Trip to Leipzig!

I had my Wednesday classes cancel so we decided to take a day trip to Leipzig which is the nearest big city. London got to ride the train for the very first time! The distance was only about 1 hour each way and we got to see some good German countryside. We did some shopping and visited some of the touristy spots as well. Also found a Starbucks and enjoyed a nice mocha, just like back home!

(Old Town Hall) "Rathaus" in German

Waiting for the train!

London on the train!

Thomas Church, where Johann Sebastian Bach is buried.

London and I at the Bach Memorial

Big girl bed!

Our apartment is looking much better now! We got a load of furniture from the thrift store warehouse last Thursday and we made another trip to Ikea yesterday, so things are getting much more organized! We will post some more pictures hopefully this week so you can see all the changes! It has been a really good week. Saturday I went to a pottery fair in a nearby town and it was a lot of fun! We walked by a house that J.S. Bach used to live in and this town had part of the old city wall still standing. I plan to take Jason and London there soon so they can check it out too.

Yesterday at Ikea we got London a big girl bed. She did great last night and slept all through the night! Didn't get out of bed once. This afternoon, however, she did not want to take a nap. She stayed in her bed, but kept yelling that she had to go to the bathroom "one more time." (This occurred at least 4 times.)

Jason found out today that his class tomorrow got changed so he has the whole day off! We are thinking about riding the train to Leipzig to check out the city center. Hopefully we will remember the camera and take some pictures to post!

It has been getting really warm here the last couple of days and is supposed to get up to 96 later in the week! Yikes! mostly we have had really nice weather, in the high 70s with a breeze, and it has been SO great!

We found a park about 5-10 minute walk from our apartment and took Londie there on Friday. She LOVED it! Bad part is there are TONS of mosquitoes and we need to find some repellant! I am going to check out the organic market that is a few blocks away to see what they have. Then we will probably make the park a several-time-weekly event!

Apartment Pics

Well, here you go, you asked for it: Pictures of our apartment with all of our stuff everywhere and unorganized. Since I don't know how to put a description underneath each individual photo, I will describe them to you. The first 2 pics are our bedroom complete with my own horribly made curtains (I'm learning), but hey they work! The big monstrosity of a wardrobe we got at the used warehouse place and it came disassembled with no instructions. That was a test for our marriage. :) The next pic obviously is London's room (we were getting ready to hang her curtains, hence the tools in the background). We are borrowing the pack-and-play from David and Meg and hope to buy London a big girl bed in the next couple of weeks. The next picture is the front bathroom with the washing machine/dish drying table on the right hand side. Hallelujah, we got the kitchen sink working yesterday so we don't have to do dishes in the bathroom anymore! (Only took 4 trips to the hardware store a couple miles away... Jason is learning too!) The next 2 pictures are the kitchen (set up with the left side being where the table goes and the right side being where the counter is). The boxes have our kitchen stuff and dishes in them while we are waiting to get cabinets. The last 2 pictures are the living room. One is taken standing in the doorway; you can see the 2 nice big windows and our laundry drying in the back... on the floor is another curtain project. The other picture is taken standing by the tan-colored chair. London is watching Dora at the computer desk.

Well, I hope that I can figure out how to upload a video on here and can do a video tour after we get some more furniture and a complete kitchen set up. Hope you enjoy!

Anniversary

Well, yesterday was our 6-year anniversary. Jason had to do a debrief of his first week of training/class (he felt like his first couple of classes went well and next week he has 10 hours instead of 6, so he is already increasing his work load!) After London's nap we decided to go to a big park on the northwest side of town that has a palace in it, which we have heard is pretty awesome. We made the mistake of telling London that we were going to the "park" when we left the apartment. The whole time we were walking there (which was quite a long time) about every 2 minutes London asked "Mommy, are we going to go find some swings??" "Yeah, Honey, we are going to try." Well, when we got there we quickly realized that this was not a "park" (big grassy expanse with a tree here and there and plenty of playground equipment) but really a maze of wandering trails in a gigantic overgrown wilderness area complete with lots of standing water and swarms of mosquitos. It WAS beautiful, just not what we were expecting (felt like being in the forest)! On top of that, we didn't bring a map and ended up getting thoroughly lost, and at times running with Londie in the stroller so the mosquitos couldn't get her. When we finally got out of the park into a neighborhood and figured out where we were, we had a LONG walk back home. We definitely learned to be more prepared next time (and to make sure there is playground equipment before we open our big mouths to tell Londie we are going to the "park"). Londie was sure a trooper, though, and didn't seem upset that we never found a swing or a slide. Once we made it back to our part of town, we went to eat at a nice restaurant in the square called the Kartoffelhaus (potato house) which had great food (gigantic portions), so it was really nice after the park mishap.

