Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Barcelona At Last
Alex's picture is on the Barcelona Mission Site but I could not copy and paste it. He made it safe and sound and there are also some pictures of the sites they saw along the way. I will keep trying to figure out how to transfer the pictures but if you cannot wait, you can check it out for yourself
Monday, October 11, 2010
Just A Little Excited...
Here is part of the last letter we received from Alex. It is too funny not to share. He is soo excited it spills out into his letter! Count how many times he says super and fun!
¡Hola!
This weekend in the Madrid MTC has been quite awesome. We get naptime, snack time, and we go to bed early. haha this is mostly just to adjust us to the 8 hour time change we experienced from Provo to Madrid. food here is amazing, but they feed us WAAAY too much. the snacks are pretty good too. i absolutely LOVE the italian elders. most the time i half no clue what they´re saying, but they are so hilarious and they seem like great elders. one elder knows a bajillion languages. he always has to translate. sunday was really nice. After the pictures we took care of all our paperwork for applying for residency. A nice lawyer lady came and picked us up. We walked a couple blocks down to our first stop. It was super exciting walking down the streets of Madrid; we weren´t even downtown yet. At the first stop we got a bunch of paperwork. We split up into three groups and took taxis downtown. That was super fun! We spoke the taxi driver a little bit about the national holiday tomorrow (columbus day). At our second stop we waited outside FOREVER. it was fun watching all the spaniards walk and drive by. it was so much fun to people watch IN SPAIN! some elders even tried making a contact with someone (eventhough we didn´t have any passalong materials with us). We signed some papers and then took a taxi to the notary. On the way to the notary we talked to the taxi driver about God. he said he didn´t believe in God but thought that since the world was so beautiful that there might be something. We were quite bummed that we didn´t have a passalong card or anything to give to him. At the notary, we signed a power of attorney to the church to take care of our residency application. the lawyer dropped us off at the subway and we rode it back to the mtc. the subway was super nice and fun. when we got back we went straight upstairs to lunch. there we met the madrid mission president. he was super nice. i can´t wait to meet president hinckley tomorrow! unfortunately i don´t have many pictures from downtown madrid. we were super busy and we´re not supposed to look like tourists for safety issues. so you´ll just have to take me word for it when i say that the architecture in downtown madrid is BEAUTIFUL!
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
¡Hola!
This weekend in the Madrid MTC has been quite awesome. We get naptime, snack time, and we go to bed early. haha this is mostly just to adjust us to the 8 hour time change we experienced from Provo to Madrid. food here is amazing, but they feed us WAAAY too much. the snacks are pretty good too. i absolutely LOVE the italian elders. most the time i half no clue what they´re saying, but they are so hilarious and they seem like great elders. one elder knows a bajillion languages. he always has to translate. sunday was really nice. After the pictures we took care of all our paperwork for applying for residency. A nice lawyer lady came and picked us up. We walked a couple blocks down to our first stop. It was super exciting walking down the streets of Madrid; we weren´t even downtown yet. At the first stop we got a bunch of paperwork. We split up into three groups and took taxis downtown. That was super fun! We spoke the taxi driver a little bit about the national holiday tomorrow (columbus day). At our second stop we waited outside FOREVER. it was fun watching all the spaniards walk and drive by. it was so much fun to people watch IN SPAIN! some elders even tried making a contact with someone (eventhough we didn´t have any passalong materials with us). We signed some papers and then took a taxi to the notary. On the way to the notary we talked to the taxi driver about God. he said he didn´t believe in God but thought that since the world was so beautiful that there might be something. We were quite bummed that we didn´t have a passalong card or anything to give to him. At the notary, we signed a power of attorney to the church to take care of our residency application. the lawyer dropped us off at the subway and we rode it back to the mtc. the subway was super nice and fun. when we got back we went straight upstairs to lunch. there we met the madrid mission president. he was super nice. i can´t wait to meet president hinckley tomorrow! unfortunately i don´t have many pictures from downtown madrid. we were super busy and we´re not supposed to look like tourists for safety issues. so you´ll just have to take me word for it when i say that the architecture in downtown madrid is BEAUTIFUL!
¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Spain at Last
¡Hola!
Well i have forgetten pretty much all that has happened before thursday. thursday my travel group went to the spanish consolate to receive our visas. the spanish consul teaches at uvu so we met him there. is was really awkward walking through uvu because we got the oddest looks. while talking to the consul, he mentioned us leaving the next day, which is odd becasue we were supposed to leave tuesday. when we got back to the mtc, the travel office informed us that we were indeed leaving the next day. i had to hurridly pack and get ready. luckily i got terra´s cookies (which are delicious!). unfortunately i left my pillowcase from the lorain yw in my room. í´d very much like to get the back somehow.
we left provo bright and early in the morning. while waiting for our plane at the slc airport, we were like superstars. everyone kept waving and asking us where we were going. one couple even gave another elder and me a cinnamon roll. it was awesome. we flew to jfk where we had a 2 hr layover. and then we were off to spain. on the plane i had just sat down, when a spanish woman approached me. i had NO clue what she said and gave her a blank stare. she pointed at my nametag and said "¿hable español?" to which i feebly replied "un poco." luckily her husband knew some english between his broken english and my broken spanish we were able to communicate and ended up switching seats, which was nice because i ended up sitting closer to two of the other missionaries.
This morning at about 7:00 am in madrid, 1:00 am eastern and 11:00 pm mountain, we landed in madrid! It has been quite crazy. it´s so weird knowing i´m in spain, in europe. i don´t think it´s really sunk in yet. we got to the airport and had to wait quite a bit for our ride. as group travel leader, i was about to withdraw some euros from the atm to call the madrid mtc when the mtc president and director finally arrived. they are both really nice. we went straight to the madrid mtc, which really is right next door to the madrid temple. we were supposed to go to a park to proselyte this morning. however, it has been raining all day. so instead we got to take a much needed nap. although, the nap made me more tired than i already was. after the nap we ate lunch. they spanish cooks insist you take everything and then yell at you if you don´t eat everything. fortunately the food was all really good, however i may gain a few pounds here. after lunch we got to go to a session in the madrid temple. it was so awesome! the entire thing was in spanish of course. they gave us headphones with english to listen to, but most of the time i kept the volume on low and listened to the spanish. i could follow pretty well, but i don´t know if that means my spanish is good or if i just know the session really well.
the mtc is really cool. it´s really laid back, which is kind of sketchy at times. but it´s also really nice too. there aren´t many missionaries here at all. those of us arriving today probably doubled the numbers. there are now 3 sisters, 7 spanish-learning elders, 1 spanish elder learning english, and several italian elders serving in italy. the mtc is only a few floors of the building. it´s so weird being here after being in the huge provo mtc. the rooms are really nice. the bunks are wooden and they have REAL mattresses. the showers are also really nice, although i haven´t figured out yet how to get hot water. i love it here! district 16F in provo mtc would totally love it here too!
here is my schedule for the week. today we´re going to eat dinner and then go to bed. tomorrow is church. and i´m not sure what else we´re doing tomorrow. monday, we´re taking care of residency paperwork, etc. and then tuesday (october 12), we take a train to barcelona. yeah that´s right, i enter the field on tuesday! i´m super stoked!!! although i´m also freaking out about entering the mission field a week early.
Well i suppose that´s it for today. I do not know when my P-day will be in barcelona, entonces i do not know when my next email and letters will be sent out. Although apparently we can email anyday here in the mtc so i may send another one out before leaving. ¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Well i have forgetten pretty much all that has happened before thursday. thursday my travel group went to the spanish consolate to receive our visas. the spanish consul teaches at uvu so we met him there. is was really awkward walking through uvu because we got the oddest looks. while talking to the consul, he mentioned us leaving the next day, which is odd becasue we were supposed to leave tuesday. when we got back to the mtc, the travel office informed us that we were indeed leaving the next day. i had to hurridly pack and get ready. luckily i got terra´s cookies (which are delicious!). unfortunately i left my pillowcase from the lorain yw in my room. í´d very much like to get the back somehow.
we left provo bright and early in the morning. while waiting for our plane at the slc airport, we were like superstars. everyone kept waving and asking us where we were going. one couple even gave another elder and me a cinnamon roll. it was awesome. we flew to jfk where we had a 2 hr layover. and then we were off to spain. on the plane i had just sat down, when a spanish woman approached me. i had NO clue what she said and gave her a blank stare. she pointed at my nametag and said "¿hable español?" to which i feebly replied "un poco." luckily her husband knew some english between his broken english and my broken spanish we were able to communicate and ended up switching seats, which was nice because i ended up sitting closer to two of the other missionaries.
This morning at about 7:00 am in madrid, 1:00 am eastern and 11:00 pm mountain, we landed in madrid! It has been quite crazy. it´s so weird knowing i´m in spain, in europe. i don´t think it´s really sunk in yet. we got to the airport and had to wait quite a bit for our ride. as group travel leader, i was about to withdraw some euros from the atm to call the madrid mtc when the mtc president and director finally arrived. they are both really nice. we went straight to the madrid mtc, which really is right next door to the madrid temple. we were supposed to go to a park to proselyte this morning. however, it has been raining all day. so instead we got to take a much needed nap. although, the nap made me more tired than i already was. after the nap we ate lunch. they spanish cooks insist you take everything and then yell at you if you don´t eat everything. fortunately the food was all really good, however i may gain a few pounds here. after lunch we got to go to a session in the madrid temple. it was so awesome! the entire thing was in spanish of course. they gave us headphones with english to listen to, but most of the time i kept the volume on low and listened to the spanish. i could follow pretty well, but i don´t know if that means my spanish is good or if i just know the session really well.
the mtc is really cool. it´s really laid back, which is kind of sketchy at times. but it´s also really nice too. there aren´t many missionaries here at all. those of us arriving today probably doubled the numbers. there are now 3 sisters, 7 spanish-learning elders, 1 spanish elder learning english, and several italian elders serving in italy. the mtc is only a few floors of the building. it´s so weird being here after being in the huge provo mtc. the rooms are really nice. the bunks are wooden and they have REAL mattresses. the showers are also really nice, although i haven´t figured out yet how to get hot water. i love it here! district 16F in provo mtc would totally love it here too!
here is my schedule for the week. today we´re going to eat dinner and then go to bed. tomorrow is church. and i´m not sure what else we´re doing tomorrow. monday, we´re taking care of residency paperwork, etc. and then tuesday (october 12), we take a train to barcelona. yeah that´s right, i enter the field on tuesday! i´m super stoked!!! although i´m also freaking out about entering the mission field a week early.
Well i suppose that´s it for today. I do not know when my P-day will be in barcelona, entonces i do not know when my next email and letters will be sent out. Although apparently we can email anyday here in the mtc so i may send another one out before leaving. ¡Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Friday, October 8, 2010
Change of Plans
Alex was permitted to call home real quick yesterday because....instead of leaving Tuesday as originally planned, he is leaving TODAY! He will be permitted to call from the NYC airport at 3:30 today, so he called to let us know. We have been waiting for this day for a long time. It is sooo exciting!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Addresses
Alex has asked me to post the following addresses and also tell everyone not to write to him at the Provo MTC after Wednesday but instead to send them to one of these addresses:
Spain MTC:
Elder Alex Michael Buchkovich
Spain MTC
4a. Planta
Calle del Templo #2
Madrid
28030 Alicante
Spain
Mission office:
Elder Alex Michael Buchkovich
Spain Barcelona Mission
Calle Calatrava N[degrees symbol] 10-12, bajos
Barcelona
08017 Barcelona
Spain
Spain MTC:
Elder Alex Michael Buchkovich
Spain MTC
4a. Planta
Calle del Templo #2
Madrid
28030 Alicante
Spain
Mission office:
Elder Alex Michael Buchkovich
Spain Barcelona Mission
Calle Calatrava N[degrees symbol] 10-12, bajos
Barcelona
08017 Barcelona
Spain
Es aquí!!!!
