Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Weekend in Malaga


 My brother Lukas asked me recently what I had been doing for “awesome-ness” since I got to Malaga. At that point all I had to say was that I had settled in well, was enjoying being here with the Pringles and that I was working with kids every day. Which in itself it pretty awesome, but not quite what he meant J

Enjoying the awesome weather we've had almost everyday since I arrived almost two weeks ago!


This weekend however I was able to do three pretty awesome things. On Friday Jeannine and Moriah brought a friend home from school to sleep-over and the four of us went to see the new “Les Miserables” at the local Cinema. The theater was really nice and I loved the movie! I’m kind of a Les Mis fan as it is, having read the book and sung quite a bit of the music in choir in highschool. Afterward we came home and had late night pizza.

Saturday is shopping and cleaning day at the Pringle home, so there is always something to keep busy. In the evening, Jeannine and I were able to attend "Ruge", a city-wide prayer and praise time at a church in Malaga. We got a ride with another couple attending, and Jeannine’s friend Ben Eller joined us as well.  It was a wonderful experience, even though it was all in Spanish.  As long as people are talking slowly, or if the words are printed on a screen I am finding that I can usually figure out a little bit of what’s going on, but Jeannine and Ben were also great at helping to translate when I was completely lost.  It's also helpful that Spanish is pretty much phonetic. So I can sing along even though I don't know what the words mean! :)

The worship leader, Martin, is also the youth pastor at the Pringle's church.
Excited to be with Jeannine at "Malaga Ruge"


 The most marvelous part was though that God’s Spirit was so present. I love how the Spirit is not hindered by language barriers. Though I didn’t understand most of the words spoken, I understood the spirit and was able to worship and join as one of the family.  The family of Christ really is the greatest family ever! It was a very enjoyable and encouraging evening.


On Sunday we all slept in and Dan and Tara prepared a delicious breakfast.  Instead of going to church we had quiet time in our respective rooms. It was very restful just to sit and read, listen to music and be in God’s presence. Dan had to pick people up from the airport around noon so he dropped me off at the metro station on his way there. It was about a 10 minute ride into downtown Malaga where I spent the afternoon wandering around and exploring a bit.

Plaza de la Marina. It looks like there is a big fountain, but unfortunately it wasn't running :(


Alcazaba


Most of the historic buildings and things to see are clustered in a small radius near the port right downtown. I walked down the paseo (main avenue), which is lined with trees and further down turns into a lovely park. On the right is the water’s edge lined with hotels catering to tourists. On the left is the old city.

The Cathedral. Built in the Renaissance style it only has one tower because the funds for the other one were spent elsewhere.

A hilarious band of chefs I happened upon in the restaurant district. I think they may have been trying to rev up business for their establishment.  
Outside the entrance of the Alcazaba


View of the bull-fighting ring from the top of the Alcazaba.
Quaint corner of the Alcazaba. In my exploring I was trying imagine what it would have been like as the residence of a Moorish king and the harem and family that would have lived there.


It’s nice that I have the option of going back and seeing things I didn’t the first time! I took myself out for lunch to a cute restaurant where I sampled some of the seafood that Malaga is apparently famous for. I had grilled fish with creamy sea-food paella, which is a rice dish. Delicious! J

The waiter was amused when I asked him to take a picture of me :)

So that was my eventful weekend. To those who get all the way down here, thanks for reading!!

With Love :)


  

Thursday, 10 January 2013

Spain!!


Spain!!

It is finally real J I am here in southern Spain, installed as a member of the Pringle family, residing in Alhaurin dela Torre and working at The Ark Christian School in Fuengirola.
After leaving Canada on the 26th of December I had 10 lovely days in Switzerland visiting with my grandma and lots of other family.  Some highlights were New Year’s Eve with cousins outside under the stars, skiing in the Swiss Alps for the first time and an 84th birthday, which was basically a family reunion! J It was wonderful to speak Schwiitzer Dütsch, and connect with so many special people again.

The ski hill in Savognin, Switzerland where I was able to spend a day with my Aunt Cornelia, Uncle Martin and cousin Leo
On January 7th I took the train to Basel, and flew to Malaga where Tara Pringle and Coleman (age 12) picked me up from the airport. It was like seeing family again! I love having people all over the world that I know so well from growing up! No wonder we are called the "family of God".  I have known the Pringles since living in Kabul during highschool. Dan and Tara were my youth-group leaders and I was their baby-sitter. The four kids have grown up so much since I saw them last. Jeannine (16), Moriah (14), Coleman (12) and Kyle (10) will be my  substitute siblings for the next little while. So fun!

My lovely bedroom (graciously vacated by Jeannine while I'm here)
Way to make me feel at home!! (and I love the idea of painting a desk with blackboard paint!)

Tuesday after breakfast at 7:15, we headed for school which is about a 20 minute drive from home along the Costa del Sol. In a couple weeks when the days are longer we will see the sun rising out of the Mediterranean Sea on our way J Yes, I think I’m going to love this adventure!


The view of the Mediterranean from the highway, driving home from school in the afternoon
Early Years, and my year 1-2 class doing devotions in the morning before lessons start.
The Ark Christian School is small, about 90 students in total, from ages 4-17. I have been pretty much assigned to the year 1-2 split class. There are 13 students, 6 boys and 7 girls, and a very wide range of language abilities and learning levels. Several of them are British and the loveliest accents J The others are Scandinavian, and Spanish. Elena the teacher is Ukranian, and seems to have a  relaxed and fun, but also no-nonsense personality. To the students I am now "Miss Romaine".

My job is to assist where ever I can, reading with individuals, doing work in small groups, being the "policeman" while Elena teaches, washing paint brushes, supervising lunch play time etc. Elena has graciously said that once I’m comfortable I will be able to teach a lesson once in a while, which will be a great experience.  I’m also doing odd jobs around school. Tara (who teaches highschool English) got me to put bindings on class notes for her year 8-9s today, and I started the job of re-shelving and organizing the library books.  I enjoyed myself thoroughly today, and think it will be a rich and valuable experience as long as I am able to keep a cheerful, humble and serving attitude.

Orange trees!! The entrance to the park which also is the school playground.
Evening stroll along the main street in Alhaurin de la Torres with the Pringle ladies

Although Spain is a Western, and even European country, here are a few quirks I’ve noticed or been shown this week:
-       If you don’t give exact change, the cashier will ask you for it, they consider it very important.
-       In greeting, Spaniards give just two kisses, one on each cheek, instead of the 3 that I’m used to from Switzerland.
-       Drivers (on the highway!!) will sit indecisively on the line between two lanes…exceedingly frustrating to other drivers!
-       One of the specialty foods is “Jamon”, cured ham that smells awful!!
That is all for this week! A little taste of what I am experiencing J Thanks for reading, thinking and praying. With love and hugs,
Romaine



Andalusian hills and Malaga in the distance