Life is interesting! Yesterday ended on quite a lovely note...the two youngest girls went to stay with a friend for the evening, and with Momma out unti late, it was just the oldest daughter and myself. I felt like the Lord had just opened a door for me to get to know her. I've been praying & thinking about how to do that. Well, after she had finished up her final language class (English, German, & French) for the day (the other girls had their classes before her), I asked her if she would join me on a stroll through the town, window shopping. I was finally able to connect with her doing something she quite enjoyed! We walked along arm in arm enjoying the sights & sounds of the night life here, which is quite a big deal for Spaniards! We peered through the windows enjoying the goods for sell inside. We drooled over the pastries in the bakery windows and hurried on down the street (can you get fat just looking at baked goods of chocolate, fruits, and more? *G*). I enjoyed getting an opportunity to see what is available here at what cost. Things are more expensive here than in the USA for the most part. I have found a few stores that are a bit cheaper. The clothing styles are great for the most part. I could really enjoy some of their styles here.. Smile.. There are some very expensive, fancy stores with perfumes, clothing, home decorations, and more just as in the USA... There are also small supermarkets, small & large bookstores (yeah), smaller grocery stores that provide only certain types of groceries (like a fish store where you can purchase & have fish freshly gutted and cut to take home and cook). The streets are narrow, with sidewalks on either side normally. Many people walk wherever they need to go, which I rather like. If it were like the US here, I would be limited as to where I could roam (having no car). Anyway, back to my evening. Celia (the oldest daughter) and I returned to the flat (apartment-type homes) to prepare pancakes for our dinner. Of course, we had to include various ingredients in our pancakes such as shaved chocolate & walnuts. They turned out quite well and were pleasing to the palate. Smile...
Speaking of cars, I will be driving a manual toyota corolla that looks more like a small SUV than anything we would call a corolla.. This week has been spent just showing me the ropes (so to speak) and helping me learn where things are and what the schedule is, but soon it will be my responsibility to take the girls to their voice classes, skating classes, etc... that are not held in the home. Speaking of classes, these girls are kept quite busy with learning outside of their regular school. They have German, French, English, & music classes at home. Then they have skating & voice classes elsewhere in town. There is a possibility that they will soon start a dance class as well. I can't imagine having done all that at 8, 11, & 13...I was took busy playing outside with the neighbor kids or traveling around the world I guess.. Smile.. At least they are learning and not idle all the time so that they have time to be bored! Smile...
Today was a good day. The girls had no school due to the holiday of Dec. 6th having something to do with St. Nicholas! This morning the girls awoke to bags of candy, fruit, & nuts which they proceeded to snack on throughout the day! Because they had no school, I was able to sleep in for the first time since I've been here. I needed it. I think the late nights and the change in time may have finally caught up with me a bit yesterday & this morning. It was great to get about 8 hours of sleep finally! I spent my morning (after I finally got up) working on Spanish homework (or pretending to), catching up on emails and trying to get a slideshow on this blog page.. so far unsuccessfully..grrr! Smile.. In the afternoon, I played games with the girls teaching them new words in English, teaching them how to make paper snowflakes (which are now hanging on their Christmas tree), and painting seashells for an Advent calendar their Momma wants them to make. In the evening I took the youngest to play with some friends in a nearby college campus park area! Overall, it has been a good day.
The best part of my day came after 9:00 this evening. The middle daughter has been in a bad mood most of today and was very difficult to work with this afternoon and evening. It was by God's grace (literally) that I was able to hold my frustration in and continue to show her love, kindness, and patience. I simply wanted to tell her how it was going to be! Thankfully, the Lord really helped me! Now I think I have a small glimpse of what mothers face regularly. The only difference is this is not my child and she does not have Christian upbringing or influence. Anyway, sometime after dinner, I was in the kitchen heating some water for a bit of tea to keep me warm while I sit and write in this blog, when Irene' (the middle daughter) came walking in. After a making simple conversation in a normal tone of voice and starting a sentence a couple of times, she was finally able to say what she'd come in to say and that was an apology for her attitude earlier in the day! WoW!!! What a blessing, worth all the grace that was necessary to keep my mouth kind earlier! PTL!!! The Lord is good!
My Spanish homework is still not finished and calling for me to put a bit more effort into doing it well tonight, so I will close for now with "Hasta Manyana"!
Speaking of cars, I will be driving a manual toyota corolla that looks more like a small SUV than anything we would call a corolla.. This week has been spent just showing me the ropes (so to speak) and helping me learn where things are and what the schedule is, but soon it will be my responsibility to take the girls to their voice classes, skating classes, etc... that are not held in the home. Speaking of classes, these girls are kept quite busy with learning outside of their regular school. They have German, French, English, & music classes at home. Then they have skating & voice classes elsewhere in town. There is a possibility that they will soon start a dance class as well. I can't imagine having done all that at 8, 11, & 13...I was took busy playing outside with the neighbor kids or traveling around the world I guess.. Smile.. At least they are learning and not idle all the time so that they have time to be bored! Smile...
Today was a good day. The girls had no school due to the holiday of Dec. 6th having something to do with St. Nicholas! This morning the girls awoke to bags of candy, fruit, & nuts which they proceeded to snack on throughout the day! Because they had no school, I was able to sleep in for the first time since I've been here. I needed it. I think the late nights and the change in time may have finally caught up with me a bit yesterday & this morning. It was great to get about 8 hours of sleep finally! I spent my morning (after I finally got up) working on Spanish homework (or pretending to), catching up on emails and trying to get a slideshow on this blog page.. so far unsuccessfully..grrr! Smile.. In the afternoon, I played games with the girls teaching them new words in English, teaching them how to make paper snowflakes (which are now hanging on their Christmas tree), and painting seashells for an Advent calendar their Momma wants them to make. In the evening I took the youngest to play with some friends in a nearby college campus park area! Overall, it has been a good day.
The best part of my day came after 9:00 this evening. The middle daughter has been in a bad mood most of today and was very difficult to work with this afternoon and evening. It was by God's grace (literally) that I was able to hold my frustration in and continue to show her love, kindness, and patience. I simply wanted to tell her how it was going to be! Thankfully, the Lord really helped me! Now I think I have a small glimpse of what mothers face regularly. The only difference is this is not my child and she does not have Christian upbringing or influence. Anyway, sometime after dinner, I was in the kitchen heating some water for a bit of tea to keep me warm while I sit and write in this blog, when Irene' (the middle daughter) came walking in. After a making simple conversation in a normal tone of voice and starting a sentence a couple of times, she was finally able to say what she'd come in to say and that was an apology for her attitude earlier in the day! WoW!!! What a blessing, worth all the grace that was necessary to keep my mouth kind earlier! PTL!!! The Lord is good!
My Spanish homework is still not finished and calling for me to put a bit more effort into doing it well tonight, so I will close for now with "Hasta Manyana"!
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