Spain

It's been two weeks since I got back. In some ways, it seems like a really long time since then - I went to Pennsylvania, had Thanksgiving, and my apartment is decorated for Christmas. But somehow, I feel like I just got back yesterday. This is important, because if you had asked me how the trip went right after I got off the plane and had a good night's sleep, I would have said that it was amazing and a really awesome trip. After thinking about it and processing for a couple of weeks, I would tell you that it was a good trip, but that it was also challenging in many ways. So, depending on my mood when you ask me about Spain, I'll either be very excited, or very reserved - and both are important emotions to capture when it comes to Spain.

I'm warning you now, this is going to be a long post. It is also going to be heavily censored. I will do my best to cover the important bits, but there are things I either can't talk about online or am not ready to discuss personally. Plus, I took about 600 pictures on the trip, so I'm trying to limit myself to the highlights. Also, if you're expecting a lot of pictures of me, you will be disappointed. I spent most of my time like this:


...so aside from the few Troy took, you'd never know if I was actually in Spain. I hate having my picture taken, anyway.

I'm tempted to see how much longer I can continue to write about absolutely nothing, but I will spare you and just get on with it.

We flew out November 9, and because I know you're dying to ask: Yes, I went through the full-body scan, and No, I was not patted down. At the time, I had no clue that the debate was going on, and frankly, I don't want to get involved. Other than that, no worries with the flights. The girl I sat next to on the flight to Madrid was alternately sobbing hysterically or sleeping with her feet almost in my lap for the entire flight. It was ... interesting. We arrived in Madrid early Wednesday morning. One thing I wish I had been able to get pictures of and didn't was the Madrid airport. It is gigantic and has carved arched ceilings - truly beautiful. But because it is so large, I think we walked about a mile to get from the gate to immigration. No joke.

My parents and I met up with Sam, who had flown in from PA, and Troy, our mission contact, and headed out to Guadalajara, where Troy and Julie live. Fun fact: the van was parked in the same parking area that was bombed in 2006. We also saw where the train bombings took place in 2004. Anyway. The traffic going in to Madrid was horrible. We got in right at rush hour, but fortunately, we were going in the opposite direction. I still don't want to ever drive in Spain. I admire people who can do it, but I felt like I was on a roller coaster where the tracks and speed randomly changed.

We pretty much crashed after we got settled in. Roger and Sharon were already there, having been on a cruise in the Mediterranean the week before. I didn't want to sleep too long because I hate jet lag, and the easiest way to beat it is to just immediately put yourself on your host country's schedule. Unfortunately, having not slept in awhile, I did require something resembling rest. I was awake in time for lunch, though, which was on Spanish time, meaning 2:30.

That night, we helped out at the English Conversation Class.


Having never been part of a TESOL experience, I was very curious about how it worked. It was actually pretty simple, though. As a group, we listened to a song in English and then talked about what it meant. ("Lemon Tree" by Fool's Garden, in case you were curious.) Then, we paired off and the native English speakers would ask questions on a certain topic. The group was fairly advanced, so we were there mostly for slang and individual words they didn't know.


On Thursday, we went to Toledo, Spain. It was beautiful!


Everything is just so quaint.


The Cathedral is absolutely massive. It is beautiful inside, and houses many priceless works of art, including several by El Greco and Carvaggio. The wealth in that place is unbelievable.


You can't see it very well, but our group is standing under the sign for Calle de Toledo, Ohio. The two Toledos are sister cities, and having lived in Toledo, Ohio for the better part of 7 years, I felt a deep bond with the Toledo in Spain.


For lunch, we went to a medieval-themed restaurant. I was in heaven with the decor, though the food was also medieval-themed, which was less than satisfactory.


While we did not (could not) use this parking garage entrance, I had to include it because everywhere in Spain are the tiniest cars you have ever seen. It's slightly ridiculous, but necessary, as evidenced by this:


That's a street. One of the wider ones, in fact.

We spent the majority of Friday getting ready for the English Camp. I knew going in that this was the purpose of the trip, but I had no clue what that meant. I just had to tell myself that I would know what I needed to know when I needed to know it. If you know me even just a little, you know I HATE going into something blind. I had to suppress a lot of my freak-out tendencies. Besides, I figured - it's an English camp, I know English, it'll be fine. And it was. Essentially, we had more than 40 people at the OMS camp in Spain. Some were native English speakers while the rest were Spaniards at various levels of English capabilities. My mom and Sam hung out with the kids and taught some basic lessons.


