Forgive me.

I keep apologizing to the 7 of you that read my blog. I really am sorry that I'm not updating daily, but I really don't think it's something that I should keep apologizing for. Moving to a foreign country is pretty time consuming, and I think you all understand.

My situation has changed a little in the past few days. I've moved into the apartment that I will be living in for this semester. My roommate is Anna from Romania. She's very nice and we get along well. Right now it's just the two of us, but we know that we'll have at least one more roommate. She will move in at the end of September. Just picture the apartment that Mom, Dad, Grandmomma, and I stayed in. It's not like that AT ALL. It's quite old, a little run down, and only students have been living in it for the past several years. My room has one small window that looks into a dark alley. Needless to say, I don't open it. I have a pretty good bit of storage for clothes, but other than the armoire, only a bed and a very small shelf fit in the room. It's very tiny! However, we have a good sized kitchen, living room, and dining room. Anna scrubbed and disinfected the whole apartment from top to bottom before I arrived and it's very clean. She even cleaned the outside shutters!

This past week was pretty easy. Okay, it was VERY easy! We don't have classes on Fridays and today is a national holiday. So, we had a 3 day orientation. Anna and I celebrated yesterday by doing a little shopping... but mostly window shopping. I did have a finance class on Monday. The professor is really nice, and he knows the subject very well. I think it will be a good class. Our classes only meet once a week, but they meet for 2 hours at a time with no break. I know that doesn't seem very long, but I get SO antsy! I was alternating between fidgeting and dozing off by the time 45 minutes had passed. Yesterday, all of the new students and exchange students met on the school's patio for tango and tapas. Instructors will be at the school every Friday for anyone that wants to learn how to tango. It was fun to watch! :)

I'm still getting to know people, but it's hard. This week I've just been with the 1BBA (same as our freshmen) students, and while I've gotten to know a few of them, it's hard to share in their enthusiasm. I've already been through the "I'm living on my own for the first time and can stay out all night" phase. I rarely even stay awake into the wee hours of the morning to study. Maybe I'm just an abnormal college student, but I'm okay with just going out to eat and then going home. I don't want to go out to clubs that don't even open until midnight or 1. I want to be wearing my pajamas by that time. I really have loved college, but I'm getting to the point where I'm very okay with moving on to another phase. I don't plan to include long nights of drunkenness in that phase. So, while the people in the school are all very nice (and I really hope that I will make friends), I'll probably start reaching out to other parts of the community for companionship too.

I still haven't been able to visit a church. I'm torn between a solid church that conducts services in Catalan/Spanish or a not-so-solid church that conducts services in English. Both have their benefits. I would like to know your opinion.

Anna and I are about to make a visit to Ikea, but I'm going to leave you with a few pictures!
The Schells after the dinner and Flamenco show.

The musicians and a dancer. Mom bought a dress exactly like that the very next day. :)

These guys play in random places around the city center, and they are SO GOOD! It's a treat to stumble upon them.

Some sailboats and Reverie. I considered buying this one, but I decided that it probably wasn't big enough for all of my needs...

Please (please!) comment so I know who is reading! I hope you all are doing well! Off to Ikea...

I have no title.

I know it has been quite some time since I updated everyone on life in Spain. It has be fairly busy and exciting over the past few days! I'm now in my apartment, have met my roommate and some fellow students, and I'm in the middle of orientation! I can't remember where I left off last, so I'll just start at Thursday :) Prepare yourself for another disconnected post.

Thursday was a very very good day. Mom, Dad, and I spent some QT together around Barcelona. We didn't have any plans except to just hang out. We didn't know if it would be our last last time to hang out as our little family of 3. So, we spent a lot of time walking around the 5th Ave. of Barcelona. We went into shop after shop, and then we walked out of shop after shop. Passeig de Gracia is where Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Carolina Herrera, etc. are all located. Thus, our trips were just in and out :) Then, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for the flamenco show. Flamenco dancing is not really part of the culture in this part of Spain, but there is a restaurant that does shows for tourists like us. It was so much fun! We had a 4 course meal and a show and the food was actually really good! I expected it to be less than spectacular considering it was a touristy place. I was surprised. The stars of the night were definitely the dancers and musicians. The dance looks like just a bunch of stomping, but every move has a meaning and it's all very choreographed. And it's HARD WORK! I think I have found my calling. It doesn't matter that the rhythm in my head doesn't translate to my limbs.

