My blog took a looooong siesta

Here I sit, outside El Mas, feeling guilty for my lack of blogging. Today is catch up day.... the day all procrastinators eventually must face, haha.

The late-August sky here in Reus is light blue, and there always seems to be more of a breeze here on la granja than in any of the surrounding towns. Finally, the air is cool at night and I sleep under the covers beneath my open window.

The night before last I had a lizard in my room, it was so unusal looking... tail and everything it was the size of my thumb and it was kind of yellowish (but maybe that's because my walls are kind of yellowish and it is chameleonesque...not sure). Avi (granpa) offered to kill it with a cane, I couldn't let that happen, so it may still roam free inside the house.

OK so now on to the more important news.... should I do it in chronological order? I don't think that matters... I'm going to do it in order of importance.

TWINS


Alex y Pol
Born Tuesday, August 25, 2009.
Carlota and Cristobal had two perfect little fraternal twin boys. Everything is buzzing around here following their arrival! I didn't think it was possible for us to have MORE guests than we already did, but IT IS. They are precious and they sleep all day, awakening only for feeding, through which they still seem to sleep. They sleep side by side in matching bassinets, distinguishable only by their embroidered bibs. It is so hard for me to believe that just 5 day ago they were both in Carlota... and now they are out in the world, breathing and eating.



BARCELONA

Ahhh Barcelona. I was lucky enough to have a friend (thanks Matt), who has a couple of friends, who are now living in Barcelona. Upon receiving their contact information, I immediately got in touch with them and we began making plans to get together and meet/fiesta.

Matt's friend (now my good friend), Elana, offered to let me stay at her apartment for the weekend and from there the greatness began. The first day I arrived (a friday) we went straight to the beach in Barcelona. It was packed full of young people. I think Barcelona itself is made up of mostly young people... which makes for nice fat weekends, jam-packed with fiesta. After the beach, we headed to the market to buy some cheap eats, and later we proceeded to dress for a night of clubbing. Elana has made many friends after living in Barcelona for a year, so she knows all of the best spots in the city and what nights to hit them. This night we went to see one of her American friends dj a club on the beach. We had a blast just dancing and practicing our Castellano.




Saturday night was the night we had planned to meet up with the rest of Matt's Barcelona friends (three guys, Matt, Ben, and Ladi). They invited us to meet them for dinner and a night of partying. We headed back out to the beach to eat dinner with them at a club called Opium. They bought us a yummy dinner (veal) and we were enjoying the atmosphere there so much, that we stayed there into the night rather than try another club. Verrrry fun.


Sunday was the day we ventured to the Festa Major d'Gracia... an incredible festival in the barrios of Barcelona where they decorate each street as if each one had its own individual prom theme. The creativity and colors were incredible. It was clear that they had put endless amounts of time and thought into representing their neighborhoods with the decorations.


Sunday night Elana and I met up with her friend George (they know each other from Berkeley), on a rooftop above the Festa. It was a party of musicians, pretty much a huge jam session. There were multiple guitars, drums, and a cello, among other instruments, and everyone passed them around, playing original pieces. The crowd was eclectic and the ambiance enhanced by candlelight.

After this awesome party, we went to sing karaoke at the local British pub, The George Henry or something like that... You all know how much I love Karaoke. Then we stopped into one last bar on the way home... it was called Obama. Everyone here is obsessed with Barack. We had so much fun with the 15 people in there, singing along with a two man band, that when the bar owner insisted that he close, we invited everyone back to Elana's apartment (including the band) and continued to sing until 5 in the morning.


ANDORRA

I went to a tiny country called Andorra with Francesc and two of the kids, Jordina and Joan. We went with a friend of Francesc, and his three sons Alesc, Pablo, and Pol. What a random little country Andorra is. I must admit I forgot it was even a country before they invited me to go and, really, it isn't much. It is situated in the Pyrenees and is most known for being a ski destination during the winter. It is the only country with Catalan listed as the official language and the people of Andorra also boast the highest life expectancy from birth in the world, 85 Yrs.

We spent our time in Andorra hiking, eating, and riding go karts. Yes that's right, go karts. The countryside is beautiful and rather untouched. There are incredible mountain homes and pristine scenery.


Oh also!!! I drove in Andorra... Francesc's friend had an automatic Lexus... now I can say I've driven in another country.

