Random Facts about Christmas #6 - The Cow

Spanish tradition says that it was the cow that kept baby Jesus warm in the stable, therefore the cow receives special honor at Christmas time.

A Day in Madrid

Mom, if you are reading this post don't panic - we are safe and still happy....

Sunday we were blessed to attend church at Immanuel Baptist Church in downtown Madrid.  The church is an international church and services are in English, although they do space share with a couple other ethnic churches.  It was wonderful to worship in our heart language and understand all that was happening.  Afterwards we headed into the center of town to experience the Rastro.

Sundays in Madrid are crazy and Sundays in December in Madrid are even crazier!  We spent about 30 minutes looking for a parking deck that had open spaces.  We finally parked a little further away than we planned so we  got on the metro for a short distance.  We had been warned to always have purses close to your body and closed and to stay alert.  Until yesterday we had never had any problems.  The subway was packed.  I had my purse across my chest and over my coat (I should have had it under my coat).  The man standing next to me kept looking at me sheepishly and I felt my purse move against my leg.  After feeling it move more than once (and God nudging me) I grabbed my purse and found it not only unzipped, but my wallet pouch pulled up to the top and unzipped as well.  When he realized I had found it he immediately pushed his way across the train towards other people.  My credit card and passport were untouched.  Most of my cash was still in the pouch as well.  I think he may have taken a bill that was on top, but I am not sure.  It could have been so much worse so we were relieved!  My tutor told me today that there are more pickpocket episodes in December than any other month and of course, those who look like tourists are more likely to be targets.

After getting off the metro we made our way to Rastro (after stopping and asking questions many times).  The Rastro is a huge flea market.  I read on one website that they limit the number of booths to 3500 vendors.   There were people everywhere and you wandered for streets and streets.  We bought a couple gifts and then went in search of lunch.  A bocadilla is a sandwich on bread similar to a french loaf.  Usually cold meat is served on it and since I am not a big sandwich eater, they aren't my favorites, but this restaurant had sandiwches with hot choices.  I had a french omelette bocadilla.  It was the best sandwich I have had since arriving.  We then wandered around some more and headed home.

I can now say I have done the Rastro, however, it is not on my list of things to repeat.  Not because of the pickpocketer, but because there were way too many people in too small of a place.  Everyone should experience it at least once, but once was enough.

Sock Booth

Yes, those are people all the way up the hill

A rubber booth - all sizes of rubber

Beggars entertaining for money

Entrance to Plaza Mayor

Thanksgiving

I know, we are knee deep in Christmas plans and I am just writing about Thanksgiving, but better late than never, right?

Spain does not celebrate Thanksgiving so Scott and Alex had school on Thursday, postponing our celebration to Saturday.   Most of the foods we traditionally eat for Thanksgiving meal are not traditional foods in Spain, so the event required some creativity.  We were gathering with several other families who are also serving here, making a total of 20 people.

As for the food,

Turkey - this had to be special ordered and a large one was requested, but no control over the size.  Definitely no butterball factory here.  The turkey wasn't quite large enough so notice the "extra" legs.  The turkey did not come frozen and did not come totally plucked.  Glad I signed up for dessert and not the turkey!

I made my first pumpkin pie totally from scratch (well, I didn't make the crust - I found it frozen).  It tasted so much better than anything I had made before and wasn't a lot more work.  Definitely worth it! Of course, if you know me, no Thanksgiving would be complete without something chocolate so I also made Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie pie and Hannah made a Snickerdoodle Cake.

Random Facts About Christmas #5 - April Fools

Yes, April's fool is in December in Spain, although not called April's Fool.  December 28 is called the day of Santos Inocentes (Holy Innocents).  People play practical jokes on one another. Often the national media will include a nonsense story in their broadcasts. In some villages youngsters of a village light bonfires and one of them acts as the mayor who orders townspeople to carry out civic tasks such as sweeping the streets. Refusal to comply results in fines which are used to pay for the celebration.

Random Facts About Christmas #4 -

At this time of the year around our home in North Carolina you cannot walk into a single store without seeing santa and a line of children waiting to sit on his lap and share their wish list.  It will be rare to find a santa in the malls here, but instead you will find the Three Wise Men.  However, they are not out yet.  Since we have not yet celebrated Christ's birth they could not be on their way yet.  They will appear the day after Christmas and will help prepare for Los Tres Reyes (Three Kings Day) on January 6.  Children will wait in line to choose a king to sit on his lap and share their wish list.  Often the three kings will have distinct different appearances - a white haired one, a brown haired one, and a black king.