Friday (yesterday) I met the KEI people at my school to start a little orientation. I've found out that orientation according to KEI/ESEI means, "we'll just kind of get together and loosely stick to the schedule and you don't really have to be here if you don't want to be." We had lunch together and moved our luggage into our apartments. That. was. it. But it was good because I got to spend the evening with my parents again! We bought a few more things for my room before they left me for the night.
Today we signed some papers and had a little tour before having another afternoon off, so I got to see my parents and grandmother a lot again today! It really has been a blessing that I've been able to spend these last couple of days with them before they leave (tomorrow).

I still think I'm better at vacationing in Europe than I am living in Europe. We'll see in a couple of weeks.

Here are some of my observations for the day:
1. All showers should come equipped with a fixed shower head. Last night I had my first experience with a shower using only a handheld shower head. There is a clip to hang it above your head, but it doesn't work. I figured out that I can hold the thing between my knees while I'm washing my hair and it won't spray everything in the bathroom. I figured this out only after I had tried many other things and sprayed everything in the bathroom.
2. Clothing labels are wrong. In most of the stores they list sizing for several countries on the tag. Either we have a big problem with vanity sizing in the U.S. or the Europeans have no clue what they're talking about.
3. Flamenco dancing is really cool. Really.

I have another list to add today. If you would, please pray for these things for me:
1. That my actions, speech, and treatment of relationships here would be glorifying to the Lord and an example to believers and non-believers alike.
2. That I would not be so guarded as to not build real relationships.
3. That I find a church SOON. I won't be able to visit any tomorrow, but I've been in contact with someone here that has pointed me towards a few churches.
4. The services in the aforementioned churches are in Catalan. Yikes! I want to go to these churches anyway because of their reputation for preaching the Gospel. Pray with me that the language barrier would 1) be overcome quickly 2) be a help in forming a relationships with the people there.

I hope everything is going well in Alabama and beyond! I pray for you!

Oh, and, WAR EAGLE!!!!

Today my mom, Lyna', is going to be a guest blogger. Please welcome her!

Well, I must begin by informing all who read this that I am definitely a novice blogger - actually, I haven't reached novice level yet since this is a first for me. As you can tell from Caroline's blog, our family is in Spain and we are having a wonderful time. We've been here almost two weeks and I do believe our confused American faces are becoming a little less conspicuous. The city is very large and spread out, but we've pretty well mastered the major areas, the metro, and yes, even grocery shopping.

Since Caroline has titled her blog "I've been thinking", and since I am her "guest blogger", I will go with that theme...

I've been thinking:

1) I will add living in a foreign country for a few months (only) to my bucket list.
2) God has created an amazing world - we are so fortunate to get to see this part of it.
3) Making family vacation memories like these are priceless.
4) I love America - even more from across the Atlantic.
5) I will miss Caroline while she is studying abroad, but I am very thankful for her to have this opportunity.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel as we are doing for all of you at home. Also, please keep in touch with Caroline over the next few months so she will have a little bit of home here with her in Spain.

Adios!
Lyna'

Sorry for the delay.

Hello family and friends! I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything lately. I've thought about it, but we've been busy and that means that I've been to lazy to write anything at night. I have a feeling that this might be heavy on the pictures, but that's okay. I think you'll enjoy that more anyway :) We've visited Montjuic, Sitges, Montserrat, the Torres winery, and various other places since you last heard from us. Everything is still as beautiful and exciting as it was when arrived.
Now to some pictures...

We saw this on our bus tour... there's no escape!!!


This is part of one facade of La Sagrada Familia. It's the minimalist side, and the newer side.


This is only part of the inside of the temple. Apparently the design is supposed to mimic the bones of an animal carcass. You can only walk through about half of it, because they are still building. There's so much scaffolding on the other side that you couldn't see through it!


This is the older facade of La Sagrada Familia. I don't have a good picture of it in daylight, but I think I would still like this one more. It is so so detailed! And it reminds Dad and I of those drippy sandcastles that you make at the beach.


Yesterday we visited Montserrat and the monastery there. I know this doesn't show much, but I don't think it would be possible to capture the whole thing unless I was in a helicopter. It covers the entire mountain and has many different areas. We had the chance to listen to the choir boys sing, and I'm pretty sure it was as close as you can get to what heaven will sound like! I really want to upload the video tomorrow. Please chastise me if I don't get this done.


It was tough, but someone had to do it!

(INTERJECTION: I'm watching the beginning of the Republican National Convention. Am I the only one that is not enjoying this rendition of "America the Beautiful?" Does that make me un-American, Joel?)

