Castles and People: Great Support in Hard Times

Went on a mandatory class field trip for Spanish Culture and Civilization class. We saw castles and churches. It was chill. Lots of bus. Lots of new faces with names and an experience to go with them. I want to build a castle with lots of hidden passage ways and convoluted walk ways and more and more to explore. Someday.

Castle and city of Olite

Put this one on a postcard

I got a gigantic halo

So many towers and places to explore and find

Set a 2 second self-timer on the road cause the trees made a pretty tunnel....but....it focused on the road.

Posed. Pretty.

Below

NOBODY was attacking this castle

It was tough coming back and hearing the news of Marcus and Hannah. Broke down for a little while, just shocked and greived and hurt. Helped when I got to Becca just to get emotion out. However, no words explain the feelings that I wish for Hannah and Marcus. Just love. I hope that justice can be served but if not, that we can forgive them. Enjoying the blessings of family and friends and support and trying never to lose sight of the love we do have today is important. Took on new urgency. Makes me wanna call Sweetheart. And wow, I've never seen so many people supporting through prayers and comments on facebook. Anyway, I like everyone else am praying for everything a bunch daily.

Love lots,
Andrew

P.S.- God, people, and castles-- great support in desperate times. Psalm 62:1-2  "My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is FORTRESS, I will never be shaken."

Finding A Home In Spain

Retiro Park. I live near it and love it. It's Madrid's "Central Park." I go at least 2 times a week to work out and just chill.

Thursdays- Young Life Spain.
L-R: Jim (area director with wife Barbara who is taking the picture),
Emily, Dre, David (staff), Tep, Emily (staff), Laura-Anna, me

My roommates- Alex (Minnesota), Simon (Florida), me

Outside Plaza de Toros. Bull fight last night. Not for the animal-lovers.

Inside Plaza de Toros. Very cool. REALLY not for the animal-lovers(;

I've lived in Spain for nineteen days; it has been hard and it has been good. Finally, I am settled. I am familiar with my surroundings. I'm in a routine of sorts. Each week has had one or two bad days but Jesus has been so present and awesome and knows what I need.

Here's one LONG story about that. Feel free not to read it as it is long.

Before I left, Becca gave me a present. It was 10 of my favorite verses from the bible in Spanish on cool pocket-sized papers, laminated. On this past Thursday, I got lost for an hour trying to walk to find a post office around school. However, I had the Jeremiah 29:11-14 verse card on me. I read it when I was lost and I read it again and took it to heart and believe it and thought about the context of the scripture. Cause that's like me. I am in a new place with no friends among an attitude of living only for the moment that I'm not into. The Israelites were exiled and in a foreign land and God said to them that he has a great plan for them (even in that foreign land) and that his main purpose for them was to have to seek him more there and find their rest in him more and he promised that he would be found by them. So I just believed God, in my sense of the word believe (which is to 'be-living' something...be living as though it's true), and I felt peace. So even when I'm still walking around on campus with nothing to do and no one to chit-chat with. Even when I feel like everyone has many friends even when I've tried to make friends. I felt God just saying, 'That's okay. Relationships are slow. You talk to the couple people you do know from classes whenever you see them and let me be enough for you else-wise.' So that was a good lesson. This was all Thursday afternoon.

The past two Thursday nights, I've been going to a freaking Young Life gathering. In Spain! Crazy. About ten of us. Meeting and then eating. The area director is from TN and we meet at he and his wife's house. It's just like home and nice. This semester, we're gonna do a group study of The Gospel in Life by Tim Keller. As followers of Jesus, we have to either assimilate to the culture and lose our identity in Christ or live in such a way that invites and compels people to question and be intrigued by our faith. We all have that choice and that's sort of what this book talks about.

So we began on Thursday the book and videos and... the first group study in his book was over, of course, Jeremiah 29:4-14! It was exactly what I had in my pocket that day. And Jesus just continued the same speech he was telling me... it was great discussion. If you would read and dissect that scripture, it makes it clear that the Israelites were to live life together with everyone. We are not to lose our distinctiveness, but rather lead our lives with integrity and our identities firming planted in Christ. Daily. Out of our connectedness to God, we should pray for those we come into contact everyday and look for opportunities to serve, love, talk, and bring joy and peace to others lives. Live authentically, open about your life with Christ, have compassion on all people, sacrifices for them when possible. Not just Christians but all people. It says in verse 7 that when the city prospers, so will we. Live life, the ups and downs with the irreligious and far-out people. And we will be challenged by irreligious people who love better than we do, people who serve more than we do, have a heart for the poor or hopeless more than we do. And that is good, because we can learn from them, and connect with that; those that seem so different from us really are not all that much. Grace and Jesus' love is a free gift that many are just not aware that they've been given. We have the opportunity to point people to see it in their lives and live out the gospel ourselves.

