nísperos

within two seconds of biting into it, life in israel swirled around my mind. i love and always will love food that reminds me of my childhood there. after eating two of these, i asked ximena what they were. then i made haste to google it, and photograph it, for you. if you've never had them, you should. they are loquats (nísperos in spanish; nespoles in italian).

arroz con leche

i just heard the kids singing this:

arroz con leche  (rice pudding)

me quiero casar  (i want to get married)

con una señorita  (to a lady)

que sepa bailar  (who knows how to dance)

terrassa

we went on a walk today, to an older part of the town. back in the day, the romans were the big whigs around here. these are just some pictures i took while walking. and yes, since i was walking, they aren't the best looking pictures. at least they'll give you an idea of what the town is like. by the way, terrassa means "terrace". Ximena was telling me that a river used to flow through the city and that's what made it so hilly and dippy. and terracey. 

on the right and middle side of this picture is the entrance to the metro 

on the way to the older part of town

an old castle, as seen from a park

other side of the castle

xoxox (spanish for "street view")

an old church

my street (taken from my buildings' door)

sunday in spain

sunday morning at the peña house means getting up and ready, cooking, eating and leaving the house by 9:30am so that we don't miss the bus. if we miss the bus, we miss the train and we arrive at church late. but yesterday, we were fine!

the church is called por gracia (by grace) and is near downtown barcelona. it was wonderful to meet the members and have the Lord's supper with them. the service started around 11:15 and lasted for about an hour and a half. then we talked, had lunch and postres (dessert, pastries). i think they usually have café too, but after postres a friend and i took the metro to la plaza cataluña. She has been living here since january, so she was able to show me around for a few hours. i saw some buildings by gaudí--la casa milá and another whose name i forgot. we also walked around el barro gótico (the gothic neighborhood). it is a really neat section of the city, full of old buildings and cathedrals. then we found a little café and ordered a couple of cups of café con leche, which for any of you coffee nuts is a shot of espresso and steamed milk. it's served in a small cup so that the ratio of coffee and milk is 50/50. for any of you sweet-tooths, we added sugar too. 

(i didn't take my camera sunday. this was taken on the bus from the airport last week)

barcelona is similar to other big cities i've been in. there are the statue people, who get all dressed and painted up, then line the streets as statues. there are the guys who walk around playing annoying "instruments" hoping someone will buy a few. there are also all those people who lay things out to sell in plazas, but have all the goods on a tarp and tied together so that they can run away when the cops show up. 

right now, in la plaza cataluña, there is a protest going on. i think it is against unemployment...or something like that. we saw people in animal cages, with tshirts made to look as if they were torn by whips on the back, a guy in rags pulling nails out of a board, etc. all the statues in the plaza had ropes on them so that they look as if they were oppressed. 

so that was fun. 

on the metro ride home, the track had a section closed for maintenance, so i had to get on a bus for 10 minutes. spain's public transport is so good though. they shuttled all the metro people on buses to the next available station, where we hopped right back on the metro. granted, it took at least 85 minutes to get home, when it usually takes 50 or so. 

(train station. also from last week) 

so that was fun, too. 

psalm 19:1-4a

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech,

and night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language

where their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world. 

¡vale! ¡vale!

vale: OK! fine! all right!

the first day i was here, i heard this word nonstop. I had no idea it was so popular. it's kinda like the usa "like". i mean like, totally. during conversations, i would respond with "ok" (in a spanish accent, of course). i thought that was acceptable. it is in some other countries. but that first night the dad told me to say "vale" en vez de "ok". so now i'm saying "vale" all the time. vale.

the weather has been mostly cloudy since i got here-they say it's unusual. but i think that in a few days it will clear up. i hope so, because i mostly brought summery clothes. but when i find myself wishing it were sunny and warmer, i remember that it's an oven in tennessee. i guess it's not so bad here, afterall.

let's see, what would you guys like to know. well, the food. the food tastes very different. ok, moving on...:P but seriously, a lot of olive oil and salt are used. and lots of fish. i think that my stomach is rebelling to the food because it hasn't had anything similar to what it's used to. i had some green tea today, thinking "how could anyone go wrong with green tea?" but lo and behold, it was hardly green tea. it had a bean-ish flavour. i think that i'll make a run to the store soon and buy some danon yogurt (i saw some today!) and maybe nutella. just some comfort foods for my soul :)

i have yet to take pictures of the town. last night was the perfect opportunity, but i didn't take my camera with me. and i do hate to feel like a tourist. speaking of which, while i was at the train station, an older man was talking to me and thought i was from argentina. didn't he even hear my american accent and butchered use of spanish? 


the family i'm staying with is "real" nice. the parents, rubén and ximena, are both from colombia. they have been in spain for about 10 or 11 years though. they have two boys, daniel (4) and pablo (3), and a little girl, sofia (8 weeks?). they don't know any english, which is good. i guess. last night i had to watch part of casablanca because i just wanted to hear english! aah, rick's new york accent and sam's jolly voice sounded like music. 


vale, i hate rambling. ciao!

planes outta town

the trip to terrassa went by really quickly. as inigo montoya says, "lemme sum up".

nashville: also the return stage. which i am so looking forward to. i feel like i've been gone for years. also, in nashville, my one bright hope was that i'd see mat kearney around, but then i realised that he wouldn't be flying international and hence, would be in a different terminal altogether. bummer.

chicago: can't remember a thing about it, except that it was fun landing. i like landing near cities and buildings, etc.

montreal: i was tired on the flight there. but while landing, i decided that i needed to visit that dear city sometime. i was hungry there. i was tired there. i found wifi there.

barcelona: switched seats with a girl so she could sit next to her husband. and that put me next to this family who spoke...well, everything. "aah, papá, se fue! my bagbag! merci papá."- a 2 year old girl. throughout the flight they switched between french, spanish and english. also, i attempted sleep. but instead, i just listened to mat kearney for 5 hrs straight.

barcelona (sin avión): i hopped into a customs line, and it turned out to be the right one. fancy that. then  i got my bag, exchanged money (bn: "caixa" is catalan for...umm...well...you can exchange your currency there). then i got on a bus, then a train. i sat next to a retired united nations interpreter returning from new york city to barcelona. she pointed things out to me as we passed them, and we talked languages. of course, with both of us jetlagged, we didn't make much sense nor did we converse the old lemons much.

train ride to terrassa

this afternoon was a blur. i mostly just hung out here, talking and listening. i've been very dizzy though. when i try to stand straight up the world rocks back and forth. i need sleep. and lots of it.

note on terrassa: the town is adorable. a lot of history and cool buildings and streets. pictures to come!

i never knew toothpaste could be so comforting.