We bought a stroller this week, which has been nice for going long distances so it doesn't take FOREVER to get somewhere. (London doesn't want to hold hands anymore and it has been frustrating trying to walk places.)

Today David and Jason are going to install the counter top and sink that they carried over from Veronica's house a few nights ago, which will be SO nice! We are hoping that we can get some cabinets to sit under it later on (it has wood supports to hold it up and is already outfitted for a curtain to go across the front).

We are going to try and get some pictures of the inside of our apartment up soon. We have been reluctant because we still don't have places to put a lot of things and there is stuff EVERYWHERE. I know you guys don't care, but we hope that after we get a few more furniture things this week it will be more organized and look more like a home!

So, the top photo above is after we ate dinner at the restaurant in the square. The bottom photo is Londie with her new stroller after we found our way in the forest/wilderness and were on our way home. Pretty, huh?

Update!

Well, hallelujah, we have internet! On Tuesday Jason went back to the City to turn in our papers for the visas and there was someone there who could speak English! She informed Jason that after he paid 50 Euro for each of our visas and in addition to getting health insurance, they also have to check with the police to make sure we haven't done anything illegal since we have been here, then we will have our visas. They said checking with the police alone could take up to 3 weeks (who knows how long the health insurance thing will take). We were very discouraged after that meeting because that meant we would have to wait that long just to get our internet contract started. Jason decided to go back to the internet place and ask them again, bringing with him one of the papers from the work permit process, and they went ahead and accepted it! We now have one of those USB mobile broadband connector dealie-bobs that we can use until they get the DSL switched on to our apartment (2 to 3 weeks), and then we will have a genuine high-speed connection! Yay!

London woke up in the night last night saying she was scared because there were horses in her room. Oh boy. She came in our bed for a little bit and then we told her she had to go back in her own bed. About 10 minutes later she was yelling about the horses again. We prayed for her and she went back to sleep. Today, she has been talking about the horses in her room/bed. I asked her if they were nice horses and she said yes. I asked her how many there were and she said 2. Weird. I vividly remember having a nightmare about a gigantic spider at about her age and also when I was a little older I swore I saw snakes in my bed. I hope this is just her newly-developing imagination at work and not something spiritual.

Today some men came to fix some things in our apartment that were not kosher when we got here. Tomorrow we are getting our sofa and bed frame! Also, as of this very moment Jason is teaching his very first English class! It will be interesting to see how that goes.

Great news, Jason found cilantro ("coriander") at the grocery store! I was thrilled! To celebrate we made fajitas and pico de gallo and it tasted just like at home! (Anna, I know you will be happy about this also!) I just hope that I can keep the cilantro plant alive for at least the rest of the summer because I doubt they have pots of fresh herbs in the winter. We will eat it as much as possible just in case! Tonight we are going to try chicken tikka masala (without the jalapeno, which we still haven't found a replacement for) and will let you know how that goes.

We are crossing our fingers that perhaps next week we can get some kitchen cabinets! We have to arrange for someone to go with us and translate. A lady in the church has a kitchen counter with a sink in it that is almost the right size for our apartment that we can have also! I think Jason and David might go and get the counter tonight (they have to carry it). It has wood supports to hold it up and a curtain to go across the front. We might put cabinets underneath once we see what is available at the used place. It will be so nice not to be doing any more dishes in the bathroom!

I have been sewing curtains like crazy this week. Got London's curtains made and am working on curtains for our room. The sun rises incredibly early here (it starts getting light at 4 or 4:30 a.m.) because we are so much further north. Sunset is pretty late in the evening too -- doesn't get completely dark until 11. I think we will be able to sleep a little better after we have some curtains up. I'm so thankful that Meg has a sewing machine I can use, and it is easier to use than the one I have back in storage! :)

1 Week in Dessau!

Well, a lot has happened since we last updated this! In the week that we have been here we have started gathering furniture and ordering appliances and things, and our home is coming together a bit!

On Monday Meg (Pastor David’s wife) took us to this gigantic thrift store-type warehouse that has just about everything a person could want, including complete bathrooms and kitchens. We were able to get a small dresser for London’s clothes, a monstrosity of a wardrobe for our room, a kitchen table, 4 kitchen chairs, an armchair, and 2 cushioned stools for about 230 Euro, which is very cheap! I went back again on Wednesday and got sauce pans, kitchen utensils, silverware, dishes, a large floor cabinet for storing things, a coffee table, 2 small side tables with drawers, (like for in a bedroom), fabric to make all of our curtains, a large laundry hamper, and some other miscellaneous things. I need to go back one more time to look for a bed for London and just a few other things! (Oh yeah, and kitchen cabinets… just a small item!) David and Meg have been very helpful with translating and helping us get things settled and we have been so thankful for their help!

