The Quest for 100 Books In a Year (Round 2)

 

Another year has come to a close, and with that, it's time for my end-of-the-year review.  From the two pictures, as far you know, I sat all year in the same spot and read, just letting the beard grow long and lush. Who's to say that didn't happen?

Before last year, the most books I'd read in a year was 26.  But, with some sort of new combination of grit and moxy (and no social life), I tallied 100 in 2019.  Like the first four-minute mile, my eyes were opened to my own capabilities and I decided to go for 100 again in 2020.  

Here's a bit of recap and analysis of those reads.

Top 5 Overall Favorite Reads of the Year

1. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah- This book is just fantastic.  Kristin Hannah sweeps you into this story emotionally and takes you into the depths of feelings associated with WW2.  As I said in my original review, the war-torn emotions are unbearably palpable.

2. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer - A very niche book about the brain's capabilities and memory competitions in the U.S and Europe.  His writing is rich and the memory palace technique is fascinating.

3. On the Road with Saint Augustine by James K.A. Smith - I have liked James K.A. Smith for a while now, so naturally picking up his most recent book was an easy decision.  This is one of his best, in my opinion, combining church history analysis with great philosophical prose and diction.

4. The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister - This was one of the most beautiful stories I read all year (along with The Nightinggale, of course).  Her descriptions of the scenery through the sense of smell was unique and captivating.

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - A fiction that reads like a non-fiction teaches you so much about the world.  As I said in my review, Hosseini put clarity and poignancy to the Afghan honor and shame culture.

Top 3 Couldn't-Put-Down Page Turners

1. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

2. The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

3. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Top 3 Books That Changed My Perspective

1. The Lucky Few by Heather Avis

2. Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America by Chris Arnade

3. Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma

Top 3 Christian Teaching Books

1. Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland

2. Born Again This Way by Rachel Gilson

3. Disability and the Gospel by Michael S. Beates

Top 3 Most Fascinating Memoirs

1. The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger

2. The Adventurer's Son by Roman Dial

3. A Promised Land by Barack Obama

Top 3 Most Gripping Non-Fiction

1. The Last Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

2. In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

3. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton

Top 3 Books I Should Have Stopped Reading

1. Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback by George Plimpton

2. Pirate by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell

3. The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward

Top 3 Fun and Light-hearted Reads

1. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Sample

2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

3. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

And, with that, another year has come to a close.  As I reflect back on my 2020 reads--a year full of processing a new child with a rare genetic syndrome, a pandemic that raged across the world, and lots of time at home trying to live in the chaos that is 3-kid life--I find that I gravitated toward both fiction and non-fiction fairly equally.  The fiction helped me escape challenging life around me, and the non-fiction helped me to learn and dream vicariously through others' stories. 

Last year I ended on a Bill Gates kick, having watched the Inside Bill's Brain documentary on Netflix. And, again this year, I conspicuously find myself ending the year on a Bill Gates kick, just recently discovering and listening to the Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions Podcast.  Bill, the offer still stands, if you'd like to go hangout together, read and discuss books, and drink Diet Coke together, hmu.

100 Books In a Year

This year I set a goal to grow as a reader. I committed to reading 35 books at the beginning of the year, which felt like a stretch since the most I'd ever read in a year was 26. I read 6 books the first week of January, after which a crazy idea plopped in my head. What if I read 100 books in a year? That would be a book every 3.5 days.  

Alongside this idea came a commitment to grow in my life by reducing. To be honest, I had begun hating the chatter of our current digital age, notification after notification bombarding me on my smartphone. I deleted all social media apps, stopped being active on them, and took off any and every app possible to create a dumbphone out of my smartphone. I also minimized watching so many sports and shows in my life.

To get to 100 books was really challenging, and if I'm honest, I probably minimized relationships a little too much to accomplish my goal; which is to say, I'm still growing and need to not completely value reading and introverted time over developing friendships and getting out there and being social.

My friends became my books this year, for better or worse.  Above is a picture of us all hanging out, having a good time together.

And with that, here is a bit of analysis of my year of reading 100 books:

Top 5 Overall Favorite Reads of the Year

1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - This book was absolutely delightful. Let the slow pace and beauty take you along a ride, and try to not read it too fast.

2. Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin - An apologetic book for the ages. This is now my go-to book to give someone wrestling with truth and religion. As I said in my review, it is intellectually sharp, historically rooted, scientifically grounded, theologically sound, and persuasively argued.

3. The Cubs Way by Tom Verducci - The Cubs won the 2016 World Series and Verducci engagingly chronicles the journey it took the Cubs organization to get there and all the details of each of the 7 games of the now-famed World Series.

