Missing home...

Navidad ha llegado a Madrid!!! Christmas has arrived to Madrid!!!

I have some great friends. And yesterday was one of those great days with friends. Fran & Pepe came over for breakfast. We ate some of the rest of the cinnamon rolls I made the other day, with Chery too, and the cream filled croissants that Pepe brought, coffee, colacao, oj,... Then we took off for Plaza Mayor to enjoy the Christmas market, the Christmas decorations and to buy some crazy wigs & take a million pictures. Somewhere along the way we stopped for hot chocolate with whipped cream and some tea. We then went over to Pepe's for a fabulous lunch of paella & such with his family. We lingered there awhile admiring the lights, decorations and huge nativity scene that Pepe's family had put up. Then back to the center to walk, walk, and walk some more looking at lights, taking more pictures, buying a cute, warm hat (for me), having cappichinos (theirs with whipped cream on top), look at more lights and then all head home. It was fun, freezing, and full of a ton of laughs. Nothing like that to start off the holiday season!

malasaña

so, i've been a little down today. mainly i'm exhausted because i haven't been sleeping well or enough. so i asked a couple friends to pray and then ran out on some errands. the Lord is so sweet to me. one, just the right music happened to be on my ipod from the last time i listened to it. i was going to turn it to some more melancholy music, but alas my fav enter the worship circle cd was on, so i listened. then i had to walk through one of my favorite neighborhoods of madrid. it's right by my apt, bohemian and hippy/trendy. fun stuff in the windows of boutiques, at 5pm its right after lunch and school so there are kids playing, people out and about, dogs running, it's sunny, and i do love where i live - the architecture, the ambiance. and i've probably been down bc i've been tired, bc i'm a little frustrated with certain aspects of life right now (ok, just the boy area), i have a lot on my plate the next few days and i'm tired, i have a long list that has yet to be tackled for today, and i've been inside too much today, not enough green space and sun. so... no, nothing has really changed, but i have a fresh outlook and am reminded of the great place i live and of all the things yet to be explored. :-)

Fall in Madrid

Hmm... I just bemoaned all the things I miss from the States about fall, in part because I'm a little down and in part because I just got a package from my mom, just made popcorn, am cold (because it's fall and there's not any heat until Nov), and, yeah.... SO, I'm going to make a list of the things I love about the fall in Madrid and specifically the fall, not the winter or some other season.

I DO love the beginning of the semester and all the excitement of getting things going again and seeing God at work in my life, in the lives of students, etc.,

I LOVE walking around the streets anytime of year, but the fall is nice. I did love Saturday, just two days ago, when I bought some new plants and potted them and had the windows open with the fresh, cool (but not too cool) air.

I do love making popcorn and snuggling under a blanket because it's just a little too cold. I love tea and making apple cider. I love walking through Retiro park any time of year, but the fall and spring are probably some of the best times. I need to do that more often. The fall is nice to run in because it's finally cool enough to wear pants again, really, but just a tank top or t-shirt. And I LOVE to run when it's cool out.

I don't much care for when it rains, but we haven't had much rain this year, at least not yet, nor actually do we usually.

I like that the leaves do change some, at least more than they used to (during the 2 or 3 years of drought). I like that people are around again. Summer vacations have ended, so the city is full again and life is back to normality, back in motion. I DO like fall cleaning and fall changes (or at least some of them).

Well, that's at least the beginning of a list. I do like spring more. And I am still a little down. But that's okay. It's okay for a time.

summer summertime in the city

Summer has arrived. It was 38ºC, or 100ºF today. I would say that makes it now fully summer. So here is a list of what makes me think of summer, or that summer is just around the corner... Oh and I'll check those that have happened already...

