Christmas morning

Thanks, Grandma, for the cute matching pajamas!

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First we opened stockings, then took a break for Churros y Chocolate. (Think funnel cake with chocolate sauce) Mmmm. And on to more presents...

Thank you to all who contributed to the abundance of gifts, resulting in the mess you see here. :)

And finally, with money from several family members, we purchased this little playhouse for the kids. To find it, David gave Rachel a card with a scavenger hunt message. She had to find the clues around the house, which finally led her outside. They were so excited. SO FUN! :)

This is the first year we have been away from family for Christmas since we have been married. As much as I love our families, I admit I (Keri) was kind of looking forward to the slowness and quietness of a small family Christmas, like I always had growing up. And truly, the month of December has not been the rushed blur it usually is because aside from one all-school Christmas concert and a small dorm party, we didn't go to any preschool programs, school programs, church programs, parties, open-houses, and because it was just us, we had very little shopping to do. And because we were away from our families, we decided to open our home to anyone in our ECA community who didn't have other plans. We ended up with 16 people for Christmas dinner and it was a blast! I had so much fun decorating and planning and I think all who came had a great time as well. We ate ham, turkey breast, broccoli salad, two kinds of stuffing, sweet potato casserole, applesauce, Venezuelan 'pan de jamon,' sushi rolls, olives, and for dessert chocolate pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and Rachel's birthday cake.

We bought the long table a few months ago at Ikea. With the leaf in it, it comfortably seats 12. We added a folding table to make room for everyone else.

I just put a roll of red foil wrapping paper down the center of the table and made these little napkin rings out of some 75% off Christmas garland we found at the grocery store. It's not exactly Christmas China, but I was pleased with how it all turned out.

Our dear friends George and Bonnie came over and Rachel quickly talked George into a game of Jonah-Go-Fish (Thanks, Miss Debbie!).

The entire gang, including two young ladies from the U.S. who are studying abroad in Germany. They are here for the week staying with our friend Penny.

And finally, to honor Rachel on her almost-birthday, we sang and let her blow out candles on her birthday cake.

El Belén

One of the Christmas traditions here in Spain is the Belén, a very elaborate moving Nativity scene. Most families create their own in their home and I am told that each town has their own "Belén committee," a group of volunteers who put one in the town square and it supposedly changes each year. We went with some friends to the one here in Camarma on Christmas Eve. It was amazing. Enjoy the pics!

The surrounding walls and passageway were decorated to look like old Bethlehem.

Here are some miniature people dancing around a flickering fire.

Rachel standing in front of a shepherd's cave

A moving river through the village

A very life-like miniature farm scene

Fun Christmas

After a nice dinner tonight with Paul and Ellie Madsen, we were putting the kids to bed and our doorbell rang. There were two middle school-aged boys singing Christmas carols. Their first song was in Spanish, then they sang, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," in English. Rachel loved it. This is the second time. A different group came by the other night at 11:15 at night. Thankfully, we had the insider knowledge that kids go caroling for money around here, so we gave them each a Euro, not knowing how much money they expect, but oh well. What a fun idea! We never got carolled to in the States! :)

Christmas break

Our last day of school was Friday. This is a picture taken at the staff breakfast on Wednesday.

The Sunday morning fellowship we have been attending had a simple service of music and carols this morning and during Noche de Paz (Silent Night) they had all the children come forward and sing. They sang the first verse by themeslves in English, then the rest of the congregation joined in in Spanish for the rest.

Rachel has been going to the elementary Sunday School class and they put together this little piece for this morning's worship service. The blond on the end is Steffen, a British boy whose parents work for European Christian Mission and he and his older sisters attend ECA. The two Koreans, Cecilia and Martin, are regular attendees to our church and attend ECA as well, then on the end is Andrew Humes, a fifth grader whose family is very involved in our school.

Christmas Tour of Homes

Click HERE to see the dorm at Christmastime.

Today's Spanish Sermon

It has been recommended to us that we write down everything in the Spanish sermon on Sundays that we understand.  This is supposed to help us listen to the Spanish better and hopefully understand more.  Here is the first five minutes of the sermon, as understood by David:

"The same topic chapter 3 also remember class 40 years the word the word of God time man word of God John chapter 3 at night if responded Jesus new can not said a time Jesus responded the Spirit God is necessary what is necessary we are going a conservative group five this man very little Jesus Jesus reign social position prestige of the night afternoon near Jesus Jesus question he said without doubt Jesus responded Jesus Jesus God in front of tradition and Jesus then you can not see the kingdom of God is it necessary new Jesus reaction calm Jesus"

By the end of the sermon, I had kind of understood the point, but my Spanish classes will need to continue...

Boys/Girls Dorm Christmas Party

Last week, we hosted the boys dorm in ours for a combined Christmas party. We grilled burgers and chorizo, made snowflakes, played games and from the sound of it, a good time was had by all.