Random Facts about Christmas in Spain #3

In most Spanish towns you will find an elaborate Belen (a nativity display for the public - think about the nativity scene you have in homes and then add all of the village of Bethlehem to it for a Spanish Belen).  They range in sizes all across the country.  When Scott and I were walking the other night we came across one in a store window.  It was lit up and played music through the windows.  We could have stood there and examined it for hours.  However, we did not know that we should have been looking for the Caganer.  A caganer is a gnome-like man squatting with his pants down.  He is hidden within the Belen. It is not unusual for children to be entertained by asking them "Where's Caganer?"

Roast Update

The roast was fabulous!  Tasted just like home!

A "quick" Shopping Trip

I try to live life as much like a Spaniard as I can.  My language stinks and my appearance will always yell foreigner, but in other ways I can try to adapt, for example, with shopping.

My impression (and teaching) is that most women do most of their shopping at small shops - meat stores, fruit stands, bread store, etc.  After my language lesson yesterday I made my shopping list and headed out.     The list wasn't long - laundry detergent, pie crust, diet coke, lomo (Pork tenderloin slices), pot roast, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, bananas, and bread.  Not much, right?

I grabbed my granny cart and off to the first stop (a 5- 10 minute walk) - Mercadona.  Mercadona is a typical grocery store.  Not huge in American standards, but decent size.  Laundry detergent and pie crust were marked off the list for this stop.  Of course I picked up several things that were not on the list, loaded them into the granny cart and was off to the next stop, the fruit store.

Mercadona - Grocery Store

There are two fruit stores near me that I like.  One is combined with a fish store.  The lady there is VERY patient with me and will attempt to teach me Spanish as well.  I got lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes (5 kg - had to rearrange the granny cart so they were on the bottom and not squishing anything else), bananas, and then I saw mangoes.  Hannah loves mangoes so I thought this would be a treat for her.  They were 5.95€/kg ($8.03/2.2lbs) so I only asked for one.  Do you know how much a single mango weighs?  One mango was 2.75€ (nearly $4).  Oh my - it better be good!  The mango cost as much as the rest of my produce all together.

My Favorite Meat Store

Next stop was the meat store.  Two young guys are the butchers.  They are always laughing and smiling and I think they probably roll in the floor laughing every time I leave - but at least while I am in there they are helpful.  There are two lines - one for chicken, one for beef and pork.  I almost always get chicken (because it is healthier, right?  uh not the real reason - I know the vocabulary for ordering it better than the beef).    So the "chicken butcher" immediately gets ready and I tell him not today.  He "pouts" while the other tells him I have left him for the better side of the market.  I order the lomo - that one is easy - then I attempt my pot roast.

The pot roast is an on-going story.  I can only imagine that a pot roast here will be wonderful and tender.  The meat is much better here than at home.  This was my 3rd attempt at a roast.  First time I just tried it - no real vocabulary, figured I could wing it.  We all laughed and I came home with my standard chicken.  Second attempt I had looked up the part of the cow it comes from and knew that word.  Chicken again.  This time I had my language tutor write down for me what I wanted.  Much more laughter, but at least this time the butcher had a piece of meat in his hands.  I asked if it was from the shoulder and he said no.  We then (along with the chicken butcher) played charades as I tried to explain again what I wanted.  Finally the chicken butcher went in the back and brought a huge hunk of meat - a beef shoulder and we all thought we were finally making progress.  I told him how much I wanted and he trimmed it and weighed it and then the cost came up.

16€ for 1.4 kilograms ($21.59/3 lbs).  Gulp!  At that point I didn't have any option except to buy it - they had been so good at trying to figure out what I wanted.  After I paid for it I asked the beef butcher to write down for me what I had finally gotten so that I could ask for it again (or avoid it).  He wrote it down and off to the next stop.

Blue "Chino"

Granny cart is full and heavy - remember the laundry detergent and 5 kg (11lbs) of potatoes but we are almost finished.  I stop at my favorite "chino" for bread and order two "bars of de la casa, caliente" (2 loaves of the house bread, hot).  As I am coming out - bread under arm, granny cart dragging behind me, and list in my hand - I realize I forgot carrots.  No problem, I'll just go to the other fruit and veggie stand I like - no way I am going all the way back to the first one - too far and she'd laugh at me for forgetting it.  The lady at this fruit stand always laughs and is personable and if she has no customers she is standing out in the courtyard visiting.  When I arrive she comes in (along with her 2 friends she was visiting with - I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't tell them, oh here comes the crazy American with no language - this will be fun).  I ask for my 5 carrots (in Spanish as I now know both of those words) but have no clue how much money she said it was.  She came around the counter and then very slowly said the amount (45 cents).  When I understood what she said her face lit up and she got all excited.  Nothing like having your own language cheerleader!

