Ten days have passed since we updated and it really really feels like it's been only three days! This update is coming from the comfort of our own home as the internet/phone was installed today during lunch!

Since last updating we had a four day weekend which included my birthday last Friday. Steve and I left Dezmond with our friends Matt and Christina for a few hours and took the bus and then train to Plaza Mayor which is a shopping area between here and Malaga. We mainly went for the McDonalds but did a tiny bit of shopping as well at the outlet mall there. That evening was tapas (which I took pictures of to show what it is but they're on the built-in memory of our camera and we have no camera cord to get them onto our computer so they'll come at a later date!) and after tapas a bunch of people came to our apartment and surprised me with a party! It was so much fun and I always have this thought that my birthdays away from home are going to be a little sad because no one really knows about it or knows me that well yet but I was surprised and blessed by everyone!

This week has been rainy and chilly with small spurts of brilliant sunlight. Our classes have been with Andrew Shearman who is the founder of G42. He had a lot to share about being equipped to be a leader, and what organizations/ministries/businesses that we start should look like among many, many other things. Lots of amazing stories of things he's experienced in his lifetime as well as a passion and energy to see us start things for God's glory and to train others in the things we're learning.

We had classes today which we usually don't on Fridays so our schedule is a little out of whack. We have tapas tonight (I haven't made anything yet but had a wonderful time searching for recipes from HOME!!) and have no plans for the rest of the weekend! The forecast says sun but we don't believe it - it changes hourly, so it's a little hard to believe!

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have wonderful weekends filled with joy wherever you are!

(Sorry that this is a boring, pictureless post!)

We're really sorry that we still don't have internet in our apartment so we always have to go to either the student housing or the Epicentro to get online so therefore blog posts are less than frequent. Internet is on the way - we had to get a bank account here in Mijas and once we called for them to connect us it can take up to two months for them to actually come to hook us up.

But anyways... Ba da dum dum dum! Drumroll please! The moment you've all been waiting for - sorry - way too much build up for such a topic! Now that we've been here for a few weeks we can finally give you a better explanation as to what G42 is all about!

G42 is definitely the stepping stone to the next mission experience in our lives. Whether you are a Christian or not I think you will all agree that helping others and serving their needs is important and needs to be done. The Bible in James 1:27 says: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." We are here at G42 to become strong leaders and to build our vision as to where and how we will serve God and his people. G42 is about becoming strong leaders of character and excellence in Christ and making our God-given dreams into plans of action for ministry.

School: Classes take place at la Epicentro (the Epicenter) which is literally a 30 second walk from our apartment. This is our third week in classes and the first week that has been working well for me (Jo) to be "in" classes. We tried using skype for the first week and a bit and it was not the greatest. We're now using baby monitors - the main one in the classroom and me listening in the front lobby of the Epicentro while Dez plays. The goal for this week is to change his napping schedule so that he'll nap through the afternoon session so that I will listen to the first session and be IN the second session. It worked yesterday and Dez is dying for a nap right now so hopefully it'll work this afternoon as well!

Life: We are enjoying our tiny apartment! We spend some evenings at the interns' houses using the internet or hanging out. Steve has made friends with some locals who he watches futball with. Other evenings we stay home and play games (Scrabble and Cribbage). Monday nights alternate girls' nights and guys' nights which are different activities every week. Tuesday and Thursday evenings are Spanish classes from 8:30-9:30. Every other Wednesday night is the scheduled family grocery run into Fuengirola which is the larger village/city?? at the bottom of the mountain. Friday nights are tapas nights - potluck finger foods - where we all make something and get together just to hang out. The doors are always open for locals although none have come as of yet. Friday through Sunday are days off although some weekends there are classes depending on when speakers are available to come. There are also some ministry opportunities on the weekends and Sundays we've been having church services as a group as well.
We went to an outdoor flea market in Fuengirola on Saturday. It was incredible! Literally everything including the kitchen sink! I saw a few!! We bought Dez a stroller because the super glue holding the wheel on his let go so we really needed one! It was so cheap to buy things there, it was slightly ridiculous!

 An amazing tree in Fuengirola...so cool that it needed to be climbed.

Hopefully that gives you all a better idea of what we're doing out here.

Three Kings Day

Today was Three Kings Day which is essentially Spanish Christmas. The whole premise behind it is that the three kings bring children presents instead of Santa. In honour of the day there was a parade yesterday evening that we watched out of our living room window. It was interesting to see the Rugrats and Winnie the Pooh characters in the parade - what they have to do with the three kings, we'll never know.

It's interesting seeing the culture and how the Spanish celebrate their holidays.

Today was our first day of classes which were more information on what G42 is all about, what the schedule looks like and how the living/eating situation works. We're still trying to figure out exactly how I'll go to classes - as it turns out I'm the only mom wanting to be in classes this term so we'll hopefully be able to use skype or a baby monitor for me to hear the speakers.

BEST PART OF THE DAY: WE GOT OUR LUGGAGE!!!

What an amazing answer to prayer! Now I don't have to worry about Dez being messy and getting dirty!

These are a few more pictures of Mijas: we borrowed this baby backpack from friends here and it's been extremely useful compared to a stroller because of all the stairs (also our stroller laid an egg right exactly when we got to the very end of our journey here although we'd still like another one to use while we're here).

 The view from our living room window:

 These horses run by every 15 minutes or so all day long filled with tourists seeing the village. The streets are really narrow and there's usually a traffic jam waiting behind each horse that goes by.

Hola from Mijas, Spain

It was a very long trip here! Our flight from Chicago to Munich was delayed so we missed our connecting flight to Madrid and didn't make it there until 6 in the evening. At 9:30 we got on a train to Malaga and were picked up there by Dave Hearn who is one of the leaders at G42. We arrived in Mijas around 1 a.m on Friday the 31st and stayed in the empty student housing for night. The travelling was a very trying experience, one we don't want to repeat any time soon but by God's grace we're here and focusing on the positive! Friday morning we got into our apartment which is very tiny and cute and we've spent the rest of the past 2 days exploring.

Yesterday it poured all day and I thought I was going to be swept down towards the sea with all the running water in the streets! Today there was sun and cloud but no rain so that was really nice to be able to see the village.
Prayer requests:
                          ~that the rest of our luggage makes it here very soon - we only have 1 of our 3 pieces and unfortunately it's my suitcase and not Dezmond's and we all know he's the messiest out of all of us and needs his stuff!
                          ~that we figure out how it's going to work for me to go to school as well - we came up with a possible plan this evening so we'll have to run it by the leaders and see what they think

Thanks for everything, your financial support and continued prayer!