Well, we have been here almost three weeks now. I can’t believe it. Time has flown by! We’ve had so many amazing experiences. I can’t wait until we get internet, so I can keep you up to date on all that the Lord is doing. I don’t have too much time, but I wanted to write a little about how the boys are doing in school. I’d really like to ask you to pray for us in this. I’m not exactly sure what to do… but, God knows. He’s in control, and He’s sovereign!
Weston has really adjusted very well. I’m amazed at the PERFECT placement the Lord had for him. He has made many new friends, and he is enjoying school. He told me the other day that he is beginning to understand his teacher. Man, I wish my brain worked like that. I love that my kids are already beginning to mix English and Spanish. Weston told me the other day that his hands were “very frio.” (Frio is Spanish for cold.) It was cute. So, Weston seems to be adjusting. We still have days (or, usually nights… at bedtime everything seems more dramatic, somehow.) that Weston cries and doesn’t want to go to school the next day, but they are very few. I’m thankful for how well Weston seems to be doing.
But, for my younger boys… it almost seems like it’s gotten harder as time has gone on. In the past, we’ve always had trouble with Jonathan leaving us. Many of you may remember our time at FPO and how hard that was. So, we expected a difficult time with Jonathan. What I really, really didn’t expect was a difficult time with Nathan. Nathan has always been such a people person and so laid back. He’s always just rolled with the punches. He has loved school in the past, and was so looking forward to it here.
As the days go on, I keep expecting it to get better, but it seems harder with Nathan. I’m not sure why. His legs have been hurting him, so he’s not walking really well lately. He has also begun to crawl more at home… which is really odd. I keep thinking that maybe he’s walking more at school than normal, so maybe he’s sore. But, I’m also wondering if he’s regressing… if things are harder on him than we know. He is crying everyday at school, clinging to me and not wanting me to go. It’s just so NOT Nathan. When I try to ask him why he doesn’t want to go to school, he always tells me something different. School is boring; he’s afraid we won’t come back and get him; he’s afraid that he’ll choke while he’s at school. (He has been sick and he has a bad cough… in the past he has coughed so hard he almost threw up, so I think that’s what he’s talking about.)
His teacher doesn’t speak English, so it’s hard to communicate. She is SO kind and loving, though. I’m very thankful for that. We do charades, trying to communicate, and she tells me he is doing ok. He only really cries in the beginning, and then he’s fine. It’s just hard on a momma’s heart. I know many of you can relate.
I made photo albums for each of the boys before we left the States. I thought it might be helpful for them to have their favorite people all in one place. So, we bring Nathan’s to school everyday, and he frantically turns to the page of Wes and I, so that he has our picture before I leave him. It just breaks my heart… I think it’s harder on me than anything else is.
Jonathan seems to be doing a little bit better than Nathan, surprisingly. He is sleepwalking at night, which he does when he gets stressed. He is crying sometimes at night and in the morning. But, he will at least leave my side and go with is teacher without a huge rigmarole. He cries, but he seems ok.
I have a meeting scheduled with Nathan’s teacher on Thursday, so maybe that will help… I’m hoping we can find someone to translate for us, so we can actually talk. ☺ I do wonder if it’s hard on Nathan b/c he is such a communicator. He is SO talkative, and I think words have been his strength, since he can’t really maneuver very well. I have asked him if it bothers him that he can’t talk with people, but he says it doesn’t… in fact, he looked at me like I was crazy for asking. ☺ Who knows.
So, please do pray for Nathan… and for Wes and I as we try to do what we can to help him through this transition. We are still looking into a pediatric physical therapist for him, so please also pray for wisdom and direction in that. We miss you all!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Culture Shock
Ok, so Wes tells me that I have to be careful to make sure I let y’all know our reality here… not only just the good stuff we try to focus on. Our entire family agrees that we are so blessed by all that the Lord has done, and we do try to focus on positive. But, obviously, reality is that it is sometimes hard here!
So, culture shock hit me within only days of being here. I think I told you about the schedule thing. That hit me pretty quickly. The other thing that has been hard is that we get very little natural light in our apartment. I don’t think I realized how hard that was hitting me until a bunch of things piled up, and I realized that sitting on my bed with the sun streaming in was SO relaxing!! Once I actually realized it, I made a point of opening any windows that we do have, and drawing back curtains, so we could get the most light.
It’s funny. When you’re going through so much transition and change, you just focus on “making it.” I get so focused on getting the things done that HAVE to get done, that I tend to get tunnel vision. I think I can only do it for so long.
We went grocery shopping for the first time with all of the kids on a Saturday. That was not a good idea. It was one of the first times actually driving somewhere (ok, I was riding… Wes was driving… I’m still not brave enough to drive), and I think the driving was as stressful as the shopping!! It just seems like there is no space here… me and my big American mentality. ☺ Everything is on top of each other!.... the streets, the parking, the shopping, the sidewalks, the elevators, the houses, the stores… everything! Lol. I can imagine that those who live in a real mega city would just laugh at me, but this has been culture shock enough for me. I can’t imagine Tokyo or something.
Ok, so imagine driving down streets where you can hardly fit, b/c there are cars parked on either side of the street. People walk out in front of your car without notice; and drivers cross two lanes, cutting you off in a “round-about.” You finally make it to the parking lot of the grocery store, and there are NO parking spots… literally. You finally find a spot, and the cars are parked so close together that you cannot get your kids out of the car. (and I don’t mean that this one spot is tight… every car in the lot is parked like this!) You figure out that one side has a tiny bit more space, so you get everyone out on that one side. Then you have to snake through countless rows of cars, single file, sideways (b/c there’s no space!)… ok, now picture that with 4 kids 6 and under! Lol.
