Like most of my posts lately, its been a while since my last one and I hope that I remember everything that I should, but Im relatively certain that I wont. IMT ended. It was very bittersweet. I think all of us were excited to be leaving to go home and see friends and family, but at the same time I think we were all sad to be leaving our team. The week after IMT was over I went to Spain with two of the youth we had worked with this year. I went back to Chemnitz for two nights to do some laundry and finish packing, and as I was there alone where we lived, I really missed the girls. I was eating dinner and just sitting in our little kitchen and started thinking about the past year and all the memories we had made. I apologize for getting all sentimental here. But, it was really strange knowing I was the only one there. I half expected one of the girls to come in and sit down with me to eat. I think I have watched too many movies in the past year, but my thoughts were really just like a movie montage with one memory blending into the next.
Anyways, the week before in Spain was really a lot of fun. We flew down there with no real idea of where we were gonna sleep. We had a tent with us so we figured we could set that up somewhere if we really had to. Luckily we found a pretty nice campground about 30 minutes by bus from Barcelona and it was not too expensive. We stayed there for two or three nights and in the daytime walked around Barcelona seeing all the sights or just chilled on the beach. One thing I really enjoyed was travelling with Germans. Because we spoke German to one another and clearly the other two people I was with are German, everyone assumed that I was also German. This came in handy for more than one situation. There were several times when we were around Americans or English speaking people who clearly believed we were German and did not understand what they were saying. I love to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations as Im travelling and I was able to listen to everything because the other people talked like no one could understand them. The other times it came in handy was when people wanted to sale us something. Because Barcelona is such a big tourist place, there were tons of people trying to hand out stuff or to get you to buy something. They all spoke English assuming most tourists speak at least a little English. Several times I just acted like I didnt understand what they were saying and instead spoke German with my friends until they left us alone. It was fun.
After a few days in Barcelona I talked them into going to Pamplona with me. Im not sure it was the best decision, but they told me later they did enjoy it, although I thought they were a little bored, and I know I was sometimes too. It all worked out ok for us, but I had thought the San Fermin Festival (running of the bulls) was always the first week of July. Turns out its the second week of July. We got a bus ticket and got there late the night before it started, although I had thought we were getting there on one of the last days of the festival. Last time I was there I showed up late one night, saw an awesome fireworks show, ran with the bulls in the morning, and then caught the next train I could to Madrid. Since then I had read more about the festival and learned that there was much more to it than just the running of the bulls. Because my time there had been so awesome, I assumed the entire festival would be really great and wanted to see some of the things I had read about (mainly the parade of giants). I had also seen a ton of people with tents and stuff just camped out wherever they could find space. Because of this, we camped out in this big grassy area the first night that we got there. Sometime early in the morning we were woken up by a police man opening our tent and telling us in Spanish and a few words of English that tents arent allowed in Pamplona. So we packed up and went into the city to wait for the start of the festival. I did not realize even during the daytime there would be so many people there just to get drunk. It really changed my perspective on the festival. There was definitely something for all ages, and it was clear that for the Spanish people it was also a big thing for the family. There were all ages of people there and I believe a lot of the parades and rituals really do have meaning for the Spaniards, but I was also really disappointed about how many people were there just for a party. I had seen how big of a party it was in the night when I was there last time, but I had believed that was just the nighttime and that during the day the parades and all would be more of the focal point and attended with respect or at least more like a parade or festival would be attended anywhere else. I was wrong. The place was totally trashed the entire day and people were totally trashed the entire day. There was no break. People were peeing wherever they felt like it. The parades were pretty lame anyways, but I think it wouldve been better without drunks everywhere and the threat of sangria being poured on you at all times. I know that this festival must bring tons of money into Pamplona, but I really wondered how the city and the people that live there felt about what happened there. Anyways, we spent most of our time just hanging out and watching everything around us. That second night we thought tents werent allowed so we just slept outside in our sleeping bags. It wasnt that bad, but Ive definitely slept better. We woke up early so we could take Julia to the stadium and then Philipp and I could run with the bulls. As we walked to the course we saw tents everywhere, so that was really cool. I guess the police had other things to worry about at that point. Everything worked out well until about 30 minutes before the running started. Well, at one point they drove two huge street cleaning trucks into the crowd of us waiting to run. There was literally no room to move and yet the drivers werent stopping. It was intense. After waiting an hour and a half Philipp told me he couldnt see and had to get out. I wasnt sure what he meant and just said ok... as he pushed through the crowd and got out of the course. I waited for about fifteen minutes and then decided I should go find him to make sure he was ok. As soon as I got out of the course, he walked up, and then by that point the cops wouldnt let anyone back into the course. I was a little upset, but glad he was ok. He said he needed water. We couldnt even find a place to watch the run from because there were so many people and all the spots were taken. It was a pretty big bummer. After that we went back to Barcelona and just chilled on the beach the next day. I got a really good sunburn. I found it interesting that the Germans idea of fun in the sea/ocean was to swim out a good bit and then swim back. I just wanted to jump up and down in the waves and hang out. I assumed that had something to do with the fact that they go mostly to the Baltic sea for vacation, which is probably much colder than the Gulf of Mexico, and where you probably have to move around a lot or you get cold. That night we went back into the city for tapas and a light show but missed the light show by five minutes. We had heard there was not a bus that went to our campground at night, but we assumed they meant there wasnt a bus that went directly to it like the day bus did. So we jumped on a night bus and waited until we saw something that looked familiar, but never saw it. We rode to the end of the line and the bus driver kicked us out and then picked us back up ten minutes later. He spoke a little English so we tried asking him how to get to where we needed to be and he said our best bet was to take a taxi. I asked him if he would let us know when we were at the stop that was closest to our place, but Im not sure he understood that well. We rode back with him for a while and then he told us to get out because he saw a taxi we could take. We thought it was also the stop nearest our place and decided we could walk back. About 2-3 hours later and several jumped fences we made it back to our campground. It was quite a night excursion.
On the day that we were travelling back to Chemnitz I got an email telling me the church in Zeitz had raised enough money for them to take me and the other guy. Ill be heading back to Germany on September 3 and staying for an entire year this time. I think it is really an answer from God about where I should be. The pastor was really surprised they had raised the money. Since then Ive travelled back to the US and spent a few days in Atlanta and am now in North Carolina with my brother and his family for a week. Zac is here as a delegate to the SE Jurisdictional Conference for the UMC, or something like that. Ive already been introduced to so many people I have no idea who they are. Im trying to stay open and positive to what goes on here, but it feels like a very different world than what I had kinda expected or maybe would wish for. I need to see more of it, and get to know the people better before I really say anything, but im a bit wary of all the "politicing" that goes on here. We'll see. Im here mostly for vacation anyways. Zac and I played golf today and a black bear walked out behind us on the 16th about 20 or 30 yards away. It was pretty cool to see.
Like I said before, I feel like Ive forgotten a lot of things I had planned on writing about. Its prob not important. It is strange being back here. Sometimes it feels like I was never gone, and then other times it feels like what in the world is this?! A day or two I felt like I was just kind of watching everything happen but not really feeling or really living it. That was really strange. Oh well. Ive got a few more weeks before I go back and I think they are gonna be jam packed with hanging out with everyone and taking care of different things like going to the dentist and eye doctor. Hopefully it wont go by too fast.