That's all I have for photos right now. I put this off and now it's after 1 AM! I promise I will try to do better tomorrow :)

Now for my observations (As you can probably tell, this will become a regular thing):
1. I will never get used to people of Asian descent speaking Catalan as their first language. It's just weird to me!
2. Spanish people are very affectionate. Overly affectionate. So far it hasn't bothered me, but today when I was packed in the hot metro with a migraine and surrounded by couples making out I wanted to kick them all in the pancreas. PDA like that is just gross. Is it too hard to just hold hands?
3. Even the English channels on Spanish TV stink. I've watched more CNN this week than I have all year.
4. Travel guides are WRONG about Spanish attire. They all say that the women dress smartly and modestly. They are all full of lies. Especially about the modesty thing. The 4 Bs are not hidden here!
5. I know already that I'm really going to miss Alabama. I think about it often.

I'm not going to stay up for 3 more hours to hear Sarah Palin's speech. I'm very interested in what she has to say though. I think we can all agree that McCain trumped Obama by picking her! If you watch, please let me know how it goes! I love you all !

Another day, another dollar... I mean euro.

We had another long and tiring day in Barcelona, but I'm liking this city more and more!

We started the day trying to figure out the metro system. I think it's going to be easy to figure out, but we had to walk a LONG way underground to find the platform we needed. Not only was it really strange being underground, it. was. so. hot. We definitely started the day with the stench of body funk. But it seems clean enough, so I'll probably use it over the next few months.

After figuring out the metro system, we climbed the stairway to heaven.

Ok, it was only the stairs to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, but after climbing that many stairs I was ready for a stairway to heaven.

The museum was beautiful and amazing! They hold many cultural events there, so hopefully I'll be back often. Plus, the view of the city is beyond wonderful. This museum isn't one of the biggest, and the main draw is the old gorgeous building that it's housed in. It held works mostly from the lesser known local artists, but there were several Picasso pieces. We only had time for a few exhibits, so I'll try to spend a Saturday there soon to finish up the rest.

After the museum we headed to El Poble Espanyol. This was built in 1929 for the International Exhibition (maybe the World's Fair?). Within this walled village you can find all kinds of handcrafted items and restaurants. Ceramics, textiles, food, guitars, leather goods... you name it and you may can find it. Plus it's got tons of neat cobbled streets and architectural details. We came away with some embroidered items, a few ceramic items, and gelato. Yum!

Then, we made our way back to the harbor to find paella. This was my first real experience with paella, and I LOVED IT! Mom and I shared paella with lobster and I stuffed myself full. Very very full. After a long walk down La Ramblas we ended up back at the apartment and have been sitting on the couch since then.

I'm really tired, and I'm very sorry about the lack of details and pictures. But I will leave you with a few more observations.

1. Spanish men are more attractive than Spanish women, but Spanish women are very graceful.
2. However, Spanish women are not very modest... at all.
3. The longer I stay in this city, the more germophobic I will become. I went through a bottle of Purell today.
4. Public toilets have more "sucking power" than private toilets.
5. It didn't take me long to learn how to crack a lobster claw.
6. You can spot an American from a mile away. We're awkward in foreign cultures.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

...and I've taken almost a thousand pictures. That's a LOT of words. The words will definitely outweigh the pictures in this post because it's too late and it takes too long to upload pictures on here. I'll try to upload more when I get little breaks during the day.

I guess I should start describing this trip from the beginning.

Our flight was scheduled to leave Mobile at 5 PM Monday afternoon. However, Fay had other plans and we were put on another plane for the next day. We were a little bummed out, but everything turned okay. We arrived in Barcelona around lunchtime on Wednesday. The flight was very very long. Very. And I had to use an airplane bathroom for the first time. It was horrific. I thought that I or my shirt might get sucked into the deep innards of the plane. This is gross, but I was so scared that I didn't even wash my hands. I ran out and then bathed in Purell. Silly, but it really had an effect on me. However, I sat beside a family with 3 young children (3,2, and 9 months-brave souls!) and before we got off the mom had given me her telephone number in case I needed anything and lots of tips about living in Barcelona. She was so so nice and gave me a very good first impression about the Spanish citizens.