Here they are decorating cookies. They were a little reluctant about the idea at first because of, you know, the un-coolness of it, until they realized they could eat them. If you've been following this blog for a while, though, you may remember how creative I know they can be. I also made them each make a snowflake before they could go.

Here are a couple of our girls.

Here is Mr. Musser working on homemade ice cream. Rachel is supervising.


We also cut out snowflakes. Here is Mrs. Musser helping Rachel with hers.

"Ta-Da!"


The guys all taking turns hand-churning the ice cream maker.

And at the end of the night, an unexpected highlight was finding a slug on our front steps, which the guys picked up and pretended to be throwing on the girls, resulting in screams and laughter. Oh, to be young again... :)

Goodbyes

While we started out with 3 high schoolers this fall, we are now down to one, but have also had the privilege of hosting a student teacher for the last 8 weeks. Ashley is a senior at Nyack College in New York and has been here student teaching in the 4th/5th grade class at ECA. She has been such a joy to have around our home and I have been reflecting a lot back on my college years and the struggles/freedoms that come with that time of life. We have had some very good talks and I am going to miss her so much, even though I've only known her for a short time.

This past weekend we hosted in our home a young lady, Jill, who was here to recruit juniors/seniors for her college. She was only here a few days, but on Sunday when we were getting ready to take her to the airport, Rachel broke down crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said she didn't know. Later, she told me that she was just so sad that Jill had to leave and wouldn't be able to play with her anymore. I told her it was ok to be sad and that I know it's hard to say goodbye to those we love. Last week she had to say goodbye to Grandma, this week it's Jill and next week our dear Ashley will be going home to her family. Then I asked Rachel if she knew who was always with her and who she would never have to say goodbye to. She said, "God. You never have to take him to the airport."

Mailing Address

For Julie and others who have asked:

David Young & Family
c/o Evangelical Christian Academy
Calle La Manda 47
28816
Camarma de Esteruelas
(Madrid) SPAIN

Thanksgiving outreach

We have been attending a small church plant that meets at the school. On a normal Sunday, we have about 30-40 people, a mixture of Americans, Spaniards and a few Koreans. The service is usually in Spanish, but sometimes they do translate. Anyway - for the last several years the missionaries have organized an outreach, "American Thanksgiving," program where everyone is encouraged to invite their Spanish neighbors and friends and we provide an American Thanksgiving meal with some special music and a time of open-sharing of what we are thankful for. We were privileged to attend. There were around 100 people total.

The set-up.

Renaldo, a pastor/missionary here who is part of the church plant, gave a brief welcome and introduction speech on the history of Thanksgiving in the U.S. and some of the customs.

First course: Pumpkin Soup

Second Course: Traditional American Thanksgiving

Then as a bonus: Sushi and Korean noodles. David ate it. I could not.

Our servers were students from ECA.

Our good friend Susan played and sang a song of Thanksgiving. She is the piano teacher at school and is at our house on a regular basis. We have adopted her. :)


Next, Scot and Carol Musser, the school's headmaster and wife, played the dulcimer and guitar.

One of the MK's played a fiddle.

Then, we were given the opportunity to stand up and share something we were thankful to God for. The above picture is Paco Gonzalez, a Spaniard who happens to be my Spanish profesor. Below is Phil Jolley, a British missionary whose children attend ECA.

And more testimony to God's faithfulness.

Looking for something new?

ECA is recruiting for the following positions for next year and beyond. Please let us know if you know anyone who might be interested. More information can be found on the school's website, www.ecaspain.com

All Levels Principal - Job Description coming soon
Guidance Counselor / Registrar
Secretary / Receptionist - Job Description coming soon
Chaplain / Student Life
ESL Teacher
Kindergarten
First Grade
Art / Graphic Arts / PR
Elementary Aide
MS Language Arts
MS Math & Science
MS Social Science
HS Math and Science
HS Language Arts
Physical Education
Piano
Recruitment / Hospitality / Member Care
RA (female) to assist house parents
Computers / Technology / Networking
NILD Therapist
Activities Coordinator

Residency

Last Wednesday, David and I ventured to the policia at 5:00 a.m. to wait in line for my residency card. You have to have a number to see an official and they only give 10 numbers a day so we were advised that you have to get there early to wait and be one of the first ten. So we got there a little after 5:00 and there were already ten people there, who were in sleeping bags. They had spent the night there waiting. So we turned around and came back home.

We tried again this morning, well, actually, David was kindhearted enough to go ahead by himself and wait in line (in the freezing cold) so that the kids and I didn't have to get up and out so early (did I mention what an awesome husband he is?) so he got there at 5:00 a.m. and was the only one. A few minutes later, another man arrived, and after waiting about an hour, one of the guards came out and informed them that they have a "new system" now, where they require you to come on Monday evenings and make an appointment for the week. So again, he drove home. And again, we wait. We will try again next week, I suppose. Thankfully, I have until the end of January to apply for residency, and on the upside, David got his residency card this week so he is now "official." I am overwhelmed by the rules and regulations of living in a foreign country. The whole process seems so daunting and confusing. I am so thankful for the community we have around us to help and guide us through it.