4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy - As I said in my review, this book took my breathe away with its suspense and unknown darkness. I literally took a breathe after reading it because I really hadn't for 200 pages, so gripped by the story. I'm also captivated by any father-son relationship and this story has a great one.

5. The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner - I really connected to this book on a motivational level. There was just something fascinating about the history of the most innovative places and times of our history as mankind. It made me feel the insignificance of an ordinary life compared to the innovative genius of the Da Vincis and Newtons.

Top 3 Couldn't-Put-Down Page Turners

1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

2. Call Me American by Abdi Nor Iftin

3. American Kingpin by Nick Bilton

Top 3 Books That Changed My Perspective

1. On Writing by Stephen King - King's book is eye opening to how hard it is to make it as a writer.

2. Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef - If you have doubts about God being able to change the heart of any man or woman that seems too far from Him, this book should help correct those doubts in a really helpful way.

3. Them by Ben Sasse - Sasse showed me a slight, albeit ever-so-slight, glimmer that politics can be used for the good of mankind and the dignity of life.

Top 3 Christian Teaching Books

1. Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin

2. A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin

3. 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You by Tony Reinke

Top 3 Most Fascinating Memoirs

1. Educated by Tara Westover

2. The Speechwriter by Barton Swaim - So wonderfully deadpan and witty.

3. The Faith of Christopher Hitchens by Larry Taunton

Top 3 Best Investigative Biographies

1. Bad Blood by John Carryrou - Being in the hospital with our newborn recently and seeing the importance of accurate blood labs made this book all the more harrowing looking back.

2. Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

3. The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel - Weird and quirky in all the right ways.

Top 3 Should Have Stopped Reading Books

1. The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho

2. Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks

3. Paris In Love by Eloisa James

Top 3 Fun and Lighthearted Reads

1. I'll Have What She's Having by Erin Carlson

2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

3. I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel

Anne Bogel's book is a good book to end on because her title pretty much describes my existence this last year. And with that, I better get back to reading (while maintaining friendships, hopefully). If you've read this far, thanks for being a Goodreads friend of mine--a community of people I know and don't know (Bill Gates being in that list even) that I've truly grown to love this last year. 

Bill, if you are reading this, could we hangout sometime and just silently read together and then maybe talk a bit? I'll bring the Diet Coke!
___________

My Original Where the Crawdads Sing Review: A book that eventually won me over with its slow and steady beauty. At times it was slowly majestic, and at others, breathtakingly tragic. I found myself learning cultural insights that I never thought possible through a fictional murder mystery.

Bringing the Beard Back

Death by Love: Letters from the Cross

As I began reading this book, it quickly became apparent to me that Driscoll's writing style is much more pastoral than I would have expected. This book, heavily due to that fact, quickly became one of my favorite books long before I finished the last page. The combination of cross-centered theology and practical application of the gospel is far unmatched by any other book I've read. In fact, Driscoll is so real and caring for those he is ministering to, both inside and outside of the book, that you get a real taste for his heart as a pastor. His minister's heart, interwoven through the text of this book, is one thing I came to really respect.

The book consists of twelve letters written to twelve individuals, meant to witness gospel truths to ways they have sinned, been sinned against, or both. For example, in one letter written to a man named David, a man who would call himself a Christian because he follows all the rules of Christianity (good morals, basically), the author writes of how only Jesus' righteousness and work on the cross could save David. There is nothing he can do, even by what he thinks to be "good" morals, as his self-righteousness, no matter how good, will get him nowhere with God.

Through some of the most real and devastating sins--rape, molestation, pride, violent abuse--Jesus' person and work on the cross are appropriately applied. In the book's simplest form, Jesus dying on the cross and resurrecting from the grave is the solution to any sin of man, even the most dark and horrific. After all, the killing of a perfect man was one of the most dark and horrific events in history, but Jesus came for this very purpose, to love wicked man enough to die the death he deserved.

This pastoral book helped me to see Pastor Mark minister to those in and around his church in an astounding way. He was bold, yet gentle; forthright, yet truthful; and even blunt, yet filled with the grace of Christ. Each person he ministers to is done so with an appropriate signpost, if you will, pointing to Jesus. The harsher the sin, the harsher the message. This is not to say that all sins are evaluated differently in God's eyes; they are not. Each sin does, though, have differing earthly consequences, especially as to who they affect.

Another big positive to this book, is its Christology, or theology of Christ, which is applied to real-life situations in a way that would minister to any reading heart. What Jesus has done for all of mankind is made new and understandable. Through twelve unique people and their stories, it is sure to impress the gospel on you in significant ways.

