The Mayer Family

March 28, 2007

First off; Happy Birthday Mom! Sorry we missed you on the phone today and had to leave something on your answering machine. I hope we were sort of in-tune when we sang happy birthday. It’s difficult to do that on a pay phone, you know. Oh well, we got to talk for awhile yesterday since I thought yesterday was the 28th. You are a great mother and grandmother! We miss you so much! I wish so bad we could be there for your birthday. I know it is very difficult for you to let go of us and Evan and Ellie. You have been so gracious to us and your love language of giving, giving, and giving some more is greatly missed. You don’t know how much we’d love to run the kids over to you to let you baby sit them for a few hours. They miss it too!

Today I was “stuck” watching Evan and Ellie most of the day because Wendy was off looking for all kinds of kitchen stuff. Dishes, silverware, glasses, etc. Of course, if I would have had to go kitchen shopping, then I would have really been “stuck.” So, anyway, one of the books I have been wanting to read for a while is the book “Safely Home” by Randy Alcorn—which by the way, if you’ve never read anything from him, you really need to. I put his writings just a little below the Apostle Paul’s writings. He has such an incredible way of putting things in an eternal perspective. OK, so…Wendy has read this book a while back, and I think about every time I looked over at her when she was reading it, she was crying…hoo boy. So, today, I’m watching the kids out on the front courtyard of our building, and I think, OK, time to start reading Safely Home. Guess how far I got before I started bawling…ummm, well, I didn’t even get to the first chapter yet. It’s gonna be a long book! OK, so I open the book and on the very first page is a picture entitled Safely Home and was the picture Randy Alcorn used as an inspiration of this story. It shows a man who has just fallen on his knees before Jesus’ throne. He looks as though he has been beaten down and is tired and worn out. Off to his side are some broken chains/handcuffs, but in his hand on the floor is a crown. I think the thing that struck me is where Jesus is in this picture. I can’t wait until the day that I see Jesus. The thought of it is so incredibly exciting, but for some reason, when I have thought of that first encounter with Him in heaven, often I see myself embracing him as I’m kneeling, while he is still standing. In this picture, Jesus is off of his throne and also kneeling, holding this man’s head to his chest with a look of pain for this man’s suffering, yet with warmth, compassion and a tenderness that blows away the “eerie” Jesus that is depicted in so many of the Catholic churches paintings and sculptures of him here. For some reason, this picture just gripped me like very few have ever done before. There I sat bawling my eyes out on the front courtyard, hoping like everything one of our new neighbors wouldn’t come walking through. Hmmm…what a way to introduce myself: “Hola, me llamo es Kevin, y yo estoy muy loco (crazy). Thankfully, nobody came through before I gathered myself enough to turn the page. OK, so this page is some of his endorsements…ooh, look…Chuck Colson, Tim LaHaye, Steve Green…cool…OK, I’ve got myself together now…next page is the Dedication which is usually boring anyways. It says…

TO GRAHAM STAINES
Who left his home in Australia to serve lepers
In India for thirty-four years.

TO PHILIP STAINES (age ten) and TIMOTHY STAINES (age six)
Who at half past midnight on January 23, 1999,
As their father held his arms around them,
Were burned to death by a mob in India;
Murdered because of Whom they knew and served.

TO GLADYS STAINES,
Who continues to minister to lepers and who said to all India,
“I am not bitter or angry. I have one great desire: that each citizen
Of this country should establish a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ, who gave His life for their sins.”

TO ESTHER STAINES,
Graham and Gladys’s daughter (then age thirteen),
Who said, “I praise the Lord that He found my father
Worthy to die for Him.”

TO THE HUNDREDS OF MEN, WOMEN,
AND CHILDREN KILLED FOR CHRIST EACH DAY,
Ignored by the world but watched by the eyes of heaven—
Those of whom the world is not worthy.

OK…so now again I’m hoping like everything that nobody comes through again ‘cause my faucet is on wide-open again and it isn’t stopping for a while.