Honestly, I'm not very sure what we did on Wednesday afternoon. I know we checked into our apartment and ate some tapas, but I can't remember much else. I would ask, but everyone else is asleep. Speaking of our apartment, it is awesome! I really hope that my next apartment here in Barcelona will be half as good. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.
This is our super sweet back porch/terrace/patio thing. You can't see it in this picture, but their are tall apartment buildings on each side of it. Thus, when we look up we see lots of underwear hanging out to dry. If we look to our right we can see the famous "Johnny Cash flipping off Folsom" picture.

This is the picture of the living room leading to the kitchen. And Grandmomma organizing her purse, or something.

I like the apartment a lot. And it's about 2 blocks from the busiest part of the city, Plaça Catalunya. It really would be okay if KEI called and said, "Surprise! You get to stay here until December!"

We (Mom, Dad, and I) slept until 11:30 yesterday morning! None of us really slept on the plane, and we were all worn out! We did a little of the tour (picture of map below) and just ate. That was it!

Today we got up and did more of the tour. Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia. WHOA!!! It's so crazy that Gaudí worked on that for the 40 years leading up to his death in 1927, and it won't be finished in our lifetime. That's intense. (There's a picture from the front facade below- it's Jesus). Then we spent some time at Gaudí's Park Güell (the picture of the city).

Before leaving you with a little more eye candy, I'm going to give you a few of my first impressions.
1. The city is very very clean. The population is abundant (especially around the harbor and Plaça Catalunya) but the trash is not. Once you get out of the main areas, the streets are filled with quaint shops and cafes and lined with trees. It's very picturesque. There's not even any noise pollution! People don't yell, honk their horns, or drive super loud cars here. I'm not sure why, but I like it!
2. The food is good, y'all! I have to admit that I haven't had much of an appetite since we've been here, but the little I've eaten was soooo good. I had the best sandwich today. Bread, tomato, bacon, and cheese. And it was unlike any bread, tomato, bacon, and cheese sandwich you will ever eat... unless you visit the Alaska Restaurant in Barcelona. We're still not sure why it's named "Alaska Restaurant." Isn't that an Indian word?
3. Barcelona Bus Turístic is awesome! There is an abundance of hop on/hop off bus tours in cities, but this one is worth remembering. The buses (busses?) are so clean and there is one at each stop every 5 minutes if not sooner. With 3 different lines for 3 different parts of the city, I would recommend this for anyone wanting to be quickly acclimated to Barcelona. And, it uses headphones with recorded information in at least 8 languages.
4. People like to show their panties. Maybe I'm just behind the times, but girls like to wear very thin dresses and panties in a contrasting color. If they're not wearing that, they're wearing pants that reveal the elastic on their panties. I'm fairly certain this look should be left to male rap stars.
5. Toilets in Europe are intense. I didn't remember the vortex-like suction that these things have until my first flush! I now push the button and back up against the wall. It's almost as bad as the airplane toilet.

I think that's enough for right now... and I'm ready to get some sleep. Have fun with these pictures! I'm sorry I haven't edited them yet... The ones I haven't mentioned are Dad in front of La Pedrera and a picture of the Mediterranean. Yes, it really is that beautiful!

This time I'm really leaving.

Tonight is my last night in Alabama until December 19! The process to make this study abroad trip happen took so long, and it seems like we've been planning for years. I wondered if the day would ever come, but it's only a few minutes away. I can't write a long post (international travelers need their rest), but I just wanted to mention again a few matters for prayer.

1. My new roomies- I'll be living with these people for almost 4 months. Please pray that we would build friendships and become like a family while we're in Spain. At least for a while, each other is all we'll have!

2. A church- I've been in contact with some missionaries that live in Barcelona, and they have started a church outside the city. I'm supposed to meet with them once I get settled in. They say that there aren't many good evangelical churches in Barcelona to start with, much less English-speaking ones. While it would be awesome to find a good English-speaking church, I'm thinking that I might be attending a church with services in Catalan. Basically that means I'll be learning very quickly, or I'll just be talking to a lot of people after services to figure out what was going on. I say it's a win-win situation no matter what! Finding a church (and hopefully friends there) is very important to me, so please pray for that.

3. Homesickness- Today Lu called and I cried. I'm already getting really sad about leaving my family and friends here. It's weird because I'm usually not one to get homesick unless I am physically sick. I know I'll gain so much by being in Spain, but I just wish I could take everyone with me! I know that this is what I'm supposed to be doing, and I'm praying that I will be reminded that lasting peace/comfort/etc. can only be given by the Lord.

I hope all is well with everyone. The next post really will be from Barcelona!

P.S. Please leave me comments to help out with #3 a little. :)