It's September Already?!?

Someone asked me yesterday how I'm feeling as my time here in Tenerife is drawing to a close (for now). I think I replied with something dumb about my allergies. The question jolted me. Hang on for a minute because I'm about to go deep. 

I have no idea where the summer has gone. It seems like I just got off the plane last week. I feel like I've finally figured out a routine here and it's time to go. I don't know when I can come back because I need to get a visa to move here. The visa I qualify for (religious volunteer) requires that a church or christian organization (registered with the Spanish ministry of religion) write me an invitation letter (also known as a sponsorship letter) stating the date and purpose of me moving here (mission work). I include that letter along with a copy of the church's articles of association, and a copy of the church's entry in the ministry of religion registry with my visa application. The church in Tenerife is in the process of getting registered, but it has not been finalized, yet. Please pray with me that the registry would go through without a problem and I can get my visa papers in order to move here.  

I am so thankful I could come this summer. God is moving in the hearts of people in Tenerife and I see many ways I can be useful.

Yesterday, as I was walking from parking the car to the church, I passed a guy that was Krumping. He had a friend carrying a boom box and recording his moves with his cell phone. A few minutes later they walked by the church. Diana and I were standing at the entrance greeting people as they arrived. The "krumper" stopped and asked if we were going to have misa, or mass. I was about to explain that we don't have mass because we aren't catholic. Fortunately, Diana said, "yes, you're welcome to join us" while I was still formulating my explanation. He conferred with his friend for a minute, then asked how long it lasted. I was thinking "well..." when Diana swooped in again for the win, "an hour". He said, "Ok", untied his sweatshirt from his head and put it on before stepping in and taking a seat as the service started. Would you take a moment to pray for Krumper? I didn't get his name. The guest pastor preached for an hour (which means the service went well over an hour) and Krumper was gone by the time I got back with the kids. Obviously, he's not a stranger to God and something made him stop and join us for worship.

You may remember Elena from a previous post. We chatted four hours over breakfast one day. It was lunchtime when we wrapped up. She had just started going to church when I visited last October. She grew up catholic in Argentina and was so eager to learn about the true God of the Bible. She got baptized in November. Today, she is one of the Sunday school teachers. She has no experience teaching, but she loves the children and loves sharing with them her passion for God's word. I love seeing her grow! After we walked the kids back to church, she asked me, "Did I do ok?" We could all learn from her passion and humility. Her heart's desire is for her family to know Jesus.

On Thursday, I took Mamá Emma on an adventure. We drove all the way around the island, stopping to see a few things along the way. The trip would have taken just under 3 hours if we'd gone straight through.

The first stop was at a shop in Guía de Isora. They had authentic Canarian outfits, postcards, cookbooks, hand painted ceramics, all sorts of volcanic stone products, hand painted Spanish fans and all kinds of typical souvenir stuffs. We had so much fun just looking... Ok, I did purchase some things. I love buying family Christmas gifts when I go on a trip. Mama Emma said she'd like to be one of my nieces. I'm not sure what she was implying...

We drove up into the mountains to get to our second stop. Behind us, you can see a small farming community. It's called the Upper Valley (we missed the Lower Valley). You'll notice there's a LOT more vegetation and even trees on this side (west) of the island.

As we descended down the north side of the mountains, we encountered thick fog. There were sections where I couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of the car. We went very... slowly... There were moments when we felt isolated, like we were the only survivors of an apocalypse. We rejoiced everytime we passed a car! When we finally made it down to the colonial port of Garachico, we could look back up and see where the fog started. It sprinkled rain for a little while and then the sun came out in all it's glory. 

There's a spiritual analogy on depression and despair. When you're in the middle of it you can't see outside yourself. You feel isolated and alone. You feel comradeship when you come across someone who is going through the same thing. And once you make it through to the other side you can look back and see what you've come through with a different perspective. But, you have to keep going, though slowly, to make it through.

In Garachico, we found some cool souvenir shops, but the coolest were the tide pools. The city has made it wheelchair accessible by installing walkways, jumping off points, ladders and some rails, and yet OSHA would have a field day here. The rocks are really sharp.

This part made me think of something from a Lemony Snicket tale with the razor sharp rocks like look like sharks lined up at the mouth of the inlet. Hehehe

One of the shops had a section with children's books. ALL of them are either about ghosts or witches, and some both. There's a deep fascination with dark supernatural things. Most if not all the festivals on the island honor some deity or saint. Our neighbor, Nuria, described one as so "beautiful" she goes every year.

Our last stop before going home, was at a guachinche for lunch in Orotava. 3:00 pm is a normal lunchtime. We finally ate at 4:00 pm. The food pictured above is my favorite Canarian food, french fries aside. It is called ropa vieja (old or second-hand clothes). In Chile, ropa vieja is leftovers. Supposedly, this dish was originally made with leftover beef, potatoes and garbanzo beans. It is a perfect example of what I have found in both Spanish and Canarian cousine: simple, down-to-earth ingredients coming together in complex flavors. Delicious!

This entry has gotten plenty long, so I'm going to skip the silly things this time.

Just kidding!

And now we've come to the part of the blog where I share silly (aka different) things.

Last Sunday was Miguel's birthday. As you can tell, he likes Star Wars. A friend made him a Star Wars cake.

Friends, Spanish cakes are "boss" level. The "flan" (top of the plate) that Jhoanna made her husband was more like a caramel custard with toasted coconut.  The layer cake appeared to be a simple double layer cake covered in buttercream frosting. But the layers were (top to bottom) sponge cake, apricot jam, buttercream, sponge cake, caramel custard, sponge cake, apricot jam, dulce de leche, sponge cake. And the clincher: each sponge layer was soaked with a sweetened condensed milk mixture tres leches style. I feel like I should drop a mic or something. Wait,you need to know that this was served after appetizers and a meal. Boom.

So, 6 days later on Jhoanna's birthday we skipped the cake and kidnapped her to a coffee shop, instead. I apologize for not getting pictures of the crepes we enjoyed. Mine was filled with cream cheese, serrano ham, and arugula.

The sugar packets at this coffee shop had Canarian phrases. This one (in English) says, "aware of the water box". It means: "arrogant know it all".

This one says: "You're a banana!"

It means: "You make me crazy with your nonsense" or as we say in English, "You drive me bananas!"

Here's the last one. Hot dogs you can store on a shelf next to the hotdog buns. Though the number (5) still doesn't match the number of buns in a package (6). Sigh.

Peace.

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