Entrance to Apartment

Almost back to the apartment and I realized the one thing on my list that wasn't crossed off - Diet Coke!  No way I am going home without that.  Right below our apartment is another "chino" (these are small variety stores with everything from food to hardware in them - called "chino" because the majority are owned by Chinese residents).  I work my way into that door (remember, the granny cart, bread under the arm, carrots in a bag in my hand, winter coat on, .... ) wiggle past the others and find my diet coke (yes, they even have caffeine free diet coke here!) and purchase it.  Oh if there had been a video camera I could have won America's Funnies Videos!  Out the door I come, dragging my very heavy granny cart, toting the bread, carrots, and now diet coke under my arm, and digging in my purse to find my keys (you have to have a key to get into the building) and I see one of my Spanish friends.  We speak and she comments on all my "things."  I tell her about my variety of stops and she responds in Spanish and some English "I go to Mercadona (remember the store I started at?)"

What do you do but laugh at that moment and pray that the mango and "roast" are the best things we have tasted in months!  (check back tomorrow for a roast update - by the way, when I got home I translated what the butcher wrote down for me - it meant butcher's cut - so I still have no real idea what I bought)

Random Fact about Christmas in Spain - #2

What do you expect to hear on the street corners at Christmas time?  Silver Bells or the Salvation Army bell?  Not in Spain.  On every corner you will find people asking you to buy a lottery ticket for the Christmas lottery - El Gordo (English translation - The Fat One).  This lottery has been going on since 1812.  The winning ticket will be drawn on December 22.

25 Facts about Christmas in Spain

It's our first Christmas in Spain and there is so much to learn, so I thought I would take you on a 25 day learning spree (with the help of my friend Caitlin Murano).  Each day in December you will find some new random fact about Christmas in Spain.  I hope you enjoy learning along with me.

There are four ways to say Merry Christmas in Spain because 

there are four different languages spoken in Spain.

¡Feliz Navidad! (Spanish)
Bon Nadal! (Catalan)
Eguberri On! (Basque)
Bo Nadal! (Galician)

Residency Update, Again

We are ALL APPROVED!

Our trip back to the residency office was successful today.  We have all been approved for our temporary residence status.  Now we wait 45 days and then return to pick up the cards.  Of course, these are only good for a year, but hopefully the next time around will be without hiccups.

Operation Christmas Child

I cannot remember the first time we particiapted in Operation Christmas Child.  It seems like something  we have done forever.  Pack a shoebox for a child somewhere in the world.  Originally it was all about giving to the less fortunate, especially at Christmas.  But then the more I learned, it was about sharing the hope of Christ.  It became a traditional way of "kicking off" the Christmas season for our family.

Then we moved to Spain.  Knowing that many traditions would need to be let go of we never dreamed we would be able to continue this one.  But Thursday night we met with our new friends for a packing party.  Together we packed nearly 20 boxes, sampled American desserts, shared where the boxes from Spain went last year, and I even got a chance to share how I had seen the boxes in "real life" in other locations. 

Operation Christmas Child is a smaller operation here.  The Disciple office (a Billy Graham Ministry) manages the boxes here.  All the boxes from Spain go to specific, spanish speaking locations in the world.  We are learning a lot about the process.  In fact, we even turned in our request to volunteer at their processing office later in December. 

It is so cool to be able to carry this tradition on!

Residency Update

We returned to complete the final step of our residency applications yesterday, or so we thought. 

Good News:  Scott and I have successfully completed the process.  In about 45 days we will return one more time to pick up our residency cards.  At that point, if we have not passed the driver's license test we will have to stop driving.  We will be able to get "real" bank accounts as well as other services or perks.  Of course, this first card is only good for one year and then we will have to repeat the entire process all over again.

Bad News:  The kids did not successfully complete the process.  As we were completing the final step it was discovered that the first step was done incorrectly.  The kids were listed as independent people and not connected to a parent.  They are minors so this is a big problem.... so, on Monday we go back to Aluche (an old jail that is now where residency applications are processed) and talk with the man in charge to see how to correct it.  The good news is that Scott can go to language school and I can take them.  Alex says the good news is also that he gets to miss school (he did not have Thanksgiving off).

Keep praying.  They say this is normal (to have several hiccups in the process) so we are not worried.  Besides, God has been faithful to this point so I have no reason to think He will not continue to be faithful.

