Blessed

Happy Easter to all of my friends and family! I hope you could spend today with loved ones celebrating the resurrection of our Savior. Today has been one of my harder Easters with saying good-bye to John and being away from family, but that has made me even more overwhelmed by the saving grace of Christ. So on a rainy day in Spain when the tears are falling, I can still say with a smile...Hallelujah, He is Risen!


Today has been a good day to rest and reflect on what Jesus has done in my life. And, it has been a good day to look back on the past week and marvel at how truly blessed I am. Just wanted to share with you some of the high lights of the week of a lifetime.


John arrived in Sevilla Monday afternoon. Since I have been taught that you should always be early for important things, I got to the airport two hours before his flight arrived...just to be safe. :)Well needless to say, the wait was well worth. What a happy reunion. He was pretty tired from the trip, but he hung in there and went to eat lunch with my family. It was really fun to have my little sisters (especially Nati) meet him in person after they had seen him on skype a hundred times. They all thought he was soo "guapo." :)


On Tuesday morning we headed to Dublin and got to spend all afternoon and night exploring the city. I had been telling John all about the warm weather in Spain, so I felt pretty bad when we landed in Dublin and it started to snow. But despite the cold weather, we still had a ton of fun exploring the city.

 Dublin Castle. 

 St. Patrick's Cathedral.

 St. Stephen's Green. It was a huge garden with lots of ponds, old bridges, walking paths, and green grass.

Trinity College in Dublin. Very old and beautiful campus. 

On Wednesday morning we took a bus tour to the west coast of Ireland where we got to see the Cliffs of Moher. The trip took a whole day, but there were lots of fun stops along the way and lots of beautiful scenery. On the way there we stopped in the town of Limerick and on the way home we stopped in Dulin, The Burren, and Kinvara. The bus trip gave us a chance to see some of the beautiful landscape of Ireland without having to master driving on the left side of the road. :) We really enjoyed the city of Dublin, but getting to experience the small port towns and the western coast was truly amazing.

King John's Castle in Limerick. 

 

 

 

The Cliffs of Moher. Breathtaking. We were in awe of God's creation.

The Burren. It was a short ride from the cliffs but also had some incredible cliffs and amazing views.

Our guide just relaxing on the rocks. He definitely made the tour a lot of fun. He spent most of it singing us traditional Irish songs. Very entertaining.

 

After The Burren we stopped at a very old church and cemetery called Corcomroe Abbey on the way to the small port town of Kinvara. The ride was absolutely gorgeous. We got to see a very beautiful part of Ireland.

In front of the old church ruins. 

 In Kinvara. John loves fishing boats no matter what country they are in. :)

We got back to Dublin Tuesday night and had Wednesday morning to do some more exploring before catching a train to Madrid and then the AVE to Sevilla. While walking around we happened to find John's favorite place in all of Dublin and Sevilla...

After a great trip to Ireland, I was really excited to show John around the city that I have fallen in love with. Friday was a little rainy, but we still got to see some of the major sights in Sevilla.

 On the Triana Bridge overlooking the river and the Torre del Oro. 

 In front of the famous Triana Bridge. (notice the man fishing in the background.)

 In front of the Giralda (the tower that is part of the Cathedral. )

 On top of the setas overlooking the city of Sevilla. 

John's first experience with Spanish tapas...I think it was a success.

Carriage ride around the city at night.

On Saturday the sun was shining and we had a wonderful day enjoying the warm weather together.

 Plaza de España.

View from the upper level of the monument in the Plaza.

 Parque de Maria Luisa.

Plaza de Toros. The first fight of the season is today.

Sitting in the grass and enjoying the sunshine by the river.

Putting our lock on the bridge in Sevilla. 

We had an AMAZING week. I am so thankful that between winning the state tournament, teaching, and coaching golf he was able to come and visit (thanks for putting in the extra work to make it possible JT). It was definitely a trip that I will never forget. A great week together to hold us over until I come back home in 5 more weeks (crazy!).

I feel incredibly blessed that my fiance could come and visit me in Spain. The week was like a fairytale. But as much as I loved traveling Europe with John, I am most excited to get to experience everyday life with him back home...when we get to sit down and enjoy supper together every night. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with such a wonderful man of God to marry...in exactly two months from tomorrow. I can't wait.:) 

Love,
jana


P.S. Sorry for such a long post...I know I have some family members back home very curious about the trip so this is the easiest way for me to update them about it. :)

P.P.S. Whatever John says about how many pictuers we took...don't listen to him. It really wasn't that many.:)
 

Pequeños momentos

Life is made of the little moments. 

My life here probably sounds like one big fiesta where I get to travel every weekend and hangout with my friends and Spanish family during the week. And although this is true, my life here is still made of the little moments. I do get to go on amazing adventures to other cities and countries, I do get to learn a new language, I do get to live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but I also still do normal life here too. Here's a list of some of my favorite little moments that I get to experience daily in Sevilla...

