If it's not too much, I'd like to see a concentration camp

Well we did it!! Mother/Daughter weekend in Barcelona and Sevilla was a major success. Mackenzie and I's moms arrived in Barcelona on the 15th and left Sevilla the 22nd. It was so much fun being with them and exploring a new city together. I also loved being able to show my mom my world in Sevilla. We took literally over 2,000 pictures...so imagine how hard that was for me to pick which ones to put on my blog. I chose the ones that highlight our favorites parts of the trip. It makes me all happy inside just looking at these because the last few days were so great. 

BARCELONA DAY ONE:

We all arrived outside our (adorable) apartment at the same time. It was such a surprise to just turn a corner and see our moms standing there with all their bags. We then began our adventures in Barcelona. As you will see from the pictures, Mackenzie and I had lots of laughs watching our moms. For example.....

They chased pigeons and tried to touch them

They got "blessed" by strange fairy street performers

We visited another outdoor market that was absolutely insane. 

Then we proceeded to the Gothic Quarter, my personal favorite. 

Barbara's Birthday Bash in Barcelona

Mock always Thinking Theta

TDM 

The Waterfront. Another favorite. 

At Mom's Birthday dinner with our great waitress! We got so many things for free because we were some of the only ones in the restaurant. (And because I asked at one point how much the rolls cost and I think they felt bad for us)

Our cute apartment! Who found it?? Babs

BARCELONA DAY TWO: 

This was our more intense tour day. We went to an AWESOME breakfast (thanks Lizard) and then went to the Sagrada Familia, Parque Guell, and Casa Batllo. Gaudi...you da best. Miss you. xoxo. 

Sagrada Familia 

Parque Guell 

We bought my dad their CD

On the roof of Casa Batllo 

BARCELONA DAY THREE: 

We decided to take half the day and ride the train to Sitges, a small beach town 40 minutes away. We got back in time to do a small hike to Montjuic where we tried to go to "Epcot", but we walked around the Olympic stadium and saw the fountain show instead. 

Not staged. Never in my life have I asked so many people for directions in Spanish. A common theme of our time in Barcelona. 

Mindy Lechlitner reporting live. 

When we got back to Barcelona we went up to Montjuic around sunset. Mock lookin good. 

We turned the corner and the light show had started early! This was such a fun surprise because it was on our list of things we wanted to see, but we didn't think we would be able to. I think we had the best view. 

SEVILLA DAY ONE:

We woke up that morning in Barcelona at 4am to catch our 7am flight to Sevilla. This was possibly one of the longest days of my life. And it didn't help that I thought I was going blind for part of it. We went to our favorite cafe near our church in Sevilla Este, went to the world food market by the rio, went on a run, and then walked around some of our favorite places in the city. The night ended at our favorite restaurant, Mama Mia's, where we of course ordered way too many pizzas. 

Not planned. We love to match! 

Here comes the series of AWKWARD jumping pictures. Our moms made us do it. Could we be any more touristy? 

HA! The most awk one by far. 

SEVILLA DAY TWO:

Mackenzie and I had class from 9-5pm (we don't want to talk about it) and so we met up with our moms after that for our rio photoshoot. Then we had quite a memorable dinner....stalking tables waiting for people to leave at Los Coloniales. A few snickers bars later, and we decided to go to a different restaurant. Then we met some of our friends at La Carboneria, a Flamenco place that has free shows every night at 11pm. It meant so much to me that my friends got to meet my mom. I loved that night. 

How many bags you got, lady?

Suz......

SEVILLA DAY THREE: 

We took them to Kiko's for cafe and tostada and walked around the Plaza de España and rented paddle boats on the River and then we had a quick (not our favorite) lunch and had to walk them to the bus station. The weather could not have been more perfect. 

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Rachel Florence Culwell and Mackenzie Elizabeth Lechlitner the 28th of September 2011

We could not have asked for a better time with two of our favorite people in the world. I am so blessed to have a mom like I do and I so appreciate her coming to see me in beautiful Sevilla. I was a little homesick when they left (nothing that a good run won't fix....right mock?) but everything about the weekend was such a blessing from the Lord and we all made so many special memories!  

