Endings... and New Beginnings...

Endings...
Today was the last day of school! It was a mixture of happy and sad. I will miss the students that I've had the privilege of working with the last year. It seems these past few days and weeks have gone by so quickly. I'm thankful for the chance to have taught them, but in some ways I think they've taught me more. What a privilege to have the opportunity to share about God and teach about the world He's created. One of the biggest rewards of being a teacher is seeing students' lives changed and the growth they make throughout the year. It was also exciting to learn about their home countries. Without fail in each year of teaching my students help me learn more about myself - this year was no exception. Yesterday we made pizza for lunch and today was filled with laughter, games, and goodbyes.

Not only will I miss the students, but I will also miss the wonderful teachers that I got to work with. The staff at ICSC is small, which makes it easy to get to know everyone. I was welcomed onto the team back in August and treated like family. I'm thankful for the friendships that I have made and will certainly take many happy memories with me!

New Beginnings...
In a previous post I had asked for prayer as I searched for a new job back in Rochester. God had everything planned out long before I even began my search. My faith has grown through the process and it was exciting to see the pieces begin to fall together in the past few weeks and rejoice in God's provision. I'll be working in the office at my church - Northridge. The current secretary has decided to retire after 22 years. I certainly have some big shoes to fill, but I am confident that she will train me well and help me learn the ropes. I'm excited to try something different and look forward to a new beginning.

Madrid, Spain

This past weekend I had a quick get away to Madrid, Spain to visit my cousin Katrina. She and her husband are studying for a year in Madrid. Since we're so close I got a plane ticket and made the one hour flight to visit her. It's a bit of a production to get to the airport (without using a taxi or going by car). First there is a 25 min walk down the hill to the train station. After that a 40 minute train ride into Lisbon and then catching the Aerobus for about 40 min to arrive at the airport! It's always fun to people watch and I got to see new sights in Lisbon from the bus on the way!

It was well worth the travel time. I had a great time with my cousin and enjoyed seeing some more of Madrid. My sisters and I had spent about a day in Madrid back in 2006. It was fun to see some familiar places again. On Saturday we took a 45 min bus ride to Toledo, located southwest of Madrid. Toledo used to be the capital of Spain until one of the kings decided to make it Madrid! The city is walled and has lots of charm inside. The town was decorated with many flags, flowers, and banners. I even found a knight in shining armor!

It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the 90s! A nice breeze helped keep us cool along with some cloth that was hung overhead down many of the main walkways that provided nice shade.

After the tour of Toledo we rode the bus back to Madrid and went through a floor of the Reina Sofia Modern Art Museum. It was fun to see work of some famous artists and feel cultured discussing different paintings.

Sunday we toured around Madrid and ended up doing quite a bit of walking. Katrina and Jorge live right in the center of Madrid. We walked to the neighborhood La Latina - one of the historic older sections. It was fun to see the narrow winding streets, artwork painted on buildings, and the colorful architecture. There was an open air street market - El Rastro -that seemed to stretch for many blocks. We enjoyed walking through. Plaza Mayor was a familiar sight from my previous trip. A highlight of Sunday was lunch...Katrina and I enjoyed Kebabs (I hadn't had one since the previous Europe trip - DELICIOUS). What better place to enjoy lunch than in Reteiro Park.

My flight left Madrid about 6pm and landed in Lisbon at 6:30 (there is a one hour time change)! I made my way back to my apartment in Cascais and was thankful that the bus and train were all ready within 10 minutes of arriving at each spot! It was fun to get away for the weekend and do something different. I'm so glad that I could go and spend the time with Katrina!