...let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us...

This blog was the hardest to name so far. Most times I'm struggling to come up with something that explains the post but doesn't fall along the lines of "What I did Monday and Tuesday of this week." This time, however, I had countless titles swimming around in my mind and couldn't decide what encompassed the past three days the most. After some thought I settled on an excerpt of Hebrews 12:1-3, but I'll try to break up the post in a way that explains every aspect of the past 72 hours.

When I left school on Thursday afternoon I had no plans.

Seriously. Not a single social engagement. I remember walking back from school, trying to remember the museums I've been wanting to go to and planning out a quiet weekend of reading one of the novels for my women's literature class, visiting the open air markets, and checking out a museum each day. Now that its Sunday evening, I read 4 pages of my novel and didn't go to a single market or museum. So much for a quiet weekend in Sevilla.

Journal of the Movement of the World. / Reason #2 you should train to become a Messiah Women's Soccer Player before you study abroad.

I'm pretty sure nobody will understand this reference to the French novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I could go on but its better you just read the book - I'll lend it to you :) Anyway, this 12-year-old girl keeps record of the amazement of movement, for example: the articulation of a cat's spine or synchronized diving. This weekend, being a part of the Carrera Nocturna de Sevilla, I was inspired to add my own entry in this fashion.

First off, there were 20,702 people who participated in this run. Granted, I'm not part of any sort of marathon running club that does this all the time, but it sounds like a lot of people to me. CIEE had sent us an e-mail last Saturday giving us a heads up about the race and I figured, Why not run? I was probably going to go for a run that day anyway. The Spaniards all talked about how relaxed it was and how a ton of people just do it for fun so I figured it would be a 5K or something. It wasn't until I was meeting Alia to go that I found out it was a 12K. Now I know that's not that long but it was 10 PM and I hadn't exactly spent the day eating, drinking, or resting to run 7.47 miles. Oops.

Once there, I approached the start line with 5 other girls from CIEE and felt a mix of excitement (the number of people was amazing!), nervous (I probably should've drank more than 3 glasses of water today), and anxiety (its currently 9:50 and I have to run this race, get home, and meet my friend at 12:00...). But as the start time got closer and closer I decided I wasn't going to worry about anything but this moment. I was determined to run the whole race and deal with everything else as it comes.

Waiting for the start of the race

The start was somewhat anti-climatic since all 20,702 (minus a few people who won other races before this and got to start 5 minutes ahead) were supposed to take off at the same time. We would start running and then realize the old man next to us was walking at the same pace. As soon as things cleared out though I took off and maintained a pace slightly slower than normal but still somewhat aggressive. Which means I probably ran at least an extra mile if you count all the weaving around groups dressed up as Bob de Esponja (SpongeBob), clowns, and Duracell Bunnies.

Now even though a 12K isn't exactly a social event if you are running, it was amazing to be part of this massive group of people moving together. None of us were taught to run; none of us were told to sing or clap when we were going through the bridge; none of us received a memo to cheer on the other runners at the finish line. We all just took off, and for an hour and 16 minutes we were an organism of movement - running, singing, cheering. As we ran through my neighborhood, I was surrounded by familiar places, but no familiar faces. But it didn't matter because smiles are universal. The families and friends weren't yelling my name, but the fervor of "Adelante!" (Move forward!) was enough encouragement for me to keep smiling, keep running.

I managed to run the whole thing without looking at my watch except at the beginning. I had no idea what the route was and I didn't see any signs marking the distance so I figured I would just keep going as fast as I could until I was at the end. I'm sure that's not the appropriate technique to running something like this but oh well. We ended in the soccer stadium, with tons of people cheering in the stands and a big timer showing us our arrival time. They put the videos up on a website after the race but after watching the minute I arrived 10 different times I realized two things: I should probably have worn a shirt more distinct than plain black. If I'm going to arrive with a bagillion other people, I should make it a point to get closer to the camera instead of walking right in the middle of all of them.

After 1:16:17 I came in to the finish line at 1:27:34 (the timer is off from the different startings).
So believe it or not I am in that mess of people who is a step away from the finish line :)

Feeling good, but a little thirsty, I continued to follow this massive group of people to the area where they were handing out drinks, t-shirts, etc. And when we arrive what do I find but good old Cruzcampo. Yes after Spaniards run a 12K they refresh themselves with beer. Figures. Luckily I found a smaller stand that was giving away Powerade and retrieved my bag including: a t-shirt, shorts, medal, keychain, water, and cereal bar. Yay!

By this point it was midnight and raining so I hailed my first cab ever (then thought oh crap what street do I live on) and continued on home. This was the only point where I really missed family, friends, etc. It was kind of a bummer to have finished a 12K and have nobody even know. So once I got home I figured out the self-timer on my SLR and photographed the aftermath for proof :)

Looking good in my t-shirt and medal at 12:30 AM.

