Being a Tourist

Being a tourist is great. You get the fun of experiencing a new place without the commitment of packing up your belongings, moving there, and adjusting to culture shock. :) But even when you do pack up your belongings (or watch someone else do it) and move to a foreign country, you do - on occasion - get to be a tourist there as well.

Such has been our life for the past couple of weeks. Not that Brendan's taken a vacation from work...that's coming later this year...but we have still had our share of touring around Hong Kong and Madrid.

Here's what we've been up to...

{Visiting (but not worshipping :)) the Giant Buddha on Lantau Island in Hong Kong.}

{Brendan's sister, Erin, visited us in Hong Kong. Here they are with Mini Kinne riding the cable car up to see the Giant Buddha.}

{The cable cars disappearing into the fog.}

{Erin, Charlotte, and I went up to the Peak for some spectacular views of Hong Kong!}

{Back in Madrid...This past Saturday, Madrid was celebrating the re-opening of Calle Serrano, a main street & central area in the city. We had a great time enjoying all the festivities!}

{Pictures chronicling the history of Calle Serrano}

 {After walking down Serrano and visiting Parque Retiro, we hopped on a Metro over to the Palace to play in the playground nearby.}

{Ahhh, see the Palace in the background...isn't that great?!}

I had a couple other favorite photos lined up, but Blogger's photo downloading feature has changed and finds it necessary to turn my vertically-oriented photos horizontal. Ugh! :) Check out our Flickr photos for more pictures of our recent wanderings.

You might also be able to tell by our clothing, but the weather has been BEAUTIFUL here in Madrid! I've always wanted to experience fall in September and am finally getting to do so. It's my favorite time of year and while we're not seeing any fall foliage or spending Saturdays watching college football, the weather is making for a great Fall!

We also had the chance to meet up with some fellow tourists...these were REAL tourists though :)...who were traveling around Europe via Ryan Air's cheap-cheap tickets. My cousin, Ronnie, ran into my grandmother at a family function back in Texas and found out that I'm living here in Madrid. So, while he and his friend, Al, were here in the city, we met up with them for a little touring. It sure was great to meet/re-connect with distant family and chat with people from our "neck of the woods"!

This weekend should be another beautiful one, so we're planning to load up Charlotte's diaper bag with plenty of snacks and diapers (duh!) and explore more of Madrid. I'll report back next week with our adventures!

The Other Side of the World (Guest Posting by Brendan)

If there is one thing that I vividly remember from my childhood - it is the time I spent 'living on the other side of the world'. I recall bits of details from my time in Texas when I was young, but how does that compare to seeing the Great Pyramids from a cruise ship on the Nile or traveling throughout Europe for sporting events in high school. I have been to London a few times on business since high school and every time I go through a turnstile for the Tube I can picture 5 punk American teenagers jumping over them for one entire day and running before security caught up to us and made us pay for our fare (or possible worse now that I am reflecting). Getting on an airplane bound for X international location has never worried me or made me anxious in any other way than wanting to see what is there when I arrive. I think a lot of this natural adaption comes from my mother's attitude. After all, she did leave New York for Texas at point in time when many New Yorkers would have died from the cultural shock. We can thank the Bush's for enlightening the rest of the country to the lay of the land in the Great State of Texas.

As I sit here in Hong Kong this evening, after putting Charlotte Grace to bed, I can only imagine what she will remember when she is older. I do not think it will be the hassle of taking her first passport photo, packing her room at age 3 months to move to Madrid or even her time exploring Hong Kong from a comfy ride in a daddy powered stroller or baby carrier. I am sadden by this a little, but so thankful for the Lord's care and love for our family during this time on 'the other side of HIS world'. Charlotte has remained healthy (as far as we can tell from our last Spanglish doctors appointment) and seems to be taking nicely to the loving attention that she receives daily from her wonderful mother. The two of them encounter some of the most interesting situations during their time together and I feel that it will remain something that Anne remembers for the rest of her life; something to the effect of "what am I doing with a baby in X location, when I have no idea what they are asking me".