SAILING

Yesterday I went sailing on a beautiful, antique Italian sailboat. The weather was perfeeeeection. The water was this magnificent navy blue... I took time staring into it just to file it into my color memory.

I was invited by my friend Kiku, whom I met the last time I was in Tarragona, and I hadn't seen in 4 years. We were accompanied by his father, two of his father's friends, their son, and another of Kiku's friends. We left the marina and sailed around the coast, I was so happy I didn't get seasick. That would have been embarrassing. We sailed around a point where you could see three ancient seaside castles from a single point of view. We dropped anchor in a cove and dove off the front of the sailboat. I would say the water was about 20 ft deep, and you could still see the bottom. The company was amazing and the weather superb. Beautiful.

Day off

Sundays are my day off.
Today I went to the beach for the millionth time so far, and for some reason I got a little toasty! The sun must have been extra powerful today. When we returned to the house, lunch awaited us. We had AMAZING grilled lamb, tomatoes and bread, all grilled over a wood fire.

Tonight Eva asked me if she could give me a ride anywhere, like to Tarragona or Reus, or to the movies. I was thinking yeaaaah um, who will I go with? But I hit up one of my 5 friends here and they said they were going to have a few early drinks in the Plaza de la Font in Tarragona and invited me to come along.

The group consisted of myself, Lucie (my friend, she is French), her boyfriend Felix (Guatamalan), and another friend but I can't remember his name (it's funny because he is only 17 and we are all 22-23), and we were joined by a group of 4 Italian girls. So we go have a couple beers and it turns out to be one of the best nights I have had here. Her boyfriend Felix and the other guy speak next to no English, Lucie speaks French, Spanish, and English, and I am clearly in the learning stages with the Castellano. Amazingly, we all communicated brilliantly and had many laughs. It was one of the few times here so far that I have felt successful in getting my points/feelings/jokes across. I hitched a ride home on the back of my "Dad," Francesc's vespa which was nothing short of awesome. Good night all around.

Friday night...
Friday night Cristobal and Carlota (now 15 days short of 9 months pregnant with twins), hosted about 20 of their friends for a sardine party at El Mas. There was great food, great people, and tons of kids. Most of the couples were either good friends or were familiar with my cousin David, who lived here for a year after college. Many of them spoke English and wanted to practice with me. They cooked the large sardines over an open fire. They were accompanied by Catalunyan-style pizzas, gazpacho, olives, and chorizo. YUM. I ate my weight's worth of everything.



Bad news: Last night I must have had mosquitos in my room because I woke up at about 5:30AM itching all over. Awful. Have about 30 itchy bites all over my legs right now. Its turrribul.

Tomorrow we wake up early and join some friends in Salou at their beach house. I will let you know what goes on there! Bringing my camera!

Caballeros

Hola!

Today was a good day. A break-through day of sorts.

First I woke up and went to get a pedicure. My feet were starting to resemble something like a cave-woman's and apparently it was bad enough for Sra. Carmen to give me her appointment at the nail salon. The whole experience was one big mystery. I had no idea what pedicures cost here, if they even know how to give a proper pedicure here/would they be Vietnamese etc...

So I walked into the salon, situated near the center of downtown Reus, and I was surrounded by pristine white walls and white furniture. Swanky. The employees were dressed in white from head to toe. They spoke in soft, nearly inaudible voices, so as not to wake some imaginary sleeping salon-baby. Everything was meticulously clean and sleek, and did I mention white?

At this point I tried to reconcile myself with the fact that I was about to fork over my 70 Euro earnings as an au pair for the week in order to get the calluses shaved off of my heels. Thirty minutes or so into the pedicure, I was so impressed with the pedicure, I felt totally fine with however much it cost. The lady "Did Work" on my feet. She even waxed the top of them and my big toe as well. I couldn't see any detectable hairs but hey, go ahead yank 'em out if you think they're there. I looked down and the top of my feet were rather inflamed and the esthetician uttered the only two words in English she has said the entire time, "It's normal!" Anyhow, my description of this is getting too lengthy. In a nutshell: got a Spanish pedicure, it rocked, best of my life, she even waxed, 26 Euros. Estoy contenta.

