BEST DAY EVER!!!!!

The title says enough.

I woke up this morning around 9:00 to get ready for church. I was trying to coordinate with Jessica and Macy, but it was pretty difficult, trying to figure out which buses to take and where that would leave us. But finally, I got out there. I'm not sure how I happened to get on the right bus, and get off at the right stop, but somehow, we met up. When we found our church, Iglesia Evangélica Bautista, it was 11:20. The service started at 11:00, and the signs said there was something else at 12:00. We didn't want to disturb the service, so we went to a little café and sat for a while. At around 11:45, we headed back to the church. When we got there, they ushered us right on in, in the middle of the sermon! They were so so friendly though, we felt right at home.

The service lasted until about 12:30. As we were leaving, a man got our attention and introduced himself. His name is Ivan (he's originally from Ecuador, so he told us he knows what it's like to be a foreigner), and he has a wife, whose name I never caught, and a son, Alex, who's about 15 months old and SO cute. We talked for a while, just inside the church, and then he invited us to get some coffee with him and his family and some other people from the church. We were so excited to have made a friend, we immediately obliged.

At the café, we met Marcos (a native Valencian), Lukas (a student from Germany who's studying here for a year), David (originally from Ecuador), and Samuel (a native Valencian). Jessica, Macy and I enjoyed getting to practice our Spanish, and they were all so eager to be our friends and help us as much as they could. We all exchanged numbers, and they told us about all these church events we can get involved in. There's a young people's service Saturdays at 7:00, so we're going to go to that. And Markos told us he would call us this week so we could get together some before then, as well! It was SO fun and SO excited to finally meet some locals.

After coffee, we all bid each other goodbye, and I hopped on the number 7 bus to get back home. The only problem was that I got on it going the wrong way (but there are no signs telling which way it's actually going... ay caray). So I rode it all the way to the end of the line, but the sweet bus driver walked with me to the right stop and then told the bus driver there to let me on for free! However, that put me behind for lunch at the house! Luckily, when I arrived around 2:30, they hadn't eaten yet, so I got to eat with them. We had PAELLA!!! which is always so good.

After lunch, Lindsey and I headed downtown to buy tickets for the teatro. We got caught in a little bit of rain, but thankfully, it let up quickly. We returned home and hung out for a little bit in our room. Then, around 6:30, we headed back downtown to the theatre to see La Viuda Valenciana (The Valencian Widow) by Lope de Vega. It was hard to understand a lot of it because they used a high vocabulary and they spoke very fast, but we could follow. They were full of expression! It was a comedy, and we enjoyed it.

By the time we got home at 9:30, it was time to eat. We had a plate full of green beans, leftover paella and tortillas, cheese and chorizo, and yogurt! I'm going to be so spoiled from all the great food we eat here.

Now we're going to finish up our homework and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour!

I am so glad to have found a church family. I'm thinking I might join the choir while I'm here. Ivan's wife is in it and was excited to hear she might have a new chorus-mate. It's always such an encouragement to be around people who know that Jesus is the only thing there is to live for, and who love the way he does. AH! So refreshing!

Con el amor de Dios,

Leigh