In making this guest posting today there is one thing that I wanted to get into writing to ensure that we remember it from our time in Hong Kong. I believe it strongly relates to the people that we have encountered while out touring and their love for children - well I will rephrase to say my child. Charlotte is no doubt an adorable baby but the amount of attention that she attracts in Hong Kong is a little ridiculous. We have caught people on numerous occasions taking a quick picture of her or doing a little double take into the baby stroller and talking to her while we pass by. None of this however compares to our experience at Repulse Bay Beach this past Saturday.

People should have been there to enjoy the beach and the surroundings, but instead Charlotte captivated them and their camera lenses the entire time. It started with one or two people taking pictures and shortly turned into a receiving line for everyone at the beach. I am not joking! We had some people ask, others just come up and took pictures and then even more that would sit down on the blanket with Anne and Charlotte while their family took their pictures. Anne and I are undecided on what to think about this, so for now we will just smile and shake it off, hoping that we do not see her on some Chinese website or other in the coming days. After swimming out to a floating dock off the coast a little ways on Saturday and looking back to see 20 people surrounding the umbrella and blanket where I left Anne and Charlotte, there are mixed emotions. I had a moment of panic that was ultimately undone by a moment of laughter when I see people bending down to pose with precious little Charlotte Grace. I am glad that she can bring joy or excitement to their time in Hong Kong - I just hope that is all it is for!

One of our own pictures (probably on a few other
cameras as well)!!!

Time will tell what memories she will have, for now Anne and I will hold this one!

In Hong Kong so far...

we have...

...covered our baby's eyes with a mask hoping that she wouldn't wake up (okay, so that was on the plane ride, but it was pretty funny!)

...eaten really yummy Mexican food! We seem to find a way to welcome ourselves to a foreign city by dining on Mexican food (we did the same thing in Madrid).

...figured out how to "live" in one hotel room with a baby who goes to sleep at 7pm.

...eaten at Subway 3 times in as many days (ah, glad we traveled to Asia to get our American food!).

...stumbled across an Anime convention! :) We went walking to find a grocery and visit the harbor and started seeing lots of people dressed in costumes. We were walking next to the convention center so we started to figure out that there was some kind of anime convention going on. Wow! We saw tons of people dressed as anime characters...many were having professional photo shoots by the harbor.

...thought that we ALL adjusted to the time change after 2 nights of normal sleep only to find out that Charlotte was tricking us. Last night after going to bed at her usual time, she decided to wake up when Brendan got to the hotel room an hour or so later and then stay up until 11:30pm! As I write this, I'm really hoping she doesn't do the same thing tonight.

...found out that Charlotte's new favorite toy is the hotel room telephone. Glad we didn't bring too many toys with us from Madrid!

...got some great views of Hong Kong from the harbor.

...spoken in English! After 6 months in Spain, this has been an adjustment but I'm going to enjoy it while we're here!

...met Brendan's work colleage, Voon, who Brendan used to work with a lot when he was an account manager with his company.

...enjoyed air conditioning once again!

...read the South China Morning Post.

...loaded up our wallets with Hong Kong Dollars...our third currency in a year. Oh, the math lesson this has been for my brain!

...wondered what in the world the street food vendors are REALLY selling!

...NOT eaten at McDonald's or Burger King...because there are so many other options and they are all open during normal dining hours! (Meal times in Spain are very different from the U.S. and the rest of the world.)

...thanked the Lord for a safe journey here and for his continued provision - financially, physically, & spiritually - as we step WAY out of our comfort zones!

Thankful for a change of scenery

Yes, I'm a day late. But I don't want to fall behind in posting my thanks...what wonderful big and small things God continues to do in my life.

I also wanted to update ya'll (I know we have plenty of loyal readers out there :)) on some changes our little family will be experiencing in the coming months. Many of you know that Brendan works for an international company that does consulting on immigration (AKA, a cover for his real job with the CIA). In Raleigh, our friends used to jokingly call him "Jason Bourne" from the Bourne movie series. Thankfully our life isn't as exciting as those movies, but we do have some big travel plans at the beginning of August.