It is for these very reasons that I would give "Death by Love" my highest recommendation. It does just what it is categorized to do: Make theology practical. Jesus' act of reconciling, revealing, sacrificing, atoning and much, much more will be a lot more clear and visible after reading this book.

"Theology/Practical Life" (5 of 5 STARS)

Three Cups of Tea

Greg Mortenson was a twenty-something man living the stereotypical lifestyle of searching for, but having not yet found, purpose in life. After receiving a nursing degree from the University of South Dakota, he became an addict of climbing. Not long after acquiring a taste for this new adventure hobby, his ambitions soared and he attempted to climb K2, the second tallest and most feared mountain in the world, situated in Northern Pakistan. It was there, after failing to reach the summit, that a purpose began developing which involved the little-known Baltisan people of Korphe, Pakistan.

Nearly at the point of death, the Korphe people treated and nursed the first American they had ever met back to health. The over-sized, soft and lovable Mortenson quickly became a good friend. Before leaving, the Pakistani people were promised their first school by the inspired American. It is here that this young, now ex-climber, developed his sense of purpose in life: building elementary schools for young children, and in particular, young Muslim girls.

Soon Mortenson is building one-to-three classroom schools throughout Pakistan, wooing and befriending Pakistani's as he goes along and casting vision for Americans on what it looks like to curb terrorism through education, not war. This comes as the U.S. is on the verge of going to war against terror.

From a worldy, secular perspective, this is a refreshing piece of literature, depicting one of the greatest humanitarian efforts of our time. It is an eye-opening picture of the people of the Middle East that the American government and media are simply not depicting in their broadcasts of the war torn area. Not only that, but the very reason for Mortenson's successes were due to the kindness and trust of many accommodating Pakistan and Afghan men and women.

From a Christian perspective, it was sad to see a man who grew up with Christian parents find no purpose in Jesus. Mortenson completely abandoned his faith in Christ for a relativistic take on being good to all, which is fine and well, but was not grounded in an absolute truth.

The greatest strength of "Three Cups of Tea" is that the feared people of the Middle East are seen as just that, people. In fact, very few have anything to do with radical Islam. People from the area are rather sad to see hate rise between their country and America. In a revolutionary take on relations between warring countries, you can hardly come away without having a changed perspective on world politics. Moreover, you might just find yourself advocating education over war in the combat against terrorism.

Recommendation:

I would recommend this book to anyone with a misguided, misinformed or incomplete view of the Middle East, Muslims, or the War on Terror. It is an enjoyable and engaging read, and though some parts seem slow and trivial, overall it will open your eyes to relevant world events and talking points.

"Humanitarian" (4 of 5 STARS)

The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith

Wow! This book is perhaps one of the most simply-spoken, profound gospel presentations I have ever heard.

Central to this book is the idea that we are not just prodigal sons, but God is also a prodigal God. In other words, we not only radically rebelled against God and sinfully turned away from him, but that He was all the more radical for taking us back. No matter our idolization of other things--in the case of the prodigal son in Luke 15, the son idolized pleasure and living the good life--God radically accepts us in the depths of our sin and receives us back with a welcome-home party of great proportions. In fact, as I learned, the father in the parable risked his family's name to celebrate the return of his lost, sinful son.

Keller starts to get radical himself when we deepens the discussion, defining the elder son with just as much "lostness" as the younger. We often forget, as he points out, that a self-righteousness will no more save us than losing our righteousness, or dignity, as the younger son does. I found this to be the most revolutionary truth of the book. I will let Keller explain:

"Here, then, is Jesus's radical redefinition of what is wrong with us. Nearly everyone defines sin as breaking a list of rules. Jesus, though, shows us that a man who has violated virtually nothing on the list of moral misbehaviors can be every bit as spiritually lost as the most profligate, immoral person. Why? Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life." (pg 43)

I found this book a fascinating, quick read. I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone. It presents the gospel in such fresh way that you cannot not change after reading it.

-ae

10 Million Words Blog - Tim Challies

I recently discovered Tim Challies' new blog entitled "10 Million Words" which you can find here. You can also go to his original blog entitled "Informing the Reforming" here. Challies is an evangelical blogger and author.

His newest blog's undertaking is to read every top-15 non-fiction book on the New York Times bestseller list throughout all of 2010. If accomplished, as you can guess, this will add up to more than 10 million words read and an average of 3 books read each week. According to Challies' overall goal of the project, "I am interested in the cultural and worldview implications of all of these books. They will provide, I’m sure, a snapshot of where America is at as she enters a new decade."

