I Love to See the Temple!

Ahhh! This was a great day. First, I got to sleep in. When you start a day like that, it's bound to go well! All week long, we had a temple trip planned with our group and the Young Single Adults of the ward. I couldn't have been more excited to go! We planned to meet up at noon at the train station, then to head out. Even though it takes quite a bit of planning ahead, I really like the train and bus station system here in Spain.

Driving is a bit crazy, and I'm glad we don't have to worry about it. It's pretty easy to take a train or a bus to wherever we need to go. So... back to what I was saying: we took a train to the temple, ate lunch outside on the grounds while we waited, and enjoyed the view and the sun. It was cool as well, because we saw a ton of missionaries. There just so happens to be a MTC on the same site as the temple, which I wasn't aware of, and they were all walking to and from the temple to fulfill their various assignments. The best was to see the Americans! You can spot an American from anywhere.

No matter what we do, we can't escape the "you're not from here" stigma. Sometimes I get really self-conscious about the constant stares, but you learn to get used to it after awhile. Finally, our time came to do baptisms. Since it's a small temple, you have to call ahead and schedule an appointment. It was definitely strange to do the ordinances in Spanish, but I enjoyed it a lot. The words sound different, but the feeling and the Spirit are still the same. I think I was confirmed and baptized for probably 20 people! They must not have had a lot of youth come in that week and were getting held up. It was all great, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In total, the temple took about 6 hours.

I'm definitely not used to that one, considering the fact that I've never lived more than 10 minutes away from a temple! When we were all done, a group was getting together to go bowling. I didn't have plans, so I decided to tag along. Alcalá itself has 3 major malls, and the bowling alley was nearby the second largest one. It was a bit pricey, so I decided not to bowl, but I had a really good time being there with my friends! I really have made some great friends here, and I hope we all remain friends once we get back to Provo. One thing that still astounds me is how prevalent the American culture is here in Spain. I've mentioned this before in another post, but most of the music they listen to is from the U.S., movies, clothing stores, advertisements, products, etc. The bowling alley was no different.

There were some moments during the night where I forgot we were even in Spain because there was American music blasting and American signs posted on the walls too. It's weird to me, and a little sad at the same time. I feel like they're losing some of their culture in order to keep up with world trends. Sadly, we seem to be the ones setting that trend. Sometimes it's nice because things aren't as hard to understand, but I came to Spain to learn more about the Spanish culture, not my own. Oh well! I can't necessarily change that. After riding the bus back to the heart of Alcalá, a couple of us walked to the Plaza de Cervantes and hung out for a bit. That's another interesting thing! Most shops close at 9 or so, yet everyone is out until 12 or 1.

Bars are still open, but that's about it. This includes children and babies, older people, middle-aged people, and teenagers. They all hang out in the Plaza together as well! The older couples sit and talk with other older couples, the kids run around or play their friends, the middle-aged people and teenagers all sit with their significant other and make-out in public, the entire time, and other teenagers are writing skateboards around or chatting with their friends. It's quite the place to people watch, I'll tell you! That's one of my favorite things to do at the Plaza. After that, I rode the bus home, Skyped with my parents, then went to bed. Good day!