"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,"even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you."(psalm 139:7-12)
06 December 2009
Across the Pond.
03 December 2009
Until next year...
27 November 2009
24 November 2009
Away.
"The hardest thing to convey is how lovely it all is and how that loveliness seems all you need. The ghosts that haunted you in New York or Pittsburgh will haunt you anywhere you go, because they’re your ghosts and the house they haunt is you. But they become disconcerted, shaken, confused for half a minute, and in that moment on a December at four o’clock when you’re walking from the bus stop to the rue Saint-Dominique and the lights are twinkling across the river – only twinkling in the bateaux-mouches, luring the tourists, but still… you feel as if you’ve escaped your ghosts if only because, being you, they’re transfixed looking at the lights in the trees on the other bank, too, which they haven’t seen before, either.
It’s true that you can’t run away from yourself. But we were right: You can run away."
- Adam Gopnik, "From Paris to the Moon"
{photo taken over the weekend on an excursion to Basque Country with teachers.}
15 November 2009
Sunday
08 November 2009
Thought.
06 November 2009
Tut, tut.
Last night I went to bed at 11PM and woke up ten hours later to the gentle dripping of rain.
My exact thought: “That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had since being here.”
Until I realized that “drip of rain” was dropping from a giant bubble in the ceiling about .3 seconds away from drenching me in a Spanish rainstorm. Through hazy morning eyes, I began to notice that the exact “sleep machine-like” sounds that had coaxed me into deep stages of REM sleep were just false forms of comfort wooing me into a scheme to float me into another piso. The rain now created small pools of water along the perimeter of my room, slowly transforming into puddles that would be difficult to navigate without raingear.
Thinking quick - I grabbed my umbrella, located my movil, and phoned the Dueno, lacing my words with urgency as if I believed the Spanish cared about hurrying.
“Manana, manana, manana…” was the best I could do.
So tonight… I have a Spanish waterbed. It could be worse, I suppose.
04 November 2009
Today, I was 'clever.'
Why?
Because I suggested that we assign each student an ID number on their library card.
If you consider this obvious, stop being so American.
Any advice that offers a hint of organization will be treated as though you hung the moon.
Echoes of “brilliant… smart… clever” resonated down the hall. Teachers scribbled notes as I expounded upon this foreign system. Hugs were exchanged.
I’m going to opt on the side of ignoring the limited English vocabulary these teachers know, and consider myself a genius. Just for today.
Sic 'ems Abroad.
First in Madrid, then in Nice.
I met up with two dearhearts (and their traveling Team America) while they are taking a month to travel Europe on Baylor’s Maastricht program. In Madrid, we hung with locals in a cave of sangria and tapas, exchanging stories from abroad and barely making it to the Spanish version of “early” (3AM). This past weekend, we discussed the art of travel and laughed at French Halloween costumes over wine and crepes in Nice. We tossed terracotta into the Mediterranean Sea, hiked to a waterfall overlooking the city, and got lost amidst markets of flowers and books.
These girls have given themselves to the life of a vagabond in Europe, and I loved every minute of it. While they travel in a group, they are both individually on a unique journey of brave discoveries and reflections about the world around them, and the home they will soon return to in Texas. This experience has bred a new piece of each girl, which I see so clearly, as I have walked with both of them since the beginning of Baylor life. It was refreshing to hug familiar faces after a month of feeling foreign, and I return to my apartment in Santander so full. Love you girls. Here’s to night trains, bracelet buddies, perma-sic ‘ems, trundle beds, and scoots! ;)
{I am an adopted member of the team}
{Nice... you are beauty.}
{books... books... books}
{our honeymoon}
{heather. lauren. loves.}
17 October 2009
Duende.
"The duende's arrival always means a radical change in forms. It brings to old places unknown feelings of freshness, with the quality of something newly created, like a miracle, and it produces an almost religious enthusiasm."
- Federico Garcia Lorca "In Search of Duende"
"she had to rob herself of skill and security, send away her muse and become helpless, that her duende might come and deign to fight her hand to hand..." -FGL
Initiation.
10 October 2009
Not in Chicago Anymore.
06 October 2009
Life as a Foreigner.
02 October 2009
Mi cole.
29 September 2009
Movil!
28 September 2009
¿La Playa, Por Favor?
Upon arrival, I immediately noticed that nobody speaks English here. Not even the basics (that you can get away with in larger cities.) Ahhhhh! I underestimated the level of difficulty of living in a country where you do not speak the language. All I want to do at this point is learn Spain´s Spanish... which is SO very different from any Spanish I have ever heard/attempted to speak. Ever. But, before I learn the language, I must find a flat. (Which becomes increasingly difficult when you don´t know the language...uhhh...).
After settling into my hostel, I examined the map to find what appeared to be many beaches. So I set out in search of one in Santander. Hours later, I apparently didn´t realize how far I had gone... b/c I hit the ´´Salida a Santander´´ sign, which was entirely counterproductive to what I was trying to achieve. And still no beach. I settled for a seaport. And might try not to walk again for awhile. And might go order a pitcher of sangria right.this.moment.
Tonight, a group of us Auxiliares are all meeting up for tapas/dinner. I haven´t met any of them yet; I have no idea what to expect. I am just hoping I can find them... and if all else fails, I plan to start speaking loudly in English.
And so my first moments in Santander go... time for a much needed siesta. Hasta!
27 September 2009
Good luck, Chicago.
25 September 2009
First 24.
23 September 2009
Bon Voyage!
20 September 2009
Long Live Lola.
13 September 2009
05 September 2009
04 September 2009
Oh Rick.
03 September 2009
Exactly.
"It gets crazier and crazier the closer you get, doesn't it. Not just cuz you're saying goodbye to your family and friends, and not just cuz you're saying goodbye to the chi and texass- though those are readily on your mind-, but because you secretly know deep down inside that you are about to set off to a whole different life than the one you now know. That's the best part. Even if it's the one we think about the least when it gets this hectic."It has often been in the moments when I feel the most Lacking that this friend of mine has brought me to a place of feeling equipped and excited for my journey. When I have expected him to affirm this underlying sense that I am crazy, he has shown me understanding and support. Although high schoolers are his students, he has taught me so much. I really mean it -