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. :)