Obrigadaaa

ISA has several excursions that are included with our program cost. So they seem free in my mind. It is a great feeling...to be totally taken care of, driven around, fed, given a hotel, and have lots of free tours after experiencing traveling on your own. Of course, the weekend wasn't really free....thanks mom and dad....but it seemed like it at the time. It was so fun to spend good time with Mary, Denise, and Emily...my bestiezzz 4lyfe from ISA. You may notice a theme in all of my pictures.....they are the only ones in them. I have other friends, I promise. But you wouldn't know it from the pictures. The four of us became friends in Toledo and it's been all uphill from there. It's so fun knowing people from all over. Emily is from Seattle, Denise is from Ohio, and Mary is from TEXAS!!! (And is another fighting Texas Aggie I might add). Denise and Emily hate when Mary and I talk about being friends once we go back to College Station....sorry boutchyaaaa but we are going to bestiez...right BG? 

Anyways, back to Lisbon. The city reminded me of Sevilla in a way; I feel like they really have similar vibes. It also reminded me so much of San Francisco, which if you know me well you know that is one of my favorite cities in the world. Lots of hills with buildings right near the water, trollies everywhere, and a bridge that looks exactly like the Golden Gate Bridge. We visited several of the must see's...please don't ask me to name them because I am not sure if I could. It was cool hearing people speaking Portuguese. I thought that Spanish and Portuguese were very similar, but for the most part we spoke English with the locals. The people were so friendly and nice, the food was different and yummy, the pastries were to die for (so I hear....stupid lent), and the pictures turned out great. And it's all about the pictures. I have become the designated "solo-shot taker" when it comes to pictures. I could, and I will, make a whole album of all the pictures I have of just Mary. So be prepared for some of my favorite solo shots of my friends. 

The second night was so great. We bought crackers, cheese, chorizo, oranges, and wine and ate in our hotel rooms and watched VH1. I miss being able to just hang out in a house with my friends. We aren't allowed to have friends over to our host family's houses and that has been one thing that is annoying about doing the homestay. If you are ever feeling like you want to stay in and watch movies...and let's face it, I want to do that alot....you can't. So that night was absolutely perfect. We also watched Zoolander, which lets also face it, is a classic...and drew fake tattoos all over our bodies. Overall, a great night. 

I would definitely recommend Lisbon to anyone and everyone. I think one of the reasons I loved it was because of how much it reminds me of Sevilla. So moral of the story is: Sevilla is the best place in Europe. 

I am SO excited for this weekend. Mackenzie and I are meeting our very own MOMS in Barcelona. Will Europe be able to handle Barbara and Mindy??? Time will tell. Many pictures and funny stories to come. Be prepared. 

San....Refried Beans.....San Ruffillo?

Ciao Bella! This last weekend marked the first of our many out of country trips of the semester. On Thursday February 24, Mackenzie and I set off on our Italian adventure. In typical Rachel and Mackenzie style, we were quite frantic getting everything together the day of our departure; but we actually arrived at the airport over 3 hours early (you can never be too careful with Ryanair). We flew from Sevilla to Pisa and then took a train to the Florence airport. We made friends along the way and decided to make an awkward video with people we just met. We actually made over 30 videos the whole time that we were in Italy...video highlights to come. 

We arrived in one piece and Katherine and Alli met us at the train station and we went to Dante´s for dinner. I ordered my favorite dish of the whole trip...a bowtie pasta with tomatoe sauce, pesto, and chili powder...yum. Mackenzie and I were instantly overwhelmed by the difference in Italian food from what we are used to. Food is such an art in Florence, and every meal was a different experience. Katherine and Alli have their own (adorable) apartment and cook all their own meals so we got to go to the market with Alli to pick out the ingredients for dinner. She made a WONDERFUL risoto with stuffed potatoes as an apetizer. Such the little homemaker.

Little Alli the Cook picking out groceries for dinner.

The Market where Katherine and Alli shop. So Italian.

We could have spent all day here. 

Some of the best dried fruit I have ever eaten. 

