We're not in America anymore...

One of the churches in the area has been doing a focus on evangelism this week, and they've been doing an evangelism outreach every night in different pueblos around Valencia.  Wes was thrilled with the idea, so he's been gone every night this week from 5 until almost midnight.  He has been loving it... getting to share the Gospel, prayer walk, and build relationships... his favorite things!  Well, tonight, after they were done, the guys decided they were going to all go home, grab a quick bite to eat, and meet back at the fútbol (soccer) field to play a little ball.  We live about 45 min. from where they were, so Wes decided to just drive through Burger King.  He called me just after he ordered to let me know what was going on and when he thought he'd be home.  I hung up the phone and spent the next hour or so picking up the house, doing dishes, folding laundry and making granola.  As I was finishing the dishes, I got a text from Wes... "still waiting for my food." HA!  Yup... definitely not in America anymore!  Can you imagine waiting an HOUR for your food at a "fast food" restaurant... and in the drive-though, no less?!?!  Wes hasn't even gotten home yet, but I bet they didn't even apologize.  They never do. :)

It made me laugh (although I'm sure Wes was NOT laughing!) :)... and then it brought to mind the many other times we've had "not in America anymore" experiences with "fast food" restaurants.  Each incident in and of itself was not really big enough to blog about, so you probably haven't heard most of these.  I just thought I'd share a couple so you could get a good laugh... and appreciate the customer service in the States a little bit more.  :)

We really don't eat out very often, but once in a while, its nice to have a break from cooking.  When we lived in Cáceres, there really were very few options for "take out"... and with 4 kids so young, we didn't venture out to restaurants very often.  We'd gotten a flier for a new place in town that was delivering, which is really a whole new idea for them there, so we decided to give it a try! :)  I was excited at the thought of not having to cook, and Wes was thrilled to not have to go out an pick it up.  He called and placed our order, and they said it would be about half an hour.  We were ordering early for dinner... around 8pm and most Spaniards don't eat until 10 or later.  After about an hour, we both started to get antsy.  Wes was hungry and I was just tired of waiting, so Wes called the place back to see if maybe they couldn't find us.  They said no... it was on it's way.  It would only be 5 more minutes.  The delivery guy was almost there.  25 minutes later, still no food.  Wes called again... "he's in the neighborhood... 5 minutes."  Wes tried to cancel the order, but the guy wouldn't let him.  He said the delivery guy was right there.  (Our Spanish was still not the greatest, or we might have pressed that issue farther; but when you can't speak as well as you'd like, you learn to just deal with what you've got.)  So we decided to wait.  15 minutes later, the guy showed up at our door.  We were both exasperated, but happy to finally have our food. 

The delivery guy quoted the price and it was higher than it was supposed to be.  They had charged us for an extra sandwich.  I explained that to him, and he just shrugged.  He said he couldn't change the ticket.  It's what he was given and it's what we had to pay.  Now, after waiting an hour and 45 minutes for our food, there was no way I was going to pay for the extra sandwich.  He had already handed me the bag, but I told him to call his boss and get the new total because we were not paying extra.  He said he had no way to call.  I handed him our home phone.  He made the call and got the new total.  Wes handed him a 20, and the guy looked at Wes like, "What am I supposed to do with this?"  Then he told Wes that he couldn't make change.  We had to pay exact change for the order.  He didn't carry any money with him.  WHAT?!?!  Seriously?  Yes... he was dead serious.  So I put the bag down on the table and went looking for exact change.  The one thing I should add in here is that it is not normal to tip people in Spain.  In a sit-down restaurant, you never tip your server.  It's just not done here... but, even if it were, there was no way on earth we were going to tip this guy!  We had to raid Weston's piggy bank (seriously!), but we got the exact amount together and gave it to the guy.  The entire time I was looking, I just kept thinking... we will NEVER order from them again... NEVER.  I couldn't believe the horrible service, the rude delivery guy... and just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the delivery guy picks up the bag of food, rummages around in it, takes the extra sandwich out and walks out the door.  Yeah, definitely not in America anymore.

Wes should be home soon... so I only have time for one more.  This one's short, but shocking.  We had a group of college students on a short term mission trip with us, and we decided to do pizza one night.  In Cáceres (although not here in Valencia, crazy enough) we had a Pizza Hut!  That still stumps us to this day... tiny little Cáceres has a Pizza Hut, but Valencia does not???  Anyway... we figured out how many pizzas we thought we needed, and we called to place the order.  As we were calling, in the back of my mind, I thought, "boy, they will be happy to get this order!"  It was a big order... which means great money, right?  Nope.  They actually told us that they would NOT take our order.  It was too big. Hahahaha... is that not just hilarious!!  Can you imagine hearing that in the States?  I think we were all a little shocked. 

So, Wes just got home and you won't believe it... he never got his food from Burger King.  He eventually just left and went across the street to a little pizza place...it's a Spanish pizza chain.  There were no customers in there, so he asked what was the fasted thing they could make him.  They told him it didn't matter... everything took about 10 minutes.  So he placed his order... and 20 minutes later, still no food.  Wes went up to the counter and asked about it, and of course... the guy said it was just about to come up.  10 minutes later, Wes went back to the counter and had to call someone to the front because he stood there for a while and no one was around.  It took another 10 minutes to actually get his food!!!!!  He came home shaking his head, saying, "I've never experienced anything like it!"  I just laughed... glanced at this blog I'm about to post and replied, "Oh, yes you have!"

