Speaking Spanish

Just like the US where English has accents in different parts of the country, the same is true in Spain. 

Not being a Spanish speaker, I’m sure I don’t know the half of it, but I did notice a couple particularly obvious inflections: many of the harder consonants were softened and the S sound was changed to a “th.” For example, as for softened consonants, the word “Madrid” sounds more like “Madreeth” so the last D sound is pronounced as a softly voiced “th.”

There is a town we will probably have a concert in in the Aragon province which is spelled Zaragoza but pronounced “Tharagotha” so both the Z and S sounds are rendered as “th.” And Barcelona is pronounced “Barthelona.”

Here is a short overview of the different provinces and their flavors: https://youngadventuress.com/2013/01/guide-regions-in-spain.html

The Running of the Bulls!

The running of the bulls is a tradition that happens in quite a few Spanish cities but was made famous by the tourist promotion of it by the city of Pamplona. (https://www.pamplonafiesta.com/)

The only creative commons photo I could find of it is the one above and I’m not actually sure that was taken in Pamplona, but you get the idea. Pamplona is just above the A in the green Navarra box in the upper right part of the map below. As you can see it is quite close to San Sebastian which we will be visiting for a couple of days. It’s in a gorgeous part of Spain with lots of mountains and lush plant life due to the abundant rain.

Life on the Camino trail…

When you come to a town, you may find the narrow route used for cars, trailers, pets, pilgrims, and tourists eating breakfast – all at the same time!

A Pueblo is a small town…

Many of them are smaller villages used in Spain to get out of the city or away from the daily grind so we did not see many people in them while we were there.

The mission organization Dan Hollingsworth is with has a conference center in a pueblo and we may use it for rehearsals or overnight accommodations. It has an absolutely amazing story that I will ask Dan to tell you while we are in Spain.

Spanish cuisine: Lesson #1

Spanish cuisine is fantastic and you will enjoy eating your way through Spain! For starters, we’ll introduce you to tapas and paella. Tapas are an incredible variety of small edible tidbits that you make a whole meal of. The best comparison I can think of is making a whole meal of appetizers.

Paella is a rice dish with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in especially lots of different kinds of seafood. You often order paella for 2 or more people in a restaurant rather than individually.

It’s all about the relationships

If there is one thing that Dan and Lynn Hollingsworth drove home to us it’s that in Spain it’s all about the relationships. There is no sharing of our beliefs without a long history of relationship first. In fact, one thing that Dan said he will ask of you while on tour in Spain is to find at least one person with whom you will maintain communication via social media for a long time. He can point to multiple people who have made decisions for Christ who had friends via social media as a result of ministry trips. Better get you laptops ready and keep your Facebook chops up to date!

Watching them in action caring for people in the various cities and towns we went to showed clearly that he and Lynn practice what they preach. Much of this ministry took place over a meal. Authentic Spanish food in local restaurants – doesn’t get much better!