For the last week we have had two Spaniards in our home doing some construction, working to finish in half of the garage to make a new spare room. Since there is very little wood available here, construction practices are quite different in Spain. Most houses are made entirely of brick and concrete, including the walls and roofs. David has enjoyed watching them and seeing a very different way of doing things than he is used to.


The workers began by knocking a hole in the exterior brick wall of the garage where they put in a new window. They also knocked out the concrete around a metal, exterior entry door into the house from the garage so the door could be removed. It will be replaced with a wooden interior door. Next they constructed a wall down the middle of the garage using brick and mortar. This wall is about two inches thick, and is covered with a thin layer of concrete which is applied with an incredibly smooth finish.

They ran plastic tubing from an existing electrical box in one wall, across the floor, and up into the other walls for outlets and lights. They will pull wires through these plastic tubes later on.

To lay the floor, they first filled in the garage floor with crumbled brick from their demolition work. Next, they mixed concrete on the road in front of our house and dumped it in small piles on the floor about 4 inches thick. Into this they pressed the tile (travertine?) flooring, tapping it in until it was level.

Here are some of the tools of the trade. The straw looking stuff on top is mixed with fast-drying cement and used to anchor the door frames into the concrete walls.

It has been very noisy and very dusty, but we are excited about having the extra space. Another great thing about it is that we have had to use our Spanish and Keri, especially, is finding that it is coming back to her. We will post more pictures this week and once it is finished.

We currently have two girls in our dorm. One is a junior and a sheer delight to have here. Her parents are missionaries in Ireland and this is her third year at ECA. She is a good student, has a heart for evangelism and her love for God and desire to serve him is evident. She also has an amazing voice and we enjoy listening to her singing as it echoes through our halls.

The other girl is a student teacher who is only here through Christmas. She is staying with us because she wanted to be with a family as opposed to staying on her own and because we had the extra space this semester. She, also, has been such a blessing to us. Both girls love our kids and while we are careful to be sure and allow them their space, they are frequently reading or playing with our kids, which we love.

But while we have these two precious girls in our home, we are hearing regularly of the spiritual warfare and conflict going on at the school. One mom was telling me recently of situations her kids had seen and heard among other students and how upset they were over it. She said, "You know, it's not the unsaved kids the enemy is after, it's ours." There seems to be a real spirit of discouragement and disrespect among some of the faculty and students. We mention this only to ask you to please pray. ECA is such a unique school in that most of the kids are children of missionaries. Couple that with the fact that Spain is very desolate as far as the presence of evangelicals. There is a battle going on and we are seeing it. Please pray for our girls, especially, that they would continue to have hearts that seek to do what is right and to right the wrongs they are faced with daily. Pray for us and the other parents, that we would have wisdom and that we would be sure to guard our tongues against gossip or slander. Pray that the Holy Spirit would manifest itself at ECA and bring instead a spirit of repentance.

Update

Keri and the kids have been in the States getting their visas for the past week.  Thank you to those who have been praying for them.  They have their visas in hand and are set to leave this afternoon from her parents' house at 2:00 EST.  They will arrive back here in Spain Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 (10:00 EST).  This is a long trip - please pray for her as she travels with Rachel and Mathis.

While they have been gone, I've been teaching my computer classes and working on a couple of other things for the school, but the vast majority of my time has been spent creating a new web site for the school.  You can see the new web site at www.ecaspain.com/eca.

Big Sib / Little Sib Day

Friday was Big Sib/Little Sib day at ECA. Older students were matched with younger students for the day, first grade through twelfth. The students were encouraged to come dressed as a famous pair. The festivities began after fourth period with a hot dog lunch, and then they played games together. The day ended with a time of worship as an entire school.

Everyone is lined up for relay races.

Can you recognize any famous pairs?

One of David's computer students dressed as a princess.

Another of David's students as Raggedy Ann.

Four games of kickball on the soccer field at one time!

One of the things I love about Spain...

is that you can buy pomegranate seeds in a cup! I love pomegranates and they are such a luxury item at Christmastime in the States. Here, they are available in a cup year round. A bit pricey, but what a fun and delicous treat!

Medieval Festival

This past weekend, the town next to ours hosted a "Medieval Festival," where there were food vendors and artisans of all varieties, lots of crowds and lots of people dressed in their finest medieval costumes. We didn't stay very long because it was so crowded, but it was interesting to see a bit of Spanish culture. You can click on each picture to see it enlarged.

The medieval style banners strung throughout the plaza.

This guy was making pottery.

More artisan crafts.

and just for fun, a street sign. :)