long overdue.

Yes, it has been a long time. That is the thing about blogs. No, that is the thing about any relationship- communication is key. It really feels like a unkept friendship! We have not talked in a while, things have happened here, things have happened there. So much to share. Easier untold. More time passes. More things happen. Now, I want to talk to you but where do I begin. Where do I start?

Well. Those are silly thoughts and I say no to them! They will not keep me from this blog post! And, I hope for any of you, readers, if you have that "long lost friendship"-- go get 'em. You can't always share everything and not many things are even meant to be shared.

But, I'd still like to catch you up: Morocco, Whitney, rest in Ronda, family, grad school application, grad school essays, more grad school essays, passing days, cooking and cooking. Maybe in the future (though I doubt it) I will back track on some of the more worthy topics, like Whitney :-)

Morocco: Dark. I didn't sleep. Weirdest experience of my life. I know God's love better as a result.

Whitney: More of God's love. Freeing. Joyful... and happy. Shared words and eye contact that I treasure. Exchanges that showed me God's smile for his beloved children.

Rest in Ronda: It has felt like home. The people, the streets, the stores, the cobblestone, the ways I take to this or that place. The library (which does not have internet, I might add, but that makes me love it even more).

Family: My church family. Man, they are special. I can say at this point they have walked with me through some ups and downs here. I see glad hearts that worship in spirit and in truth. I am humbled when there are six of us at prayer night and I peak my eyes open to see our pastor, and lead musician, worshiping God with such heart that he is on his knees while playing guitar. And only on his knees for Jesus. It is beautiful and an image I hold dearly. So, yes, this family, they are my friends and my buddies and people I have laughed and cried with.

Grad school applications: More time consuming than I would like. That is all I will say about that for now. The writing process is fun, more or less, though.

Passing days: I am thinking how weird it is that I come home in two weeks. I CAN'T WAIT!!

Cooking and Cooking: Fills my heart!!!!! I have gotten to cook two days in a row for two different families!! YAY! The first was for my family- Fernando and Reyes. (Oh, and last weekend Fernando taught me Paella). Let me just pause and say, I love them. So much. Fernando has a father's heart and treats me with such care and fatherly love. It really is special. I feel protected and cared for. They don't have a daughter, just a son... and sometimes I think it is a gift to all of us that I get to be here right now. :-)

Okay, back to cooking. Dish one: Curried butternut squash soup (roasted carrots, roasted red pepper, roasted garlic, onion, curry, lemon and honey) and quinoa with cranberries, toasted pistaschios, carmealized onions, honey-lemon chicken and lots of butter. Fernando was my right hand man in the kitchen. While eating (oh man we ate so much) these were the words spoken: Oh, Oh, Que Rico!! Haha, it was so fun...and special :-)

Then, today I cooked for Eugenia and Emelio, a woman and her husband from my church. I made, of course, the same curried butternut squash soup minus carrots and a cous cous veggie-chickendish. I made a paste/thick sauce/dip thing with lemon, honey, roasted red pepper, spinach, white beans and butter (and some spices). That was in with the cous cous. It was suppose to have basil but I forgot other countries sell things that are actually in season. So that was great too. :-) After lunch, Emelio showed me his photos and photo editing software for a good hour and a half. It was super funny and one of those things I wish you could have been there to experience. But, man, warm my heart.

So. There is that. Long overdue but, hey, no pasa nada!

joy

We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

tuesday night worship

I don't know how to start this one.

I can start here: that a concern for Ronda is increasing somewhere inside of me. I can really say this one isn't mine- because it seems that along with this is correlating longing for home- for you all. I really miss you guys a lot. But it is a peaceful longing and that I am really grateful for. Shortly after I arrived here, I read this in a book that Whitney gave me:

"No friendship or lover, no husband or wife, no community or commune will be able to put to rest our deepest cravings for unity and wholeness." As I write this, the song playing on my computer is, "None But Jesus." Timely.

Sometimes I miss you because I crave that unity, and I am quick to look for it in one of you. But lately I have been missing you from a different place, and like I said, this is something I am really grateful for. But, back to Ronda. It is a bit "exciting-scary-sobering," to be quite honest, when a person or place is laid heavy on the heart (like Ronda on mine). It is because what precedes involves awe, action or a thing unanticipated. I don't know what this means for me but I can't look a person in the eyes here without wanting Jesus to come. I find myself thinking, please send someone to tell them about your love, Jesus. Then I get home and look in the mirror.

Well, I can say too that in the ways God is moving, He is also providing me with everything I need. And abundantly more. Gosh you guys, it is really true. He won't speak without providing. The last two weeks I have gone to prayer/worship night at my church. There are about 6-10 people and we sing a lot of songs and pray for the city/vision/each other. Before we put out our requests, though, we just thank God. I can't understand, but at the same time I can. The unbound spirit inside of me understands and it moved by all of it. This family and I, and you who are in Christ, we are one--- like, I wonder how you might be in this too. But man- back to God just really providing- I get prayed over in Spanish and get to pray for my family in English. And there is a unity in all of it.

A gift that has come from this is a deepening friendship with my Spanish friend Jessica. She is 22 and has a really soft heart that mine seems a bit knit to. I think about how hard it is for her to live here- in Ronda and in Southern Spain- she does not have one local friend her age that knows the Lord. Wow. Among other things, she is asking that I will learn Spanish, rapido. Haha.

So, in other news, school is going well. Struggling through Spanish still but asking for some miracle in my mind to just understand! In the meantime, I am tutoring a 7 year old and helping him with English--- although it usually turns out that I am the student. :-) Also- my friend Pil (from South Korea) and I have gotten to hang out a lot and go on a lot of walks. We literally run into each other almost every day in the evenings and it turns into a half hour of walking and watching the sun set. I think only two times we actually planned it. I love it! Her and my friend Megan and another girl from South Korea- Yuni, and I are going to Morocco this weekend through Wednesday! We have three days off of school, so I am super pumped for this time... for conversation... ah! Really!

