Monasterio de Piedra

A friend and I went to visit this beautiful, natural park yesterday. There are lots of waterfalls and grottoes and trees and even a duck pond, although we didn't see any ducks. :) (You can see the rest of the photos by clicking here.)

It was a perfect, spring day. The skies were beautiful and temperature was perfect. And even though I was exhausted at the end of the day, from all the climbing and walking and the drive there and back, it was a wonderful day - a blessing from the Lord. AND a great way to enter Easter weekend.

TCKs

A blog posting two days in a row! Can you tell we're on Spring Break here? :)

Recently our WorldVenture TCK Coordinator, Sheryl O'Bryan, was here in Spain. Here is a link to a blog posting she wrote after she visited our school. She could have written something very similar after visiting any MK school, but because it was ours, it held a little more meaning for me (the photo she included is not of our school). I hope you enjoy it. (I'm going to add a link to her blog in My Blog List to the right if you're interested in following it and learning more about TCKs.)

While I'm at it, I should probably explain some terminology for you. A "TCK" is a third culture kid. The definition that Dave Pollock gave in his book, "Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds," is "A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background." (An MK (missionary kid) is also a TCK.)

Sheryl has encouraged me to attend a conference for those who work with TCKs overseas. So I will be traveling to New York in June for this two week conference. I'm also planning to read through Pollock's book before I go (I've read parts of it, but never the whole thing). I'm praying that God will use me to touch the lives of the students in our school. Thanks for praying with me.

Spring Comes to Spain

After a very long, wet winter, it appears that Spring has arrived. We still get an occasional rain shower but we've been having more clear skies and warmer weather. Now I'm hoping for a long Spring, as I'm not eager for the summer heat.

This week is Spring break at ECA so it's nice to have some extra time to read and relax, work on the flowers on my back patio, do some Spring cleaning and I may even get away for a day or two.

Rain, rain, go away

This is what our skies have looked like for the last 3-4 months. I don't mind rain, but day-in and day-out for months on end gets to be a little bit much. (We have had a handful of sunny days during that period, but not many.) I have a friend who is very much affected by cloudy skies. I never thought I was, until this year. I have been experiencing quite a few "blue" days and I'm beginning to wonder if the weather isn't, at least, partly to blame. While I'm not looking forward to the heat of the summer, it would be nice to see the sun.

Inspired (?) to return to blogging

My son has started a new blog and thus reminded me that it's been awhile since I posted anything (before Christmas, to be exact). I could give you all kinds of excuses, but instead I'll share a few photos of what's been happening since I last wrote. (Looking back on the past few posts, it looks like I fall back on photos when I don't know what to write.)

A trip to downtown Madrid with a friend in mid-January

The Madrid Cathedral

The Don Quixote monument in Plaza Espana

I was able to go to Denver at the end of January for the wedding of one of my former college students.

The bride and her father in a very "untraditional" dance - very fun!

The lovely couple

My children and I (Jen was a bridesmaid)

I was also able to spend some time with my "surrogate grandchildren"

Tristan

Abi

I enjoyed my time in Denver very much and have been back in Spain for a week now. I think I must still be getting over jet-lag, because I'm not sleeping very well and I'm really tired. Of course, I suppose our cold, cloudy, rainy weather could have something to do with it.

I'll try to do better at "blogging", but I guess you've heard that before. Until next time... ;)