I'm Coming Home

Just got back from a six country (5 not counting Vatican City) 15 day trip. I'm very tired do to lack of sleep and the wear and tear of traveling. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to have done something like that. Seeing and experiencing the cultures and sites of: Rome, the Swiss Alps, Stuttgart, Berlin, and Paris has just been incredible. I'm blown away by God's provision and protection. My mind has been opened to the world, however, right now it is a mess of flowing thoughts and dreams.

Nine months in Spain has changed the foreign to the norm and has left me wondering what I will return to when I arrive in the U.S. I know I have changed. I believe I am bolder, more capable, more grateful for what I have, and this time away has only increased my desire to see the rest of the world. Coming back to the States as many of my friends finish high school and begin to head off to college, myself included, has left me wondering how my world will change. As many people have told me, people will begin to drift away I will begin to see which young life friends remain. I know this sounds cynical but this is most likely the truth. The roads of life intersect, cross, and then diverge and I guess I'll see who has the same destination.

This afternoon I tried to get my mind around the reality of my return. Nine hours before my flight I still can't fully comprehend it all. I've been anticipating my arrival at the PDX airport ever since I've arrived and seeing my family in person for the first time in nine months, but after that first reunion I can't see what will come.

The goodbyes to my friends in Spain have gone as well as can be expected. I'm horrible at saying goodbye and am sure I'm not the only one who can say that. Here's a composition I wrote two months ago as I began to anticipate my move from my host mom's house.

Hello Goodbye – Ariel Wai (April 28, 2009)

Arrival at the airport.
A breaking of a heart.
A whole new world,
Laughing from the start.

Long walks of desperation,
Calling out through it all.
Tear on first Sunday.
Dawn breaking through the dark.

Led through tile jungles,
By a Colombian guide.
Movies on a Saturday,
Joy building inside.

Dull pains keep coming,
Crushed out by a high,
Of skating on ice.
Holy Spirit by my side.

Time to leave the old new.
Awake late at night.
Just said hello,
Now it’s time to say goodbye.

The first step off the plane at the Portland international airport tomorrow is the period in the last sentence of my Spanish adventure. The second step is capital letter of the first sentence in the next adventure. The future is wide open. I am excited. I cannot see what will come but all I want to do is remember the past; anticipate the future; and live, breathe, and thrive in the present.

I'm coming home.

Ireland

I'm back in Madrid after a four-night trip to Ireland. Before boarding the plane I was hoping for dreary, cold, foggy, drizzly weather (for most Oregonians that sounds crazy, but remember that it's been hot and dry in Madrid for the past month or so). When I got there it was sunny, however, I didn't mind because it had the clean air feeling...not the 6 million person city, nasal drying, weather in Madrid (it's actually not that bad :).

I arrived on a Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the day as well as Sunday walking the city from top to bottom and back again seeing all the popluar tourist sites. That first Saturday I felt kind of weird, not sick, not uncomfortable, but something was out of place. After a couple hours I realized what it was - it was that everybody was speaking English and all the signs were in my native language! It took me a while to adjust; if I happened to bump into somebody I would say "perdoname" or "lo siento" instead of "excuse me" or "sorry".

Monday I went to Bray - a little town on the Irish Sea. From there I hiked along the coast to Greystone where I went swimming; the water was quite cold! Tuesday I went to a National Park and monastery called Glendalough (oddly pronounced: 'glen-duh-lok'). I hiked past two lakes and loads of tourists/vacationers, past an old mine, and then scrambled up a staircase of small pools and falling water. Near the top I was startled by a few deer standing close by watching me. They weren't scared so I took the opportunity to take some shots (with a camera, I didn't have a gun with me). I was able to get within 25 feet or so of them. Later I swam in one of the pools and it was surprisingly warm.

Here are some pics:


Maritime Festival




St. Patrick's Cathedral

Sports Passion or Idol Worship

I just got back from a two day trip to Barcelona. First of all the city is amazing, probably the nicest city I've visited so far in Spain. I was able to go all over it thanks to "bicing", a system of transportation composed of various bicycle stations located all over the city. To use the bikes one must slide a card over a scanner, the scanner checks the card and then unlocks a bike, you can then use the bike for two hours and when time is up you can lock it up again in any of numerous stations throughout the city. I visited Gaudi's "Sagrada Familia", a massive cathedral that has taken over 100 years in constructing and still isn't finished. It is, in Gaudi's words, a true "work of the centuries", with very different construction techniques used, contrasting elaborate facades, but all in line with Gaudi's original drawings. I was also able to go to the Mediterranean beaches.

