Our Final Excursion Deserves Two Posts

Well hello family and friends. We got back from Madrid yesterday (which included day trips to Segovia and Toledo) and had a blast. Sometimes I think we lose the wonder of what it means to be in a different country and see grand cathedrals and breathtaking artwork every time we travel to cities that are older than the United Sates, but Madrid still managed to keep me in awe of its splendor with one word: Prado. El Museo del Prado is arguably the best museum in the world possessing works by Pablo Picasso, Francisco Goya, Diego Velazquez, Rembrandt, and El Greco. We also went to the Escorial (a place where some of the kings of Spain are entombed), the Royal Palace (with over 2000 rooms, this place is humongous), and El Rastro (the biggest open-air market in Madrid).

In Segovia we saw the aqueducts that the Romans used more than a thousand years ago (above). In Toledo we were taken aback by the splendor of the cathedral, also built so very long ago.

After one dinner at the restaurant near our hostel we were serenaded by a guitarist and singer duo that had many of us clapping and even dancing along. They played classic Spanish hits from Latin America like La Bamba and the Macarena as well as some American favorites like Killing Me Softly.

Pray for us so that we may finish this final stretch strong. Even though we are so far away and we have all these amazing things to experience, always know that there are always thoughts of you guys in the back of our minds.

-adrian jaimon

The beautiful view of Toledo

Some of us at the restaurant (with their colorful napkins!)

Homesick

Yes we are all a little bit homesick for the U.S. in one way or another, but that’s not what this blog is about. I’m talking about how homesick I’m going to be (and surely many others from the group will be) when I have to leave behind my family here.

At first living with a family, or for some of us only mamas, was a weird change. Instead of living on our own like normal we all of a sudden lived in someone else’s house with someone else’s rules. We get our food made for us, our laundry washed, and the house cleaned! It’s nice to not have to worry about any of that, but like I said, quite a change.

Well, after living here for four months now, it’s safe to say that those changes were actually simple. In fact, the truth is that our host families have become our refuge, a tool to help all the changes seem less scary. Our families are the normalness in our every-day, crazy lives! This really became evident to me upon returning from spring break vacations. After 12 days out of the country I was ready to go home. I was sitting on the plane feeling like I was going home to the U.S. Upon arriving in Denia I was not very excited because I still felt like I was not at home. All those feelings disappeared immediately when I walked in the apartment and saw my mama waiting for me. She was so happy to see me, she gave me a lot of besitos, family style! I immediately had forgotten those feelings of foreignness and quickly remembered that I do have a home here.

Not only do I have a home, I have a whole extended network of people who care for me and my well-being (outside the Calvin group of course). I have my immediate family that I have developed an intense relationship with, but I also have all my brothers and their families, all my aunts and uncles, etc.

In the home with the host family is by far one of the best ways to practice our Spanish. As a group we have found it a constant struggle to try to balance school work and family time. It’s a tough battle since I can’t even decide which one I learn more from, school or my family. I have also come to find that every time I decide to travel outside of Denia, that’s another time that I could be spending with my family.

While the struggle sounds like a bad thing, it really does not inhibit the ability to build relationships with our families. They are fully aware that we are here for less than 5 months. They understand our goals, our lifestyle, our struggles, etc. and they are all very giving and here for us. We love it when our mamas pack us lunch to take on a trip and she slips in a bar of chocolate!

While we have all developed routines for spending time with our families (i.e. eating meals together) we have also found ways to spend extra time together, trying to bond as much as possible in the little time we have here. Some of us have certain shows that we watch together, others play weekly games of dominoes, others go on walks, others are in the same church groups, others cook together, and so on and so forth.

No one person can really compare their family, or home experience to that of another person. But it is certain that we can all say that the experiences are valuable, and the uniqueness of each one is what makes them attractive. Just like back home in the U.S. we all treasure the uniqueness of our own situation. Just like with our real parents, our host parents beliefs and customs can be seen in what we do and how we act here in Spain. If our mamas eat only yogurt for dinner, that’s what you’re supposed to eat for dinner. If our mamas take siestas, then we think that’s the right thing to do. It’s funny, sometimes when I am trying to make conclusions about Spain’s culture I have to take a step back and remind myself that that’s probably not all of Spain, but just my mama.

In conclusion, living with a host family is a true blessing. Not only do we have the comfort and companionship of our own home with people who care about us, we also have a constant person to practice our Spanish with, and the opportunity to see/live in Spain like a Spaniard would.

Jessica picking oranges with her mama

Brittany celebrating her uncles birthday with he mama and sister

Me playing with my niece, like always.

