Well today I was supposed to tell ya everything else that's been going on but I must ask your indulgence for another day or so. Today we moved into our new house that has considerably less fungus :) It was quite an experience since we just had to dump stuff into boxes and suit cases.
We found out last night at 7:30 PM (Madrid Time) that we would be able to get the new house, this was fantastic news, since there was some doubt on this issue when we met with the landlord the night before. So today the movers came. A BIG shout out to the Madrid International Church Masters Commission Students who came out and lent us a hand and to our incredible MA Ashely. When she saw the all the mold in the house her response was, "You've been living in this!" (Ashley's a tough cookie, and if it grosses her out, it's pretty gross."
More later, we are dead tired, still a bit under the weather and desperate for a shower. If we can only find the box that has our clean "unmentionables" in it...
But it's all good. God is so wonderful to bless us with a clean, health place to live in.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Missonary Adventures (Part 1)
Oh, the glamorous live of a missionary! I say that tongue-in-cheek because some people think that a missionaries life is always full of adventure and excitement. While I can honestly say that our missionary journey is never dull, the exciting part is not often what some may imagine. Here's some of our recent journey...
For the past month I've had this cold that hasn't been getting any better, I finally went to the Doctor and found out I had a upper respiratory infection. He gave me some big gun antibiotics to knock it out and soon as I started feeling better, Anna gets the "fungus". I say "fungus" because we think the cause of our illnesses (cold/flu symptoms, muscle cramps, general "blah" feelings) is that our house is moldy. During a time of big rain the roof leaked and the ceiling got wet. Since then we have this mold farm growing in our bed room. All around the windows and in the corners of the room, it's pretty nasty and damp to boot.
We reported it to the landlord who had some guy come out and spray some smelly stuff on the roof. Weeks later, still mold, still damp, still sick. So we find that a house is becoming available in our area and we give our notice to vacate this house so we can move into the new house... more on this tomorrow.
Meanwhile, as part of our visa / residence process we have to get finger printed to get our national ID cards. This is done by appointment. You receive a letter in the mail telling you what day to come get it done. So you show up and wait in line with hundreds of other people some who have been waiting in line since 10:00 PM the night before! If your at the end of the line and they decide they are done for the day you have to reschedule your appointment for months later. So pretty much it's an all day affair.
Anna and the kids had their appointment on the 20th of this month. We get their at 9:30 (the place opens up at 9:00) and get in line behind 300 or so people. It's extremely cold and the line is moving slow when Anna gets dizzy and has to sit down. The only place to sit is in the muddy ground. She tosses down the blanket she was holding and plops down. She insists she's ok and so we stay in line occasionally moving closer and closer to the gate that lets us into the police compound.
We're about 50 yards from the gate when Anna finds a relatively clean piece of wood to sit on (about 2'x3")I turn around to talk to Bekah and when I turn back to Anna she's lying down on the wood. Our conversation went something like this...
Me - "Anna we need to get you home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "I can make it..."
Me - "Baby, your laying down on a tiny piece of wood in a sea of mud and filth, we need to go home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "I can make it..."
Me - "We are going home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "ok..."
We get her to a mostly clean piece of mud in the parking lot near where I can pull the car up to pick her up. The area is blocked off except for police vehicles and we are parked about 6-8 blocks away. Lizzy stays with Anna and I rush back to the car with Josh and Becka.
While I'm away the police keep coming up to Anna who is sprawled out on the pavement and they keep asking her (in Spanish) "Are you ok? Do we need to call an ambulance?" And Anna (in her Yoda Spanish) is telling them "Yes, Are you ok. My Husband go get car." (We are still learning past tense verbs and she was forgetting to conjugate her response).
I finally get to the car and head down the closed road when the police stop me and ask me what I'm doing. Please keep in mind we've only been in school for a short time and I think I said in my Tarzan Spanish, "Mi mujer esta infermo." Which means "My woman is sick" (In Spain that is the correct way to refer to ones wife). He let me pass and we get her in the car and start to head for home.
