Big news!

"It was a year full of adventure, goodbyes, change, and growth.  I don't know if 2013 will be able to top it, but I'm sure excited to see it try."

Those were the last sentences of this blog closing out the 2012 year.  Since then, some of you are aware, there have been some recent developments to make 2013 quite a year of adventure as well.

In the summer, directly after school lets out, I will be going on a short-term missions trip with my church to minister in Peru.

But there is another big change that is more long term.
I have prayerfully considered the decision and did not take it lightly, but I am extremely excited to announce:












I'm going back to Spain!   Not too long ago, I received an email from CIEE inviting me back to teach English in Spain for a school year-- this time in Madrid.  I studied abroad in Madrid and visited there multiple times last time and it is the area of Spain that really holds my heart.

So anyway, that's the big news!  I am sure excited to see 2013 try to beat 2012.  I think it could really happen!

The Adventure Continues

A look back at 2012.

2012 was a year full of blessings, new experiences, and changes.


I rang in the new year with Robby in Dublin in the middle of our UK adventure- after sightseeing and theatre-going in London and before heading up to Scotland to join Aileen and her wonderful and inviting family.  But the travels did not end at the end of Christmas break. I was fortunate to be going back to one of my favorite places in the world, Spain, to continue my work as a Language and Culture assistant at I.E.S. Alta Axarquia in the mountains of Periana while living in the beach town of Torre del Mar, Malaga.

In February I faced a challenge and embarked on my solo-travels of Spain. But through that challenge I grew and learned a lot about myself.
March continued the adventure. I started applying for jobs back in the US and my parents arrived to the Costa del Sol.
In April, I was blessed to see the way the Spanish culture celebrates Holy Week (Semana Santa) and I became tour-guide for my parents. It was incredible to be able to show them a little about my life that I had made for myself in Spain.  Also, during April, I took the huge step of buying my ticket to fly back home, a strong assurance that no matter how much I wanted to stay in Spain, I would, in fact, be coming home.  At the end of April, Taylor came to visit me and we adventured up to Madrid, where I had fallen in love with Spain 2 years before.  Returning to Madrid gave me hope that I was not saying goodbye to Spain forever. It would still be there when I return.
May came around and the time I had left in Spain was dwindling. I celebrated my birthday with an amazing group of people who I had become so close to over the past 8-9 months.  It also warmed up enough for me to take my first swim in the Mediterranean of the year. It had been warm enough to soak in the sun on the beach before this, but finally a day came in May when I was finally able to fully enjoy the perks of living in a beach town.  May went by so fast, filled with days at the beach and meals and afternoons with friends.




Towards the end of May, I traveled to France with Jeff Ralston and I saw yet another city and another flavor of Europe.  The last days in Torre del Mar were filled with celebrations of friendships, hard goodbyes, and fun happy hours at Vox.  Then, the time came when I had to say goodbye to Malaga- my Spanish home.  But although I was saying goodbye to one chapter of my life, I knew more great adventures were to come.
In June, I traveled to Berlin, Italy (Rome, Orvieto, Florence & Venice), and Ireland (Dublin and Galway), with Laura. Although it was a strange transition time for me, being neither in my Spanish home nor in my US home, I saw some amazing things that this world has to offer and I got to experience it with my wonderful sister-in-law.  And with that last European tour, my trip of a lifetime drew to a close.

It was great to come back to my family and give Twix a huge hug. Then shortly after arriving home, we moved to our new house. This was a huge season of change for me. I had barely begun adapting to life back in the United States and already, I had to adapt to a new house as well.  But the move went well and it was all in the same area so I still had some consistency in my life. In June, I took a short break from the craziness of the move and figuring out what to do next in my life to go camping with Julie and Keatyn. I knew adventures weren't over when I left Spain and this was proven true when a storm swept in and took down a tree on our campsite into our fire.  We all came out alive and unharmed but it definitely wasn't your normal camping trip.