 We spent the first two days eating, walking around, shopping, and eating some more. We were blessed with such beautiful weather. Good thing we brought our running clothes....right Mackenzie?? We staying with some of our family friends, the Runns, for two nights while we were there. They live in a small town called Fiesole that is 4 miles outside of Florence. One morning, we woke up early and went on a hike around the town. That was probably one of my favorite things we did. Fiesole felt so authentically Italian. 

Katherine likes to sip on cough medicine. (Poor Kitty was sick most of the weekend) 

Bestiezzz in front of the Duomo

Ponte Veccio 

It wouldn't be Italy without a few solo shots. 

The third day in Florence, the weather was less than desirable and that interfered with our plans to go to Michaelangelo´s Piazza and the Duomo. This was my second time to Florence and I have YET to go to the top of the Duomo...what a joke. That rainy cold day was also such a joke. We tried to be as optimistic as possible, but the circumstances were a bit overwhelming. That night we left Florence and hopped (more like frantically raced to get on) our train to Bologna. We were going to stay with some of our other family friends, who are also on staff with Crusade, for two nights. We ended up missing our stop (San Ruffillo...I will never forget the name now) to get off by their house. We were stranded with no phone, no contact numbers, no address...nothing. I may or may not have had a hysterical laughing/crying break down on the train while sitting next to two Italian men. We asked a random lady at the train station to use her phone and we finally got in touch with the people picking us up and we arrived safely at their house after one of the longest, wettest days of my life. We were greeted by great conversation, warm hugs, homemade tortilla soup with sliced avacados, and chips and salsa. The Marcos´ said they knew they were having a Culwell in the house so they had to make Mexican food. They know the way to my heart. It was the best Mexican food I have ever had....Oh Chipotle, how I miss you.

Jesse and Tricia Marcos, our wonderful hosts! 

The next day was also miserably cold, but we were better equiped with umbrellas and a good night´s sleep. We walked around, ate a great lunch, did some shopping and had another delicious dinner at the Marcos´ house that night. It was so great to be with them and catch up; they remind me of my parents so much and that made me a tad homesick.


We lit candles in one of the churches we visited. 

We had a long day of travel back to Sevilla the next day, which included a 5 hour layover in the Pisa airport without seeing the leaning tower. When we got home we went for a nice long run to counteract the food we ate over the weekend and talked about what we thought of our first trip overall. Here is what we decided: We both absolutely loved Italy. It was so great being with Katherine and Alli (and Jordan!) and getting to see their world and spend good time with them. I had missed them both so much and the reunion was sweet.We were so thankful that we can speak spanish and communicate with people in Spain. There were many times when we just stood there like idiots when we couldn't communicate what we were trying to say with hand motions and broken English. The food, wine, and scenery were absolutely to die for. But we both found ourselves missing Spain, specifically Sevilla, the whole time we were there. I couldn´t help but compare in my head and think, "Oh but in Sevilla we do this...or in Spain we have that..." I realized while I was in Florence and Bologna that I wasn´t missing Austin or Texas; I was missing Sevilla. On those cold and rainy days I was so looking forward to coming back. I have officially begun to think of Sevilla as my pseudo home. Being in Italy just caused my appreciation/love for Spain and my experience abroad to grow exponentially. I have no doubt in my mind that God brought me to Sevilla for a reason and I am living with the family I am living with, have the friends I have, am taking the classes I am taking, and am learning the language I am learning for reason. God has a specific plan for me this semester and I can already list the ways He has grown me and provided for me. I know that I am in Sevilla during the spring of 2011 for a reason, and I wouldn´t trade it for anything.

Rachel, 

Refuse to worry! In this world there will always be something enticing you to worry. That is the nature of a fallen, fractured planet: Things are not as they should be. So the temptation to be anxious is constantly with you, trying to worm it's way into your mind. The best defense is continual communication with Me, richly seasoned with thanksgiving. Awareness of My Presence fills your mind with LIGHT and PEACE, leaving no room for fear. This awareness lifts you up above your circumstances, enabling you to see problems from My perspective. Live close to Me! Together we can keep the wolves of worry at bay.

-Jesus Calling-

Luke 12:25-26; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18