Personally, I think this is a fascinating idea and I am anxious to see how this blog unfolds. I have been following it for about 2 weeks, and so far, it has indeed proven to be really interesting.

- ae

Humility: True Greatness - C.J. Mahaney

I recently enjoyed my read-through of "Humility" by C.J. Mahaney and I wanted to say a couple of words.

I found this to be a quick but powerful read on the severity of pride as sin and the necessity of humility before the Lord. The central Scripture that this book is centered on is James 4:6b, which says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Mahaney does a good job of taking us exactly where we need to go to rid of our pride--the humbling display of God's grace through Jesus on the cross. If we are to mortify the sin of pride, we must do so out of the power of the cross, for Christ rescued us from our sin by being our very ransom:

"the emphasis of the ransom image is on our sorry state--indeed our captivity in sin--which made the act of divine rescue necessary...So to hear the Savior speak the word ransom and understand it rightly is to be freshly reminded and affected by our own serious and sorry state, our miserable lostness and wretched bondage to sin. We cannot free ourselves from pride and selfish ambition: a divine rescue is absolutley necessary." (pg 51-52)

As C.J regularly teaches (esp. in "The Cross-Centered Life"), our lives must focus on the cross of Christ through every life situation. He does a great job of portraying this truth throughout "Humility."

-ae

Back to the Blogosphere

Well, friends, I recently got the itch to start blogging again, so here I am. After reflecting a bit on what I should blog about, I came to the conclusion that I would blog short "blurbs" of thoughts and quotes from books that I am reading. Sure, I could tell you about my life, but isn't that what my Twitter is for anyway?

My goals through this blog:

1. For this blog to give all glory and credit to Jesus Christ, my Lord
2. Review and comment on books I am reading with the hope of sparking interest in books you might find worth reading
3. For reviews to be "short and sweet," giving just a taste, leaving the rest for you to discover
   
4. To have some fun with this, not taking myself too seriously

That should do it. I hope you enjoy reading and be sure to comment and add your thoughts along the way.

Happy Reading!

-ae

A Day in the Life

Well, friends and family, my time here is winding down. It has been quite the experience, to say the least, and there is definitely some sadness in me as I sit and write even this. It is Friday in the big city and I have a week and two days left of Granada. My plan is to bore myself with Granada as to get the full effect--lots of wandering, lots of tapas, lots of discotecas until breakfast time :)

I do have one last trip planned, my pilgrimage to Aledo, Spain, being from the hometown of Aledo, Illinois. I am heading over with Peter, a friend on the program, for the adventure and it will be all in Spanish, so I am looking forward to the crazy situations we will get ourselves into in this town of only 1000 people.


It is especially bittersweet over here as we start to say goodbyes. Wednesday was our last day of class, which was spent just taking pictures with our teachers. The above is my phonetics class with Nerea, the director's wife. She has a white shirt on in the middle.

Wednesday was probably the highlight of my trip for me. Mainly, it was wonderful because we had a farewell dinner with each other. Not only was it the first 4-course meal of my life, it was wonderful company. I sat with Nerea and Miguel-Angelo (our director pictured above) and was able to converse in Spanish throughout the dinner, which was very encouraging. Then, after our three hour dinner, some of the teachers went to the bars/discos with us, which was, without a doubt, very high-spirited and uplifting.


Who knew the computer guy, Alex, could get down. You be the judge as to which Alex is the best dressed here.

The teachers called it a night at about 2:30am, and I at about 3:30am as about half of the students headed to a discoteca from the club we had just been at. It was a great end to the semester, for sure.
________

I look forward to seeing you all very soon. I get home May 12, so give me a call.


Musical Inspiration for This Blog:

1) Ingrid Michaelson
2) Greg Lasswell


Prayer Requests:

1) Praise for the most I have learned from God in a semester yet--mainly in regards to being taken out of my comfort zone in every imaginable way.

2) Pray for a spiritual conversation I had recently with one of the guys I might not see again. Please ask me about it!


Saludos Cordiales,

Alex

A Lil' Mountaineering in Chamonix

I did some hiking in the French Alps near Chamonix. I even took the above picture and this video as proof! The picture is looking down on Chamonix from Mont Aiguille du Midi near Mont Blanc. Notice, we were above the clouds and not in an airplane. It was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced and the highlight of my Spring Break trip, which included Paris, mind you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjxgAxWF6Iw

- alé

Trapesin'

“Oi,” or “hoh” as the Spaniards say when they are slightly out of sorts. It has been much too long since an update. But, as to not disappoint, ya está (~here it is), comfortably situated in my room ready to blog away…listening to Jack’s Mannequin for those that are into the inspiration sort of thing, and more so for the fearless few still reading this ol’ thing…eating natilla con galleta (pudding with cookies) for those that just like food.