You know, it is one thing to be willing to die for Jesus, but wow, what a sacrifice to have your children make that sacrifice as well. Later, I showed the picture to Evan, and told him that someday the picture will be of me embracing Jesus…and hopefully him and mommy and Ellie too. When I read to him about these young boys dying for Jesus, he about started crying as well. While I’m willing to make that sacrifice for Jesus, I’m not sure if I’m willing to let Wendy and my children do the same. But then…when I look at that picture…

—Kevin

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3-26-07
Today has been a really good day for us. Starting tomorrow, we will finally have an apartment!

OK, first off, let me tell you about one of my hopes as we began to feel a call to come to Spain. I thought it would be really cool to be able to get an apartment where we would share a common courtyard area with the others from the apartments in the same building. What would even be cooler would be if they were all from the same family, and hopefully through time, establish a relationship with each of them and have opportunities to introduce Jesus to them. We’ve even talked about this, but as we have been apartment shopping, it seemed that this just isn’t possible after all…but hold on to that thought…

Next, we’ve had opportunities to make friends with several people since we’ve been here. Obviously, one is Jose. This morning, as we were talking, Jose mentioned about how amazing it was how we met back a couple of weeks ago. We both got tears in our eyes as we reminisced how Jesus brought our paths together. Jose has been such a blessing to us! Another set of relationships that are developing is with the Landazuri family. They are the ones who own and run the Pensión we have been staying at for the last 2 ½ weeks. Matilda is the mother/grandmother: a gentle and sweet lady who often looks very tired and worn out from her workload. Manolo, her son, is 39 years old, unmarried, and runs the little coffee/sandwich shop here. This morning when I asked him if he’s worked here all his life, he said more or less. I asked him if he enjoyed the work, to which he promptly and emphatically said “No”! I can tell that he hates it here and longs to get out. He’d love to be an architect, but is stuck here running the family business. Margarita is married and is the daughter of Matilda. She has a son, Miguel, who is five years old (same as Evan) and a daughter Elisa, who is two (same as Ellie). Seems a bit too good to be true, huh?!?
Omar is a 21 year-old Morrocan who is here in Granada studying to be an electrical engineer. He works at one of the shops close by. He told me yesterday that he is Muslim. Great kid! Then there is Angie. She works at an inmobiliaria (Real Estate agency…it took me like three days to finally say “inmobiliaria” correctly). She is from San Francisco originally but has lived here in Spain for the last six days. She hates her job and seems to really be searching.

OK, so why have I taken the time to tell you about all these people. Well, we’ve been really searching which apartment and area we should locate in. Where we live could really impact our relationships with other people and the kind of people we will meet. So, after looking at 10-12 apartments, we finally had narrowed it down to two. One was beautiful. Big! Spacious (four bedrooms)! New! Even a swimming pool we could use along with other renters in our complex. But it was 850 Euros ($1,000) a month to rent. But then the owner, because he knew Jose, said he’d drop the price to 650 Euros ($800) for us. OK…so there’s our answer to prayer, right? However, the location was crummy and quite frankly we just haven’t had a peace about it. So…Apartment #2: Not as nice, but OK. Three bedrooms. Weird layout. However, except for being on a busy road, the location was perfect! In fact, when I put on a map the home’s of the people mentioned above, plus our school where we will attend, this apartment is in the dead center of it all. Dead center! Plus we knew that Margarita’s family lived in this area (remember the children’s ages being the same!). So after thinking about it all weekend, we decided we would take apartment #2, choosing “location” over “big”.

Then this morning, Margarita said last night as she was taking a shower (isn’t it amazing how many epiphanies happen in the shower), it hit her that her neighbors, who live across the street from her, have an apartment that they rent out of their house…and that she hadn’t seen their renters recently. So she went over and asked them about their apartment, and sure enough. It was available.

So today, we went to see the apartment. It is just a couple blocks away from apartment # 2, you know, the perfect location apartment…except this is even better! It is at the end of a beautiful, peaceful, dead-end street. It is across the street from Margarita’s family (Evan is very excited to be able to play with Miguel!). It is in a home where the owner (the father and mother) live on one flat and their other children live in the other flats and we all share a common courtyard! The only downside is that it is extremely little. There are only two bedrooms (Evan and Ellie will have to share), and the kitchen and the dining room/living room is very small as well. In fact, I don’t think it is much bigger than our first apartment we lived in after we were married (At RMM—the little one—Vitali’s apartment). But it feels like such an answer to prayer!

