Lots of Birthdays in December/January!

On December 7th we celebrated David's 9th birthday. It fell on a Sunday this year but it was a 3 day weekend with the following Monday off (Dia de la Inmaculada Concepcion). His uncle Pepito and his 2 children, Claudia and Mateo were here from Madrid. The whole family got together for cake at our house and then we all went to the movies to see the new Disney/Pixar movie, Bolt. The very next day we celebrated Ana's birthday, with a few more candles on the cake (she's 2 years older than Juan), but she looks younger. She wanted to make sure we put all 45 candles on her cake. I like that - the older you get, the brighter the cake! She was very excited that we were here to celebrate these special days together. In December was also Natalia's "santo". Here, you also celebrate your saint's namesake, which constitutes more gift-giving. Esteban and David caught on to this real quick. Unfortunately theirs are also in December. San Esteban is December 26th and David went through his calendar until he found his fell on December 29th. We took them both out for Chocolate con Churros for breakfast as our gift. Pablo and David both had Christmas shows at their school. We invited the grandparents, Melina and Pepe to see Pablo sing with his class and David play the recorder. For Juan's birthday, Ana volunteered to stay home with the kids so that Juan and I could go to Granada to see a concert (Carlos Zarate and friends) on the evening of the 20th. He plays flamenco guitar with local Morrocan musicians. We stayed in a great new hotel AH Granada with views of the snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Juan connected with the Morrocan musicians and will be playing with them here.
We then celebrated with the family on the 21st with his favorite homemade cake that his mom makes. He got very nice gifts but one was especially nice because it also involved "me". Natalia and Oscar gave us a gift certificate to Nagomi Spa for a hydro-massage. It was my early birthday present too. The gift also included childcare!! But wait, there are MORE birthday celebrations. My mommy-in-law and I share the same b-day on Jan. 7th. It was a nice sunny day so we went for a late morning walk near the beach. We then decided to head out of town for lunch to the nearby rural village called Casabermeja for some traditional country cooking - their speciality, "migas" (fried bread crumbs). We had our own private room with a fireplace (it's chillier inland). Tita Cristina, Oscar, Natalia and Lena all joined us. It was a great birthday!!

Happy New Year!!

It's amazing to me that it's been over two months since last I wrote.  When we first came here, I naively thought I'd have a lot more time to write and read and run, do yoga, etc.   Not so.   I realized raising 3 kids, with homework and extracurricular activities is very time consuming, no matter where you live.  Also, I've been helping Juan get his business off the ground, accompanying him on school concerts, mostly to take pictures so I can help him update his website in Spanish.  So far, he's had extraordinary feedback.  Schools are very open to what he has to offer and I won't say more since I plan to dedicate another short blog entry on that topic.  I've also been busy with a lengthy translation project which I've just completed (it kept me busy for the past two weeks).  It also took me longer because we've had terrible cold, cough and flu bugs go through our house several times over it seems.  What a drag!!!  Poor Pablo hasn't had a dry nose for more than a week since last October.  Now that he's taking his afternoon nap, I'm seizing the opportunity to catch up on the writing.  We've done a lot in the last couple of months and with my memory the way it is, I need to document. 

I started the following post weeks ago but hadn't finished it until now:  We 

said "Adios" to 2008 with a bang,

 literally and figuratively.  Esteban and his cousins presented us with a fireworks show on the beach.  You can read his blog for more details about the firecrackers.  It was a major highlight of the holidays for him.  For us, it was the first time in our family's history, that the whole family got together for a New Year's Eve dinner at my brother-in-law's oceanfront home- there were 20 of us altogether.  My mother-in-law prepared a delicious turkey meal and the rest of us contributed by bringing a large assortment of appetizers.  There was so much food that we had enough left over to sit around the table once more for lunch on New Year's Day.   

But on New Year's Eve, as we all sat around the dinner table with the

 clamor of passing plates and overlapping conversations, I took a moment to take it all in.  The boys were excited to have their cousins visiting from Madrid, my father-in-law was at the head of the table seeing all 5 of his children and all 9 grandchildren sharing a meal and I thought to myself, "this is what it's all about".  Of course, I missed my own extended family and friends and perhaps some of our own family rituals/traditions, but I surrendered to the moment and enjoyed the wine and company.  After dinner, we all sat/stood around the T.V. to wait for the clock tower in Sol in Madrid to strike 12.  MariCarmen had organized 20 small plates with 12 grapes each for the national tradition- with each bell toll, you eat a grape.  Our family has been doing this in California at 3:oopm on Dec. 31st for the past 17 years, with Juan on the phone giving the signal to everyone.  It was nice to finally celebrate this tradition all together.  Pepito, Juan's brother then took his position as DJ for the evening and we all danced until close to 4am.  We slept in until lunchtime the next day, when we were all called 

to the "party house" for leftovers.  We took our traditional New Year's Day family picture on the beach in front of Pepito's house (usually Del Monte Beach in Monterey.)

