A work in progress

I will be coming up on the half way mark of my time abroad pretty soon and it is so mind blowing to realize how the time is literally speeding by. That can be a scary thought too because I am realizing more and more that the idea of study abroad brings so many expectations to mind. I feel like I am up against this ticking clock of a deadline by which I must return to the states having completely perfected my spanish, grown tremendously in my relationship with God, and having learned all of these new things that will completely change me by the time I step foot back onto Seattle soil. And though some of these expectations definitely do have valid points and progressing results, it will probably not look as I had expected it to...

I am and always will be "a work in progress."

God has been teaching me that it is ok to to be ok with wherever I am at in the moment. How else will I fully be able to soak up this incredible experience if I am constantly thinking about where I should and want to be? I am most definitely here for a reason and God knows exactly what He is doing in my life even if I won't be able to see what that is until way down the road...and that is perfectly ok.


"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." -Ecclesiastes 3 

"Paris is always a good idea." -Audrey Hepburn

I. love. Paris.
It's as simple as that and yet not simple at all to try and describe how truly amazing my four day weekend was! It really was a dream come true for me to be able to visit this beautiful city, let alone with my amazing friend, Carly. The two of us go way back to our middle school days and we are so blessed to both be studying in different parts of Spain at the moment.

Directly after class on Wednesday afternoon, I booked it to the bus station so that I could begin that day's journey of a bus ride, 2.5 hour train ride to Madrid, an hour on the Metro to get to the airport, a 2 hour flight, then a couple more hours of....well, this is where the adventure part begins! Carly and I landed at the airport at about 10:30pm and were soon shocked to realize that by the time we had walked to the train departures, the last train going into the city for the night had already left. You have to just picture our faces at that moment when we realized we were somewhat stranded, in France, very late at night, and neither one of us speaks a lick of French! Español anyone? We soon learned that we had to take a bus but as we were trying to ask the woman at the ticket booth if this bus could take us near our hostel we heard the familiar English words from a man saying, "Girls, I can help you, I live here." With a quick "is this guy trustworthy?" check we decided he was and really, we had no other options. Fortunately, this man was an answer to prayer as he helped us through the process of getting on the bus (which felt as if it was taking us to the middle of nowhere) and then leading us through a full on sprint  to catch the last metro of the night to where we would finally be on our way to our hostel and he on his way home. And yet, it doesn't end there! We then proceeded to walk up and down the same street about 5 times trying to find the street to turn on to find our hostel. We are now coming upon 1am in the international district of Paris and there are few souls out on the street. Our last hope was to walk into a bar to ask for directions when to our surprise, a french man who could tell we didn't speak French, began speaking in Spanish! Whether he actually thought we were Spaniards (I'll take that as a compliment!) or that was the only other language besides French that he knew, we shall never know! With his help we finally made it to the super nice hostel-a huge silver lining at the end of the tunnel to crash for the night amidst the chorus of the 4 other roommates snoring...

The next day we were pleasantly surprised to realize how amazing our hostel really was! After enjoying our free French (yes, croissants were included) breakfast, we once again braved the metro system to find ourselves walking up the steps and onto the street, where right around the corner stood Notre Dam! We were shocked to instantly already see something so amazing before our eyes! "Is this real life?" we asked ourselves. We enjoyed walking in awe and taking lots of pictures. We also realized that a mass was about to start soon after we arrived and so we decided to sit on it! The rest of the day was spent wandering the beautiful streets, doing some good ol' shopping, and finishing it all off with an amazing dinner of crepes and creme brulee in a cute little bistro. Not too shabby of a day.

Our first reactions to seeing the Eiffel Tower!

Friday morning began with us feeling like quite the masters with the whole metro system in Paris. We were getting the hang of it and were once again pleasantly surprised to walk up from the metro steps, turn the corner at the opera house, and BAM! there stood the majestic Eiffel Tower. We both started screaming and laughing at the ridiculous notion that we really were in Paris, looking at the Eiffel Tower. I couldn't have felt happier and more blessed to stand before something I have been dreaming of seeing for so many years. The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower was just as amazing and reinforced another mind blowing experience. I have been wanting to travel Europe for so long and never knew if or when it would happen. I am so thankful for a God that provides and also takes pleasure in seeing his children so happy.
We spent several hours that morning walking around the area, turning around every so often to make sure the Eiffel Tower really was still there and was still real! After summiting the top to soak in some amazing views and practically freeze to death, we partook in some delicious french bread to cap off the entire tourist experience. This was followed by some warm food at a nearby bistro, another chilly walk to the Arc de Triumph (with reduced student entrance), and ending the night with 3 hours in the Louvre. We also were able to get free entrance to the Louvre Museum because it was a Friday night, after 6pm and we happened to be under 26 years old with European visas. Gotta love all of the free perks at this age in life.

Taking our walk through the estate grounds

Our last full day in Paris we took a day trip to Versailles where once again, we got to enter for free! Being a student sure has its perks...walking through the palace felt so surreal as we kept realizing how much history had taken place on the very floors we were stepping on. It is very obvious that King Louis and Marie Antoinette were the "go big or go home" type of people as this estate was ginormous and beautifully crafted to be one of the most elegant things I have ever seen. Even the gardens (more like a forest) were beautiful. We walked around for hours and hours exploring the grounds and feeling as if we had stepped into a "Pride and Prejudice"era, taking our afternoon stroll through the countryside. It felt so invigorating to share some great conversation, feel the crisp air on our cheeks, and take in all of the natural beauty that surrounded us-a wonderful few hours of stepping into another peaceful world amidst the hectic moments that have consumed our days for the past 2 months.
To say "au revoir," to our new beloved city, we went back into Paris to walk around the city even more and catch the lighting up of the Eiffel Tower at night and partake in our last very french meal (Carly tried escargot! I on the other hand was not as brave...) before going homeward bound on Sunday morning.


It was a phenomenal weekend full of wonderful conversations/being reunited with a good friend, delicious French food, amazing historical sights, and special memories that shall last me a lifetime.

Just a snapshot of the amazing work inside the Louvre

Until next time, Paris...