A Week in the Life: Quarta-Feira (Wednesday)

6:45 a.m. - I'm up for my Quiet Time again this morning. I love the stillness of the house in the early morning.

7:30 a.m. - Rusty and Alex are awake. Stephen is still sleeping. We have breakfast and I help Alex get ready to go. Then, I take a shower.

8:25 a.m. - Rusty and Alex leave for school. Stephen is still asleep. I guess he is catching up on his rest since he didn't get a good nap yesterday and went to bed so late last night.

8:45 a.m. - Stephen is finally awake. I get him up and feed him breakfast.

9:00 a.m. - Ana comes over. Stephen is still in his high chair. He cries when he sees Ana because he knows I'm about to leave. He is still adjusting to this new routine. It is only the second week she has been keeping him since last April. I grab my stuff and leave for school.

9:30 a.m. - Time for class. Rusty comes in a little late because he stopped in at the café next door and bought a few pastries. I love the croissants filled with Nutella, and the pasteis de nata (custard tarts). He also bought me a cheese sandwich for later since I don't get to eat lunch until late.

11:30 a.m. - Class is over. Rusty heads home and I head up to the mall again. I enjoy this time to just sit and work on homework without any other distractions. I eat my sandwich and do my homework. I've also been using this time to read an autobiography by T. Ernest Wilson called Angola Beloved. It's an interesting read; missionary autobiographies are so inspiring.

12:50 p.m. - I walk over to get Alex, and then we walk back together. The bus is actually on time today (wonder of wonders), so we will get home in time for Rusty to get to his class.

1:30 p.m. - We arrive home, but Rusty's class has been cancelled again, so he won't be going anywhere this afternoon. Stephen is already down for his nap. I warm myself up something to eat and sit down to relax and talk with Rusty for a little bit before we start on our homework. Usually, while we do our homework, Alex plays with his toys or watches TV. Sometimes, he likes to do "homework" with us, which means that he practices writing on one of his wipe-off books or colors.

2:15 p.m. - Stephen is awake. He sure didn't sleep long today. We try to keep working, but it's difficult when you have to get up every 30 seconds to resolve a sibling dispute or refill a sippy cup or a snack bowl. Sometimes, I feel like a human vending machine! I do some dishes and hang out some laundry. Alex blows bubbles on the balcony for awhile.

4:45 p.m. - We decide to take a walk to the park and the butcher shop. Our local butcher has been closed down for a remodel since we got back from the States, but they are open again, and we want to see what it looks like inside. The boys have fun running around on the grass at the park and playing on the exercise equipment. On our way to the butcher, we stop in at a "Payshop" and Rusty pays our phone and Internet bill. This is how we pay all our bills in Portugal -- in cash at one of these places.

The park near our house.

There is no playground, but Alex loves to play on the exercise equipment

A short ways from the park is Didu, our local bakery and pastry shop

There is a pharmacy next door to Didu (green sign), and the Payshop is in this same complex. This building has shops on the ground floor with apartments on the floors above, very common in Europe.

Our local post office and bank are also within walking distance of our apartment.

Small pond with a fountain just down the hill from our apartment. We walk past this pond on our way to and from the bus stop every day. The boys like to watch the family of ducks that swims in the pond, and sometimes we bring old bread to feed them.

5:15 p.m. - The remodeled butcher shop is very nice inside. All the meat is displayed in a glass case. There is also a deli section where you can buy lunch meats and cheeses, and a small fresh fruits and vegetables section. They remember us and are glad to see us. I ask for two whole chickens and some ground beef, but they are out of ground beef at the moment, so he gives us hamburger patties instead. We also get a rabbit for dinner tonight. I ask him to cut it up for me, and he asks if I want the head and the giblets (yes, it was a whole, skinned rabbit)! We get a few veggies, pay for our purchases, and walk home.

Our local butcher, on the opposite corner from Didu

5:45 p.m. - Rusty bathes the kids while I start on dinner -- rabbit stew with coconut cream. I also start on the dishes while waiting for the stew to cook.

