the city of Huelva where my friend "Fran" -- short for Francisco-- is from. 

Inga started a weekly cooking evening. I have been gone in January so this was my first time to experience it. 

A lovely evening; and "Dani" (Daniel) let each one of us try our hand at helping-- the flipping of it was a bit difficult.

Afterwards we went to a flamenco show in town where they have a couple of free shows,

 starting at 11 p.m. (what we'd call "late nights" in Spain are not so LATE for them!).

"You don't have the priority"

The wording on this sign is all over Spain: "Ud. no tiene la prioridad." You find this written by many traffic circles. "You don't have the priority." It means that those cars already in the roundabout have the right of way (not the vehicles entering the circle, like moi!). If I missed that, I could cause a wreck. It seemed to me a metaphor. Another way of saying, life is not about me. The world does not revolve around my happiness. I do NOT have the priority in the Universal Scheme of Things! (ouch!)

I was reminded of that last year, when it became clear that I was to move to Spain. Big decisions to be made, a transition to adjust to, new staff coming in, boxes (well, an entire apartment) to be packed up & stored. Tears of good-bye to be shed, just 16 months after moving there .... But God showed His hand-- that He was not taken by surprise. How do you trust, when you're completely caught off guard? When one phone call changes "the world as you know it?" On the other hand, if you've been walking with the Lord for very long, how can you NOT trust Him?! I realized my growing dispensability in one location, and how a sovereign God made me IN- dispensable, if you will, in another city. And what I'd anticipated would be one person to "replace" my leadership role in Braunschweig (and how thankful I was for that, in this "changing of the guard," a one- to -one trade) has now become 4! Not only Anja in leadership, but 3 other staffers have come alongside her to serve, as well as some key student leaders! Amazing! Would that have taken place, if I'd stayed? I did not have the ultimate "say" in my plans. But God did/ does. How reassuring. When this is my attitude, anticipating design instead of chaos during a big change, I find the "red thread" ("der rote Faden," as we say in German, or the consistency of a strategy and meaning). Yeah, it makes sense. 

That happened again this week. I went to Bally's Gym, to work out on one of those exercise Life Trainer thingys. Sweating, arms pumping, and legs marching ever forward (but getting no where). A fair work-out. And in the locker room I'd tucked away my bathing suit & towel, anticipating the reward of a whirlpool afterward. Ugh-- I strolled into the pool area, only to find that they'd drained the large jacuzzi hot tub, so they could clean it. So much for relaxing warm bubbles for my muscles. 

I promptly, disappointingly, turned around and let the ladies' locker room door close behind me. Then it happened. That sigh & the split second when you think something like, "Does this have a silver lining? Could the world (and God) have a higher purpose? How can I make lemonade out of lemons?" Ok, I'm being metaphorical here -- in plain language, something whispered in my brain, "You COULD go have a SWIM in the pool and really work out some MORE!! And that might loosen up your muscles, too!" It did. Hmm. I mean, I guess it did loosen up my muscles, stretching out some of the tightness. And it did, have a higher purpose. To understand that in life is much more fun. And I may avoid a few accidents.