I feel like I have been all over the place the last 4 weekends, which, in fact, I have been. For Spring/Easter break I traveled all around Europe with the parents, then to Morocco and lastly hiking in the Sierra Nevadas I went, respectively; but, I will save the latter two for a later blog. My parents' visit takes precedence as I know they are still reading :)

We had a wonderful time together to say the least. In short we traveled, or “trapesed” as my mom liked to say during our trip,—a term adopted from my late grandfather—all over Western Europe. I was first hired to be their tour guide around Granada, which was fun for me and a lot of exercise for us all. There are a lot of hills here, and it doesn’t help when you get lost, hehe. I lost my tip as tour guide on that one. Let’s just say to know the name of the restaurant helps when looking for it. But hey, we found it and “Tragaluz” turned out to be a pleasant dine with succulent dishes like cinnamon and sugar chicken and apple duckling, seen in the above picture. Our full day was spent at the Alhambra, which I didn’t know before I came, let alone that the Alhambra existed, is the number one attraction in Spain!

To Madrid we then went. Again, like Granada, we only had a day and a half to experience the sites, but it provided to be sufficient. The first half day we ventured to the Reina Sofia (seen here), which houses 20th century art, including such artists as Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso, who was also on exhibition there. I learned that I don’t much care for Picasso, which I’m pretty sure my dad also learned, who would go up to a modern painting, give it about 3 seconds of consideration, and then move on to the next. Little did he know we had 4 more museums to go!

The next day we saw some of the major, famous places of the capital. After spending some time in the Prado, we visited Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, and el Palacio. Even with such short time, I did feel we got a decent effect of Madrid.

I think I will stop there for now, with much more to come. My parents and I had a lot of togetherness over the 12 days, so there is a lot more to say!

Currently Liking:

Podcast—PTI (Pardon the Interruption), Tony Kornhauser and Michael Wilbon are saving my life, keeping me up on things, especially on my 20 minute walk to school, four times a day, haha.

Music—Tristan Prettyman’s “T w e n t y t h r e e”, an album I had heard for the first time last year but have just recently been getting into. Check it out if you haven’t before, it is very chill.

Prayer Requests:

1) That God would allow me to share the Gospel with at least one person on my program or that I meet in Granada.

2) That God would continue to teach me many, many things as he has been all semester. What a blessing it has been to be away from many comforts.

3) An obvious but pertinent request that I would finish strong, not being blinded by the desire to get home so fast.


Con La Altura de La Primavera,

alé

I Went In GUCCI but They Weren’t Looking for Models

I was in Florence, there happened to be a Gucci store, the rest is history.

As good as Rome was to see, the rest of our trip to Italy was my favorite. It had a much more laid back feel and there were moments to just sit and relax and shop in famous stores (and by shop, I mean go around looking at prices like an unstylish American).

I would have to say Florence was my favorite. It seemed there was just enough to do in our three days. One of the highlights was this amazing, Italian beef sandy I had…twice. Trust me, it was that good. I even took a video of the guy making one. If this guy making an Italian beef sandwich to the toon of Maroon 5 isn’t the heart of Italy, I don’t know what is.



Of course, the city houses “The David” in Academia. It was so much bigger than I expected, 12-16 feet I would guess. Other sites to see included the Uffizi museum with Botticelli’s “Venus”, Ponte Veccio, which is an old bridge lined with jewelry shops, supposedly so beautiful it was the only bridge spared in WWII. Here I am on the bridge:


Our group of six girls and myself also made the “mandatory” day-trip to Pisa. In Pisa, there is a famous tower, and…yeah, just a famous tower. We had a nice picnic on the grassy areas surrounding the church, which was pleasant. The day was gorgeous and warm; we just laid on the grass and looked up at the cloudless, blue sky. I think this picture represents what goes on at Pisa, Italy well.



Venice…Venice is a city that everyone has to see in a lifetime. Conveniently, you can get the full affect in a day. It is so fun to walk through all the old buildings, losing yourself in meandering alleyways of water. Of course, before you get too lost in the city, one has to hold some pidgeons in St. Mark’s Square.





After only a day in the city on water, we sojourned to Milan, where our flight home would be. Unfortunately, we missed fashion week by days. I was crushed. Some of you think I’m joking. Let me tell you, this city, at least the rich district, is a world away. The only thing we did in Milan was fashion-lust through the fashion district, full of any famous designer you can think, from Versace to Georgio Armani, from Prada to Valentino, from Lamborghini to Ferrari.
O, Milan houses “The Last Supper” too. But, and as we found out, reservations are near impossible to get.

