Aranjuez, Spain - Palacio Real de Aranjuez

Yesterday one of the teachers from school was taking a tour group to Aranjuez, a town about an hour south of us, to tour what was the spring palace of the King and Queen of Spain. I'm still not clear on exactly which kings and queens used it, but I know I read something about King Philip and King Ferdinand/Queen Isabella. Now it is a museum and open to the public.

p.s. - we really do have a job. I'll post more on that this week. :)

Our group. Two teachers from ECA and two Spanish families whose children attend ECA. It was good to spend some time with them.

Both Flat Stanleys came with us.

"King Carlos - 1775"

Rachel and Flat Stanleys in front of the giant door.

I think the grass was their favorite part. We don't have much grass in Camarma.


Flat Stanley also enjoyed picking dandelions with Rachel, something she hasn't done since we got here - again, because of the lack of grass.

Standing in one of the exterior archways.

One of several bridal photo shoots while we were there. Understandably so, as this place is so beautiful!

A duck pond.

The gardens were breathtaking.

Waterfall.

No, No, Mathis!

Throughout the gardens, there were many labyrinths formed out of shrubbery. The kids had a blast. So did Flat Stanley. :)

Back to School Picnic

Last Friday night, we had an all-school picnic at ECA. It was sunny but extremely windy. So windy in fact, that the lettuce flew off my hamburger and my chips went flying away. We decided to eat indoors, though most everyone else braved the wind and cold. Anyway, because we were inside, we forgot to take pictures. Thankfully, our good friends George and Bonnie took quite a few. Please look at their blog to see pictures from the picnic.

Flat Stanley comes to Spain

Rachel's friend Emily is doing the Flat Stanley Project for school and we were delighted that he decided to come all the way to visit us in Spain! Unfortunately, he arrived a few days after the running of the bull, but we did decide to take him along to the grocery store with us today. We thought it would be fun to share his adventure with you, as well, to give you a picture of what a Spanish grocery store is like.

Leaving the house

He helped drive us there.

To get to a major grocery store, we have to drive to Alcala,

a large town about 10 minutes from our house.

This is Alcampo. It's like a Super Wal-Mart. This is where we do most of our shopping.

If you've ever been to Aldi, you know the drill about paying a quarter to "rent" a cart. All the stores here do that, only it's a Euro coin (Approx. $1.42) instead of a quarter. Flat Stanley helped with that, too.

The juice aisle.

Olive oil, anyone?

One delicious thing about Europe is the cheese!

And then there's the fresh seafood department, including squid, octopus and every variety of fish you can imagine.

This picture is for Josh and Betsy. What a selection of Nutella! :)

and this picture is for Lisa. :)

The produce department. Pretty normal.

Interesting thing about the produce department here. They require you to put on a plastic glove before handling any of the produce. Then you pick up your selection and you take it to a scale, where you weigh it and get the label/barcode for it.

Spaniards LOVE their chorizo/sausage.

An entire aisle of pork products.

The egg section - unrefrigerated.

The milk aisle - also unrefrigerated. Milk comes in 1 liter cartons here. We buy it by the case.

The Nesquick, however, comes in these GIANT tubs. I never bought this at home, but to our dorm girls, it's their lifeblood. Flat Stanley loves his Nesquick. :)

At the checkout.

Care Packages

How to send a care package...Some people have been asking about how to send packages, where, and whatnot… so I am going to do a blog on it, so that it reaches everyone who surfs our sight. Also let me warn you that shipping to Spain is costly so we understand if you still don’t want to send us anything; however, I must add that getting any mail at all is VERY exciting for us so if you can't send us a package, send us a letter or a hand-drawn picture by your children. We love to get mail, no matter how big or small. So thank you in advance if you choose to send us one. To mail a first class envelope costs around $.95.

Here is our address:

David and Keri Young
Evangelical Christian Academy
Calle La Manda 47
28816
Camarma de Esteruelas (Madrid)
SPAIN

Secondly: How do you pack it up? We recommend shipping it via the U.S. Postal Service. You can check Fed Ex or DHL, but when we checked into sending some of our things over before we left, it was wayyyy more expensive than the post office. There is a Flat Rate Priority Int'l envelope you can send for $11.95 and you can fit a good bit of flat stuff in it. There is also a Flat Rate Int'l box that you can fill up to 20 lbs and it costs $38.95, I think. My mom sent a box the size of a shoe box and it weighed 4 or 5 pounds and cost her $34.00, so if you're going to spend $34.00 on a tiny box, you might as well use the flat rate box and get more for your money. But we know that $34.00 is a lot of money so we don't expect any of you to do that, unless you really want to. I would suggest that you take every bit of weight into consideration, even how much tape you package it up with. Feel free to take things out of their original packing, and slip them into Ziploc bags. Packaging can be bulky and it does weigh something. It is a good idea to insure the package. Perhaps send an email to let us know you are sending it, so if it doesn’t come we can let you know so you can collect on your insurance. Here are some suggestions of what we need or would enjoy having sent.