This may be a bit of a stretch, but later, after we saw the apartment, I was having my devotions and read the story in I Samuel about how Samuel choose David to be the King. God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem and to choose one of Jesse’s sons. When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab (David’s brother) and thought, “Here he is! God’s anointed!” But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face. God looks into the heart.” So then, Samuel goes down the list, but none of David’s seven brothers are chosen. Samuel told Jesse that God didn’t choose any of these sons. Were there any others? Jesse’s reply: “Well, yes, there’s the runt, but he’s out tending the sheep. After David was presented to Samuel, God said to Samuel, “Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one!”

Now, I know this is quite a stretch, but I thought it was interesting to read this story after we chose this apartment. Yeah, some of the other places looked nicer, were bigger, etc. And yeah, we got the runt of the apartments; but yet, we have a peace about choosing this one and are excited to finally get out of our little room in the Pensión. Thank you so much for your prayers for us! We are extremely grateful!
—Kevin

The outside view of our new apartment

The living room

Evan & Ellie´s room

We will post more pictures once we get all moved in!

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We were glad for a day to relax today. This morning at breakfast we found out that there was a time change last night… so we are now back to being six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

After our family church time, we decided to get the Granada City Sightseeing Bus tickets for the day. We rode the double decker bus with the open top first, and Evan & Ellie really enjoyed that. It was relaxing to be able to see the city without walking everywhere. Then we took a smaller Sightseeing Bus up to the Alhambra and around the Albaicin. It was sunny and the bus got very warm and made us all sleepy. Evan & Ellie both fell asleep, so we just stayed on the bus for the second time around.

After lunch and a little break, we went on the double decker bus for the second ride. This time we stopped and toured the Monasterio De La Cartuja, an old Monastery with a very Baroque interior. It had some interesting and kind of gruesome paintings of martyrs in some side rooms. Evan & Ellie were just excited to run around and had fun making noises and humming and singing in the big rooms that made their voices echo. Thankfully, we were almost the only ones there, so they could let loose a little more.

Ellie, Evan & Mom on the double decker bus

At the Monastery

Evan with a human statue on the street

We are meeting Jose tomorrow morning at 10:00 at the bank, to hopefully obtain the document needed so that we can rent an apartment. It is still hard for us to know for sure exactly what apartment God is leading us to. Thanks to all of you who have been and are praying about this.

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This morning after breakfast Kevin went out to check with a few of the rental agencies that he had visited before. While he was gone, Manolo (who works at the Pension) came and knocked on our door and said I had a visitor downstairs. I quickly went down and there was Jose. He was very excited and had walked for 20 minutes to come tell us some great news. He couldn’t find the phone number for our Pension, but decided the news was important enough that he had to walk here to tell us. He was even a little teary eyed as he told me that the one apartment that we had looked at, and that was owned by a friend of his, was reducing the price from $850 to $650 (euros) if we were interested in renting it today. We talked about it and Jose thought it was a great deal. About that time, Kevin came back and we all discussed what we should do, and we decided we would take the apartment. We felt good about relying on the advice of our friend Jose that God has sent to us. So Kevin and Jose left to go talk to the rental agency while I started packing.

Several hours later, after I had a lot of things packed up, and was getting very excited about leaving our Pension room home, Kevin returned with a discouraged look on his face and my heart sank. The rental agency needed a document from the bank that we did not have, so we could not move today after all. I felt a wave of depression and almost desperation that I just could not stay in this room one more night.

This afternoon I went to the store and bought some food items, and also got a broom and mop. We cleaned our room good and rearranged it again to try to make it more livable for the next few days. So here we are, still waiting and trying to figure out the Spanish ways. It is kind of like being half deaf and not understanding most of what is going on. However, God has brought us peace even through the discouragement. Thank you for the verses, Jessica.

