Brazos abiertos

Hola todos! Well, it has been about 15 days since I arrived here in Sevilla, and it feels like a lifetime. I've finally had time to explore more of the city and do some really exciting things! It'll take some more time, but I'm actually living the Spanish life a little bit now! Let me describe some of the things I've been up to.

Numero 1- I signed up for that half marathon! So, (Lord willing) on March 21 I will be in Lisbon running 13.1 miles. That said, I have a long way to go to prepare. I've been running almost every day, and I got Miles Oneill (our Campus Crusade director at UNC) to send me a link to a training program as he has run marathons before. I'm a little nervous, but one way or another I think it will be good for me!

Numero 2- I booked a flight to Milan! I am absolutely stoked to go visit mi amiga Rachel in Milan and have some REAL Italian food and watch an AC Milan soccer game! This will be a lot of fun, but I'll have to wait until the end of March to get there (boo). This leads us to...

Numero 3- I discovered that I will not be visiting all of the 50 places in Europe I want to go. This is just not monetarily feasible. At all. So, it looks like we're gonna have to prioritize and be as conservative as possible with our dinero.

Numero 4- We went and visited 2 more sites in Sevilla:
We saw the Real Alcazar like a week ago, and it was pretty interesting. It was the Moorish Caliph's residence when the Muslims ruled southern Spain, and it was converted into a royal palace for the king of Spain whenever he would come stay in Sevilla after Sevilla was reconquered. The gardens were huge and cool, and the palace was about as regal as it could get.

Yesterday we visited the Cathedral of Sevilla, which is the 3rd largest Christian cathedral in the world. I have a video of some of the sights that I will hopefully (internet permitting) post later tonight. The cathedral was enormous, and we got to see a lot of cool things on the tour, including the supposed remains of Christopher Colombus. After viewing most of the cathedral, we got to climb the tower, which had 35 floors. The view from the top was of pretty much ALL of Sevilla, and it was one of those views that just knocks you off your feet. Unbelievable.

Numero 5- I went to an awesome evangelical church on Sunday called Hope for Sevilla. This was an amazing pick-me-up after a rough couple of days, and I am really excited to try and get a little involved while I'm here. The only problem is how far away it is, but it's worth the ENORMOUS walk. Loved it.

Numero 6- I am considering going to a Sevilla FC soccer game on Sunday!!! It's versus Valencia CF (#6 vs. #3) and I'm pumped!!!

Numero 7- I'm hungry and it's almost lunch time. So, I'll continue to post updates later on what is becoming a very exciting time!