9614

Pre-race

General Javi (friend of Javi), Javi, me and Liz

Javi and I doing Rocky Balboa

After the race and..... AFTER the race! Spanish style!




I reached my goal. I finished the half-marathon in Madrid this past weekend, a goal I would never have set if it weren't for Javi and Liz. I wasn't sure if it was an expereince I even wanted to have (13 odd miles/ 21 odd km isn't exactly one's idea of Sunday fun) but I figured at least it would force me to get my rear in gear and run. Well, that theory worked only partially. After signing up, I didn't magically have time to run (it is usually dark my the time I get home and daylight savings time just kicked in last week) but I did manage to go once or twice per week thanks to future motivational speaker, Javi, and queen of positive thinking, Liz.





I was actually quite nervous the night before the race. I certainly wasn't in it to win, but what if I couldn't finish??? On top of it all, my ipod with my handy-dandy nike plus gadget that tells you everything you need to know about your run froze on me the night before with no apparent solution in sight. (There I was at 1:30 am cursing apple and all mac products...you know how I get when I am tired!) I CAN'T run without music!!!! Eventually I decided to load up some MP3's on my phone and carry that, which actually turned out quite well. I was able to make a few phone calls durng the race and take some pics that Paco missed due to his early morning arrival from Saturday evening and late start to the day.



It was certainly a unique experience that I enjoyed and will remember for a long time. The ambiance was amazing. Many people came out to cheer us on (Venga, animo! Ya estais!) which helped tremendously and in many cases was quite entertaining. Also, the sheer fact that I was able to run through the middle of the streets in Madrid gave me a new and interesting perspective on the city. After running for a total of 2 hours and 19 minutes, I crossed the finish coming in at number 9614 of a total 9867 runners. (I had thought that 12,000 runners were running but appartantly I was misinformed or else over 2,000 people didn't finish!) I know it isn't an impressive position, but I don't care. I did it and I finished it and I know now that I can. (and of course, I wasn't LAST!) Besides, I know I won again the title of "Fastest Female Runner from Pittston," I am quite sure of that.

And, to answer your question: NO. I am NOT going to train for a full marathon.

PS: Did I mention in the runner's gift bag there was a can of beer???

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Introducing to the world my newest nephew born March 22, 2008, while I was home to meet him. Now, there's kid after his auntie's heart. He's a little peanut, the poor kid has no hand-me downs that even fit! I can't wait to see him grow!

So what else is new with me? not much! After a much needed spring break and a wonderful trip home to visit the fam (and of course my boys!) I am back in Madrid trying to get back into the grind. Daylight savings time began yesterday so now we have an insanely long day...I think it was dusk when I left my class around 9pm this evening. It's pretty nice, especially because now I can take advantage of the extra light time to train for the half marathon. Oh, but wait, it's this Sunday and my training is minimally existant at best. Paco and I drove the route yesterday and I am a bit scared, especially since my hiney was aching from the 7 mile run I did on Saturday. So, wish me luck folks!

I am still battling everyday with my internal "where/when/how am I going to have a wedding" debate. Sadly, despite my running- clear-my-head time, no progress has been made. It is slightly embarrassing that I have no better clue now than when I got engaged 3 months ago. Am I going to be one of those permanantly engaged but never married couples? I hope not, because many people I know have theories about that kind of thing, which have proven to be rather accurate, and I don't want to go there.

Apart from that, just teaching and teaching and that's about it. I wish I had something more exciting to speak of, but hey Charlie takes the spotlight, isn't that enough?

Lost in blogger land

It has been a while, I know I haven't updated. But, since Amanda and Paco seems to be the only ones that follow my blog, and they pretty much know exactly what is going on with my life on a daily basis, I haven't felt much urgency to update. And, besides, my life is not too exciting; I really haven't been up to much.
Work pretty much consumes mine and Paco's lives, so when the weekend comes I am just content to be at home doing anything and nothing in particular. We all know that I am not one for a smokey bar at 2am, or 7am, as the case may be here in spain.

So here are the highlights of the past month (or "dim"lights, based on your perspective....my glass tends to be half empty!)

