Besanyia orphanage-CHERUB

This is the view Joy would have everyday from the orphanage. She worked there in 2007. It's up quite a hill that I am glad to say everytime I have gone there has been by riding in a car. Part of the exam room where the doctor puts on and takes off casts as well as other medical things he does.The doctor works basically on orthopedics with kids. He has made some great improvements in the lives of some kids with severe cerebral palsy.

Other kids hanging out and also waiting to see the doctor. We played while I was also sitting there waiting for someone. Had fun speaking a few Luganda words and playing pat-a-cake!

This cute little guy wasn't sure about me at first, I guess my being white was something he wasn't used to seeing. The picture below him was something he was snacking on :)

yep, those are some good tasting insects. I couldn't be sure what kind of bugs they were, but he enjoyed them!

More Spain pictures

Another beautiful building in Valladolid...my memory isn't often reliable, but I think it was going to be a castle or cathedral before the king decided to move the capital to Madrid. I certainly don't remember the century it was built. Alecia and Alvaro would know though, they were great giving information on what we got to see while there.

This is a side view of the OLD castle in Segovia.

Our super hosts in the Toledo region. Sorry, again with the memory not working, I don't remember the name of the city. Between jet lag catching up with me and getting a bit car sick on the ride to their home :(..... BUT, I do remember this is Teo and Lili. I so appreciate the way she took care of me when I needed to be taken care of. I missed going to the Romanian church and seeing Ken preach, I was getting much needed sleep. This great family lived in Medias, Romania when we were there in 2004 and actually remember us being at their church there! Small world. The view out their kitchen window. Loved it.
Monday, Alvaro took Ken and I around part of Madrid. We went to the current castle. Sorry to say they don't allow anyone to take pictures inside, but here are a few of the outside. We toured the old pharmacy (interesting), a very cool hall, dining area, a few bedrooms, sitting rooms and the armory that had many suits of armor for the men and their horses. Really interesting stuff from ancient days. In the picture below there are two flagpoles, one with the flag of Spain and the other used when the king is in residence. I had to laugh at the lightpoles, they even have gold crowns on them!

View of the cathedral across the courtyard.
Cute little police car.... two men actually fit inside.
Would you believe this is the main post office? Looks like another castle to me.

More statues. I told you before, they have statues everywhere! This park is huge, Alvaro and Alecia compared it to Central Park in New York. This is after Alecia caught up with us after class.

Alvaro wanted to show us a monument made to honor the victims in the bombing a few years ago, so this is a picture of him at the top! At the gate of the park....

Mercedes, Alvaro and Fernando. We had a great time meeting them! I can't say enough nice things about them. Super people! I look forward to visiting again sometime.

quick report

Here are a few pictures from our 4 short days in Spain with Alecia, (a friend from our home church who is currently studying in Spain) and with Alvaro, (a Spanish exchange student who spent the month of July with us in 2006 and 2007). I took about 150 pictures so there might be quite a few in this post about Spain :)

This is the first evening we were there. Alvaro and Fernando (Alvaro's father) were so great to pick us up at the airport and then show us around some of the area that night yet. We also got to meet up with Alecia!

Alvaro wanted to take us out for jamon serrano. He had told us about this kind of meat back at home and now wanted us to experience the famous jamon serrano. Really pretty good stuff. I found it to be everywhere along with calamari! In one of pics below you can see the pig's legs hanging from the ceiling in the restaurant. Scary place for a vegetarian.

The beautiful city of SEGOVIA.....

Inside the cathedral in Segovia (I think in Segovia). We went to a few of them, all very beautiful. The pictures I have from the outside don't do it justice.

I believe these are from the grounds at the Palacio Real in Segovia.

There are statues and sculptures all over the grounds and in many places throughout Spain. Here's one that made me laugh.

Looks like someone was in trouble!

The aqueduct. A piece of history that amazes me. A king had this built to carry water from the mountains. It also has a statue in it. Look carefully below!

This picture is part of the moat at the castle in Segovia! Never thought I would actually see a real moat around a castle.

Here is Mercedes, Alvaro's mother. Now I know why Alvaro is such a great person to be around, his parents are too! They had us to their home one day and fed us this great seafood Paella. After a short and needed siesta, (it might be a national law to take a siesta) they took us around Valladolid, their home town. Again, a very beautiful place.

Sadly, I don't remember where this is. I have many pictures that are similar to this. You can be walking down many of the streets and look up to see a view like this.

Someone asked me if there were any modern type buildings in Spain......












That's all for now. I'll try to get just a little more about Spain before moving onto the most important part of our trip.
Oh, one more picture for now. I want to thank Alecia for being such a professional in knowing how to get around Madrid and use the subway. It was very helpful not to get lost :) Thank-you!!