Segovia, Spain

December has arrived and besides enjoying 50 degree weather we also enjoyed having one of Kristyn's friends (Sarah) come out and visit us for a week. During this time we went to Segovia (just N. of Madrid) and saw the sights. We also got to show her Madrid. This is a lot easier now that we have lived here for more then a few weeks! The trip to Segovia was great, with the highlight being a Roman Aqua Duct that is over 2000 years old. They say it still works but I didn't see any flowing water so I have my doubts.

My English classes are still going well and i just added two more lessons, so I am up to 10 a week now. This allows for a great amount of down time but also gives me something to look forward to throughout the week. Here are a few pictures from Segovia.

For the soccer fans out there

I went to my first European futbol match with my friend Andy before he headed out for Brussels. We saw Rhyo Vallecas (the Madrid team) play some team from down South. These two teams would be like watching a AAA baseball team. So these guys are one league below playing for the pros, Pretty good.!

The game was amazing. People chanting during the entire game, waiving flags, and yelling at the opponents fans, and by using the word yelling I am being kind. It was a little bit more harsh then that. But overall it was great. Taking in some real soccer and watching it in such an amazing environment, defiantly is one of my highlights so far.

These are our new friends: Israel, Raul, Conchi, and Israel's and Conchi's son Manu. This is in Toledo

Having some fun while walking around Tolded

Pictures: Tim, Raul, and Conchi

Conchi and Manu

Israel, Conchi and Manu posing before we go into a Museum that features pictures by Goya

talk about twins!!!

We finally started working!!!

I started 6 private English lessons this week and have added one more for next week. So that means I will be up to 7 total lessons and hoping to add at least one more. This puts me at 8.5 hours of work a week. Really with all the prep time it equals a lot more, especially because I have to put so much work into my prep (because I don’t know what in the world I am really doing).

The classes seem to be going pretty good so far, thanks to the handy website www.onestopenglish.com I just print out the worksheets and walk them through it. The hard part is when they don’t want to do worksheets. Then I have to create lessons, which take more time and have more of a potential to bomb, but so far so good. I just keep smiling and telling them that it takes time and practice and that seems to put them at ease.

So, my just under two months without a job has finally come to an end. The nice thing is that none of my classes are before 2:00. So I still have time to sleep in, work on my Spanish, and do a little reading before I head off to work. The bad part is that some of my classes are at 8:00 p.m. This definitely cuts into my night life J

Kristyn starts classes at an academy this week and she will be working the evening shift usually from 4 or 5 until 10:00 p.m. This doesn’t make for the greatest of schedules for us to see each other but we are hoping that after Christmas break we will be able to re-work some of her hours. She will be working one-on-one with students studying to pass certain tests in order to further their careers. The nice thing is that it doesn’t really require any prep work because she just walks them through a computer program, the bad news is that it is every night of the week. So our hang out time is at a premium.

But we have jobs and we are finally making money. Who knows, this adventure might actually work out after all.

Final decisiosn

Ok, after a bit of a crazy week sending out e-mails and making lots of phone calls Kristyn and I have decided that we have enough work to stay! Things are going to be tight for a while but it is good finally making the decision and having real work. I was able to line up 6 private lessons to give each week and Kristyn was able to line up some work with another academy. So that is the update. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

We both start teaching this week, so wish us luck!

Kristyn and I at the Parque del Retiro in Madrid

Downtown Madrid during one of the many holidays

This is the Templo de debod in Madrid. Kristyn captured this magical scene one night when we were out walking!

Job update...O NO!!!

It has been a while since my last post… I realize this. But I am ok with large gaps in the frequency of my posts. I think it builds suspense and from what I know about books, TV shows, etc. suspense is a good thing. So I hope you all don’t mind that you aren’t getting a weekly update. Who knows, maybe I will get better, but in the mean time just feel the suspense building up inside and say a little thank you to me …your welcome!

SIDE NOTE---It is kind of hard to post when you still don’t have internet and you have to hold your computer over your sink and half way out a window just to get 5 minutes worth of signal.

With that said the last few weeks have been eventful to say the least. We started the month out attending my buddy Andy’s wedding to a great Spanish lady (Irina) They did a three day wedding in Hornacharlos (close to Cordoba) and it was amazing. The highlight was when Kristyn and I won the Flamenco competition over all the other Americans. I guess you could say we should have won because we had been here for a month before everyone else. But, with my sense of rhythm working against us I still think this was a truly amazing accomplishment! Neace, you would have been happy!

After that we came home and thought we would start work the next day. Well, that didn’t happen and the next few weeks consisted of our boss telling us we would start on a certain day and then getting an e-mail right before hand telling us we needed to wait a little longer. That finally played out this weekend and we realized that our jobs were no more.

This leaves us in quite a predicament. What are we going to do now that we don’t have jobs, and we haven’t explored any more options because…we thought we did? I am sure you can feel our pain! So now Kristyn and I are trying to figure out what to do next. We have sent out a few e-mails trying to put together enough private classes to sustain us until we can get our feet about us, but we are not quite sure if this will work out.

So the adventure continues and Kristyn and I get to put our money where our mouth is and try to trust the Lord through this challenging time. If we don’t get some things worked out quickly we might just need to come home for a while and then head back over here in early March/April to do the backpacking part of our trip. Neither of us wants to do this but it might be our only option. So there is my little update.

I hope you all are well and that you are enjoying the fall/winter seasons. We are still in the 70’s during the day but at night it is starting to get quit cold.

I will leave you with these words of wisdom. Never take for granted the fact that you know what other people are saying. It can prove very challenging when this little convince is taken away J