• I turned 29....urg, am I really publishing that on the internet? It was quite an uneventful event, especially since it fell on a monday. On Sunday, my friend Amanda had a nice dinner in my honor at her apartment complete with a Betty Crocker cake....YUM! So, that was fun! And, my class on Tuesday evenings (with four boys ages 7-9) threw me a surprise party. They are kind of like Jack, any excuse to have a party! But, still it was nice.
  
  
  





• The weekend just prior to my bday we attended Paco's cousin's wedding. It was a very nice, albeit interesting event. Paco's cousin is a very unique individual and that was certainly reflected in his wedding. One thing that was very interesting, that I didn't realize, despite my experience with Spanish weddings, is that the cake is cut with a sword! Check out the pics.
  
  

• Other than that, some bday sushi, a few birthday packages (thanks mom and jess!) lots of flowers and another year under my belt. I am quite depressed about my last year of being in my 20's.
  
  
• I have taken to reading again recently, a favorite passtime of mine that I had abandoned since I started gradschool and continued to be abandoned due to my hectic schedule. I have read similar but two very interesting books. Although they are both written originally written in English but circumstatially I read both in Spanish. (One was a birthday gift and the other was lent to me by a student's mother.) I don't think anything was lost in translation, but I might have to read them in English to check. In any case, both I highly recommend. They are easy reads and if you enjoy books like The Diary of Anne Frank, you will fly through these: When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne.
  
  
• I am signed up to run a half marathon with Javi April 6. My training schedule is less than optimal (I use the term training schedule extreemly loosely) but I stress that it is a HALF marathon and my only goal is to run it....I am not in it to win!
  
  
• We started to look at sites here in Madrid and the surrounding area for the wedding. We haven't decided for sure that we want to do it here, but I think we are leaning that way. There are so many factors involved for us just choosing the location that I don't know if I can go through with a whole wedding planning process. I mean looking at magazines and websites is fun, but actually choosing (and thinking about paying for) all of this is completely overwhelming. One pro for Spain is that there are less decisions to make. Here the site coordinators choose most things for you. So, unless you want something really particular you don't have to worry about every minute detail. Still, we'll see. Some of Paco's friends are lobbying for a NYC wedding! I am thinking if I could get over the stigma of saying "I got married in Vegas" that would be my choice.
  
  
• Last but not least, a child related anecdote:
  
  Every Wednesday I take groups of my second graders out of class to prepare for the Trinity College oral English exam that they will do in the spring. I have to ask questions and get the students to interact with me in conversation about their everyday life. Of course there are some questions about family. One as simple as "what is your daddy's name?" however shocked me. In the US I would have been more careful about this question, but in my 2nd grade class the majority of children come from intact stable homes...I thought. When I asked Saul that simple question "what is your daddy's name?" He told me he didn't know. Uh-oh I thought, because sure enough a "how do you say" was coming. Saul asked me "how do you say that I don't have a daddy and that I don't know who my daddy is because my mommy had the sperm implanted in her and we never knew who the daddy was?"

Geez, Saul, sorry I just don't know how to say that one!

kids say the darndest things....and them some

So two quick funny stories about this week.

Since this week was the first week of class since break, in my private lessons with the kids we were focusing on "What did Santa/ The Three Kings bring for Christmas?" My objective was to teach some vocuabulary for toys and gifts. So, I made them draw 5 gifts that they recieved, a few that their mommies recieved and a few that their daddies recieved. I am quite accustomed to fielding the "How do you say in English...?" questions, however, I was not prepared for what happened next. In a class of 4 boys (ages 7-9) three of the four drew undergarments for their mommies. The fun didn't stop there either. One of the mommies who was present during the class, instead of sinking into the couch of embarrasment, proudly went and fetched her reindeer thong to show all of us...a little show and tell....fun! So amongst the words videogames and interactive globe, I also had the pleasusre of teaching the boys "studded thong" (yeah, they described for me where the placement of the sparkly studs were) and "bikini bottoms." I think it is a lesson that these boys will wish they remembered in about 10 years.