Mitchell and Laura stayed with us until they began their trip to California in July.  During this month I was busy working at the Cheesecake Factory, nannying, applying to jobs and trying to figure out what I should do with my life.  I was also plugged into a great women's small group and we have been meeting since then, sharing and growing together.
In August, I continued to figure out what to do next in my life.  I didn't like the floundering feeling where I didn't have a strong clear direction of what was supposed to come next. All my life, I've known the steps to take and the direction I was going way in advance.  But for one of the first times in my life, the direction was unclear and I really struggled but grew in relying on God. Knowing that he knows the plans for my life, even when I do not, and that they are better than any plans I could make for myself.  I met up with Eddie in August and we reminisced on our Spanish adventures by going to a Real Madrid game here in Philadelphia. At the end of August, I received a life-changing email from Immaculate Heart of Mary wondering if I was still interested in teaching Spanish. An opening had just come about and they received my resume from Archmere. I set up an interview and got the job that day and then the following Monday, started up with teacher in-service week and planning and preparation for the school year.  A week later, I taught my first Spanish class.
September was full of planning and preparation.  I spent hours upon hours in school preparing for the lessons to come.  Not much went on in September around my crazy teacher's schedule, but I did host the bridal shower for Kim and I squeezed in a swing dancing night as well.
October continued on as September did.  I became more confident as a teacher and planning slowly became easier.  I also grew in friendships with people from Ogletown Baptist Church which I had been attending.
In November, I took a weekend to travel up to Gordon College to see Dance Team perform at Midnight Madness and to see the Theatre Departments production of Working. It was good to go back since I hadn't seen the campus since the summer before Spain. But it also was a great moving-forward part in my life.  I had a wonderful experience at Gordon which I wouldn't trade for the world, but that was a chapter in my life, just like Spain.  Things might have been great there, but there are things even better ahead of me.  I also went down to DC/Arlington for a weekend where I saw Eddie and then I went to see Sergio and I met some of his friends and then had a blast salsa dancing with him and going to see his church the next day.
December came so quickly.  At school, I was working on getting certain things done before the Christmas holiday. I went on the NYC field trip with my 8th graders and saw the Radio City show. Things wrapped up at school well even though the last week was hectic between the christmas concert and different field trips. But I did see Elf about 3 times over the course of that week.  Christmas was good and full of delicious food. It was good to be home for Christmas this year with family since last year I just skyped with them. But I did miss Mitchell for the holiday. Shortly after Christmas we celebrated the wedding of Kim and Matt. I am so incredibly happy for those two and the wedding went beautifully.
And that brings us to today. New Years Eve. The last day of 2012.  It was a year full of adventure, goodbyes, change, and growth.  I don't know if 2013 will be able to top it, but I'm sure excited to see it try.

Dios te bendiga en el año nuevo!
God bless you in the New Year!

-Kaitlyn

Hala Madrid!

Real Madrid won 3-0 tonight. That seals it. I am pleased to announce the new champions of La Liga: Real Madrid!!  The streets are exploding with cars honking and dogs barking and people shouting.  They're proud of their team, and so am I. Hala Madrid.  Champions for the 32nd time, 11 times more than any other team.

May Day Reflections

I can't believe it's already May! I only have a month left here in my position in Spain.  Like I said in my last post, I'm going to miss it here a lot.  I'm having the experience of a lifetime.

Something that crossed my mind recently was that anytime before when I met someone who had lived abroad, more than just studying abroad, I was really impressed and just enamoured by the thought of that. I thought those people were so cool! But now, guess what?! I'm one of those people!  I made a dream happen and I couldn't be happier.

This is going to be a very busy month with people coming to visit, me visiting other places, and on top of it all, preparing for my trip with Laura and coming back to the USA.  And you know what they say about what happens when you're having fun. Time flies.  I'll be home before you know it.

Taylor-Time

I had the pleasure of hosting Taylor for a week and a half right after my parents left.  A lot of my friends became very homesick after their parents left, but I think having a friend here, made the transition back to Spanish independent living easier.



