a few little thoughts

one, I love doing campus ministry in Spain. somehow it makes me come alive just being on campus, but even more so actually talking to students about things that matter, or being in their midst when this happens.

this week we're repeating an outreach we did last year called, "What do you see?" (although it sounds way better and catchier in Spanish.) basically we've advertised for a few weeks on campus with fotos and the phrase, "What do you see?" and we've also just put plain black or white flyers with the same phrase. this week we've had tables up on campus with 50 fotos that they can choose from to answer questions about life, the world, hope, brokenness, God,... they answer with pictures, which actually makes them more honest and more willing to answer deep, personal questions. they then have the option of telling us in words why, but either way it gets them thinking. and to me it seems obvious that a picture is worth a thousand words. somehow a picture sticks with you longer. so, i'm excited. it's been to hear students talking with their friends about deep things and it's been fun to see them come back and bring friends just to find out what they would have chosen and why. i've been in some of the conversations, but the majority i've just been a fly on the wall.

today in the midst of another long day, basically 6-7 hours standing up and interacting with people, i was looking around and remembering how much I love just being on campus. recently we've been organizing activities and getting things going, so while i've been with students, i haven't actually spent as much time on campus. it's been nice the past few days. it reminded me again why i love what i do.

it's very much a side note, but it's also been curious, or interesting, to see the huge change in fashion this year. the past few years there were quite a lot of dreads and hippies on campus and then just normal euro trends. this year we've taken a huge swing back to the 80s. big hair is in. the hippies are much more hard core in their dress, with dog collar bracelets and such. tons of heavy metal or hard core band shirts, tons of black, but all black. lots of bleached hair. lots of leggings and leather pants. lots of aviator glasses. i've been people watching and told tyler (a friend on the campus team) that i can picture people stepping out of back to the future, fame, flashdance, dirty dancing, family ties, etc., it's definitely euro-80s, with a bit more style than the US counterparts, but it's still 80s all the way.

i have some good reflecting i was going to blog, but i need to run out the door. so i'll have to do that another day.