Happy Thanksgiving

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all.

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way he loves us.

Leeches, Thai Teeth, and Barcelona

Hey y'all!  So excited to get back and hear everyone saying that instead of giving me the occasional weird look.  It's officially less than 30 days (29) till I touch down on US soil, and everyone here has been getting so antsy to get back.  I think it must have hit this weekend, as we watched the facebook statuses from our friends brag about going home for Thanksgiving!  But, as much as part of me just wants to bolt now, I still have 29 days and a couple trips left, so I'm hoping to do my best to enjoy it.  So, without further ado, Barcelona!  

Let me begin by saying it's possibly the coolest city in Spain.  Great architecture liberally bestowed on even the most random of buildings.  This picture above is the post office.  Can you believe that?  Our brick rectangles look so sad in comparison!  I flew in Friday night and stayed till Monday.  In that time I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art (which was a complete snooze), the market at La Boqueria twice (which was a blast), La Sagrada Familia (an unfinished church designed by Gaudi, the two pictures below), the church of Santa Maria del Mar (apparently an amazing example of churchy architecture), the Museum of the City of Barcelona (complete with Roman ruins underground), Parc Guell (Gaudi), and did a whole lot of wandering on La Rambla and throughout the Gothic Quarter.  Barcelona definitely embraces its European heritage over its Spanish one, which made for a unique city.  

Another great thing about Barcelona is the International Church of Barcelona.  English services, and the assistant pastor's parents live about five minutes from mine (plus he's an Aggie fan).  What a difference being in a body of believers makes!  I have undoubtedly had the importance of Christian community reinforced during this semester.  After church I went out for pizza with Sini from Finland and Emma from England-- "international" indeed.

The entrance to Parc Guell:

"I got people who will take teeth and leeches for me?  I'm a lucky guy."  The line from this week's Chuck had me smiling, and not just because it was Chuck.  This semester has also reminded me of how amazing the peope back home are.  I know I still have 29 days to go, but thank you all so much for always checking up on me, for putting up with awful phone calls where we can hardly hear each other, and for all the prayers.  Can't wait to see you all soon.

The Cathedral in the Middle of a Mosque, etc.

I first must apologize for my absence.  Much thanks to Kenny Long, my computer finally works again, and everything is about back to normal.  The last few weeks have passed in a blur of buying flights, taking midterms, and cheering for the Aggies from across the ocean.  (So proud of our boys!  Whoop!)  It is crazy to think that I have barely over a month here!  I'm still not sure where the last three weeks went.  I'll be ready to be back, though, I'm sure of it.  George Moore said, "A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."  I'm inclined to agree. 

This weekend went by in the usual quick fashion that most of our excursions exhibit.  Friday morning we took a bus to Cordoba to see the Mezquita.  I was so incredibly excited to see this cathedral, because I studied it in an architectural history class a few semesters ago.  I walked into the cathedral, and the pictures we saw then immediately came to mind, and it amazed me that I was suddenly under those polychrome voussoirs that I had studied!  The cathedral was originally a Christian church, built in the 600s by the Visigoths.  Then when the Moors came to Spain, Emir Abd al-Rahman began building a mosque on top of the church.  In 1236, Cordoba was reconquered by Fernando III, and finally, when Carlos I (Charles V of Germany) came to power, a Roman Catholic cathedral was built on top of it.  The Muslim patio is still intact, and much of the architecture is still visible.  The rest of the city was relatively unimpressive, and I'm glad that we left that afternoon.

After a bus trip to Granda, we checked into our (gorgeous) hotel and grabbed dinner before our flamenco show.  We actually had Burger King, which tasted exactly the same, only significantly more expensive-- about ten dollars for a combo meal!  But welcome to Europe, right?  After dinner, we hiked (and hiked and hiked) up to a nieghborhood that overlooked the entire city, including the Alhambra palace, built by the Moors in the 1300s.  It was such a breathtaking view!  Then it was off to the flamenco show, an informal hour-long presentation with two groups.  It was a lot of fun, and definitely worth the climb, despite the cold.  The next morning we went to the Alhambra, and toured the palace and the gardens.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and I'm so glad things like this are well preserved!     
The next few weeks will go by even faster, I'm sure.  I'm going to Barcelona this weekend, Paris the next, then Italy for 8 days.  The next weekend I'll be studying for finals, and then it's an overnight bus ride to Madrid for my flight to Berlin!  Christmas will be here before we know it and I will barely beat it to America.  I hope you are all doing well, and can't wait to see you soon!