Therein lays my trip to Italy. It was a fun, fulfilling time. I haven’t gone anywhere since, as this was three weeks ago. Next up, Europe with the Etheridge’s! My parents are visiting during Spring Break, so I will be sure to blog about all our “Griswald” adventures :)

Currently Liking:

1) Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static

2) Shawn McDonald - Roots, I'm gonna go ahead and say this, even though I haven't heard it all yet. BAH, hurry up iTunes.


Prayer Requests:

1) Good, sane travel times as the Etheridge's hit Europe; that Europe would be ready; that everything goes smoothly.

2) Any sort of time with the guys on my trip and that I wouldn't lose motivation and just go off on my own, like I have found myself tending to do.


Ya Voy,

alé

O, Well, When In Rome. . .Go On

Do as the Romans do? It's an old expression. -- Veronica Mars

Oh! I've never heard of it. -- Ron Burgandy


Roma! I'm back and ready to tell you guys all about it. It was quite the running adventure. Myself, and yes, 6 girls, did Rome in 3 days. It was enough time to get a good effect, not enough to get the full effect I suppose. I will explain my favorite parts shortly, but here is the run-down of everything I saw:

Day 1

- St. Peter's Square
- Vatican Museum
- Sistine Chapel
- Vatican Guards (as seen to the right)

The Vatican Guards wouldn't let me take a picture with them; I wouldn't know why :) The Sistine Chapel was indeed quite the sight to see. You weren't allowed to take pictures, but I didn't use my flash; so that is okay, right? I got in trouble for taking pictures twice. The photo below is of Michelangelo's "Last Judgment," a work he completed some 30 years after(1541) he completed the chapel ceiling in 1512. You can also see one of the many ceiling depictions of Jonah and the large fish, or whale, in the central part above. It was a very cool experience. You enter after going through the Vatican Museum and immediately the mood changes, as guards mosey around shushing the crowd and yelling, "No pictures," to college kids trying to sneak them. I spent an hour trying to take it all in, walking the length of the chapel, straining and craning my neck to feel the power of the Bible in story-board format.

Day 2

- Portese Porte (famous market, bought myself a euro-coffeepot!)
- Circus Maximus (the Romans marching above, something we stumbled upon)
- Palatine Hill (where the rich used to live)
- Colosseum!
- Arch of Constantine
- Arch of Titus
- The Pantheon
- Della Palma, Gelato di Roma (indecisive overload, seriously over 100 gustos!)

Yep, I was absolutely exhausted after day 2! The theme of this day was definitely, things you think about when you think of Rome. Very cool to be wandering around shops, and then op, here a ruin, there a ruin. I didn't really have a favorite this day, but have since ordered Gladiator from Amazon, the Colosseum inspiring me to pay international shipping fees. So, it's got that goin' for it :)

To the left is me standing by the Arch of Titus, the entrance to the Roman forum, the old sector square and markets. This pictures gives you an idea of the grandeur of the city--so much size, so much history!

Day 3

- St. Peter's Basilica
- Vatican Day procession (of some sort, Pope not seen unfortunately)
- Roman Forum (including Julius Caesar's grave)
- Mamertine Prison (where Paul and Peter were once imprisoned)
- Trevi Fountain

Here I am in the Mamertine prison, near the Roman forum. Although, it may be more legend that Peter and Paul were once prisoners there, it was an atmosphere reminiscent of prisons they actually were in--dark, cramped, mildewed. It was cool to see an atmosphere Paul wrote some of the letters of the Bible in. In the picture you can see the post they were supposedly chained to, and a basin of water, used to baptize new followers of Christ. I was a fan of this low-tourist "attraction," even splashing around in the basin a bit, still containing water :)

Currently Liking:

1) Book--"Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller. Good reads centering on our relationship with Jesus, and how the Bible isn't a "formula" to follow.

2) Music--"When in Rome" by Nickel Creek. Sorry, had to say it :)

3) Movie--"Catch Me if You Can". A feel-good classic.

4) Sport--Fútbol. Champions League is currently going down, with teams like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Roma, Arsenal, shall I go on? Barcelona, Manchester United...even for me with my limited knowledge of soccer, this is exciting stuff. I watched Barcelona take down Celtic on Wednesday night with some of the guys--very fun!


Prayer Requests:

1) Praise, traveling with 6 girls proved to be very blessed by God. I was able to get enough alone time away from them that I didn't really get frustrated once.

2) Prayer and Praise, making friends with the guys is coming along.

