(written December 27th)

What a few weeks it’s been! I feel like I start every journal entry like this :P

Well, the semester is officially over. After a few last weeks of scrambling to finish final papers and photo portfolios, we’re finally done! The Wednesday before everyone left, we had a fancy cena de despedida (goodbye dinner) at a very traditional Segovian restaurant. Everyone came- our host families, our professors, even Manrique, the front-desk guy at the center. It was so fun to see everyone in their element with their host families and meet the people I’d been hearing stories about all semesters. We had the special-occasion meal that Segovia is famous for- cochinillo. I can’t remember if I’ve written about this or not, but it’s roast baby pig- 21 days of mother’s milk, then roasted for hours till it’s super tender…basically what we dissected in bio, minus the formaldehyde. Cochinillo is more than just a fancy tradition- it’s an entire ordeal. After two or three courses, they brought them out on this huge grill, with tons of herbs and steam. Everyone crowded around, taking pictures and oohing and aahing while an older man read this fancy speech (which Sandra said she couldn’t even understand) and then proceeded to chop up each cochinillo into 8 large parts using only a porcelain dinner plate and stick them onto our plates. Hooves and all.

Nearly the entire group took off that Friday, and it was a lot harder than I expected to say goodbye to everyone and just have it all be over like that. Those who didn’t leave on Friday left in next few days to travel with family or friends over Christmas until just my friend Kat and I remained. We spent a free week together practicing vocab, playing guitar, and exploring Segovia a bit more. Also, I moved! Sandra moved to a different apartment nearer to the center of Segovia and of course, I came with. Our new place is enormous, especially for Spanish apartments, which are typically pretty tiny. It was an insane whirlwind of a weekend with most of Sandra’s family, her boyfriend, and a few moving guys helping us with the move. I discovered anew that Spaniards tend to be more comfortable with yelling and harsh words and brutal honesty with each other, especially when stressed….yikes! One cultural difference that I’m not quite accustomed too, but I stayed out of the line of fire and in a few days, peace arrived again. :P

On the 18th, Kat and I took off to Madrid to meet up with her family- her parents and her brother Joseph who were visiting from Minnesota for the week. They had invited me to travel with them over Christmas and I was so, so blessed to spend this time with them! Within days, I felt like part of the fam and their generosity was overwhelming. We first spent three days in Madrid and visited the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), the cathedral, some Egyptian ruins, an enormous beautiful park called El Parque de Buen Retiro. We ate plenty of delicious Spanish food (tortilla espanola, jamón serrano, churros y chocolate, paella, all sorts of tapas…the works!), took lots of strolls around the city looking at the gorgeous lights and nearly getting crushed by the crowds, and met up with our friend Jorge who showed us some of his favorite parts of the city.

Next, we stayed in Granada (southern Spain, in the region of Andalucía) for a day and a half, visited the Alhambra again (huge Moorish palace with some amazing gardens) and of course, took in the ambience of the Arab-influenced culture in the many markets and teterías (tea shops) there. Finally, we spent the 23rd-26th in Sevilla, also in Andalucía. We saw another flamenco show (still soooo amazing!) and visited the largest cathedral in Spain (third in Europe) again. Lots of things were closed since it was over Christmas, so we spent a lot of time walking along the river in the 70-degree weather.

Christmas was different this year, but good. The craziest part of it was that we had the opportunity to go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve at this enormous cathedral! It was my first Catholic mass, and we got there early to sit in the front row, about 100 yards away from the remains of Christopher Colombus himself….how insane!! The service itself was really interesting….a lot of singing in Latin, readings in Spanish with a few commentaries here and there, ringing bells and incense and many old men with elaborate robes and hats. The congregation participated during some songs, the offering, the Eucharist, and at then end, when everyone lined up to kiss the feet of a statue of baby Jesus. Wow. Needless to say, it was very different than anything I’ve seen before. To be honest, it was all a pretty confusing experience. The altar space was no simple altar, but actually an altar with a wall probably two stories high and the most intricate carvings depicting scenes from Jesus’ life- with literally every square centimeter covered in gold leaf. Ironically, the altar area had these huge golden barred gates on all sides stretching just as high, separating the congregation from everything else and making it hard to see what was going on. I’ve never seen so much wealth in my life, and it was just strange. I understand that when this cathedral was built, all the wealth and gold and formalities were an attempt to bring glory and praise to God…but it was just odd, knowing that Jesus came not into this world of wealth and jewels but in a smelly dirty cave among animals and shepherds. I couldn’t help feeling that if Jesus was physically here this Christmas, he might be hanging out with the gypsies and beggars in the mountains of Granada instead of at a cathedral like this. That aside, it was sweet to see that the content of the mass was quite Christ-centered and that the main prayers centered around the homeless, the disabled, the sick, and that all forms of war and racial division and oppression would stop. All in all, I still don’t quite know what to make of it, but definitely some food for thought…

Christmas itself was pretty chill…we took some walks and played games in our hotel room. I got to talk to my family (the entire Schuessler side…including the Phoenix cousins through skype!!) and heard my sisters play the song they had sung in church that morning. Kind of a rougher day, but still soooo blessed to have my second family of the Melheims that day. :) Coming home to Segovia was heavenly….I love this city so much! I didn’t realize how much I had missed Sandra until she swept me up into this huge hug once she got home that night from work…..so good to be home here. It’s freezing cold, but for the first time in weeks the sky is clear and you can see the enormous blue snow-covered mountains in the distance beyond the aqueduct and the mass of rust-colored shingles of the houses. Breathtaking. :) These next few weeks will be full- New Years Spanish style (aka all night long?!?!), and then January 6th, which is just as big or even more important than Christmas for most Spanish families. The 6th is known as Reyes (Kings), when the arrival of the three kings to worship Jesus is celebrated. Supposedly, there’s a huge parade on the 6th, and the night before kids set out turrón (a typical Spanish candy) for the kings and water and snacks for their camels (sound familiar?). They wake up the next morning to find the snacks half-eaten and gifts from los Reyes, hopefully just what they asked for in the letter they wrote to them earlier in the month. :)

We start class right away Monday, then it’ll be three short weeks and home! After so many crazy adventures and growth experiences and challenges, I’m ready to process a bit, to just sit and sift through all of this and how it fits in life at home. I’ve LOVED traveling, seeing new things, learning to adapt….but in the end I’m finding that there truly is no place like home, as cheesy and Dorothy-esque as that sounds. I think we have different seasons of our live (shoutout to Christine Osgood’s Personal Wholeness class….:P)- seasons in which we step outside the box and experiencing new things and get challenged and stretched, and then seasons in which we step back inside to rest, reflect, cement the new things we’ve learned, and prepare for what’s to come….I’m definitely coming up on the latter.

Ready to crack down on Spanish these next few weeks, hopefully grow leaps and bounds in the language, and have some last adventures with Spanish friends and Marie and Steph. And then…..home. :) Soooo excited to run errands with my mom, have garage talks with my dad, sing and harmonize with my sisters and snuggle with them during Gilmore Girls, hug my grandparents and just BE with them, cook my own food and try new recipes, go running, play piano and guitar!!, attempt to learn to drive again, have late-night IN PERSON talks with friends, be wacko with my lovely roomies, go to Target, go to St. Michael’s and Vespers and Upper Room, and see my amazing kids at the CDC. :)

Thinking of you all these days and praying that your breaks are full of rest and relaxation!! See you soon.