Steeping Tea

I've always loved coffee, but over the past few years I've become a tea drinker. I love loose leafed teas and infusions. A new tea store just came to Santiago and today I met with three friends there and we had a tea buying frenzy. Here was my selection...


A Thousand and One Nights
blend of black and green teas with blossoms and exotic fruits


Yoga Tea
Green Tea with spices of India: cinnamon, anise, fennel, ginger, clove and pepper


Taj Mahal
Special recipe of black Indian tea with cinnamon, orange and rose petals.


Pakistani
Black tea with Mid-Eastern aromas: cinnamon, clove, vanilla,...

If you like tea, check out their webpage, where I got the pictures.

Tea Shop

Liquid Heaven

For the past year and a half I've woken up to the sound of my alarm clock and jackhammers. Not the best way to start off the morning. I'd roll out of bed and go to the kitchen, turn on the faucet to fill up the coffee pot and have to wait 5 minutes for the water. I'd jump in the shower, soap up, shampoo up, and wouldn't you know it, the water would go again. I'd wait 5 more minutes for the water to come back. Eyes burning from the shampoo, freezing cold, and head aching from the aforementioned jackhammer. I think there was a conspiracy against me. Maybe little spying trolls that announced when I got in the shower. "She's in, boys! Turn it off!" I could almost hear their little evil chuckles.

I'm happy to say that this week I woke up to the sound of rushing water from the artificial stream/waterfall below our apartment and showers with constant H2O.

Here are some before, during and after pictures of the plaza.

Before


During







After

Paye

Lately Jose and I have been having this feeling of conviction. It's been nagging me constantly. A feeling that's been telling me to take action in some way or another. But at the same time a sick feeling in my stomach reminding me that I'm trapped in a world that requires money. We've toyed with the idea of just leaving everything and going to a third world country as volunteers, but reality always sets in. There's a car commercial here in Spain that says, "We have an illusion of freedom, but we're tied to our jobs, our cars, our house, etc. Freedom isn't easy, it's going to be tough." Yes, I know, it's just a car commercial, but it's got some truth behind it.

So realizing that going to Africa was not feasible at the moment. We made the joint decision to meet Africa halfway. We thought long and hard and decided to sponsor a little girl in Segou, Malí. Her name is Paye Coulibaly and she's 9 years old.

After filling out the forms and clicking send, I felt like dirt. I'm not quite sure why, though. Maybe it was just seeing how easy it was and how ridiculously cheap it was. I thought I was going to have a feel good moment and pat myself on the back, but I didn't. I felt like a jerk. I don't want to do this type of thing out of pity or to just make myself feel good. I don't want to give 20 bucks and say, "Ok, I did my good deed for the day." I want it to be who I am.

The only thing that makes me happy is to know that Paye might have a chance to be a kid and go to school, be vaccinated, and have a full stomach. We've committed to give her that until she finishes school. I pray God will change Paye's life and that He'll change my heart.

Meet Paye.

Coffee with Jonas

Today I saw our friends Lindsey and Caleb for the first time in three months.

When they left for the US at the beginning of November, Lindsey was about 8 months pregnant...and today I had the honor of having coffee with baby Jonas in my lap.

They left for the US under difficult circumstances. For the past 6 months Caleb's dad was in critical conditional and had half of Santiago and the US praying for him. God answered...just not how everyone had hoped. It's easy to say that he's in a better place now and that he's not suffering anymore, but that doesn't answer the question of why or stop the hurt. No words can be said and any attempt at trying to comfort would be futile.

Caleb lost his father and became one from one day to the next. It's funny. We were all praying for life, for a miracle. The miracle was just manifested in a different way I guess. Today I held him.

It's good to have our friends home...all three of them.

The Luther's

Two important Martin Luthers.

One of them said something just wasn't right and gave a pretty cool speech about a dream he had. His birthday's today.

The other said something just wasn't right and nailed some papers on a church door. He said faith was enough, no need to buy your way into heaven.

Both went against the grain and did something great.

I Have a Dream.
Martin Luther

Cross Country Travels

Jose and I love to travel. And when we travel we do it cheap. No fancy shmancy hotels or taxis, no continental breakfasts or tour guides. We like hostels and tents, PBJ's and coke. Whenever we have a long weekend or 4 days free, we try and visit as many places as we can. This last trip was truly spontaneous.

Our original plan was to go to Portugal. We had six days free this summer and we planned a camping trip down to Lisbon and then work our way up back home. The night before we were going to leave, at around 11PM we looked at the weather and they were calling for thunder storms 3 days straight in Portugal. Jose and I looked at each other with a twinkle in our eye and I ran to get the map of Spain. We had to be on the road by 6AM. It was 11PM, and we started to plan a new trip...across country.

We decided that we wanted sun and fun, not thunder and blunder. So we pretty much just looked at the map of the weather forcast for Spain and saw a big yellow sun on Alicante...so Alicante it was. We had saved 500 Euros for the trip and decided to travel around until it ran out!

Day 1: 6 hour drive to Cuenca. Arrived just in time to find the camp site (European camping is much different than American camping)




it was the first time we'd set up the tent...that was an adventure. We also had bought an air matress...I won't even get into that fiasco...




The landscapes were just full of sunflowers everywhere.

Day 2: spend the morning in Cuenca and then drove 4 hours to Denia, Alicante


La Ciudad Encantada (The Enchanted City) -outskirts of Cuenca, where the rocks are molded by the wind



La Ventana del Diablo (The Devil's Window)- outskirts of Cuenca





Cuenca





Pulled the car over on the side of the road in Castilla La Mancha to take this shot

I forgot to take pictures of Denia. We arrived around 7PM. Set up tent. Wonderful weather. Hot as crap. Took a dip in the Mediteranean. Had a beer at the campsite café. Went to sleep.

Days 3 and 4: Drove 45 minutes to Calpe, Alicante


Everywhere in Alicante is hot as crap. Drank lots of water.


Our campsite

Retired couple's campsite. Quite different from ours. Who the heck takes PLANTS on vacation with them??

Did I mention it was HOT?

Ahh. The beach.



We decided that the next camping trip we're taking chairs with us


Scenery in Alicante



Day 5: Drove 7 hours to Valladolid (heading home)


Torito Bravo

Cathedral


Plaza Mayor at night

Decided to pamper ourselves and stay in hostel...tents are not comfy

Day 6: Drove 4 hours home to Santiago


Galicia