Goodbye Spain.  Hello England!!

 The view from my flat in Spain.  

 Bamboo-like grass in Spain.  

 My last morning in Spain.  

 And my last look at the vet school there.  

 And now I am here and I love it!  This is the view from my kitchen--a field of a dozen of the cutest Welsh ponies and even more bunnies.  Everything is small and cute here.  The roads are narrow and bordered with overgrown hedges with many different kinds of berries.  There are small pastures bordered with wood fences and hedges containing old oak trees and horned sheep or beef cattle.  The soil is brown here--better than the tan soil in Spain--and the land is flat.  It is strange to see seagulls in the fields.  They have more agriculture here than in Spain and grow wheat, corn, and lots of hay.  The houses are all brick and the people are very nice here.  They speak English!!  Although Barcelona was exotic and exciting, I feel much more at home here in the country.  At the same time, London is only 15 minutes away by train, which is quite nice.  My journey here was interesting. The flight attendants would say "bonjour" and call me "mademoiselle".  I could see the Pyrenees as we crossed into France and then the large farm fields in the flat part of France.  The airport in Paris smelled like perfume and I could see the Eiffel tower in the distance once my plane to London took off.  Then, I could see the English Channel and white bluffs on the British shore followed by small green fields dotted with towns.  As my plane descended, I could see London sprawling and the skyscrapers of central London.  

 This is cute.  

 This is the hall I'm staying at.  

 Buddies.  

 This is a sculpture of three horses fighting in the big yard.  

Today, after snapping this pic of a gray pony, I walked three miles to church in the nearest town, buying an umbrella along the way.  A couple of British men rolled down their window to yell "hello darling" at me despite the fact that it was a Sunday morning in Podunk, England and I was wearing no makeup and a trench coat.  At church, the priest welcomed me and told me that a little while ago two American girls about my height had come to Mass and they were runners in the Olympics.  Alas, I told him that I am not an Olympic athlete but simply a veterinary student.  I am fast, but not that fast.  During church, I prayed for my bag to arrive, as it, unfortunately, wasn't put on my flight.  Then, I went to the parish's post-Mass tea and biscuits where the older British ladies all found me quite interesting.  One asked me if I was American after not more than five words come out of my mouth (apparently, according to a girl that I met today, I have a such a cool accent).  During Mass, it had begun to rain as expected and one of the ladies offered to give me a ride home which gladly I took.  There, my bag had arrived five minutes before me!  

The readings today were noteworthy.  It was refreshing to hear them in my language!  The second said that jealousy and relentless fighting arise when we want badly what is beyond our control.  This has definitely happened to me before.  I would pray for what I wanted and thought was best to no avail.  The readings also mentioned that prayer is for naught unless it is unselfish prayer that looks beyond what you want and opens you up to serving God in whatever manner He wants.  I'm sure that much heartache and anxiety can be avoided if we keep this wisdom in mind throughout our lives.  God has left me broken and desolate before, but only to recenter me on Him and doing His will.  Like a good father, He doesn't always give me what I want but does give me what I need, like my bag, and answers some of my other prayers too if they are in line with what He wants and knows is best.  For instance, I am incredibly thankful for my boyfriend, John and I hope that I bring him the same amount of joy that he brings me.  I am also thankful to be able to travel right now and very content to study pathology.  God leads everyone to some source of joy and peace if they follow Him.