I can laugh now, but it took us about 4 hours to get through shopping that day. I mean, we needed milk and bread and diapers, etc. They weren’t really optional items. Can you just picture us? We have to have 2 carts with all of our kids… and most Spaniards only have 1 or 2 kids, so we are a sight. But, after 4 hours and PAST dinner time… we were not only a SIGHT to see… but you could HEAR us, too. I’m afraid you could hear us all over the store. ☺ Needless to say, the kids were antsy, and Carolina was just crying. I was stressed by all the people and no space, my loud children making a scene, AND not knowing what anything was. I’m sure there are a million of these stories from my colleagues all over the world. This is called CULTURE SHOCK.
I do have to say that I have an amazing husband. Everyday, I’m so thankful for him. He seems to take all of this into stride. He’s in his element, I do believe. If he knew the language, there would be no stopping him! ☺ His adventurous side has totally come to life, and I’m so thankful for it. I think I’d be hiding in my room without him. Well, I think he noticed my wide-eyed, shell-shocked look. ☺ Since it was past dinner time, he decided we would go out to dinner. We have been trying to be so careful with our money, since we really don’t know how much everything is going to cost yet. But, Wes decided this was a necessity. Lol.
Amazingly, we do have a McDonalds here in Caceres! And praise the Lord for fast food! Lol… who ever would have thought I’d be so thankful for something like a hamburger and French fries!? They actually have a play place there, and so the kids got to get some energy out. I think I sat wide-eyed staring at the wall the whole time. Wes would say, “ok, so how are we doing?”… or, “so, what do we need to do to make life more do-able.” It was then and there that I decided that I literally had to sit down and figure out a schedule for our family. I think things had just piled up until they spilled over at the grocery store. I do not function well in chaos, and that’s all we’d had for too long. I mean, my kids were up at 11pm at night and not waking up until 11am… naps were happening at 6pm at night…. it was craziness to me. (Those of you who know me, really understand how crazy life must’ve been if my kids were up at 11pm!) ☺ The funny thing is that I didn’t even realize how stressed I was until I hit that wall, and Wes asked me what needed to happen.
Once we decided on a schedule, things completely changed. Wow. I had no idea I was such a scheduled person. I think I like to have a plan and absolutely nothing was planned… not meals, not bed-times… everything was just happening while we were trying to get the “important” things done. Everyone says you just have to “hold on” and make it through the first week. Well, we did, and I’m thankful it’s over!!! Lol.
Things are truly much better now. It’s amazing what a schedule does for my peace of mind. I know what to expect, and I know what can get done and what needs to get done. Whew! I can handle the closeness of everything and the not knowing the language, as long as I have my schedule. ☺ lol… some of you totally understand, and some of you think I’m a bit over the top. ☺
Laundry was another thing that has been crazy. I think I talked a little bit about that when we first got here. Well, I had figured out a routine, but what I hadn’t figured in was our sheets and towels. I can do one load a day (b/c it takes so long to dry without a dryer) and keep up with our clothes. I forgot to figure in sheets and towels… I needed a couple more days in the week. Lol. ☺ Well, that came to a climax when Jonathan wet his bed AND our bed all in one night!... so then I also had to wash not only two sheet sets extra, but also the mattress pads for both beds. Good grief, how do I do that? Yeah, well, I still haven’t figured it out. ☺
Wes went and bought a dryer today. He came home from picking up some fruit and milk for us, and told me he bought a dryer. Lol… yes, he really did. I was really trying to make due without it. Most Spaniards don’t have a dryer, so I thought we could adapt, too! But, what I have found out since is that most Spanish families with three kids DO have a dryer. My friend here told me “even Spaniards with big families can’t do without a dryer.” So that made me feel better. ☺ Wes felt like laundry was an unnecessary stress that could be easily remedied. I just know we will have a lot of expenses when we are no longer in a furnished apartment… like beds!!!! We have a lot of furniture to buy, but probably after a week of having my new dryer, I’ll agree that I’d rather sleep on a couch and HAVE dryer!!! ☺
I hope I’ve made you laugh some today. Wes and I try to laugh at all this stuff. We call them laughable moments (you’ve probably heard me talk about it before… we seem to have a lot of them in our family.) We either have to laugh or cry. ☺ Wes found a coffee pot and a humidifier while he was buying the dryer, so we are REALLY all set and spoiled now!
So, culture shock hit me within only days of being here. I think I told you about the schedule thing. That hit me pretty quickly. The other thing that has been hard is that we get very little natural light in our apartment. I don’t think I realized how hard that was hitting me until a bunch of things piled up, and I realized that sitting on my bed with the sun streaming in was SO relaxing!! Once I actually realized it, I made a point of opening any windows that we do have, and drawing back curtains, so we could get the most light.
It’s funny. When you’re going through so much transition and change, you just focus on “making it.” I get so focused on getting the things done that HAVE to get done, that I tend to get tunnel vision. I think I can only do it for so long.
We went grocery shopping for the first time with all of the kids on a Saturday. That was not a good idea. It was one of the first times actually driving somewhere (ok, I was riding… Wes was driving… I’m still not brave enough to drive), and I think the driving was as stressful as the shopping!! It just seems like there is no space here… me and my big American mentality. ☺ Everything is on top of each other!.... the streets, the parking, the shopping, the sidewalks, the elevators, the houses, the stores… everything! Lol. I can imagine that those who live in a real mega city would just laugh at me, but this has been culture shock enough for me. I can’t imagine Tokyo or something.
