Time flies when you're having a lifetime experience!

It's the final countdown. I hate to admit it, but it truly is winding down! I had my last IES class yesterday & have 5 finals within 3 days next week. Even though there isn't a ton of time left here, I'm trying to soak in as much of my Spanish life as I can - friends, places, the language, food, etc.

Last week I also had my last class of teaching Spanish to immigrants. I really enjoyed this experience, even though I was pretty nervous about doing it at first, seeing how I have zero experience teaching even in English. The main obstacle was the fact that I had to find some way to communicate through Spanish to everyone coming from different countries since we didn't all have another common language to use. It's been a different group every week but more or less the same 5-10 people, depending on whether they decide to show up or not. The last few weeks, there haven't been many people so I've gotten to know some of the students and we simply talked about their lives. Some of them shared some stories that I totally cannot relate to, immigrating to another country with their new husband or with their 10 year old daughter as a single mother without having a job or any family in the new country, let alone know the language. I guess I served as a pair of open ears to listen to them talk...I don't think many of them have that sort of figure in their lives here. It's these little things that God has really been calling me to do here that have opened my eyes to so much.

This past weekend, Lea, my German friend who I met in my hostel in Madrid, came to Salamanca to visit me and my friends who were traveling with me. It was a lot of fun to show her around because this IS my "adopted" city! It was a great weekend full of concerts, paroozing the beautiful city and spending time with Tere & Isidro and friends! Also, Christmas FINALLY arrived in Salamanca!!! Happy girl :)

I was finally in town on a weekend & able to go to the Evangelistic church again & it was definitely a highlight of my weekend. It just has such a warm feeling with a small room atmosphere filled with people worshiping God in song & prayer. I actually felt the same way this Tuesday night when En Vivo had a "noche de alabanza" (worship night) where we all sat close together surrounding candles, sang Spanish worship songs & shared scripture. I really really love worshiping in Spanish because while I can understand all the lyrics perfectly fine, it makes me think more about what I'm actually saying while I also feel so close to God surrounded by others loving God. It's a really cool experience that is kinda hard to explain but take my word for it...it's spectacular & I am so grateful for having this opportunity!

This week is a bit special in Spain because we have two holidays (Tuesday was Constitution Day and today is Immaculate Conception which they celebrate as a national holiday). As a result, we didn't have classes these days and most things are closed. Many Spaniards travel all week, taking "la puente" (bridge) of taking the whole week off. Today Isidro Jr & his two kids arrived who will be staying here in Salamanca for the weekend! They live in Madrid and don't get to visit too often since both the parents work and the kids are in school, even though it is only a few hours away. Ángel and Irene, Tere & Isidro's 2 grandkids, are absolutely adorable & I like having kids around. It's an interesting environment, though, with such a small space to have kids who want to play, an 88 year old woman who needs to rest in quiet (who BTW has returned home with her oxygen machine after being unhappy living in the nursing home), Tere & Isidro(s) floating from room to room and me just chillin either in my room or with them in the living room. They brought a delicious special cake from Madrid & we all enjoyed it this afternoon as I drank my third (?) cup of coffee in Spain...not too strong but just right for me. Even though it's fun to have kids around, I'm realizing that I'm glad I didn't have host siblings (at least this young). It would have been a lot to handle every day and a lot more noise and commotion in the apartment. Nonetheless, it'll be entertaining to have them here for the weekend to hang out with & their mom arrives tomorrow after work!

Speaking of days off, my friends (both Katies) & I took advantage of having Tuesday off and went on a spectacular day trip. We took a bus to Béjar, a small town about an hour away from Salamanca. There wasn't too much to see there, so we shortly took off on hiking trails towards Candelario. There are a ton of hiking trails and we simply decided to choose a further one to explore once we got to Candelario, which was an adorable traditional Spanish village in the middle of mountains.

We saw & walked on the turf of the oldest plaza de toros in Spain (1711) along the way, which was pretty eerie. All the views were breathtaking! I'll share a few photos just to justify, but I have a lot more posted here: http://allisoninsalamanca.shutterfly.com/pictures/1958

This Saturday I'm going on a day trip to Ávila, another small town nearby. As always, I have more to say, but will leave it at that for now. Other than that, it's time to "aprovecharse" (take advantage) of every spare moment left in magical Salamanca!

Abrazos a todos :)