In my class with two super cute 7 year old girls, we were also talking about Christmas presents. One of the girls spotted my engagement ring.
"oooh!" she said.
I respoded, "oh, do you like my new ring?"
She said "very much! Is it dum, dum, dum-dum ?" (humming the wedding march)
"Well actually, yes." I said
The girls dissolved into giggles and then proceded to give me advice as to where I should have the wedding. Maybe I will take Andrea's advice and get married in the Canary Islands.

Happy New Year

Happy 2008 everyone!

(even though my everyone probably only includes an audience of 3 people, my mom and my fiancé being two...woah, I have a fiancé!)

The holidays are officially over and I am feeling an overwhelming sense of “wait a second, it already happened??” I, being typical me, completely overbooked myself for the 2+ weeks of vacation that I had. One week back in the States, that seemed more like a quick weekend, gave me less than sufficient time to do most of the things on my to-do and to-see list. Sorry to everyone who I unwillingly shafted. It was nice to spend some quality, albeit minimal, time with my family. I miss them a lot this year, especially my Owen who is changing drastically on what seems like daily basis.

Owen and Jack on their new John Deere.

After the whirlwind visit at home it was back to Spain for New Year’s Eve and to experience some of the holiday traditions here. Due to our plans to travel to Andorra the following day, New Year’s consisted of a nice family diner at Paco’s aunt and uncle’s home and then home to bed. As you know dinner here is eaten quite late (10ish) and New Years was no different. Lots of seafood and of course some ham and chorizo later I was stuffed. But in Spain, you have to save room for at least 12 grapes. The tradition here is to eat the 12 grapes with each of the bell chimes once the clock strikes midnight. If you don’t you are destined to a year of bad luck. Well, you can imagine what happened to me. Let’s just say I needed a few more chimes. However, I can't be bothered with such superstition because that same night I carried away the gordo (the big prize) in the Castro family bingo pool….that’s right 5 euritos!

In the picture you can see the famous “cagonet” which is apparently a staple in the Spanish Nativity scene. In Spain the most central Christmas decoration, even more so than the Christmas tree, is the Nativity scene (here it’s call El Belén, or the Bethlehem) Paco’s Aunt had one that was quite large, and of course I couldn’t resist photographing the strangest thing I see.

January 1 it was off to Andorra for a week of skiing (and again as luck would have it I did not break any limbs!) Andorra is a tiny country in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. (This ain't no Montage mountan, folks.)One might even mistake it as part of Spain, but it is its own country which lives almost entirely off the winter sports business. It is quite a quaint mountain country and the constant smell of firewood adds to the cozy ambiance. We had good weather and a good time, but man, was I exhausted.

We stayed in Andorra until the Three Kings Day (January 6) which here in Spain is the end of the Christmas holiday and the day of the presents. I was lucky enough to see my first Cabalgata (3 Kings parade) in Andorra. It began at the top of a slope right by our apartment and it began with fireworks and a snake of lights creeping down the slope. It turns out the snake was about 40 ski patrollers with torches who were leading the three Kings, each of which arrived on his own snow grooming machine. I have to admit, Santa doesn’t do anything that cool.

I was also lucky enough to win at Playstation buzz to be the queen for the day, so naturally I wore my crown and cut the Roscon de Reyes (a cream filled pastry-like cake that is eaten on 3 Kings day in Spain.) And furthermore, I didn’t get the figurine in my piece (which means I didn’t have to pay for the cake!)

2008 looks like it might be an ok year

La Navidad has arrived!

The ham and wine that are part of the traditional "cesta de navidad" (christmas basket) that employers normally give to their employees.

Christmas spirit is all over Madrid. Lights are in place, trees have been mounted and decorated, music and carols are everywhere and Papa Noel (aka: Santa Claus) and the Three Kings are vying for the priviledge of being the most popular present bearer of the season. (This is a huge polemic here, since the Reyes, the three kings, are Spanish tradition, but the commercialization of Santa and the convenience of his earlier arrival is winning over the yonger generations.) And as you can see from the picture they are breaking into many houses all over Spain, probably in attempt to brainwash the children.

In my school, we celebrated on Friday the kid's Christmas pageant. They had been preparing and practicing for weeks and it definitely paid off. Maybe I am biased, but I think my 2nd gradeer stole the show. They did a cute play (in Spanish) and then sang a Spanglish Christmas song. Check out the video here and you can let me know what an unbiased opinion is.