Ok, so imagine driving down streets where you can hardly fit, b/c there are cars parked on either side of the street. People walk out in front of your car without notice; and drivers cross two lanes, cutting you off in a “round-about.” You finally make it to the parking lot of the grocery store, and there are NO parking spots… literally. You finally find a spot, and the cars are parked so close together that you cannot get your kids out of the car. (and I don’t mean that this one spot is tight… every car in the lot is parked like this!) You figure out that one side has a tiny bit more space, so you get everyone out on that one side. Then you have to snake through countless rows of cars, single file, sideways (b/c there’s no space!)… ok, now picture that with 4 kids 6 and under! Lol.
I can laugh now, but it took us about 4 hours to get through shopping that day. I mean, we needed milk and bread and diapers, etc. They weren’t really optional items. Can you just picture us? We have to have 2 carts with all of our kids… and most Spaniards only have 1 or 2 kids, so we are a sight. But, after 4 hours and PAST dinner time… we were not only a SIGHT to see… but you could HEAR us, too. I’m afraid you could hear us all over the store. ☺ Needless to say, the kids were antsy, and Carolina was just crying. I was stressed by all the people and no space, my loud children making a scene, AND not knowing what anything was. I’m sure there are a million of these stories from my colleagues all over the world. This is called CULTURE SHOCK.
I do have to say that I have an amazing husband. Everyday, I’m so thankful for him. He seems to take all of this into stride. He’s in his element, I do believe. If he knew the language, there would be no stopping him! ☺ His adventurous side has totally come to life, and I’m so thankful for it. I think I’d be hiding in my room without him. Well, I think he noticed my wide-eyed, shell-shocked look. ☺ Since it was past dinner time, he decided we would go out to dinner. We have been trying to be so careful with our money, since we really don’t know how much everything is going to cost yet. But, Wes decided this was a necessity. Lol.
Amazingly, we do have a McDonalds here in Caceres! And praise the Lord for fast food! Lol… who ever would have thought I’d be so thankful for something like a hamburger and French fries!? They actually have a play place there, and so the kids got to get some energy out. I think I sat wide-eyed staring at the wall the whole time. Wes would say, “ok, so how are we doing?”… or, “so, what do we need to do to make life more do-able.” It was then and there that I decided that I literally had to sit down and figure out a schedule for our family. I think things had just piled up until they spilled over at the grocery store. I do not function well in chaos, and that’s all we’d had for too long. I mean, my kids were up at 11pm at night and not waking up until 11am… naps were happening at 6pm at night…. it was craziness to me. (Those of you who know me, really understand how crazy life must’ve been if my kids were up at 11pm!) ☺ The funny thing is that I didn’t even realize how stressed I was until I hit that wall, and Wes asked me what needed to happen.
Once we decided on a schedule, things completely changed. Wow. I had no idea I was such a scheduled person. I think I like to have a plan and absolutely nothing was planned… not meals, not bed-times… everything was just happening while we were trying to get the “important” things done. Everyone says you just have to “hold on” and make it through the first week. Well, we did, and I’m thankful it’s over!!! Lol.
Things are truly much better now. It’s amazing what a schedule does for my peace of mind. I know what to expect, and I know what can get done and what needs to get done. Whew! I can handle the closeness of everything and the not knowing the language, as long as I have my schedule. ☺ lol… some of you totally understand, and some of you think I’m a bit over the top. ☺
Laundry was another thing that has been crazy. I think I talked a little bit about that when we first got here. Well, I had figured out a routine, but what I hadn’t figured in was our sheets and towels. I can do one load a day (b/c it takes so long to dry without a dryer) and keep up with our clothes. I forgot to figure in sheets and towels… I needed a couple more days in the week. Lol. ☺ Well, that came to a climax when Jonathan wet his bed AND our bed all in one night!... so then I also had to wash not only two sheet sets extra, but also the mattress pads for both beds. Good grief, how do I do that? Yeah, well, I still haven’t figured it out. ☺
Wes went and bought a dryer today. He came home from picking up some fruit and milk for us, and told me he bought a dryer. Lol… yes, he really did. I was really trying to make due without it. Most Spaniards don’t have a dryer, so I thought we could adapt, too! But, what I have found out since is that most Spanish families with three kids DO have a dryer. My friend here told me “even Spaniards with big families can’t do without a dryer.” So that made me feel better. ☺ Wes felt like laundry was an unnecessary stress that could be easily remedied. I just know we will have a lot of expenses when we are no longer in a furnished apartment… like beds!!!! We have a lot of furniture to buy, but probably after a week of having my new dryer, I’ll agree that I’d rather sleep on a couch and HAVE dryer!!! ☺
I hope I’ve made you laugh some today. Wes and I try to laugh at all this stuff. We call them laughable moments (you’ve probably heard me talk about it before… we seem to have a lot of them in our family.) We either have to laugh or cry. ☺ Wes found a coffee pot and a humidifier while he was buying the dryer, so we are REALLY all set and spoiled now!
School... for all of us!
Thank you all so much for all of your prayers! We have definitely seen the hand of the Lord over the past two weeks. We are slowly adjusting to our new life here in Spain. The Lord opened many doors for us last week, so we were able to start the kids in school this last Tuesday!
We arrived at our apartment in Caceres late Wednesday night, and spent Thursday morning getting settled (although we didn’t get too far!) Thursday afternoon, we took all the kids across the street to visit the school that is right here. It’s so close that we can see the front gate from our flat!
It turns out that our landlord used to teach at that school, so when he found out we were going to look at it for the kids, he told us he would give them a call for us. He really paved the way for us to get into the school… well, WE know that the Lord used him in that way. I don’t think we even realized it when it was happening!
When we arrived at the school, they knew who we were and we were able to go right in and talk with the director. They were so welcoming and kind, and the secretary spoke a tiny little bit of English!! When the Landlord called, he didn’t know the ages of our kids, so they said that they needed to check to see if they had the space for all the kids. It would depend on the age of the child.