I loved showing Taylor around the city. Seeing his enthusiasm reminded me of how absolutely lucky I am to be living here. Every once in a while he would say, "Wow, I'm in Spain!" It was really humbling in a way. I am so blessed to have this opportunity and I need to work harder to not take it as much for granted.

The weekend that he was here, we went up to Madrid.  It was amazing, of course, since it's my favorite city in Spain.  We took a free walking tour so that Taylor could see all the important parts of the city in the one day we were there as well as hear the history and fun stories about the different places.  We also made sure to go to my favorite part of the city- El Retiro.  It became one of Taylor's favorite parts of the city as well. There's something magical about nature set apart from the hubbub of a city. El Retiro is so well designed that you can't see any skyscrapers or big buildings or indications of a huge city from within the park.

Our hostel was right around the corner from where I lived when I was studying abroad so we walked to the plaza right across from the piso and I pointed out, "look, see that window up there. That's where I used to live." And I told him the story about how every afternoon, an accordion player would come along the walking street playing music for the restaurant patrons and I would just dance to the music in my room.



Unfortunately we only had one full day in Madrid since we had to be back for the Titanic Party on Saturday night. But I'm still glad I got to go back.  I don't think I'll have time to go back there before I go home. But I'll be back eventually. Tengo ganas de regresar a Madrid y viajar desde allí a los otros sitios a que quiero viajar.

So Saturday night, we had a Titanic party since it was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the titanic.  We all dressed up in our finest cocktail dresses (which weren't very fine since we don't really have any of those in our closets here).  Unfortunately it was raining so we couldn't do all the activities that we had wanted that would have taken place on our terrace, but it was still a fun gathering with good friends.

For the rest of the time Taylor was here, we just enjoyed the relaxed Spanish lifestyle, took in some sun, and played card games. He taught me this really fun card game and I taught him the card game, Spite and Malice.  (Gigi, if you're reading this, I've passed on the game, and I think Taylor enjoyed it so much that he'll teach his friends too.  Thanks for teaching it to me!)

Taylor and I had some really good talks about what it will be like to go home. He had been traveling around Europe for 6 weeks and was going home a few days after Spain. And it got me thinking.  I'm really looking forward to coming home, but it kinda scares me too. I'm sure a lot has changed since I've been gone. I've changed too.  I've also adopted this culture as my own and I'm going to have to re-assimilate into the American lifestyle. And I don't know if I want to. I love the attitude towards life and culture here so much.  But I'll have to. I don't really have a choice, do I?  I can't wait to come home, but I'd just love to bring my favorite parts about the Spanish culture with me.  Anyway, just some thoughts. Please excuse me if I'm depressed when I get home. It's not that I don't like being around you all, I really can't wait for that.  It's just that, after all that I've been through, the cold winters, the lonely afternoons, the solo travels, I've really had an amazing experience.

And it's not over yet!! Todavía queda un mes y media!

Parent- time

My parents were here! I know I'm really behind in my posts, so I'm going to make this a picture post.

One of the first days in Sevilla, there was the union strike. A lot of things weren't open or running since they were protesting the new Spanish government's proposed budget cuts and reforms.

"Sunny" Sevilla. Sevilla has on average more than 300 days of sun a year.  But it was cloudy and/or rainy the entire time we were there.  We enjoyed the beautiful city nevertheless.

Since we were in Sevilla right before Semana Santa (Holy Week), we could go into the different churches to see up close the floats that are carried along the streets in the Semana Santa processions.  Sevilla has probably the grandest Semana Santa and people come to Sevilla from all over Spain. So seeing the beautiful floats here was especially extraordinary.

We also took a tour of the bull fighting ring of Sevilla.  Bull fighting is a tradition still holding strong in Sevilla.

We went to Plaza de España during one of the sunlight moments.  Plaza de España was built for a world conference. It has architectural elements from all over Spain and Spanish history.