-when I come home from a long weekend of traveling and as soon as I open the door I am greeted by "HANNA/YANNA" and a big hug from my nine year old sister Nati.

-when I learn a new word in class from my professors and that same afternoon when I get home my Señora says it and I can understand it.

-every morning when I turn the corner on my way to school and the view of the sun shining over the river takes my breath away.

-when my sister crawls up on my lap and reads the Bible to me out loud in Spanish.

-wearing shorts and a t-shirt while I run along the river and through the parks.

-every afternoon when I hear the little steps of my fifteen month old sister running to my room to blow me kisses and try on my shoes.

-getting to go and sit by the river while I read my Bible and soak in God's beautiful creation.

-when I get an e-mail, letter, facebook message, or skype call from one of you. Your support means so much to me and I love hearing about everything going on in your lives back home!

-when someone stops and asks me for directions in Sevilla (which is strange because I am usually asking directions), and I can tell them exactly where to go in Spanish.

-sitting around the supper table with my family while we talk, laugh, and cry together, make fun of each other, and share about our days.

-sitting by Manuel at the nursing home every Tuesday and watching him draw, hearing about his life, and learning from his wisdom.

-Bible study every Monday night with some great Christian girls in my program. It's so wonderful to have a support group here where we can dive into the Word and keep our semester centered on serving God.

-when I'm doing my homework before supper and numerous members of my family come to tell me that my Señora is making my favorite supper for me.

-getting to sing praises to God in Spanish and English every night at Encuentro (our praise and worship service led by people in the program).

-living with four personal tutors. It's so nice to come home from school and be able to ask everyone in my family for help on things I don't understand about the Spanish language.

-getting to practice Spanish at school, at home, in restaurants, and walking around the streets. Sometimes I can't believe how blessed I am to have this opportunity to learn Spanish. 

-going for chocolate and churros, chocolate triangles, hot chocolate, chocolate cake, or chocolate gelado with some great girls on the program and getting to share our struggles and joys about our time in Spain. (we all really appreciate the company and the food :) )

 -sitting on the couch and watching movies in Spanish with my family.

-talking to the professors and the other staff members at school every Monday night before flamenco class and getting to know them better.

-when Nati comes into my room everyday after school and takes off a clip to count down how many days until JT comes to visit.

-walking everywhere I go everyday and never having to drive.

-learning that love can speak louder than any language.


Praying you are all enjoying the little moments of your days wherever that may be.

Love,
jana



P.S. This isn't an everyday thing, but I had to mention it......CONGRATS SW EAGLES ON A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! :)

Ronda y Malaga

Once again the SIS program planned a wonderful trip for us to Ronda. Ronda is an absolutely beautiful city with lots of old ruins and mountains. So instead of going to class on Friday, the school took us to Ronda. I love field trips in Spain! :)

Right outside of the city we got to see an old theater and some ruins on the top of a hill. The view from the top was absolutely gorgeous. Green rolling hills below us and mountains in the distance. The sun was shining and it was a perfect way to start off our trip.

 Emma, Kelly, me, Becca, and Kate climbing to the top.

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The view from the top of the hill. Gorgeous

After touring the ruins we got some free time in town to eat our bocadillos, explore, and enjoy the sunshine. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we took full advantage of the free time to sit in the plaza and soak up the sun.

Over looking some of the beauty of Ronda. 

Kelly and I enjoying the view after lunch.

Once we finished lunch, our school took us exploring through some of the older parts of Ronda. The river and the old stone structures of the palace were beautiful.

The historic bridge in Ronda.

 Exploring with some of the great girls on the program.

I had a great time with the whole class in Ronda, but instead of heading back to Sevilla a few of us got on another bus to head to the coastal city of Malaga. We spent the night walking along the sea port and exploring the very classy city of Malaga.

On Saturday we took a tour through the house that Pablo Picasso was born in. As a psychology major, it was very interesting to hear how much his childhood in Malaga later affected his artwork. After touring his house we walked through the Alcazaba which is the palace and fortress walls of the Muslim rulers. It had a lot of gardens and gave us some great views of the city. 

 We love Picasso. :)

Kelly and I in the Alcazaba.

Kelly, Kate, me, and Emma overlooking the city from the Alcazaba.

And what would a trip to Malaga be without heading to the beach?! Sadly it was raining so we had to frolic in the sand with our umbrellas. But, it was still fun to see another beach in Spain. We were pretty chilly after the rain and the cool breeze from the beach, so we spent some time relaxing and drinking the amazing Spanish hot chocolate in a coffee shop. 

 The whole group on the beach.

Enjoying some quality conversation with some quality girls. 

It was another very successful weekend traveling around Spain. I love that the school takes us to a city on Friday and then we are already half-way to another amazing city for the rest of the weekend. Two great trips in only three days. Now one full week of classes before a whole week off for Semana Santa...which means only only 8 days until my fiance arrives in Sevilla! :)