7:00 p.m. - We sit down to eat. After dinner, I finish up the dishes, then help the boys finish getting ready for bed.

8:15 p.m. - The boys are in bed early tonight. Now, we can finally finish our homework! Wednesday nights are also good for catching up on emails, housework, or any number of other projects. I spend some time putting the finishing touches on our family newsletter since that needs to go out by the end of the week. Rusty is reading up on Morocco and making plans for our trip there next week.

11:00 p.m. - Bedtime

A Week in the Life: Terça-Feira (Tuesday)

6:40 a.m. - I get up before everyone else this morning so I can have my Quiet Time. I try to do this 5 days a week... some weeks, I do better than others! Currently, I'm working through the Beth Moore study "Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman." It has been an absolutely amazing study, especially in this season of my life.

7:15 a.m. - Alex, Stephen, and Rusty get up. I take a shower.

7:30 a.m. - Rusty leaves for a "Head of Household" meeting at the café just down the street from our house. Basically, these are team meetings without the moms and kids. I feed the kids and help Alex get dressed and ready for school.

8:05 a.m. - Ana's daughter, Sophia, knocks on our door. Ana will take Alex to school today since Rusty is at the meeting. I say goodbye to Alex. Then I get Stephen dressed, tidy up the house a bit, and spend some time on the computer.

9:00 a.m. - Ana comes back, and I leave for class.

9:30 a.m. - Another Portuguese class begins. We chat for awhile, some in English, some in Portuguese, and correct our homework. Today, we also spend some time reading aloud and translating a Geronimo Stilton book.

Estamos a aprender Português (We are learning Portuguese.)

11:30 a.m. - Class is over. I stay at the school after class and work on some of my homework.

12:00 p.m. - I leave to catch my bus. He is running late today, so I wait for almost 15 minutes. Some days, it feels like I spend half my time waiting on some form of public transportation.

12:20 p.m. - I arrive at the mall, find a place to sit down, and do some more homework.

12:50 p.m. - I start walking to Alex's school.

1:00 p.m. - I arrive at Alex's school. His teacher has a few things she needs to talk to me about. We leave a bit later than usual. I wonder if I should hurry or just expect the bus to be late again. I decide not to take any chances, and we hurry.

1:14 p.m. - I'm glad we hurried, because the bus is on time today! We hop on and head for home.

1:30 p.m. - We arrive home. Rusty leaves for his afternoon class downtown. His class starts at 2:30, but it takes him almost an hour to get there on the bus and metro. I eat lunch and Alex watches an episode of "Scooby-Doo."

2:00 p.m. - I decide to make Alex take a nap since tonight we will be out late at the team meeting. I make him go potty and lay down on my bed (since Stephen is already asleep in their room). He is not very happy with me. He whines so much that he wakes up Stephen. Grrrr! I go in to try to help Stephen go back to sleep.

2:20 p.m. - I hear the door to my room open, and Alex comes out to tell me he wet the bed. Little stinker peed all over my bed (on purpose) because he was mad about having to take a nap! I am pretty upset. Alex gets a spanking and some dry underwear. Then I strip the bedspread from my bed and throw it in the wash. I make him lay back down. There is no hope of getting Stephen to go back to sleep, but I tell Alex he has to lay there until it's time to go.

2:45 p.m. - I try to do a little work on the computer, but it's hopeless with a needy baby trying to climb in my lap. I gather the ingredients for Spanish rice, which I was asked to bring for dinner tonight. I pack everything in my backpack diaper bag. I wash the dishes and fold some laundry.

4:00 p.m. - Alex never did go to sleep, so I tell him he can get up now and get ready to go.

4:20 p.m. - We leave the house for our team meeting, which will be out at the Bible Institute, where the Meyers and Jordan live. Tuesday nights are team nights. One week, we have an all-team meeting followed by dinner together out at the Bible Institute. The next week, we have an all-team dinner, fellowship, and praise and prayer time at our house.

