Traveling, as captured by iPhone.

LAX. There are some mega-renovations happening in the Tom Bradley Terminal.



The obligatory airport bathroom picture.



More pictures of the renovations, this time via airplane window. The flight was supposed to leave at 4:30, but right before we started taxiing there was a split-second power outage in the plane's electronics that apparently was somewhat serious (weird, right?). We waited until about 6:00 to lift off (yes, I know the watch says 7:00). Thanks to Collin Hill for the watch. I'm finally getting used to wearing it all the time!



Airplane food. This meal was surprisingly a lot better than I expected. In the words of some food columnist, "British Airlines Sous Chef strikes again, with a tender curry chicken in long rice, reminiscent of the dishes introduced to London in the 1960s by famed chef Rakesh Advani." Anyhow, going on: the salad vegetables tasted real! And the banana bread cake thing was AMAZING. Seriously. And while we're on the topic of foods, the bottom right is a picture of my pretentiously self-centered breakfast.



Good morning! I woke up to an incredible view of a sunrise at 40,000+ feet. Also in attendance were a small smattering of ice flakes. I was able to sleep for about 8 hours of my flight, which was a huge blessing because I'm not too jet-lagged now that I'm here. And yes mom and dad, I was able to sleep that long because I didn't sleep much the night before :) It worked!



I wanted to post this because both Turkey and Lithuania are on this map! Please be in prayer for all our friends on those programs, as well as Danielsan in China, Alison in Ecuador, Kristin in Tanzania, and everyone else that is about and about.



A glimpse of Birmingham, England, through the break in the clouds.



Good bye 747. You can see my window a couple of windows back from the 2nd to last door.



Welcome to Heathrow (said of course in an authentic British accent)! I love big airports because of the incredible architecture that is inevitably present. One of the things on my bucket list is to help design an airport someday. Also, I almost missed my second flight because of this Starbucks.



Flying to Madrid...



See what I mean?! Increíble. This is Madrid's aeropuerto. Also, I met an awesome older couple from Norway who spoke perfect English in the airport and struck up a conversation. I found out after the wife bought me food (she insisted) and let me use her phone to call my parents internationally that they're Christians! Meeting them was definitely a God-sent gift. And they're place in Málaga has an organic avocado orchard. Que chévere.



My last flight for the trip over. Sevilla to Madrid. The flight attendant got mad at me because she thought my carry-on was too big. My favorite part was that she found it necessary to point to everyone else's bag in the surrounding vicinity and point out how their bags were okay. I think that was my first insight into the bluntness of Spanish culture :) Next time I going to bring carrion as my carry-on and see if she's any happier. Mwahahaha.

In the aisle seat of my row (the middle seat was empty) sat a women that definitely seemed Spanish, and for the first thirty minutes of the flight I tried mustering up the courage to ask her something in Spanish. It seemed like she was trying to fall asleep but wasn't able to, so I finally asked her, "¿Estás cansada?" I don't remember what she said (whoops) but the question managed to break the ice (thank goodness, that could've been awkward). We ended up talking for the rest of the flight and she was able to answer some of my questions in a mix of Spanish and English (albeit with an accent probably as heavy as mine when talking Spanish), such as what to do in Sevilla, where the best beaches are, etc. Her name was Consolación (she goes by Conso) and was flying from Madrid because her boyfriend lives there. Moral of the story (a.k.a. generalization alert): although Spanish people don't always look friendly from the outside, they're super friendly once you break the ice.

Anyhow, 24ish hours after departing Santa Barbara, I made it to my host family's home in Sevilla. More on them later!

p.s. I'm listening to Bart Millard's album Hymned Again right now. Super good, especially for jazz lovers. Lots of dixie-like instrumentations. And yes, the Spotify ads are now in Spanish.

Vale. Adios. ¡Que tenaís un buen día/tarde/noche!