Christmas Eve was much quieter.   It was just our family with 

Melina, Pepe and Ana.  My mother-in-law is a wonderful cook and she had a variety of appetizers (soup, shrimp, salmon, ham) plus the main dish "solomillo" (pork roast) with a mango chutney sauce - delicious!!!!   Of course there's always room for the traditional Christmas desserts - turrón de chocolate, mantecados and roscos.   We ended the evening with Christmas carols we'd prepared in English and Spanish.  David played the piano, Esteban the trumpet and Juan played the violin.  Pablo played the tambourine and the rest of us sang along.  

Feeling grateful!

One of the things I'm really enjoying here is going for walks in the morning with Juan.  We drop off the kids at school, have a light breakfast near the beach walkway and take in the early morning air.  Lately it's cooled down a bit or it's rained and we haven't been able to go, but for the most part we try to go 3-4 times a week.  I take my camera and catch a fishing boat on the water or on the beach.  What I like most is having that time to reflect and talk to Juan about our future plans as a family, as individuals, etc.  It also gives me time to think about how fortunate we are to be here and how grateful I am for so many reasons.   For example, I'm grateful to have friends at home that we miss and we're grateful to Juan's family for being so loving and generous with us.  Juan's mom will often cook a little extra of whatever she's making and before I know it, she's at our doorstep to share it with us.  Juan's siblings are the same - Juan's brother, Nacho, recently treated the family to the movies on David's birthday; his sister Ana took Esteban and I to an Arturo Sandoval (Jazz trumpet player) concert last month; his youngest sister Natalia and her fiancé Oscar cooked a wonderful dinner for us and are planning their wedding for next year when we're still here.  I'm grateful that I get along with Juan's family  - we truly enjoy spending time together!

Another very important factor that contributes to my sense of well being right now is that I'm not having to work outside the home at the moment.  It's taking a long time to get my residency/work permit - my appointment is at the end of next week.  But being home, I realize I have plenty of work to do with the boys.   We don't have a dishwasher, microwave or clothes dryer and we have a small refrigerator and mini T.V.  so I'm finding myself with some extra chores.   Surprisingly, I'm not minding them at all.  I listen to my favorite radio show "Democracy Now" as I wash dishes and not having a T.V. is a blessing.  David and I are reading Despereux en español and I'm reading Mitten Strings for God-Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry by Katrina Kenison, which I'm enjoying.  

More to be grateful for - Juan had his first children's concert at Pablo and David's school on Thanksgiving Day.  It was wonderful!  He performed for 75 - three-year-olds first.  Then a larger group of 4 and 5 year olds and finally the 1st-4th grades.  That morning, the school inspector was visiting the school and caught the beginning of Juan's show.  He and I chatted a bit as he had spent the summer in Mexico and loved it, especially Guanajuato, where my father was from.  Anyway, he invited Juan to his office the following week and not only provided him with an extensive list of all the schools, but he passed out flyers and spoke very highly of Juan's performance to his colleagues and principals of the schools he visits.  Needless to say, Juan has already booked several school concerts for January and has only contacted a few schools from the list.  I have a feeling he's going to be quite busy next year.  

November- a month of field trips!

I can't believe it's already been 3 months that we've been here.  It's going by so quickly.  Also, I noticed that I haven't written in almost a month.  This is probably because it's been a very busy month and this past Thanksgiving weekend is the first one in awhile that we've stayed home.  

Last weekend we spent Sunday in Sevilla (2 hour drive from here) where we had the opportunity to visit with Isabel, Arnaud and baby Chloé; although I should say "toddler" Chloé since she's now walking around on her own.  When Isabel told us she was spending the weekend there, it was a great motivator to get us out there.  Our favorite spot in Sevilla was the famous "Plaza de España".  All the Spanish provinces are featured in tile around the plaza and there's a beautiful fountain in the center.  It's difficult to appreciate its beauty in pictures but I'll include a few anyway. You may also have seen it in Star Wars Episode 1 (#4 for us older people).

The weekend before that, we went to Córdoba for the day to visit Sally Baho from P.G. before she goes back home in December.  It was the only weekend she didn't have scheduled so we got on her calendar.  Córdoba was only a 1 1/2 hour drive.  We had an incre

dible day! We all agreed that Córdoba was one of our favorite field trips so far.  We went to mass in the Mezquita/Catedral.  Part of the Mosque was converted to a catholic cathedral.  Esteban and I both agreed that it was a shame to see the original Mosque restructured.  He said it was like painting mustaches on a famous artist's masterpiece.   But as I read the history of the mosque, I learned that the original construction was a Christian Visigothic church in 600AD.  When Cordoba was occupied by the Moors in 711, the Christian cathedral was suppressed and was reworked for over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque.  It was at one time the second largest mosque in the Muslim world.  In 1236, Cordoba was recaptured from the Muslim army by King Ferdinand and the mosque was reconsecrated a Christian church.  There is so much history here and I love it!  The Roman Bridge was also a sight to see!  I first went to Cordoba 20 years ago but I experienced it so differently this time, with my family.  We just roamed the narrow streets without an agenda and relaxed and took it all in.