I have already gotten many Christmas gifts, mostly from students and other teachers. But the best gift I have ever gotten came last Thursday night when Paco asked me to marry him....officially!!!!!! (of course I said yes!) So I won't be needing any other Christmas gifts this year!

(He, he he! Saved the best news for last!)

And the big news just keeps on coming!

My sister's getting married!!! Amy and Colin got engaged in Champagne, France this weekend. I am even more excited to go home now. Wedding planning for this one should be interesting to say the least!

I'd write more but my week with the flu and then my week recovering really don't have any highlights that compare. I do need remark, however, that we managed to get away for the weekend last weekend (despite my miserable flulike symptoms) to Logroño (In La Rioja, Spain's wine region) and to San Sebastian in Spain's Basque Region, making a quick stop in Burgos to eat some morcilla. It was what you might call a gastronomic tour. We ate often and well. Unfortunately we didn't get to really visit any of the wineries because we went in off season and during a holiday weekend. (In Spain commerce doesn't take advatage of things like holiday weekends to make money, but rather to take vacations. It's a concept that we Americnas cannot really comprehend.) Anyway, we did visit a really interesting wine museum at a winery; my favorite part- the collection of over 3000 corkscrews from all over the world throughout time. Here are some pics:

Burgos: the cathedral La Rioja: freezing in the vineyard, outside the wine museum.

San Sebastian: view from the hills, some serious surf on the beach, a beautiful sunset.

The past month in "short"

I have been quite lax with the blogging recently. I do have excuses, not that you’re interested in my lame excuses. But the bottom line is that the 12 hour Spanish work day is not agreeing with me. (obviously.) I am very happy with my job(s) with the exception of a one private classes and the crazy schedule. But, of course I am sick every month, even though I swore I wasn’t getting sick again. But at least a day at home gives me some time to catch up on things, like my blog.

So here’s a “quick” summary of the month of November:

November 10:

Went to a wedding at a castle in the outskirts of Madrid. It was a very nice event that lasted over 12 hours. (yeah 12) The ceremony was at 2 and we left the wedding site at 3ish. It was grueling, but a lot of fun. The bride was Spanish and the groom English, so they tried to combine some traditions of both cultures.

Thanksgiving was prepared by a fellow Middleburiana, Vanessa. Way too much delicious food and a lot of people, but of course there were no cowboys, pilgrims or Indians, so it cannot even begin to compare with the festivities of last year. That will remain a legend for many here in Spain.
(Sorry no pics for this one.)

November 25: Paco’s birthday complete with two family meals…yep two…in one day. However we didn’t go out much because we had both had long weeks so we waited until the following weekend to really celebrate, along with the great news that he was granted a huge research grant from a major insurance foundation. Don’t ask what he will research because I don’t understand even the title. Needless to say we went all out, and I actually think this is what pushed me over the edge into sickland.

I finally met baby Javi, and saw proud parents Javi and Marta, who are gleaming with excitment. And, who wouldn't be with a baby this tiny and cute who barely makes a sound! I am only speaking to the little guy in English and have already arranged that he will be my exchange student in the US when he is older.

I also saw all of my "Spanish family" (the Paredes) which was nice becuase I haven't seen Javi and Laura's parents since before I left.

Welcome to the world Javichu!

This past weekend I also decided to deck my little halls. After decorating my 2 foot tree and hanging the stockings with care (from the bookshelf, obviously, we don’t have a chimney) my place has a nice air of Christmas spirit. Madrid is lit for the holiday as well. It’s nice to walk down the streets in the evening with the holiday lights shining, it makes me want to fill my MP3 with Christmas carols….but I don’t have any. I’ll work on that.

This weekend is supposed to be La Rioja, but seeing as though I am sick again, it’s in limbo. I will be so mad!

