After two and a half weeks in Spain, we are beginning to feel slightly more normal. We have adjusted to the time change, are learning our way around town and into Madrid and found an apartment to rent. We still have a few daunting tasks ahead; residency, buying a car, getting a Spanish drivers license and actually speaking Spanish.
We have settled into a daily routine for now. We are up and ready in time to catch the 7:28am train into Madrid. The ride in is really quite scenic. Out one side you can see the sunrise over the four skyscrapers of Madrid and the other; trees, dry fields and a river as you approach each town. The train part of our commute is about 45 minutes. We get off at Principe Pio and quickly make our way down to catch the metro. I really don't like to miss the first one, not because of the time but mostly because this station is not enclosed so it is REALLY cold in the mornings. I often consider that we may have accidentally taken a train to Alaska.
We push our way in with dozens of others and ride silently three stops, each time making our way across the car to get out on the other side. We have made a routine of stopping for coffee around the block from the school. This gives us time to breath and review work before class.
This morning we skipped class to collect a document for our residency card and figure out what is happening with the electricity at our apartment. The paper we need will be ready tomorrow and our electricity should be on in three or four days. Last night we found a car and plan to pick it up on Friday.
It feels strange that it has been less than a month since we arrived in Spain. The days have gone quickly but it seems like a lot has been accomplished. Each day I feel more and more at home in El Escorial and blessed to be surrounded by a team that desires for us to be involved in the ministry.
We know that in order to be effective in ministry, we must be proficient in the language. For the next couple of months we plan to focus our efforts on language learning. Please pray with us that our minds are receptive to the material we are learning and our mouths will speak well as we begin to speak more. Pray also for humility as we know mistakes will come.
We very much want to communicate with this community around us.
