So the Sunday after my last post I went to my first ever Spanish church service. The church, which is one of the very few evangelical churches within in Spain, is really close to my house. The church does not look like a normal church, but a store front. Upon arriving, we attended a bible study for the youth first. It was a really great study that talked about growing in Christ. At the end of the bible study the teacher came up to me and my friends and said that God has brought us here to Spain for a purpose. It was really encouraging. After the bible study, was the actual church service. It was so cool because even though we sang in Spanish I knew the songs. We sang a lot of songs that I normally sing at Hope and at Radiant. I was so excited to be singing something familiar, even though it was in Spanish. I learned from the service that you can worship in any lenguage and God brings everyone together despite our differences. What a great first experience it was!
On Tuesday we did not have class because it was a Spanish holiday, well an Andalusian holiday. The day where Andalusia gained its independence. It was nice to have a break. I spent the entire day in the sun. Right when the day started I headed to the my favorite park (Parque de Garcia Lorca). It is absolutely beautiful there. The weather was perfect. It has started to get into the upper 60s here. I decided to try to go for a run in the park, but that didn't happen. I ran for about 10 minutes and then found my self sitting on a park bench watching people around me and basking in the sun. In the park I just feel a sense of peace flowing through me.
On Wednesday, I had my first ever Spanish cooking class. It was so fun!! The class got split up into two groups and each group cooked one of our class days. I am cooking next week, but it was still fun to watch other people cook and then I got to eat their food. What a deal!! The class made Spanish tortilla, which consists of eggs and potato. It is made kind of like a quiche or omelette. It tastes really good! And they also made magdalenas, which are a muffin type thing that have lemon in them. They were delicious. I even brought one home to share with my host mom and she insisted that we make them.
On Friday, we had our IES trip to Cordoba. It was a very early morning beginning at 6am, but it was worth it. The first places we stopped at was the Madinat Al-Zahra. This is the so called "lost city" or "lost paradise" of the Umayyad Dynasty (one of the first Muslim rulers in Spain.) The city was built when the one of the Umayyads became a caliphate (leader). The city represents power and authority. After the Umayyad Dynasty fell, the city was taken apart and then it became covered with dirt since it is built on a hill. An archaeologist discovered the city and from that point on work has been done to uncover it. It was so cool to see the ruins from this lost city.
After seeing the ruins of the city, we headed into the center of Cordoba to see the mezquita (mosque). The mezquita of Cordoba actually belongs to the Church now. The mosque is still standing, but right in the center the Christians built a church. It is one of the craziest things I have ever seen. When you walk into the mosque you see what a normal mosque would look like with tons of arches. The mihrab is still even standing. Then you walk to the center of the building and all of a sudden there is a cathedral. I cannot wrap my head around it. It was honestly one the strangest things I have ever seen. It was so cool to see though. It is the only mosque/cathedral in the entire world.
On Saturday, I went to two houses in which Federico Garcia Lorca lived. It is so interesting to learn about this author and to see how important he is to Granada.
As I said in the beginning, March is going to be a crazy month. Next weekend I have a trip to Malaga for my watercolor workshop class and I have another trip for my Lorca class. And then the next weekend I am off to Morocco. Then after that comes Semana Santa. Here comes the madness!!
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