Since this appointment is what keeps us leagaly in Spain, as we were drving away from the police station I called our legal represntive Siliva so that she can make another apointment for us.
As it turns out, God had some cool things planed (doesn't he always)... Wanna know more? Stay tuned tomorrow!
Points to pray for:
Health
House
Language
For the past month I've had this cold that hasn't been getting any better, I finally went to the Doctor and found out I had a upper respiratory infection. He gave me some big gun antibiotics to knock it out and soon as I started feeling better, Anna gets the "fungus". I say "fungus" because we think the cause of our illnesses (cold/flu symptoms, muscle cramps, general "blah" feelings) is that our house is moldy. During a time of big rain the roof leaked and the ceiling got wet. Since then we have this mold farm growing in our bed room. All around the windows and in the corners of the room, it's pretty nasty and damp to boot.
We reported it to the landlord who had some guy come out and spray some smelly stuff on the roof. Weeks later, still mold, still damp, still sick. So we find that a house is becoming available in our area and we give our notice to vacate this house so we can move into the new house... more on this tomorrow.
Meanwhile, as part of our visa / residence process we have to get finger printed to get our national ID cards. This is done by appointment. You receive a letter in the mail telling you what day to come get it done. So you show up and wait in line with hundreds of other people some who have been waiting in line since 10:00 PM the night before! If your at the end of the line and they decide they are done for the day you have to reschedule your appointment for months later. So pretty much it's an all day affair.
Anna and the kids had their appointment on the 20th of this month. We get their at 9:30 (the place opens up at 9:00) and get in line behind 300 or so people. It's extremely cold and the line is moving slow when Anna gets dizzy and has to sit down. The only place to sit is in the muddy ground. She tosses down the blanket she was holding and plops down. She insists she's ok and so we stay in line occasionally moving closer and closer to the gate that lets us into the police compound.
We're about 50 yards from the gate when Anna finds a relatively clean piece of wood to sit on (about 2'x3")I turn around to talk to Bekah and when I turn back to Anna she's lying down on the wood. Our conversation went something like this...
Me - "Anna we need to get you home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "I can make it..."
Me - "Baby, your laying down on a tiny piece of wood in a sea of mud and filth, we need to go home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "I can make it..."
Me - "We are going home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "ok..."
We get her to a mostly clean piece of mud in the parking lot near where I can pull the car up to pick her up. The area is blocked off except for police vehicles and we are parked about 6-8 blocks away. Lizzy stays with Anna and I rush back to the car with Josh and Becka.
While I'm away the police keep coming up to Anna who is sprawled out on the pavement and they keep asking her (in Spanish) "Are you ok? Do we need to call an ambulance?" And Anna (in her Yoda Spanish) is telling them "Yes, Are you ok. My Husband go get car." (We are still learning past tense verbs and she was forgetting to conjugate her response).
I finally get to the car and head down the closed road when the police stop me and ask me what I'm doing. Please keep in mind we've only been in school for a short time and I think I said in my Tarzan Spanish, "Mi mujer esta infermo." Which means "My woman is sick" (In Spain that is the correct way to refer to ones wife). He let me pass and we get her in the car and start to head for home.
Since this appointment is what keeps us leagaly in Spain, as we were drving away from the police station I called our legal represntive Siliva so that she can make another apointment for us.
As it turns out, God had some cool things planed (doesn't he always)... Wanna know more? Stay tuned tomorrow!
Points to pray for:
Health
House
Language
Friday, January 2, 2009
It's still Christmas!
In Spain Christmas lasts a long time. It starts on December 22nd with the national Christmas lottery called El Gordo (The Fat) then there is Christmas and it all ends on January 6th which is El Dia de Los Reyes Magos or Three Kings Day. In Spain this is the traditional day that children receive gifts from the three kings. These guys are more popular than Papa Noel (Santa) but in recent years children are getting some gifts on both days.
It's different to see everyone flocking to the stores in droves to clean out the toy departments after December 31st. Every time we think it's safe to go to the store we get caught in the Christmas rush!
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