8 March: Budapest or Bust!

Hola faithful friends and loyal family! I'm sorry this blog has been so boring of late-- it's not a direct relation to the interestingness of my life! <--did you know interestingness is a word? I didn't.

Anywayyyy, since I last wrote I've been to Granada, Córdoba, and Budapest and I have no idea how I will quickly catch you up on all of them (it's midnight here and I leave for Morocco in less than 27 hours) but I will try my best!

Highlights of Granada:

-Sierra Nevada-snowcovered mountain range, people! So beautiful. We hiked up a crazy cobblestone path lined with colorful eastern-influenced shops

 to get a good view:

yeah, it was so worth it. Two of my friends and I decided to wake before sunrise the next morning to experience it from this view- we were alone but for one lone professional photographer and we sat on the ledge and sang songs as the sun came up. Magical!

-Seeing the chapel in which Ferdinand and Isabel (yes, the Catholic rulers who sent Christopher Columbus to the new world) are buried and a museum with a bunch of their stuff

-The Alhambra, which words cannot describe:

and so much more. Granada was a truly beautiful city.

Highlights of Córdoba:

-Saw ancient ruins that were literally in the process of being unearthed-a relatively new discovery of previously lost Moslem palaces, no big deal

-saw La Mezquita, an incredibly impressive mosque that has since been turned into a cathedral because the Catholics liked to show their power by humiliating the Arabs in any way possible after the Reconquista

you can't possibly fathom, from those few pictures, how ENORMOUS or breathtaking that building is, it's like a small beautiful town.

- I went to my first discoteca- I feel much more Spanish now :-)

Overall, it was a fun weekend class field trip!

Then, last weekend, 7 of us (mostly people I don't usually spend much time with) rather spontaneously decided to head to Budapest, Hungary, for a 3 day trip.

Highlights of Budapest!

-They use Forints, not Euros, so that was fun to figure out...

-Budapest is rife with Disney-worthy castles

-Lots of cool monuments, and beautiful sites. The architecture is very different in Eastern Europe. Our group decided "weathered" was a good word to describe the feel.. it had it's own elegance, though.

-The House of Terror: a museum honoring the Hungarians who suffered under the communist reign of the USSR was amazingly well done, informative, and haunting.

-THERMAL BATHS. For real. Hungary is known for them--and for good reason! They were divine.

-We went to Lonely Planet's 3rd Best Bar in the World--it was really cool.

-Also, hot wine? I know it sounds weird, but it's a thing, and it's a delicious thing!

For more pics, look at facebook because I'm tired, but they're totally worth it! Budapest was amazing.

In other news:

-I've given up on the pan challenge. I'll suffer when I get home, but for now, I'll enjoy España in all its pan-filled glory.

-School work has picked up, and it's stressing everyone out!

-My mini-connection group has started memorizing Philippians 2, last week we started with the first two verses:

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness or compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and in purpose." (or something really close to that ;))

It is a good reminder, and I've found that memorization is a great way to keep one's focus in the right place. I'm still plugging along through Psalm 52 as well!

-I found out this week that I will be able to do linguistics research with a professor for credit next semester and I am pumped.

-Next Monday I'll have my first intercambio with a native Spaniard and I am so excited! We met her in Toledo and she seems really sweet.

-We head to Morocco tomorrow night really late (rather, Friday morning reaaaaallllllyyyyyy early)- so you can pray for safety in Africa! We'll only be spending one night there in the interests of fatigue, money, and safety.

So I need to get to bed!

Praises to God for:
-all of your support from home
-safe travels
-a wonderful host family (Teresa has been especially darling lately, calling us her niñas--she waited up for me when I came home from Budapest at 2am and prayed for me all weekend)
-a ready mind, so this homework isn't too heavy
-gorgeous weather all the time
-the incredible opportunities I've had here
-and the many blessings that come along with living in Cáceres.

I have never been so happy!

Love to you all. Hablamos pronto!