We had a very nice Christmas here with more fellowship than we were really expecting.

I was suddenly struck by a clue-by-four in December and went looking for an English-language Christian church.  I have no idea why that didn’t occur to me sooner.  One Google search of “English language Christian church” turned up Community Church of Madrid, which turned out to be a fantastically welcoming congregation formed from a core of English-speaking expats and a lot short-timers like me.  I went to a bilingual candlelit Christmas Eve service that was co-hosted by them and a Spanish-speaking sister church.  It really put the mood back in the season for me.

In the theme of family and home, Terran made rabbit stew the way his father used to make.  Rabbit meat is more easy to buy here than in the States.  I’d never had rabbit stew before.  It was very good.  (Kind of tastes like chicken! :) )

On Christmas Day, we had an invitation from Terrans’s madrileña postdoc, who is home for the holidays, to have Christmas lunch with her family. We had a lovely time and were able to use some of our baby Spanish. The parents spoke no English, but Terran’s student’s siblings did, so we bounced back and forth between languages. At the end, they put on a children’s video for the 3-year-old, and Terran and I laughed that the Spanish was just about right for us. The food, of course, was amazing and unending, but this time I was braced for it: ham and bread and cheese for an appetizer, followed by gambinas (~prawns) cooked in butter and garlic, followed by a main course of suckling pig in the style of Segovilla, followed by a traditional dessert of turron (almond sweets) and marzipan. We’re glad we got a chance to taste suckling pig before we left, since we missed it when we actually visited Segovilla. It was amazing.

We got home in the late afternoon, which was still morning, back in the States, and called our families.  It wasn’t the same as being nearby, but it was a good time.

Now, we’re in the last day of our time here in Spain.  It’s hard to believe the time has gone so fast.  We want to find a way to hold on to the Spanish we have learned, and we hope to be able to visit Madrid again someday.  We think it is one of the undersung cities of Europe.

We still plan to post the story of our Pisa trip and hopefully a couple of other bits about Madrid, but all of that will have to come after we’re settled in London.  We fly on New Year’s Eve (tomorrow!).  The last few days have been crazy and stressful, and I’ll feel better venting about it after everything has turned out all right.  Wish us luck!