Sunday, December 18, 2011






Christmas Madness

I am very very very tired.

We just finished our Christmas program. It's done. Finally.

We've only been truly working on it since last Monday but it's been very hectic and very exhausting. Every night after school we stayed late to design and make props. This wouldn't have been too bad except I was sick all week and less hours of sleep were really hurting me. Last night was the real killer though. We had to wait for a youth Christmas program to end and all of the people to clear out of the church then we went to work. First we cleaned up what was left from the youth thing, then we set up lots and lots of props and wall hangings and moved benches and pulpits and pianos. I built a sheep pen to contain the little kids, (not as bad as it sounds...), we made a river flow across the stage. In essence we built Bethlehem. We even threw sawdust and straw all over the floor just to make it look realistic. It was almost two a.m. when we finished, I went home and crashed.

We had to be in today at 10 to get the kids ready. Although they weren't supposed to be here until 11. Almost all of the parents were already waiting to drop their crying kids off with us and make a break for it. We accepted... grudgingly, got them ready in their little sheep costumes. They were adorable. I'll get some general pictures up soon. At 11:30 we had them ready and marched them down the aisle to see them sing, and to sing ourselves. The professors had a song to sing too. It went pretty good I think.

After it was all over we took the kids back to the classroom so their parents could pick them up. We served some drinks and snacks and I got to talk to a lot of parents. There were also lots of photo shoots holding kids so the parents could get a picture. It was entertaining.

Instead of clean up today we all opted to do that part of the job tomorrow. It will be a big job but if all the teachers help it should go pretty fast. For now I'm just glad that I get to sit down for a few hours. It has been very insightful to see this from the teachers point of view. It's a lot more work then the students will ever know about, but it was worth it to see how well the kids enjoyed it, and how well their performance went. I really enjoyed the whole experience. Now please excuse me. I'm going to bed.

Miss you guys.

Logan sent me some pictures in his christmas package. This was one of them.
I was showing the kids them when one asked, "Are those your brothers?"

I said, "Yes."

Valencia and Sagunto

Two weeks ago I had a week off from school so I met Carrie in Sagunto. We were excited to go and explore and ... to speak English! I stayed in the boys dorm at Sagunto where I had my own room. We got to see Sagunto and meet lots of people, and spent a lot of time wandering around Valencia looking at old buildings and exploring cathedrals. We even took the tourist bus so we wouldn't miss anything.
One day we went to see the beach, the ocean was beautiful if a little cold. Another we saw old Roman Ruins and a Bethlehem model. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The school is surrounded my mandarin orange trees and everyday I had one for breakfast. YUM! There was a starbucks in Valencia. It was decorated just like the ones back home and the baristas spoke English. It was awesome and reminded me of home. I wish there was a starbucks in Zaragoza. Oh well! I make my own coffee! We also picked up some awesome frozen yogurt from one of the shops there. It was all around a good trip food-wise.

At night I was visited by the birds who lived on my balcony, and I enjoyed chilling with a random bird sitting on my desk. It was also very warm down in Valencia so I slept with my balcony door open. The warm breeze was perfect. I did not want to come back up to the cold. Although it's warmer here then at home it's still too cold for me! No me gusta winter!


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Thanksgiving

This is quite a bit late, but I've been busy and rather lazy.
Thanksgiving was awesome. It wasn't like at home but it was still fun. On Wednesday night Anabel and I went to the grocery store and picked up some food. A pumpkin, some turkey, some chicken, the works. When we got home we pureed the pumpkin to get it ready. We also got a lot of other food ready. Then went to bed. The next day I had school. It went as normal except for all the kids making hand prints for the giant turkey bulletin board that Lola made. It was awesome. After school I went home and made mashed potatoes and the pie. Anabel got home at 9 and finished the turken (turkey and chicken) Ruth and her husband showed up at 9:30 and we had a wonderful meal followed by lots of fun games. Escobas, Jenga, and Rummy with tiles.

I was glad to be able to celebrate thanksgiving, and had a lot of fun. I am so thankful to everyone here that helped make Thanksgiving awesome for me!