Brendan's company has an office in Hong Kong, and they have asked him to help out managing that office for 6 weeks while they get a new manager on board and trained. So, we'll be leaving the end of July for 6 weeks in Hong Kong!! Yeah, Charlotte's passport is going to have more stamps than most adults! And definitely more than mine did at her age....oh wait, I didn't get a passport until I was in my 20's!

I would definitely appreciate your prayers as we travel over there. We feel pretty confident traveling with an infant, but she's a crawler/stander/trying-to-be-walker right now and that is going to be a whole different ballgame. We also have a 12 hour flight from London to Hong Kong. :( Hoping she sleeps for most of it. I'm also hoping she adjusts well to our new surroundings...she's bound to be a flexible kid with all the changes she's experienced in her short life.

And me...I'm thankful for a change of scenery. It's hot here in Madrid with no A/C. There aren't too many people around that we know...and we had just started meeting people anyways. So getting to spend a few weeks away will be nice...a diversion...and I'm sure I'll be happy to return to our "home" in Madrid by the middle of September. Brendan's sister, Erin, is also going to visit us while we're in Hong Kong! Yeah, so glad to get to see her and introduce her to her niece!

348. my husband always surprising me with how well he can communicate in Spanish
349. the incredible health of our daughter, especially during a time of not-so-ideal doctor situation
350. hearing Charlotte "plop" on her heiny after standing...it's actually quite graceful :)
351. being okay with little handprints showing up all around the apartment
352. a shaded park bench
353. another year of marriage
354. excitement of another year (of marriage) ahead
355. reading books to Charlotte that my mom read to me
356. my husband taking the trash downstairs
357. an unexpected call from my grandmother
358. unexpected scrambled eggs for breakfast on our anniversary
359. amazement at Charlotte standing on her own
360. our shaded walk to the mercado
361. a 50 cent coin in my wallet to get a grocery cart
362. our wedding video
363. oh my! the things we said/wrote when we were young and "in love"...laughing about that now!
364. the time and opportunity to be an ear and encouragement
365. kind people working in the salon who helped with Charlotte while she was crying & were so understanding
366. rebajas!!
367. a date with my husband

Touring Spain with Papa & Popo

During the first week of May my parents, Brad & Lisa Palmer, came to visit us in Madrid. They were our first family to visit us here! We're pretty sure they mainly came to see their grandbaby but we enjoyed our time with them as well.

The weather was unseasonably cool which I think we all enjoyed. We picked them up from the airport and brought them back to our flat on the Metro. We had a relaxed first day, but they were able to attend church with us. The following day we had a nice afternoon in Retiro Park.

The first few days of their visit we just hung out around the flat and our neighborhood. They got to visit our mercados (grocery stores) and our park (Parque Berlin). I locked us out of the flat :) so we took a stroll down to Brendan's office to get his keys. Thankfully his office is only about 15 minutes away. That day was actually pretty chilly & windy so we stopped in Starbucks where Dad said he got the best coffee of the trip...good ol' Starbucks!

In the middle of the week we took a trip down to Toledo. We took a high-speed train out of Atocha train station in Madrid. The trip was only 30 minutes. We planned on taking a morning train but by the time we arrived at the train station and figured out what we were doing we missed the train we had hoped to take. It worked out well though...we had time to walk around the station and have lunch at Burger King. :)

{Charlotte LOVED Papa's glasses}

{Charlotte's first train ride}

Toledo was beautiful! We stayed overnight at a great hotel I found online (those online finds are hit or miss)...but this one was a hit! Two days gave us plenty of time to roam around the narrow, cobblestoned streets soaking in the hundreds of years of history that surrounded us. The Toledo cathedral is one of the greatest Medieval cathedrals in Europe. I am always awed at the ability of builders to build such amazing structures without modern equipment. I spent the whole time in the cathedral staring at the ceiling...my neck hurt so bad! Charlotte enjoyed the cathedral too....actually I think she slept pretty much the whole time. :)

{In front of the cathedral}

In Toledo, I also overcame my fear of heights to climb to the top of a church's towers for some amazing views of the city. My dad had offered to stay below with Charlotte while Brendan, Mom, and I climbed up. When I saw the stairs I realized why he had offered to stay below! He's about as fond of heights as I am. Brendan and Mom continued encouraging me to keep going to the top and I'm glad I did. The city was beautiful from that viewpoint. As a side note, Brendan doesn't quite understand why I'll fly planes if I'm afraid of heights...it's hard to explain but its just not the same in my mind.