Nuestra Viaje a Madrid – Una verdadera maravillllllla (Our trip to Madrid – a true marvel)

Last week Thursday we hopped the good ole’ ESTEVE bus for our last excursion to Madrid, laden once again with bags of tinfoil-wrapped “bocadillos” (sandwiches) and fruit, cameras, rain jackets, and móviles (cell phones). If there is one thing Spanish life has taught us it’s how to pack for a weekend vaca.

Our arrival brought us to a clean, modern “albergue” (hostel), where we dropped our stuff and headed down to the Prado Museum. Even though we had left the coast, the Spanish sun was still shining and we soaked in the sounds and smells of Madrid during our walk. I was surprised/delighted to find that Madrid is a city full of green spaces, and it wasn’t unusual to smell orange trees on the breeze there. Prado museum was incredible and overwhelming. Around every corner was another unbelievably famous piece of artwork by Velázquez or Rafael that I have seen countless times in art or history classes. So cool! Thank you liberal arts for allowing me to spend two hours in an art museum without falling asleep!

The next day we headed down to Toledo. Truthfully, the town looked like something out of a fairytale. The town itself is set up on a hill that is nearly surrounded by a river. Looking at Toledo from across the river, it looks like rows upon rows of salmon-orange houses, stacked one on top of the other up the hillside. Una verdadera maravillllla as our trusty guide Enrique said. Once again we were fortunate enough to soak up yet another beautiful day while we wandered through the historical buildings and streets.

Saturday brought an early morning trip out to El Escorial and Segovia. I can’t help but mention that yet again, we had gorgeous weather – all sunshine and barely a cloud to be seen. El Escorial was somber and cold, but still fascinating. My favorite part was the library – one of the best in Europe at the time of its assembly, and full of books written in Latin and sitting old and wise in rows and rows of cases. It was a real bummer that here, like so many other famous places, it is absolutely forbidden to take pictures (something they usually take very seriously). After El Escorial, we headed over to Segovia, where we got to take pictures in front of the Alcázar (google it) – the absolute epitome of fairytale dream castle – blue roofed towers and all. Then we headed deeper into the city where we witnessed one of the marvels of modern Spain – the Roman aqueduct. It is still nearly whole, and awe-inspiring to behold. Thanks to my History of Art class here, I was able to applaud their incredible engineering and practical spirit with a deep appreciation. Finally, we headed off to La Granja de San Ildefonso, a summer palace for the Spanish royal family. Those of us who had been to Versailles (I have not) say that it is very similar. There we witnessed the shooting off of fountains in the extensive gardens there. I use “shooting off” here because that is exactly what they did --- they would turn on a fountain, and then gradually increase the water pressure until it absolutely soaked the onlookers. I was unluckily trapped in a corner and had to endure the rest of the day with wet feet --- thankfully though, I had remembered my trusty rain coat, which has come in very useful over the past few months! =)

Finally, Sunday. We could hardly believe it was already our last day! In the morning, the group split between heading to the Parque de Buen Retiro and the Rastro – a famous flea market. In the afternoon we had our appointment to enter the royal palace. I was extremely surprised to find that this was one of my favorite sites. The rooms were visually overwhelming - not only in size, but in luxury and decoration. It was fun to picture royals and nobles of the 18th and 19th century wandering in and out of chandelier lit salons and throne rooms. There was also an armory with metal armor for adults, horses and even children! After the royal palace, we jaunted over to the Gran Vía (a main street in Madrid) to grab some cheap lunch and then head back to Denia! (Once again --- PERFECT weather!)

Yet another adventure completed, but definitely “aprovechado” (enjoyed to the fullest!)

-Written by Anne Bouman

Home Sweet Denia

As Emma said, we are all back safe from our incredible adventures throughout Europe. This week has been spent catching up with the people who truly feel like my new brothers and sisters, sharing our craziest and most memorable moments of our journeys. During break many of us experienced bumps along the way such as canceled flights, train strikes, missing the last metro of the night, or sleeping in strange places; however, all of the stressful times are nothing when we look back at the loads of amazing moments we experienced and the literally countless magnificent artworks and monuments we have anticipated seeing our whole lives, and finally have now! The Lord truly kept His hand on all of us while we were traveling, and answered so many of our prayers as well as our parents, I’m sure. There have been more than enough times this semester, and during break, when things haven’t worked out exactly how we wanted but God has most definitely shown that He works in mysterious ways, and blessed us in the end.

I would not have changed my spring break with my brother and friends for anything, but hardly sleeping the entire time and traveling to 5 major cities in 4 different countries is taxing on the body. I couldn’t help but feel at peace when getting on my last mode of transportation, finally returning to our home in Denia, where we know how to get around and there are familiar faces. I know I speak for everyone when I say that we are happy to be back in our homes with our families and home cooked meals.

