Connecting!

Oh no, wait, yes...I've LOST the piece of paper that means we're residents in Madrid!!
Hurrah, well at times like this we're trying to learn to laugh (& eat watermelon).

We're in a very bizarre situation of occasionally feeling like we're on holiday but on the other hand feeling stressed out as we grapple with 'the new' and as we press on down a list of things that need to be done to get our lives up & running here.

This is our first blog post from our PC, which means we have at least managed to get ourselves connected to the outside world with a landline and internet access - tick! Due to the quirky nature of our flat, however, the current home of our router is in the middle of our living room floor, halfway between power sockets and telephone sockets :-)  The surprises continue in our flat as we discover the hard way that the electrical system won't tolerate the oven, hob, washing machine & kettle all being on at the same time - 12 trips later down to the basement to reset the trip switch and we're beginning to get the balance right :-)

Our plaza is a really great place to get connected with local people. We come out our front door (1st pic) and straight into this park (2nd pic) which at key times is bustling with all generations sitting / chatting / playing /smoking weed :-) We've had some good first chats after realising that behind the indifferent looks many Spaniards are actually very approachable! And as I write this, one of our big goals is being achieved as Sally & the kids have gone out shopping with a Spanish girl and her young child - Hurrah, Sally's longings for girly chats MAY not be too far off!

I'm still to find potential Spanish friends (spare a prayer!) but it's early days: I start work on Wednesday, we'll be taking turns to take Ellie to the schoolgate once she is allocated a place on 4th October, and on Sunday we went to a really friendly church 5 minutes walk from our house. No doubt God has some mates for all of us somewhere in that mix.

One other great connection is that our 5th (adult) member of the team has now joined us in Madrid - welcome Dave! He's similarly left friends, job & home (in East Grinsted) to help out in this mad adventure and we've just spent a great weekend with him, including a cable car trip from the city into Casa del Campo (parkland) on Saturday. Spare another prayer as he looks for work & a house-share and settles in as a Madrilleno.

The kids are well, if a little moany at times with the heat and all the changes in routine. Ellie wants to go to school, Joe walks past people and says 'Hola!', and they are learning to walk 'tippy-toes' along our hall in a noise prevention strategy!

Thanks to all who have written, emailed, messaged, phoned or (more recently) skyped. We value and love you lots. Until next time! x

Sal might kill me, but I'll leave you with a mini-taste of our home situ :-)

We're Madrilenos!

What a whirlwind!
Today we were given our piece of paper that makes us officially residents of Madrid - hurrah! Our boxes arrived yesterday - 4 days late & rather battered - but it did mean we had time to clean the flat & slap some paint on some of the mustard-coloured walls and chocolate woodwork. What a relief.

We really do like our flat, especially its location near the Bartletts, metro stations, shops & parks.
We're beginning to get our heads round rubbish collection, shop opening times and the need for our kids to stop singing at the top of their voices in the 'quiet time' between 2 and 5pm :-)
The delights as far as the kids are concerned are: exciting underground choo-choos, yummy watermelons and fantastic parks & play areas everywhere.

We've begun to know who our neighbours are, with one of our first interactions being a request for us to help our neighbour opposite us to change the clothes line that runs across the yard between our flats! So far, generally a quite friendly if slightly indifferent reception, but hopefully we'll grow on them! ...come on kids, be more cute and less noisy!
It's hot, hot, hot (and not in the good way) but we're loving the bonus of our balcony where I enjoy this mountain view as I have the occasional quiet time in the cool of the morning. "I lift up my eyes to the hills..." :-)

Finally, on Sunday evening we also visited a growing church in the south of Madrid (we're towards the north). It was great to see the potential for the gospel in Madrid and be so welcomed by people there. Al had the trauma of helping Ellie & Joe to not be terrified by the kids' work (horrified looks & tears at a crowd of noisy Spaniards dancing and singing!) but amazingly they did stay in reasonably happily by themselves for a lot of it. Much of the evening flew over Sal's head but she enjoyed being able to join in 1 song she knew - 'Allelujah' :-)

We don't have internet or phones sorted out yet (red tape) but had the pleasure of receiving our first post in Spain today - thanks Cassie and Simon & Jane!
That's probably enough from us for now. Thanks for your interest, love & prayers. We'll be in touch soon, as our little adventure continues!
xox

Let's go!! Vamos!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhh!!!! We're at the airport and awaiting the flight that will zoom us into a new stage of our lives and an exciting adventure with God.
It's been a year in the making since we felt God's leading to join Kevin & Ness Bartlett and family in Madrid, with the long-term aim of seeing a thriving, Word-centred, Spirit-filled, Jesus-worshipping Newfrontiers church in Madrid :-)
The preparation stage has been pretty long, challenging and costly, to be honest, and we are now so looking forward to getting into our little flat, finding our feet, getting Sally some language lessons, finding Ellie a good school and meeting some friendly local Spaniards!!
We will try to keep you updated on our progress but in the meantime we send you our love - thank you so much for your support and encouragement - and watch this space!
Al, Sal, Ellie & Joe x