We are officially in Villa del Rio! I’m writing this while sitting on Josue’s old bed, which is covered with memorabilia of his youth. MJ has owned this house for 10 years, so the family is pretty settled here. I think there are plans to move here after Josue graduates (at least for MJ).

This morning was a bit hectic, I tried to pack and return library books and update my blog and return messages and upload pictures all before lunch. Most of it got done, and I was able to grab some lunch and relax before Javier, Eva and Josue picked us up in the minivan (or whatever it is.) Their car uses an ignition card! So cool!

We left Madrid at about 4 pm, and stopped only for gas and for a beverage stop at a sweet stone cervecas in la montanas! It looked so cool as we drove away, the building is built into the hill and is much taller than it seems, from the necessity of building on the side of a mountain. I posted a blurry picture on Facebook, which gives you the general idea of a stone building plopped amongst the trees.

Villa del Rio (village by the river) is small but has tiendas, churches and schools like everywhere else. Most of the houses, MJ’s included, are like  double story apartments, with similar casas lined up in one uniform building. I like the house itself, it has many rooms and a back porch area partially roofed, which would be great fun for barbeques and whatnot! And the only cockroach spotted this weekend was already dead so, that’s a plus!

We visited the local olive oil factory, the employees of which didn’t seem to mind us walking around the equipment. Javier showed me where they pour the olives in to be crushed and the conveyor belt that piles the chopped pits in the courtyard (picture on Facebook). The olives are very dark indigo, nearly black, and the juice inside stained Javier’s fingers purple.

After a large family lunch, nosotros (sin Josue) drove to Cordoba, the big historical city nearby. We went to Mezquita Cordoba Mosque, a Moroccan style teteria (delicious teas of different styles and flavors are served, along with sweet North African pasteries) and many souvenir tiendas. We crossed a long bridge where I took about 120 pictures and saw an ultra light touring vehicle soar overhead. It was a good day, full of walking, pictures and browsing.

Theresa, an American working in Melaga, is here for a few days so I’ll be meeting her soon. I might even be spending some time down in Malaga, to see how things work down there, which is fine with me!

Youth Group was fun tonight, that’s a high energy bunch of kids! They love to dance, which is new for me! I’ve never worked with a youth group where the teens spontaneously dance during musical chairs or during a Wii championship battle. They are also big on games (of course! Who isn’t?) Next week I’m planning games; so far I’m thinking: Winkum (not bloody), Psychiatrist, Spoons….what else? They know 4 on the Couch…if we’re allowed all over the church we could play Alien vs. Weapon or Mafia (shout-out to TBC & GBC!) That’s the best part about this experience thus far, there’s not much difference between discipleship in Spain and discipleship in America (of course, I’m not in charge, so my responsibility level is much lighter! I don’t even have to bring snacks, which is good because my first experiment making chocolate chip cookies here was…..less than delicious.)

Church this morning was good, but I’m still having a hard time concentrating on the message. I’m barely able to follow along, especially if I don’t know what passage we’re in. Still, it’s good practice. (As is watching movies in Spanish, which I’ve been doing with MJ. We’ve watched “El Caso Bourne” and the Denzel Washington one where he has to solve the murder before it happens. The one with Jim Caveizel, aka the guy who played Jesus in “Passion of the Christ”)

After the service, Gina, Bill, Theresa of Avila and I scuttled out in search of a restaurant. We stopped at MJ’s, where she, Eva, Javier and Josue were getting ready for lunch. Eva said Sol would have the most variety, so that’s where we went. We ended up choosing a place simply because the waiter opened the door to talk to us while we were reading the menu! There was a “meal of the day” special for 11.90, which included an appetizer, main dish, drink and dessert/coffee. After all of my complaining about fish, I ended up getting the fish plate, being too flustered to examine the rest of the menu. My own fault. OH! The first thing I saw when I sat down was a huge dead cucaracha next to my chair! UGH! It had big feelers and its legs were all curled up…at least as big as my pinky from the knuckle up. Gross. However, as Bill said, “welcome to the city” and it’s not likely that this would be the only restaurant with cockroaches and the rest would be roach free, there’s so jammed together. So, after making the rest of the group aware of my seatmate, I tucked my purse up off the floor and concentrated on enjoying lunch. Which I did, I’m glad to say!