After my pedicure, Carmen, who was running errands around Reus, was supposed to meet me at the post office but she forgot. HAHA! She called her niece who was coming for lunch to come and get me instead. Hilarious. That's the funny thing about being here, nothing seems to bother me. They are spreading manure on the fields (a two-day, annual ritual) and it smells like cow rear. It has invaded my room. It smells good enough to me. Smells like nature.

Lunch was amazing: roast beef, green beans, garbanzo salad, tomatoes and bread. Carmen's niece promised to give me Spanish lessons upon her return from London. We sat outside for hours enjoying the breeze and watching the kids play Cowboys (hence the hats in the pics). They taped together everything, from crayons to playmobil toys, in order to design their pistols.

Now for the breakthrough. I would like to thank Apple Macintosh computers, for opening the avenue of friendship between the kids and myself. All it took was a little photo booth action, a little head distortion and face-twistery, and I am now the coolest au pair ever.

p.s. Click on any pics to make them larger.

SHOUT OUT TO SOPHIE MY HOMIE, MARY MY HOMEGIRL, AND JOY JAMES THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE ORIGINAL .

All Quiet on the Iberian Front.

Sooo the past couple days have been pretty quiet here, with the exception of my overpriced adventure I took with a couple other au pairs to PACHA. Seriously the largest club I have ever been to, there had to be at least 600 people, I kid you not. I realized upon paying 15 euros to get in the door, that I need to meet some more locals immediately. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I despise paying to get into a club. Spoiled when it comes to getting in free? Maybe. Stingy towards cover-charges? Definitely. Not to mention I felt old there.

Other than that O.K. experience, things have been muy tranquilo.

The food here is absolutely delish. Every meal is tasty to me. They serve tons of fresh vegetables, bread and eggs. That said, the snack food here (I'm not talkin' tapas, I'm talkin' chips, etc.) is Terrible. They seem to like it, but I find it incredibly easy to resist. Which is a good thing, considering how much other food I'm eating. Today I actually strolled into a mini-mart and couldn't find one suitable snacking material. That is unheard of. I can always settle for some teriyaki beef jerky and you know I love some cheez-its. For example, their Cheetos here aren't the same shape, recipe, color, or flavor. I find them below par. They probably don't even turn your fingers orange.

Sorry so random in this post..... The pic is of the house I live in!!!

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

Today... where do I begin with today. Let's seeeee.... I woke up and got dressed. At breakfast, I learned that we would be spending the day (and the night) in Port Aventura, the theme part in Tarragona. I wouldn't say I was fired up about being at a theme park with 6 children, but there was no turning back.

Eva's friends and their kids (Guillermo, Isabel y Laura) are in town from Madrid and they are staying at Eva and Francesc's house in town for five days. We ate lunch together (Canejo - aka buggs bunny) today and they all joined us on our adventure to the theme park. It was nice having them there because it meant that everyone spoke Spanish the entire day.

At the theme park we saw a show with a ton of exotic birds, a show completely centered around bubbles, and I rode a ride that accelerates from 0 to 135 km in 3 seconds (I did the math, it's about 84mph). It was the scariest ride of life. Other than that we moved at a turtle's pace around the park.

We ate in the "Mexico" of the theme park and I had a couple empanadas which they mistakenly dubbed "quesadillas." If that doesn't prove how little Spain and Mexico have in common, I don't know what does. There is a distinct difference. I hear they kill in Downey over those type of mistakes.

I had fun today... Eva's friends were really nice people and great with the kids as well, but it was about 3 hours too long for me. Not gonna lie. My feet hurt, I swear it was the hottest day of the year, and the empanadas gave me indigestion. TMI?

It proved to be too long for the kids too. We left at about 12:30am or so. Jordina and Isabel were fast asleep in the twin stroller. We stayed that late to see the fireworks. Let's just say there were five fireworks. Total. The DBAP (Durham Bulls Athletic Park) puts Port Aventura's firework display to shame. I decided instead to describe them as "try-erworks" aloud, but no one got the joke.

All I could think was how I could use a beverage... a strong adult beverage. But all of these glitches in the day actually kept me laughing. The kids were adorable, the rides were fun, and we checked another thing off of the to-do list (it was right behind 'try rabbit').

The tooth fairy flies all of the way to Spain.