Last thing- conversation and time has been really great with my Spanish madre (the new one). Reyes is her name and her husband is Fernando. They make me laugh and smile pretty much every day :-) The other night they were in the living room and I was in my room just laughing because Fernando was singing a "Journey" song at the top of his lungs and Reyes was in there with him just laughing. She also talks to her self a lot and this I love too. For example, before eating she will sing vamos a comer, vamos a comer. Actually, she sings everything she does. Vamos a poner, vamos a poner, vamor a poner (while we set the table), or voy a dormir, voy a dormir (sleep). It is seriously hilirous. I watched Pirates of the Caribbean with them and every single thing that happened: Que Obscuro! Oue Pena! Que Pelo! Que Bonita! hahaha. Anyways, our time has been good as have our convos. She teaches CCD classes at the Catholic church and we have had neat convos about that, too. :-)

Well. Thanks for reading this. I hope it gives you all a bit of an update. Love you guys. I will actually end with this from Psalm 16 and also from a note Jenny sent me right after I got here:

I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."

cosas interesantes

1. Although they all have soap dispensers, about 1 in 10 bathrooms actually have the soap. That is a generous estimate.

2. In Spain, if you are over the age of 18, you can have you sex surgically changed for free. Completely free.

3. Also in Spain, a kid of 16 years or older can legally have an abortion without their parents or guardians permission.

4. Suicide rates in South Korea are super high. It is possible this is because every male HAS to serve in the army for 2 years and my friends say it is pretty rough.

5. My friends from Korea are one year older in Korea than they are here. In South Korea, they start age from conception! So when they are born, they are already one year old.

6. I will never understand the Andalusian accent.

my address

Lindsay Elliott
Programa Internacional de Estudios de Espanol
C/ Marques de Salvatierra, 8
Palacio del Jalifa
PO Box 332
29400, Ronda, Malaga, Spain



Longest address in the world, eh?

a bit of barcelona

So there are a few updates I really want to give: more on my new family and home (going on week two makes them not quite so new at this point), my address which is SOON to come I am just waiting on getting that info (it is the schools address), and lastly my trip to Barcelona with my friend Megan.

This is going to be about Barcelona. So I decided to go sort of last minute. The tickets on RyanAir were super cheap and with recent conversations Megan and I had, I was really feeling "go" in my heart. Beyond that, I was simply looking forward to sharing that time with her. In so many ways our time and conversations were more life-giving than I could have asked. She is someone that I am beginning to call a dear friend and it is a gift to share raw conversations that really do leave me feeling full and with vision.

So, I arrived in Barcelona a day after Megan. Off the plane and into the big city by bus I went! Unfortunately, the bus ride lasted 1 hour since we hit a car and my plans to just "call megan when I get there" were a bit hindered by the fact that my phone wouldn't turn back on. Que Pena! Haha. But, as they always do, things worked out well and we greeted one another at our hostel.

First thing I did in Barcelona: visit the famous market. Oh, it was so Beautiful!! I think I took at least 200 photos of the market. I have never seen so much fruit in my life. Wow. Jenny- the popular thing at the market made me wish you were there with me. Fruit bars. Everywhere. Fruit bars, fruit cups, fresh fruit juices. Below are some photos of crabs, fruit, more fruit, and of course, animal tounge (Sarah that ones for you).

I tried not to over-think the masses and masses of food here. But really. I don't have much else to say about that, a lot of it just didn't feel right- ya know?

So, sorry to gross you out. On to the next thing! Haha. Barcelona has some of the coolest art I have ever seen. In the restaruants, on the street, in the museums, in the parks.... it goes on and on. The buildings themselves are works of art, thanks to the famous Gaudi. He is responsible for the photos you will see below. I wish I knew more about him and his work but what I know came from Megan. One interesting thing she told me was that in the process of building and designing the famous Sagrada Familia church, he became a Christian. Oh, also, everything he built he wanted to emulate nature. He accomplished that quite successfully.




As much as I enjoyed seeing these beautiful, well-known places, it was eating at artsy vegan restaurants, frozen yogurt and gelato, reading in cafes with my coffee in hand, convos with megan, and biking around the neighborhoods that really got my heart. The three days I was there felt like fall days, too. Crisp air and changing trees. The 90 degree days in Ronda have not yet convinced me to believe it is actually October. Below are some photos of those activities.




The photo of the fox-- oh ya know, just some street art. So neat! Graffiti like this lined every single street. And about that fro-yo-- theirs is way better.





Continuing on, I also really enjoyed seeing so many people from all over the world. What interested me the most in that was seeing immigration full fledged. I guess I just hadn't ever really realized how much of a melting pot the whole world is.

Well, it is hard to end this post because I feel like everything was left unsaid. But I think that is okay. If you ever want to hear more-- ask me about yoga in the park, the girl in the tree, the street vendors selling the whistle thing, chickens on the street, or conquering the city, showerless and in my chacos. I would love to share more :-)

"a regular" and a new family

I am officially becoming a regular at a local cafe, and, I love it! This is how I know: when I enter the cafe, they give me a smile, an Hola and start making my coffee with a happy Andalusian wink! Greatest thing ever! Yay!

Second, I have a new home. A new family. You guys, I don't even have words. My heart is blown! Ah, seriously!!! SER-I-OUS-LY. What a house of joy and light. Jesus is surely there and oh it is a true delight for my soul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
2 Corinthians 3:17