_ Café con hielo, Iced coffee
x Iced Latté
x Washing my feet at night, bc it feels good but also bc they're dirty (and in the bidet, in my opinion it's what it was made for!)
x It's hot enough that I have to wear shorts to run (and don't get as many strange looks)
x I get the fan out
_ Lightening bugs (i'll have to wait 'til i'm back in stl for that one)
x Ice cream!
x Terrazas, or outdoor seating
x LOTS of people outside at night and late
_ Putting a fan or two in my purse
x Sandals
x Dresses & skirts without tights
x Seeing American tourists in shorts (and this year it looks like it might be "in" to wear shorts, although they are definitely "hip" shorts, not just your run of the mill shorts)
x Closing the windows in the day because it's TOOO hot to let the air in
x Loving the cool night breeze
x Noticing all the green!!! (even here)
x Making all kinds of iced drinks
_ Smoothies
_ Frozen Juice Popsicles
_ the pool
_ the beach
_ swimming
_ Galicia
_ Realizing it would make a ton more sense to wake up early to go running in a bit cooler weather
x Dying running in the heat
x Enjoying air conditioning on occasion
x Cold showers
_ barbecues! grilling!
x fresh veggies & fruits
x strawberries
x ice
x blue skies (although we almost always have blue skies in madrid)
x cottony clouds
_ outdoor films
x picnics
x parks
x late night walks

bats & the bat bridge in austin

Somehow i think bats are nifty creatures. They're like birds, but cooler and they come out at night, which somehow I also think is cool.

I think I began my fascination with bats in college at Mizzou where bats come out at night and fly around the quad and Jesse Hall (the admin building). Then when I lived in Sevilla, there was a cool bridge (I think the puente de triana) that has an area where people boulder and it's the same bridge where a flock of bats can be seen at night. Macy and I would wander over there at night to pray and admire our flying friends. In Madrid too there are some bats, just a few, who fly around the park where I like to run.

So, today when my dad was talking about his recent work trip to Austin I was THRILLED to hear about the bat bridge, which someday I will have to visit.

"Every summer, a million and a half bats in Austin, Texas make themselves at home.

The Congress Avenue Bridge has become, quite accidentally, the largest urban bat colony in the world. When engineers finished its reconstruction in 1980, it turned out that the crevices underneath the bridge doubled as perfect bat housing. When Mexican free-tail bats began their yearly migration north the next spring, they moved in by the thousands.

Austin freaked. Bats have a very bad reputation, thanks in equal part to both rabies and Béla Lugosi, and people demanded that the housing be demolished. Luckily, a group by the name of Bat Conservation International made an appearance, and explained to Austinites that, minus a nasty guano habit, bats are actually both brilliant and adorable. And the ones now living in their midst eat anywhere from ten to twenty thousand pounds of insects per night.

Nowadays, the Congress Avenue Bridge brings in 100,000 tourists annually. The mostly female colony starts moving in around March, and each female gives birth to a single pup by early June. The pups mature over the next five weeks, until eventually they can leave the roost with their mothers en masse, and take Austin’s insect population by storm."

Fun, huh! And apparently my parents joined the hundreds of people there to walk the stream of bats fly out at dusk, not once but twice. I love my dad. I'm sure it was his idea. So, if you're ever in Austin, remember to check out the bat bridge, or the Congress Avenue Bridge as it's properly known.

Transition / Change Cycle

So, way back when I heard about the change cycle, what everyone normal goes through when there is big transition. My team here is all leaving over the next few months and most of them leave in 3-4 weeks. Crazy.

So today I was talking to Bekah, who is one of those leaving and also a good good friend (who is leaving because she's getting married). Anyway, she was looking through a copy of the change cycle and rightly diagnosed me in the second phase, where I am no longer avoiding the inevitable but where my emotions are a bit exaggerated and all I want is structure (something I generally don't need much of). There is more, but all that to say that I'm normal. Thank God. Recently I've noticed I feel like my emotions can be all over the place. Yes, the Lord reminds me of what is true and I eventually get back to normal, but in the meantime I freak out a bit, probably replaying and over-evaluating everything. I love understanding things, which doesn't justify my psycho behavior or mood swings, but puts things back into perspective and helps me to know what to expect and helps me to respond better. I'll have to find a copy of it and put it up for any others going through the craziness that is BIG change and transition.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year's wherever you may be!!!

the farmer and the dell?

