Azusa

I just started classes at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California today. I'm in a great cohort...10 of us from all over the country and we'll all be teaching in different countries over the next two years. I'm the only one in Mexico. The rest of the group is going to Japan, Thailand, and China.

What Will Matter by Michael Josephson

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrevelance.
It will not matter waht you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won´t matter where you came from or waht side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won´t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the vale of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built,
not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew,
but how many will feel a lasting loss when you´re gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories of those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn´t happen by accident.
It´s not a matter of circumsantce but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

Jewish Dance

Thanks for the invite Marie!

Moving on

I try not to get to attached when I know I´ll be leaving a place, but with the people I´ve met here in Alicante, it will be difficult to say goodbye. Ernestina y Sarita, mis mejores amigas aqui y mujeres de Dios, mujeres de la fe fuerte. Espero que algun dia nos veamos en Guinea o en Los Estados Unidos.

Pastor´s Family

I spent some time in the home of a pastor from Guinea. The clip is of me reading with his daughters.

Street Market Video

Hogueras

Each city in Spain celebrates its own festival at a different time and in a different way. In Alicante, where I live, the festivals were this past week and involved "hogueras." During the week of hogueras there are daily parades, fireworks, baracas, and last night, starting at midnight and continuing until dawn, they burned the gigantic paper mache statues. The statues criticize or mock the government or society in some way. This is a clip of one of the processions.

Butterfly

I was invited to my student´s home for dinner the other day and her father showed me his large collection of butterflies from Asia, Africa, and South America. He studies them and has published several books. I find it interesting how people have such specialized hobbies. I mean, butterflies? Each one costs from 100-3000USD. I´m sure he´s got at least a million invested in the collection.

English Class/ Clase de Ingles

I teach English at a local church on Saturday mornings. This is a short clip from when we learned how to give directions.

English Class

La Biblia en Ingles

Alicante at Night

What's the Religion?

Most Spanish claim Catholicism, but those I've talked to don't know exactly what they believe. The majority of Protestants here are immigrants from South America and Africa or gypsies from Eastern Europe. There's also a large population of Muslims and Jews.

What do the Spanish eat?

A better question is "What do the Spanish think that Americans eat?"

Hamburgers, hotdogs and french fries. Greasy food.

I explain that's not necessarily true and it depends on the region and the family.

Each region of Spain is a bit different, but here in Alicante they eat quite a bit of seafood. Salad, fruits and vegetables. Fruit or yogurt for dessert.

Typical Spanish foods include paella, tortilla patata, and gaspatcho. Paella is a rice dish. Tortilla patata is a Spanish potato omelette, and gaspatcho is a cold soup made from cucumber, onion, garlic, tomato, and olive oil.

Lunch is at 2 or 3 and dinner at 9 or 10.

Prague at Night

Sarita from Eq. Guinea (Spanish speaking Africa)

Vivo aqui. I live here.

Sarita "Sonrisa!"

Alicante

Anyone that would like to come visit is more than welcome! Si quieres venir aqui, mi casa es tu casa :) ! I'll cook you some Spanish tapas!

Alicante

I'm looking out our apartment window at the beautiful blue sea and cannot believe my God made this. Incredible. It's like looking into infinity how the water goes on forever. The weather is beautiful here; always warm and sunny. The school where I work is within walking distance of the apartment and I'm just about to leave for the afternoon classes now. I teach 5 classes a day, Monday through Friday. The teacher I'm taking over for is from Wisconsin and is going on maternity leave, which is why I'm here only 2 months. My two flatmates are from Scotland, but have English accents because they just came from studies in England. We all like to cook and run and explore the city, so it's wonderful that we all got put together.