Residency

Coming to live legally in Spain is not such a simple task.  If you have been following the blog for long you know that last April we began the process of collecting paperwork for our visa applications.  On June 13 we finally had it all together and we went and applied (all four of us, in person, in Washington, DC) for our visas.  Then in early September we received word that mine and Scott's visas were ready however the children's visas had not been issued yet.  Then yes, 3 days before we left for Spain all four were ready and along with a friend I made a quick trip to DC to pick them all up.  Then shortly after arriving in Spain, Hannah and I took an overnight trip to London so that she could enter the country after receiving her visa.  But the visa is only the beginning of the process.

Once here we had a few days to go to the ayuntamiento (local government office) to complete our empadronamiento (basically census paperwork).  In addition, we had 30 days to apply for our residency status.

Now the fun begins - here is how the process is supposed to work:

• call, go online, fax, or go to the processing station and request an appointment to apply for residency
• all adults appear in the processing station with a pile of paperwork and copies of everything and submit application
• be awarded a residency number
• go to a different location and request an appointment for fingerprinting (of entire family) and final application process
• return to location for appointment
• return 45 - 60 days later and pick up residency card

And here is how our process has worked (with each step including help from a co-worker who actually speaks Spanish:

• faxed request for appointment and received a return call to go ASAP to a different location to set up an appointment
• went to the location (a little more than an hour commute each way) and indicated we were there to set up an appointment, however, we had brought all paperwork just in case there was an available appointment that day
• a nice young man said he had time to process us right then and 30 minutes later we were walking out of the office with residency paperwork - only to realize a little while later there was a problem
• unsure how to handle the problem (we were assigned a residency status different than we wanted/needed) we forwarded all our paperwork to an attorney who has helped in similar situations
• side note:  you have 30 days to complete the residency process once you are awarded a residency status
• 3 weeks later (two days ago) we hear back that the easiest solution is to go back to the original office with all our paperwork in hand again and just attempt to explain the confusion (in Spanish of course) -and yes, still need to comply with the 30 days.
• So yesterday, Friday, another co-worker takes us back to the original office to explain the problem and once again we were greeted by a very friendly lady who had to do some research - about 30 minutes later we were called over to sign our new residency paperwork and this time it is correct
• but with the 30 days almost gone we were sent directly to another facility (20 minute drive away) to request our fingerprint appointment
• We sat/stood in line for an hour to get our appointment and now next Friday we will return to sit/stand in line again to finalize the process.

Are you as confused as we are yet?  We are blessed with great, patient co-workers who have helped us with this process.  I have a whole new appreciation for immigrants coming to America without language.  If we ever return to live permanently in the states again it will be with a whole different perspective.

When we were waiting in line to make an appointment we were seated on benches in a tent outside.  Periodically an employee would come to the tent, allow the first row to enter the building, and then in a very orderly way the rows would snake their way around so that there was a new first row.  There was no pushing or shoving and little frustration.  The air was filled with a chill, yet you heard a variety of languages.  Made me stop and ponder how those coming to America through Ellis Island must have felt.  This was much less crowded, much more orderly, and we had a Spanish speaking person helping us through the process, yet - totally at the mercy of a country with a different language and procedures and processes we don't understand.  Those first immigrants to America were mighty brave!

All in all, we have had an easy process with friendly people.  And just think, all of this expires in one year and we do it again!

• not sure how

A Day in the Pueblos

Saturday was gorgeous here.  The temperatures were nearing 70 degrees and although quite windy the higher we went, we couldn't avoid being outside.  We decided cleaning and organizing could wait for a rainy or cold day and headed out to explore.  We had been told one pueblo not too far from here was pretty, so off we went.  When we reached the original town we didn't find a lot to see so decided to just keep on trekking (thank goodness for a GPS).  We ended up stopping in several towns, doing a little shopping, a lot of tasting, and even finally went to the "city" to stop at a mall.  

I have been looking for a rug for the living room that I could afford and was so excited when we stopped at a farmer's market and found one that was the right size, color, and price.  But I didn't want to carry it around while we shopped so I left and thought I'd just stop back by when we were ready to leave.  

So, after about 30 minutes of walking around and buying a few items I went back ready to buy the rug and it was gone.  I was so disappointed but the stand owner proceeded to tell me in Spanish that if I could wait 30 minutes he could get another one.  Sure, why not.  30 minutes is just enough time to find the local pasteleria (pastry store) for a few samples.  I have fallen in love with Spanish chocolate or cream filled Neapolitans and any excuse is a good excuse to have one.

Sure enough, 30 minutes later we returned and he had a carpet for me.  It looks perfect in the living room.

On the way home we stopped at the mall for lunch and had American food, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King and shopped for Alex's birthday (he turns 13 Tuesday).  Ended up buying both he and Scott bikes (not setting Alex free on these roads for a long time).  He is quite excited.

We are definitely not ready for rain and winter to return.