Five things I have learned about Spain thus Far!

I love this village!

I thought that yall might like to know some little things I have learned since I have been here. Just a couple of fun facts that I found to be interesting about this region of Spain and the people I have been in contact with! I am very tired today because I did not really get to sleep much last night. I did not fall asleep until 4:00 :(.

1. Pretty much every person I have met has been very warm and welcoming. I mentioned the fact that they give you a slight hug and a kiss on each cheek whenever they first meet you. It took me a little while to get used to this! haha! Also, the people Rebeca has introduced me to (a couple of her friends own shops in the village) have been very willing to help me. They always say "if you have any problem. You come here and we take care of it! Es nothing Aimyyyy (Amy)!"

2. Meals are taken very late in the day (lunch and dinner). I know what everyone is saying, 'of course they do! It is Europe!'. But I guess I never thought about it until I really experienced finishing lunch at 3:30 and dinner at 10:00! haha!

3. I am one of the tallest people around. The first thing that Rebeca said to me when she met me was "you are SO tall!". It is not that the people I have met are super short or that there is no one that is taller than me. But I have yet to meet a person that is significantly taller than me.

4. During my run yesterday in the village I passed a car that had stopped in the road. Other cars began to pile up behind it and when I circled around a few minutes later I noticed that there was a significant amount of traffic being caused by this one little car. The thing that is most interesting (I am sure you are probably wondering what I am getting at) is that NO ONE was honking or yelling and I saw no signs of frustration from any of the drivers. As I was circling around and ran past the car that was stopped I believe it was a REALLY old french couple who were confused about the roads and were talking to a lady in the street. The lady was then helping the couple get out of their car and from what I could hear she was going to drive them to their location! Anyways so it is interesting to see the different temperaments of different countries. Here in the village of Puigcerda the people are very relaxed and you often stand in line for a few minutes and listen to the customer in front of you gossip or catch up with the salesperson! It is really quite nice and it suits my personality just fine.

5. Even though I am in a completely different country it is fun to see the similarities! I have taken some pictures of these similarities:).

Okay so I don't have a picture of what I think the similarity is but what I was going to say is that people in Spain are also quick to marvel at beauty and take pictures of beautiful things. How awesome is our God that He created such wonderful things for us to enjoy! Incredible!

They read about Michael Phelps! :) Apparently he too is a human being and got Silver in the 200m race. Tsk tsk. He is slipping.

The children play video games...and LOTS of them. This is Hugo. He is the cousin of Marco and Paula. He has a little brother who is three and very blonde! :) Some of the cutest kids I have ever seen have been in Puigcerda. Perfect skin and beautiful hair!

They watch Friends!! For those of you who know me. I am sure you can understand why I was excited about this fact :).

Es todo por el dia! Estoy a la caminar con el perro, "Rocky".

Vale!

~Amy Elinor

p.s. please feel free to correct my Spanish. Really not sure if I said that last bit correctly.:)

The Trip to Puigcerda

Hola Amigos!

It has been a very interesting couple of days. Last night was the first night that I have slept more than four hours since like Friday night so I feel much better today.. Maybe it is all of the coffee I have been drinking?

The beginning of my trip:

On Sunday morning I flew without any trouble to Atlanta but unfortunately I had to wait a LONG time at the Atlanta airport (because my flight did not leave until 6pm), by the end of the eight hours or so I was so tired of sitting down that I contemplated doing a couple of sprints but I decided against it:). While I was waiting, my mom sent me an AWESOME sermon by Francis Chan about prayer. Just a huge reminder of how the Lord is able to answer every single prayer we send to him, no matter how small! Please be praying that I find a Christian friend in Puigcerda and please read Psalm 27 and pray that for me, it has been on my heart for this trip.

It was finally time to begin the process of boarding.

Side note: For the past couple of weeks I knew that there was a slight possibility that I would get to ride in first class. But I had not let myself get TOO excited about the thought because I didn't want to be let down if it did not happen.

