Maybe the best present was sleeping completely uninterrupted until 9:00. Then we went for a run around the city while a cleaning lady swept and mopped all of the floors in our very dirty-floored house. I cannot think of a better present for that man (and actually I hadn't thought of any presents, so that's convenient!)
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| Running through the Plaza de España |
After our run we piled in a big 9-passenger van to go register the kids for school at the Sevilla Ayuntamiento (built in 1516 and used as the town hall ever since)! We brought all our documents, all set to sign up as they told us in Madrid last Spring... only to find out we were in completely the wrong place and we didn't need any of those documents I spent so long obtaining in Mountain View (school transcripts, immunization records, birth certificates). :)
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| Erik, Lindsay and Lucy walking to the entrance of the Town Hall |
Long story short, this is going to be a much longer and more complicated process than we had hoped. There is a school right across the street from us, but school starts on Monday so all the Spanish citizens are registered already and many schools are full - we drove around and stood in the wrong lines and are slowly meandering down a twisty road toward registration... this is my biggest source of stress right now! I know it will all work out but it will be helpful if it works out soon!
The greatest blessing of the day was hearing two women standing in registration line speaking English. They are Americans, and one of them is here for four months while her husband teaches a course in Music Theory at the University for Fall Semester! They are here for the exact amount of time as we are and they have three children - you won't believe it: two girls, ages 11 and 8, and one boy, age 4. Sophie was sad of course to not have a friend, but we'll find one for her soon. They were so friendly and helpful and we are praying that our kids get into the same school - her children don't speak Spanish at all so she said she might be praying even harder than we are that it works out. :)
After driving around doing school stuff we headed to IKEA and a Walmart-like store for the last house stuff. We filled three carts at IKEA (they are wonky in Spain too! What is wrong those things? Maybe they were developed by a Pilates instructor as a core workout) while Sophie and Stone joyfully played in that familiar oversize clog. We arrived home exhausted but triumphant (universal post-IKEA and -Walmart emotions) and rushed to put everything away and then went out to dinner at Erik's choice of a restaurant: Here in Seville, Spain he chose something called.... wait for it.... Tijuana Tex-Mex. :) It was pretty good actually, and who knew chimichangas would be so tasty with diced ham! Then home for a surprise.... while we were at IKEA, Grammy and Lucy had made Erik a birthday cake and set a beautiful table. A late bed-time - I never thought a Spain schedule would break my bed-time strictness but I'm loosening up. :) It feels so good to be sleeping in our own rooms, our own beds, adjusted to the time and increasingly at home in the new house. We make scrambled eggs and toast in the morning, sandwiches and fruit for lunch... it's a big city so we even found peanut butter! Ravioli with marinara with a Caesar salad for dinner, eaten on the same IKEA plastic plates we have at home... all of these details are helping us (especially the kids) feel more settled.
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| Birthday cake in our kitchen |
What a great place to spend a birthday!
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