Adventures in Ransom #4

One day we decided to get the kids (and the dog) out of the house. While at the park, Ransom had to go to the bathroom, but there wasn't one within 15 minutes walk. Brian tried to get him to hold it, but in no time Ransom had his pants down. What can you do? Brian got out the camera, Sara fell into laughter, and Snowball joined in the entertainment. Here's Snowball (minus the sweater) and Ransom (minus the propriety):

The dog.

One of the teachers had to go back to the States for about a month (or longer) and asked us to watch her dog. The kids are loving it. It came with a red sweater with a polar bear on it, and its name is Snowball. Just imagine the sight of 5 Americans walking a dog in a red sweater and shouting "Snowball!" through the streets of Camarma. Talk about learning humility.

I would post a picture of him, but it's a poodle, so I won't subject you to that cruelty.

The Driving Lesson

After about 10 years of never driving a stickshift (not that he ever did it well), Brian was able to get behind the wheel and practice with one of the ECA houseparents, Bruce Altemose. We didn't die and the car is in one piece still, so I guess it went well. Actually it went very well, and Brian felt very comfortable driving a stick. Now, it just remains to get comfortable with driving in Spain. Drivers here are maniacs, the signage is a bit crazy, and I've seen sidewalks in America that are wider than many of the streets here. Maybe if we get one of these babies, and just put the kids in the glove compartment...

A Night Out!

The weekend before last, we were invited to a young married couple's ministry at an international English-speaking church in Madrid. Utilizing our guest as a baysitter, Andrea and Brian had a night out! We got to meet several couples from all over the world and had a good time.

Corrie Story #3

Yesterday, while having dinner at a friend's house, Corrie announced to us all that when she grows up, she wants to be a missionary (this was the first we had heard of this). When the friend asked what country she wanted to go to, she told us...Mississippi!

Silly Corrie, that's not another country, that's another world!

Corrie's Birthday!

Corrie turned 6 on February 23. We all made a cake together. Corrie decided to make her own piñata (we have never seen one in Spain - it's a Mexico thing). She took a plastic bag and filled it with candy, got a rope from the garage, and went at it. It's sounds kind of pathetic, but she had fun and that's the important thing.

Easy come, easy go.

After all that sightseeing, the kids were about fed up with car seats, so the girls used our last day of having a car to visit a store that is of out of our way by bus and has a lot of American-type stuff you can't find in town. It is called Hipercor. We stocked up on about 35 Euros worth of peanut butter. Too bad that a week later all Peter Pan peanut butter has been recalled due to salmonella poisoning! (For details on the recall, click here.)

The Rastro

On Sunday morning we tried to go to an international church in Madrid, since we had the car, but got into town too late. We ended up going to the famous Rastro, which is like a flea market. Lots of people and lots of junk. We didn't remember to bring a picture, but here is a picture stolen from a stranger's blog.

Avila

The next day we went to Avila, which is to the northwest. It was a Sunday, so it was very quiet and peaceful. Avila is the highest city in Spain and had a really nice view. You can climb the old city walls and battlements. Here are a few pictures.

Holy Toledo Batman!

The next day we went to Toledo. It is the former capital of Spain and lies to the south. Very beautiful. Here are the highlights.

-We all tried mazapan for the first time. They are little chewy buns made out of ground up almonds. Hard to explain but pretty tasty.


-Sara got reprimanded inside the cathedral for taking pictures with a flash. At least, we think Sara got yelled at for taking pictures with a flash. Spanish is hard enough to understand without a loudspeaker and and echoing cathedral. Here's a contraband picture of the organ inside of the Cathedral in Toledo. It's much brighter than the ones you will find elsewhere, because few are brave enough to be as rebellious as my sister Sara when it comes to flash photography. (Don't try to sell it on the internet, it's copyrighted.)

-The kids got new apparel to keep them from becoming icicles. (OK, it was probably only like 50 degrees, but we are from California.
-Watched a parade which kicked off Carnaval. Carnaval is the week or so before Lent starts. Lent is the 40 days before Easter where you are supposed to give up a bad habit, addiction, influence, etc. and be somber and serious. So Carnaval is basically an excuse to do all the evil things you won't be able to do during Lent. We didn't get the best pictures because of the crowd. Here's the disco bus going by.


I think most of the men in the parade must be giving up cross-dressing for Lent. Not a very good picture, but that fairy had a beard under that mask.

Cuenca

Andrea had a 4 day weekend for President's day. With Sara here, we figured we had better get out and see the sights. So the 5 of us plus a friend from the school (Bobbi Fraley) rented a car and took some day trips around Spain. We made Bobbi drive since none of us is particularly good at driving a stick-shift. Our first outing was to Cuenca which means river basin in Spanish. It is about 2 hours to the east of us. (I'm sure I am supposed to know how many kilometers that is, but the whole mile-kilometer conversion still evades me). The city is built on cliffs overlooking the cuenca below. Here are some pics:

View from the city -

View from the other side of the city -

Corrie and Sara looking out over the cuenca...
...and seeing this -

Main plaza (pronounced platha in Spain) of Cuenca -

The front of Cuenca's cathedral (if you come to visit, be prepared to see lots of Cathedrals) -

Other than Ransom's car sickness and the fact that we never have the brains to plan for siesta (everything was closed and we were pretty hugry), it was a very nice trip.

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: