Granada, Spain

The kids and mom arrived by train to Granada without a hitch, even with an unexpected bus ride thrown in the mix due to construction of the train tracks. Our apartment was simple but included a small terrace that overlooked the souk and occasionally we'd benefit from random musicians who'd set themselves up on the street outside and play to earn money. We stayed in the Albaicin, which is a medieval Moorish neighborhood of windy cobblestone alleys and hills, declared a UNESCO World Heritage neighborhood in 1984. We were perfectly located above a souk (think market) with items from all over the world, even boomerangs and didgeridoos from Australia, and little cafes and places to sit and chat over tapas.

Mom and the kids headed out to explore the area and were delighted with the beautiful architecture - even the lamp posts were amazing! We found a spot for a celebration dinner of God's provision over our travels this past week and all enjoyed some good meat. We had to laugh at the reality that with dad our family tends to stick out in a crowd for many reasons, but without dad, we are even more unusual to the average person who must wonder what in the world we are all about, as seemed to be the case by many observers in this restaurant! Afterwards we were able to check in with some friends and family as we finally have good Internet, so that was a treat for all.

Beautiful buildings all lit up at night!

The following day we walked up the windy cobblestone hill for breakfast and wandered about a bit before coming back to the apartment to study as we eagerly waited Dad's return. As the time grew closer, we became antsy and headed to La Italiano, a wonderful gelato store, hoping to greet Dad as he arrived in the taxi, but somehow we missed him and he ended up arriving before we returned.
We all ran to him when we saw him walking down the cobblestone alley with his backpack after having been dropped off by the taxi. We were surprised to see him in clothes that were "new" as we learned he swapped out a few of his clothes in his backpack for items he found stored at our neighbors -- which if you know our Dad, you realize what this says about living out of a backpack as the guy still wears t-shirts from high school over 20 years ago!!! Thankfully, he, Ray and another friend shopped for Mom a bit and a sweet friend sent Dad back with a care package of new tank tops and fun face products which brought her to tears feeling so luxuriously pampered and cared for! The kids got bags and bags of beef jerky - so they were thrilled too! Funny the things that excite us at this stage!

We headed out for dinner, hoping to find something close and quick as Dad was tired, but it wasn't an easy task. Most places don't open for dinner until 8pm and this is really messing us up as we don't get home until after 11 and then get a slow start the next morning. The place we had picked ended up being closed for a personal reason. Everyone was hungry for Italian so we walked across town to another Trip Advisor place, but it was counter service and not what we were hoping for. Ironically, for our third choice, we ended up right next door to our original destination, and enjoyed a fun Italian meal. We listed to Dad tell us how strange it was to be back- to be picked up in his car that we have a friend driving, to be driven down "his" street but turn at our friend's driveway and to sleep next to our house and watch YoungLife happening there but not be at home. At one point he entered our house and saw his popcorn maker and he said the look on his face was so obvious that the people staying in our home commented about it! Then, by defualt, he had to ask to use the bathroom and realized it was all too strange and he needed to leave! Every place he went, driving our friend's cool Porsche, just didn't seem "normal" as he always got to his destination as planned (without needing google) and traffic was never crazy like we experience overseas. It felt so simple to know where to go, what to order and be able to plan ahead of time. So while it was "hard" for Mom and the kids to hear Dad was having Starbucks, ChickFilA, going to the new restaurant on the lake, and other favorites of ours as he was loving on our friend and gathering guys to meet and support him, it wasn't as nostalgic for him due to the circumstances of this past year, his reason for being back, and not having us by his side. Very surreal to be sure.

We reflected on the amazing confirmations and provisions of God over this past 10 days and all that we processed and learned during our time apart:

We all benefited from some space to process in our own way - this past year, the present, and future
Dad made it back in time to see Ray's dad who smiled big and said, "You've come a long way!" And that was about the last coherent conversation he had before he went to be with Jesus on Thursday morning
Dad was a good distraction for Ray and his mom & sister when things were overwhelming and they'd ask him to just tell them stories to give their minds a break
Ray told Dad to book a ticket home after his dad died, that he needed Dad there for the last few days but could handle the service himself, Dad just didn't feel right flying back to us so soon so booked a ticket the day after the service. During the family dinner on the night Ray's dad died, Ray's mom learned Matt was staying for the service and got a big smile on her face and was so happy
The place the kids & mom stayed after Dad returned to the States, was peaceful, quiet & safe. We were able to rest well as it was hard with each of us grieving in our own way & missing Dad
This place in the Moroccan countryside had extremely limited wifi and no cell service, so had Dad stayed, neither of us would've been available to keep up with Ray during this time
Dad set up a meeting with his old bosses as we've been hearing rumors for the last month from other sources. Dad handled himself with integrity & confidence as it was officially confirmed he will not return to his old place of employment. We are completely at peace with this & see it as an answer to prayer as we are feeling God has something else for us in mind (no ideas yet what exactly that is), but we are not anxious and excited to not be distracted with this our last few months
We received freedom to dream without anxiety about our future with no ties to Matt's old career.
The kids and Mom were able to gain confidence and meet fun people as we navigated Africa and Spain, being taught again that sometimes you just have to GO, trusting in God for the details, and it will make sense when you have time to reflect on His providence in the aftermath.
We saw little miracles along the way of not having Internet to having been given Euros from our missionary friends we connected with in Morocco, which ended up saving the day a couple of times when we hadn't found a cash machine yet in Spain and didn't have the correct currency!
We feel God's bringing together some of our purpose for this year abroad and are excited to process and lean in more
We are SO grateful for prayers over this stage of our journey and for those who are a part of the testimony that these last days were to all of us and others.

Dad's back!!!

G perching on the rooftop railing of our terrace as he studies

We all slept well and got a late start to the following day, but there seems to be an overall relaxed vibe in Granda anyway. We wandered around the streets a bit, stopping at the cute cafes along the river for a coffee or juice as we made our way up to Alhambra. Unfortunately, we had only recently learned that it's imperative that you book tickets to Alhambra before arriving, and when we looked online over a week before our arrival, everything was already sold out! So while we weren't able to tour this beautiful Moorish castle/fortress with so much history or see any of the supposedly stunning geometric designs and inscribed courtyards and pools, we walked a bit of the grounds around the outside of it. Then we returned to the city and had some tapas before spending a couple of hours napping, doing school, and booking future accommodations.

Walking over bridges to get fresh juice at corner cafes

View from walking street in Albaicin

Walk up to Alhambra

Around 7pm we wound ourselves back up the hills to another part of town that has a great lookout over the city and Alhambra. We'd hoped to catch a beautiful sunset but it was a bit cloudy and overcast so that wasn't the case. However, we found a restaurant with a great view that snuck us in as they were opening, so we had a front row seat as the moon took its place over Granada and Alhambra, which was a stunning. This is a beautiful city and we enjoyed the relaxed pace and friendly vibe and loved the location of where we stayed as we really felt like a local in our short time here.