Today I had the kids all day. After lunch, I gave an English lesson to Jordi (16), the older cousin of the kids I keep. His sister, Carolina (19) is in Statesville, NC right now, staying with my cousin David and his family.

I went on two bike rides with the kids today... one was an attempt to track down a wandering herd of sheep and its shepherd. The kids are particularly fond of this man, I think they're fascinated that someone's actual profession really is following sheep around the countryside. What a whimsical profession that seems to be in this day and age.

All was going as usual today.... untilllll

A neighbor and his daughter came over to visit and a we were all sitting outside and sampling the olives he had grown and preserved in olive oil himself. As we were munching, Jordina (5) started weaving her mini scooter in and out of the chairs and tables on the terrace. The next thing I knew, she screamed and held her mouth with her hand. I figured she just hit her lip, but when she pulled her hand away, inside it there was a miniscule baby tooth. I thought she would really lose it when she saw her tooth in her hand, but in some odd way it made the situation better because she was so excited she had now lost 2 teeth. I mean the least you can get when you fall and hit your mouth at age 5 is a knocked out baby tooth right!!!??

A Listerine rinse and a popsicle later, we were back in business.

Just put the kids to bed. I swear one day in Spain feels as long as two at home. Jordina's tooth is under her pillow!

23.... where do I go from here

AHHH my birthday night of course! I can't believe I am 23, does that make me old? It was so nice, we went to "my parent's" restaurant, Quim Quima, one of the best restaurants in Tarragona, if not THE BEST. "My parents'" friends heard it was my birthday and they decided to come as well. One thing led to another an the restaurant was full tonight! I sat at a table with the grandparents (Carmen and Jordi, and Baba) and the kids. We were all supposed to sit at one long table, the family and the friends, but it started raining so the terrace was out of the question. Unusual, because we all know where the rain in Spain usually falls.

One of Eva's friends that I have only met once, the night I first arrived, came to eat at the restaurant tonight and brought me a present. It was a gold colored cuff bracelet that I loved. And it also fit perfectly with the jewelry I wore tonight. Honestly, when she gave it to me I couldn't believe it. It was the only present I received ON my birthday and it was from someone I barely knew... honestly I almost cried. So thoughtful.

I was sitting at the table tonight and everyone was speaking Catalan. In my head I was so frustrated... it is isolating honestly. Catalan is nothing like the Spanish I know. It is a completely different language. It kinda sucked for lack of a better word. But I am the only one here to speak for myself so unless I request otherwise (Castillano) I can't expect them to speak the Spanish I know.

That said, I am so lucky to be with the family I am working for. I have now met many of the other au pairs (which are friends of my "mom" Eva) and their mothers are not so nice... some of them actually scare me.

Sooooo after dinner, I met up with a fellow traveler Uriah. An Australian I met in Greece, who currently lives/works in London. We had a blast in Santorini with my sisters and his friends a couple summers ago. He is now backpacking Europe solo... how brave... I felt bad that I couldn't offer him a place to stay tonight, he is going to camp tonight instead. Either way it was good to see a familiar face... and it was only familiar still thanks to Facebook. The most amazing tool for vagrants ever invented.

I miss you family! I love it here... trying to have patience in learning the language and making local friends. The weather isssss perfect, despite a quick shower tonight. And P.S. my mom wrote me the coolest email ever, which I will now include in my blog whether she likes it or not, because it made me cry. I Looooooooove herrrrr.

I can hardly believe that 23 years ago it was one of hottest summers on record, I had just finished reading Chesapeake, meg and Robbie were spending the night, we had all just watched the rocky with living in America, dad and i were watering the yard to a full moon, and we finally got in the bed only to awaken to the alarming fact that my water had broken and becoming parents was an immediate reality. Whew! It was really time to go to the hospital to have our first child. By the way it didn’t go quickly. 17 hours later our beautiful kate was here. Dad almost fainted at the sight of you he was so over come. I thought you were the most perfect thing I had ever seen. Papa always said your first impression is the best and he was right you do continue to be perfect in my eyes. I have been blessed to have 3 most precious daughters. Thank the Lord and you for that. Have a wonderful birthday. I am sorry I am not there to celebrate it with you. Be safe and know that I am giving many hugs to you on this side of the Atlantic. I love you. Happy birthday. mama