Buenos días! 

My group and I arrived in Granada!!  We are sooo excited!  But first, to recap Madrid:

Our stay in Madrid was a blast, and I truly enjoyed getting to know the city a bit.  During our three-day stay in the city, we visited el Palacio Real (the Royal Palace), el Museo del Prado (famous museum in Madrid, housing the masterpieces of Velásquez, Goya, Rubens, el Greco, and others), and el Escorial (the famous monastery/retreat house/tomb of Spanish kings and queens since Philip II).  Incredible—a privilege to be sure!  One of my favorite moments was when our guide in el Escorial took us down into the tomb chamber underneath the building, and I stood about 10 feet away from the bones of Carlos V (Charles the Fifth—Holy Roman Emperor!!).  Unfortunately for all of you, security didn’t allow cameras inside the buildings. :)

On the last night, a bunch of the API students and I all hung out in Madrid, ending up at a Chocolatería where we enjoyed the famous Churros y Chocolate (fried bread sticks dipped in thick dark chocolate).  Yum!  We sat there deep in conversation underneath the streets of Madrid huddled over a small table till almost 1:30am!  What a memory…

Early Sunday morning, we boarded buses for Toledo en route to Granada.  Toledo used to be the capital of Spain--a city of three cultures, namely Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.  What a historical treasure!  The ancient city is practically an island surrounded by a river that acts as a mote.  We had a wonderful tour guide who showed us where the famous painter El Greco is buried, as well as the famous painting "The Burial of Count Orgaz" inside a chapel in the city.  I'm very glad to have visited.

After lunch in la Plaza de Zocodover in Toledo, we boarded the buses again--this time for Granada!  My roommate and I were soooo excited to meet our host family, barely able to contain our joy as the bus rolled along the highway past acres of olive groves and beautiful mountains.  We tried to jump-start our Spanish, going over verb tenses and sentence translation.

After dark, we arrived and stood with our luggage waiting to meet our new family.  I couldn't get over how much like the famous Orphan Annie I sounded, wondering aloud what my new "parents" would be like!  Soon our director called our names, and introduced us to Ana Ruiz Jimenez!  She is an adorable little grandmother in her mid-late fifties who--we later discovered--is an excellent cook.  She is very friendly (she greeted us brightly with kisses), and enjoys caring for us and chatting with us.  Needless to say, we like her a lot!  And we are not the only two: there are three other international students living with Ana right now--two boys from Kazakhstan, and one girl from Slovakia!  

Granada is a lovely city--very old and very beautiful.  Unfortunately, we have se more cold and rainy weather than people here are used to seeing this time of year!  Please pray that the Lord causes the sun and the warmth to engulf us here--I have to admit, it does a lot for my levels of cheeriness and confidence.

Surely God is good.  He is beginning to reveal himself to me in new ways already, and I don't anticipate those revelations to stop anytime soon :).  Even though I am not at home, I have a Father here, and He is with me. 

Thank you soooo much for praying--truly, God is hearing you and I am comforted!

Bless you all--I love you! 

Brittany