However, I think the most interesting experience I had was the chance to go to Catalunya Plaza and La Rambla to celebrate with Futbol Club Barcelona fans after the team vanquished Manchester United in the Champions Leaque final. The 2-0 defeat was a landmark victory not only because it crowned Barcelona as the European football champions for the 3rd time, nor even because it was their second crown in four years, but because they won the three biggest European/Spanish titles: the King's Cup, The League, and finally the Champions League, a feat never before accomplished.

As you can imagine, the festivities were...well, lets just say crazy. In a matter of minutes it seemed like the entire city flooded the streets. I arrived about 20 minutes after the game finished and thousands were already there. Fans stretched out literally as far as the eye could see (even from the shoulders of a friend), for kilometers and kilometers; I later read that over 100,000 people had filled the streets. People were singing, chanting, climbing trees, lamp posts, magazine stands, traffic lights, anything and everything. Fireworks were being lit off in the middle of it all. Someone would light one off and people would scramble for safety, the firework would explode and shower sparks into the crowd, then people would return to their spot to continue. Fountain fireworks were being lit and waved around in the air, also showering fans with hot sparks. The celebrations loomed on the edge of rioting until 30 minutes after I returned to a friend's house, when around 1:30am, the fans turned into vandals.

I read in the newspapers that around 100 people began throwing cans and bottles towards police and the press. This resulted in bruises/contusions as well as the police trying to disperse the crowd. At 2:00 am I had to walk to the bus station to go to the airport. This shouldn't have been a problem, however, I took a wrong turn and began walking towards the celebration grounds. After a couple blocks I noticed something out of the ordinary - maybe over a thousand fans running in my direction. I stopped and positioned myself close to a building. I asked one of the people passing me what was happening, from the quick words and motions that he made I figured out that the celebrations had gotten out of control and the police were shooting rubber bullets. I could hear something like little explosions or gunfire which could have been two things (1) the fireworks of fans, or(2) gunfire. I decided it was a little bit of both because (1) the thousand fleeing people, and (2) the sirens. I did an about face and started quickly walking in the direction I had just come from. Two big police vans passed me as people ducked behind cars, crouched down, and covered their heads - fortunately these police weren't shooting. I asked a passerby for directions to the bus station, she said that I could go with her because she lives close by, but she told me how to get their "just in case" (I'm assuming she meant in case the police came and tried to detain her friend who was a occupied smashing the screen of an ATM machine with a rock). I decided I probably wasn't with the best company so I said thanks and quickly headed off towards the station. On the way I passed hooligans tipping over massive garbage bins, draining their systems of the alcohol, overturning potted plants and smashing the pots. Throughout all of this I realized I was being watched over from a light from above, well two, (1) God who was protecting, guiding, and keeping me sane, and (2) a police helicopter with a search beam. After 40 minutes of excitement I arrived at the bus station.

Now, relating to the title of this blog: how could all this happen? I mean, what could draw together 100,000 people? What does it mean when your average Joe climbs 25 feet up a small monument, rips off his Barcelona jersey, and waves it to the masses, as people look on, cheer, and begin to climb as well? Why does passion for a sports team culminate in the firing of rubber bullets? Why did the night end with 134 arrests and 159 fans and 89 policemen in need of medical attention? This may sound like I'm bashing on sports aficionados, and I really don't want to. I enjoy it when my football team wins, but when does love for a team turn into idol worship?

The Next Chapter in My Life

I attended my last class in Spain May 8th. May 11th I moved out of my house in the small little neigborhood of La Navata and into Madrid city center - the heart of Spain. I'm staying in the room of a good friend from church who is in Puerto Rico right now. There are two other guys here right now, Esteban and Arnold. Things are going great. I went to Valencia, a city on the Mediterranean, last week and this Monday I head off to Barcelona. The 30th of May I head up to Dublin, Ireland to go leprauchan hunting.

I think the best thing so far about living in Madrid is the freedom. Freedom to move around the city with such ease and not have to wait forever for buses or trains to come. Freedom to stay out late and not have to call my exchange agency for permission to spend the night at a friends place. Freedom to eat what I want...which also means I have to cook, which isn't to bad, except when I don't feel like cooking. Freedom to wake up at 11:20am, leave for church at 11:29am, and arrive on time a 11:30am; this is so much nicer than traveling around an hour and a half to get to church and back every Sunday. Freedom to wear what I want...I could wear what I wanted before but in the smaller towns surrounding Madrid you stand out a lot more if you're different. Freedom to travel around Europe. Freedom to live, hope, love...:p

Here are some pics of Valencia's art and science center and of my church that meets in a night club on Sunday mornings.