So everyone was lining up to get ready to board and they start calling names..I suddenly hear "SHEINNKKK" and I quickly rush over to the person behind the counter and I get asked, "window or aisle?" and then she handed me my ticket and I immediately got pretty excited because it said "Seat 2A which I was SURE was first class(technically called "business class" because there is no first class)! And about five minutes later, I was able to board with those in first class. I think one of my favorite things about first class is that you get to board before anyone else and you also get to get off before anyone else!

We sat down and were immediately handed a menu for the flight where we saw what the appetizers were and what main course and dessert we could choose. Also, before the flight began, we were handed a glass of champagne.:)

The food was wonderful and the seats were comfortable, I cannot say a bad thing about the whole thing! But I did feel a little pretentious sitting in the front! haha

That is the appetizer we had: Potato soup and duck breast with couscous..

I had a great conversation with the lady sitting next to me, she was an American whose daughter had moved to Spain with her Spanish husband she had met in New York. She gave me her card and her daughter's email address so I am going to contact her daughter for some advice about what to see in Barcelona!

After arriving in Barcelona I got my baggage but unfortunately my telephone did not work so it took awhile to get in touch with Rebeca. We finally met up and she was so wonderful and warm that I immediately felt at home with her!

The drive to their village was not too bad, the scenery was beautiful but I did not get any pictures because I just didn't think about it (I think I was too tired! haha!). Their village is situated in a valley and there are beautiful mountains all around, I wish I could see them with snow on them! During the drive Rebeca and I chatted about various things. which included the pronunciation of "Puigcerda", the village where they live. It is in the region of Catalan so the language of the area is different from Spanish and sounds pretty odd. The pronunciation is REALLY hard to do, haha it is something like; "poocher'da" (I think). Every time I say it, Rebeca repeats it back to me and I don't feel like I sound at all like her! haha

We had lunch at the "Chalet del Golf" which is a hotel that they manage that is about ten minutes drive away from their house. The great thing about being with the Garces family is that they manage two hotels so we get to eat at either hotel for free! The Chalet is a beautiful and very calming place. The view is amazing and the golf course looks beautiful but not beautiful enough to tempt me to try my hand at golf again;).

The other hotel "Campus Cerdanya" is more active and it is very modern. The hotel is designed for groups to stay and they provide a lot of activities. Rebeca has set it up so I can take the children to the pool, ice skating, or to play tennis. But, if I want to do a class (spinning, abs, pilates, etc...) I have to pay 6 euros.. So I probably won't be taking very many classes.

My room at their house is small but very comfortable. I really like it.

Here is a picture of my windows (which take up a lot of that wall! haha)

The people I have met are very nice and it is apparently normal to hug someone when you meet them and give them a kiss on each cheek! haha

More on the town and the surrounding view whenever I have more time to take pictures and explain them:). Hope you are having a great day!

P.S. In Spain they do the lisp for their C's and Z's.. I have started doing it, but it takes a while to get used to saying! haha and sometimes I cannot understand a Spanish word if they say it quickly and lisp.

The Countdown Begins..17 days until Spain

Pictured above is the town I will be staying in, Puigcerda...


Hello all!

I am getting excited about my trip to Spain which will include but is not limited to:

Hanging with kids.

Hiking.

Going to Barcelona (hopefully).

Sailing to Ibiza.

Learning. Learning.Learning.

Spanish.Catalan. French. annndd who knows how many other languages.

Growth! (In my relationship with God and in understanding myself!)

Driving a standard vehicle (oh help).

I am going to try to keep up with this blog and keep everyone updated on how my trip is going! :) So come back and see what you can see in a couple of weeks!

It's Been Awhile!

Hello.

Well it has been a long time since I have made a blogpost. I doubt anyone ever reads this anymore but I am going to try to post more this semester. So I am graduating and I am feeling kind of sad but also really happy. This is definitely a season of transition. So right now I am just trying to figure out what I want to do this summer (suggestions are accepted AND appreciated). Okay! Enough serious talk for now. I have a fun little story for you all.

My friend Bethanie and I went to a jewelry company's trunk show of sorts to showcase their jewelry and try to convince you to become a partner or whatever. We walked into the beautiful Austonian (a residence in the middle of downtown where very wealthy people live) and the staff led us to an elevator where we went allllll the way up to the fifty-fifth floor. The room was lovely and all of the ladies at the event were beautiful. It was fun to feel a little glamorous and sip on the mimosas and snack on the croissants. The jewelry had a cute concept but the quality of the metals left something to be desired.