*Flashback*: Details about choosing schools

Here is the promised "flashback" blog about when we were trying to figure out what to do about school for Jonathan.  It was such a struggle in the beginning.  We had openings for Weston, Nathan and Carolina, but both 3rd grade classes in our neighborhood school were already over-filled.  This was an email update I sent out as we walked through this part of our journey in finding schools in Valencia:

We went to the appointment yesterday at the "ayuntamiento" and pleaded our case one more time. We even asked about holding Jonathan back and putting him into 2nd grade, since he had missed most of this year in Spain, and all his friends his age in the States are in 2nd grade anyway.  We had talked it over with Jonathan and he was ok with that, if it meant being in the same school as his brothers and sister.

In answer to that, we saw the social system in full effect yet again.  They said that Jonathan cannot be held back unless there are several years of not being able to keep up academically with his peers.  I asked her point blank, "So, we as his parents, have no say in what we think is the best for our son?"  She kinda blinked at me... I think she was taken back by the strange idea of parents deciding what is best educationally for their child.  She said, "No.  Not here."  My heart sank.  Jonathan was crying in my arms at that moment.  

So, from there, we decided to visit the school.  As we pulled up, we were all a bit disappointed.  It was obviously a very old school... crammed into the middle of the city with not much space around it. There was an empty lot next to it, completely overgrown and full of trash.  It took us forever to find parking, but arrived at the school just as the kids were getting out for lunch.  They go from 9-1 and then go back from 3-4:30.  Although, the majority of the kids eat in the cafeteria and just stay the whole time.

Anyway, we walked in the front door and felt like we stepped into another world... the school looked run down from the outside; but inside, it felt like a loving little family.  We were amazed.  We met the principal and he was surprisingly young... well, our age. :)  hehe... but definitely much younger than any principal we have met in the past.  He was so genuine and listened to all our concerns, empathizing with our situation.  He even called the principal of the other school, asking her to make an exception for Jonathan.  But, again, the answer came back no.  They are already too full for the 3rd grade.  When he came out and told us that, Jonathan cried... The principal checked the vacancies in their school and all of our kids had spots at THIS school... but Weston and Nathan both were adamant about going to the other school.  Carolina, on the other hand, fell in love with the school.  I'm not sure why, exactly, but she was begging to go there with Jonathan.

Well, we thought, maybe that was the answer to our prayer.  As we walked through the school and met the teachers, everyone was SO kind and very welcoming.  The school is 1/4 the size of the other school... it really is tiny.  But it made it feel like a family. It was really neat.  We met 4 of the pre-school kids around Carolina's age that ride the bus from our area.  There is a teacher on the bus with them, so that made me feel better.  They will both have to eat at the cafeteria, but when Jonathan saw what they were eating, he was all for that!... they get dessert with each meal. :)  (We did ask if the kids could bring their lunch, since Carolina has so many intolerances, but it's illegal.  Crazy, huh?  The government regulates what the kids eat.)  

As we were leaving, Jonathan seemed to have totally changed.  He was good with the school. We met his teacher, and she was really sweet.  There's only 16 in his class, so that's really good... normal size classes are 25.  As we left, Jonathan even told Wes that God had his brothers in the other school to tell them about Jesus, maybe HE was supposed to be at this school so that HE could tell them about Jesus.  It made me tear up.  Thank you all for praying.  I'm sure it won't be an easy road, but at least Jonathan has a peace at this point.  I'm thankful that he is able to see it from an eternal perspective, because as we all know... that changes everything.

School is finished!! :)

We have finished school!!!  It's amazing how long... but yet how short this journey has been.  It feels like we just started school and the kids were struggling and crying every day.  It was heartache and scariness facing us every morning, but over time... little by little, they adjusted.  Each day got a little easier.  Each one made special friends and it began to feel like home.

This was Jonathan and Carolina on their first day of school.  Wes took them, so they wouldn't have to have the added new experience of riding the bus. :)

In the car on the way!

walking from the car to the school

in front of the school

inside, getting ready to head to their different classes

As many of you know, there is a school within a couple minutes walking distance of our house, but they didn't have a place for Jonathan.  The other 3 kids had spots in their classes, but Jonathan's classes were filled to the maximum.  It was heartbreaking in the beginning, but we ended up having to split the kids up between two schools. (I will do a flashback blog and give you some of those details, since I've been too crazy busy to be posting along the way.  Sorry!)

Thank the LORD, He knew right where Carolina and Jonathan belonged.  They both did so well in this tiny little school.  All of the teachers commented on how well both of them adapted... and how quickly.  They all said it was unusual.  We were so thankful.

This is Carolina on her last day... right before her "kindergarten" graduation. :)

Carolina with Diana, one of her friends from school

Carolina with some of the girls in her class at the "end of year" party

Jonathan on his last day of school

At the "end of year" party with his best friend Hector

First day of school for Weston and Nathan!

 Weston and Nathan went to the school right down the street from our house.  They both had good teachers, and will actually both have the same teachers for this coming year, so that's a blessing!  They both have made some good friends.  Weston especially... Gustavo lives a couple doors down, and he and Weston sat next to each other in class.  He's become a regular part of our family... he even has his own cups now! (We joked about this because each of my kids have their own color for cups; so when one is found left on the table, they know exactly whose is whose without having to use a million cups in one day.  Gustavo is over so much that he now has his own color for cups!)  ;) 

Weston and Gustavo walking home from school together

Weston on the last day of school!

Nathan at the end of the school year

Nathan and his friend Aitor

We are looking forward to summer!! :)