When in Spain, do as the Spaniards do // How to lose (?) a guy in 10 minutes

It was already 12:30 so I tried to call Nadia, but with no success. 2 tries later I decided to just get a shower and see if she calls. After showering I still hadn't heard anything so I settled for some sweatpants and a yogurt to do some facebook creeping before bed. Halfway through my yogurt though, I got a text with her location and an invitation to come and meet her and her friends. Since I was up and my upcoming weekends all seem busy I figured I should go. Seize the day, hang out with the locals... this is what I came here to do right?

So I get dressed and head out (in the rain) to find the bridge where they are hanging out. At this point I should probably mention that there are 4 different bridges within a mile and a half. And it wasn't any of these bridges... it was the next bridge. I will fully admit here that I should not have walked by myself at 1:30 in the morning when I wasn't sure where I was going. But I'm pretty good with directions and I honestly thought I knew where I was going. After about an hour, I finally met up with Nadia and her friend Carlos, who took me across the street to the meeting place. At 2:30 AM. When I was soaked from head to toe. Good first impression, right?

Well it turns out I did make a good impression because within the first 15 minutes, Carlos and one of Nadia's other friends were kind of snickering and looking in my direction. But Carlos seemed nice and we had been talking before so I figured whatever, my accent must just be beyond awful. But a few minutes later when I was talking to Carlos I asked him, "You guys are all talking about me aren't you?" And he responded with a "Sí...". To which I followed with, "Why...?". Which ended up with a response of, "Because they all know I think you're beautiful."

What in the world are you supposed to say to that? American boys aren't exactly knocking down my door, let alone just walking up to me and telling me I'm beautiful. Thus, I would say I don't have much practice in this situation. So Awkward Amber just kind of laughed it off with the Spanish equivalent of, "Oh, OK."

The night continued on great, Nadia studied in Germany so she knows what it feels like to be the foreigner trying to make friends with the locals. Everytime one of her friends would try and speak to me in English she would tell them that my Spanish was really good and they should talk to me in Spanish. So by the end of the night it was just like hanging out with any other group of friends.

Excluding of course the compliments from Carlos: You're so pretty. You seem like such a good person. I really like hanging out with you. You're so skinny, you don't need to run. You're beautiful. Seriously. What do you say to this? I tried to explain to him that if someone in the states were to say this it would be more along the lines of a joke, not a serious compliment. This did not deter him. To add to it, all of his friends kept coming up to me too and telling me about how nice he was and how much he liked me, which again I awkwardly laughed off. But overall he was a nice guy and understood when I told him I couldn't like him after only knowing him for 3 hours. Also, contrary to popular belief, I didn't exactly come to Spain looking for a boyfriend.

The night was a success though, they invited me to come hang out in their pueblo (which is 5 minutes outside of the city) and we exchanged phone numbers for future outings. REAL LIVE SPAINSH FRIENDS :D

How did I end up here?

Ejemplo 1: My friend Alia took it open herself to plan some sort of event every week to get people out doing something that's more involved with the community. This week it was churros and a play. The churros were delicious but the play? Well it was a high school play. No pasa nada, I had nothing else to do so it didn't really matter but it was pretty comical. There Alia and I were, seated between all the parents with their cameras and small children, wondering what high school drama teacher would let these 17 year old girls wear 4 inch heels and dresses so short I could see up them from my seat. Those españolas develop their look young.

Ejemplo 2: This morning I woke up wishing I was headed off to Calvary with my Home away from Hope family. So instead I took out the good ol' CIEE handbook and looked up Evangelical churches. Turns out there was one that started in 45 minutes and was only 15 minutes from my house. So armed with my paper and pencil, umbrella, and a euro for a pastry along the way, I headed off to church.

The search for this church was slightly different then my search for a church in Holland, MI, with its 170 places of worship. No instead I had 3 options and I simply chose the first one on the list. When I arrived the church consisted of a single rectangular room with 4 chairs on either side of the aisle and about 20 rows of chairs. The service lasted for 2 hours and was rather intriguing. The worship team sat in a circle on the same level as everyone else and the worship consisted of people praying as they felt led and requesting particular songs. It was neat to be in a circumstance where Protestant churches were not the majority and the church body was truly stripped down to the most basic elements. Plus, I was able to understand the whole service! I'll definitely plan on going back the other Sundays I'm in Sevilla.

How did I end up here? The question is not the planning, walking, or arriving but rather the course of events that led me to arrive in a particular place. Multiple times this weekend I've taken in a deep breath and just wondered how it is that I am in this place, so far from home, in a community that a month ago was not my own. Thankfully, I know these plans have been laid out before me and am able to enjoy each experience with wonder and appreciation.

Sorry for the lengthy post and lack of photos... the events of the weekend weren't exactly SLR sort of outings!

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3