Photo gallery link at the top the page!!!

Steph with her camera.
We went to Portugal last weekend. Classes don't start until next week on the 5th, so there aren't any students around town right now. Since things are slow, we thought it would be a great opportunity to take a road trip. We stopped by a famous spanish castle on the sea, hence the cannon. It was the port that the Pinta returned to and so the first to find out about the new world. Then we stopped at a pre-Roman settlement of celts near the border. We actually only spent about 3 hours just across the border in Portugal, but it was fun. Crossing the 'border' in the EU is like crossing the state border in the US. No gaurd stations. Nothing but motorway.
The team has meshed well. Not only do we get along famously, but we seem to have the same perspectives and goals about faith and 'christianity'. I put that in quotes because of a complication. In any country, even in the US, there is a cultural religion/club that builds up around the faith of christianity that really has nothing to do with the faith and more to do with the culture it resides in. For instance, the Bible Belt in the US or Catholicism in Spain. It makes it dificult to have a conversation when you use words that mean different things to diffeent people. As americans living in Spain for the purpse of studying it's culture and perspectives, it becomes important to see the American religious culture for what it is in order to observe the Spanish culture for what it is.

Intro to Santiago, España

So this is Spain, Gallego style. Here's some stuff in town, and pics of the team members.

This is a some what less traditional perspective on the Saint James cathedral, or el catedral de Santiago.

Monastary across the street from Caleb and Lindsey's apartment.

Typical Spanish apartment high rise.

Santiago is in the northwest region of Spain called Galicia which is actually celtic in origin. It´s kind of weird to be speaking spanish and have culturally celtic stuff all around you. Hence, the hammered dulcimer and bagpipes.


Here is the whole team:

Caleb.


Lindsey.


Shanna.


Stephanie.


Bart (me).

Intro aside now, actual cool pics to come.

The new system doesn't work so well. It's great if i only want to post 1 or 2 pictures, but I'll have to find something else for larger volume posts. I'll probably end up just making a gallery of the Soren Larsen pictures and putting a link on the blog page.

Vavau

Corsal Yard

Dad at Palmerston Isld.

Blue Skies

Exhiliration.