The fact that our reuniting at school on Tuesday with our classmates was so exciting to see everyone, sharing and hearing stories, makes everyone even more anxious for the reuniting on May 20th with our family and friends in the States! There are now only 11 more days of class, and wow can you tell! I don’t know of anyone that can pay attention for a whole class anymore (not that I could ever this semester). Our thoughts are on the beach, our upcoming excursion to Madrid in 2 days, family, friends… nearly anything with the exception of history or literature of any kind. Our time in Spain has flown by, and I am not ready to leave in the least. We will all be soaking up the sun on the Mediterranean (while studying of course) and the Spanish culture until the moment we leave.

-Written by Jessica Van Slyke

Meeting New People

One of the most exciting parts about starting life in a new city is making new friends and building new relationships. Even after 4 months in Denia we're constantly making new connections that may last a lifetime! Check out some of our pictures of people we've met in Denia outside of our families.

Sarah with her friends and coaches from the track team.

Maria Elena, Seth and Kaylee with the Basketball team and the president of Denia's club. Seth and some other students practice with the team.

Maria Elena and Fuencenta with some friends from Cartagena.

Neal with the friend that he has made. =)

Oh the places we’ve been!

Just under two weeks ago, all 25 of our group members left Denia for our spring break to experience more of Europe (save for Professor Bierling and Neal who stayed here to enjoy the visit of some of their grandkids and children!) We were ready for a break, as most of us had just taken a history midterm and all of us had been at the daily grind of school for a while. The last few days were a bit hectic, between packing, studying, printing out boarding passes, and trying to find some time to take in the sun that has just come out in Denia. But we got that all taken care of, and well, it was quite the exciting spring break for us – it’s not every year that we get to go gallivanting about Europe! Our trips were varied – some kept as close as Spain, for one group, in hiking the famed pilgrimage, the “Camino de Santiago,” and for another group, in taking in the sunshine of the beaches of the Canary Islands, a European holiday favorite. All the while, others went as far as Denmark and Norway to visit family and friends! The rest of us were somewhere in between – a few made it up to the UK and the Netherlands, while a good majority of us hit up Italy and/or France – and as far as I know from what I’ve heard – they were all amazing! We also had good traveling companions: members of our own Spain group, family and friends that came from home, family and friends that live in Europe, and new friends made along the way that hailed from places like Valencia, Italy, Ireland, Eritrea, and the US. (A few guys even got to meet up for coffee with one of our Spanish professors in his hometown in Northern Spain.) It is quite idyllic to be able to say to a friend, “let’s rendezvous in front of the fountains in Rome!”

Speaking for myself, I had a ton of fun and learned a lot, too. I went to the south of France, Paris, and Cinque Terre, Italy. There were some awesome moments, like visiting old friends, experiencing the beauty of God’s creation through hiking and kayaking in Provence and Northern Italy, and seeing sights I had always dreamed of seeing, like the Eiffel tower and the Louvre. It was cool to see how what I had learned in my classes in Spain applied to my travels in other countries: for example, seeing Notre Dame in Paris was much more meaningful because I had studied gothic architecture in Spanish art history class. Even though our examples had been the cathedrals of León, Burgos, and Toledo, the same concepts still applied in France. (Some of our group members went to see the very cathedrals we studied in that class, like the ones in León and Santiago de Compostela.) But these trips included hard times too: for one, it was lost luggage, for another, it was a passport predicament, and for me, it was the French train strike on the day I had to make it from Paris to Cinque Terre, Italy, all by myself. Most of my connecting trains were canceled, and it ended up being a pretty stressful day. But if there’s anything that international travel teaches you, it’s flexibility – and coming to realize that things like a train strike are not the end of the world. God provided, and things worked out in the end. I can see his faithfulness in how he took care of me that day and throughout the trip, and I am confident that many of my group members have stories like this one. God is faithful, and he has blessed us so!

Well, safe to say that this spring break was a blast, and now, as my grandparents would say, “all of the chickens are back in the nest.” Despite one group member who got delayed in Barcelona coming home, we have now, at last, all made it back to Denia. It was interesting and almost surprising to see how much Spain (and Denia, specifically), felt like home when we got back. For my travel mates and I, landing in Alicante and hailing a taxi was so refreshing, easy, and comfortable – “hey,” we realized, after having been in Italy, “we speak this language [Spanish] pretty well!” Our corner of Spain has become a home to us. And having experienced other cultures and environments on the voyage, we now have refreshed eyes to see Spain in a new way. So now we are hopefully all refreshed, energized, and (some of us) rested to head into our last 5 weeks in Spain. The adjustment back to doing homework and studying for tests will not be easy, but we’ll get through it, just as we always do. :) Thanks so much for your prayers and

support!

--Written by Emma DeVries

Hiking in Cinque Terre National Park, Italy

Celebrating Easter in France with brothers and sisters in Christ from 6 countries. Celebrating Easter in various places was really cool, as we got to see the traditions of believers from many cultures!