It is 1:30am and I should be asleep. My roommate leaves tomorrow on a plane for the US for Christmas and I am driving her to the airport nice and early. And yet I am not asleep. And neither are my neighbors (which in part why I haven't yet hit the hay). Upstairs I keep on hearing a kid's toy play "The Farmer in the Dell" in Spanish of course and accompanied by a 3yr old or so's voice. Now the TV is also on upstairs, or at least I think it's upstairs, and there are also adult voices. At least the little girl is no longer crying. And then next door are two old men talking in deep gruff voices. That is a bit more normal, but it's been awhile since I've heard such a lively night like this. 1:30am in Madrid and time to get some shut-eye.

twins, part 2

Ironically after that last post Teo woke up crying and this time wasn't soothed by laying him back on his tummy, finding his chupete/binkie, and patting his back. He was screaming, so I picked him up and took him in the other room to rock him a bit. I laid him down and Tomás soon after starts to scream and then the both start in together. Teo was awake, but only whimpering and Tomás was full out crying. And of course then both pacifiers fall on the ground (in the dark, mind you). So I turn on the hall light to get some softer light into the room, find the pacifiers, start to sing to them and alternate back and forth until both are sleeping soundly. whoo... I go back into the living room and getting some work done, some letters written. And this happens two or three more times, although the last time it almost seemed that Teo's crying was merely supportive or empathetic crying for Tomás. Poor little sick babies. They are super congested and almost wheezing when they breathe. They are coughing and yuck, their head is filled with congestion and mucous. I'm sure the feel horrible and I hate when I have a cold and can't breathe and thus can't sleep. Poor little guys. All in all they are super sweet little guys and even in crying and such are really easy kiddos. So, just after the last crying duo, the babies are sound asleep and I start back to the project I was working on, 1am, and the parents get home. They had a nice time out and I am just praying they get some sleep tonight (unlike last night). I then had my 45 minute drive home and then the search for a parking spot, but it was nice (other than being a little tired). Sweet dreams little mellizos.

my brief US trip...

So... let's see...I arrived back from 2 weeks in the States which was VERY brief.

First, a brief synopsis of the trip... Yolanda, a friend and I caught a plane in Madrid and headed to Brussels, Belgium. It occurred to me as we boarded the plane that this made NO sense; we were backtracking, but anyway. We arrived to Brussels and ran (at times literally) through the airport to our next gate, only very briefly glancing over our shoulders the yummy selections of chocolate. We literally ran to the gate only to have them ask us the million and one questions that are asked if you are headed to the US - about if anyone has given you anything, where your bags have been, etc., Yolanda struggled through this, with some translation on my part, since it was all in English and the people in Belgium don't tend to speak Spanish. She tried to get them to speak in Spanish, but no.

We board the plane only to quickly find that we are the minority. We are on Jet Airways and about 90% of the plane is Indian, as is the airline and the commercials. They speak English and Hindi, the food was Indian (yum), and we had a huge selection of Hollywood or Bollywood movies and a couple foreign films (one french, one arabic, and one chinese). Fun! A brief jaunt to another culture. The airline was great! Tons of leg room, they let you watch movies, play games, or listen to music from the time you boarded to the time you left the plane, and I didn't even feel the take off or landing (REALLY!). It took a smooth ride to a whole new level. Yolanda wasn't a huge fan of the food since it was quite spicy, but it was some of the best airline food I've ever had.