Buena!

alé

A Gentle Lioness

No te preocupes (don’t worry), I’m still in Spain. It has been two weeks since my last post, and it looks like I will try to blog about once every 1 ½ weeks. My weekdays look very similar, but I will be traveling a lot during the weekends, so most of my updates will cover my travels on the weekends.

This past weekend, a week ago now, I journeyed to Sevilla, Spain—another southern, Andalucian city. It was decently similar to Granada, while it also had several evident contrasts. Maybe the most pertinent difference, or impertinent for me, was that Sevilla has several (I saw three) Starbucks. Our group was pretty excited about that. I stuck to the standard 1 Euro café con leche (coffee with milk), rather than paying 5 Euros to be back in America. The Starbucks is also representative of the fact that Sevilla is much touristier (a word, fun) than Granada. We heard a lot of English in the streets; even most Spaniards we encountered spoke decent English. In comparison, I am very glad of my choosing Granada as a program location; I will come away from Spain much more cultured, espero (I hope).

Probably the most renowned site to see in the city is the Cathedral of Sevilla. It is actually the third biggest cathedral in the world, behind the one in Roma and Londres (London). It definitely lived up to its size, with cavernous Gothic navels and plenty of golden-papered ornamentation. The nighttime picture is in a plaza, the tower in the background is la Giralda, which is a bell tower juxtaposed to the corner of the cathedral. Maybe the most prestigious site we saw was Christopher Columbus’ tomb! O, you know, the guy that discovered Haiti? The word from the culture class at CEGRÍ was that a DNA test had proven the remains to actually be him, discrediting all speculation that it is a farce. So, at least part of Columbus is in the church. Qué chulo! (how cool!) Here we are in front of the bronze sarcophagus of 4 heralds bearing the coat of arms of the 4 nations united under the rule of Ferdinand and Isabella, constituted the kingdom of Spain:



Another attraction in Sevilla is the Guadalquivir River where kayakers/canoers can be seen all day long with their coaches yelling at them in all sorts of languages from motorboats. Why Scandinavians and the like come all the way south to practice, I’m not sure, but would guess it has something to do with the weather. We enjoyed brisk January days, averaging about 64 degrees all weekend :) The water is also crossed by several cool looking bridges, the Puente del Alamillo seen here with its white boomerang figure. * Notice the fisherman with his ginormous fishing rod.

Overall, it was a pretty fun weekend, and my first travel experience outside of Granada! I am glad to have visited Sevilla, but am also glad to be back in Granada. I chose to stay in town this weekend and relax; especially since I leave for Italia next Saturday for a week-long stay, should be good. The picture here is of me in the gardens near Plaza de España. Alexis described the pose as one of a gentle lioness. The Plaza across the street, where the very first and last picture-bookends were taken, is a recently built area, in the 1900's. A scene from "Lawrence of Arabia" was actually filmed in there, so it is at least a 50 year old structure. It's old looking nature makes it hard to tell when it was built. In the middle of the semi-circle plaza is a fountain surrounded by murals of all the big cities in Spain. I got my picture by the city of Granada, claro.

Currently Liking:

1) Book--"Into the Wild" by Jon Krakaur. A fantastic, thrilling read. However, not the best book to read while feeling "alone" in a foreign country.

2) Music--"Sunrise" by Norah Jones. This is like my European theme song!

3) Music--"See the World" by Gomez. Like the sound, the title is pertinent :)



Prayer Request: I ask for prayer in the area of fellowship, especially with the other guys on my trip. It is proving a little hard to get to know them, as classes and meals take up a lot of the day, until 8:30pm for some; and also, everyone travels to many different areas on the weekends.



Muchas Gracías,

alé

Las Sierra Nevadas

Turn the sound down, or you might get blown away :)

O, You Know, just Hablo-ing some Spanish

It is funny, I am improving on things I never thought I would need to improve on, at least after age 4½ . The best may be my sign language…“Well, I heard that (pull ear down twice)…his face was (circle face, much like Chris Burton does)…it is around the corner, to the left, down a ravine, through a tunnel (I couldn’t say this in Spanish if I wanted to).

Things are actually going much better than my last post. It may have seemed like a “down” post; but, I wasn’t sad or anything, just hadn’t adapted as much as I have begun to do. It helps that school stress is very low :) The beauty of the three-day weekend just hit, as I am in the middle of my first of many (no class on Fridays!).