Last interesting bit: Remember how I notice now all the English language clothing? Well, I get to see a lot in school. It seems kids’ clothes are not produced in Spain, only English speaking countries. (Or probably not even, more likely China or Taiwan, but the point is that any words are almost always written in English.) Normally the kids’ clothing is pretty innocent; superheroes, princesses, sports phrases, etc. However yesterday in school I could not stop stating at one boy’s sweatshirt. I mean really, I may have made him uncomfortable. The poor kids kept looking back at me like “But I am not doing anything wrong!!!” I was quite close to whipping out my camera phone to document the insanity, but though better of it given the situation. (class and what not.) The thing about this particular Bart Simpson sweatshirt was that it said “Show business is a hideous bitch goddess.” Profanity on a child’s sweatshirt aside, does that even make sense?? Anyone want to help me explain that one?

Our House

As promised, a guided tour of my new apartment. Although it is not completely done (we are still in need of a few esthetic updates) you can get an idea of what it looks like.
Turn your computer screen or your head...it's sideways. (still can't figure out how to flip it.)
Enjoy and come visit soon!

Random thoughts about this week

Good things that happened this week:
1) I have recuperated my voice!
2) I got my first pay check!
3) It’s Puente! (when they extend a holiday to make a nice long weekend…for example the holiday is today, Nov. 1, but tomorrow there is no school.
4) We made plans to go to the wine country of Spain, Rioja for next puente.

Bad things about this week:
1) The kids at school were so excited about Halloween I still had to yell over them.
2) My paycheck is long spent on Middlebury tuition
3) My Thursday and Friday classes have been cancelled because everyone in Madrid is gone “de puente” and I am not going anywhere.
4) I have no idea what I will do with Lucky while we are away.


Autumn has arrived in Madrid and I am loving it. It has always been my favorite season. There is nothing better than a crisp sunny fall day filled with changing leaves, football games apple cider and chili. Well, Madrid doesn’t have all that an American fall offers (no apple cider or football) but the weather is unbeatable..it is true fall weather and I have chili on the stove. The days are sunny and vary between crisp and warm and the nights are cool, perfect for a fire. (Not that I have a fireplace, but whatever.) Last weekend I took a little day trip with some friends to Aranjuéz, a small town outside of Madrid, just to disconnect from the city and maybe see some changing leaves. We had a perfect day and it really made me appreciate Spain in the autumn. I will post some pics later on.

This week I had my first grade school disaster experience. A kid puked all over the classroom in the middle of class. On the one hand, I felt sorry for him (how awful!) on the other hand….run to the bathroom kid! I learned a lot from the seasoned elementary classroom teacher who did not even remotely freak out and from the poor little girl sitting next to him who, despite having been puked on, did not cry or freak out. (Can’t say I would have done the same.) I guess maybe puke isn’t a big deal in Spain? What really struck me as odd however, were the lengths we had to go to in order to find cleaning supplies, because naturally, the cleaning people don’t come in until the afternoon. (Wait a second, this kind of thing doesn’t happen frequently? And why is there no Mr. Klush?) And to answer your question- no I most certainly did not clean it up.

Halloween in Madrid….They say that Halloween is not celebrated in Spain. It’s an American/English tradition. Well, judging from the decorations in my school, I think “they” are wrong. Every inch of the school had a ghost, bat, spider, pumpkin, witch on it. Halloween is catching on in Spain. The kids are obsessed with it! Many even have told me that they will go trick or treating in their neighborhoods. I think that in the next 10 years Halloween will be just as much of a Spanish tradition as the Three Kings. After all, what’s not to like about trick or treating?

Well, that's all I have for this week. Hope everyone had a spooktacular Halloween. (I am officially a grade school teacher...my dorky side is out and running rampant!)

PD oh wait that's Spanish, I meant to say PS

I do not know why the format of my last blog is messed up, but I have tried to no avail to change it. It is bothering me.

One other thing, not that I am fishing for a care package, but if anyone has the desire to support the US postal service while helping me ensure my health, I'd really love some anti-bacterial hand cream. I can only find gel here and it has my hands cracking dry, which in turn makes me less likely to use it regularly, which as a result of being surrounded by 2nd and 3rd graders all day means my hands are full of germs and illness. My goal for the rest of the year is to not get sick. Who wants to support the "Julie's hands" foundation?????

mute.