I guess it is not very common for Germans to shop at those kinds of second-hand places and only buy used things at the flea market, plus not many people know about this particular warehouse, Meg said. I asked her how people get rid of things they don’t want, since they don’t do yard sales here, and also there are not thrift stores around like you would find in the States or the UK. She said that aside from selling things on the bulletin board at the grocery store or posting them online, or giving things away to people you know of course, you have to buy a permit to put things you don’t want out on the curb and your neighbors can come take it, or the city will pick it up if nobody wants it. At this warehouse Meg took us to, they will come and pick up used items from your house for free, so there is a lot of incentive for people to give to this place! The lady we have been working with there has been so nice as well.

Also this week we went to a big Macy’s-type department store in the mall and ordered a washing machine and fridge, which came yesterday. We also ordered a nice sofa-bed (futon style, but nicer!) and a bed frame for our room at another store yesterday and they will be here in a week, which means after that is delivered we will be almost ready for guests! (hint, hint!) Those things we ordered all by ourselves and just hoped someone could speak English when we got there. So far, we have done okay! It is rarer in this part of Germany to find somebody who speaks some English, but we are finding a few! It will be nice when we can learn enough German to feel more confident in doing these things, but for now it is stretching.

Yesterday we went to the City to apply for Jason’s work visa and to get Londie’s and mine figured out, and that was very interesting. The people at the language school were confident that someone there would be able to speak English and help us, but that person must not have been there. We think we have to fill out some papers and take them back next week. The poor lady who was trying to help us! Everyone has been SO nice and gracious. Next time we go there we will take someone with us. The visa thing is kind of important (aside from the obvious reasons) because we cannot get a contract from the phone/internet people until Jason has his visa. Once we can get Jason’s visa and sign up for phone/internet, it might take 2 weeks to get our stuff sent/hooked up, so we are going to be waiting a little while longer before we have communication with anyone. That has been very hard because even our friends here in Dessau have to come to our house to talk to us. Meg has lent us her cell phone a couple of times so we can call them, but other than that we have felt kind of isolated. Be praying that the visa thing will go smoothly and that we get connected soon!

One last thing, yesterday we saw our first bit of German countryside and it was beautiful! So green! Tim (one of the church leaders) took us to a lake to go swimming and it was great! We had a bit more of the European culture shock, though, as there were some old nude sunbathers and older children (8 to 10-ish) running around without swimsuits. SO much different than we are used to! I had the most modest swimsuit there, the type that has a short skirt on the bottom, and felt kind of odd!

Anyway, we are settling in and adjusting! London is still figuring out what has happened because she has been asking me, “Where’s Yaya? Where’s Uncle Will?” etc., and yesterday said she wanted to go to music class tomorrow. Today she told me she wanted to go play on the swings with Ella. I keep telling her that they are all far away and that we will not see them for a long time; remember the big airplane? Then she says, “Did you cry at the airport?” She has been dealing with the change by acting out A LOT and that has been frustrating. She is certainly testing the boundaries to see if they have changed in this new place. We want to give her grace for all the change that is happening, but we still have to teach her acceptable behavior and that has been so hard to judge.

Well, that is all for now! Thanks for your prayers and we hope to post another update soon!

We Have Arrived!

After leaving Boise at 9:30 am we flew to Seattle and had a 6 hour layover. We had a nice visit from Erica and Lisette at the airport and then checked into our connecting flight to Iceland. The flight was about 8 hours and we flew so far north the sun never set so it was light out when we left Seattle and also when we landed in Iceland at 7:00 am their time and it was like midnight our time! Now that will mess you up. If that wasn't bad enough we had a 9 hour layover in Iceland and we were so tired we tried to sleep a little but just had to keep ourselves occupied. We got on our flight to Berlin around 5:00 pm and it was about a 3 hour flight which wasn't bad. We arrived in Berlin around 10:00 pm and had to get all our bags which we managed to fit on 3 luggage carts. After securing our rental car (Skoda Superb Wagon) very nice with leather! We went to our hotel and discovered they overbooked our room and so we had to stay at a Pension (Sort of like a Hostel) but we were so tired we didn't care plus they gave us free parking and free breakfast which was great! We then drove 2 hours to Dessau and arrived about 9 am in the morning. After a quick hello to the pastor's wife Meg we met with the people who arranged our apartment and paid the deposit and got the keys! They took us there and showed us around and we really like the place, we just need to get a kitchen and some furniture. After that we just had time to get a few things from the grocery store and return our rental car. After a quick kebab dinner we crashed early and slept nearly 12 hours. On Monday we will go to this place that has used furniture and kitchens and try to secure some things. Also we will need to get our bank account set up and Jason is going to Inlingua (Language school) to meet with the instructor and talk about starting work. Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Echeverria's