The weekend prior we went to a small white village called Ardales, within the province of Málaga to do some hiking,  and visit Muslim ruins of the 10th century.  We went with Juan's parents, Carmelina and Pepe and Juan's sister, Ana and her daughter, Lena.  (separate entry)

The reason we've been taking day trips on Sundays is because Esteban started rehearsing with the Malaga Big Band on Saturday afternoons beginning in November.  We saw the band perform at "La Plaza de la Merced", where Pablo Picasso's Casa Natal is located.  Juan approached the band director to find out if there was a jazz band for Esteban.  He said there are not many jazz bands in the area.  Even though these are all college students from the local conservatory, the director invited Esteban to sit in with them and see how he felt about joining them.  Well, so far so good - he has his first performance around Christmas.  We also found a piano teacher for David in this group, a young lady who sings with the jazz band.  He has his lesson once a week at grandparents' house.  As much as I'm trying to keep things simple, it seems we're still quite busy - but it's all good.  

Trick or Treat: "Truco o Trato"

It was a cold and RAINY Halloween - but it didn't keep these trick or treaters from going out for candy.  I found some pumpkins at Carrefour, a Target meets Safeway - type of store.  They were the only pumpkins I'd seen around and so I grabbed them to continue our tradition of carving out pumpkins.  I picked up our niece, Lena after school and she carved her first pumpkin with us.  

Lena's mom, Ana and grandma Carmelina came in the late afternoon to help with the costumes. Carmelina said she's had trick or treaters come by her house in the last couple of years, so we decided

to go around her neighborhood, umbrellas and all.  We collected candy at four houses before it started to pour down rain and we decided to call it a night.  The houses that didn't have candy were very apologetic, it seems Halloween is slowly catching on.  Once we got home and had dinner (9pm), a group of neighborhood kids came by in costume.  They were so excited about the candy we had for them.  They said people had been giving them pears and mandarines or whatever they could find because they weren't prepared and were afraid of getting "tricked". Here they say, "Truco o Trato" which literally translates to "trick or treaty" - 

We had so much fun dressing up Pablo and David.  Pablo was a pirate!!  He inherited a costume from his cousin, Mateo and David was a girl flamenco dancer.  He borrowed Lena's dress and my shoes.  He's not quite 9 years old and already has my shoe size!!  David, as always, got into character.   We had fun, but we definitely missed our Halloween  community back home.

Viva Obama!

Wow!!!  What a great feeling to wake up to a new day with a new sense of hope and vision for a better future.  "I feel so proud to be an American!" I heard one lady say in Chicago after listening to his acceptance speech, and I felt the same way.   

Juan was up until 4am, on and off, following the election results on the internet.  I was so nervous when I woke up, hoping for the best but also trying to prepare for the worst.  I had been listening to stories of voter suppression on public radio and I was nervous that this could be another stolen election.  When Juan and Esteban told me Obama had won, I felt so relieved and so happy! We all sat around the computer in the afternoon, once the kids came home from school, to listen to Obama's acceptance speech.  What a truly remarkable speaker, what an intelligent and inspirational leader.  I was moved to tears as I heard him speak.  He has inspired people of all walks of life to get involved in our political process.  He has a huge task ahead, which he can't fix alone, so he challenges us to continue to be involved, to be that change which we seek.  He really makes you believe that anything is possible.  

Here in Spain, the cover of the local newspaper had a picture of Obama with the world behind him, saying that his triumph in the US is sending a wave of hope throughout the world.  One article here challenged its Spanish citizens to jump on the wave of hope and change that comes from America to create change here and make this a better society and a better world.  He's managed to inspire people all over the world.  Viva Obama!!  Viva OBAMA!

A Guest from Pacific Grove!

Last weekend, Sally Baho, from our own St. Angela's parish community came to visit us from Córdoba, Spain, where she is studying until December.  She's here with the UC San Diego Education Abroad Program.  She's been in Spain since beginning of September and already her Spanish has improved so much!  It was really a delight to see her and to have another female in the house.

We went to the nearby town of Nerja with her to see the "Cueva de Nerja".  The cave was discovered 50 years ago by five local teenagers but it's actually thousands of years old.  Arqueological findings have found human remains  (cave paintings, et

c) from the paleolithic period (21,000-25,000 years ago).  Only a portion is open to the public and it took us about 45 minutes to go through it.   

We then went for a walk in Nerja to the "Balcón de Europa" (Europe's Balcony) where we enjoyed some beautiful views.  It's a small to

wn, but very artsy and a very cosmopolitan community.  It was a wonderful evening with breathtaking views!