After Sevilla, we went to Ronda.  The old part of the city is located on one side of this huge canyon because it had great defensive properties (and great views to go with it).  This bridge unites the now larger city and is the symbol of Ronda.

At the bottom of the canyon is this beautiful river.  During the days of the defensive city, they had a problem of running out of water when under siege. So they built a tunnel (with 365 steps) down to the canyon and slaves/servants would pass the water up to the city.

After Ronda, my parents went to Gibraltar while I went back to Torre del Mar. After Gibraltar, my parents came over to Torre del Mar for a few days.

On Wednesday, we headed into Málaga to watch some Semana Santa processions.

We also went to the Balcón de Europa in Nerja and then the caves of Nerja.  In the cave was this huge column which is, according to the Guinnes Book of World Records, the largest cave column in the world.

Of course a trip with my parents would not be complete without Geocaching. One of the caches near the caves led us to this gorgeous place.

I loved having my parents here. It was the perfect touch of home to ward off the homesickness and get me through the rest of my time here.  I hope my parents enjoyed it as much as I did. But let's be honest. They were in Spain. Of course they did. Who wouldn't?

Diary of a sola traveler - The Final Chapter

One of the most interesting things that I'm seeing here in the city of Córdoba is the mixture of the Arab and Catholic. Or rather, the superimposition of the Catholic over the previous Arabic structures.  The Mezquita is enormous and gorgeous and it is filled with undeniably Arabic architecture and decoration.  It has rows and rows of arches and columns and all of the entrances have their key-shaped frames. The walls are covered with the plaster impressions and colorful tiles.  However, mixed into, yet standing out, are clearly catholic pieces.  Around the perimeter of the mosque are the capillas, the small chapels dedicated to different saints. And then, smack dab in the center of this beautiful Arabic structure is a catholic cathedral with the organ, the Eucharist, and the statues of Jesus on the cross.  It was somewhat of a jolting experience because the catholic church part of the mosque is somewhat hidden from different sides due to the walls of the choir stalls and the wall behind the altar.

But the Catholic on the Arabic does not just apply to the Mezquita.  The Catholic King's Alcazar is situated right on top of old Arabic baths.  It's quite the combination if you ask me.  Up in the Leon and Castilla regions of Spain, a Spanish architectural style, Múdejar was developed. Múdejar is a synthesis of the arabic, jewish and christian architecture due to all of these cultures living side by side in the Spanish peninsula. Although much of that style can be seen in these structures (or should I say, many of these structures can be seen as influences in the múdejar style), here in Córdoba, they remain pretty distinct.

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As I'm on the bus from Córdoba to Málaga, my Semana Blanca trip is pretty much over. I saw a lot this past week and it's safe to say that I'll sleep well when I get back to my own bed. So at the beginning of my trip, I was pretty nervous about traveling alone. Now, when it's all done, here's what I think about it:

Pros:
--You can do things at your own pace - I especially like this for museums.
--You meet other people. - If the hostel is good, you will meet other people since you won't be stuck in your own group of friends.

Cons:
--It gets lonely at night if you're not in a good hostel. Especially in the winters when it gets dark early so you get back to the hostel earlier.
--There's no one to take your picture at a lot of places.
--You can't talk with a friend about what you're seeing and experiencing.
--Bus rides and flights are super boring.
--Taxis cost more since you can't split them with anyone. Plus, you want to take them more since you're traveling alone and don't want to get lost or walk alone in the dark.
--It's extremely awkward to eat alone in Spain.
--You don't laugh as much. If you laugh out loud at your own thoughts, you'll look pretty crazy.

Overall, it's more lonely and boring. I don't think I'll travel alone again unless there's no other way I could see the sights that I want.  I don't think I would have been able to go to Mérida or Cordoba with anyone else, so I'm glad that I did this. But my first instincts about traveling alone were correct. It's really not as fun as traveling with friends.  I'm glad I didn't go to Italy alone. It wouldn't have been close to as good of an experience as it will be with Laura.