For Dad and Mom's last two days in Madrid, we set out to tour the city. While Brendan finished up the work week on Friday, we took a double-decker bus tour of historic Madrid. We caught all the major sites...the Palace, Gran Via, Plaza Major, and the Prado Museum. On Saturday, we went back down to Puerte del Sol and Gran Via for some shopping and sight-seeing. Charlotte finally got her own sunglasses....

We stopped in for breakfast at the McDonald's on Gran Via. This location was once a jewelry store and McDonald's was not allowed to alter the interior when they put up shop there, so needless to say it is a very nice McDonald's. Lisa even had tiramisu...can't get that at McDonald's in the U.S! We walked around the rest of the day and ended at Hard Rock Cafe for a nice American dinner. We had to wait for a hour but the burgers were great!

We were sad taking them to the airport. Charlotte loved having her Papa & Popo around. And we loved the games of Five Crowns and laughs while watching Brendan play Super Mario Bros! We were so blessed by their time with us. I can't thank God enough for the incredible parents He blessed me with!

*Check out more pictures from their visit by clicking the "Kinne Photos" on the right.

One Thousand Gifts - Post #7

Last night before going to bed, I spent some time with my gratitude journal recapping the past week. Since my parents were visiting it was hard to keep up with the journal, but was worth it to reflect back on what we enjoyed together and all the ways God blessed me during their stay here. I was overflowing with gratitude! Really, I felt like the blessings just kept coming to mind.

That was interesting because earlier in the day after we had taken my parents to the airport, I was in a sad mood. I was mainly sad because my parents had left, and I missed them. But part of that was because I felt like I was left here in Madrid...alone. I'm not of course. Not only do I have my husband and daughter but we're making new friends...God is providing community. But I think now that I have a child, I am more prone to missing my family. I wish Charlotte could spend more time with her grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. I wish I could be near them while I'm raising a child so that they could enjoy watching her grow with Brendan and I. For the first time in a long time, I miss my home (the place where I grew up). But I know that God has brought Brendan, Charlotte, and myself here to Madrid...this is where He wants us NOW. Maybe not forever, but maybe so. I don't know about the future, but I know that we are in the midst of God's will for us. And it is not easy or comfortable or convenient. So, yesterday, before the joyful blessings easily flowed out, I tearfully thanked God for anything and everything I could think of...even if I repeated myself. And there was joy in that tearful thanks too.

This week's blessings....

132. having a "sleepover" in Charlotte's bedroom while my parents are in town...sleeping on a trundle bed makes me feel like a kid!
133. grandparents helping with Little One when our landlady popped by and I tried to communicate with her in Spanish
134. cooking and catching up on life with my stepmom
135. Super Mario Bros....also makes me feel like a kid!
136. 4 adults being silly while playing video games
137. listening to my dad read books to my daughter
138. Charlotte's little head peeking up over the crib bumper & spying her parents in her room with her this morning
139. my first Mother's Day...as a mother
140. the love God has given me for Charlotte
141. forgiveness from my husband
142. riding the Metro now being as familiar as driving a car
143. friendly Spanish people who love to talk to babies
144. Charlotte's attempts to entertain people...with smiles, giggles, and coos
145. exploring an old city

146. awe-inspiring cathedrals
147. new foods and old favorites
148. free drink refills at TWO restaurants this week
149. Charlotte snuggling in my lap on the train back from Toledo...laying her head on my chest and closing her eyes to sleep
150. foam puzzle mats to create a softer playspace for baby girl

151. a beautiful new teapot from my husband and daughter for Mother's Day
152. another Sunday afternoon in Retiro...this time with my parents and a great new picnic blanket!

