...Buenísima!!!

God is definitely present here in Murcia. I wish I could recount the details of the past few days so that you could see the amazing progression of it all. Quite frankly, I like it here. A lot. :) Granted, the first night was undeniably unnerving, as was my first night at college, but this was naturally more intense. Never before have I been separated by so many miles of water from so many people that I love! But familiarity began to kick in right away, and although I still think of you beautiful people back home, I am so stinkin excited for this adventure! Rachael, Betty, and I make an excellent team. Our personalities, strengths, and weaknesses balance so well, and I am so incredibly thankful for them. We've been getting more than our fair share of strange looks; we are such Americans, and very white. However, when we approach people and start talking in Spanish, they seem very pleasantly surprised and are very kind and willing to help us. It's hard to believe that it's only been, what, four days? So yeah, obviously I can't mention everything I would like to, but here are a few highlights:

Thursday: I must admit that I am pleased to say that I have been doing most of the talking here. :) - Whether it was our taxi driver, Juan, or our landlord, Francisco (except when he and Rachael started pulling out the French), or the unexpected sweet old woman who rang our doorbell at 9pm (That's another story). Talking in Spanish is so fun!! We had to do some shopping that night, and, long story short, our beds are now adorned with Spiderman, Powerpuff Girls, and baby Looney Toons fleece blankets. I myself broke my own lack-of-sleep record, being awake for virtually 33 hours. I caught maybe a half hour on a plane flight, and maybe 20 minutes when we camped out in the Madrid airport for 7 hours...it's not a habit I intend to develop.

Saturday: We got HOT WATER!!!! I will never again take it for granted. Or the internet. Or cell phones. Or heat. Or food. I got more. I mean, we still have to figure out how to get the hot water to the shower, but now we can wash dishes the proper way. This, by the way, is thanks to our amazing next-door neighbors, who have been an incredible help to us the past couple days. We are going to bake them cookies. There is no question. Saturday we also went to Plaza de Santo Domingo, where we got some cafés con leche and torta chocolate. Muy sabrosos. Then we went to la Catedral!!!! It is gorgeous and huge and I can't wait to go back! It also contains the biggest organ in all of Europe. Oh, earlier Saturday we also went to the Mercadona and did some substantial grocery shopping for only 28 euros! We had soup and a delicious loaf of 50-cent bread for dinner, as opposed to the frozen pizza and salad with hot sauce from the previous two nights. Life is good.

It is simply amazing to consider how many people are praying for us. Keep em coming. :) God has been proving his faithfulness from the very beginning. I can't wait to see what happens next. Love and miss you all, and hopefully we will eventually get internet access in our apartment so we can skype some of you! Pictures to come. Hasta la próxima...

♥Tracy