Hi everyone! Summer has come to Spain and I spend most of the day sitting in my apartment in front of the fans. We don't have air conditioning here and there is a fine art to keeping your house cool; an art I have not mastered. It involves shutting all the blinds and windows to keep out the sun, which makes me feel like I'm in a cage. You can only really work physically at night or in the early morning-reading and television seem to be all I'm up for and I don't even really want to travel around Spain as it is so hot. I am a sissy from the Northwest!
Vacation Bible School was fun and we had several students from Baylor studying Spanish here in Madrid who helped during the morning sessions. They were a great bunch of kids and were very much appreciated. We all think we can speak Spanish until we actually have to talk to real Spaniards-then it all falls apart! Especially with kids. They are very hard to understand.
Here is a picture of my "pit crew" who were mostly Spanish speakers. Our theme was "The Incredible Race" and we had a great time! The other picture is of a little 3-year-old boy who made me cry! He reminded me so much of Ian at that age it broke my heart!
Other things going on besides a week of VBS:
* Tonight I am going to a flamenco concert in Madrid with a friend from school. I love flamenco music and dance so I wanted to go one more time before I have to leave Spain.
* Sunday night I went to a friend's house to watch the Eurocup 2008 futbol (soccer) finals where Spain was the victor over Germany 1-0. If you heard a loud noise on Sunday, it was the din of Spain rejoicing over the win! It was crazy!
* Last Saturday a friend and I spent a wonderful day in Madrid shopping for an upcoming missions conference. (Gifts for the speakers, etc.) I got in a few things for my grandsons, too. They are never far from my mind.
I have just a few more days in Spain and feel very sad about ending this wonderful experience. I have to focus on what lies ahead, and the joy of being home again with family and friends. I leave Madrid for a trip to Holland, Ireland and Scotland on July 15th. I return to Madrid July 29th to get my luggage and Ivy and then fly to New York to visit the kids there. After that, I have a blurry image of the future! A little unsettling but this is all I can handle for the moment.
Hope to hear from you and hope to see you soon!
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2 comments:
Marlene says hi!
I am so glad you are returning, but one of my "cocktail chatter" bragging points will be gone. I loved saying, "well, my mom lives in Spain...."
People automatically assign me a sophistication I probably don't deserve.
Soak up every last moment, and remember you don't have to be gone forever.
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