We arrived in New York City, took the train and then metro to Manhattan to the Meat Packing District, where my vegetarian sister was staying on work - at the Standard. We dropped off our stuff there, walked around a bit (along the river, through a cool market close by,...), and waited until my sister got off work. Yolanda kept saying, "It looks just like the movies!" "Everything is BIG!" (the streets, the cars, the houses,...) She was flipando. We found Sesame Street cupcakes, a store full of cookies, went into a European market and an Italian market, saw some cool art,... Then we headed back to the hotel to wait for my sister, who it was GREAT to see. Then off to dinner. We ate at this place called Olive & something. It was a fusion of European food, which was good (particularly after the Indian airplane) - something more normal for Yolanda's palate.

Backing up a bit... on the metro we met this guy who spent most of the trip there with us showing us pictures from his iPhone and my translating back and forth. He had somehow found a deal to pay something crazy like 500-800 dollars for 3 months of as much travel as he liked ANYWHERE in the world. So he had been to basically every continent and to lots of fun places in the past couple months. He had begun this after having traveled across the US in motorbike, or dirt-bike or something, from coast to coast, and then taken a van from California down to El Salvador, which he was only halfway there when he took off on this worldwide tour. He had a million and one stories to tell and we spent about an hour on the metro, so we were all ears. I'm guessing he just got out of college, or is in some type of transition, but was a little too tired to ask too many questions.

So, returning to above, after we got done with dinner (which we ordered WAY too much food at), we headed to catch the Megabus to Philly. We got there with plenty of time, boarded the bus in the last row so we could recline ALL the way - seriously it was flat, and went to sleep. The conductors were full of energy so they explained all the fun features of the bus - including wifi - and we were off. At some point some guy asked if I minded if they turned the sound for the movie on overhead. I did, but said no (realizing I'd probably sleep anyway), and went to sleep. Except for a few loud parts in the movie, I woke up as we arrived to Philly to the first stop. We stopped, I tried to pull up my seat for those passing by, but was too out of it to do so in a timely manner. We continued to the second stop, I woke up Yolanda, we got off the bus, we grabbed our luggage, and I hear, "Dawn!" I turn around and by God's grace my brother had gotten off work and realized, that while we would have made it to his place, I would hugely appreciate him showing up to help us. He took Yolanda's stuff since she was completely out of it by this time (probably close to 40 hours awake) and delirious and dealing with hearing a language she's still learning. It was SOOO great to see him. We took the trolley and then the metro and then walked to his place. It was raining a bit, but felt good.

We crashed and then woke up WIDE AWAKE bright and early. My brother and us headed to the historical part of town and we all saw the liberty bell, met up with my friend Cherith, and then to Independence Hall. My brother took off for work and we headed out for Philly Cheesesteaks, which Cherith continued to say were disgusting, but when in Rome do as the Romans. They were super yummy!

From there we went in search of coffee for me, tradition in Spain after lunch, and when you're jetlagged it becomes a necessity. We ended up walking all the way across Philly - stopping in a cool market, Chinatown, then heading to some cool statues (the famous LOVE statue, statues of board games and such), past some fountains, and the street with all the flags on it, down to the Philadelphia Art Museum (and Rocky statue), down to the Boathouses, and over to Fishtown (where Cherith and her husband live; and my brother does to). We saw the progress they're making on refurbing their house (right before leaving for Spain for a few years) and Cherith drove us to West Philly where a dear friend of mine lives. We had dinner with Carrie and fam, yummy vegan chili. And then about 8 or 9pm we became pumpkins and went back home to my brother's place. Of course I stayed up late both nights with my brother and his girlfriend to make the most of our little time together. One of the two nights we had delicious mojitos, which when made well is up there on my list of drinks.

We slept and got up bright and early for Drew to take us to the airport. On to St. Louis....

So we arrive to St. Louis late morning and are met by my mom who is full of tears and happy to see me. Sweet mom. We head out to the St. Louis Bread Company for lunch and then I convince her to take us home instead of us starting a tour of St. Louis. I am beat from all the running around, so we say hi to my dad (who has his office at home) and take off or Old Town St. Charles and to get some groceries. We came home and I worked, making calls & prepping for the week and for Sunday. That was Friday. I think we might have eaten in with some DELICIOUS, homemade cherry pie!