Bethanie and I ended our fun little outing by enjoying the walk back to our car and playing a piano that was downtown on Congress. There are lots of pianos placed all over the cities put on by a program. They are only here for a couple of weeks though!

Hope yall have a great weekend!

-Ames

Can I get an opinion????

Okay so how much is too much to spend on something really good that I would use everyday...Honestly I don't think spending $21.00 on something you would use everyday for a couple months is a bad investment. I am posting this because I have been debating buying a really nice brand of mascara....It is called "Lashgasm" by Too Faced. It is amazing. It truly changed my opinion of what mascara can do. So yes or no? Buy the mascara or run away from it?

Interesting....

Doesn't this Gardenia look like is smells amazing?? :) I love Gardenias!

Last Sunday I found myself in my green Toyota Camry lost in some random part of Richmond, Texas trying to get myself to a wedding on time. I was flustered and annoyed when I finally arrived at the wedding (slightly late) and as I settled into my seat, I realized something.....

I smelled. Not a good smell by any means but a kind of sweaty, embarrassing smell that comes when you forget your deodorant and then sit in a dark green car with leather seats with a heat index of at least a hundred degrees (no matter how much you run the AC, it's still hot) for about an hour.

ANYWAYS the reason why I am talking about this is because I did not realize I smelled bad until I sat down in the lovely, cool church which had fresh roses decorating the aisles. I thought that it was very interesting that I did not realize I smelled until I surrounded myself with people and a place that smelled good. This made me think about the power that those you spend time with have over you. If you are constantly surrounded by people who do not live their lives for Christ you may find that their "scent" permeates your body.

I really believe this is why Christ tells us is Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers: 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night."

So I would encourage you to be careful of who you are surrounding yourself with. I have honestly struggled with this issue myself but the Lord is clear about the way you should live your life. Do not walk, stand, or sit near the wicked, those who sin, or those who scoff.

Have a lovely day! :)

-Amy

Stir Frying Up Some Trouble!

I was in such a great mood after finishing all of my classes yesterday I had some friends over for dinner and the meal I fixed was stir-fry! It was really quite fun and interesting to try something different but I first had to find a recipe....I found one online and ran over to the grocery store to get all of the fresh veggies and chicken required (Oh, and some teriyaki sauce of course!). As I was checking out I realized that ALL of the vegetables I had purchased (carrots, green beans, broccoli, and bok choy) would not be able to fit in my largest frying pan which is not even that large. And then I had the wonderful idea that I could buy one of those things, what do you call them?? Oh, right a WOK! But then reality shot into my head and goes 'where in the heck are you going to get thirty bucks to buy one of those puppies?'... The rain was hitting the back of my neck when I ran to my car with a worried look on my face, how was I ever going to pull this meal off? But then I had the wonderful idea of running into the Goodwill next to Randalls to see if by chance they might have a wok! I ran inside and there it was, an amazing wok for only six bucks. It really is quite amazing and heavy-duty! Thankfully a shopper next to me told me that I better grab a lid for it (which didn't have a price tag so I did not get charged for it). I rushed home and began the task of chopping up the vegetables I had purchased. At the end of the night I was very pleased with myself for trying something new and different. It was so much more fun and interesting to chop up the veggies myself and do everything by hand than buy one of those ready-made bags of stir-fry (those can be lifesavers at certain times though, don't get me wrong). I also felt pretty good after eating the stir-fry, much better for you than a big piece of pizza or heavy pasta. Here are some pictures from last night....

Did I mention I also made some chocolate chip cookies :)?

Everything is all chopped up and ready to jump in the Wok! It is actually a lot bigger in person.

(notice: this picture was taken today as I forgot to take a picture of it last night...)

I encourage you to try making a stir fry! My only advice is that you get the freshest veggies possible, Randalls is not so fresh :/...

Cheers! -Amy Elinor

P.s. For those of you who have not had the immense pleasure of meeting my new purse in person, here she is, Celia....I will forever be indebted to Stephanie Erin Bostwick!