Partnering With Paula: Spain Day 7

I wish I could post some pictures of these kiddies I am working with. They are 21 months to 14 years old and some of the best kids I have ever worked with....and cute! It is the teams habit to have dinner, devotions and discuss our "high point" for the day just before bed. Tonight everyone had more than one high point and they were all about the kids or the devotion we had this morning (We have devotion time with one of the people that are attending the conference each morning. They give us their testimony and basically tell us about the area they are working in.)

Our youngest child *Jay (that is what I am calling him on the blog) had a really rough day yesterday, but today seemed all smiles and giggles (except one melt down just before a nap). Another one was, as we were talking about Jesus walking on the water and the disciples reaction, Dee (one of the teachers) asked, "how do you think you will feel when you finally see Jesus." Our newest kid (started today) said, with his arms stretched out in front of him, "I would just look at him and say 'FINALLY!" He is 7 1/2 years old.... It makes it so worth it when they run back to you to hug you goodbye, smile at you when the culture they live in doesn't really promote a lot of smiling, the parent tell you that they can relax because they don't have to worry about their kids being well taken care of, listening to the lessons, helping the little ones without prodding, and know some Bible stories better than you do. All but one ,*Jay, know at least 2 languages....most of them 3 or 4. This morning 3/4 of the group were "teaching" us how to count in Arabic. I have come to the conclusion that some of the 5-6 year olds are smarter than I am.....maybe you and I combined. :~)

Food in Spain: I have talked about the fabulous ice cream we had in Marbella, but many of my meals since coming to Spain have been more of an adventure. I don't know Spanish very well, so sometimes I have to guess. Lunch at the camp is just whatever they serve you. Yesterday for lunch....well....it was a car wreck. It was the first official day of the conference, the big group was here and "someone" in the kitchen didn't plan very well. You have two plates, drink, bread, and desert. It was like they would walk over, get your drink order, come back a while later with your drinks, then come with the first plate and serve part of the table (out of 4 people), then leave, then serve part or all of another table, then collect your first plate (if you ate it), without serving the other people at the table, then one person at the table got the second plate, and was completely done before a couple more of us at the table got our second plate. One person never got her first plate and finally left. Then there was desert.....I was afraid at this point. Plate 1 was Gazpacho (I am not a fan of thick cold soup that is a combination of vegetables blended to puree). Plate 2 was sardines.....3 big ones. I heard they were cooked on the sand, salted, peppered and served with shredded lettuce and tomato on the side. It took us two hours to have lunch.... I did eat the Gazpacho (bread dumbed down the taste a little) and some shredded lettuce, and some desert that I can't pronounce, and was average at best. It was like flan....but it wasn't flan. I did take a teenie weenie bite of the sardines (because I think I should at least experience the yucky-ness). Below is a picture. If you like Gazpacho and Sardines...this meal would have been right up your ally.