The school is newly renovated, and they don’t do “districts” here like they do in the U.S. People sign up for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices of schools for their kids, and then they go by which schools fill up. I guess, b/c this school was newly renovated; it was a top choice for many parents. There were no issues with Jonathan and Nathan’s classes, but Weston’s class only had one spot open in the entire school. How “God” was that!? They gave us all our paperwork to fill out and all the materials the kids would need. The only draw-back was that, b/c we were starting in the middle of the school year, all the teachers that usually give individual help for those kids who need it, already had all their schedules filled up. In Spain, they don’t like to hold children back a grade. If a child is behind, or if they need special help in any way, they work with them on an individual basis. Our kids qualify for that help b/c of the language issue… but we were also thinking that Nathan would need some added help, as well. They explained that it might be a while before they could do individual help with the kids.
Before we left, the secretary asked me if I would be willing to help out with their English classes for an hour or so a week. I was thrilled, and told her I’d love to! I didn’t realize at the time how rare that offer is! Wes and I both really liked this school from the moment we walked in. It is spotless, and it is also “accessible” (it has a ramp and an elevator), which is also not normal, we found.
So, that was our very first day looking at schools. Even though we were very happy with that school, our teammate here who was helping us wanted to make sure we had looked at all our options before we decided. So, the next day, we started out for the private Catholic school down the street. I’m sure many of you have been through the ordeal of choosing schools for your kids, and it can be overwhelming! I had been fervently asking the Lord to open and close doors, so that we would clearly know the exact place HE wanted our kids. (I mean, we have been praying for a year now, in preparation for this!... we knew He had the perfect place for them already chosen! ☺ ) There are many, many details I could tell you about walking all over the city, looking at these different schools… but, for the sake of time, I’m just going to tell you that the Lord closed every single door. By the end of the day, it was clear He wanted us at Practicas… the school across the street.
Amazingly, before the workday was over (which is 2pm here in Spain!), we had gone to the city hall and done all the registration we needed to officially enroll the kids. We had caught their specialist just in time to do an evaluation of Nathan (b/c of his Cerebral Palsy). They told us that according to their testing, Nathan didn’t need any extra one-on-one help (other than the fact that he doesn’t know the language.) According to their testing, he is right on track with all the other kids his age. The last thing that fell into place was getting the consent of the principal at Practicas. They couldn’t reach him at the school, but one of the ladies knew him, so she called him on his cell phone and got his verbal consent to go ahead and enroll the boys. It was quite an exciting day! We could definitely see the Lord at work!
So, the boys started school the next Tuesday. It was a little rough. They had us all come in half an hour after all the kid had already arrived. They didn’t want the boys to have to filter through the craziness of “drop off” time in the morning. The halls were quiet when we walked in, and we were able to take each boy to his classroom and meet his teacher. Not one of the teachers spoke any English, so it was interesting. The secretary that we had spoken with before was out for the week at a funeral, so we couldn’t even communicate with the director really. We did a lot of hand motions and kindergarten words, and it went fairly smoothly.
Neither Weston nor Nathan cried, but Jonathan had a really hard time. We figured it would be that way, since Jonathan tends to be my homebody. All in all, their first day went well! Weston had a girl in his class from England, so he had someone who could translate for him… but she’s a “girl”, so he said he didn’t ask her anything. ;)
During all this time, we also found and interviewed a girl to watch Carolina while Wes and I were at school. We went through a few options, but Kristiina is a perfect fit! We have also been praying for Kristiina for a year now! God has been SO good, and I thank all of YOU who also prayed for all these things! He sure has answered in amazing ways! Kristiina is from Finland, but she grew up here as a Missionary Kid! She speaks a little bit of English, so that’s a huge plus… and it’s hard to find. She has just finished her schooling to become a nurse, and she is in the process of getting a job. So, in the mean time, we are blessed to have her watching Carolina. Carolina loves her (although she still cries every time we leave.) She walks around saying “Ina! Ina!” when Kristiina is not here. ☺ It’s awfully cute.
After we drop the boys off, Wes and I head off to class for ourselves. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk for us (we walk everywhere here). It’s beautiful… the school is located in “old town.” As soon as I can, I’ll post pics from our walk. There are castles and cobblestone… it’s quite enchanting! It is just Wes and I in our class, and our teacher is young and lots of fun. She has a great sense of humor; so between her and Wes, we laugh a lot in class.
I need to go and hang up laundry (the never ending task!), but I wanted to give you at least a brief update! ☺ Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray for the boys as they adjust. I’ll write again soon. I still have so much “reality” to share. Lol. We miss you all!
We arrived at our apartment in Caceres late Wednesday night, and spent Thursday morning getting settled (although we didn’t get too far!) Thursday afternoon, we took all the kids across the street to visit the school that is right here. It’s so close that we can see the front gate from our flat!
It turns out that our landlord used to teach at that school, so when he found out we were going to look at it for the kids, he told us he would give them a call for us. He really paved the way for us to get into the school… well, WE know that the Lord used him in that way. I don’t think we even realized it when it was happening!
When we arrived at the school, they knew who we were and we were able to go right in and talk with the director. They were so welcoming and kind, and the secretary spoke a tiny little bit of English!! When the Landlord called, he didn’t know the ages of our kids, so they said that they needed to check to see if they had the space for all the kids. It would depend on the age of the child.
The school is newly renovated, and they don’t do “districts” here like they do in the U.S. People sign up for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices of schools for their kids, and then they go by which schools fill up. I guess, b/c this school was newly renovated; it was a top choice for many parents. There were no issues with Jonathan and Nathan’s classes, but Weston’s class only had one spot open in the entire school. How “God” was that!? They gave us all our paperwork to fill out and all the materials the kids would need. The only draw-back was that, b/c we were starting in the middle of the school year, all the teachers that usually give individual help for those kids who need it, already had all their schedules filled up. In Spain, they don’t like to hold children back a grade. If a child is behind, or if they need special help in any way, they work with them on an individual basis. Our kids qualify for that help b/c of the language issue… but we were also thinking that Nathan would need some added help, as well. They explained that it might be a while before they could do individual help with the kids.