4:30 p.m. - We get on the bus. After about 15 minutes, I realize we are on the wrong bus. This bus will not take us all the way out to the Bible Institute. It has circled around and is now heading back the way we came. We get off and walk across the street to wait for another bus.

4:50 p.m. - We get on another bus. This one doesn't have a number, but it says it is going to "Tojal," which is where the Bible Institute is. We get on. After awhile, I realize that I don't know where we are. This bus is taking a completely different route than I am used to. I wonder what I should do. I decide to stay on and hope that it will eventually take me to Tojal. Eventually, it does, but it drops us off in the center of town, not near the Bible Institute. I have to walk across town, lugging my backpack and both the kids.

5:30 p.m. - What should have been a 20 minute trip has taken the better part of an hour. I arrive at the Bible Institute tired and extremely frustrated.

5:45 p.m. - Rusty arrives at the Bible Institute.

6:00 p.m. - Team meeting begins. Tonight, we are talking about decision-making... trying to hammer out a process.

Danny's visual aid (our decision-making grid)

Listening attentively

Note-Taker Katie, Baby-Holder Jordan

The kiddos enjoy playing together during the meetings.

Sleeping is allowed when you're a baby!

7:30 p.m. - I step out of the meeting to start my rice so it will be ready for dinner in half an hour.

8:00 p.m. - Dinner-time! Katie made enchiladas (yum!), and we have rice, beans, chips, salsa, and guacamole to go with them. Everyone eats their fill. Dessert is Pioneer Woman's chocolate Texas sheet cake, made by Teague.

Homemade enchiladas -- even the tortillas were made from scratch!

9:00 p.m. - We leave to catch our bus back home.

9:30 p.m. - We arrive home. It is late, so we  put the kids to bed without baths.

10:00 p.m. - I still have homework to do since I didn't get it finished this afternoon. I hang my bedspread out to dry and start another load of laundry (never-ending chore, I'm telling you!).

11:30 p.m. - To bed!

A Week in the Life: Segunda-Feira (Monday)

6:45 a.m. - Both the boys are awake early this morning, so we bring them into our bed for some snuggle time. It's a nice way to start the week. I make breakfast (semolina -- like Cream of Wheat) for everyone. Rusty makes a full pot of coffee. I help Alex get dressed and ready for school, and then I shower before Rusty leaves.

8:20 a.m. - Rusty and Alex leave. Rusty takes Alex to school most mornings. It is a 15 minute bus ride, followed by a 10-15 minute walk. Then, Rusty has to get himself back into town for our class at 9:30. It takes the better part of an hour to take Alex to or pick him up from school using public transportation. (Look for a documentary featuring Alex entitled "This is How I Go to School" in a future post.) I finish getting ready, start a load of laundry, and straighten up the house a bit.

9:00 a.m. - Ana comes to stay with Stephen while I leave for class. I grab my stuff and walk down the hill to the bus stop. I don't have to wait long for a bus this time of morning. I listen to the "grupo" (mini-conversation) we were to have prepared today for homework over and over on my iPod on the way into town. I get off the bus and walk to the school. Eunice isn't there yet, so I sit on the steps across the street and listen to the "grupo" a few more times. Then I listen to my irregular verbs, present and past tenses. The repetition, especially when done daily, really helps me implant these in my brain.

9:30 a.m. - Eunice is running a little late because she missed her bus. I listen to a few more tracks from my "Portuguese Sounds" playlist. Rusty shows up and we sit on the steps together.

9:50 a.m. - Eunice is here, and we are ready to begin class. Class usually consists of going over our TPC (trabalhar para casa = work at home or "homework"), lots of conversation practice, and drilling new concepts. Right now, we are working on the past imperfect tense. We recite the grupo and Eunice corrects our pronunciation. Then she times us, to see if we can recite it under a certain time limit. She gives us more homework for this afternoon.

11:30 a.m. - Class is over. I hurry out to try to get a bus up to the mall near Alex's school, but I've missed it. So I sit on a bench near the bus-stop with Rusty and we work on some of our homework together.