St. Louis is kind of a blur. Lots of meeting with people, speaking at churches, trying to be a good tour guide for yolanda, trying to spend quality time with my mom, sad because it was short and there are only 24h in a day and my dad had to leave monday morning for NH for work.

Saturday we went to the St. Louis Botanical Garden (aka Shaw Gardens), had some yummy Vietnamese food, and I think came home early so I could make some phone calls and prep for Sunday.

Sunday was church and sharing a bit there and lunch with people and then speaking at youth group (which unfortunately we were hugely jetlagged for; it was still fun I was just a bit delirious). A VERY full day.

Monday we saw my friend Catha, spoke at 5 spanish classes at a Christian high school a friend of mine is a spanish teacher at, and then came home.

The rest of the week was seeing some friends (some dear dear friends), seeing some ministry partners (many of whom are friends too), speaking as a few small groups that meet in homes (some smaller than others), hanging out with my mom, seeing St. Louis & St. Peters, some shopping, more sightseeing and meeting with people,...

The next weekend was similar to the last and then Tuesday morning we did the reverse. We flew to Philly, were met by my sweet friend Cherith who picked us up and took us to a Mediterranean restaurant and then to an incredibly delicious gelato place and then to catch our bus to NYC. We caught the bus, although this time our bus driver didn't speak English so we had some communication complications. I checked my e-mail and enjoyed the ride (sleeping some and just relaxing the rest). A guy on the bus said we might be 30-60 min late due to rush hour, so I sent a message to my friends who were there to meet us. We ended up at a different stop, in part to the communication problems, so walked several blocks and eventually found my friends who were in a bar waiting for us. It was SOOO SOOO good to see them - one a friend who came to visit last year and another a dear friend who just recently moved to NYC. We headed back to the apt we were going to stay at and then out for dinner. We ended up at an odd Spanish/Morroccan/Latin restaurant. I was not hungry at all, so just got something to drink and we caught up while I translated. I guess from the travel I was really tired again, so we went back early, talked through the next day and went online on this crazy high tech setup my friend has in his place. Karen went home and we went to sleep.

The next day Yolanda and I got up early and had the most delicious cappichino at City Girl Café, got a tad bit turned around, and headed to Battery Park to see Lady Liberty, then through Wall Street, past Ground Zero, walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, almost had some crazy good NY Italian food, but instead went to Central Park, to the John Lennon memorial, took a million and one pictures, and grabbed gyros on the street. While we were waiting for our food we met 10+ spaniards doing the same. We met up with Karen in Washington Square Park, got a quick tour of NYC and the oldest unchanged street in NYC, got a cappichino at one of the oldest places in Greenwich Village, tried to see Soho and the Village but got turned around a few times, so just took a lot of pictures and saw a few random things. We then met up with my friend Jonathan for dinner at a Mexican place and then to a chic coctail place. Again we went to bed tired.

The next morning we made sure our stuff was packed and that we knew how to get there okay, met up with Karen for brunch after seeing her digs in Harlem and getting a brief tour of the area, and then did the whirlwind tour - Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue, NBA Store (for t-shirts for a friend of yolanda), coffee, Empire States Building (which unfortunately we didn't have time to go up in - yolanda was really sad), and then off to the airport in train and then another train. We boarded the plane and did the reverse, arriving home to Madrid a day later (Friday AM).

That is the brief outline of the trip. I have some observations and thoughts I was going to blog, but another day.