Before we left, the secretary asked me if I would be willing to help out with their English classes for an hour or so a week. I was thrilled, and told her I’d love to! I didn’t realize at the time how rare that offer is! Wes and I both really liked this school from the moment we walked in. It is spotless, and it is also “accessible” (it has a ramp and an elevator), which is also not normal, we found.
So, that was our very first day looking at schools. Even though we were very happy with that school, our teammate here who was helping us wanted to make sure we had looked at all our options before we decided. So, the next day, we started out for the private Catholic school down the street. I’m sure many of you have been through the ordeal of choosing schools for your kids, and it can be overwhelming! I had been fervently asking the Lord to open and close doors, so that we would clearly know the exact place HE wanted our kids. (I mean, we have been praying for a year now, in preparation for this!... we knew He had the perfect place for them already chosen! ☺ ) There are many, many details I could tell you about walking all over the city, looking at these different schools… but, for the sake of time, I’m just going to tell you that the Lord closed every single door. By the end of the day, it was clear He wanted us at Practicas… the school across the street.
Amazingly, before the workday was over (which is 2pm here in Spain!), we had gone to the city hall and done all the registration we needed to officially enroll the kids. We had caught their specialist just in time to do an evaluation of Nathan (b/c of his Cerebral Palsy). They told us that according to their testing, Nathan didn’t need any extra one-on-one help (other than the fact that he doesn’t know the language.) According to their testing, he is right on track with all the other kids his age. The last thing that fell into place was getting the consent of the principal at Practicas. They couldn’t reach him at the school, but one of the ladies knew him, so she called him on his cell phone and got his verbal consent to go ahead and enroll the boys. It was quite an exciting day! We could definitely see the Lord at work!
So, the boys started school the next Tuesday. It was a little rough. They had us all come in half an hour after all the kid had already arrived. They didn’t want the boys to have to filter through the craziness of “drop off” time in the morning. The halls were quiet when we walked in, and we were able to take each boy to his classroom and meet his teacher. Not one of the teachers spoke any English, so it was interesting. The secretary that we had spoken with before was out for the week at a funeral, so we couldn’t even communicate with the director really. We did a lot of hand motions and kindergarten words, and it went fairly smoothly.
Neither Weston nor Nathan cried, but Jonathan had a really hard time. We figured it would be that way, since Jonathan tends to be my homebody. All in all, their first day went well! Weston had a girl in his class from England, so he had someone who could translate for him… but she’s a “girl”, so he said he didn’t ask her anything. ;)
During all this time, we also found and interviewed a girl to watch Carolina while Wes and I were at school. We went through a few options, but Kristiina is a perfect fit! We have also been praying for Kristiina for a year now! God has been SO good, and I thank all of YOU who also prayed for all these things! He sure has answered in amazing ways! Kristiina is from Finland, but she grew up here as a Missionary Kid! She speaks a little bit of English, so that’s a huge plus… and it’s hard to find. She has just finished her schooling to become a nurse, and she is in the process of getting a job. So, in the mean time, we are blessed to have her watching Carolina. Carolina loves her (although she still cries every time we leave.) She walks around saying “Ina! Ina!” when Kristiina is not here. ☺ It’s awfully cute.
After we drop the boys off, Wes and I head off to class for ourselves. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk for us (we walk everywhere here). It’s beautiful… the school is located in “old town.” As soon as I can, I’ll post pics from our walk. There are castles and cobblestone… it’s quite enchanting! It is just Wes and I in our class, and our teacher is young and lots of fun. She has a great sense of humor; so between her and Wes, we laugh a lot in class.
I need to go and hang up laundry (the never ending task!), but I wanted to give you at least a brief update! ☺ Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray for the boys as they adjust. I’ll write again soon. I still have so much “reality” to share. Lol. We miss you all!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Our Home...
Hola! Wow, there is so much to tell you all. We still do not have internet, so I can’t post pictures, yet, but I cannot wait for you to see the city we are living in! God has been so good to us. We are doing great. We are going through the normal adjustments, but all in all, we are doing well.
As I write, I am sitting in our “first floor” flat, which is really located on the 2nd floor. The first floor is the ground floor, so we are the “first floor.” The sun is streaming in through the sliding glass doors, and I can see past our balcony to the city street below. It is as European as I can imagine! People walking everywhere; little pastry shops, candy shops, a butcher shop, coffee shop, etc. Today is cold, but as sunny as it has been. It’s beautiful here.
We live in an amazing apartment, with very modern accommodations. We feel SO blessed! Our place is about 1200 square feet, and we have a wonderful balcony. Thankfully, it has a high wall, so I’m not so nervous about the boys falling off. ☺ It’s big enough for them all to go out there and play cars and such. The only thing is that everything here is made of stone, marble and brick. It’s gorgeous, but it echoes a ton. If any of you know my children, you know that combination is not the greatest. My boys are so loud… I’m afraid the entire street can hear us! :)
We have marble floors and marble countertops. There’s no carpet here. Our guess is that it keeps it much cooler in the hot summers. My kitchen is huge, compared to what I expected. There are great counter-tops, and a large fridge (by European standards… probably only about half the size of an American fridge.) We have a washer, but no dryer or dishwasher. I guess that’s very normal in Spain. My washer sits under my kitchen counter where you would expect the dishwasher to be. It made me laugh when I first saw it! It’s small, compared to American standards, but I’m SO thankful for it!
