TGI...Viernes!!

Well, this week has been a full and tiring one. Finally sent my stupid computer home, and finally got better! No more sicky. :)
Nothing super exciting in particular to share, but my daily routine.
I get up (usually late, when/if my phone alarm decides it wants to wake me up) and scramble to get ready by 8:30 and take 2 metros to get to school. I have Spanish class from 9-12, which isn't too bad. I enjoy learning Spanish and our class makes it fun; after an 1 1/2 hour lunch, I have class from 1:30 to 2:30 with our TA, Katie, who is really awesome! She got her undergrad and teaches at UCD and is super friendly and personable, it's a refreshing break from very official professors. One M/W, I go to an elementary school from 3-5 to assist a 1st-grade teacher in her class. I don't have a ton to report yet, but the niños are SO CUTE!!! Two girls gave me stickers, one raised her hand to shyly say, "you are beootifuw" and the little boys are going to be heartbreakers one day! I am excited to get to know them and, who knows, maybe leave a mark somehow on their lives. I've gotten to practice a bit of my Spanish, but I'm mainly there to speak with them in English. After that, I have an hour break for a snack then go to my cultural class at 6. We discuss a variety of all things "Spain," from religion to politics to things we notice on the streets. It's been interesting despite the complicated dates/wars/people, but I'm still shocked that I was so oblivious to even recent Spanish history. I hope I come back home better-educated on the subject! Class ends at 7:30 and I walk the 5 blocks home from my metro and eat/nap depending on which is the stronger drive. Then I relax, read, run errands, etc. until dinner at 10 and try to get to bed at a decent time (never happens). Then it starts all over again! Sometimes routines get boring, but I feel that it adds some structure to my time here and I don't think it'll get old before I leave.

I got an unexpected blessing this week when Katie, my TA, invited me to go to Amistad, a Christian church in the area! Going to a local service will be so great, not just for practicing my language skills with real Madrileños, but international fellowship with other believers is such a beautiful thing. I remember when I was in Brazil, reading a Psalm beside my "mom" who read it aloud in Portuguese and it was such a special moment... It gives me chills when I think about how small our entire world/existence really is, the proof of which is in our same desire to worship and connect even when our cultures are entirely different!

I went to an art exhibit called the Caixa Forum with my school group, and boy was that an emotional experience. They had series of photographer's work that showed social injustice in Africa, Venezuela, Mongolia, and other places. The series about police brutality in Kenya horrified and worried me (my sister and some close friends are going there this summer on a mission's trip), but what ripped me up was the prize winning series of gender violence in Pakistan. They were simple head shots of the deformed faces of women who had been burned with acid for not wanting to marry someone they father demanded, after being raped, for being associated with a particular family, or just for being female in a male's society. It was hard to look at, I couldn't take it after a couple stories, but the purpose behind it was beautiful and moving. A friend comforted me and we enjoyed the lighter parts of the exhibit afterwards, but that definitely sticks with you. Please turn your prayers towards these injustices, that's my only request right now.

Anyway, it's hard to move on to another topic after that, so I'll just say that my first week was quite bustling and I am glad it's only week 3.

En paz,

Danielle