Spain Days 15-16 - I know, I skipped some. I will get back to those.

Hi!  Days 15 and 16 were filled with more travel, packing and unpacking.  We took a bus back to Cordoba, to hop a train to Madrid.  It was a WONDERFUL surprise every time we ran into people from the conference on Sat.  Many of us were taking the same route from Camp to Cordoba to Madrid, then flying out to wherever "home" is, just different trains and flights.

So we are in Madrid, the final leg of travel in Spain.  We went to the Catedral de la Almudena and Palacio Real.  Palacio Real is the Palace where the King and Queen of Spain used to live.  They don't live there any more, but do still have events there on occasion.  We got to tour 24 rooms.  It took us an hour....at a pretty quick pace.  There are over TWO THOUSAND (yes, that is 2,000) rooms in the Palace.  It was pretty amazing and beautiful.  The one thing that I thought was funny and out of place in every room was fire extinguishers.  They were everywhere!  You have all of this elegant tapestry, marble, gold, carpets, etc that are a couple of hundred years old, and a bright red fire extinguisher in literally every room, every corner, next to every table....

Royal Palace and courtyard in Madrid (Palacio Real)

We also walked around the Plaza mayor.  As soon as I walked through the "keyhole" into the plaza I knew I had seen at least one movie that was shot there.  I still can't remember what it is, but I know there has been at least one.  The plaza has an amazing and tragic history.  There have been bullfights, royal pageantry, fires, and events of the "gruesome Inquisition" (meaning they set up bleachers and the wealthy rented balconies while they performed hangings, and other executions). 

Plaza Mayor

This morning (Day 16) the team went back to the States.  I decided to stay a few days longer to sight see.  Since I haven't kicked this "allergy turned to cold" thing, I got up and had breakfast with the remaining team members, saw them off to the airport, did laundry, and went back to bed for a while.  I meandered around La Puerta del Sol for a few hours shopping for souvenirs, taking pictures, looking for some coffee, and at lunch watched the policia break up a fight at the cafe I was eating in.  I thought I was going to watch 4 people go tumbling down some marble steps, but the policia showed up before it got very violet. (yay)

Tomorrow, I think I am going to catch a bus tour of the city in the morning, so I can figure out what I want to do for the afternoon and on Tuesday.  I want to go to Prodo, and I want to see the arena where they have the bull fights....beyond that, I am not really sure. :~)   

I have skipped a few days of blogging, but they will have to wait.  I am processing a lot of things about the conference, the people, what I can and can't share, etc...   I thought the things that would touch my life from this conference would be all of the amazing stories I heard from the field.....and they were.  What really has touched my heart is just the people.  Not so much their stories, but who they are, how the Lord has worked in each person, the struggles they have that they were willing to share openly, the heart they have for what they do and the people they work with, and the sacrifices they make for themselves and their families.  I know I have not begun to sufficiently put into words what I am trying to say, because it is hard to.  Which is why I have skipped blogging about the last two days of the conference.  I need time to process what I learned, who I met, the incredible bond that came so quickly with some of the kids/parents, and those darn good-byes...  :~)