Is it really time for Thanksgiving?!?

I'm not sure if it's the weather (cold and rainy the past couple of days) or the simple fact that I'm not home with my family, but it sure doesn't feel like tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Of course I'm sad that I'm missing Thanksgiving with my family, but I'm so thankful for the family that God has blessed me with here in Sevilla.  Not only do I get to have a Thanksgiving dinner with my program and some girls in the programs that are just like sisters to me, but today I was able to have lunch with two more awesome "sisters" - Paola and Jessica.  We went to a restaurant near the Cathedral called Casa Blanca.  We each ordered a tapa and while Paola and Jessica's was decent (according to them), I loved mine.  I ordered croquetas (I wrote about them in a previous post).  They were absolutely delicious.  They were filled with a bread, cheese, and meat mixture and came with some potato sticks (which obviously reminded me of you, Mom).  The croquetas were probably one of the top 3 best things I've eaten in Sevilla - I'll definitely be going back to get them before I leave. 

After we ate, we had a little devotion/sharing time.  We read a passage from Malachi and discussed hardships/trials and why we go through them.  We also discussed the fact that God's plan is the best for our lives.  It's so easy to get trapped into thinking that we have our own plans and we each know what is the best thing for our lives, but that's how we get in the way of what God's trying to do with our lives.  I told Paola and Jessica about our rocky flight back to Sevilla from Palma Mallorca and how the entire time I had to remind myself of the passage in Mark where Jesus calms the storm.  Not that our flight was absolutely horrible, but it was the roughest one I had experienced.  I kept thinking in my head "this is YOUR storm, this is YOUR storm."  Jessica, Paola, and I talked about how it reminded me that my life was not under my own control - I am completely dependent on God. 

After lunch, I went to Starbucks to get a little studying/homework out of the way.  They were playing Christmas music and it was nice and cozy inside...which led me to of course buy a chai tea.  It definitely made for a great afternoon.  :)

Tomorrow I have class.  Yuck.  On Thanksgiving Day.  And on Black Friday.  :(  Que triste.  Oh well, at least I have the Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow night to look forward too.

Also, last night I was making sure my senora knew that we wouldn't be here for dinner on Thanksgiving (they don't celebrate Thanksgiving...just fyi...for those of you who don't know...think about why we celebrate Thanksgiving).  Then she goes "ya'll will be eating really good then."  I told her that we always eat really good because she's such a great cook.  And then we got into a discussion about cooking and how anyone can cook they just need to practice and take their time and put their heart into it.  Obviously, since I love to cook I was really into the conversation.  It was so nice to have a conversation with my senora about something that we both enjoy.  I'm going to miss her a tonnnnn when I go back to the US. 

Just thought I'd throw in a random picture to make it a little less boring of a post.  This is a picture of us in Granada on our trip with our program.  The guy in the picture is our professor, Fernando.  He's quite the character.  :)