New IT Team in Spain

Lori and I had the privilege of catching up with both Nate and Faith Walter as well as Sarah Marshal while we were staying at International Teams this summer. The Walters and Sarah Marshall have formed a new team in Galicia, only an hour north of where we were in Santiago de Compostela. Their ultimate goal is to create a Hostel Ministry for pilgrims and backpackers that come to the region. In the meantime they are beginning the process of language and culture study as they work alongside our good friends at the Vida Nueva Church. We pray God's blessings on their ministries and families as they adjust to a new culture and we invite you to follow their stories on their blogs (here and here).

A nuestros queridos amigos en Galicia

Cuando leo las historias de Nate y Faith me acuerdo mucho de nuestra empieza in Galicia. Parece casi como hoy. Pensamos de vosotros cada día y os echamos de menos. Espero que todo este bien con vosotros y sabéis todo que siempre hay una plaza especial en nuestros corazones para vosotros. Bendiciones, Mateo.

My Accent

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

So, according to this I don't have much of an accent when I speak in English. Or to be more accurate my accent is like the majority of the populous because everyone has an accent.

I can't say the same about my Spanish accent though. I am pretty sure that I have picked up a fairly strong Gallego accent. How does a Gallego accent sound? Well, to be honest I don't know because it sounds normal to me. People from Madrid sound rather proper and people from southern Spain talk quite different by leaving off most "S" sounds in their words. You can spot non-spaniards almost immediately because the don't pronounce the "Z" and soft "C" with a "th" sound or if they do then they overdo it and make every "S" sound into a "th" which ith jutht thilly.

Well, tomorrow Lori and I are going to try out our accents in Barcelona (yes the correct way to say it is Barthelona) and visit some friends who are ministry leaders there. We will be back on Saturday evening but would ask you to pray that God would bless our trip and our time with our friends. If you need to contact me you can reach me through my cell.

Clean Electricity

One thing that you notice if you spend any time in Spain are the windmills that lace the country-side. From the south side of Santiago de Compostela you can see the windmills on the hillsides quietly at work. On our recent trip through Spain it was hard not to notice these very modern looking machines all over the country and we even saw a few of the huge blades being shipped on extra long semi-trucks. Spain has been working hard for some time to use more alternative energies and it looks like it is paying off. This week was a particularly blustery week (we were almost blown off the road as we were driving through the mountains in Galicia) and because of that on Monday:

"wind power generation rose to contribute 27 per cent of the country's total power requirement" (The Age: Full Article)

I was impressed.

Ever had problems finding a parking spot?

Wow! This photo made me laugh. Parking in Spain is truly an adventure. You can read the EL Pais article here.