12:00 p.m. - I get on the next bus that comes by. Rusty heads home, the opposite direction, to relieve Ana and have lunch. The bus winds through town, up a big hill, and past a giant construction site where they are building a new hospital, finally dropping me off at the mall. I find a place to sit and work on homework for awhile.

12:50 p.m. - I start walking to Alex's school. From the mall, I walk down a steep hill and across a field to get to the housing complex where his school is. It takes about 10 minutes to get there.

1:05 p.m. - Alex and I are walking back to the shopping center. The bus is supposed to leave at 1:15, so I hurry him, not wanting to miss it. We get to the bus stop at 1:14, then proceed to wait for the next 15 minutes. We watch the work going on at the construction site. Alex loves to watch the trucks and cranes. The bus is running so late today, I begin to wonder if we have missed it. I ask a lady at the bus-stop in my halting Portuguese if the 204 already came. She says no. I feel good that I am able to communicate a little, even about something as simple as a bus schedule.

1:30 p.m. - We are on the bus and heading home. Rusty is going to be late to his afternoon class, and I feel bad about that. We get home about 1:45, only to find out that Rusty isn't going to class because his teacher cancelled today. I have a late lunch, then work on homework and expense reports for most of the afternoon. Stephen takes a long nap. Alex watches a little TV while Rusty walks to the store to buy a new notebook for school and to the bakery to buy some bread. When Rusty gets back, he takes Alex to the park to throw the Frisbee for a little while.

5:30 p.m. - I start working on dinner. Stephen is now awake, so Rusty takes both boys and walks to the bank so I can make dinner in peace. I get the soup put together, and while I am waiting for it to cook, I wash dishes.

6:45 p.m. - Dinner is ready -- sausage potato soup with fresh bread from Didu, our local bakery. Most nights, after dinner, we have a short family devotional. Rusty reads the daily selection from "Streams in the Desert," our current devotional book. Then we pray for one family in our "Prayer Album," a little album I made with pictures of our friends and family (mostly using pictures from Christmas cards).

Sausage potato soup -- a family favorite!

 Ready to eat!

The boys love to look at all the pictures in our prayer album

A close-up of our prayer album. It's not quite finished yet... I need to add the names to the cardstock page opposite the picture. But it serves its purpose just the same.

7:30 p.m. - It's time to start getting ready for bed. The boys take a bath together most nights. I let them play and splash for awhile in the tub. After everyone is dressed and ready for bed, we pick up toys, and then they each get to choose a story or two, depending on how much time we have. We finish with a Bible story, a song or two, and then bed.

These pictures were taken about a month ago, but they give you an idea of the size of our bathtub, about 2/3 the size of its American counterpart.

Story-time

8:30 p.m. - The boys are in bed. I put away the leftover soup, wash the rest of the dishes, hang out some more laundry, send a few emails, and finish up my homework. There are two pieces of apple pie leftover from dinner on Friday. We eat them with a little icecream before going to bed.

11:30 p.m. - To bed!

A Week in the Life: Domingo (Sunday)

8:00 a.m. - We wake up. We can sleep a little later on Sundays since church doesn't start until 10:30. With the cooler weather, we are able to close the blinds in the boys' room, so they sleep in also, which is nice. We have breakfast -- leftover blueberry muffins from yesterday, yogurt, and fruit. Then we shower and get ready for church.

10:00 a.m. - We are just walking out the door. Usually, we try to leave by 9:45. Today, we are running late, which means we have missed the two busses that will get us to church on time. We walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus. Alex climbs the tree near the café while we wait. Finally, a bus comes, and we hop on. We ride to the nearest Metro station and get on the metro (subway). We ride to Picoas, ten stops away, then walk 3 blocks to the church building.

Walking Running to the bus stop

Waiting for the bus

On the bus

On the Metro

The church is up the street on the left

The Lisbon Church of Christ

10:45 a.m. - We are 15 minutes late to church, but they haven't started yet, because the power has been out all morning. This is a common occurence -- not the power being out, but starting late for whatever reason. Things are much more laid back here. It's good preparation for Africa! We greet our fellow church-goers the European way (kissing each cheek). After a few minutes, the power comes on and it's time for Bible class. There are no classes for the kids today, so the boys sit with us in the adult class. It doesn't last long since we got started so late.