Four days later I had to jump on another plan to Barcelona for some meetings, which was FULL not to mention with jetlag on this side of the pond. Time in Barcelona I also want to blog about, as it was fun as always to stay and work with friends there.

a brief update

I am hoping to write some thoughts about my recent trip to the US and seeing it through my Spanish friends' eyes a bit since she came with me. I arrived back on Friday morning, am still fighting with jet lag (at least in the mornings), have watched four movies in the past 24 hours to prep for our film nights this fall, am trying to cram one and a million things into the next 24 hours, and leave tomorrow afternoon for two days of meetings in Barcelona.

On a side note: here are some fun books I've read recently or am hoping to read soon - Know it All by A.J. Jacobs who worked for Esquire, The Elegance of the Hedgehog (I've probably mentioned it before), and Reading Lolita in Tetuan. Oh and some good nonfiction books that I highly recommend are The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan, Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (or anything by Lewis for that matter), The Promises of Grace by Bryan Chappell (or Praying Backwards - also great), and The Prodigal God by Tim Keller (or anything by Keller).

As for movies...I have a list, so I'll finish watching them and then give you the reviews or send you to my ministry website.

friends

Okay, so yes it's true that I need to get some sleep, considering that I need to be up in about 7 hours, but I just read some friends' blogs and wrote a couple e-mails and have some quick thoughts on my mind.

So, today I met with so dear friends who I haven't seen all summer and I also talked to a far away friend via facebook. Both blessed me tremendously, one because he listened (albeit via messages) and the other two because they cared. Interestingly all three are men, but men for whom I am extremely grateful.

Two of the guys shared about their lives and summers and upcoming things. One of them wants to get married and likes a girl, whom he's pursuing. The other also recently started "to get to know" a girl recently to see where things go. And I suppose because they are in love, or at least in the clouds of liking someone, they've decided to make my love life their business, which makes me feel loved and cared for (obviously in a platonic way).

Awww, I love good friends! And honestly I love having good guy friends, ones that you know where things stand, who love you and have your back, but also you know are just friends. One thing I've missed living here in Madrid are good guy friends. And up until now it seemed like often there was ambiguity or that awkward tension of both sides intentions. So this is nice, freeing. (Not to say by any means that I wouldn't like a guy that were more than friends, if he were the right guy that is.) (And while this only mentions three of these guys there are some others too here who have become good friends.)

That's it. I'm now babbling and making no sense, so off to sleep. Oh, and thanks far away friend and fun here friends!

Yes, yes, I do really need to go to bed, particularly since I need to be awake and functional in about five hours. Anyway, I was hoping someone might be up in the US and write me back about the web domain predicament, but to no avail, so since I'm awake but tired I've been looking at friends' pages and such when it occurred to me something that I've been noticing here recently and thinking I should maybe blog about it.

So, obviously each culture has different social norms, some which vary little and some which vary a lot. Also, mind you, it is spring/summer and the pollen count is high and I can attest to the fact that my nose has been more stuffy than normal.

Generally in American culture staring isn't a socially acceptable thing, well here in most cases it is perfectly fine, particularly if there is something to stare about, then everyone will (and more so if you live in the south, really, I'm not making this up). In fact I can remember on many occasions when I lived in Sevilla, mainly when I first got there and didn't fit in as well, the ENTIRE bus, kid-you-not, turned around to stare at us for basically the entire bus ride. In Madrid, it's much more subtle. Generally people don't stare for too long, but much longer than would be socially acceptable in the US. In fact, I now find myself doing the same thing. But I digress.

Another custom that we as Americans are not quite used to is nose-picking. I can't say that it's encouraged here nor something you would do somewhere nice, but over the past few days the number of blatant nose-pickers that I've seen is astronomical. There just isn't the same stigma attached to it. Yes, allergy season is high, but still. So, in that vane, as I looked for pictures I found that wikihow has a page on "how to pick your nose inconspicuously". It's cracking me up. But there you go.

humid or dry, i'm not quite sure?