After lunch, we went to Bill and Gina’s apartment, which is GORGEOUS! It’s HUGE, has 2 hallways, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (both with tubs!) and a laundry room! One of the bedrooms is an office, the living room is so cool and has a half French door thing, the colors throughout are fantastic! The guest bathroom has aqua tile, the kitchen has black marble tile floors (and maybe countertops) and there are all these cool nooks and crannies! I really like it, lots of personality already and they haven’t even finished decorating.

Bill and Gina shared some of their thoughts about being far from home, the emotional support from people in the U.S. and the whole idea of “being where God wants you to be”. It was so good to get their insight. They prayed and planned for 9 years before coming to Spain. For them, making the decision to come was the result of A LOT of seeking God’s will. I’m so glad they ended up here!

It seems like we all have a hesitancy to do something good…without knowing if it’s what God wants. I mean, God said “make disciples” but sometimes I hesitate and say, “But which ones are my disciples? Should I go here? There? What if I make the wrong choice, choose the wrong place?” Plus, sometimes it takes years to build the friendships necessary to even begin the evangelism process without being rebuffed. It’s a tough decision to commit, say, 5 years of your life to a city or people group, without a specific call that lets you know “This is where I want you to work” (God speaking) However, the alternative to acting before feeling absolutely sure is…not acting at all. Waiting to act can lead to forgetting, being distracted or convincing yourself that you’re not the right one for the job. It’s very easy for me to convince myself that I’m not suited. My gut, my emotions, my experience all shout in unison “You’re not ready for this! This is not your area of expertise! Turn back!” And sometimes I do. Not knowing what I am capable of is torturous. Every time I turn back from a challenge, I stay in my comfort zone. I don’t change, I don’t grow; I am not challenged, honed or strengthened by turning away from an opportunity. I am swaddled and atrophy a little bit more each time, so that it becomes easier and easier to close my eyes, shift my gaze, let my mind wander away from the dangerous territory of “Should I?”

These are just things I’m thinking about, maybe it’s just me but I doubt it. And I’m not just talking about deciding to go to another country! I’m faced with personal, relational and spiritual challenges all the time, no matter where I am. It’s doing what I know what is right, even my whole being is rebelling against it. I’m talking about the reaction to do what is safe & comfortable, instead of having faith that the outcome outweighs the immediate cost. Being uncomfortable, rebuffed, sacrificing something you want or need: how are these “costs” in the long run really? Better to call them “inconveniences”.

When I got home, MJ had already started on mi gorro amarillo! (my yellow beret) I tried on her red version to get an idea of what I’m in for and it’s cute but I looked like a character from Strawberry Shortcake! Oh well, it’ll be a fun thing for us to work on together. She’s teaching me how to crochet that type of hat. The question is: who will I give it to? Ohhh, mystery! See how I try to draw people into reading my updates, with these twists and turns? “Will Joelene ever make chocolate chip cookies? Is there another post office in her future? WHO will get her poorly made beret? Tune in next time…”

My absolute favorite time of day here is the morning. When I left the house to catch the bus, the sun was shining and the sidewalks were buzzing with the elderly inhabitants of La Elipa: little men with canes and berets, bouffant-ed (bouffanced? Can I invent that word?) ladies with shin-length wool camel coats walking arm in arm, women chatting and squinting on benches, old gentlemen holding their wives’ arm as they prepare to cross the street. The morning is the time of the elderly, since the students are in school and the employed masses are in the city or en la tiendas. And so, on quiet sunny mornings, the retirees and I stroll placidly along, feeling the sun on our faces and nodding our hellos.

MJ’s friend Consuela came over to knit today. The two ladies used to work together at a daycare center. They either said they worked together for 20+ years or it had been 20+ years ago since they had worked together. Either way, Consuela is originally from Equatorial Guinea, has 5 kids, 5 grandkids and the best recipe for pollo con peanut butter sauce that I’ve ever tasted. Lunch today was staggeringly delicious. But most of the lunches I record in my journal are epic!

I found a closer post office! It’s in El Carmen, which is about 15 min distance by foot. Maria Jesus set me on the right street, and from there I just walked and asked, walked and asked again. The shortest distance, I think, will be to walk to the church, go dereche up the hill until I reach the playground park, take the street on the left after walking through the park and then it’s near there. I can’t remember the street name (Almada-something-something?) and it’s not printed on the receipt. The way home is easy: there’s a line of golden tan identical apartment buildings, curving downhill towards La Elipa. Life is so interesting when you don’t speak the language! It turns even the mundane task of finding a post office into an adventure!

