This is why I don't like spring

I have a few friends here in Spain who say that it never rains in Spain, that Spain is arid and that there is always a drought.....BS!!!! I am quite over the rain and if it rains on my puente I am not going to be happy! (and I am going to put the same sad face on as jack when he tells you "I'm not happy!") Americans need to stop coming over to visit us, sorry guys, because every time someone visits....RAIN. (Kristen has a cousin and friend here this week. When Laura saw the rain the other day she asked me who was visiting.) I am nervous becasue Christy and Lindsay are coming next weekend....would it be bad to ask them not to come so I can have a weekend of nice weather??

Well, at least I can't be jealous that it is sunny and warm and springy in the US (not that I would ever even imagine that.....spring is practically non-existant there!) Lucky is putting to good use out his new umbrella leash....hopefully it helps him not have "accidents" on rainy days at nana's. 42 more days until I see my baby!!! (and put him on a DIET...with his mommy, of course!)

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It's official

For those of you who don't already know, it's official. I am staying in Spain one more year. I will be working in a bilingual school in the city here part time as a bilingual assistant and hopefully teaching some private English classes on the side. Another year of worthwhile debt!As for now, winding down the school year (I can't believe it is practically over already!) Another 2 weeks and we are finished. Thankfully we have a nice big puente before finals week. Actually I think Amanda coined it an aqueduct because we have off from Friday of this week until Thursday of the following. May 1 is labor day and May 2 is the Community of Madrid's holiday and the school decided to trade us Monday for the following Friday so we have an extra long puente, isn't that nice? I am hoping that the weather stays like it has been (mid-high 70's and sunny) because I have plans for the beach and some windsurfing lessons....with my luck that will not be happening and I will be stuck with my computer and final papers/projects instead of flaunting my new and sexy wetsuit.Other than that, not much going on. I went to a wedding this weekend, which was a lot of fun. It was very interesting to see the similarities/differences between an American and a Spanish wedding. This wedding, I was told, was a bit a-typical, however. The ceremony was similar to any Catholic ceremony minus the 10 girls dressed in the same non-recyclable dress and 10 gents to match. However there were no singers/musicians, just your regular organist and the priest sang. I couldn't see much of the ceremony because I was sitting in the back, but it seemed to pretty much be the same as our Catholic ceremony. The reception was fun. A nice cocktail hour, complete with a leg of ham in addition to other hors ordourves. (not a chance I spelled that right.) Dinner was a really good 4 course meal, surprisingly good for 250+ people. There were a few surprises here, however. First, there was no MC, introducing the couple, the parents, ect. There was also no father/daughter, mother/son dance. The bride and groom did have quite an interesting dance for themselves complete with 70's style wigs and colorful lights, but I think that was their own touch. During dinner there was a "crazy waiter" who apparently was hired to do ridiculous things to entertain the guests. Unfortunately my table was in the dark about this and he scared us more than anything. There was also a mariachi band that serenaded at every table...yes the wedding was in Spain, not Mexico. They sang a nice rendition of "La Cucaracha" at our table. Seriously. There were also people with balloons and noisemakers to add to the festivities. Most of these things, as I was told, are not quite the norm. Quite often you could hear a strong "Viva los novios!" (roughly translated as long live the newlyweds) followed by a resounding "viva!" that I missed every time. "Qué se besen, qué se besen!" (a cheer to coax the couple to kiss) and some interesting song/cheers about the bride and groom. These were among the more traditional customs. Later, instead of a dollar dance, they cut the groom's tie and sell it in pieces for the honeymoon fund. Also the bride passes out pins (which theoretically are from her garter) to all the single women and the first to loose hers is supposedly the next to marry (....damn it! where is mine?????) Afterwards, your typical music and dancing to the a-typical hours of the morning. I left at about 3:30-4:00, and that was relatively early! In all it was a fun and cultural experience. Too bad the battery for my camera was dead and I have no pics! (Especially of some of the interesting attire.)

The Griswalds have left España

Jamieson trip to Spain: (n.) disaster. When the best laid plans go completely astray.



Spring break, spring break, oh how you were nothing I expected! Besides the obvious fact that I did not come even close to accomplishing all of my schoolwork goals, nor half of them for that matter, spring break was a wonderful disaster. Not that it was a bad time, just a series of disasters that could only come with careful planning.



My parents arrived on Monday afternoon. I am outside the gate anxiously waiting for their arrival. and waiting. and waiting. Until finally, one hour after their said landing and they are still not coming out, I decide to break through security (I know, I’m a bad ass!) and look for them. I obviously find them waiting in the lost luggage claim window. They had traveled with Air France and had a stop in Paris. well at least that's where they said they stopped. From my parent's accounts they were dropped off in the middle of a field in no-man's land and bussed to an airport. Unfortunately the luggage missed the bus. No worries no worries, the luggage would be on the next plane to barcelona....pretty good deal actually, since we won't have to lug and luggage throught the airport, check it again and lug it to the hotel. Well except for the fact that it didn't exactly work out like that. When we arrived at the AIRPORT hotel that mom booked with her marriot parts (by the way I have decided that Mariott, mariott points, timeshares and anything else related is crap) and there was no luggage. It was in Madrid, they told us.



Mom and dad spent the first full day in barcelona in the same clothes they flew in..... mmmmmmm, nice!.... until we were able to get to mom's new favorite store, El corte ingles, to buy some duds. Actually we had to buy several things in the Corte ingles, due to the fact that it was freezing and pouring in Barcelona. We took the Barcelona double decker tour bus and spent the majority of the day inside the lower deck that day avoiding the rain and "seeing the sights" of Barcelona. We did get off to see Guadi's Sagrada Familia which my parents especially enjoyed. After a long soggy day we head back to the hotel with a bottle of wine (dad was in heaven...he bought a bottle of wine and a six pack for about 5 euros, and that's just normal here.) and some room service. Thankfully the hotel was really nice despite it being at the airport and not in downtown Barcelona. Well, except for the fact that the hot water wasn't exactly hot, but minor detail. No luggage yet. No confirmation of where exactly it is. Probably sitting in the middle of a field near where the plane landed in "Paris", I suspect.