It just seems that I can't get anything going here. It's one thing after another. After finally solving the problems with the furniture, the washer, the plumbing and finally (finally!) the phone and internet, one might think that things are looking up for me. Despite the fact that I have my schedule set with school and classes and am settling into my routine (which I so desperately needed) I am faced with a problem that I have never had to deal with before. I am mute. Laryngitis. Ok, well the illness I have dealt with before, and while it sucks, it is kind of fun during that period of "sexy voice" when you are initially losing your voice. At ACHS having laryngitis meant a day of not having to talk to the kids, or taking a day for lots of fun alone time. Now, seeing that my job is to talk, losing my voice means I can't work. Period. The bad news about that....if I don't work, I don't make any money. In the school I may have to make up the hours and my private classes are a complete wash. Que putada!!!! (I am not going to translate that for reasons you can assume.)

Conclusion: I do not like working for hourly wages.

On a lighter note, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of people in Spain that I encounter wearing clothing with English phrases. I'm not talking about "Levi's Brand Jeans" pasted across the chest of a t-shirt or anything like that, I am referring to the current trend of wearing tshirts with quirky phrases on them. The thing is, I don't see many in Spanish, but I always notice the English ones. (Perhaps a language bias, but I don't really think so. I even see English phrase clothing in Spanish stores, but not any Spanish phrase clothing.) You might think that, well these people must be English language nerds, similar to how Julie is a Spanish language dork, but for some reason you can just tell that the majority don't have a clue what is advertised on their chest. At least it makes me chuckle.

So, I have decided to keep track of some of my favorites-I wish I had thought of it earlier because I have seen some really good ones- and every now and again for your entertainment and reading pleasure post some of the better ones.

This week: Picture a scruffy, middle aged, (50+) man not exactly in his best shape walking toward you with a bright blue t-shirt that reads: Warning: Hot Zone. Hmmmm....I am not sure, does that mean I should walk the other way? What exactly is the message there? Or how about the otherwise normal looking middle aged woman in a white long sleeve t-shirt that has sexy bedazzled across her boobs. At least she has good self-esteem.

It makes me want to start selling cute t-shirts with things like "I am an @ss" or "Tell me how stupid I look" on them. I bet I could make a killing in the metro....hey, maybe that could make up for the money lost due to my laryngitis.

Believe it or not.....

Any events that could have happened to me this week are overshadowed by the tremendous milestone achieved on Friday afternoon. Here in Madrid we celebrated el Dia de la Hispanidad, the country's national holiday which celebrates the country's armed forces and ultimately Cristopher Colombus' discovery of the Americas. At 32 General Pardinas, we celebrated a more important, yet completely unrrelated milestone. Check out the link on youtube. I promise you, no stunt doubles were used in the filming of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8ymDWn5X4

Spain: love and loathe

I started my job...finally... this week. After various unsuccessful attempts to get my schedule ahead of time, I finally got it the first day if school. The problem apparently was that they didn't know how many auxiliares (which is my official title...auxiliar de conversación) were placed in the school. Oh. hmmm. ok. So when 4 of us showed up the first day we were finally able to work the schedule out. The coordinator apologized for not having the schedules done beforehand. You see she lived in the US for 4 years and realizes that we (3 of us are Americans, the other is Australian) are used to having things planned out... in advance. But she apologized saying that Spain is the country of improvision. Well, that's one way to put it. Here in Spain things happen when they happen and everyone just has to adjust accordingly. Thankfully I have my experience of working in the chaos driven, improvision as a rule Atlantic City school district, so I am confidant I can handle it, at least in terms of school. More on that later.

So next question would be, "well Julie, what is your schedule like?" It's actually pretty good, save the fact that I have class after a 2 hour lunch break every day. On Mondays and Thursdays I have the good fortune of not having to go in until 10 and stay until 4 with no breaks except recess and lunch. Tuesdays and Wednesdays I have to be there for 9 but I get to leave before lunch on Tuesday. Wednesday is my only crappy day. I finish t 3:15 but might have to do a class with the staff from 4 until 5. In all despite the fact that I am only "working" 16 hours a week, I am at the school much more. Still I got a better schedule than some of my counterparts, so I am happy.