I finally found a post office! It’s called the Palace of Communication, or something like that, which is why I couldn’t find it on google maps. Silly me, I was searching for “post office”. Katrina took me there on our coffee/exploration day today! The inside of the post office reminded me of a racetrack betting office…

Other than the post office, we also visited a cafeteria called Faborit, which has a large bistro-type menu and delicious espresso! After Faborit, we walked to Retiro, the largest park in Madrid. Though the trees and flowers haven’t started blooming, the park is beautiful! It’s aptly named; Retiro is a wonderful place to sit, relax, talk or just look around. When the weather gets a bit warmer, I might trek down there with my sketch pad and see what kind of ludicrousness I can conjure up.

I’ve discovered something else about the library: they have shelves and shelves of movies (which will play on my computer!) Woohoo! I can watch all the Spanish dvds I want. I have Por Siempre Jamas (Ever After) and Quiero Ser Como Beckham (Bend it Like Beckham) for the next 3 days. I also checked out 3 libros para jovenes: Don Quixote (illustrated version) Gilgamesh (as in, “Epic of”?) and Memorias de Una Vaca (Memories of a Cow). Spending almost every moment immersed in Spanish can be tough, but spending time with my new American friends is like a holiday of English and comprehension!

Manana: clase de Espanol! TO SLEEP! (I’ve gotten into the bad habit of waiting to record the day until I’m drooping with exhaustion, which explains the content of some of these entries.)

In Spain, people greet each other by kissing both cheeks. Technically they touch cheeks and air kiss. This is the way they greet old friends, new acquaintances and Americans who are just sitting on the sidelines watching a radio program take place. I have been kissed by more strangers in the past 12 days than by family members the first 25 years of my life. And I have a very affectionate family. I have kissed people whose names I was never to hear. If a strange person leans in toward me, I am socially obligated to lean in to meet them and squish my face onto theirs. It’s culture and sometimes it has a beard. Sometimes culture means having another person’s lotion on my face. Or aftershave. Or lunch (that hasn’t happened yet, but it might!). I learned something important last night: always go left first. It’s a tacit rule universally observed. Going right first could result in an awkward meet-in-the-middle, which is the kind of thing that happens to Americans who try so hard to NOT be awkward yet, sadly, rarely succeed (this hasn’t happened to me yet. But it might.) This is also how Spaniards say goodbye, so if you barely made it through the first encounter without embarrassing yourself, guess what?! …..

03/01/10

I’m going to start a weekly list called “And what have we learned from this?” Or maybe, “Cultural Lessons from a Slow Learner”. (Alternative titles will be considered if anyone would like to make a suggestion) Although I technically arrived in Madrid on Wed the 24^th, I don’t really count that as a day in Spain since I spent the morning in Washington and had dinner with Americans. So….

What have I learned this week? I’ve learned that:

1. the name I used on our Mexico mission trips: Jolena (ho-lay-na) in Spain is a type of mild profanity, used by grandmothers when the store is out of their favorite snack (“No mas galletas? Ah ho-layn!”)
2. people in Spain do not eat tacos. They have Mariachi bands, but just for the tourists. Their favorite food is jamon (ham) and their typical music is pop, though many radios stations play American music (I’ve listened to Jack Johnson, U2 and Cher since I’ve been here).
3. in Spain, they drive on the right side of the road. Literally the right side, I’m not being ethnocentric.
4. having a European adapter on your computer cord is wishful thinking. Good rule of thumb: if there’s a chance you might blow all the circuits and emabarass yourself/inconvenience a large amount of people, you WILL. (for those of you who saw “Leap Year”, I pretty much re-enacted Amy Adams and the blackberry fiasco on my first night here.)
5. conversing with the nice slow-speaking Spanish lady in the juice aisle of the supermercado is much different than conversing with the impatient gravel-voiced man in the bank.
6. not looking into people’s eyes is hard! But looking strange men in the face here is like wearing a Spanish sign that says “I’m American! Flirt with me in a way that is demeaning and makes me uncomfortable!”
7. sardonic comments should be kept to one’s self until the language has been properly mastered. No matter how much English you use, no one gets the joke. (sigh)

Today I saw the Madrid of postcard legend, the Madrid that looks the way I’ve always imagined Rome & Paris. The streets, the buildings, plazas, the Palace for Pete’s sake! There’s a good reason all of the tourists go to areas like this one; it was romantic and picturesque. La Elipa is sweet and very Spanish and the other places I’ve seen are nice, but today I saw pigeons flying over tables in the plaza, with the café signs and the sun shining through olive trees in the Palace garden….ahhh! I can’t wait to go again!