My kitchen has a cream marble floor, black and white marble counter tops, and it’s accented with red!! I LOVE it. Our bathrooms have a rack that heats up when the heater is on, so we have warm towels when we get out of the shower. Can you believe it? Lol.
We are still adjusting, but it took me a little bit to figure out how in the world to make it without a dryer. With three boys and Wes, I usually have a TON of laundry! We used to do at least a load a day in our large American washer… AND I had a dryer there! Here it takes 2 hours for washer to wash, and it takes at least 24 hours for the clothes to dry… sometimes longer, if its jeans or something. So, how do you do that with a family of SIX? We don’t have a clothesline, but we found a drying rack, which most people keep outside on the balcony. We have brought it in, b/c it’s so cold outside, and it’s been rainy. I HAVE to do laundry everyday, regardless of rain or shine, so we brought the rack inside. Until we figure out a better way, we will just have to make due with drying laundry in our living room. :)
When we first got here, I think I got totally overwhelmed with the schedule here. Spain keeps very different hours than our family is used to. Those of you who know us well, know that we are a very scheduled family. It’s just what is necessary for us to function as a family of six. When we got here, we had to deal with the time change, of course; but when you add the difference in schedule, it really threw me off. I think that was my first bit of culture shock. I function on a schedule, so it was overwhelming to me to not know when to put my kids down for a nap or when to feed them lunch! I know that sounds odd, but that’s truly how it was for me. The kids go to school from 9am to 2pm, but they don’t eat lunch while they are there. They have a snack at noon, and the normal Spanish lunch hour is 2-3pm, and it is their large meal. Spaniards have a snack again at 5 or 6pm, and they eat dinner around 9pm, which is usually sandwiches. So, as you can imagine, that totally messed up my schedule! We really wanted to try to adapt to Spanish culture, as much as we could, anyway.
As the days went on, Wes and I realized that we weren’t going to make it, if we kept to a normal Spanish schedule. Lol. :) Maybe we will ease into that… especially as our kids get older, but for now, I’ve adapted our schedule. So, this is our weekday schedule:
8am- breakfast
9am-drop off boys at school
9:30am- language school begins for Wes and I
1pm- Wes and I finish class, and usually try to get any business done that we need to. (Everything here closes down at 2pm for siesta, and many things do not open again until morning.)
2pm-pick up boys from school
2:30pm- eat lunch (I decided to stick with sandwiches, since I have no time to actually cook a meal!)
3:00pm- Carolina and Jonathan take a nap
5pm- they get up and have a snack
6:30pm- dinner
7:30-bedtime for the kids!
Then I spend a couple hours doing dishes, folding laundry and putting the clothes out to dry. Wes and I sneak in an hour of review from our class, and then we go to bed! It’s such a PACKED day. I’m sure it will get better as time goes on. We just still have so much to do.
We spent our first week trying to get all the details set up… like utilities, phone, internet, etc. We did have help from our team here; they have been amazingly helpful! One of the journeymen here set up all our utilities for us, and one has been helping us with our phones. Everything just takes a while in Spain. Oh, and we had to set up a bank account, and apply for a residency card. They all seem to be ongoing processes that we have to keep going back for the next “step.” Lol… such is life! :) I think it’s made a bit harder by the fact that everything closes down at 2pm.
I must go make dinner, but I will write again soon. I have to fill you in on schools and the kids... and more culture shock. Please keep praying for us and our adjustments here! Pray for our internet to get hooked up quickly!! :) That would help our adjustment, I think. Lol. We miss you all, and so appreciate all the prayers!
As I write, I am sitting in our “first floor” flat, which is really located on the 2nd floor. The first floor is the ground floor, so we are the “first floor.” The sun is streaming in through the sliding glass doors, and I can see past our balcony to the city street below. It is as European as I can imagine! People walking everywhere; little pastry shops, candy shops, a butcher shop, coffee shop, etc. Today is cold, but as sunny as it has been. It’s beautiful here.
We live in an amazing apartment, with very modern accommodations. We feel SO blessed! Our place is about 1200 square feet, and we have a wonderful balcony. Thankfully, it has a high wall, so I’m not so nervous about the boys falling off. ☺ It’s big enough for them all to go out there and play cars and such. The only thing is that everything here is made of stone, marble and brick. It’s gorgeous, but it echoes a ton. If any of you know my children, you know that combination is not the greatest. My boys are so loud… I’m afraid the entire street can hear us! :)
We have marble floors and marble countertops. There’s no carpet here. Our guess is that it keeps it much cooler in the hot summers. My kitchen is huge, compared to what I expected. There are great counter-tops, and a large fridge (by European standards… probably only about half the size of an American fridge.) We have a washer, but no dryer or dishwasher. I guess that’s very normal in Spain. My washer sits under my kitchen counter where you would expect the dishwasher to be. It made me laugh when I first saw it! It’s small, compared to American standards, but I’m SO thankful for it!
My kitchen has a cream marble floor, black and white marble counter tops, and it’s accented with red!! I LOVE it. Our bathrooms have a rack that heats up when the heater is on, so we have warm towels when we get out of the shower. Can you believe it? Lol.