Hey everyone. Esta semana ha sido muy marveilloso! I´ll start with the news everyone has been waiting to hear. I FINALLY GOT MY VISA!!!!! I leave the Provo MTC early next Tuesday (oct 12) for Madrid! I am so excited! Although, i've been made travel group leader, which kinda of makes me nervous. I'm not sure what is going to happen once I get to Madrid, whether I'll head over to barcelona or stay a week at the Madrid MTC. I don't think my Spanish is ready or my teaching skill but the Lord will help me!
Anyway this entire week has been amazing. My new companion, Elder Rouse, is awesome. I've grown a lot this past week. General Conference was beyond amazing, as per usual. Three elders from my district were in the priesthood choir. I didn't do it cuz i didn't have high school choir and my teacher wouldnt let me miss class for practices cuz practices started back when we didn't know if i'd still be here or not. It was fun seeing them and other elders I knew on the screen. We also had an awesome Fireside last night. I'll be honest; i wasn't looking forward to sitting and listening to someone speak for another hour (my behind was getting sore from those gym chairs). However the fireside was a pleasant surprise. Instead of speaking for an hour, pres. breinholt (mtc presidency) and his wife spoke a couple minutes about their favorite hymns and we sang a bunch of hymns and had several special musical numbers.
Tuesday's gym was great! A zone of elders learning German tried to claim the soccer field for themselves, saying that they always have to go play on the small fake goals (which is a lie. i've played with them before on the regular goals). Three of us spanish elders wanted to play with them. they whined and complained but relunctantly let us play. they're whining continued to occur during the game and one elder, very un-Christlike, threated one of us. So the three of us got to together and decided we had to do short passes to each other and score a lot. Well the first goal of the game was scored by yours truly. Then Elder Rosberg (spanish elder) scored the next goal. The following two goals were scored by germans on the other team. But the Elder Rosberg scored the next and final goal. So eventhough we were on a team with the germans and at least one of was actually nice and had some nice crosses, they way i view that game is 3 spanish elders:3 to 30 german elders: 2. It was awesome! I was so exhausted afterwards!!!!!
I've been having trouble deciding whether to risk my health and play soccer this week. I considered playing volleyball with my district but i realized i've broken a bone in volleyball, never in soccer. Well this weekend a gian sink hole formed in the soccer field. I guess i know what i'll be doing in gym now.
This next week is going to be weird being my last week. That's all i have time for today.
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Anyway this entire week has been amazing. My new companion, Elder Rouse, is awesome. I've grown a lot this past week. General Conference was beyond amazing, as per usual. Three elders from my district were in the priesthood choir. I didn't do it cuz i didn't have high school choir and my teacher wouldnt let me miss class for practices cuz practices started back when we didn't know if i'd still be here or not. It was fun seeing them and other elders I knew on the screen. We also had an awesome Fireside last night. I'll be honest; i wasn't looking forward to sitting and listening to someone speak for another hour (my behind was getting sore from those gym chairs). However the fireside was a pleasant surprise. Instead of speaking for an hour, pres. breinholt (mtc presidency) and his wife spoke a couple minutes about their favorite hymns and we sang a bunch of hymns and had several special musical numbers.
Tuesday's gym was great! A zone of elders learning German tried to claim the soccer field for themselves, saying that they always have to go play on the small fake goals (which is a lie. i've played with them before on the regular goals). Three of us spanish elders wanted to play with them. they whined and complained but relunctantly let us play. they're whining continued to occur during the game and one elder, very un-Christlike, threated one of us. So the three of us got to together and decided we had to do short passes to each other and score a lot. Well the first goal of the game was scored by yours truly. Then Elder Rosberg (spanish elder) scored the next goal. The following two goals were scored by germans on the other team. But the Elder Rosberg scored the next and final goal. So eventhough we were on a team with the germans and at least one of was actually nice and had some nice crosses, they way i view that game is 3 spanish elders:3 to 30 german elders: 2. It was awesome! I was so exhausted afterwards!!!!!
I've been having trouble deciding whether to risk my health and play soccer this week. I considered playing volleyball with my district but i realized i've broken a bone in volleyball, never in soccer. Well this weekend a gian sink hole formed in the soccer field. I guess i know what i'll be doing in gym now.
This next week is going to be weird being my last week. That's all i have time for today.
Love,
Elder Buchkovich
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)