A phyiscal question...

When w first went to New Zealand I shared my ignorance about the water down the plughole routine. Eventually we got the right answer from you brainboxes out there... here goes again. Why does forked lightening roar so loud but the equally bright sheet lightning just murmurs quietly while you sleep...? And why am I so stupid to be on-line in one of these massive storms...

Heating up

Not only is Madrid heating up (quite literally, one shower a day is not enough!) but the protesters are heating up their campaign with a running programme of lectures for which they have a creche, a soup kitchen, toilets, a tatoo and piercing parlour and a range of shopping opportunities as well as their own newspaper. There are usually at least two TV channels filming and we have had to duck to avoid them.

This week they have added a Love and Spirituality tent. The council have provided them with their own recycling bins.Sunday is the day the police have set to evict them so we hope it will end as peacefully as it has been run so far... I am making no predictions though!

One friend we meet weekly for English conversation admits he gave them the megaphone they use to communicate (don't tell my poor Spanish teacher who struggles to speak above it!)  However this guy is a lawyer so we realise they have support from all levels of society. "May you live in interesting times!"

Election Day

Election Day in Spain. Just after the excitement of Hollyrood, Spain goes and tops it all with this huge protest filling the Puerta del Sol - right next to my Spanish School - if I fail tomorrow's exam I am going to blame the noise from outside. Anyway Donald & Andrew got right in there during the protests and Andrew had signed a petition before they realised he was an extranjero with no ID number! To be fair they have been well disciplined and organised with a soup kitchen, portable toilets and even a creche. Donald was right at home as it reminded him of all his gap year festivals. If you want to view the BBC take on it all:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13466977

The poster reads No Home, No Job, No Pension, No Fear  a message from some of the 40% of unemployed young people.

Boyfest

They are here - we are so happy and we can sleep at night without worrying about them! They are great company for each other while we are at language school and we have all been seeing some sights in the afternoons - walking for miles. The only downer has been that the birthday money which Les was given for a meal out has been nicked in broad daylight - the guy who took it was on the metro with us and brazened it out while we made a fuss then dropped the empy wallet on his way out of the train. Thankfully Andrew found it with the cards still in it. We should have spent it on day one and not saved it to treat the boys - we will know better next time!!

Earthquake

Thanks guys for asking us if we were OK - we had more emails and texts the day of the earthquake than in the preceding 2 months put together!!  We of course are fine and all we noticed was our front door giving a wobble - I thought it was the neighbours but discvovered later it was Lorca. This was our Police station the following morning - all the flags at half mast. When we got to church on Sunday they had an emergency business  meeting after the first hymn deciding to send all the offering to Lorca Baptist Church.

A loud noise in Madrid...

 As I walked out of language school today there was a huge roar - deafening! It was not the earthquake though it was Real Madrid walking out on to the balcony in front of me with the Copa del Rey. I Don't think this was the same cup they dropped under the wheels of their open top bus - that one was apparently a fake!

Les was sitting eating his lunch - the only person in the Puerta del Sol who was looking the other way and complaining about the noise of the crowd. After a few verses of "We are the champions..." in English every body went back to work or off for their siesta. Yes we did notice a slight wobble of the outside door at 7pm but thought it was just the neighbours going past. We only heard their was an eartquake when you kind people start to text and email. Thankyou for worrying about us but we are fine!



Cumpleaños Feliz

Proverbs 31?

OK, so I may not have made it to the Encouraging Women Conference at the weekend but listen - I have been turning into the Proverbs 31 wife... it may come as a shock to those of you who know me but I have a tidy wardrobe, nothing under the bed (not even dust) and I go recycling every day except Sunday. 

Spain has succeeded in turning me from a P to a J in Myers Briggs terms. Lorna Reid has also helped by nagging me on-line in capital letters. My packed lunch is in the fridge and my homework is done neatly. I remember my re-usable shopping bags at the supermarket (Thanks Alison & Linda!).  I haven't lost my bus-pass once and any minute now my children will rise up and call me blessed.. ("C'mon boys.. rise...") However at this rate I do need a siesta every day and it could all go wrong the morn!

Jesus is everywhere...

Coming to Spain we naturally want to feel the presence and provision of God on all occasions ... but it turns out Jesus really is everywhere as the theologians claim.

Here he is in the transport business (getting us to Spain). (Hijos means sons - so it's Jesus and his descendents including us.)

Next he provides clean garments for sons and daughters to wear - not just textiles but hyper textiles!

Then he allocates our proper nourishment. (Frutos Secos means dried fruit but basically it's a general corner food shop.)

And finally, here he is looking after us personally. One of our porteros (concierge) is actually called Jesus! How about that. If you want to pray for him, it's pronounced J as in loch, E as in state and the rest quite close to Zeus.