11:30 a.m. - Worship begins. The format is pretty standard, although the atmosphere is a lot more lively than most churches of Christ in the U.S.! Many African and Brazilian members are a contributing factor to this. In fact, the church has a smaller percentage of Portuguese members than those of other nationalities. Everything is in Portuguese. After the offering, the kids head upstairs for children's worship. Stephen isn't quite old enough to go, so he stays with us and plays quietly during the service. Sometimes, he takes a nap, but not today. I do my best to pay attention and try to understand, which requires an enormous amount of mental energy. After almost 5 months of language study, it is frustrating how little spoken Portuguese I am able to actually pick up. I feel like I should be able to understand more, and it is discouraging.

12:30 p.m. - The service is over. We just found out that there is a lunch after church for couples and families. We didn't know about it before, but we decide to stay. We visit and watch the kids play while the food is being prepared.

1:45 p.m. - The food is finally ready. The Portuguese eat lunch and dinner very late by our standards. It took some getting used to in the beginning, but now we expect it, and I always come to church with lots of snacks for the boys. Today, there is roast chicken, some type of beef stew with rice, a green salad, potato chips, bread, and ganja (Portuguese chicken noodle soup). Everything is delicious.

Alex, Stephen, and Eliana playing

Eating lunch

2:30 p.m. - We leave before dessert is served so that we can catch the 3:00 bus back home. This is how it is when you don't have your own vehicle -- your life is ruled by public transportation schedules! We walk back to the Metro station and hop on the train. We make the bus with 10 minutes to spare. Stephen sleeps most of the way home.

3:20 p.m. - We are home for the rest of the day. There are no Sunday night services at the Lisbon church. While Rusty builds ramps and plays cars with the boys in their room, I pot a few herbs I bought yesterday and hang out the laundry. The laundry is a never-ending chore here. I literally do at least one load almost every single day. Part of it is our tiny washer, and part of it is the drying space. If I don't do a load every day, it can quickly pile up on me. Then, I wash up the dishes from breakfast while the boys watch Veggie Tales.

Playing cars

"Cheeeeeeeese!"

Basil and cilantro

Laundry hung out to dry

5:30 p.m. - Our Sunday night traditon is brinner, or breakfast for dinner. Tonight, I make banana pancakes. We eat, and Rusty helps me clean up the kitchen. Danny comes over to use our scanner. I give the boys baths and get them ready for bed.

Stephen "helping" me mix up the pancakes

8:00 p.m. - The kids are in bed. They don't normally go to bed this early, but Sundays are long days, and neither of them got a good nap today, so they are ready. Stephen has a little trouble settling tonight. I finally let him fall asleep with Rusty on the couch.

9:00 p.m. - Rusty still has homework to do. I sit down to find something to watch on TV. "Pearl Harbor" is just starting. I decide to watch for just a little while, but then we get sucked into the movie and end up finishing it.

12:30 a.m. - We're finally going to bed!

Top Ten: Jardim Zoologico

After we returned from the U.S., we decided to buy passes for the Lisbon Zoo. They basically pay for themselves after just two visits, and this way, we can go several times over the next few months, and not feel pressured to see and do it all in one day. We have already been twice, and will be going again this coming Tuesday for our next field trip! Here are my top ten pictures from our first two zoo trips (both with the Meyer family):

Group picture just inside the entrance holding some pretty birdies! Notice that Biruk is not holding a bird -- he was a little too scared...

But the next time we went, Biruk was so brave and agreed to let a bird sit on his shoulder for a picture of the 3 boys together! I just love this picture and how it captures each boy's personality so perfectly!

The zoo has a bird show with trained birds, including several birds of prey. That was very cool.

There is also a dolphin show, of Sea World quailty I am told. After seeing this show, Alex informed me he wants to be a dolphin trainer when he grows up.