It has been a busy first weekend in the city, with one week of classes over. Thursday night our group was treated to el flamenco, olé! I have been loving the culture here in Granada, so this too was quite the treat indeed. Lord of the Dance, watch out, this guy can stomp his feet. The show included 4 flamenco ladies, three “chanters,” and this guy. The sound on the video doesn’t really do the show very much justice, but it gives you a taste of Andalusian culture. The fun didn’t stop there, though, as Friday was a full day of skiing in las montanas; the Sierra Nevadas no less. It was my first grand-scale skiing experience, only having skied on hills in Illinois before. It was a gorgeous day for skiing. It was a little icy from the rain two days before, but the temperature had to have been somewhere between 40-50 degrees. So, I subir-ed and bajar-ed (climbed and descended) the mountain all day. Here is the breathtaking few on the slopes:

(I posted it above, but you can see the view in the first pic of this entry)

The camera is a little jerky, but just imagine you are there as the screen swerves from side to side. You can’t really tell, but you’ll notice when it gets really shaky about two times, one when I come up from my shadow, I was “crashing” and not really paying attention to the camera anymore :P Also notice, you can see the ocean in between mountain peeks in the distance.

Picture to the right: Yeah, I don’t know what the sign says either.

Prayer Requests:

1) PRAISE, I have really been enjoying the company of my host family. I have stopped getting frustrated so much and have been loving the comedy that is my language barrier. Through the frustration my sillyness is starting to shine through and I just make jokes with my family. This is definitely a praise though, as it means my family is getting to know me and my humor a little; further, it means my home stay is not dreadful but starting to be fun and entertaining, striving to get over the language barrier.

!Que pasas buena día!

- alé

Claro, the New “Duh"...Claro

It has been decently rough going communicating with my host family. I am getting along, but they speak pretty fast and have a Spanish dialect I’m not used to at all. To give you an idea, to all you Spanish speakers out there, they often drop s’s and z’s, or don’t pronounce them, or pronounce them as th’s. As you can see, it can get kind of confusing.

One funny occurrence, happened as I was unpacking my things in my new room. I had placed a stack of books on my dresser when my host Senora, Conchi, walked by. Knowing how to actually say, “I like to read,” I said it. Her response, “claro.” Thanks Conchi, haha. I am in high spirits about the language barrier though, it is a very motivating way to force me to want/need to learn Spanish. I do feel like the kid in my house who was never allowed to talk, so he became the silent, shy kid; except, that kid knows how to talk.

One last thing about the language barrier: they really like the Simpsons over here, which has only been around for seven years I believe. I was watching an episode at lunch yesterday, as the table is right in front of the T.V. with the couches and armchairs used as the tables chairs, and I actually laughed at part of the show, which means I understood it! Needless to say, I was pretty proud of myself…claro.

A big activity of the study abroad group was to visit el Alhambra. It is a giant fortress of sorts overlooking and protecting Granada. The above picture is near one of the famous Muslim pools. The engineering is actually quite genius, they have a trickling fountain that you can't see that makes it so the water travels across horizontally and not in circles; meaning, it reflects the architecture much like a mirror. Here is another picture of me with Monolo, our very knowledgeable tour guide. He showed 1/3 of the group around the grounds for 4-5 hours. It was a very tiring, but well worth it, day. The Alhambra has three sections: a military fortress, several palacios for past kings, and la medina, which was where the common folk lived and worked. Even in the winter there are many beautiful sites to be seen there, as you can see below. This is one of the three palaces at the grounds, I believe. As you can see, the grounds make use of lots of water, perhaps an inspiration for Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water? I can only imagine how it would look in full bloom in the spring. We got to see most of the fountains and gardens, los jardines, but unfortunately, la Plaza de Leones (the Court of Lions) was not all there. The lions in the center were being refurbished. Overall, our trip to el Alhambra was a success and I would love to go back at different times of the year.

Today is the second day of classes here at CEGRI. So far they aren’t too bad at all. I anticipate a much easier workload than any normal University of Illinois semester I have taken. Classes make up an entire days process though, which is very waring. This has to do with the culture of Spain, a culture very focused on lunch, a time they call la siesta; however, naps are not necessarily part of la siesta, but I have taken it upon myself to make them part of it. My schedule is roughly from 11am-2pm, then I go home for a wonderful meal cooked by Conchi, which is the biggest meal of the day. From there, I go back to CEGRÍ and have class from 4:30pm-8:00pm, Monday-Thursday.

Es todo para hoy.

Prayer Requests:

1) Fellowship: that I would make some really good friends here and be able to keep in contact with my really good friends back home :)

2) The obvious one of coping with the language and not getting overly frustrated. Also, that I would get to know my family; so far we haven’t said too much to each other.


Hasta Pronto!

- alé

La Tunas

 

Here is the picture with La Tunas that didn't work below. It was quite the night with them, hopefully we will get to know them or something. They practice at the same restaurant every Thursday apparently.