Fall-ing for Spain

Just eating my lunch, sitting on the ruins of an ancient, Moorish palace

This halloween weekend I find myself at another puente in Spain. What's new? :) Instead of planning a long trip Adrienne and I decided to hop on the train and travel to a little city in the province of Málaga, Andalucía called Ronda. We heard it was a beautiful place and one of the largest "white villages" of southern Spain. After a train ride that seemed like the French pea pod scene out of a Veggie Tales movie, we arrived. As we left the train station it started to rain, so we ducked into a little cafe to make our plan of attack. We walked towards the beautiful views and found where we would spend the next six hours. It was breathtaking. The colors of the country side screamed autumn and the air was oh so fresh! I was so happy to be in another place and out of the city for a day. Our French-Canadian tour group from the train flagged us down for what we thought was to take a picture of them. Instead they wanted pictures with us! Adrienne and I were in tears we were laughing so hard. We had no idea that our train ride bonded us so closely with them.

Ronda has an extensive history with an amazing mixture of Roman and Moorish architecture. After the Moors took the Roman's place in the city, the Christians came and tore down much of the existing Islamic architecture. They built their churches over the remains leaving architectural proof of the mix of cultures in the south of Spain. You can look at a cathedral and see a minaret that was once part of the mosque that existed there, that now serves as the bell tower for the Catholic cathedral built from the original mosque structure. Although it is interesting to see so many influences of cultures and religion in one structure, there is quite a dark history behind the remains.

Puente Viejo

Adrienne and I ate our packed lunch over looking the painted countryside sitting a top the remains of an Moorish palace. After exploring the city we took a trail we found down to one of the most breathtaking sights I have seen in Spain. The sun peeked out just in time for me to take a picture :) It was a beautiful day in the month of October. I know if I was home right now I would be at the Avila Barn buying my pumpkins and honey or crafting my three Halloween costumes for the Isla Vista Halloween festivities. I am missing fall in California, but celebrating it Spanish style isn't too bad eh?

Since being in Spain I have found a great church in a barrio right outside of Granada. It's a family barrio with a large Muslim population. The church is an international church of about 50 people maximum. Christina and I have been going on Sunday evenings and enjoying worship in English and Spanish. After the messages there is a time for prayer where the floor is free to thank God for whatever is on your heart. I am almost in tears every time. Listening to honest words to Jesus in English, Spanish, and Arabic has been an experience and I am blessed to have found a Bible believing church here in Spain.
A couple weekends ago the church was distributing winter clothes to the Zaidin neighborhood to bless families that were in need. Christina and I took our Saturday morning to help organize winter clothes and help fasciliate the distribution. It was so encouraging to see this church investing in their community and blessing people in need. I was so blessed to be a part of it and hope to find more opportunities like this in my year here. I don't want to leave Spain without knowing that I have made a difference somehow. I want to invest in this city and although traveling and spanish are great things, I hope that God uses me for something greater here.

My address...in case you want to be pen pals while I am away :)
Kristen Vassaur
C/Damasqueros N.12 1Izquierda
18009 Granada
Granada, Spain