I am in English and Science classes for 2nd and 3rd graders. The kids have a decent level of English....definitely better than any of my kids in AC did in Spanish! The teachers I collaborate with are a bit spastic. I wanted to hand out xanex the first day. One speaks English pretty well but seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The other can use some private English lessons for herself (she asked me if I would be interested in teaching her children.) I think she is just nervous to have a native speaker there judging her English. I want to say that it is ridiculous that this woman teaches in the bilingual program but then again I taught Spanish for 5 years and was constantly waiting for someone to figure out that I really didn't speak much Spanish at all. I guess it is the same thing. And, anyway, that is why I have ehis job now, so I can't complain. In the meantime I will brush up on my CPR in case of any emergencies.

The apartment is still coming along. We have had some setbacks. The curtains I wanted are out of stock so my bedroom is still ugly. There is/was a clog in the main plumbing and all the water from the washing machine and kitchen sink came through a pipe in the bathroom causing a mini flood. The plumber says he's coming today. We'll see. The washing machine that we had was older than Adam. We convinced the landlord that we needed a new one, however when they man came to install it there wasn't enough room to get the old one out and the new one in, so now we have the washer disconnected in the middle of the kitchen and the new one waiting in the hall. In the meantime we figured out that the new one isn't going to fit anyway. Fun! Not that I could do much laundry anyway because it has been rainy and as Spaniards don't believe in clothes dryers, so you have to wait for nice dry sunny days to be able to do laundry. (People tell me that Madrid has a very dry climate, after living here over a year I cannot comprehend where that erroneous idea came from.) Now Amanda's telling me the hot water is out. greeeat. How I'd just love to make some comfort food, like chocolate chip cookies, but that would require an oven, which we don't have either. Another little used electrodomestic appliance that Spaniards often have but don't use, so yeah, we don't even have one. Adjust.

Last complaint. We got our internet yesterday. Except for the fact that we didn't. The tech people are "working on it." What's a few more days when we've already been waiting a month? Oh and in the confusion we lost telephone service, so don't call me.

Really it's not all bad, I am actually happy, it's just sometimes I miss the conveniences of the United States that I took for granted. Even though I was here all last year and should be used to it, I guess a few months at home de-programmed my Spanish mentality. So looking on the bright side, it's the weekend, the plumber is here and I am going to look online at washer/dryers to see if we can get one of those.

Back in Spain...which needs a TJ Maxx

I have been here for 2 weeks now and am settling in. The truth is is it a whole new experience, living in a new apartment, a new neighborhood (right downtown) not going to laSede Prim (Middlebury) everyday, not seeing all the same people who had become familiar faces. Lucky is transitioning too. Not that it is a bad, thing, in fact it is a good thing, it is just different. I still have a week until I start work, so I am also feeling a bit lost with that. I think that once I have a schedule and a routine I will feel much more settled and confidant.
My new apartment is tiny tiny, but let's call it cozy for now. I think I am competing with Corinne for the smallest apartment on the planet. It is in an older building, and definitely isn't new on the inside either, but it is in a GREAT neighborhood. Within a 3 block radius I can get anything I need...from scotch tape to sushi to shoes to diamonds. Last weekend I went out to 3 different bars without crossing the street and managed to stay out until 4:30am. (I live in an interior apartment, so my windows look out onto a patio so I get light but not all the street noise, which is another plus.) We have the Retiro park in a 5 minute walk, 4 different metro stops in walking distance and I can walk to work. I love having everything so accessible. The inside is coming along. Although it was rented furnished, most things we so ugly that we decided to buy our own and make it a little more homey. After countless hours and several trips to Ikea, (in which I realized that Spain needs some TJ Maxx and Marshalls desperately) we are pretty much there. We still need a few things, some pictures for the walls, ect, but once it is done I will post some photos.
My roomate from Middlebury arrives today and she is staying with me until she finds an apartment. I am expecting her any minute, so I should go.
'Till something worth writing home about comes up!

I'm baaaaaack!