Day 2 was spent taking advantage of several periods of non-rain and touring some of the spots we saw on the previous day's tour. (Port Vell, Guell Park, La Rambla, The Gothic neighborhood) After a lot of walking, too much for dad's style, we decide that the bottle of wine and some cheese and crackers would be a great way to unwind at the hotel again. Guess what...the luggage was in Barcelona, but it wouldn't be delivered until some time the next day. Not so much! I decided to go to the airport to pick it up, I don't trust these AirFrance people. Mom and I go and attempt to recover it. Of course I have to break though security again to be able to get into baggage claim, but I'm getting to be a professional at that sort of thing. We do finally leave with 2 of 3 suitcases. Normally 2 out of 3 ain't bad but, seeing that the one missing was dad's with all his medication, not such a good thing. Of course a mostly empty one they brought for me was one of the 2 recovered. Dad's luggage they say is still in Paris.



Day 3 we went to Montserrat. Quite nice despite the rain, again. More pictures of "dad getting wet in the same clothes." Still no luggage. Don't know exactly where it is.



Final take on Barcelona:

Mom and dad really enjoyed the Sagrada Familia and Monserrat. Enjoyed the menu del dia and the fact that it is completely acceptable to have a bottle of wine with lunch. Didn't enjoy the rain nor having to recycle clothing as much as possible.



Day 4 was back to Madrid. This time they stayed in a much more centrically located hotel. It wasn't as nice as the last one, but it was fine. We went to eat in Chueca, near my school then Mom and dad did a little exploring on their own while I went home to regroup. Later on we went to dinner to a restaurant that serves very typical Spanish food. Dad liked but did not love morcilla, blood sausage. You never know, dad likes to try different things. Several cervezas later, and after sever interrogation of Paco on the Spanish social economic norms, mom and dad realize that they haven't been out until 2:30 in the morning in quite some time. Still no luggage. They say it's in Barcelona.



Day 5 was Julie's walking tour of Madrid....bring your umbrella. We did Retiro Park, the royal palace (although we couldn't go in because we got there late) a favorite bar of Sarah's for some pisto, La Latina, and saw some of the Semana Santa processions in center city. After a little siesta, we went out for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. (Ask my dad about the Welch-Indian bachelor party in the next room.) We actually found a bar that serves martini's so we went there after dinner. Another late night for the Jamieson's. Still no luggage. Not sure where it is again. Maybe the tag fell off. Need a exact description and estimate of the value of the contents.



Day six- Easter Sunday...mass distribution of smidgens to the Spaniards. Mom and dad did church on their own and braved the metro to my house in Campamento. They made it without problems, surprisingly. We met Laura and her family for lunch. First of course we went for cañas at a neighborhood bar. Then to La Campa, Pepe's favorite restaurant. Thank god for Sarah and Javi, who also speaks good English, to help me facilitate the communication. Despite the barriers there were lots of laughs and promises by both the Jamieson's and Paredes' to enroll in some Spanish and English courses respectively to prepare for next year. The Paredes' presented my parents with a decorative plate (made in Toledo, their hometown) that has La familia Paredes and The Jamieson family....I almost cried. Pepe offered us tickets to th Real Madrid football game (that's soccer to most of you folks!) Javi, my parents and I all went. We had great seats, Madrid won and my dad made himself an authentic Real Madrid aficionado. GOOOL! It was a ton of fun! Oh, by the way Air France woke me up at 9am to tell me they found the luggage and it would be delivered to the hotel in Madrid. Of course that was another lie...damn French!



Day seven, last day. I had to go back to school, but was able to go to an early class so that we could take a train to Toledo for the day. Ha! Well after waiting in the train station to buy tickets about an hour, the train to Toledo was full until the 3:40 train and there were no seats on any return train...typical. Still, we did it. Took the train to Toledo and a bus back. Of course it was raining in Toledo, but it would have been just plain weird if it didn't rain, wouldn't it? It was a nice little day trip. We walked around town, took some pictures, had some cañas and tapas, did some shopping (had to buy dad a carry on to take his new clothes home because at this point I told them if they even knew where dad's suitcase was to send it back to the USA.) All in all worth while. We got back to Madrid had dinner and it was time to say goodbye already.



My story ends here, but I am sure mom and dad either missed a connecting flight, got bumped, had a flight cancelled, lost more luggage or some other disaster on the way home. You'll have to ask them.



Final take on Madrid:

Loved Real Madrid, the Paredes, "partying" in Madrid and visiting Toledo, even though we would have liked to spend more time there. Didn't like rain, wearing the same clothes, being lied to repeatedly by AirFrance and the automatic lights in the bathrooms. (Ask my mom about that one, that's her story.)



Now I am back to school with one month left to finish a TON of things. But I am completely exhausted. Between answering my mom's million daily questions about Spanish vocabulary, trying to help her learn a few words and phrases without a french accent, looking for good bars with good tapas for my dad, being the translator (even though 90% of the time it was unnecessary) and tour guide, I'm drained. I had to take a half day today to catch up on sleep.



Well the sun is shining once again in Madrid...in time for me to get back to work and in time for my parents to leave; I am sure it must be raining in the northeast USA. By the way it is 8:30 here and the sun is still out.



Easter surprise: Jen made me a blog of my boys!!! Check it out and leave some messages to encourage Jen to keep it up!! http://jamiesondynamicduo.blogspot.com/