Blog Day 2

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Looking Inward

Today we went to Montserrat and visited the church and markets on the mountain as well as hiked the trail to the cross that is there and a side trail and hike as well. Doing the side hike with a smaller group really allowed me to take some time while we hiked and reflect on not only the trip but myself and how I was feeling about everything as well. It was really a great time to decompress in a way and be somewhere other than a foreign city filled with foreign words and signs. To me, this hike really uncovered the way that nature allows me to connect with God and spend time with him. Starting on the hike, we had no idea where the little steps led or where we would end up and when we got to the end, we discovered it was just a little clearing to look out over all of Montserrat. However, James had brought his Bible up with him and shared a verse and the rocks were all covered in religious graffiti (which I did not know existed) and it turned out to mean a lot more than just a hike to fill time, but really brought me back to something I felt like I had drifted away from. The Insight Guides book had a lot of really cool pictures of mountains and landscapes and this hike showed me an amazing site I have never seen in America in person.

The Relational Level

Also on the trip to Montserrat, there was a cable car that everyone had to ride in together in order to get up the mountain to where all of the shops and church were. Luckily for me, I am not really afraid of heights or cable cars with open windows or any other sketchy situations, however many others in the group were. Taking advantage of this, I made sure to take a window spot so others that were more afraid wouldn’t or couldn’t look out of it to scare them more and I made sure to talk to those who seemed weary to make sure they were okay and thinking about things other than a cable car crashing into the mountain. I later looked back and saw this as using my relationship skills to help calm people down for the two-minute (or so) situation and make it better for them.

The Social Side

The final thing that Montserrat taught me was when we went into the church to hear the boys choir sing and see the inside of the church and its beauty. From the looks, the inside was all covered in gold and elegantly designed and created with beauty in every corner, not just what is seen most. This was also seen on the inside of La Familia Sagrada in Barcelona. The Insight Guides book gave a really brief overview of it and seeing it in person was unlike anything described. This level of detail and care in La Sagrada really exposes the importance of Catholicism and church in Spanish culture and in the lives of Spanish people both today and historically. It is something I personally have never seen in America, so it was like my brain had nothing to compare it to. Yes there are many beautiful churches but compared to the two I saw in Spain, nothing even came close.

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