I can't believe it...I am back in the states! And while it is not forever, I am going back, it is certainly a change and the close of another part of my life. Over a year ago I made the decision to do the program at middlebury, with much contemplation and anguish. It proved to be a very smart decision, albeit expensive, but despite the accumulating debt, I wouldn't change my mind if I had to do it all again. The experience was something I needed and wanted in my life. I feel like I have done something I am proud of and am not still in AC doing what came easy. Still, change is hard. I know that when I get back to Spain it will not be the same experience. Many of my friends will not be there, I will not be at "la Sede Prim," I may not be living in the same house, and I will be working. As I was packing up my room I actually suffered quite a panic attack. Silly, I know, but change is hard. I will miss this past year.

So what am I going to do this summer? Good question!

Right now I am in Florida visiting Kim and Elliot, and most importantly Owen!!! I just love this baby to pieces. Check out his blog and you will see why. (http://owenwilliamdoerle.blogspot.com/)
Later this afternoon I head over to the west coast of Florida to see Chrissy and her new house....how exciting! Chrissy is on her 2nd grown up house...what a big girl!

Then it's to Philadelphia to see my boys! (jack, owen and lucky!) Yea!!! I have missed them! My parents and I will be babysitting for the weekend. The following week I will be with Amy before she jets off to Italy for 3 weeks, and then to Pittston. That's about all I have planned. Once I get to Pittston it's living with mom and dad with no job and a bicycle as my main means of transportation. That ought to be fun.... I guess I will be waiting and planning until Paco comes for the big tour of Northeast America in August.

I probably won't write much over the summer, but don't worry if I happen to do something super-exciting, I'll post it.

Thanks for visiting....until part 2 of The Life and Times of Julie and Lucky in Madrid

Viva la vaca! Ole!

Last weekend I took the opportunity to procrastinate, put off my ever so important work on the ever so enlightning chapter of the much anticipated book we are writing with my teaching English as a foreign language class and I went to the mountains of Madrid for a little hiking and relaxation.

Obviously it was a holiday in Marid...another Puente....when isn't it? Monday was the day of San Isidro which celbrates the patron saint of Madrid and the official start of bullfighting season. As I was on our 5 hour hike up (and down) the mountain I got the opportunity to do a little bullfighting of my own. Ok, I didn't actually fight and it was a cow, but it had really big horns and who really knows the difference between a cow and a bull anyway. I was still afraid he was going to gore me to pieces for invading his stomping grounds (yes, pun intended.) Thaksfully I made it down the mountain alive and well and the only pains I had were some sore rear end muscles.

And the award goes to....

Christy and Lindsay!

The first (and only) non-family visit in Spain!

Last weekend marked the event, and we even had really nice weather, so we were able to take advantage of some sangria and tapas outdoors in the plaza and a nice naperooski in the Retiro. A little Sexy Back entertainment by -I'll let you guess who- rounded out a quite "gustatory" weekend. I had a great time, got a good ab workout from all the laughing, was able to relax a bit before finals, and most of all had the opportunity to catch up with 2 of my favorite PSU'ers.

Let's see who can top that!

Windsurfing

Here are some pics from my windsurfing adventure in La Manga. La Manga (which means "the sleeve" due to its geographical shape) is in the province of Murcia in southeastern Spain and makes up part of la Costa Calida (the Wam Coast.) They say that it has 320 days of sun, which menas that while most of Spain was rainy and crappy, it was warm and sunny in La Manga...THANK GOD!!! It wasn't hot summer weather but warm enough to be on the beach in a bathing suit (check out mine for the 2007 beach season...i can get you one if you act fast!!) and many people were. I actually got a little red, but am now on my way to bronzed godess status. La Manga is a long skinny strip of land that separates the Mediterranean from the Mar Menor (the Little Sea, which is really a large salt water lake.) The Mediterranean was a bit chilly (think water in Jersey in July) but the Mar Menor was like a nice tepid bath. Because it is not very deep and very salty, combined with the sunny days it stays pretty warm all year long. It's a very popular watersport area, and there were lots of people windsurfing and kite surfing...I don't think I can really count myself among those who were actually doing it, but I tried! I managed to sail for a record of 10 seconds (one mississippi, two mississippi...) - pretty impressive! It's hard, but fun. I'd be willing to try it again. (ok, i really just only want to wear the wetsuit!)

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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