una vida mas simple...claro.

This weekend we visited the beautiful cities of Cordoba and Granada. In Cordoba we saw "La Mezquita," a huge Muslim temple (famous black and white arches) that is now a catholic church. Granada is famous for the magical castle, "La Alhambra," which is the most visited attraction in all of Spain--with tickets sold out at 7,000 visitors each day. It was filled with detailed and intricate carvings in all four white marble walls and the ginormous ceilings of most of the buildings. Wish I could post some pictures, but alas, an unfortunate event happened that makes this difficult for me.

My family's problems of losing/getting stolen/breaking cameras has continued, and my ipod was stolen today while visiting the Alhambra castle. I forgot it in the bathroom for one second and went back to get it and it wasn't there. So it was my fault, but still...I was still praying it would turnup in the lost and found. My primary source of photos/videos, contacting friends/family, keeping track of money, and music for long travels is gone for the remaining 5 weeks of this journey. Well, it was really hard at first since I do have so many pictures and videos on that device in hopes to make a video montage, photo book, etc. of all my pictures. This happened when I went to Kenya a few years ago...I had memory card/camera 100% full of pictures and videos of my experiences there and it was stolen/disappeared on the last day at the hotel. So I now have my roommate's laptop when she does not need it, and a precious disposable camera with 18 pictures left for the journey ahead.

I've become more or less content with the situation, though. I read a bit of 1 Samuel this morning as my sad attempt at some sort of church since we weren't able to go to church because of our weekend trip. And in chapter 2 (Hannah's prayer), it says, "The LORD makes poor and He makes rich. He brings low, He exalts, He lifts the needy from the ask heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor." So a bit after the sadness of losing pictures, knowing communication back home and with friends here will be more difficult, and not having much of a camera for the rest of the huge trip, I thought about this passage and realized that God was teaching me a lesson about His sovereignty and joy that I will always have in eternal, nonmaterial things which I was thankful for (yeah, it is only an ipod, but still, a very powerful lesson to be learned). I am now more free to experience Spain in all its beauty rather than obsessing over the next spot to connect to wifi to imessage friends or post pictures. I was beginning to get annoyed with the many, many iphones that are still out in public from all of us American students who are in Spain...but still cannot get away from the U.S. So this change was just forced upon me instead since I did not have the willpower to change that anyways. If that makes sense...

So this upcoming week, we are renting bikes (small fee involved so it is a special week) and there is a 4 day weekend for some study abroad students that are traveling to Morocco. So my roommate and I are taking the day Friday to explore Sevilla on our bikes...maybe get McDonalds (don't judge, I am really excited to eat a Big n Tasty) and be adventurous. We have a growing list of bucket list things in Sevilla such as: going to Arab baths and trying their cinnamon tea, flea markets in town, Murillo gardens, play Parchis and grab a drink at this restaurant (love them games), and row boats in Plaza de Espana! So some of those will get crossed off this next weekend..and we will go to a church which is the most exciting thing for me.

So that is the cinch of life here right now.

"My heart exalts in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in Your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides You. There is no rock like our God."
1 Samuel 2:1,2