• Chili Powder (Bi-Lo brand is fine and they have a huge jar for $1.99 or so)
• Boxed Macaroni and cheese, either Kraft (whole wheat, preferably) or Annie's organic.
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Puzzles for Rachel (don’t send the box - just the puzzle in a bag, and of course, the picture.)
• Tazo Tea, "Passion" (purple) or any other flavor.
• Taco seasoning, preferably McCormick brand mild
• McCormick Parmesan Herb seasoning
• Kool-aid, the kind without sugar (you can add your own sugar, as all powdered juices here contain aspartame). Our favorites are pink lemonade and fruit punch)
• Seeds (just a variety, including herbs)
• Magazines, recently used (Readers Digest, Southern Living, et al)
• Fall/Thanksgiving/Christmas decorations or crafts
• Mini-Marshmallows
• Itunes giftcards
• Scrapbooking paper (8 1/2 x 11) and scissors.
• Stickers and fun paper for Rachel and Mathis
• Baking cocoa (generic is fine)
• Bath and Body Works trial size lotions/body wash
• 2009 Calendar
• DVD's (not VHS) (Veggie Tales, Baby Einstein, Elmo, Sesame Street, Dora, Donut Man, Hermie, etc.) Check McKay's. Also, send them without the case in a ziploc or bubble wrap.
• Starbucks coffee, Verona blend, ground (for a treat!)
• Strawberry Pop Tarts
• Chocolate chips
• Butterscotch chips
• Books for the kids, Little Golden Books from McKays would be awesome.
• Forever stamps from the Post Office
• Children's vitamins
• Almond Extract (be sure to put it in a secure ziploc bag and pad it well)

We’ll leave the rest to your imagination, or if you would like to send an email and find out ‘what do you need today’, as those days come and go. We are very thankful for the generosity and love that has been shown to our family and again, will appreciate any mail you send to us. We love to hear from you!

David and Keri

Visa update

I just spoke to the Consulate in New Orleans to inquire about the status of my (Keri's) and the kids' visas, and she said there was still no movement on them, meaning they still haven't been approved. I'm a bit disappointed, because I hate the wait. I hate the unknown. I wonder if I will have to leave Spain in November at the end of my 90 days or if they will have been approved by then. But I know that God knows best and that He has a reason for the delay, even if I don't understand it. I'm writing this to ask for you to pray specifically for them to be approved. We have seen the Lord's hand so clearly throughout this entire process and I know that He is faithful no matter what. But we continue to covet your prayers in this.

I have been reading the Old Testament and told David the other day how it struck me that God was leading the Israelites to Canaan, as he had promised them, but along their journey, they had battles to fight against other nations, which the Lord gave them victory in, but they were battles nonetheless. He didn't just lead them there instantly or without hardship. I was reminded that I have complete assurance that God has called us to be here right here and now, but that I still expect everything to be smooth and easy. For us, dealing with government offices and beurocracy is one of those battles, I guess.

Camp and Fiesta

Every year at the beginning of the year, the students at ECA go to camp for two nights. This gives the new students a chance to get to know their classmates, among other teambuilding things, etc. Our girls left for camp on Wednesday via chartered bus with the rest of the high school students, so we had a couple of days together as a family.

While the students were gone David spend the good part of one day getting a safety inspection completed on our minivan. We also enjoyed a visit to the largest mall in Spain as a family, including a meal out together. Mathis particularly enjoyed the ketchup on his fries.

Also this week, the annual fiesta took place in Camarma. This included many colored lights strung around town...

...a bicycle parade...

...a parade with giant puppets and a marching band...

...and the running of the bulls.

David tried to get Keri to run, but she wasn't up for it. Perhaps next year :)

Also included in the fiesta were live bands, a chess tournament, dancing, an orchestra, and bull fighting. What a fun culture!

Thank you to those who have been praying for us. If you would like to receive monthly email prayer letters, please let us know.

It's just different

When we went to Pre-field Orientation, we were told that things would be different as we moved to new countries and new cultures. We were encouraged to not think of these things as wrong or bad, just different. It is still difficult (for David) to accept the fashion trend in Spain of men wearing capri pants...