There is another apartment that we are pretty interested in, the one that is in the area we like. It doesn’t have all the nice things that the apartment we were going to move into today does, but it is in the area that is more in the center of town and in the center of the relationships which we have already formed. It appears that both apartments would require this document from the bank, which hopefully we can get soon. So we may be back to choosing. Thanks for your prayers for us. We are extremely grateful.

Today at the store there was a little child in a stroller in the line behind me, so I called him guapo, which is a cute little boy. The mother informed me that it was guapa, a cute little GIRL. I thought it was a boy, oops, but the excuse of not knowing Spanish well worked good for the apology.
-Wendy

Yes, laundry can be done in the tub

Yes, a line can be strung up in your bedroom for the clothes to dry. It’s kind of like have a high powered humidifier in your room. The air stays nice and moist.

Ellie playing with her doll

Evan with his favorite red car… the one that made it on the flight outside the suitcase (read March 10 for that story)

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Today we opened a checking account. I won’t say it was frustration free, but we do have an account at a bank now! We also saw an apartment tonight that we liked pretty well. We’ve been talking about how we would arrange furniture, which is more than we’ve done for other apartments we’ve looked at. This one is in the area that God has laid on our hearts, especially Kevin. If you think about us this weekend, could you breathe a prayer for us for special wisdom from God? We desire to be where God wants us, and not where we want to be, if that makes sense. Also, if God speaks to you and tells you which apartment we should pick, could you let us know that too!

You don’t know which way the wind blows, so how can you plan tomorrow?
Jesus knows which way the wind blows, so give him your tomorrow! He can see!
This happened to be the song playing on the computer iTunes just now… some good old 2nd chapter of Acts.
-Wendy

Evan by a fountain near where we are staying. It is beautiful lit up at night.

Ellie getting ready to go down a slide in a little park close to an apartment we are considering.

Ellie, Evan, Elisa & Miguel-
The two children of Margarita, daughter of the owner of our Pension. They are the exact same ages as Evan & Ellie

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This morning after looking at several more immobalarias (rental agencies) and finding nothing more available, Kevin and I felt almost the lowest we have felt yet. We feel overwhelmed by the fact that we have been here almost two weeks and we still don’t have an apartment. We feel discouraged by the fact that our money is disappearing seemingly faster and faster as we stay in this Pension.

When I came back to our room and spent some time alone with God, with only a few interruptions from Evan & Ellie, God brought peace. I read the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and suddenly our struggles didn’t seem so big. Our lives are not in danger; we just don’t have a place to live. I felt God asking me to just believe and trust in him.

Yesterday morning while Kevin was looking for apartments, I took Evan & Ellie to the “birdie place” as Evan calls it. They had fun chasing the birds and petting an occasional dog that would walk through the area.

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I think Evan & Ellie have seen half the city on foot, well, Ellie by stroller & foot. We are getting used to, or at least having our patience strengthened, by hauling the stroller up and down lots of steps, by Evans “I have to go to the bathroom right NOW” at the most inconvenient times and by listening to lots of other questions, comments, and fussing. Today in a Rental Agent office, Evan decided that he was so thirsty right then that “if I don’t have water in 10 minutes, I’m going to die”, even though he had just had a drink about 20 minutes earlier. So they have been keeping life interesting. Most Spaniards are very kind to children and don’t seem to mind them acting up too much. Usually when we correct Evan & Ellie for something they will say it’s ok and not to worry about it.

Tonight we stopped for a Schawarma (like a Kebab, but with chicken instead of beef) at a local stand, which is becoming one of our favorites. We really like the chicken and cheese with vegetables like cabbage, carrots, onion and etc. all wrapped up in a pita bread. They are inexpensive and you can get them to go. After making the Schawarma, the guy that made it came around the counter and planted a big kiss on Ellie, and gave her a juice to take along.

