Spain day 6 - 9/2/08

Today was so great! Per Paquita's recommendation, Elias and I went to look at the cathedral that has since been rennovated here in town. They were working on it for many years and I hadn't seen it completed. It is so beautiful and walking around town makes me think of when I lived here. Then, we went to the monastary where the nuns make the best candy covered almonds ever! Once again, per Paquita's instruction, Elias bought one box for me and one for my parents. Then, I proceeded to buy several boxes of different sizes to bring home for regalos. They are so delicious and the nuns make them to raise money in order to live. I also learned that some nuns have laundry services or other services in order to raise money.

When we got home, there was a taxi in front of the house with the new American girl that will be living with Paquita and Elias this year. Her name is Arcoiris (Rainbow) and my spanish parents were wondering if she would be a hippy or not with such a name. Turns out, her dad was a hippy but she is not. She is a cute, blond, skinny girl from Tucson, AZ who reminds me of myself when I first got to Spain. Wide-eyed and a little confused!

Paquita was making tortilla espanola in the kitchen and it is one of my favorite things from Spain in terms of food. For those who don't know, it's sort of like a potato omlet, but so much better! Here is a picture of the perfect ones that Paquita made and mine NEVER come out like this:

When I told Paquita that mine sometimes get stuck to the pan when I'm flipping them, she said "Well, you need a really good pan to make tortilla espanola in" and then about 10 minutes later showed up at the door of my room holding a brand new frying pan! She said "You have to take this home with you and ONLY make tortilla espanola in it" and I replied "No, it's too much and you have already given me so much!" and she said "You are taking this home with you and you will only make tortilla espanola with it, this is a gift from us for you." They are just TOO cute!

Spain day 5 - 9/1/08

Today I ventured into town to buy some postcards to send to my sisters, my parents, and my fella back in the States. I also called to Italy to make sure that everything was ready to go with my reservation at the hotel that my parents recommended and helped me with called Hotel Columbus. Thank you Mommy and Daddy! On the way back home I stopped at my favorite jewelry store and was reminded once again when the clerk rang it all up that the Euro is stronger than the dollar. Oh well, it's my favorite store and they always have such cute stuff! After another wonderful lunch, I went with Paquita and Elias to look for some shoes for Paquita to wear to a wedding this weekend. For those of you who are questioning whether universal healthcare is the right answer for the US, here's a personal experience for you to ponder. Paquita had some painful issues with her left foot and needed surgery. Since Spain has a socialized healthcare program, she did not have to pay for the surgery when she went in. But she did have to wait about 6 months to have the surgery which meant that she was in pain almost every day for 6 months. Now, she still has issues and needed some more comfortable shoes to go with the dress she was going to wear to the wedding, which is why we went looking for some. After looking at many stores, we didn't find anything that would really work. Luckily, they have a friend that owns a shoe store who is going to keep an eye out for some comfortable shoes.

On another note, my fella is home from his trip to Mexico and on his way to pick up our doggies from my parent's house in the San Luis Valley and I'm praying that it's a safe trip for all three of them! Thanks Mom and Dad, again, for taking such great care of them!

Spain.....day 4 - 8/31/08

Today I slept in late and then went with Paquita and Elias to church. This was something that was a tradition when I lived in Spain 5 years ago so it was so special that they made it a point to continue the tradition of going to church together and then going to a bar called Indalo for a tapa y mosto afterwards. I hope I'm spelling that right but a mosto is basically wine before it is fermented, so pretty much grape juice. But it was something that my Spanish parents and I did every Sunday that I was in Spain. The mass in Spain is much different from the mass that I'm used to as there is almost no music and it only lasts about 30 minutes since the priest is the one that reads the 1st, 2nd, and Gospel reading almost without any breaks. What was cool was it was the exact same priest as when I lived here! For lunch we went over to Mickey and Anna's house because Mickey wanted to make me a lunch of Macaroni's "in honor of Ania (my nickname)coming back to Spain". They are so cute and said that this was the first time that they had so many people over to their house for lunch since Yolanda brought Sonia y Sergio too. This was the first time I have seen Sergio in 3 years and for those of you who don't know, he was the kid that I bonded with when I lived here. Since he is 8 years old now, he was more interested in playing with the computer than talking to me but he is still a very cute kid. I spent some time bonding with his little sister, Sonia who wanted to put makeup on my face.