The rest of us would split up into two's and three's and discuss certain topics.


Mariam and Paula


Eva and Mercedes. Mercedes (in red) was there with her daughter, and we had some very good conversations at dinner.


Sam and I got to be good friends with Susana. She and I had a really good walk and talk that led us here:


It's an old Roman bridge over the Rio Tajo that goes to Toledo. It was a gorgeous spot, and Susana and I were able to talk about several things. She invited me to stay with her next time I go to Spain, which would be amazing.


We would also have workshops on various topics that people could attend. My Dad led one on the Protestant faith, a completely foreign concept in a predominantly Catholic country. It was very interesting to see the perspective everyone had on Protestantism, and it spawned some really interesting discussions.


I had to put this in because it is one of four paths to the Comedor (Dining Room) from where we spent the rest of our time. The first path is more of a road, but it takes too much time. The second is shorter, but isn't very direct. This path is most direct, but quite steep. The fourth path could kill you.

On Saturday night, we held Riverfest. Toledo, Ohio has a festival every year, and we did our best to copy it, at least a little. We had all kinds of carnival games and food (including buckeyes!) and prizes from Toledo for people to win.





I have to talk about this kid because he was pretty hilarious. Sam and I were the most lenient with our tickets when we ran games, so the younger kids would come see us when they needed extras. (When I stopped running the ring toss, Ethan was devastated. He probably got about twenty tickets from me.) Sam was running the basketball game, and this kid asked her what he needed to do to win all the tickets she had. She didn't think he was serious, so she told him he had to make a basket, run around the Casa Grande four times, make another basket, run to the comedor to get her coffee, make another basket, get two buckeyes for her and me and then make one more basket. I tell you, I have never seen a kid run so fast in my life. But he did it all, and he was handsomely rewarded for his efforts.


Two days really isn't enough time to get to know a lot of people really well. I'd like to go back next year and help out again. We had a really good group.

We finished English camp on Sunday, and on Monday, our last day, we headed to the little pueblo of Siguenza (pronounced See-gwen-tha). It is a beautiful little town, and we had a great time.


Siguenza is home to a parador, a castle that has been turned into a hotel. We got an inside look because someone knew somebody who knew somebody. I was definitely in my element.


La capilla


The castle also has history to it. Basically, the ruler got married to this girl, but then disowned her and imprisoned her in the castle. Feel free to translate the story - it's quite interesting.


During the Spanish Civil War, there were forces holed up in the local cathedral (pictured) and in the castle. You can still see the pock marks from the bullets that were fired at the troops in the cathedral.


We also took the time to visit a local pottery workshop. Siguenza is known for its beautiful pottery, and we had the chance to see where some of it is made. All by hand.


We were all pretty impressed.

On Tuesday, we were back in the airport, and while our flight to Chicago was unusually lengthy, we finally made it. We were exhausted, exhilarated and exceedingly glad to be home.

The rest of the pics are just random sights we saw while we were in Spain.


Troy holding a Tony Packo's shirt in his workshop on M*A*S*H.


Julie was awesome. She fed us and kept us in line.


This is very typical for Spanish homes. It's ham, and families will buy one of these and use it for a week.


I really, really love this house.


I met Sam for the first time in the Madrid airport. Because of the overabundance of couples, we hung out quite a bit and became pretty good friends by the end of the trip.


If you have read Don Quijote, you know he is the Man of La Mancha. We were staying in Castille de la Mancha, so we saw Don Quijote things everywhere.


I took about 100 pictures of the countryside. It was incredibly different from what I'm used to.


People have farmed these fields for hundreds of years, and it is still the rockiest soil I have ever seen. Everywhere you look, there are piles of stones taken from the fields.


During Franco's regime, the only billboards he allowed were the ones for his favorite brand of whiskey. Though there are a million billboards now, they have kept the bulls, which have become a national symbol.



Thank you for sticking with me through this post, and please feel free to contact me personally if you would like to know more. Thank you so much for the opportunity to go to such an amazing place!

I'm going to end with the traditional sunset, but I'm going to do it in a non-traditional way. When you think of Spain, this is a pretty typical image you might think of, and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. It's one of my favorite pictures that I've taken.