Barcelona, Spain

Ok I'm moving here (or Madrid) as soon as I graduate.

A few days in Barcelona was simply nowhere near enough, but I was okay with that because I know I want to come back for a very long time anyways.  I love everything about it here.  But enough of my excitement; my friends have been joking about how often I use the word "happy," so I am trying to restrain myself some.  Although I literally loved it so much.  Okay anyways now on to the highlights:

After a long day of trains, for our very first evening of independent travel, Jaime and I went to a fancy dance club on the beach.  Our night ended with a beautiful walk along the beach, and the whole thing was just so much fun.  An amazing start to an amazing three week adventure.

On Saturday, I got some alone time in which I spent an hour and a half walking along the beach with my toes in the sand, the sun on my face, and worship music playing in my ears.  It was so perfect.  I explored a bit of the city along the beach and loved every minute of people watching and city seeing.

I will tell the story of one of my favorite moments from my journal entry about it: "Sitting at my meeting spot for Jaime and I met some really fun people just chilling there.  We talked, joke around, and just had a good time.  It was fun because they were way too cool for me, so I felt like such an awesome local person hanging out on the beach, listening to their fun artsy music shamelessly loud with a ton of neat high-fashion-y people, eating store-bought tapas one of them provided, laughing, joking, relaxing, and enjoying life.  I loved it.  I can't wait to move to Barcelona and do this every Saturday."

Tapas.  Sangria.  100 Montaditos on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Enough said.  Mmmmmm lots of options and however much food you want and all of it absolutely delicious.  Best food in all of Europe.

International Church of Barcelona.  So wonderful to experience a Christian community seeking after Christ across the world.  The service was in English, but we sang a couple of the worship songs in Spanish, and it was a super powerful experience for me.  Singing a couple songs I knew and a couple spanish worship songs reminded me of how huge my God is and how incredible it is that we are all worshiping the same Creator.  I loved getting to be where God is clearly moving and working in different parts of the world: it is always such an incredible reminder of God's strength, unending love for humanity, and presence in this fallen world.

Park Guell.  The architecture of Barcelona is incredible: completely different from the rest of Europe.  It's strange and modern, but still absolutely beautiful.  Park Guell, located on a hill overlooking the city, is the most perfect culmination of it all.  The structure and architecture of the gardens are unlike anything else.






We made new friends!  Jordan and Allie are au pairs in Paris and Madrid, and we spent all weekend with them.  It was so fun to get to know a few girls who are living the dream by spending time living abroad on their own, stretching themselves further outside their comfort zones.  It's crazy how we really got the chance to know each other personally in just a couple days, and it was amazing to get to talk to them about God, love, and forgiveness.  They inspired us to really take a chance and move back here when we graduate and reminded us what it means to love people like Jesus.

I sum up my love for Barcelona and Spain in my journal by saying:



"Spanish, wonderful people, delicious food, beaches, fun culture, gorgeous architecture, and fantastic weather.  I can't wait to live here some day!!!"