Museo Del Prado and El Gran Gatsby

So yesterday, we toured our neighborhood and enjoyed a Madrid tradition of drinking Vermouth. It's infused with fruit and spices and is served over ice...delicious!

sweet vermouth

But as for today...it was wonderful, well, as wonderful as taking your kids to an incredible art museum can be.

Ryan, at the entrance of the Prado

We, as a team, headed to Museo Del Prado to view some of the world's great masterpieces and it did not disappoint. Goya, El Greco, Velazquez, Rubens, etc were all on display and quite amazing to behold. So much of Spain's history is recorded through its artists and their work and it was a wonderful way to experience and understand the culture of the world we are in. 

However, when you take your small children to a place like this what you really come to understand are where all the bathrooms are and where the snack bar is...

Let's see...what did I hear the most today at the Prado...

"I have to go potty"

"I'm thirsty"

"I'm hungry"

"I want my sunglasses"

"I'm hungry"

"Where's daddy?"

"Jesus has a boo boo"

"I'm hungry"

"Where can we see the Jesus on the Cross?"

"Where is the Jesus tomb?"

"I'm hungry"

"Jesus has a big boo boo"

"Jesus got a band-aid"

(we saw A LOT of Crucifixion images)

"I'm hungry"

"I don't like this"

It was just a real treat:)

Clearly, I came to Spain with the expectation that my kids would suddenly be incredibly sophisticated. In reality though kids don't change much, even when you take them to Europe. 

But get a load of this walk to the museum...stunning!

 
 
 
 *I would love to be able to tell you what all of these buildings are...but i cant yet;)

So after our visit to the Prado we sat down to comida, the huge lunch that Spaniards enjoy, it was great. I mean, I think the kids liked it

seriously...

just trying to do our best to represent Alabama and the rest of  "Amurica"

 *Tonight the team is hosting the first event for university students. They have invited students to go see the Great Gatsby. I know our team was nervous that no one will show up, so please be praying that folks are there and good connections are made, but also be praying that for this team of students that they would trust that the Lord is faithful, that regardless of their successes or failures here God's kingdom is advancing and they cant do anything to stop that!

Real life is about to get started here in Madrid for the Moores and I feel so upside down! Like, I am about to have to go to the store and start cooking again, I am going to have to get my kids on some sort of schedule...and much to their chagrin everyday is not going to hold some grand adventure, well it probably will, cause lets face it, a trip to the store here is exciting and involves bringing mama close to a nervous breakdown the minute we step outside.

We have had some incredible days here this past week and I am sort of sad to see this 'honeymoon' phase come to an end. The team starts classes next week and their work schedule will really pick up. It will be interesting to see the dynamics of our team start to play out as, they too, realize we are not going home, but are here for another 7 weeks. Please pray that they would continue to love each other well...you can probably add Ryan and I to that list as well:) 

Lot of love from Madrid, 

Ada

Just a quick testimonial from a team member...

Hola todos! We’re only five days into our trip in Madrid, but it feels like it’s been twice that!

Yesterday we traveled to La Universidad Complutense de Madrid to begin our ministry efforts towards college students. We walked around campus in teams of two, approaching Spanish students and surveying them about their views on life and religion. It was a bit nerve wracking to walk up to complete strangers and ask such profound questions, but we found that the students were eager to discuss them. It was a really fun experience, and it helped us better understand the community that we hope to serve this summer. -Scott

We have been to Complutense twice now, and have enjoyed some good conversations with students. Their life, while lived in a different country and speak a different language, is very much like Alabama students...class, friends, parties, sports, stress, exams. I like to say, that a college student is a college student no matter where you are, and that is proving true here in Madrid.

Its so fun to walk around campus with our kids...they stress me out completely, but people are always coming up to us to ask about them. Our kids are better missionaries than we are! 

making our way through Madrid...with our cinderella sunglasses.

making friends at the playgroud

these little parks are all over the city, which makes this a great place for our family

just too beautiful to not share

and the cuteness is transatlantic

Today is a bit of a rest day...and we took advantage. We all slept till 10:30, ALL of us! We have been going so hard that I really think we needed the rest. We are planning to just enjoy our neighborhood today, get in a museum tomorrow and then tomorrow night is our first planned event for university students! We are looking forward to seeing what God is up to...your prayers for this time would be most welcomed!!

adios para ahora,

Ada

Hasta aquí todo bien

So far Sooooo good!

*warning, as I type this I am enjoying a very nice glass (or 2) of Vino Rioja...that's Spanish for really good red wine, and after you read this you'll know why.


Where to begin? The last four days have been a whirlwind, to say the least. Lets just start with the travel story, shall we...

So we arrived at the Birmingham airport early on May 24 to meet Amy, Emily, Hall, and Melody and catch a plane with them to Charlotte. However, the first words I hear as I am helping Ryan unload our GAzillion bags are "our flight is delayed by 40 minutes, we are probably not going to make our connection in Charlotte."

This is not what I wanted to hear, especially since at the same time I was realizing that Virginia (our 7 month old) had exploded in her diaper, I mean COME ON! We Just got here!

So anyway, diaper got changed, bags got unloaded and the lady at the counter said to just head on to Charlotte. So we did.

cute Moore girl luggage...we travel in style.