We have some opportunities to look at some more apartments tomorrow and Wednesday and we are hoping to make a decision by the end of the week. We are learning that the Spanish way does not rush things. It is good to talk, and talk, and talk, and then wait and think about it. Jose has been doing a lot of the “talking” for us, and I have understood very little to be honest. Kevin understands more than me, but when they get going and talking fast, it’s easy to get lost quickly. We met a Rental Agent today who was originally from San Francisco and it felt great to talk in English for once and feel completely understood. It’s a little scary looking to rent an apartment and not feeling like we always understand enough to know everything that we are agreeing to. We are trusting God to lead us where he wants us, and we are so thankful that he has brought Jose into our lives. We have also found out through Jose that rental prices and amenities are not set in stone. A lot of his “talking” has been getting the price lower for us, or getting them to add things, like if a refrigerator wasn’t included, he could negotiate to have them add that. These are all things that we would not have known, and feel blessed to have help with.

This morning I stayed here at our Pension while Kevin went out on the apartment search. I cleaned up and reorganized our room, making it a little more livable. Evan and I read some books. Evan is doing pretty well at reading to himself. We spent a little time on the terazza (porch) even though it was a bit cooler today. We had our lunch out there, and Kevin arrived back just in time for me to go to the internet café and then to the grocery store to get a few things.

Each morning we usually eat downstairs in the little café that is part of our Pension. I usually have toast and café con leche, and Kevin has been on a Tuna Sandwich kick (I know, for breakfast???) Sometimes we bring down cereal for Evan & Ellie and they provide the milk, or sometimes they share with us.
-Wendy

Landazuri Cafe where we usually eat breakfast

Kevin & Evan at breakfast

Wendy & Ellie at breakfast

Our usual breakfast

In the cafe

Manolo making fresh orange juice

If Evan & Ellie finish eating before we do, they usually end up just around the corner at the steps, and have fun jumping off the steps. If Margarita´s children are there, they usually join in. Kids don´t usually need to even talk to figure out how to play together. The grandma, Matilda , is usually pretty watchful, and the little ones are only allowed to jump off the first step.

Matilda (owner of the Pension) & Evan

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Still no apartment. We looked at another one yesterday, and our friend Jose thought this may be the one. We were not really convinced, but are praying for wisdom and for God to change our minds if that is where he is leading us. The apartment was in a high rise on the 6th floor. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, access to a pool and basketball court, and little park area for the kids to play. But we are not convinced that it is the area God wants us to be. We have an area in mind that we think God has laid on our hearts, but we don’t know yet if there are any apartments available in that area. Hopefully the beginning of next week we will find out.

Our friend Jose with Evan & Ellie

While we are here at the Pension, we have had chances to talk to the people here, and are glad for those opportunities. We found out that Margarita, the daughter of the owner who we talk to quite a bit, has her name in Rick Steve’s (travel guide) book on Spain. She is a private tour guide, and her name is listed there, as well as the Pension we are staying in. Kevin was excited to discover that, since he is a big Rick Steve’s fan.

Ellie playing on the porch, squished like a pancake on the reclining chair

Evan doing the same

Last night we decided to take our turn being tourists, so we went to the Granada Cathedral. It is the 2nd largest in Spain and was very large and beautiful.

The Granada Cathedral

This afternoon we decided to continue our tourist streak and went to part of the Alhambra. We went to the Generalife Gardens which were beautiful gardens with lots of fountains and steps, which was rather frustrating with the stroller. Ellie was very interested in just jumping into the fountains, so we had to watch her closely. We also went to the Alcazaba, which was an empty old fort with a tower and great views. Once again, there were lots of steps to climb, but the view was worth it. We could see our Pension, as well as almost all of Granada from the tower.

Evan climbing on a cannon close to the Alhambra

Evan & Ellie enjoying a fountain in the Generalife Gardens

Ellie enjoying the view, or at least holding still for 1 second

One of the fountains in the Generalife Gardens

Ellie ¨praying¨

View from a tower in the Alcazaba- look closely at the very center of the picture... the white building just to the right of the center is the Pension Landazuri where we are staying right now

View of the Albaicin (the oldest section of the city) from the same tower

View of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from that same tower with the great view

To be honest, we have really been struggling at times with feelings of confusion and uncertainty about when and where we will find an apartment. This morning I said I would read a book to Evan & Ellie, and the one I pulled out just happened to be “The Very Worried Sparrow”. I’ve never cried reading that book, but I did a little this morning. It was a reminder of God’s care for even the sparrow, and that worrying didn’t help a bit. I know that God will take care of us and that we will find the right place to live, but my selfish self would like it to be sooner rather than later.
-Wendy

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A lot has happened in the last week. Unfortunately, we had trouble logging in to our blog to update, but the problem is now fixed, so here is a VERY long entry of our first week. I had been writing almost daily updates even though we couldn´t post them.

