300 pieces later...

Here is Mrs. Jackson's first and second grade class. From left to right: Joshua, Medea, Charity, Jay, and DaeWon.

Chocolate

Spaniards are not big on breakfast. It's a small affair, and always sweet. A Spanish favorite is churros & chocolate where one dips the pastry into a cup of warm, thick chocolate. Needless to say, my family was anticipating this one even before we arrived here! So, I (Andrea) picked up some chocolate mix at the market first thing- (there's a whole section of instant mixes like our pudding selection at home) and some croissants for dipping. I went to school and left them to their indulgences. Here is the account as I heard it upon my return home: Brian whipped up his chocolate, making much more than needed in his zeal. So, he thins some of the extra into mugs of hot chocolate. They all sit down to their choclocate feast, the kids gulp their first coated croissants and wash them down with the hot chocolate. Corrie goes for her second, dips it into chocolate, brings it to her mouth, then without even taking a bite, sets it down, lays on the couch, and groans, "My tummy hurts."

Here is a picture of us enjoying our first real churros & chocolate at a Chocolatier in Madrid. We all agree it makes a better snack than breakfast! We had to stop them from drinking the cups of chocolate after our churros were gone! =)

Corrie Story #2

Lately Andrea has been getting up pretty early for work, often to find Corrie downstairs in the kitchen making Andrea's lunch: A peanut butter sandwich and a newly washed apple, usually. The two slices of bread never line up with the preicision of a grown-up's preparation, and at lunch time it is a reminder that she has a little girl at home who loves her.
There is a little garden in the backyard of the house we are staying in. It is pretty much stripped of every flower because of a certain little girl who picks them almost daily and lays them on her mom's pillow, to be discovered at bedtime. She loves to love her mommy with her sweet heart.

Fish...Fish...Shark!

Being new to the no-car thing, we have missed quite a few buses and have had to spend lots of time waiting in the plazas. The most requested game to kill time is any variation on Duck, Duck, Goose. We have played Giraffe, Giraffe, Monkey; Fish, Fish, Shark; Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandma; etc. Here is a picture of the family playing Pa, Pa, Grammie:

14-Hour Day of Sightseeing

In an effort to be more culturally sensitive, Ransom has been practicing his Spanish siesta.

Fountain of youth

You may be wondering about the bathing amenities here in Spain...

Adventures in Ransom #2

Ransom has been pretending a lot lately. Mostly he pretends he is a baby animal of some sort: a baby elephant, a baby monkey, a baby frog...but every time you ask him what his name is, it is always Tom. In speaking to him, you must address him as Tom Monkey, or Tom Elephant, or whatever. Here he is being Tom Tiger:

Segovia

The last stop of the day was Segovia. The three main attractions that we saw are:

1) The aqueduct. Built almost 2000 years ago by the Romans without cement or mortar, it is still standing today and is very impressive:

2) The cathedral. We did not go inside (because it was siesta), but it is beautiful, as you can see:

3) The Alcázar. A palace/castle/fortress complete with drawbridge and turrets. We took the tour and the kids got to see the inside of a castle. On display were suits of armor, swords, etc.

Valley of the Fallen

Next on the the trip was El Valle de los Caidos which is a civil war memorial constructed under General Franco. It is a concrete cross standing nearly 500 feet tall. Undreneath the cross, hollowed out of the mountain is a church and the crypt where Franco himself wanted to be buried. It is somewhat dark inside and a little bit eerie, but the view from outside is amazing. The whole thing took about 15 years to complete. From the front

La Silla de Felipe II

The next stop on the trip was just a few miles off and is called la silla de Felipe II - which means the seat of Philip II. It is a rock formation that overlooks the palace. Philip would often go there and sit on a little "throne" hewn out of the rocks and watch his royal palace being built. Here's where we would have insterted a lovely picture of our family sitting on the royal thrones carved out of the rock, but we had some technical difficulties (OK, the royal princess was being a royal pain and throwing a royal tantrum), but here is a picture of the view from the seat of Philip - looking at El Escorial. As you can see the weather was again perfect all day.

On the way to our next location, our tour guide was telling us about how once a year in some place in the nearby woods, Mary the mother of Jesus, allegedly comes and talks to people. No one sees her, but they can hear her talking. Last year they even set up a PA system. Who knows what she says. Just as he finished telling the story we came upon a gathering and realized that this was that day of the year! All sorts of people were gathered around in the middle of the trees to hear her talk. They had a little shrine or podium thing all set up for their guest lecturer, and everything.

Needless to say we didn't stop to listen.

El Escorial

About once a month or so, someone from the school takes anyone who is intested on a day trip. Of course, our family is very interested to see anything we can, so we signed up to go to a few different places this past Saturday. The first stop was El Escrorial which is the name of both the city and the palace that is there. In 1557, the Spanish forces of Philip II defeated the frech at St. Quentin. To give glory to God, Philip decided to build a monastary which would also serve (conveniently) as a royal palace. It took nearly 21 years for 1500 workers to complete it. It has more than 1200 doors, 2600 windows, and 16 courtyards. Because the line was too long, we did not go inside, but the outside was very impressive and beautiful.

Green Eggs and Ham

The kids have both fallen in love with Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. They have requested it to be read (Corrie reads it to Ransom too) so many times, they have it memorized and it is quoted in our household day and night. Even as I write this, Ransom is on the toilet saying his favorite lines:

They have even discovered a Green Eggs and Ham computer game that they have borrowed from Mrs. Jackson's class. They spend hours playing with it. I have to admit, it is a fine piece of literature for only having 50 words. If it has been a while for you, our family recommends a quick re-read!

Dads' Prayer Meeting

This morning, I was able to attend the weekly Prayer meeting for Dads. It was a nice time to get out of the house and be an adult for a while. We meet at 6:30AM at the school, which is insanely early in Spain. We prayed for the community and for each other's personal requests and I was able to get to know some of the missionary men in town a bit better. Here is a picture of Camarma from the fields behind the school. Please pray for Camarma!

Watoto Children's Choir

Last week, we had the privilege of hosting three children and an adult who were part of the Watoto Children's Choir. This group comes from Uganda and spends six months touring Europe and conducting concerts to tell the world what the love of Jesus has done in their lives. Nearly all of the children in the choir (around 25 I think) are orphans, having lost their parents to disease and war, but mainly to AIDS. The Watoto orphanage takes these orphans in and some of them get the opportunity to become part of this choir. They tour each year for six months at a time, with new kids each tour. There is also a North American group. Their website is www.watoto.com. When they are not on the bus traveling they are getting ready for a concert. They performed for the Spanish people right here in Camarma at the ayuntamiento (city hall) and were well received. The next day they held a concert at ECA for the school kids:

The three boys we hosted were Fred (age 11):

Mark, who turned 9 while staying with us (he's the Ugandan-looking one in the picture):

And John Peter (middle). They wanted their picture to be taken next to a television.

We were very blessed by their visit and their story. For these orphans God has "turned their mourning into dancing." Please join us in praying for the Watoto village, the children's choir, and specifically, 'our' three boys - Fred, Mark, and John Peter.

Update on Corrie

After about a week of stomach problems, Corrie has been normal for a few days. Thanks for praying.