So, when we got back from London on Saturday night, Mara and I were on top of the world, so content and thrilled with the trip we just took. We came home to an empty apartment which is actually so nice! Chari and Walter were in Granada with family, so when we came home we were able to relax, take really long showers, eat the tortilla that Chari always serves us when we get home from trips, and not have to explain everything in Spanish. (I know it is good for me to try to explain everything, but it was pretty hard to get back into Spanish mode after a weekend in England.) We slept in super late the next morning and enjoyed having the house to ourselves. We were feeling great! Then around 6 PM we finally decided to try to go to a new church we had heard about here in Sevilla. So, we went out and found bus #3 and tried to take it all the way to the stop near the new church... Little did we know, it was basically the last stop on that bus line! So we of course got off the bus too early, thinking that we were in the right neighborhood so at least we should be close... We were wrong. We ended up walking another hour (along the bus route because we refused to catch another bus and have to pay bus fare again) until we finally found the church at 8:15 PM. It was definitely over and had actually started at 6:30 PM. So that was very disappointing for us, especially because we consider Sevilla our home and we don't like getting lost in our own city, no matter how big it is! We caught the bus home feeling discouraged and thirsting for some fellowship and worship time, so we listened to Phil Wickham on my iPod for the 45 minute bus ride home.
Chari dropped a prawn in Ashley's water! |
Hannah and I playing with Ricardo and Lorenzo |
Tuesday was my day full of roller coaster feelings. I felt like I did not understand anything in my classes all day long, and I kept getting answers wrong in my grammar class, when all I want is to understand what we are learning! I was so discouraged! But I sat down between classes and tried to study the new material and that helped a bit. At lunch, things got better because Chari taught us a few fun phrases to use on each other sarcastically (yay for Spanish sarcasm!) Right after lunch though, I had to go to Hospital de la Caridad (Charity Hospital) to play dominoes with the old men that live there for two hours. To be honest, I was not excited. It meant I did not get to rest during siesta time and that I would have to put up with their slobbery kisses that get real close to the mouth! Surprisingly, I really enjoyed my time there this week! I played dominoes with Hannah and two of the men, Lorenzo and Ricardo, like always. But this week they actually asked us a few questions about ourselves and I actually won a lot of games! The kisses were the same as always, but I think I am getting better at moving my lips away quickly! Also, I entertained myself by thinking of Ricardo as the old man chess player in all the Pixar digital shorts (he looks a lot like him and Ricardo is a pro at dominos! Ricardo is on the left, wearing glasses in the picture).
The rest of the day was better also, except the very frustrating moments when I could not communicate well with Chari. Later that night though, we ended up talking (her talking at me while I nod and reply with "Sí" and "Vale") for a good half hour just the two of us about her work at the hospital. It was encouraging because I understood everything she told me! So, as you can see, every day has its ups and downs. Sometimes they are just magnified in a foreign country!
To end on a fun note, last night Chari and Walter's granddaughter, Alicia, stayed the night at the house. We studied with her and laughed and laughed and laughed because she is quite entertaining! As always, the funniest parts of every conversation are the miscommunications. She is learning English and French in school so we taught each other a few fun phrases and laughed about how they don't make sense in other languages. One of the highlights was when Ashley asked Walter to take a picture of the four of us studying together at the table... it turned into a huge ordeal! He ended up walking into our bedroom to take a picture of us through the window! It was hilarious! He sat on my bed while taking the picture of us in the kitchen! Also, he struggled quite a bit to get the camera to work, like always =) I got the picture on the left right before he took our picture!