 Now, I knew that we would get stuck in Charlotte and I was OK with that because technically it would put us at least a little bit closer to Madrid. So, of course, landing in Charlotte we booked it to our connecting gate only to discover that our plane had left without us...the nerve. On to customer service.

*Its probably important to note that we were supposed to connect from Charlotte to D.C., at which point we would be meeting Johnny, David, and Scott and all flying to Madrid together

Ryan at customer service with Virginia passed out in back:)

Our airline put us up in Charlotte for Friday night, with planes to depart the next afternoon and I have to say that it wasn't that bad. We all made the best of a frustrating situation. We spent some time at the hotel pool, got some good food together and we're hopeful for travel success the next day. 

On Saturday May 25th we made our way back to the Charlotte airport this time with Madrid truly in our sights. We, in two separate groups, boarded planes for Philadelphia and from there,together, boarded for Madrid! I remember thinking, as we got on our international flight, how thankful I was that we got a good nights sleep and we're all rested for this flight...because there would be no sleeping...

Let me put it this way, benedryl has the opposite effect on ALL my kids.

But we made it, and no one was injured in the process.

So there we were, in Madrid, well in the airport...it was a surreal feeling, helped by the fact that my parents and aunt, who are traveling in Spain for two weeks, met us at the airport...I'm not joking.  I'm sure there are psychologists who could do a whole study on the dynamics of a family that travels 3000 miles to see that their grandchildren (I know they weren't there to make sure I made it to Spain safely) made it across the Atlantic:) But I will say that seeing your mom in the foreign country that you are about to spend 8 weeks in helps take the edge off.

But however stressful the travel was, it was worth it. Madrid is beautiful. 

We were warmly welcomed at the airport, driven to our lovely apartment and given Sunday morning to rest and unpack. Then we headed(an hour late) to the Brink's home for comida (lunch) with the whole team! It was great to see everyone together. 

bad picture(but the only)of  our first team meeting

The time change has been a beast for our children, I won't lie to you. Our first night here no one went to sleep till around 2:30am, but last night was better (12:30am), and tonight (8:30pm) even more so...they are adjusting and so are we. 

We were able to take monday morning (May 27th, Ryan and I's 7th wedding anniversary) and walk around the city a bit...and by a bit, I mean like 10 miles by the end of the day! 

                              *I'm ridiculously skinny now, so you should all be jealous.

We were able to see how beautiful Madrid really is, and it gave us a glimpse of places at which we hope to spend more time.

entering Plaza de Mayor

Plaza de Mayor

thats just how we roll in Spain

market de san miguel

flowers are blooming everywhere!

the palace cathedral

The Royal Palace

 Tuesday, today...or I guess yesterday now, the work began! We met at the Brink's home for orientation and then headed to Ciudad Universitaria to tour Complutense ( the Univerisity our students will attend and minister to)

Robert DeWitt, the MTW team leader, introducing our students to campus...that 's Mae in the back, picking flowers...classic.

Pharmacy building on campus.

 Our team had to immediately start learning how to talk to people...about Jesus. It was amazing to see their excitement and enthusiasm. I can not say enough about how impressed I am by them. They are ready and willing to make fools of themselves for the sake of the Gospel, and it is inspiring. I cannot wait to share more about their experiences...

I am sure that this is enough for now though. Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we are so very thankful!!

muchos gracias,
Ada

Estamos Aqui!!

We are here, all is well!

I will save the story of our travel for later...all to say, it was an adventure!

But otherwise, we are adjusting and having a great time reuniting with our team and spending time with the Barnes and Brinks!

more to come....

ieso es todo!

This is it!


   We leave Friday. We've started packing, we've started cleaning the house...sort of, and I've started to panic. 

WHAT ARE WE DOING? ARE WE CRAZY?!!

Thats me, under the bed hiding from kidnappers...

These two thoughts run through my mind pretty much every few hours. I'll think of something I need to get done before we leave and then all of a sudden it hits me, like a wave from behind, and I find myself starting to sweat and get a little nauseous...seriously. I begin to run through all of the horrible things that could happen to us in these next eight weeks...which really just looks like scenes from the movie Taken.



I am not really sure why though, oh wait...I put my faith in my circumstances and not Jesus.

                                                    BOOM! WORLD ROCKED!

How could God love me as much as He says he does if my world is collapsing around me? He does, He does, He does. As I heard, so providentially from the pulpit this morning, my faith does not rest in my faith, but in the Object of my faith. It's in Jesus, who lived, died, and rose again. 

This is what calms my weary and nervous heart. It's this truth that will give me the freedom to board that plane on friday, proclaiming to myself (over and over again, if necessary) the Lord and creator of the Universe has seen fit to love me and never let me go... no matter what.


excited, nervous, excited, nervous this is the life of the christian! 

Thank you for all your prayers thus far. I would ask that they continue. Specifically, please be praying that our travel is smooth and that making connecting flights would go easily for our group. Please pray that we would be able to sleep and rest on the flight abroad and that Ryan and I, who will most likely be sleep deprived would be able to patiently deal with our children and others our first day on the ground.

my next post (which will include pictures of our luggage:) ) will be from Madrid!!

muchos gracias, 

Ada