If you've read this far, forgive me. Something else I've been trying to focus on is letting my words be few. Or as I like to say, keep it simple stupid (K.I.S.S.), or silly. It's foolish to believe many are going to read this much! Anyway, I'm adjusting so well. This is just one story of how it's been getting better. The things I've been given are innumerable and I just pray that I can live out my purpose unselfishly daily, joyfully.

Love you all,
Andrew

P.S.- I booked my flight this week to Germany to see Becca's dad October 7-9!

The man on the metro ride home

This guy went car to car playing different songs, waiting for applause, giving intros to his songs, telling us he was from Colombia, speaking loudy, smiling lots, walking around with his hat for compensation, brightening the dreary metro. Made my ride fun. It was obnoxiously loud (this was one of his more tranquil songs) and everyone was still so stoic. I couldn't help but smile and laugh.

but the policia didn't like it so much. He got kicked out.

Day Trip to Salamanca

Let's play a game. This is one part of the University of Salamanca. Chartered in 12 oh freaking 8. 1208. 800 years old. Third oldest university only to.....? Anyway, here's a doorway thing. Among the intricate stone work there is a frog symbolizing lust and how it can jump out at you at any moment. Before you're a senior at U of Sala, you're supposed to find that frog. As a tourist, you're supposed to find it in 10 minutes. So can you find it? Click on the picture to enlarge and then click again to magnify. Then keep reading below.

Give up? Okay. Here's the section it's in. This is the section of the door our tour guide told us to look in. Still nothing? He gave us another clue to look to the top right. Can you see it? It seriously took me 10 minutes. Try clicking and using the magnifying glass now. The answer that shows where the frog you're looking for is at the bottom of the blog. 

There was a festival going on

Stood on this 2000 year old bridge!

This is where some classes are

This was an astronaut you were supposed to find in another doorway. It was restored in the 1960's and the artist put this and also a dragon eating a three-scoop ice cream cone!

Outside of this ballin cathedral 60 feet up

The great orange rooftop view from those cathedral balconies

Inside 60 feet up in the second coolest church I've ever seen (second to the Vatican). If you look closely, you can see the cracks in the wall above the middle arch from an earthquake in the 1700's!

Answer: click to enlarge. As bonus symbolism, it's on a skull emphasizing what make happen if the "frog" gets you.


Love you all,
Andrew

P.S.- Souvenirs anyone?

City of Toledo Pictures

Me and Cervantes (Don Quixote)

Toledo- city of small streets and close quarters among the Christians, Jewish, and Muslims for centuries

Really? No more candles or anything in church. Put a coin in and light a bulb.

Do you think these stairs are going up or down?

Wowser

Da bells

Bunch of people I hung with on this trip. They mostly all go to SLU at St. Louis.

14th century bridge

pictures of campus

Basically all of campus. This is where everyone hangs out

My finance and marketing classes are at the top of the top stairs

YO! (expect an hola?)
This is my fourth day here now and it's been something. To be honest, I mean to say it's been a lot of stress and adjustment but I'm taking it all in stride at the same time, confident everything will work out and happy to be here, counting my many blessings.

Click to see the picture bigger

 My first impression really wasn't a good one. Madrid seems cold and impersonal. Yet I know I don't know the city yet and will come to think of it better. My cell phone I bought is not working so I had to buy another cheap one and it has very bad rates attached to it, but I'm using skype a lot and that is pretty cheap. So if you get a call from an unknown number, answer it! It could be me. I think the impersonal feeling could also be because I'm not fluent yet. I'm trying to stretch myself and speak lots, but it has led to couple wrong orders (at McDonald's) and just blanking for words. It'll come soon enough though, I'm sure.

Plaza Moncloa

 Although I've used subway systems before, I've had plenty of trouble getting around.  I missed one station's stop 3 times one night and it took me an hour and forty-five minutes to get home hahah. And trying to get back to the metro from school my first day, I got lost and stumbled upon the place you see in the pictures. Not a bad place to find. It's really pretty.

I have no idea what this building

I'm still looking for some good friends. I know I've only been here so long, but I'm longing for community and missing family and friends and Becca especially. Other than that, having a RED towel that put lint all over me while drying off and oversleeping my first 2 classes yesterday which started at noon and 1:00 (talk about jet-lag!) have been my only other expected happenings. 

If you want something to pray about, those are all my concerns and my hopes, as well, of the silver lining that I know is there. I know all is well and this party is just getting started.

Love you all,

Andrew

P.S.- My cell phone number receives free incoming calls. The number from the US is 011 34 683 134 698. If you have any trouble, email me or call me on skype- andrewmosssmith (i have voicemail set up on there). Mailing a 1 oz letter or postcard by USPS costs 98 cents. UPS or FedEx is much recommended because it will probably get here 4 times as quickly and can be tracked. My mailing address is:

Andrew Smith

Calle Pez Austral 17, 13D

28007 Madrid, Spain

All this info is in my about me on my facebook too.

P.P.S.-Mom, I tried to take a picture of Senora Vigis but she said another day when she has some make-up on hahaha.