Then I went with Mickey and Anna to see Hellboy 2 in Spanish which was pretty interesting! Yolanda and her boyfriend went with the kids to see the animated Clone Wars movie. Then, Mickey and Anna took me back to the center of town where they were having a parade to celebrate the end of "Las Ferias". What struck me is that for a small city such as Alcala de Henares, they still put so much work into the floats, costumes, etc.

After that we came home to watch the tennis player Rafael Nadal play in the US Open. Here in Spain he is a big time celebrity and they are very enthusiastic about his accomplishments. It was a really great day!

Spain....day 3

Today I went with Paquita y Elias to a tournament with all of their friends for a game called "Bolos Leones". This is a game that is sort of like outside bowling with half of a ball and instead of just knocking down the pins, you also need to roll the ball around the pins.
It's quite a complicated game and even more complicated to score. After watching the men play the game, it was the ladies turn. Paquita added my name to the list of players and we started the game!





















After we played the game, it turns out that I tied for 2nd place with a woman named Anna and we needed to have a tie breaker in order to find out who got 2nd and who got 3rd place. So we played a tie breaker round and.........we tied again!! So we needed to have another tie breaker round and.....she won and I lost so I ended up with 3rd place in the tournament! After that, we had a awards ceremony where they presented me with a special trophey so that I wouldn't go home empty handed since they really only had trophies for 1st and 2nd place. It was so special and cute!

Luis, the husband of Paquita and Elias' eldest daughter, just sent me this newspaper clipping that includes me! I can't believe it and was so happy when I saw that they included a little blurb about me!

Spain....day 2

This morning Yolanda showed up and took me go to a centro commercial to look for some regalos (gifts) and who showed up but Mickey y Ana! They came to have a coca cola with Yolanda and I. Yolanda is the middle daughter of Paquita y Elias and she has been friends with Mickey y Ana for some time. I met them when I lived in Spain 5 years ago (it's been that long?) and they are such nice people! Mickey (Miguel) is loud and funny while Ana is more quiet but equally as funny when she gets to know you and will speak up. I found some cool stuff for family and friends, I love the shops in Spain such as Zara and H&M!

After lunch which was great and la siesta, we headed over to Carmen's house to visit and so I could meet her son, Miguelito. Carmen is Paquita y Elias' youngest daughter and Miguelito is almost 2 years old and VERY cute. It took a few minutes for him to warm up to me, but after we bonded over a truck I brought for him we played for a while.

Carmen and her husband, Eduardo, have a house that is very beautiful and her son was just so cute!

Later on that night, we went to "Las Ferias" again and this time we had something called "Patata Asada" that is very typical of the carnivals in Spain and it is a baked potato with lots of stuff on it such as cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise, ham, corn and carrots and it was so good!

Spain....getting there and day 1

So I'm off to my adventure in Europe! After getting to the airport and in line to check-in I realized I forgot my camera in my car. Luckily I found a pretty reasonably priced camera during my layover in Philly which allowed me to take this picture of the beautiful sunset while in the plane on the way to Spain.





Mis padres Espanoles (Paquita y Elias) were at the airport to pick me up and helped me to get settled and then we were off to "Las Ferias" that is a carnival held to celebrate the patron Saint of Alcala de Henares where they live. It was a lot like the carnivals that we have in the states with food, overpriced games for the kids, and rides. The big difference is that they also have centers, like the one that my spanish parents belong to, that sponsor these big tents and everyone from the center comes and hangs out together. It is all very social and really cool! We had very typical tapas from Spain such as different types of ham and sausage, cheese, olives, papas fritas, and fresh bread. It was really good and then we ended up going to a Churreria/Chocolateria to have chocolate con churros which is one of my favorite things in Spain!

All in all, it was a wonderful 1st night in Spain!