29 Enero: Un Día Muy Tranquilo

Hola! Quieres oír de la iglesia? Vale.

So, 6 of us walked to "El Puente" (The Bridge) Evangelical Church this morning for the 11:30 service. One of the pastors there, Tim, is from a city in Iowa from which another girl in our group is from, and so we had already contacted him about it. He told us that in Spain it takes between 10 and 20 years to get a church plant growing, and El Puente was started by a British woman 20 years ago. Today there were about 40-50ish people there, including the 6 of us. Everyone was very welcoming!

First there was 45 minutes of worship, which included singing (with a precious band made up of two guitars, a lady with a tambourine and maracas, and an older lady on the drums), praying, and scripture reading. Then we took communion and there was about 10 minutes of announcements. Then there was a 40-50 minute sermon by, as far as I could tell, a guest speaker (?) It was very, very long. When I was actively paying attention and working really hard to translate in my head, I understood most of what he was saying, but it was exhausting and I missed a lot. Also, he had about 5 distinct points that he was trying to get across in a short amount of time, so I think it was confusing anyway, but I couldn't be sure.

Afterwards, the worship leader, who is also the "youth" (ages 13-30) leader, introduced herself to us and invited us to an event on Friday, and Tim's wife Paula came over and talked to us in English and invited us over to their house for lunch next weekend. Spanish people are very hospitable.

Okay, new topic. So, there was one thing I was very, very wrong about. The food. I was convinced that I wouldn't like anything, would eat only olives, and come home delgada, skinny. HA! Oh my lanta. I have never eaten so much food in my life! Teresa and Leondro, darlings that they are, are believers in BIG meals. I mean, at home, I feel like I eat a lot and then am still hungry two hours later. Here, they are disappointed with how little we eat, and I'm not even hungry between meals (served in the morning, at 2-2:30, and at 9-9:30) !

For example, lunch today: mussels covered in "American salsa" (no idea what that is), pickles, apple cider (that he claimed didn't contain alcohol but smelled and tasted like it did), bread, crackers, a HUGE salad (onions, lettuce, and carrots covered in vinegar, olive oil, and salt), fried peppers in oil, potatoes (fried and mushed and swimming in oil and butter), and veal. So not only is there a ton of food, lots of new things, but also everything is very heavy. They were upset that we didn't want seconds on the veal! I couldn't even eat all of my firsts. So, the point is, I'm going to get fat.

Quick comments on the city: it is very family oriented, I think. There are lots and lots of little children and families doing things together all the time. Also, lots of dogs. It is so so pretty. Hannah and I spent the afternoon in the paseo again, tomando el sol and listening to my iPod. What a life!

Praises to God for:
-another beautiful day
-the kind and welcoming people of Cáceres
-our sweet sweet family (mamá Teresa blessed us each with her Holy Water from the Jordan River before church this morning)
-the opportunity to go to a Protestant church in Spain
-good food
-that we get to go to the University tomorrow!
-that I have been so completely happy and content here, not at all homesick yet!

Hablamos pronto!