We are still adjusting, but it took me a little bit to figure out how in the world to make it without a dryer. With three boys and Wes, I usually have a TON of laundry! We used to do at least a load a day in our large American washer… AND I had a dryer there! Here it takes 2 hours for washer to wash, and it takes at least 24 hours for the clothes to dry… sometimes longer, if its jeans or something. So, how do you do that with a family of SIX? We don’t have a clothesline, but we found a drying rack, which most people keep outside on the balcony. We have brought it in, b/c it’s so cold outside, and it’s been rainy. I HAVE to do laundry everyday, regardless of rain or shine, so we brought the rack inside. Until we figure out a better way, we will just have to make due with drying laundry in our living room. :)
When we first got here, I think I got totally overwhelmed with the schedule here. Spain keeps very different hours than our family is used to. Those of you who know us well, know that we are a very scheduled family. It’s just what is necessary for us to function as a family of six. When we got here, we had to deal with the time change, of course; but when you add the difference in schedule, it really threw me off. I think that was my first bit of culture shock. I function on a schedule, so it was overwhelming to me to not know when to put my kids down for a nap or when to feed them lunch! I know that sounds odd, but that’s truly how it was for me. The kids go to school from 9am to 2pm, but they don’t eat lunch while they are there. They have a snack at noon, and the normal Spanish lunch hour is 2-3pm, and it is their large meal. Spaniards have a snack again at 5 or 6pm, and they eat dinner around 9pm, which is usually sandwiches. So, as you can imagine, that totally messed up my schedule! We really wanted to try to adapt to Spanish culture, as much as we could, anyway.
As the days went on, Wes and I realized that we weren’t going to make it, if we kept to a normal Spanish schedule. Lol. :) Maybe we will ease into that… especially as our kids get older, but for now, I’ve adapted our schedule. So, this is our weekday schedule:
8am- breakfast
9am-drop off boys at school
9:30am- language school begins for Wes and I
1pm- Wes and I finish class, and usually try to get any business done that we need to. (Everything here closes down at 2pm for siesta, and many things do not open again until morning.)
2pm-pick up boys from school
2:30pm- eat lunch (I decided to stick with sandwiches, since I have no time to actually cook a meal!)
3:00pm- Carolina and Jonathan take a nap
5pm- they get up and have a snack
6:30pm- dinner
7:30-bedtime for the kids!
Then I spend a couple hours doing dishes, folding laundry and putting the clothes out to dry. Wes and I sneak in an hour of review from our class, and then we go to bed! It’s such a PACKED day. I’m sure it will get better as time goes on. We just still have so much to do.
We spent our first week trying to get all the details set up… like utilities, phone, internet, etc. We did have help from our team here; they have been amazingly helpful! One of the journeymen here set up all our utilities for us, and one has been helping us with our phones. Everything just takes a while in Spain. Oh, and we had to set up a bank account, and apply for a residency card. They all seem to be ongoing processes that we have to keep going back for the next “step.” Lol… such is life! :) I think it’s made a bit harder by the fact that everything closes down at 2pm.
I must go make dinner, but I will write again soon. I have to fill you in on schools and the kids... and more culture shock. Please keep praying for us and our adjustments here! Pray for our internet to get hooked up quickly!! :) That would help our adjustment, I think. Lol. We miss you all, and so appreciate all the prayers!
Friday, February 5, 2010
We have arrived!
It’s 4pm, and we just finished lunch…typical for Spain, or so we understand. At this very moment, we are driving down the highway in our brand new (to us) Ford Galaxy. We just finished lunch in Madrid, and we are on our way to Caceres to sign the contract for our new apartment! It took two cars (other than ours), just to carry our luggage. Our car just barely fits all 6 of us and our stroller.
It’s beautiful here. The people have been so kind and friendly, and so far, most people have spoken a little bit of English! As we drive down the highway, it reminds us of California. It looks very dry like a desert. There are beautiful snow capped mountains all around with vineyards on either side of the highway. Every once in a while you’ll see a Spanish home (I might call it a villa) with the Spanish tile roofs and high walls. It’s beautiful! I don’t think it has really hit us that we are actually, finally here!
I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who prayed for us as we traveled! God was SO gracious and good to us on every side. We had a huge snowstorm in our area the night before we were supposed to leave. We had chosen to drive the 3 hours to D.C., so that we would only have to switch planes once during our trip. 14 inches in the south is not the greatest travel conditions! We had to battle the snow-covered roads, but we left a little early, and we did fine. It was icy and slow at first, but once we got to the major highway, we were good to go!
My parents and my sister came with us, so that we had another vehicle to fit all of our luggage. We arrived 4 hours before our flight was due to take off. We just wanted to be prepared for any difficulties we may have with checking in our luggage or with security. We parked curbside and unloaded our 20 bags… yes, 20!! Well, 11 huge checked bags, 1 pack-n-play, 6 carry-ons, and 2 carry on overnight bags… along with 3 car seats and a double stroller. We were a sight to see!!! We had help with the checked luggage, and we tipped him well! J
We had bought 9 big huge red duffle bags for this trip. I call them body bags; they are so big. So, we spent the last several nights packing all our breakable stuff in the two hard suitcases, and the rest had to be distributed through the 9 duffle bags. It was quite a process. I packed everything, and then we weighed each bag to make sure nothing was over 50 lbs. Of course, several were, so I had to re-distribute things … several times. Poor Wes got so tired of lifting 50 lb. bags and standing on the scale. We tried to pack each bag up to 49 lbs and nothing more, just in case our scale was off.
It certainly paid off. As we weighed everything, the lady complimented us on packing so well! J Praise the Lord, nothing was oversized or overweight. We were taking our pack-n-play (it’s what Carolina will be sleeping in for the next 4-6 moths until our crate arrives.) But, I was worried it would get totally banged up and broken, so we found a large box that was just perfect sized. It was technically ½ inch too large, so we were grateful that they didn’t have a problem with it. Using the box also gave us a little bit more space, so I packed some pillows and some stuffed animals to pad the pack-n-play, and so the kids will have some familiar “friends.” We were so thankful for how easy the check-in process was.