My roommate melissa and i went for a run a bit earlier and we noticed the strange phenomenon that has occurred as of late - it feels a bit humid, but somehow the air seems to take all the moisture out of our bodies, so we are in a perpetual state of dehydration (or so it feels). We are both from the midwest where it is most definitely EXTREMELY humid (at least in Missouri). Madrid is not at all like that. And, yes, it is definitely dry. But as the summer has arrived it feels some days a bit humid and may even rain (a bit), but on these humid days honestly it feels like all the moisture is taken from my body to make the air humid. I don't understand, but it seems a little strange.

secret agent

Today (Friday) I drove a friend to the Spanish version of the FBI. About a year ago their family's apartment was broken into and their computers, cameras, and other major electronic equipment was taken. They live close to where I do in a safe part of town. Anyway, a couple weeks ago (a year later) they got a call from the guardia civil to say that they had recovered one of their stolen computers and that they could come recover it in Toledo (about 45 minutes away).

So this morning Dave and I set out for Toledo in my car. We arrived found a place to park, paid the meter and walked over to the guardia civil compound. Now granted the guardia civil is kind of like the police branch of the military so it is a bit more intimidating than the standard police office. We saw some military cars leave, walked up to the guard at the gate and told him that we were there to meet Juan de Mata (that's his name, really, but "mata" means to kill, so it sounds like John Killer or something like that). The guard takes Dave's id card goes into the building on the right, calls up on the intercom to someone upstairs and says something (I was too far away to hear). Then about two minutes later a car drives up with a guy that looks at Dave and says, "Hi Dave. I'm Juan." and then to the guards, "Have them follow me." So we follow the car which quickly goes out of sight. There is practically no one else in sight. And most of those who are are in uniform.

Juan was a normal looking guy in sunglasses in a nice, but normal car. Anyway, we have no idea where the car nor Juan is, but right about this time a thin, tattooed, spanish looking guy with curly, somewhat long dark hair walks out and greets us (or more correctly Dave - they shake my hand too, but only because I'm standing there). He definitely looks like an undercover cop who is carrying a gun. He takes us upstairs were we enter into their office. There are about 8 desks, a board with photos, names, and random details about Operation Perche or something like that. We hear the two men (Juan soon after enters the room) talking about random details of some guys who are in jail.

Then Juan brings out Dave's computer, asks him to identify it, asks Dave a ton of personal information (his parents' names, his addresses here and in the US, etc.,). Then Dave asks how they found it and him. Apparently the stolen goods were found in eight residences of Polish immigrants who were a part of a mafia or band of gangs. Juan had gotten permission to hack into all the computers, so he had looked at the contents of Dave's computer where he found information about the mission he works with, contacted them, and then got in touch with Dave. Juan then showed us pictures of the thieves who were now in jail, pictures of Dave and his wife (which were now on Juan's computer), etc.,

We then sat there for about an hour or so while Juan entered a ton of info into his computer, had Dave sign a few things, looked through boxes of confiscated stuff from these same residences in search of the many other things Dave and Beth (Dave's wife) had lost. The laptop (an old Dell) and the carrying bag along with a jerry-rigged European cord were all that remained. The mac computers (which were newer, and of course much better ;-)), the camera, and other stuff was no where to be found, probably the stuff they sold early on by the thieves.

We talked awhile to the officers and then headed back home, but on the way back both of us felt like we had just entered another world, that we were now living the life of Alias or of Mission Impossible, that somehow we were cooler or had just glimpsed a world we know nothing about.

So that was my friday morning... We got back in time for lunch and the rest of the day was fairly normal.

summer!!!

it is feeling more and more like summer here every day. cafe con hielo (iced coffee) is becoming more and more a norm, which is VERY much something of summer. generally it's an espresso poured ice, but it can also be more like a cafe freddo (which is actually greek), which is espresso and milk poured over ice, or in my case cafe con soja over ice. :-) yum!!! and with my new skirts thanks to this past weekend and some time of sewing, mending, adjusting of old clothes or clothes left here by others, I am ready for the heat :-)

time...

this year i honestly feel like i'm in a timewarp. it seems like my weeks are full and somehow days and weeks and, yes, months seem to FLY by. I'm not quite sure how, but it seems like we should still be in January or at the latest February and yet we are in MAY! Ahhh... how can it be?

