An unexpected adventure

Last Wednesday, we planned that five of us were going to spend a day at the lakes. Anja had borrowed an Opel Astra - a much larger car than my little Atos - so we knew there would be room for all five of us, plus all our stuff, in the "white car." We loaded up bright and early: swimsuits, towels, inflatable boat and airbed, body board, coolbox full of drinks, and coolbags full of food for our picnic dinner. Everything got off to a great start. About fifteen minutes out of town, we stopped to fill up with petrol.... and then the car wouldn't start again! Several men, including a mechanic, got us started again with jump leads, but told us that there seemed to be a problem with the alternator and that the battery (a new one bought just last week) didn't seem to be recharging itself normally. But we had the jump leads and so, despite my Mum’s misgivings, we continued our journey to the lakes. About forty minutes later, when we were almost at the lakes, on a mountain road in the middle of nowhere.... the car began to shut down, and finally shuddered to a halt at the side of the road. 

Some other helpful Spaniards stopped to assist us with jump leads - helping us to get the car started and then accompanying us to a mechanic's workshop in the nearby village of Ardales. There, the mechanic told us that the problem was in fact the alternator, but that it would take 300 euros and two days to replace it. Instead, he proposed taking one of our batteries (we had both the old one and the new one in the car) and putting it onto a battery charger for three or four hours to fill it up again.

We faced the prospect of sitting around in a garage all day, instead of enjoying our planned picnic at the lake, but then the young mechanic, Antonio, suggested to the workshop owner, Ramón, that he drive us the last ten kilometres or so to the lake. Antonio said that he himself would come and pick us up again when he finished work at 3 o'clock. So Ramón got out his van, we loaded up all our stuff, and then we piled in. Only problem was: this was a delivery van with no seats. My Dad and Kasey were able to ride up front with the driver, but Anja, Mum and I had to sit/lie on the floor of the van among all the bags. Off we went, twisting and turning on little mountain roads. Anja and I said it was just like some of the missions trips we've experienced in places like Africa, but it was the first time that my Mum was making a journey on the floor of a van, and she wasn't so sure that she enjoyed that sort of adventure!

We finally arrived at the lake, and had just a couple of hours to enjoy a well deserved lunch of roast chicken salad and a refreshing swim in the cool water of the lake. Kasey, Anja and I swam out to the island and did some "cliff jumping" there (jumping off high rocks into the deep water of the lake) before swimming back to where Gran and Papa were waiting at the picnic table.

Sure enough, Antonio arrived to collect us just after 3 pm, and took us back to the workshop where our car was waiting with its newly charged battery. It started first time, and we were able to drive back to Alhaurín without any further mishap. 

Wet and wild...

The weather is slightly cooler again today, but it's been really hot and sunny over the past few days and we've been heading for swimming pools in order to cool off a bit. On Thursday I took Kasey and Gabriela to the Aqualand water park in Torremolinos: we spent the whole day on rides and slides, coming home suntanned and exhausted in the evening.

We had a bit of a scare on Friday morning, when I had to take my Dad, who had been in pain all night, to the emergency doctor at the local health clinic. Seems that it was just a digestive problem, though, because some medicine and an injection helped him to feel much better again by the end of the day. We spent the weekend at friends' swimming pools: on Saturday at the Mayers home (Villa Rehoboth) and on Sunday at the Hornstras home.

I was MC-ing at church on Sunday evening - which is always a nice challenge for my Spanish, as there are unexpected announcements, things to pray for, testimonies to translate, etc. I can see my Spanish has improved since last summer, though, so that's an encouragement at least. I continue to work on improving it whenever I have some spare moments for language study.

Working as tour guide

It's been a whole week since my parents and niece arrived in Spain, and we've settled into a routine of one day out and about, followed by a more relaxing day closer to home. Last week, for example, we had a busy day at the park and beach in Benalmádena, and then they had a lazy day by the Villa Rehoboth pool while I met with the rest of the Rehoboth team to prepare a ministry programme for this week.

On Friday, they shared the pool only with Brandy the dog, but on Sunday they had to share with lots of other families, as it was the day of our church's summer barbecue. Yesterday was another "out and about" day. We drove to the lakes at El Chorro, where we spent a busy day swimming, sailing and picnicking. That means that today is one of the quieter days again - when I can catch up with work, and the family can enjoy a lazy day in Alhaurin.

Getting around....

My Dad has been walking with a stick since after his brain operation a couple of years ago, but sometimes this meant that it was a challenge for him to get out and about. Some weeks ago, he decided to get one of those mobility scooters which allow older people to get around more easily. A zippy little thing, which can be dismantled into four pieces for travelling in the car, the idea is that the scooter will give him a new lease of life and help him to get out and about again.
My parents thought about bringing the scooter with them for their Spanish holiday next week, but weren't convinced that it would fit into my tiny little car - which is only half the size of theirs, and has a boot that's less than a foot deep. So I guess Dad will be going back to a walking stick for a couple of weeks. He doesn't seem to mind: he says that, at his age, holidays are for sitting around doing nothing anyway!

Transformación de habitación

Habitación is our Spanish word for bedroom. As a 12th birthday present, Gabriela wanted to have her bedroom transformed from pink to blue. So our house has been filled with the smell of wet paint this week, but now the transformation is complete and the walls are pale blue instead of pale pink.
She'll have a roommate next week to enjoy the new habitación with her; my niece Kasey, who is just fifteen months younger than Gabriela, will be sharing her bedroom while she's here on holiday with my parents.

Birthday buddies...

It's Gabriela's birthday today; she's twelve years old. Which means that it's time to take another buddy photo with her good friend Teddi, who was born when she was nine and a half. We've been taking a photo every year, and it's been fun to watch both Gabriela and Teddi growing bigger in every picture.

Unexpected expenditures

Well, the dead computer saga has come to an encouraging end: although the old laptop couldn't be resurrected, I was able to buy a new one while passing through Gatwick airport on my return trip from Austria to Spain. The purchase was made possible by a recent unexpected financial gift; you can read the whole story in my July newsletter.
Another unexpected expenditure last week was that I broke a tooth during my journey home, and needed to make as dentist's appointment as soon as I got back to Alhaurin. God provided for this too in a surprising way. When I went to collect my defunct laptop from the computer shop in Malaga, the manager agreed to waive the usual €45 fee for diagnosing the problem. This turned out to be just the amount needed for my dental treatment that same day.

July is also the month for some expected expenditures and not only unexpected ones: it's the time of year when I have to renew my car insurance and, as I've had the car for two years now, it will need to go in next week for its first ITV. (MOT if you're from the UK; Roadworthy if you're from South Africa.) So I'm getting all these little practical things sorted out before my parents and niece arrive next week for their Spanish summer holiday.