Parque Este Connections Trip 09: Breathe In and Breathe Out

We started our last day in Aracena with some nice relaxation. Well at least some of us did. We managed to set up appointments for the leaders of Parque Este to get some much needed TLC at the spa while the rest of us went about various activities. I personally took the time to relax, read, and blog but JuMaris and Ben went for “light exercise” that included running, push ups, and using the equipment in the hotel gym. I guess I failed to remember that these 3 were trying out for next season’s edition of American Gladiators.

We ate lunch together one last time at the hotel and then made our way to Sevilla. The drive from Aracena to Sevilla was not bad thanks once again to Ben’s excellent driving skills and maneuvering. We checked into our hotel, another winner btw, and then decided that we would meet at 8 to go eat at a restaurant by the river that Marcos had suggested. Once again, we piled into Jumper and found drove into town.

Ben, who was one of the leaders of the day, gave Amaris and I instructions to go scout out the restaurant and put our name on the waiting list if there was one. Amaris and I got to the restaurant, El Faro de Traina, and were delighted to find out that there was no wait. The rest of the team joined us and we got ready to eat our first dinner in Sevilla. We couldn’t really tell what the menu items were because there were a lot of colloquial and local words. Thus, Justin just suggested that we ask the waiter to bring us the 4 best dishes of the restaurant… so the rest of us went along with it. I guess it was kind of a “when in Rome/Sevilla…” moment. We were pleasantly surprised by our dishes. Our personal favorite one was the meat dish that had a flavored sauce. The meat was so juicy and tender and the sauce was amazing! It was wonderful to have fellowship with one another with beautiful scenery of Sevilla as the background. Speaking of background, I also enjoyed people watching while we were eating dinner. There were some people who were dressed to the 9’s. In fact, all of the Europeans were dressed very well. I guess we didn’t get the memo on how to dress for dinner. Well I shouldn’t say that, Justin actually was blending in with his European hairdo and polo (see picture below).

After dinner we kept walking to explore the downtown Sevilla area more. We wanted to try and find an ice cream store but most of the places were restaurants or clubs. Finally, we found a dessert café and enjoyed some yummy ice cream. We hopped back on Jumper, arrived back at the hotel and then got into bed after a good day of relaxation and arriving in Sevilla.

As I got into bed, I prayed that the leaders had enjoyed their time in Aracena and were able to restore and nourish their souls to continue on their path to carrying out God’s will in Sevilla. I prayed that our team had given them encouragement and helped facilitate rest. No matter how incredible the leaders of Parque Este are, I know that they are also human and thus must have days where they feel weary or down. But in the first Psalm it states

“Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinner take or sit in the company of mockers, but who delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on his law day and night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-whatever they do prospers.” ( Psalm 1:1-3 NLT)

As I closed my eyes, my final thoughts in my prayer were that the leaders remembered that the Lord would bless them for carrying out His will and that he would replenish their souls because true nourishment comes from God and His word.