There are things I've intended to do that have gotten set by the wayside.

Today as I came back from an activity we had with students I started to figure out why (not that it is that much of an epiphany, but anyways...). The meeting started at 6pm (in theory). We ended around 8:20pm, talked for a bit and then I headed to the metro to go home (probably a 7-10 min walk). On the way there a few people called, so I waited outside the metro talking to them (since there's only sporadic coverage inside). We talked for a bit and then I had a 20-25min commute home. It takes about 10-15min to walk back from the metro stop where that line drops me off. I needed to stop by the grocery store which is on the way to pick up just a couple things (15 more minutes), then walk home. So I got home a bit after 10, an hour and a half after the meeting. I made dinner, talked to a few more people on the phone and went to bed (since I had a race to run this morning), and it occurred to me: No wonder life seems to fly by. It just takes longer to get things done here. Transportation time adds a bit (and the fact that I now have a car only changes longer trips - if it's in the city it would talk longer in a car, at least to park) and meetings just take longer. So, nothing too profound. But it does make me feel a bit better about the whole thing. And probably the reality that most "holidays" these days are full with ministry things, being the best time to hang out with people, also adds to how quickly time seems to pass.

All that said, I am enjoying my quiet Sunday afternoon at home reading, journaling, waiting to call home (when it gets late enough), and just being. :-)

hoy - la carrera de la mujer

Today I ran the woman's 6km (3.6mi) for breast cancer with my friend Maria, one of the best Spanish runners alive, an Olympic champion, and my friend. It was a fun run, pretty relaxed with 15,000 other women through Madrid's retiro park. And it was exhilarating, running with her, even if we didn't set any world records, just to be running with someone of her caliber.

Maria has been recovering from mononucleosis and thus can't exert herself nor train the way she usually does and I think she enjoyed just running for fun, without the pressure of competing. Usually she wins this race with 3min kilometers, or 5min miles. This year we ran well, but ran a comfortable pace where we talked the whole way. It was me, Maria and Mari Ángeles.

It makes me remember how much I love to run. :-) So, who knows, maybe another marathon or half-marathon isn't too far away. :-)

perfect love casts out fear...

Bekah and I spent the morning at a 24-7 prayer room in a friend's house in Madrid. It was a great time of prayer, of meeting with and hearing from the Lord, and a fun time with Bekah. As we prayed together at the end of the time there we prayed about some things that have to begun to weigh heavily on me from time to time. Presently we are partnering with another ministry here in Madrid, who in fact form half our team. They are reevaluating their direction as a team (with the other ministry) which may or may not have implications in how our partnership plays out practically. I am on one hand very excited for them and yet on the other hand I am afraid. Perfect love casts out fear.

I know that God has not forgotten us. I know that God knows my needs and those of our ministry here. I know that he has NO limit in what he can provide and that his provision is PERFECT and that he gives (always) GOOD gifts. I know these things to be true. And I know that I have a tender, sweet, caring, loving Heavenly Father. And yet as this team takes steps forward (which I think they should and are necessary), I find myself a bit anxious about the unknown. The righteous shall live by faith... (Rm 1.17) faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen... By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible... (Heb 11.1,3) By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of the heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore... (Heb 11.11,12) These are the things that ARE true whether or not I feel them to be true.

Please pray for me in this that I would walk by FAITH and NOT by sight. Pray for God's will to be done. Pray for God to raise up a team for us, whatever He would see fit for that to look like. Pray that we would trust HIM every step of the way to be the great provider. Pray for me not to fear, neither the unknown nor the past repeating itself. Pray that I would walk both in FREEDOM and in PEACE. :-) Thanks!