Just keep swimming...

It is hot in Spain.

I think we've been averaging somewhere around mid to high nineties, but we definitely break over 100 probably once a week.

Some days, it's just so hot, all you can do is go to the pool (after finishing all your chores of course) :)

Anna and her sunscreen...she's just cautious :)

The adorable little huts/umbrellas we sit under...

Kim with her book

Anna was the first to venture down the slide :)

Getting ready...

And there she goes!

She went a second time, and her face just cracks me up! :)

Me and my "parasol" which was actually an umbrella from a shade stand but it had blown into the pool, so before putting it back, I figured I might as well get a good picture out of it :)

But then it was my turn to go down the slide....

...Up the stairs I go!

I'm still not sure how I feel about this...I don't like my head underwater...

...but here I go!

I think we end up at the pool almost every day.

What can I say?

Life in Spain is tough. Real tough :)

An introvert's guide to living with extroverts

Well we’ve reached the half way mark. Four weeks in Spain have gone, four have yet to come, bringing new surprises and adventures with them. What’s been the hardest part you ask? Surely it’s the time difference, or the diet consisting of all things fried, or cleaning bathrooms everyday, or the fact that you don’t eat supper until 10 o’clock each night. While those things have definitely been challenges, the hardest part of this whole experience for me has been the people.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am an introvert. I don’t talk much, I don’t insert myself into situations or conversations. I am a wall flower, and I love it. Give me a book and I can go a day or two with no human contact at all.

Living at camp, I get no such luxury. I live in a little tin roof, double-wide cottage with two other girls, both of whom are extroverts. Now please don’t mistake me, I love these girls. I have not laughed so hard and as frequently as I have in my four weeks here. But we wake up together in the morning, we eat breakfast together, we go to work together, we work together all day, we eat our meals together, we got to the pool together, we go home together at night, and we go to sleep together.

We are always together!

That doesn’t work so well for me. I need my alone time. I need it. You can tell if you’re an introvert based on a simple test. Do people energize you, or do people drain you? If you get energized from being around people, you’re an extrovert. If being around people too long drains you, you’re an introvert.

People drain me. I can’t constantly be around people, I just can’t. I get tense, snippy, impatient, tired. In short I become a Mr. Grumpy Gills. That’s no fun for me or the people around me. I don’t wish that on anyone. So I’ve had to work extra hard to get my alone time.

Often I can’t ever actually get away from people entirely. When there’s a camp, there are campers everywhere. They’re mini-golfing, or swimming, or sitting on the patio, or playing games in the courtyard, or hiking or walking around or sitting in the amphitheater. There is no where I can go to just be completely away from people. So I use books and music as my escape. If you give me a book, I can pretty much tune out what’s going on around me, even more so if I’ve got my ipod in too.

Unfortunately I grossly underestimated the number of books to bring with me. I brought two fiction books I hadn’t read yet, and a fiction and non-fiction that I had read. So 4 books total. For 2 months….bad plan Kaylee.

I’ve read through them all, and two of the fiction books twice. Sue (one of the camp directors) gave us a stack of books that she didn’t want anymore. They are Christian romance. Urg. I can’t stand Christian romance. Why are they always about Quakers or pioneers? But don’t let me get on that soapbox. Anyway, I am desperate enough, I might actually start reading these books. That’s how bad it is. That’s how much I need to get my alone time. I haven’t caved in yet, but I’m close.

I also have to go on walks. I just have to get out of the house sometimes and get into the open. Although, being in a mountain valley is not as open as I’m used to at home with the flat plains. But it’s still out of the house, and it’s beautiful here. I suppose I can suffer through another month of a mountain on my doorstep J

In addition to reading and walking I keep a journal. Two journals actually. One is kept for events, if we went sight-seeing one day or just daily happenings. The other is for my thoughts and meditations and prayers. It really helps me organize all the thoughts spinning around in my head. I have all these thoughts and feelings and I need an outlet for them, and journaling helps me do that. When I can’t necessarily say how I’m feeling out loud, I’m able to say it in my journal and get that release.

