Taco Night (pronounced tack-o)

Look at those leaders of culture

In honor of National Tequila Day, we at the Leeds International Summer School thought it would be fun to look south of the border for inspiration for Wednesday's social. So we hosted our very own Taco Night! Anna and Kathryn declared themselves Social Assistants for the evening, and I must say, they did a fantastic job.

We all took a trip to the local supermarket and picked up supplies, then headed back to prepare our traditional Mexican meal. I have to admit, this was the most cooking I've done since I've been overseas. (I'd probably starve without frozen mini-pizzas...) The tacos were a hit, and we had a great time celebrating National Tequila Day on the other side of the Atlantic.

Love these Aussies and their fancy-dress

Here you go Alex, your very own picture on the blog!

One really cool thing happened at Taco Night that I definitely didn't expect but am so happy it did. My friends and I ended up discussing religion and Christianity for a solid couple of hours, and it couldn't have been a more interesting, non-confontational way of going about it. You see, back home in Texas, pretty much everyone is a Christian, or at least religious in some way. I've always been strong in my faith, and while I've been the outcast sometimes, I've never been in a group of people with such differing beliefs. And it's so cool that I get to experience this here! Because the thing is, we all care about each other a lot -- no one was attacking anybody, no one was being judgmental. It was purely a conversation sparked from curiosity. People constantly tell me that Study Abroad is the greatest because you are exposed to fellow young people at all walks in their spirituality, and I couldn't agree more. I am not a perfect Christian by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I explained my beliefs and those of the Christian Church well last night. I pray that God uses me in a way that impacted those around me; I can already see that I've grown so much throughout this entire trip and am so blessed by the friends I've made and the conversations we've had.

Thanks and gig 'em,
Rachel