On Saturday we had driven up from Crestline to the Bay Area, where over the weekend we stayed with our dear friends, the Don O’Keefes. Went to church with them on Sunday, and on Monday we packed our luggage into their car and we all drove to a hotel in San Francisco near the airport as we needed to be there by 6:30 for our early morning flight to Madrid, Spain. Jerry Powell and his wife were two of the 13 of us who would be part of the memorable trip. Shortly after they also arrived at the airport hotel they joined us in the dining room for dinner.
On Tuesday morning, all 13 had gathered except for Sister Carrasco, who would be flying in the next day. Our first leg was five hours into Atlanta. Full plane, smooth flight.
The evening flight from Atlanta to Madrid was long–more than 9 hours–and when we arrived it was Wednesday morning. Brother Sones, the resident missionary, Brother Fabio and Sister Tracina, Aim workers, met us at the airport, loaded up our luggage and took us to our hotel, where we rested a few hours. After an evening meal, we were transported to the small Bible school rooms for an orientation meeting, then Brother Sones led us a block or so to a coffee shop where we had our first of many cups of cafe con leche. “I don’t take cream,” I told Brother Sones as he took our orders.
He smiled at me and said, “You probably will want it here.”
He was right, for, typically, the coffee served is extremely strong–perhaps espresso–then the cup is filled with hot milk. Quite delicious. At McDonald’s one may order “Americano” coffee which is served as it is here in the States.
I was intrigued by the scores of hams that were hanging about the shop, and when I asked the price I learned they could cost upwards to 2 to 3 hundred dollars each depending on the quality. The Euro is strong against the dollar: 1.40 to 1.00. 
A little later a plate of thinly sliced ham was delivered to our table. Scrumptious.
Spain! I was in Spain. The night streets were lively and bustled with activity. A lone lady walked down an incline…and I wondered who she was. I tried to catch an image of her life, her hopes, her dreams.
Back to our hotel where some of our group suffered from jet lag and did not sleep well, but some did, including me!
During the next few days I will be posting more pictures on my Flickr account and on my photography blog, in addition to writing more here about our trip to Spain.
Wonderful! Glad you are home safe and sound. Those hams look delicious. I still want my coffee black! Peace
Oh I’m also glad you are home safe and sound.
Looking forward to more photos and stories; I’ve missed you.
We went to Spain several years ago and we loved it.
I remember I loved the coffee, but not the food too much. Lol.
Love you lots! ♥
Dear Blogger,
Ever wonder what other bloggers are thinking? Curious about how your thoughts compare to other bloggers on topics like politics, parenting, and prestige?
I’m writing from Blogging Common, a research project at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. We’d like to ask you to help us by joining a panel of active bloggers. Your involvement in this panel will help us answer important questions about the practices and opinions of bloggers around the globe.
What’s in it for you? First access to our results, so you can see how you stack up to bloggers around the world. You’ll also have the satisfaction of knowing you’re part of an awesome research project at Harvard.
It takes ten minutes to answer our first set of questions. With your permission, we’ll send you new short surveys on different topics several times over the next year. We promise not to share your personal information with anyone, and we’ll do our best to make this exciting. To complete the survey, please visit the following link:
http://new.qualtrics.com/SE?Q_SS=4ZOyxQ4NEN5qUJK_4Hp4lVv4k0EMdeI
Questions? You can get in touch with us at info@bloggingcommon.org or check out our FAQ at http://bloggingcommon.org/research.
We hope you’ll join us,
The Blogging Common Team
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University