The Chronicles of Salamanca: Slow-drip Coffee and Stomach Viruses

It's a Saturday evening here in Salamanca, Spain. Winter was been continuing it's noisy stage entrance this week, nothing but rain and cold, rain and cold. Living in a city where the sole means of transportation is walking becomes a bit chore-ish when the streets are always wet and the air is freezing. For this, I've been spending a good amount of time "in" this week. Monday night, I was a casualty of Halloween as I spent the entire night awake with a stomach virus of some kind, throwing up. It was not great. Tuesday was spent sleeping for the better part of the day and it wasn't until yesterday that I woke up feeling more or less normal. Being sick in a foreign country seems to be an inevitable thing, from a merely logical stand point. But, in spite of its inevitability, it's one of the deepest emotional lows that I've gone through for quite some time. I was homesick, really for the first time since I came to Spain in September. The hazards of love, I suppose. But, as much as is possible, I'm back now.
There is some big news in my life, self-indulgent as it might be. I have happened upon an opportunity to play a show out here. I'll be playing on Wednesday night at El Sabor, a local club that has hosted En Vivo events in the past. It will be fun, although I'm always a bit unsure of outcomes in situations like this. I don't necessarily make perfectly trans-cultural music. Most likely, it will be a room full of friends that will enjoy themselves regardless. That's my hope, as the function of my performing is kind of moot when the audience can't understand the words that I am singing. We shall see. I will be sure to get some footage for the constituents back home.
As the semester progresses, I'm caught in an internal debate of sorts. Where I fit in, from a kingdom-building, ministry standpoint, has been a mystery to me. With the strengths and passions that I carry with me, it's a challenge to thrive in the short-term. So, my capacity to give during this three month period that is steadily counting down feels weaker and weaker with each passing day. But, it's kind of beautiful that way; I must trust that my effort is contributing to God's plan for all of this in some unseen way. Control is not mine, as it never has been. I would ask why "control" keeps coming up in my life. But, that would be a waste as the answer is fairly easy to deduce.
So, that is where things rest currently. Tonight holds a question mark, as almost all of my friends are out of town or working. We shall see what the night holds. Tomorrow, I'll be returning to the local soccer stadium to watch the Salamanca team play with some friends. Should be fun, as always. I should like to write more about the conversations I have with myself. I've been learning a lot about art and culture and creativity over the last few weeks. I think that once I return to Atlanta, I'm going to try and organize a small group for artists that love Jesus so we can discuss some of those internal conversations. More on that later, I suppose. For now, I've got Bob Dylan to tell me all about Rambling, Gambling Willie and a glass of Jack Daniels to savor. So, faced with such euphoria, I shall sign off. Take care of yourselves and we shall be reunited soon.