153. laughing about locking myself, my parents, and my daughter out of our flat

154. Charlotte's "magic closet" - what her Papa calls the elevator at our apartment

155. my mother and all the mother-figures in my life

156. musicians playing music on street corners, in the Metro, at open-air cafes, and at strategic tourist locations :)

157. Charlotte's cute new sound - "ta-ta"

158. Lisa (my stepmom) having a great camera and loving to take pictures

159. no blisters after a week of much walking

160. 60 degree weather in May

161. Brendan and I reminiscing about our first trip to Spain 7 years ago - when we first met

162. Lisa cooking dinner for us in our own home...yummy chicken spaghetti!!

163. overcoming my fear of heights to climb a church's towers to see amazing views of Toledo

164. Brendan and Lisa encouraging me to keep climbing the stairs to the top

165. narrow, cobblestone streets

166. my parents were able to visit us in our new home/city

167. Brendan and Dad discussing Mario Bros. strategy :)

168. my Dad's quiet demeanor and encouragement of me as a wife & mom

169. talking to my Mommie Mop (grandmother) on Skype on Mother's Day

170. how God is transforming my heart, soul, and spirit with intentional thanks

Back to the good ol' US of A

Tomorrow, we're flying to Raleigh for a week and a half in the States. Vacation already? Hardly! While Brendan already has his work visa to reside and work in Spain, Charlotte and I are still here as "tourists". So we must go back to DC to get a little visa stamped on our passports so that we are also Spanish residents.

While I'm not exactly looking forward to 2 trans-atlantic flights within 2 weeks with a 5 month old, I kinda feel like we know what we're doing now. We're cutting out the stroller...we'll see how that goes...and we're not worrying so much about scheduling because it really all goes out the window when you have to change that many time zones!

I am looking forward to spending time with friends and family during our trip. Can't wait for you all to see how Charlotte has grown! And I'm also super excited to get some American food...and I don't necessarily mean burgers and fries (although that's on the list)...I mean food you can only find in America.

Here's my list (these will probably also show up in future gratitude posts :)):

• 5 Guys Burgers - yummm, cajun fries!
• Chick-fil-A - can't believe I've gone so long without it!
• Pei Wei - crab wontons, haven't found anything comparable here
• El Rodeo Grill - ok, so if I was going to Texas this would definitely be Abuelo's, but this is my NC Mexican food alternative

So which one would you choose to eat at first?

Babymoon

Last month, Brendan and I took a long weekend break to the Virginia mountains - what many have coined a 'babymoon'. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was nice to relax and spend time just the two of us. We did do some antique shopping and found a great dresser for Booger. We also watched a whole season of 24 in 2 days! There are some pictures below of our short drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The views were amazing, and Brendan found out that I have a fear of heights...not sure how he never picked up on that in the 6 years that we've known each other. But he finally realized it this time when I freaked out sitting on a overlook ledge.

[25 weeks]

FurnitureLand

No, this is not a story about our trip to a new amusement park where everything looks like furniture...Furnitureland South is actually the name of the largest furniture showroom in the world. Yes, that's right, the world! And it is a mere hour and a half down the road from us in High Point, North Carolina.

Brendan and I took a trip out there today hoping to find some amazing furniture deals. Now that we are in our first home, we are in need of what we call "real" furniture. We also finally have room for more than just a couch in our living room (although barely), so our main goal today was to find two upholstered chairs for that room.

As soon as we pulled up to Furnitureland, we were greeted by a four-story highboy (see pic). We made our way to the Clearance Center and began perusing through what felt like hundreds of chairs. We struck gold early and found what we thought was the perfect chair at the perfect price. Brendan thought we should go ahead a buy the one we found, but I wanted to at least look at the main showroom. We drove over to the main showroom and lasted about 30 minutes in that environment...so we drove back to the Clearance Center only to find out that our perfect chair was part of a "group" and could not be sold separately.

So, instead of bringing home additional seating for our community group meeting Sunday night, we had to order our chairs and won't receive them for 6-8 weeks....but, good news, we got free delivery! On the plus side, we were able to order two of the exact chairs that we wanted (pic below is of our chair).