Tapas in Madrid

In order to beat the jetlag, we decided to get up before our bodies wanted to and show Sara a little of Madrid. We figured a day of walking around the city would make us tired enough to fall asleep earlier. And it worked (well, for the kids). We tried ordering tapas (finger foods) in the Plaza Mayor in the heart of Madrid. Here's a piece of advice: don't order tapas in the Plaza Mayor in the heart of Madrid! I think we had "American Suckers" written on our foreheads; and the bill ended up being outrageous. Despite my flawless Spanish articulation (ahem..hmm), they somehow must have realized we weren't locals! I don't know what could have tipped them off, do you?...

Yes, that is calamares (a fried squid tentacle) I am looking through. Yum. And don't order a hot dog in Spain; something gets lost in the translation...

Sara Jackson

One of the best parts about returning to Spain this time is the addition of Brian's sister! Sara has traveled back with us to live in Spain for a brief time. She has already been an incredible help, and we have enjoyed getting to spend so much time with her. Her visit has been an excuse to get out and see more of Spain, as you will see in upcoming entries. And, did I mention she bakes often? Here's a picture of the best-looking 4 in our little group of 5 on the subway:

Arrival

The trip went very well and the kids did a great job again on the airplane. Thank you to everyone who was praying for that. We did lose two boxes at the airport, but they arrived 3 days later at our front door. When we got home, 3 different people had made us meals, including our Spanish neighbor, Pequi, who made us an authentic Spanish tortilla which is like a potato omelet (as seen below). The jetlag was pretty severe, but overall the Lord blessed us with a very successful travel experience!

Highlights from our visit to the USA

OK, OK, OK. So we were negligent in our blog postings while we awaited our visas in the States. We just felt we had nothing much to report. But now that we are back in Spain, we will be faithful to let you know all about our experiences here. Before we start, here are just a few of the many highlights from our trip home...


24 hour layover in Philadelphia (might as well see the sights, right?):

Home in good old SoCal... Ransom and the boys battle the Dark Side of the Force:

Christmas with all the frills:

and hanging out with cousins (sunbathing in winter).

Also, we got to celebrate a late Thanksgiving, the 60th wedding anniversary of Brian's Gram & Gramps, several birthdays, nephews in recitals, Aunt Lauren's water polo games, and the exciting surprise return of Brian's sister, Sara, from Kazakhstan.

Back in Spain!

We are back in Spain, and in possession of visas! Now that we are here, we have to report into Madrid with our paperwork to make everything offical and get our residency cards. Once finalized, they will be good for a year in which time there is a renewal process. Thank you to all for your prayers for these to come through! Perhaps you can turn those petitions toward the residency process of the next month or so. We don't forsee problems, but one can never tell!

Adventures in Ransom #3

Ransom has really started talking more clearly and more often. We're not sure if this is a good thing. Sometimes it's cute, like this weekend when he asked the driver of our shuttle at the airport, "Excuse me, do you have a drink for me in here?" or flagged down the waiter to say, "Excuse me, I don't like these vegetables." (The waiter looked at us and asked, do you want me to take them back?) But sometimes it leaves us a little speecheless....like when he asked another shuttle driver, "Excuse me, why are you black?" or one of the passengers, "Excuse me, why is your head shaped like an oval?"

What can you do?

Jacksons not in Spain

Sorry it has been a while since the last blog entry. We haven't really known what was going on. Our visitor's visas expired after 90 days and since the long term visas we applied for have not yet been approved, we have returned to the US to wait for their approval. Thank you to everyone who has been praying about our visa situation. It is a real encouragement to know that so many are praying for us so often. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us here back home. In the meantime, our to-do list includes: Studying and practicing our Spanish, learning (or re-learning?) how to drive a stick-shift, and enjoying time with friends and family. We would love to see you!

Andrea was burning the midnight oil each night for about two weeks before our depature to make sure that her classroom was in order for the substitute teachers who will be filling in for her in Spain. Please continue to pray for her students, for the people of Camarma, and for God's will to be done in Spain!

A Day in English

A missionary couple who live in nearby Guadalajara organized "A Day in English" at the school this past Saturday. Brian was able to sign up to help for the day since fluency in Spanish was not required. There were about 25 adults and 10 children from the community who came to practice their English. There were 3 one-on-one sessions where a Native-English speaker (we all laughed at the mental picture of cannibals from England, whenever we used that term) was able to converse with a Spaniard in English. There were two workshops where the participants could learn how to make Chocolate Chip Cookies or Brownies (have we mentioned that Spaniards don't bake?), listen to an American song and talk about the lyrics, or solve a pretend situational problem (all in English of course). In addition, there were silly games for further English practice (it was like a bilingual baby shower gone mad!). It was a great success. The entire day was designed to form deeper relationships with the Spanish people, show them our willingness to be a blessing, and break down cultural barriers by inviting them into "our world." The Spaniards were noticeably impressed and we hope that they spread the word for future sessions. I've requested some photos and will upload them when I get them.

The Rain in Spain...

...falls mainly on the plain, they say. In the past three weeks it has probably rained 14 days here - which is very unusual. Everyone is happy to see the rain, as it is desperately needed. As a result, green fields of winter wheat have started sprouting up all over. Just a reminder that God can change what appears to be barren into a land of plentiful harvest - both physically and spiritually. Pray for Spain, that God would send the water of His Spirit, and we would see little green shoots springing out of "barren" hearts, all over.

A Spanish rainbow that Andrea enjoyed from her classroom window:

The Pumpkin Pie

Canned pumpkin is impossible to find here in Spain. In fact, one of the missionaries here told us that she carried a can in her carryon all around the Mediterranean and Western Europe. She still has it, waiting for that special occasion. Andrea and the kids love pumpkin pie and bought two pumpkins to make their very own pie the hard way. Knowing how much work was involved in cutting, baking, scraping, mixing, crusting, re-baking, etc., the chore got pushed back for about a month. The kids were desperate for pumpkin pie. Finally the evening came when they were to make the long-awaited pumpkin pie. Ransom kept exclaiming, "This is going to be so great! This is going to be the best pie ever!!" Not sure if it was just desperation, or if making it from scratch was the key, but it really was the best pumpkin pie. Here’s a picture of the bakers on pumpkin pie night.

Be thankful for your American water heaters.

We have an orange butane tank (slightly larger then the propane version hooked to your backyard BBQ) under our kitchen counter responsible for heating our water and gas range. When the tank empties at the end of two weeks or so, we switch it with the spare, and place the empty tank at the curb on a Wednesday or Friday and wait for the Butanero to knock on our door with his truckload of full tanks. The best part of this system is never knowing exactly when the butane will run out. You get into every shower nearing the two week point wondering whether this will be the moment your steamy stream turns to ice. (Brian and I are currently tied two and two.) The weather has gotten colder though, and we're emptying a tank faster, and we missed the Butanero, and Wednesady was a holiday, and somehow we found ourselves last Sunday questioning whether we could make it till Friday on the tank we had stripped the BBQ of when we drained our spare. We spent all week rationing our butane... washing our hair with cold water and turning on the warm shower only to rinse off! We could just see ourslves carrying mugs of hot water one at a time up the stairs from the microwave! I am happy to report that we made it to Friday. We were never happier to see the Butanero. My favorite part of the story was seeing Brian get out of his cold shower Saturday night (when the BBQ tank finally went out) wrapped in a towel to change the tank- I couldn't resist snapping a picture of him. I was immediatedly pursued, chased throughout the house, tackled, and the picture was, unfortunately, deleted. It's a shame. Would have made a great addition to my post, no?

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