It has definitely been a growing experience, this month in Spain, and it’s been in ways I wasn’t expecting. God is pretty cool that way, showing us ways He wants us to grow that we didn’t even think or know about. I know I’ve definitely grown in my month here and I’m sure it will continue in the month coming.

Curve Ball

I had several other posts I was working on, but this one takes precedence. :)

As stated in previous posts, I am a planner. I love plans, I love filling out my planner, I love lists, I love things neat and ordered and color coordinated!

But in the couple of months before coming to Spain there was no plan. I was graduating from college and had no job prospects. I had a general idea of what I wanted, but wasn't finding it, at least not at home where I wanted to be. I really did not like the idea of going to Spain and coming back to no job.

But then, an opportunity for a job arose. It seemed too good to be true because it met all my criteria!

1. It was a small organization, I really wanted something personal

2. It was in my field of study

3. It was people/community-orientated

4. It was in my home town

Other bonuses were I knew the girl who at the time held the position, and I also was doing my internship under a man who works closely with this organization and could vouch for my skills and abilities.

So I applied.

I got an interview.

During the interview I asked the woman when they were hoping to fill the position since I would be leaving for Spain in a couple of weeks and would be gone all summer. She told me that she wanted to fill the position right away. Shoot.

I thought the interview went very well, but I assumed that because they wanted to fill the position right away I didn't stand a chance of getting it. Well then the afternoon after my interview I got an email from the woman who had interviewed me. She said she wanted to know more about my design skills and had attached a brochure they had used a few years ago. She wanted me to redesign it and send it to her by the end of the week. She also said that she was having me and two other people do this and it would determine who would get the position. I was surprised that I was actually being considered still! So I redesigned the brochure and sent it off to her.

And then I waited...

...and I waited...

...and waited....

Finally! An email!

Unfortunately, she said, you were top candidate but we really want to fill the position right away and with your summer plans it just won't work. She said to let her know if my plans changed for the summer, but otherwise she was going to keep looking.

Well I was going to Spain, there was no changing that.

At first I was upset.

Why did I get dragged through that whole process if they knew the whole time that they wanted to fill the position right away?

But after that passed, I was finally resigned to the fact that there was no plan. There was no job.

So I was determined to go to Spain and not worry about it. I was going to BE in Spain and deal with the job when I got home.

After a month in Spain I was doing quite well! There was always the little nagging thought at the back of my mind, taunting me, "Kaaaayleeeee.....what's the plaaaan? Oh wait, there isn't one!"

But over all I was doing really well at being in Spain and not worrying about the future.

And then I got an email.

It was from the lady who I interviewed with before coming to Spain.

She said that she had been searching but had not found anyone comparable to me to fill the position. She asked if I would still be interested in the job.

I had to reread the email once or twice. I was blown away! How is this happening? This can't be real? But I didn't want to get my hopes up, I didn't want to assume that she was offering me the job, so I replied and told her that yes I would still be interested in the position. She replied back and said she would be pleased to offer me the position I had interviewed for!

WHAT?

What just happened? I didn't even know how to react! It completely threw me for a loop! Here I was, minding my own business in Spain, determined not to worry about my lack of job until I got home, and suddenly, out of the blue, I'm offered a job that meets all my requirements, not to mention that it's actually a job in my field!!!!!

This doesn't happen! I'm a college graduate! I'm not supposed to get a job in my field two months after I graduate!

God, you've blown my mind. You threw me this curve ball from left field and man oh man you've completely caught me off guard!

I am just filled with this feeling of complete and utter gratefulness. I can't even express it, I just feel like I'm over flowing and my heart is going to burst!

How great is our God!!!!

I want to climb one of the mountains in my backyard and shout/sing at the top of my lungs!!!!

I can't believe how my God has blessed me. And I couldn't wait to share with everyone.

There's been a plan this whole time! I was definitely supposed to come to Spain. And I am definitely supposed to have this job.

How great is our God!