March 10, 2007
The kindness of old men in Granada
Today is our second full day in Granada. We made it through the 18 hours of travel time safely on Wednesday and Thursday, with all of our luggage except Kevin’s guitar, which was stuffed with our underwear! So we are waiting for it to hopefully arrive soon! At the Granada airport as we waited for our luggage to come through on the luggage belt, the first thing we spotted was Evan’s red remote control car, out of the bag, coming down the belt all by itself! It made it, and it still works fine. We haven’t noticed anything else missing (yet).

The first day was more discouraging than we imagined, since we were experiencing jet lag and were feeling overwhelmed with everything being new. We both had a few good cries that day! One of my (Wendy) discouraging “moments” was after walking down the street close to our pension (hotel). An older lady approached me with a clump of herbs saying “amore, amore”. She was very friendly and since my Spanish is very limited, I had no clue what she was saying. She proceeded to (I guess) read my palms before I knew what was happening, and then demanded money. By the time it was over, she left with 15 of my euros, and I walked away feeling very discouraged. I guess I got gypped by a gypsy, so we’ll chalk it up as a learning experience!

We are staying at the Pension Landazuri, which is kind of like a bed & breakfast. We are on the 4th floor (57 steps) so we are getting exercise! The daughter of the owner here has 2 children, Miguel (5 years old) and Elisa (2 years old). Evan & Ellie have already enjoyed playing with them since they are exactly the same ages! This morning the grandma (Matilda) and the 4 children were playing the Spanish version (I guess) of “ring around the rosy”! Matilda (the owner) has been very friendly and helpful. It is obvious that God has led us to this place, and we are grateful for his leading.

This morning Kevin was searching everywhere for a folder that he had made up before we left that organized all the information we had on the different language schools we are considering. It included maps, and all the information he had researched. It was NO WHERE to be found! We finally figured that we had left it in an airport or somewhere. Kevin prayed that it would show up somehow. This morning I happened to be standing near the entrance of our pension, and our taxi driver who brought us from the airport walked in with the folder!!!!! We were overjoyed to see him and so thankful for his kindness! Kevin had left it in the taxi, and the driver was kind enough to return it!

Now, for the “the kindness of old men in Granada”. Today we have experienced just that. Soon after we left the pension, Kevin randomly asked an old man on the street for help looking at a map. He was incredibly friendly and ended up leading us around the city for about 2 hours. He helped us find one of the language schools we are interested in, and wants to help us more. He has a friend who owns some apartments for rent. We are meeting him on Monday at 6 pm! He also communicated that he talks directly to God, that he believes in Jesus, but that he has questions about all the bad things happening in the world, like wars and bombs. He mentioned the Jehovah’s Witness and how they thought the world was ending soon. He seemed a little confused. We are thanking God for the way he is leading us already to the people in whom he is working.

Soon after we left him, another old man approached us with obvious admiration of Evan & Ellie. He “took off their noses” playfully, and demanded kisses from them, and then planted big kisses on their cheeks. He also gave them each a piece of bread (like a roll). About a minute later another old man walked up smiling at the kids and gave all of us several big red juicy strawberries. Evan & Ellie were delighted. And we felt welcomed and loved by the kindness of strangers.

