Saturday, July 20, 2013

Our first performance, Toledo, Nestor, and an Impromptu Solo

First, please forgive me for taking so long to update this blog! It's been a very full couple of weeks.

At the end of each camp, the campers put on a show for their parents, showing off all they have learned. The kids were very excited, but many things kept coming up, and we were having a hard time finding time to stage the kids for the show. When the Thursday performance finally arrived, everything that could go wrong did. Our Jean Valjean was very ill, so we ended up just improvising and performing all the dances and songs from the show without any spoken dialogue. Even though we started the show a half hour late, the parents and kids still loved it. All of the kids did a wonderful job, even in the chaos of figuring out what to do.

Our next camp performance is this Thursday. Pray that the kids really enjoy the process of learning the show and putting it on, pray for patience for the team and for extra hands to help, especially now that Gina, one of the team members, headed home to start the new school year with her first graders this morning.

It was such a wonderful opportunity to get to visit Toledo last weekend with Gina and Stephanie. We ate marzipan, visited a beautiful Cathedral, and just had a really wonderful time relaxing and getting to know each other better. It was really cool to learn a little of the history of Toledo and see how that history is really reflected in the Architecture. Jews, Muslims, and Christians have all had a hand in shaping these buildings. (Hence the phrase "Holy Toledo!")

The first night we were there, it was getting late, so Stephanie and I started back toward our hotel. Gina wanted to scope out the area, so she kept on walking. As she was walking, she noticed there were a lot of people out on the streets. Out of curiosity, she decided to keep walking the same direction, and then she heard the music. Gina had stumbled upon a city funded music and lights show. On three important historical sites, they projected images describing the history of Toledo through music and picture. Each video was ten minutes long, and the walk to the next video only took about 10 minutes (if you knew where you were going...) Every thirty minutes between 10:00-1:00 they would play the videos. The cool part was that each video not only projected onto the building, but actually used the building in the video. There would be moments were it would build up the building, only to tear it down again. It was a very unique way of telling Toledo's history and it was very cool. Gina came back and told Stephanie and me about it, so the next evening we went and saw each show. 

Nestor is a painter/pastor in Madrid. He is also the guy who cooks lunch for us every afternoon so we can have a hot meal at the end of the camp day. (Culturally, hot lunches are important in Spain. Even the kids who stay for lunch often bring meals which need to be heated up in the Microwave). It's such a blessing to not have to worry about bringing a lunch, and it gives the team a little bit of time to talk about the day and plan for tomorrow as well. Nestor told us that his work was going to be displayed at a small gallery yesterday evening, so we all went to support him. He paints scenes of Northern Spain, water colors with boats on a lake, but he also paints bright, vibrate scenes of important places in Madrid, including Plaza Mayor. Hector read poetry, Lilli danced, and at the end Lilli asked if I wanted to sing a song. I said that if she needed me to, I could sing L.O.V.E, since she had the music and I happened to know that one. So she and I sang it together. When we finished, my wonderful new team mates began chanting "Otra, Otra!" (Another, Another!). So on a whim, and because the kids have been practicing it all week, I got up and sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. It was very random but a lot of fun.

After this week, camp will be over! It's been such a growing experience being here, learning more Spanish and trying so many new foods and meeting so many new people. I'm very glad I came, but I'm also looking forward to being home, sharing about everything I've learned and trying my hand at some cooking. After camp ends, I hope to travel to Barcelona for the weekend, and then head back home.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! I know that God has answered them by helping me through bouts of homesickness, by working in the team to help us when parents are waiting and we know we have to dramatically change our plans, and especially in our daily interactions with each other and these kids. Please continue to pray, because it really does make a difference.

P.S. I'm so proud of my brothers!!! Ronnie and Alex will be finishing their summer camp adventures this upcoming week, and I can't wait to hear all of their stories! Justin also had the opportunity to get some training in teaching boys gymnastics, and I am so excited to hear all about that and see where God is taking all of my brothers. Pray for wisdom and stamina for my brothers as well! Thank you!

1 comment:

  1. Lydia, your posts are always so interesting. I can hardly wait for you to get home next week so that you can share more of your exciting experiences of Spain with us. Be safe, little one.

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