Carlos's Baptism and Birthday Party

On Saturday, Ian's actual birthday, Collin played soccer and then went to the church to help decorate the gym for Carlos's birthday party. I came around 3 pm after waiting for the bus for 1/2 an hour in the hot sun! We ended up being at the church from 3-11 pm. Way too long for our kids. There was a lot of fighting, teasing, hiding, mess making and general getting into trouble. There wasn't really much for the kids to do at church for that long.

Sara did make a delicious chicken dish that we ate for lunch. Even EMMA liked it. She cooked the chicken in a pot for a long time with white wine, onions, and saffron. The meat fell off the bones and we sopped up the liquid with crusty bread. It was really good. I also ate some pasta with Roquefort cheese sauce on it. I might try to make the chicken dish at home and serve it over rice. I made pinto beans and rice. The beans tasted fine, but were way too runny. I miss my crock pot and Mical's recipe for refried beans. Otherwise, my cooking is pretty boring.

We are going to the beach this Saturday. We finally have a car! The only problem is that I'm a little scared to drive and Collin doesn't really like to drive during the busy time of day. I think I am just going to have bite the bullet and do it because I want to do a big shop at Al Campo once a week instead of going to the store practically every day. Here, Spaniards think of going to the store as part of their daily routine. I put it in the same category as washing dishes or sweeping. I am kind of bored with Mercadona and what they have to offer. I am craving sushi, Indian food, etc.,

Back to the baptism. It lasted 1 1/2 hours! There were talks and musical numbers (ours and the violinist) all pretty long. Carlos actually walked out during the violinist's number(s). He also tried to run out of the baptismal font at first. He gave a cute testimony after his baptism about how he felt a warm feeling and wasn't sure if it was the spirit or the hot water in the font. Sara's and my song went really well. She hugged me afterwards because she thought I was crying (I wasn't, I was just really nervous!). We got a lot of complements on our singing. In fact, Sister Lin asked me to sing with her this next Sunday. We are singing God Be with You 'til We Meet Again. There is a missionary who is leaving to go home. Sara, MariCarmen and Pepi were cooking and decorating and cleaning the church all day. They served Moussaka, cold shrimp, pasta salad (with olives, eggs, tuna, and corn), potato chips, jamon serrano sandwiches, cheese, chips, Fanta and Coke. There were two scrumptious looking chocolate cakes that we didn't get to try because we had to catch the bus home.

We met a lady from Ecuador with a very sad story. She is an investigator that the missionaries brought to the baptism. We ended up taking the bus to the city center with her. She came here to earn some money for six months only. She left her 8 year old daughter and husband at home. While she was here, she got in a terrible accident and ended up having to spend some of her hard earned money to pay for her medical bills. When she finally went to the airport to fly home, someone stole her purse with all her money, her passport and her plane ticket. She has been stuck here for over year. She misses her family terribly and just wants to go home. (She is the one with the black shirt to my right in the picture with all the women.)

I love our ward here. I feel very needed and liked. I also feel like everyone is really accepting and nonjudgemental (that could just be because I don't understand everything that is said). Collin gave a good lesson in Primary. He also has to teach two Young Men's classes! I guess he feels very needed too, but probably not in the way that I do.

I have a language exchange tomorrow with a lady named Mercedes. I hope it goes well. I would like to do a language exchange with a different lady every day if I could. I think it would really improve my Spanish. The kids are really excited for the Bucknell students to arrive. I think we all need something to spice up our lives a little.

We took the longest walk ever to Hipercor last night to see if the grocery store was any different than Al Campo or Mercadona. They had a Mexican and Asian food section. There were some comics on sale for 1E and I let the kids choose one. Big Mistake! They were so inappropriate! There was a lady punching someone with her boob, a guy grabbing a girl's bum and getting electrified, two guys with nails through their tongues, and guns, guns, guns galore. I confiscated it and Collin is going to use it in class instead. I definitely should have given the comic a closer look before we bought it. After Hipercor, we went to a skate park and let the kids heel around in. We walked home and it felt really long. I guess when you stop going on long walks every day, your legs get a real shock when you start again.

I watched Memoirs of a Geisha last night. It was really good. I love the book and the movie lived up to the book for once. I have no idea why it is rated-R. There wasn't any nudity, bad language or violence. The cinematography was gorgeous. A small part of the movie was filmed on a beach in Northern California where my mom lives.

I am currently reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne and The Devil's Other Story Book by Natalie Babbitt, both in Spanish. The kids read the Boxcar Children 1-4. Aidan is reading Twilight. He claims that he skips over the mushy bits, but I'm not so sure. Ian seriously needs some books to read. Everything we have is too hard for him.

My teacher brought some interesting cooking related things for me to read, including a Valencian paella recipe I might try, minus the rabbit!