Real New Address

C/ Joaquin Maria Lopez 20 Bjo. Dcha.
28015 Madrid
Spain

New Address

Hey everybody, I'm moving out of my house in the outskirts of Madrid because I'm finishing up my exchange program this Sunday (I won't be returning though until the 26th of June). I'll be moving in with some friends from my church. My new address is:

C/ Joaquin Maria Lopez, 20
Madrid (Madrid) 28015
Spain

I'll have to look which floor I'll be in, so if you send mail to this address, right now it'll just go to the building and not get put in my mailbox, I'll update this when I found out the exact floor. This is just a heads up to not send mail to my old address.

Way Too Close.

What this guy is doing is what all the performers would try and do - get as close to the bull without getting gored. After this happened he hopped out of the ring, then hopped back in to wave to the crowd. Even though he got closer to the bull than any other performer he still only revcieved third place, to the shouts of dissaproval from the fans. He later walked out of the ring when the first place trophy was being delieverd. Good performer - sore loser. (Try watching this in slow-motion if possible).



Wow! And I thought a backflip off the diving board was scary! I can't believe he only got 5th place!?!

What April Brings

The lodge where we stayed at for one of our school's mountain club excursions. Our room had 19 beds!



Toledo Graffiti



One of the high speed trains that can take you to Toledo. It's called the AVE - the bird and can get up to 186 mph, but I don't think ours did :(



Toledo: Fortified city of swords and Don Quixote.



We had a hippy party at the high school retreat because they talked about the Jesus Movement a bit.



This is the small little town where the retreat was held.



Near the main plaza of Madrid there are a couple sidestreets with lots of street performers.



All across Spain there are Easter processions like this. There were probably a few thousand people watching this one! The procession was stopped when I got there which actually wasn't too bad because I coudn't see anything for around an hour and a half. When they started again I climbed up some scaffolding with some other people...kind of like Zacchaeus. It's too bad that Easter in Spain is only about tradition and not about how Jesus defeated death and Satan on the cross and how we can find peace with God and be saved.



Me, Victor, and Chris at the top of "La Maliciosa". I took my snow pants off cause I was hot :)

Volleyball Update

So as most of you know I've been practicing with a club volleyball team for the past 4 or 5 months. The first few weeks of practice were humiliating. It doesn't help that the team I'm on won the Madrid Regional Championship last year. However, I stuck with it, mostly because it was too late to sign up for another sport, but I'm glad I stayed on. After around 1 1/2 - 2 months I started feeling like I could practice without messing up the other players and now I'm starting to feel like a little threat.

This year we went back to the championship tournament - only the top four teams get to play in it. After the second game of the tournament I was hoisted onto the shoulders of my teammates and thrown up in the air four times as my team cheered for "Ingles" ("English" which is what they call me). Yeah, I know, you can start applauding now...

Actually my team lost that game and I haven't played one minute this entire season. First of all I signed up too late to play and so I can't officially play in the games and secondly I'm not quite up to the standard. They played well but just couldn't keep up with the giants on the other team. I was really proud of the guys though; never got down on each other, didn't fight with the referees, restrained each other from fighting, and even after they lost they still cheered for playing well and for having a good time - they were jumping around center court and acting like they'd just won the championship....then they saw me standing with the other fans. They ran over and had me hop over the fence that separates the court from the fans and let me fly for the first time ever :) Haha, so yeah, I wasn't lying, but no need to applaud.

I'm sure going to miss those guys. We're going to still keep practicing but only for the occasional friendly match/tournament. And that's all for now...

