hello madrid

i arrived in spain yesterday morning, david met me at the airport and took me to the casa to unload my things.

but before i get into madrid, maybe a few words on philadelphia should be said. if i could describe philadelphia in 3 ways i would say: cheese steak, cold, and...cold. i completely froze my butt off the entire time. one time i checked the temperature and it was 3 degrees with the windchill. matt picked me up from the airport friday afternoon and we made our way back to his house for the evening. he lives in north philly, like 15 minutes from downtown. saturday we walked all around the city taking in some of the sights, pretty nice. we had some cheesesteak sandwiches (provolone-wit), saw independence hall, the original senate building, the liberty bell, etc. honestly, i was entirely unimpressed with the liberty bell. it doesn't even look real. and, because of the massive crack down it's side, there's no way, in my mind, of even verifying that it is a real bell because it doesn't ring. pretty much it's just a couple thousand pounds of copper and tin that is supposedly a representation of freedom and liberty. there was a quote at the museum that nearly made me laugh out loud, "let the bell be cast by the finest workmen and examined carefully before it is shipped..." -isaac norris. i thought maybe the quote should read, "let the bell be cast by the finest workmen and examined carefully...but i'd also like you guys to keep in mind that, you know, we are on a budget, so don't get crazy on us here okay."

saturday night there was a party at matt's house, i felt completely out of place. i actually left the party at midnight and braved walking around the freezing weather for about two hours. i thought by 2 the party should be broken up, and once everyone finally gets out, i could get some sleep on the couch, barring that no one puked all over it. upon returning to the house i realized that the crowd had not gotten smaller, it had actually doubled in size meaning that there were about 100 people crammed into this little house. CRAZY! so i made my way to the back yard and stoked the fire that was burning and enjoyed the small crowd out there until the party finally broke up at about 4 am. the whole weekend i wanted to get away and be alone for a bit, but it is a really hard thing to do when you are visiting a friend and largely at his mercy. maybe a bit more about being alone at some later time.

sunday we went to valley forge, it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. if you don't know, valley forge is where george washington took the american troops after fleeing philadelphia in 1777 to camp for the winter. it is considered the big turning point of the american revolutionary war. i just enjoyed it so much because the place was gorgeous, and there was an incredible sunset making the whole thing that much better. i will try and post some pictures of the philly weekend later--i thought i had the right cable to unload pictures from my camera...turns out i don't, so i am going to see what i can do about that.

sunday night i talked to my folks, and it was really great to be encouraged and prayed for over the phone. my mom suggested that i call us airways to make sure that it wasn't a problem that i was missing the new york to philadelphia leg on my flight to madrid. what happened was i bought a ticket in and out of new york, but the flight goes through philadelphia, so i just thought to myself that i could stay in philadelphia with matt and catch the flight from there. again, and as usual, turns out i was wrong. i call monday morning to find out that i would have to pay something like $600 dollars to change my ticket to fly out of philly unless i could get to new york in 3 hours to take the first leg of the flight. beings that it was borderline impossible to make that happen, the guy i was talking to on the phone suggested i go down to the philly airport and talk to a representative down there. so i did, and everything ended up working out fine; i just had to pay the change of ticket fee instead of paying that fee and the current cost of the flight (which was twice as much as i originally paid). but, all is well that ends well.

just before leaving on monday i got to talk to a few people on the phone and i was reminded of how much i am blessed to have the kind of friends and family i do. when my sister, erika, tells me she loves me, and that she is praying for me it melts me, and i feel loved, i feel love. i can never thank any of you enough for your prayers. i am now in a strange land, and it would be a lie to say that i'm not scared about what could happen. everyone i talked to before i left was asking me if i was excited, and i couldn't honestly say that i was. the best way i could explain the feeling is something i said to merle: i think i am excited for about two weeks from now, when i can start to have some kind of consistency, and i won't feel so lost, and alone, and confused about what everyone is saying. but right now, i'm not incredibly excited to be here, well i don't think i am at least. i woke up this morning at 6 and just listened to music and wept. i heard a song from isaiah 43 that broke me. i still feel weak, but i'm sure this is where i belong right now. this evening i am going to meet a guy that alyssa's sister knows. he is a christian and i hope to be able to find community here.

i think this is more than enough for now. i will try and post some pictures soon. i love you all.

-leb