Since today is Saturday, there isn’t much more that we can accomplish in looking for an apartment or visiting a language school, so we will probably do some more walking around, and getting acquainted with the city. While yesterday we felt discouraged, today we feel encouraged and definitely more optimistic. We thank God for answering our prayers in obvious ways, and we thank you for praying!
-Wendy

The front of the place we are staying ¨Pension Landazuri¨

Our room

The 57 steps we climb several times a day

The porch at our Pension just down the hall from our room

View of the Alhambra from the porch

View of Granada from the porch

The street in front of the Pension

Evan & Ellie in our room

Strawberries & Bread from kind old men

March 11, 2007
A Day of Walking
Today is Sunday. We had family church today, and sang some songs with the kids, then talked about the story of David & Goliath. We all had a few “giants” to name and pray about. After a light breakfast in the café part of our pensión (hotel) consisting of coffee con leche for Kevin & I (yum) with toast & jam for me and ham & cheese sandwich for Kevin & the kids (and hot chocolate for Evan), we started our walking.

We walked to a park near the Alhambra (palace) that was a lot of uphill walking and gave an awesome view of the city. To me, it made the city look bigger than I imagined. The city is very spread out. The section we are in is older, so it makes it feel less like a big city and a little more like a town. Evan & Ellie loved chasing some ducks near a pond, and some peacocks roaming loose in a garden. Ellie kept asking to take a “bap” (bath) in a murky green pond.

Later this afternoon we walked the other direction (uphill again) to the Albaicin, which is an old section of town where a lot of the streets are pedestrian only (no cars allowed). We went to the top and were able to get another great view of the city and of the Alhambra. We saw a lot of interesting characters there, including an old lady that Kevin recognized from the Rick Steve’s Spain show.

We had a great surprise today when Kevin’s guitar was delivered from the airport! We were also very ready to see our underwear that we had stuffed into the guitar!

We have been enjoying the interaction we are having with the family who runs this pensión. They are very willing to answer our questions and have been friendly and kind to us.
-Wendy

Ellie by murky green pond

Walking in the park close to the Alhambra

View of the Alhambra from the Albiecin

A typical shop on the street

March 12, 2007
Searching and Seeking
Today was a full day of searching for an apartment and seeking out different language schools. A rental agent showed us one apartment, which was once again, a bit small and pricey. She tried to show us another apartment, but true to Spanish style, the people that were supposed to meet us there didn’t show up. We also met up with our new friend Jose again, who we met 2 days again, and he led us around to different rental agents, helping us to ask what apartments were available. He also has some friends with rentals, and we are meeting him again tomorrow to look at an apartment his friend has to rent. Jose has been an answer to prayer for us. He is a retired guy with lots of time to kill, and lots of friends in the area. He used to be in real estate, and he also owned a restaurant for 30 years. Kevin and he are connecting really well. He is very patient with our limited Spanish and talks slowly and patiently. He does know some English, but tries to make us talk in Spanish to him so that we learn.

We also visited a couple of language schools today that seem to have great potential. We are realizing the energy it takes to haul Evan & Ellie around with us everywhere, so in the next day or two, Kevin will probably visit a couple other schools alone.

Evan and Ellie have been pretty patient with all the walking around and meeting with people. Evan has been occupying himself on our long walks by making games out of everything. He is always trying to step on certain things along the sidewalk, and today he sang and sang. He was singing the mousy song that Grandma Mayer taught him over and over and over and over (I lost count). I think I even know the words by now! Of course he is constantly asking for ice cream. He discovered a yogurt fruit ice cream that he loves, and now he thinks he needs it everyday, or several times a day if we would let him.

Ellie has adapted very well to the changes. She has her own little mattress on the floor that she has been sleeping on. She usually ends up in our bed though sometime towards morning. Our room gets pretty cold at night so we let her snuggle in. They only turn on the heat for an hour or two each night. She is attempting Spanish words to the delight of people who talk to her.
-Wendy

March 14, 2007
Meeting with friends!
We had a special treat today! We had a visit from Ed & Kathy Miller and Tim & Rhoda Swartzentruber and Lenny & Christina Miller. Lenny & Christina are leading the Spain Reach team in Malaga about one hour south of us. Their parents came to visit them, and they all came to visit us today and to see Granada and the Alhambra. We had a nice time with them and enjoyed talking English and being completely understood.

