The First 48 Hours

      Pia made plans with us to come pick us up and escort us to the shopping center and grocery store the day after our arrival. So,after everyone left us after greeting our arrival to the apartment, we spent the remainder of the evening moving beds, desks, shelves and armoires around to meet our needs. We then began unpacking our suitcases and started making a list of the items we needed to purchase at our shopping trip the next morning.

      Now, let me pause here to explain how the days in Spain are organized. First, morning is defined as anytime after you wake up (most businesses do not open until 9 or 10am) until 3pm! People leave their workplaces around 2 to pick up kids or meet them at home from school (when school is in session) and return to their homes for a big lunch around 3-5pm. (Most businesses and shops are closed from 2-5pm (except for the large mall across the street from us.) Afternoon is defined from the times of 3-9pm. These are hours that people are eating, resting and returning to work. Night is defined from the times of 9pm-2am. Most don’t eat dinner until 9, 10 or even 11pm and its not uncommon for families to be out and about until 1-2am. We were even told that some meetings at the church aren’t even held until 11pm-12am! NO wonder there is a siesta…VERY long days! We’ve been adjusting well to the schedule here. If you know us well enough you know that we are night owls back home and enjoy a slow get about in the morning…we fit right in here in Spain! In fact we have all adjusted to the time change without any difficulties (no sleepless nights, no problems falling asleep or awaking in the morning, no hunger pains at meal times in the States (only when it’s time to eat by the clocks here.) God has been so good in this provision for our family.

      Pia arrived at our place (“in the morning”) around 1:30pm. Our first shopping trip was not as eventful as I would have thought. Pia was along with us which helped us learn the ways of the Spaniards at the grocery. We did try to video tape the entire shopping experience; however, the guard was not having us do such a thing and we had to put the camera away?!? We did video tape our walk from our apartment to the shopping mall where the grocery store (like a Target or Wal-Mart) is located as well as a food court, many shops, and an attached movie theater (just like a mall in the States). (The video of our walk will be posted later and you will receive notification once it is done.)

      This short walk to get most all of our needs is wonderful considering we don’t have a car and don’t really plan on it unless is becomes a necessity. I also understand now why our friend, Dave Hoeft, laughed at me when I said we wanted to have care packages mailed to us with toiletries to help supply our needs without us making the trip to the store! So, we ARE NOT going to have a Stayton Shelf and that page has been removed from our blog sight. But, you can check out its replacement page coming soon…. ENCOURAGEMENT AND LOVE. This page on our blog will have the address to the church here in Spain where cards, letters, and care packages can be mailed to us. It will also include some of our favorite things that we cannot find here in Spain as well as important dates for our family (birthdays, Spanish holidays, etc.)

      In the first 48 hours, I think that we walked back and forth from the mall four or five times. Our trip with Pia was very short just giving us a tour a few basics as we learned our way around the store and purchased larger, heavy items since Pia had her car.. So, we returned to pick up some items that we did not get the first time. We made several other trips. We would get some items, get home start doing things and realize we needed something else! Then we packed for the camping trip and needed some things for that (like bug spray, sunscreen, etc.) As we were discussing things to purchase, one item kept coming up for the girls and from the girls themselves. Seeing where we live and how things are situated, we felt it was a much better purchase now then waiting until later. So, thank you to those of you who gave us a little extra before we left, you were able to put HUGE smiles on the girls faces and make Spain feel even more like home. 
  

                                
      It was a busy 48 hours with the last part spent traveling to the retreat center to camp about an hour away from our apartment in Spain. What an amazing experience this weekend was to our family! Well, more about that in the next blog… Hasta luego!