Torijas

I thought I'd share a Spanish recipe I learned today. It's really simple (and kinda weird...but tasty). They're called "torijas" and are eaten around the time of La Semana Santa (the Holy Week). La Semana Santa is a week with religious festivals...but for most people it's like the American Spring Break. Anyways, I made them with my host mom today and they're pretty good, so here's the recipe:

Torijas

French bread (not the really soft type but stuff a little firmer and denser, it's actually good if it's a bit old and dry. See the picture. I also saw a store selling bread for torijas which look like thick pieces of normal bread)
Eggs
Milk
Sugar
Cinnamon
Oil (lots, we used olive oil for a healthy alternative :)

1) Heat up a pan of oil (quite a bit because you'll deep fry the bread in it)
2) Cut the bread into circular slices
4) Crack some eggs into a bowl and mix them up
3) Fill a bowl with milk and soak the bread in it until it's completely...well, soaked through
4) Take the soaked through slice of bread and put it into the eggs, make sure it gets coated
5) Carefully put the slice of bread into the oil, leave it in there until it's a nice golden color, flip it over once (~1 min)
6) Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and roll the deep-fried bread in it

Now you have torijas! We put the torijas in a big bowl and covered it to let them get nice and wet. If you do this don't be surprised if they end up looking like soggy bread coated in sugar and cinnamon. My host mom mixed a little bit of the leftover milk with some leftover cinnamon sugar and some lemon juice into a small bowl and poured it over the torijas (only about 1/4 cup for 12 torijas). It's pretty simple, I didn't put in quantities because I think you can figure them out (and I don't know them).

Defeating Winter

Chris and Me

The "Lodge"

Well, I'm hestitant to say it, but...I think Spring in Spain may be on it's way. I really lucked out and happened to come to Spain on the coldest, wettest, and rainiest year they've had in a long time. The Madrid-Barajas international airport had to be shut down for the first time ever and a while back I saw on TV that a major highway closed and people had to find a place to stay for the night, I think they were delayed 40 hours.

For a while this is what I would wear to school:

- Running tights or long johns under my jeans

- A t-shirt under a fleece jacket under a sweatshirt under a coat

Sometimes I wouldn't take my coat off all day because my classroom is always cold. I think it's the coldest one in the school (it also didn't help that someone left a window partway open over a weekend a while back).

The cold hasn't been all bad...with cold there's snow (well most years theres just cold)! This past Saturday a friend from Texas, Chris, and I went up to the snow to get out of the big city atmosphere for a while. We went into an abondoned "lodge" and looked around. (I use quotation marks because it's a lodge made out of stone and cement). After that we rolled down a hill and then climbed up a mountain, the snow up to our waists in some places. Things were actually a little scary because tree limbs were falling. We saw a fairly big limb fall and there were some massive ones that had fallen recently, if you look at the picture of the lodge you can see one of the branches that fell just in front of it.

But, even with all the fun of snow, sniffly noses, and wearing four layers of clothes to school I'm glad the sun is finally here. We'll see if it stays this way, the last time I thought Spring was on its way...well...it wasn't.

Fresh Baked Sword Fish

Christmas Eve I had a very fancy dinner with my host mom, one of her daughters, and her daughters husband. They cooked all day, we ate, we watched a movie, and they all fell asleep 15 minutes into the movie. Christmas morning I went to an American couples house in a neighboring town and then in the afternoon I went to an American/British household in another town. It was kind of nice to speak English, but it actually seemed a little strange! The 6th of January is called Dia de Los Reyes Magos (Day of the Three Wise Men). It's actually bigger than Christmas. All the kids are taught that the Kings will come in the night and deliever presents, just like Santa Claus. The morning of the 6th I ate Roscon with my host mom. Roscon is the typical pastry shaped like a very large donut. It's cut in half and in between the top and botton halves there is whipped cream and in the whipped cream there is a little figurine. If you get the little figurine you'll have luck for the whole year (I got the figurine, and elephant with it's trunk pointing up which means extra luck!).

"Sword Fish", "Fresh Baked", these are a couple of the crazier logos I've seen here in Spain. I don't think most Americans realize how big of an impact we have on the rest of the world, and I'm not just talking about politics. I've hardly seen any article of clothing with writing in Spanish (except for maybe camp T-shirts or stuff like that...but even those have English). Almost all of the clothes here have writing in English even if it's a saying as crazy as, "I love winter, wrap a blanket around you, sit in front of the fire, drink hot chocolate, cold days are great." (This I saw in a rather popular, trendy store). Sometimes when I walk down the street I feel like I'm in America because lots of the advertisements and store names are in English!

Some of you may be wondering how my Spanish is doing. I can say almost whatever I want to say, and I can understand the majority of what I hear. It really depends on who I'm talking with. I can spend an entire day with friends and only have to ask them how to say something or what something means a few times. However, in my history class I hardly understand a thing. On Monday I finished a 200 page book (in Spanish) that I recieved as a gift the Monday before; I understood the whole thing (minus a few words here and there)!

Hope you all had a great Christmas season and feliz ano nuevo!