Recently heard in the dorm...

Student (who happens to be American): Do you have an escoba?

David: puzzled look

Student: You know, for sweeping up a mess.

David: A dustpan?

Student: No, an escoba.  You know, the thing that you use to sweep.

David: A broom?

Student: Yea, a broom.  That's it.

David: It's behind the door there.

Maybe one day I'll know Spanish so well that I won't be able to think of the English word for something.  :)

Spanish Folk Song

This is a short video of one of the dorm boys playing a Spanish folk song at a coffee house that the seniors sponsored yesterday. No offense to any of the elementary students that David taught last year, but we never knew the recorder could sound this good. :)

And yes, in case we failed to mention it, we are now dorm parents to the boys. The boys' dorm parents had to return to the States for six months, and the boarding committee decided that it would be best for the boys to move in with us. So, the girls are out, the boys are in, and we are very much enjoying them so far.

Goodbyes

My least favorite part of the mission field so far is the inevitable goodbyes we must say to new friends we make. Arriving here with us in August were two ladies who have become regular fixtures in our home, both of whom are leaving us at the end of this week.

Susan is a Boston-native who has been the piano teacher and elementary music teacher this semester. We "adopted" her early on and have been privileged to share school life, church life and home life with her. We love her dearly and we will miss her terribly.

Penny is a Canadian who has been living and working at Hinkson Academy in Moscow, Russia for the past 10 or so years (plus two years in Siberia). She came to ECA for the fall semester to help get the ESL/ELL program up and running and work with those teachers and to get a personal retreat from the hardships one faces after living in Moscow for so many years. She has very much enjoyed sunny Spain and has recently gotten quite a kick out of our reaction to the "record snowfall," here in Madrid. :) She also has been such a good friend to us, an "aunt," to our kids and given us so much of her wisdom and experience. She even came over last weekend and gave us a lesson in making Korean sushi and Chop Chow (or something like that). The boys LOVED it. Here are a few photos of the afternoon.

Some of the ingredients.

Penny and Tim cutting vegetables and preparing to roll the sushi.

Layering the rice and veggies in the seaweed.

The almost finished product.

This is the Chop-Chay (or however you spell it). Basically it's a beef/noodle dish with cooked vegetables. Delish! Thanks so much, Penny!

Just a quick plug for our good friends, Philip and Lisa Bennett, who have just arrived on the mission field in Olomouc, Czech Republic. CLICK HERE to follow their blog.

Snowy Spain!

We woke up this morning to a phone call informing us there was no school because of the snow. "The What?!" Yes - it unexpectedly snowed 3 or 4 inches last night. Soooo fun!

Mathis and Rachel excitedly looking at our backyard.

They got bundled up and went out to play. Mathis's first ever snowy experience.

Mathis had fun eating it.

Making snow angels.

This really happens

Sunday we had an interesting meeting. A veteran missionary couple here in Spain introduced us to a young couple (20s-ish) who were from Iran. Their story was incredible. They are Christians who had been meeting a a home-cell-group in Iran. One day, they got a phone call that warned them not to go to their cell group meeting that night because several of the other members were being hung. So they went and hid in someone else's house for 30 days, then along with some other Christians, somehow got together around $20,000 and hired a mafia-like group to get them out of the country. They rode in the back of a truck for 6 days/nights until they were safely away. I can't remember exactly, but I think they were en route to England when they got stopped in the Madrid airport for having stolen passports. So the Spanish police put them in prison because they didn't know what else to do with them. So the missionary we know (I don't want to say any names just in case...) does regular prison visits and met the Iranian wife and learned her story. Then, after talking to the police found out that they were only in prison because no one knew what to do with them. They weren't criminals. So my friend gave the police her address as their permanent address and brought them home with her. They stayed with them for a few months and were able to find a job in Southern Spain doing landscaping and housework for a Christian businessman. But because of the economic crisis, he had to let them go finally. So they were back here in Madrid, praying and waiting for God to show them what's next. It really is an incredible story. I've been reading in magazines and watching on the news about stuff like this, but still felt pretty far removed from it. But there are refugees fleeing to all parts of the world. I would encourage you to learn more about ways to help any who are near you. What an incredible way to minister to the body of Christ!

Rachel's not-so-snowy birthday

Rachel's birthday is the day after Christmas. So we thought it would be fun to drive up into the mountains, about an hour away, and go sledding. Someone told us about this great little ski resort where there are sledding hills and cafes to get churros and coffee. "Great!" We thought. So we bundled up and drove but once we started ascending the mountain, we sat in bumper to bumper traffic for almost an hour and when we finally got to the top, it was unbelievably crowded. We drove around for a while looking for somewhere to park, to no avail. The police were giving tickets left and right because people were parked all kinds of places, double parked, etc., so we turned around and very disappointed, drove back down. We ended up stopping in a little village and finding a cafe, though, so we did get to have hot chocolate and pastries, but we were so disappointed for Rachel. I guess we should have expected it, being Christmas weekend, but still... Here are some pictures of our journey.

The snowy mountain in the distance.

A cute little village we passed through.

Snow at last!

At the cafe - enjoying our hot cocoa and pastries.

And after a long trip back, we were hungry and since we've been in Spain, Rachel has been asking to go to Burger King, but we never had. So this was our birthday treat. We got there around 2:30 p.m. (prime lunchtime in Spain) and there was not a table available. It was packed! So we had to eat outside - freezing! But then we went inside and let them play on the playground for a while. We tried to make the best of it.