Because we got our tickets so last minute, there was not way to book our seats together. Of course, once the lady saw how young our kids were, she put a request in for them to book us together at the gate. Once the gate opened, the guy actually came up to us and asked us and asked us if we were the Whites. J Go figure, I guess we are not inconspicuous. J Anyway, he was so nice. He upgraded our seats so we would have some more leg room and put us in back to back rows. What a blessing from the Lord!
We were early, so we sat for a little while with my family in the airport before we had to say goodbye. Goodbyes are never fun, so we decided it was really a “see you later.” Somehow semantics helped in this instance. J So, we said goodbye, and the guy showed up with a wheel chair for Nathan. This was one time I was grateful that Nathan’s disability actually brought us some convenient help. The wheel chair had a place for luggage underneath, so we loaded it up. The guy took us through special doors and entrances and right up to the front of security, b/c of Nathan’s wheel chair. It is always so crazy for us to go through security, b/c of the stroller and all the kids, but everyone was so kind and helpful. They even let me take all my little cartons of Soy milk and baby food for Carolina!
Everything the whole trip really was perfectly timed, so that it felt very peaceful. I didn’t think I would ever use that word in conjunction with this trip, but our God is SO good! We had the perfect amount of time before we boarded the plane, and then the kids slept for about 4 of the 8 hours of our first initial flight. Carolina slept in her car seat for the first hour or so, and then I held her for the next 4 and ½ hours. Needless to say, I was very sore and didn’t sleep at all, but she was quiet and sleeping, so I was happy!
Once we arrived in Frankfurt, it was a little difficult getting off the plane, b/c they didn’t have our stroller or a wheel chair right there for us… but we made it, and then asked again for the wheel chair. This time, it saved us a ton of time. Not only did we get personally led through the entire airport, but we were taken to the front of a huge line at customs. It was definitely a blessing.
In Frankfurt, our plane was delayed for about an hour, so the kids got just a little bit antsy, but not too bad for what they’d been going through! They were working on between 2-5 hours of sleep (depending on the kid) and no naps… so, I thought they were doing pretty good! We were all exhausted by the time we got on the plane. Carolina fell asleep in Wes’ arms before he could even get her in the car seat, so he just held her for the two hours of the flight. Nathan fell asleep against him, and all three of them slept for the whole two hours! Weston and Jonathan were a little more excited, but they slept for the last hour. All in all, we were blessed!
It was hard to believe we had actually arrived in Madrid! We were exhausted, but to thankful to finally be here! We had no wheel chair this time, and initially, they told us there was no elevator to go down to baggage claim. We walked around and around trying to find some way… they didn’t even have escalators going down, they were just normal steps. We didn’t want to have to tackle that unless it was completely necessary. Ok, you should have seen us: Carolina was in the front of our sit and stand stroller. Nathan sat on the bench part, and Jonathan stood, facing Nathan… they were almost nose-to-nose. J I had Carolina’s car seat attached onto our rolling duffle bag; Weston was carrying his huge back pack that was really too heavy for a 6 year old; Wes was carrying a hiking backpack full of “stuff” and we had attached his laptop bag to the part that usually carries a sleeping bag. Lol! We also had Carolina’s diaper bag and my duffle bag full of snacks and activities for the boys hanging on the back of the stroller. WE WERE A SIGHT! Anyway, to make a long story short, we finally found an elevator. Once we finally got down to baggage claim, everyone else was gone, and it was just our luggage going around and around.
As we were walking up, an attendant was checking the tags on our luggage… it must’ve been there a while. So, our next challenge was how to get all 20 pieces of luggage out to where our friends were waiting! They had carts there, but they were so tiny, we could only fit 3 bag on each. As we stood there, assessing the situation, we saw someone waving at us whenever the sliding doors would open. We were so thankful to see Joel Jolley and Daniel waiting outside for us! Wes loaded about 6 carts full of our luggage, and we pushed the stroller and one cart through the doors. It was wonderful to see welcoming, smiling faces!
Once the guard at the door saw that we were trying to get all the luggage out the door, she let Joel and Daniel come in and help us. We had made it!!!!!!! We loaded half the luggage in Joel’s car, and then took the rest in the shuttle to the hotel.
The hotel was beautiful and so clean! We had all of us in one room, so one of the boys slept on the floor and Carolina was in a crib. It was cozy-tight, but wonderful! There was even a little play area outside, so the kids got to run off some energy.
Joel and Daniel were so gracious. I think as I look back, I’m not sure we even really said a full sentence the whole time we were together! We were so tired! They went and got us McDonalds (yay!... no culture shock for my kids!). The kids ate, took baths, and went straight to bed. They fell asleep around 5pm and didn’t wake up until we WOKE them up at almost 10am the next morning. (Carolina did wake up for a little bit, b/c she was hungry, but then went right back to sleep!!) Again, God was very gracious. I think they got all caught up and they’re good to go now! J I also went to bed early. I took a shower, and crawled into bed at 6pm. So, thankfully, we all got rest.
This morning, we met with Dwight and Mara, who are in charge of language learning in the area. (And I got my first “café” here in Spain!... it was wonderful!) They went over just a couple things with us, and they dropped off our vehicle for us! Right after that meeting, we loaded the vehicles, and headed out! We stopped on the way out of Madrid at TGI Fridays… again, they’re breaking us in easy… either that, or they were getting their fill of American food. ;) And here we are, driving the 3 hours to Caceres!
Once we get to Caceres, we will sign the contract for our apartment, and try to get our utilities and phone set up. Thank the Lord, we have all this help from all the missionaries already here. They are certainly an answer to prayer, and they’ve been so friendly and kind. They just kep telling us they want to help us adjust as easily as possible. We have certainly seen God’s love through them! I will write again and post pics of our apartment, as soon as I can.
Thank you all so much for praying, and praise be to our Sovereign, Gracious God!!!! We have arrived in Spain!
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