One of the most unique features of this zoo is the teleférico, or cable car ride. It takes you all around the zoo so you can view the animals from up above! The kids love it, of course!

And now for a few animals:

 Hippos

 Rhino (I am curious what happened to his horn. I wonder if he was a poaching victim.)

 Flamingoes

Lions napping

Giraffes

I just realized that all my animal pictures are African animals! I guess that reveals my bias.

Top Ten: August Rush

Forgive the movie reference (great flick, by the way)... but that really is an apt description of our August. I can't believe it's already mid-September and I haven't done any real updating on our lives since we got back from our time in the U.S.

So, without further ado, here are some snapshots of life in the past month...

We arrived back in Lisbon just in time to go on another field trip with our teacher, Eunice. Again, we went to Sintra, and this time, we toured the Quinta da Regaleira. The kids had a great time exploring the gardens, which included towers to climb, dark tunnels to get lost in, and a lake with stepping stones to cross.

Group picture in the gardens

The villa

The Saturday after we got back, we attended the wedding of Johnny and Susana, friends from the Lisbon church of Christ. Rusty did several pre-marital counseling sessions with them before we left for the U.S. They usually came to our house for dinner one night a week, and then they would talk with Rusty in the kitchen while I put the kids to bed. We enjoyed the wedding, but it was very hot and the boys were tired and still suffering from jet-lag, so we left before all the festivities were over.



Our family with Mr. and Mrs. John Soares

We spent the first couple of weeks after we got back just trying to keep cool. We don't have air conditioning in our apartment, so when the weather gets hot and humid, we just have to suffer through it. Since we're on the second floor, we do get very nice breezes, especially in the evening, and I have to admit that it is nice to fall asleep with the windows open listening to the sound of the waterfall in the park right next to our building.



Watching TV in their underwear / diaper (too hot to even think about going outside).

Taking baths is a great way to cool off!

Alex's trains have a new home... in the trundle bed! Makes clean-up a breeze!

Alex had a week off of school right when we got back, but then he started a new year at O Peixinho Azul. At first, he kept saying he didn't want to go, but now that he is back, he seems happy to be there and is always excited to talk about what he did that day. His teachers tell us that they now speak to him entirely in Portuguese and he understands everything they say to him. He is also starting to use a little Portuguese himself, mostly when he is around other kids. Next week, Stephen is going to start going to school with Alex (they have a toddler class), so we'll see how that goes.



Waiting for the bus on his first day back to school

We celebrated Efesson Meyer's 5th birthday at one of our bi-monthly team fellowship nights at our house. We had tacos (yum!), and Teague made a Portuguese yogurt cake and decorated it to look like a road with real Matchbox cars on top. All the kids thought it was super cool! Efesson's birthday celebration also included a trip to the zoo later that weekend, but the zoo was so cool that it's worthy of it's own post, so stay tuned for that in a few days!



5!

Team kiddos, sporting their sunglasses (a gift from the birthday boy). Note the recent addition -- Sophia Reese, born while we were gone.

The last Sunday in August, there was a community festival in the park just down the hill from our apartment. They had live music, food, people selling handicrafts, moon-bounces for the kids, and fireworks. We went on Sunday evening and walked around. We had a big plate of snails (Stephen ate them this time and loved them!) and some grilled sardines. Alex wore himself out jumping on the moon-bounces and the trampoline. After we walked home and put the kids to bed, we could still hear the music through our open windows, and we had a great view of the fireworks from our kitchen balcony.



Stephen at the festival. He's wearing one of Rusty's old shirts. Oh, and he's had his haircut. He looks like such a little boy in this picture.

And then, of course, there's all the daily stuff... like settling back into the routine of classes, homework, team meetings, church, etc. Our days are really very full and very busy, and it seems like there is usually something going on every weekend as well. I know some of you may be wondering what it is we DO all day... so at some point in the future, I plan to do a series of posts called "A Week in the Life" to give you a better idea of how we spend our time.