Ha llegado el Sol! The Sun is Here!

I really have to make it a point to write more often. I enjoy doing it and I want this to serve as a journal of our "happenings" here, be they everyday kind of stuff or special occasions. I'm just so behind that I don't know where to start anymore. Let's see, last week, grandma Carmelina fell in the bathroom and hit her back against the bathtub. Fortunately, she wasn't seriously hurt, but she is having some pain and also difficulty doing some everyday chores. David spent the night over the weekend to help her and we're lending a hand with cooking etc. Being here, we're witnessing more signs of aging that we'd otherwise only hear about. The weather seems to have taken a turn - last Saturday was a "summer" day, tons of people on the beach. Esteban, David and I woke up early and rode our bikes for almost an hour... adjacent to the "Paseo Maritimo" there is a dirt bike path which goes all the way to the city of Malaga. When we got back, we had banana and chocolate chip pancakes (Juan brought our favorite pancake mix from home) and country potatoes with Pepper plant sauce (just like Toasties in P.G!) Esteban is back to riding his bike to school every day and of course on weekends with David. Pablo takes turns between his bike and his scooter.
Also, today was somewhat of an eventful day because David and Pablo rode the school bus to/from school for the first time. Pablo was so excited to ride the bus that he even forgot to give me a goodbye kiss - sniff, sniff. He's proving to be quite the independent little guy, very persistent and strong-willed. Of course, this temperament can be challenging at times but we try to channel his determination in a positive direction. Fortunately he loves to draw and write and he's now writing his name, his brothers' names and "mamá" and "papá", accent included. David has mastered the Spanish grammar rules around "accents" and is a stickler about them so he makes sure Pablo and the rest of us don't miss one.
Also, today Juan rehearsed and recorded with his new band (Moroccan musicians from Granada) called Juan L. Sánchez y el Jardín de la Sultana. I videotaped some of the songs for marketing purposes. They already have 2 concerts scheduled in the end of May and in mid-June. I'll share a link to Juan's new band as soon as I can.

Dia de Andalucia - a day to celebrate the South and all the people in it!

Juan returned from a two-week tour in California and Montana last weekend and today, we took advantage of the sunny weather to go for walk along the beach with a stop afterward at our favorite "churreria/cafeteria" in town. It's a family-owned business: the dad makes the churros in the back and the mom, grown son and daughter deal with the customers. They're a hard-working family- always greet you with a smile and Juan practices his French with the mom and son. The family lived in Paris when the children were growing up so they all speak French fluently and they return to Paris regularly to visit. This particular morning the son shared that Paris has changed so much from when they lived there. I asked him to elaborate and he simply said, "es una selva" (it's a jungle). I guess I wasn't ready to hear what he was saying because I didn't get it until Juan told him "don't say that, I'm going to tell Obama". I don't know if it landed on deaf ears, but I told him he shouldn't say that about other immigrants just like them who are going in search of a better life.

That same morning while going for a walk, I noticed the neo-nazi swastikas graffitied on some walls along the beach, also near Esteban's school. There are many more immigrants here from Eastern Europe, South America, Argentina, in particular, and of course various African countries, than just a few years ago. Some Spanish towns are more adapted to "outsiders". The neighboring town of Nerja for example, has been home to many German and English retirees and vacationers for years. Also, the western coast of Málaga has had a similar history, apparent in the local businesses offering English products, etc. However, our little town of El Rincón de la Victoria is still adapting to the changing population, etc. One of Esteban's classmates told a young lady from Venezuela to go back to where she came from. In California, we've been hearing these remarks for a long time now. Also, the concept of "family" has changed. There are more single parents, divorced parents, grandparents raising children, more mothers working outside the home. The thing I keep in mind is that for every swastika on the wall, I see 2 others crossed out - I feel there are more people open to the changing faces of Andalucia. The schools that Juan has approached are all enthusiastic to the message he has to offer about valuing different languages, cultures and family structures.

On February 28th it was the Day of Andalucia and Pablo and David wore the traditional green and white colors to school. They were also representing the new immigrants from California.