Open Doors

School has now finished for the summer for Wes and I.  It has been so nice to be able to be in charge of my own schedule again! :) We are still required to do our 40 ours of language a week, even without our class time everyday; but now we get to do language a little more catered to our own learning style (or at least I do)!  We were trying to line up a tutor who might come in several nights a weeks (so we wouldn't have to pay a babysitter), but it's been very difficult to find in our small city of Caceres.  So, I have filled up my schedule of 40 hours by spending "speaking time" with friends and reading fiction in Spanish!! ... in addition to self-study.  I think it's been very helpful to assimilate all we've been learning in class... and actually use it. :)

I have really enjoyed the freedom I've had to go and have coffee with other moms from the kids' school.  They had given up inviting me when I was going to class everyday, but now that I have the time, I go whenever I can.  It's a very refreshing part of Spanish culture!  I've loved it.  It's helped me tremendously with my Spanish... since most of them do NOT speak English.  It's really neat to see how they take 30 minutes out of EVERY DAY to just be together and share life.  It's not hours... just about 30 minutes, and then they are off to do their daily activities. 

We've had about two weeks since school finished up for us.  That first week I spent a lot of time in the mornings with these ladies and specifically with my friend Toña.  I think I've mentioned that I do an "intercambio" each week, and Toña is my partner for that.  We meet weekly so that she can practice her English and I can practice my Spanish.  She has become a wonderful friend.  She is very patient as I think and put words together to form sentences.  :) She has two children who are each in one of my kids' classes, so she often helps me with what's going on in class or in the school in general.  She has taken me shopping to the little markets here and there... and the health-food store!  She even went with me to get my hair cut! :)  I have enjoyed having the extra time to build into our friendship.

So, that first week, I spent time going out and building relationships with people; and Wes spent that week trying to figure out how to get his Spanish driver's license.  Poor guy.   At this point, I am not even attempting it, but it has to be done, so he's doing it! :)  The process here is much more complicated and difficult than in the States (surprise!) and the kicker is that it's all done in Spanish!  ... of course! :)  His license from the States is only valid for our first six months here, and then he is required to have a Spanish license.  The thing is, it takes at least 3 months (and that's doing it quickly!) to get your license here.  Anyway, lots of details but the bottom line is that Wes is doing "auto escuela" classes and studying online to take the driving test.  It's a great language exercise (lol), since he has to translate EVERYTHING!

Also, during that week first week out of school, we finally had our appointment with Cadex for Nathan.  I have no idea what Cadex is. :)  But, from what we have gathered, it's kinda the starting point for getting Nathan into their social system for physical therapy.  We've been waiting about 2 months for this appoint (I think I've mentioned it before.)  They do social medicine here, and we are under "private" insurance.  Technically, I think we are supposed to do all "private" doctors, but there's very few here b/c most people DO the social medicine.  Nathan's school pointed us in the direction of Cadex, and I wasn't sure what was going to come of it.  But, the Lord was so gracious.

The day of the appointment, we had to bring a translator along with us, so one of our friends came with us.  Nathan saw a psychologist, a medical doctor, and a social worker that day.  They all examined him and asked questions in order to give an evaluation.  What we found out that day was that in order to qualify (if they let us "slip" into the system at all), Nathan would need to be evaluated as at least 33% "disabled."  I'm not sure how they measure that, but I thought for sure Nathan wouldn't qualify.  I mean, the kid is smart as a whip and he RUNS! :) lol ... on his toes, but he still runs! :)

I believe very strongly that the Lord was opening doors for us that day.  Our friend, Angela, who is a missionary in another nearby town, made the comment as well.  The Lord opened door after door for us to walk through.  He has allowed us to meet and connect with all the right people who would be able to help us get to where we needed to go.  We met the director of this Cadex when we first came in to apply.  He was the only one who spoke English, so we established the beginnings of a relationship with him that day.  The day of our interview, he came out and wanted to meet Nathan.  He talked for quite a while, loving on Nathan.  It was very sweet.  And if you know Nathan, you know he loved that!  Nathan loves to talk to anyone who will listen! :)

Anyway, the medical doctor told Angela that he was going to do whatever he could for Nathan.  He said that Nathan is doing very well, but that therapy would be necessary for him to be at his BEST... which is exactly how I feel!!!  Nathan IS doing well for having Cerebral Palsy; but he could be doing better, I believe.  Apparently, the doctor had the authority to decide on a case by case basis.  At the end of all those interviews, we found out that they had evaluated Nathan at 34% disabled.  So, thank the Lord for softening the hearts of those who had the authority to "slip" Nathan into the system!

While we were there, they offered some other possible "helps" for us, and we asked a bunch of questions.  I was so encouraged that day.  I do believe that if we were in a large city, it might have been easy to be overlooked, but I think God softened the hearts of the people we were meeting with... and they had the authority to "do" what was needed!

There is something here called "Familia numerosa."  Yeah, just like it sounds... they actually call it a "condition."  We have the "condition" of being a "large family." :)  We have to apply for a card that "certifies" us as a large family, and then we qualify for all sorts of different discounts.  Here in Caceres, we pay for all the kids' school books, even though they are in a public school.  Kinda different... and VERY expensive with 3 kids in school!!  Familia numerosa would qualify us for a discount for books, medications, even air-line tickets within Europe!  So, needless to say, we had been trying to apply for it.

My amazing husband had started at an agency that the school had sent him to... and it was not the right one.  I think he walked for hours in the rain, all over town going from place to place trying to apply for it.  He finally found the right place, but they told him that he had to have a "family book."  In the States, obviously, we don't have a "family book"... we have birth certificates, marriage certs., etc.  The guy was pretty obstinate about it.  He told Wes that we would have to have all of our documents translated and put into an official Spanish "family book."  But he didn't know where Wes would have to get that done.  Lovely, huh?  Nobody seemed to know.  So, we were at a standstill on that... until this particular day... the day that God opened many doors!!

We had mentioned to the social worker that we had been trying to apply for it, but we were running into trouble.  She made a phone call for us, and she said the guy was expecting us that afternoon.  Praise the Lord!  We walked in with all our American paperwork (the exact same ones they had "turned down" the week before!), and got all our documents certified and our application finished.  The guy was so gracious on this particular day.  He mentioned that since Nathan had qualified into the system at Cadex, he would actually qualify for 2 kids, putting our family into the next level of "savings."  The only thing was that we didn't have the official letter from Cadex yet.  The guy told us that it would be simpler to wait for that letter and then come back in, rather than re-applying in 10 days when the letter comes in.  He decided to go ahead and authenticate everything for us, so we wouldn't have to bring our documents in again.  He signed and validated everything and now all we have to do is bring that letter in with the paperwork he signed, and we are set!  Isn't God good?  It's amazing how God has been answering specific prayers!

As of right now, we are still waiting on that paper and also to find out if we qualified for some other "help" that Cadex recommended.  Please pray that we do qualify, and that it comes back quickly!  It is all still a process... a waiting game.  We can't even begin to pursue the avenues of getting Nathan into therapy until we have that letter.  He has been without therapy for probably about 8 months now.  I don't think it's detrimental in the long run, but I do think Nathan could be doing better.  So, please join with us in praying for a quick turn around of paperwork and more open doors for the right place for therapy for Nathan. :)