Kevin also met with our friend Jose again tonight. He thought there may be another apartment for us to look out. It didn’t work out to see the apartment, but Kevin had a great talk with him. It is obvious to us that God has been working in Jose’s heart. He said he has had questions for a while and was seeking answers. As Kevin and Jose were talking, it was like a light clicked on for Jose and he understood why God sent us here to Spain… for him… to help him find some answers to his questions. They had a really good talk about heaven and it seemed like more lights were clicking on for Jose as they talked about how there is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to get to heaven… it is only through the sacrifice that Jesus made. We are so excited and are rejoicing at the way God is at work in Jose. It is so amazing to us that all of this is happening, but yet we shouldn’t be surprised, we and you have been praying for God to be at work among the people of Spain, and for God to lead us to the people in whom he is working. We thank God for being so incredible!

While this exciting relationship with Jose has been happening, an apartment has not happened yet. We have another one to look at tomorrow, and are confident that God already knows the place we will live. We are asking for wisdom and guidance that we will find it too. While our pension room is working, it does not have a kitchen, and we are ready to find a place where we can unpack. It is also getting expensive to stay here.

Tonight as I was typing this I heard Evan sniffling in bed. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he missed everyone in Ohio. He mentioned his friends from school Kendra and Maddy and Grandma and Grandpa. I think the visit today from friends reminded him of home.
-Wendy

Lenny, Christina, Ed, Kathy, Rhoda, Tim & Evan

Evan & Ellie were soooo thirsty for chocolate milk, so we tried to order some at a restaurant, and they brought out a hot, thick, pudding-like, chocolate that was so delicious. Every time Ellie had a bite she just giggled and giggled. She loved it!

March 15, 2007
It’s been a week!
It´s hard to believe we’ve been here a week, but a lot has happened in a week! We are feeling a little discouraged today about finding an apartment. We looked at another apartment today that could be a possibility. Kevin thought it may be the one, but I didn’t feel quite right about it. We are praying that God will give us both peace and that we would both know for sure when we find the place God is leading us to live.

Evan & Ellie had fun today feeding and chasing the pigeons. It’s amazing how quickly you can be surrounded when you bring out some crumbs or seeds.

Today was laundry day. It was long overdue since we haven’t done laundry since we arrived. When we found out the price to do laundry, we did what we could by hand in the bathtub. We hauled the rest to the Laundromat for a grand total of 30 Euros ($40-45) for 2 loads (one was a really big load in an extra large washer). Evan and I (Wendy) tried to find a grocery store while Kevin & Ellie waited on the laundry. Unfortunately, we had trouble finding it, and by the time we found the store, bought what we needed, and returned to the Laundromat, Kevin & Ellie had finished and headed back. Evan & I got a little lost since I hadn’t paid a lot of attention on the way to the Laundromat, and our bags of groceries were getting VERY heavy, so much that I actually considered just leaving the heaviest bags on the street. We finally prayed that we would find a taxi, or that God would help us find a store that had large bags on wheels (we’ve seen people using these for their groceries and have thought about buying one). Soon after that, we found a store, and after using many hand motions to describe to the clerk what I wanted, we got the perfect bag. We headed out and found a main street, and like I always do, used landmarks to find our way home. It was a little adventure, and God was with us each step.
-Wendy

The extra large washer provided some free entertainment

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We are scheduled to depart Columbus on March 7 for about 18 hours of travel time, and are due to arrive in Granada, Spain the next day. The last month has been filled with wrapping up final details here and spending time with family and friends saying and preparing to say goodbye.

February 9-19 was spent in Delaware. We enjoyed our time there, and were sad when the time came to leave.

Evan & Ellie with Great-Grandma Ella

Ellie with cousin Sierra

Five Cousins- Starla, Catrina, Crystal, Gloria & Wendy

Byler Family

Evan had his last day of school February 23. While we didn’t mind finishing up, he will certainly miss all his friends and his teacher.

Evan with his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Wilson

Since we have returned to Ohio, almost every evening has been filled with saying goodbyes to friends and family, and each time is usually over a meal. We are enjoying our times with everyone and all the good food, but our clothes seem to be getting a bit snug!

Evan & Ellie with their friends Gabrielle, Carson & Jacalyn

Evan & Gabrielle

Ellie & Carson

Ellie & Evan

We are thankful for your prayers during these days of transition and adjustment.

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