Generals and Teachers

The other day, just before my duathlon, I went into the grocer's for some bananas and a few other fruits and veggies and rather than being greeted with the usual "buenos días," was met by "Are you training to be a policewoman?" I was shocked and even looked around to be sure the owner behind the counter was talking to me--policewoman?!

"No," I answered, surprised and wondering where on Earth she'd gotten such an idea.

"Well," she went on, "you've got the body for it. I've seen you running lately and I figured you must be training for the physical exam to be a Guardia Civil or something."

When I laughed at her reasoning, an elderly man waiting to buy peppers and eggplants piped in with, "Well, why not? Nowadays there are lots of women in the civil service!" I couldn't argue with that, but left the conversation stating my lack of interest in the profession. Sure, I can "be serious" as they assured me was all it took to be good at the job, but somehow busting people for speeding, etc. doesn't get me very excited.

Once I got home, I had to laugh over the whole exchange: why in the world would anyone, much less a woman, run so much if she weren't training to be a general!? ;)

---

From my latest book: Half Broke Horses--Jeannette Walls

In this day and age, she went on, there were really only three careers available. A woman could become a nurse, a secretary, or a teacher.

"Or a nun," I said.

"Or a nun," Mother Albertina said with a smile. "But you need to have the calling. Do you think you have the calling?"

I had to admit I wasn't sure.

"You have time to reflect on it," she said. "But whether or not you become a nun, I think you'd make a wonderful teacher. You have a strong personality. The women I know with strong personalities, the ones who might have become generals or the heads of companies if they were men, become teachers."

"Like you," I said.

"Like me." She paused for a moment. "Teaching is a calling, too. And I've always thought that teachers in their way are holy--angels leading their flocks out of the darkness."

---

So perhaps it's my "strong personality" that draws me to teaching even though in this day and age I most certainly could become a general!

Disconnect To Connect

It is ironic, verging on immoral, the way advertisements capitalize on the disconnected, hurried lives many of us lead in order to sell us the very products that, in many cases, are the cause of such problems. With a smooth slogan and poignant images they miraculously transform the problem into the solution. Of course, the simple fact that they're trying to sell something doesn't take away from the truth of the messages--of course that's what makes them good advertisements; but still, there's something wrong about using our yearning for connection, family, love, or quality time against us for economic benefit.

MoviStar, a leading cell phone company in Spain, uses the catchy line: "Compartida, la vida es más" (Life is more when it's shared). MoviStar couldn't be more right on. But incessant texting on a Blackberry or iPhone isolates us from the real people around us. Is that really sharing? As the following ad points out, what is the price we pay for "sharing." What are we missing out on when we spend so much of our time connected via technology, and what connections are we neglecting in the process? Does what we gain compensate for what we lose?

This video came to me via email--a forward from a friend and I had to share it. Apparently the Thai message at the end reads: "Use your phone...just enough." Another good line, something we should all reflect on... but should that message be coming from the cell phone company?

Back to School!

Quickly:

As of yesterday, I've begun my second second year as a university student. ;) This semester's classes are: visual arts education, didactics of natural sciences, didactics of social sciences, didactics of Spanish language and ICT applied to English language learning. Once again I've got five classes--uf! Spring semester it'll only be four, thankfully...just in time for my being worn out and sick of studying. ;)

I got up early this morning to dig in on my studies. I'm hoping that with mornings free this year it'll be easier to balance my life, work and studying. Only time will tell. I have the sneaking suspicion that even though I have more time, I'm going to be quite busy; this morning, my first foray into this year's schedule, I was already thinking, "how did I manage last year?!"

I finished my reading for my arts class--absolutely scintillating. There's no sarcasm there. I was thoroughly intrigued (no time to go into detail); and more than anything, it felt great to be thinking again.

I am a hopeless case: an eternal student!

Okay, off to eat dinner and spend some time with my poor, neglected wife. ;) (I think she's going to have a rougher time adjusting to my schedule than I am!)

I Duathlon Cross La Roda de Andalucía

Today was La Roda's and my first duathlon! :) A duathlon is bike and running. This one started with a 5k run, then 20k on the bike, and ended with 2.5k running. Pretty complete, eh? I wasn't really too nervous for it until last night when my friend Nuria told me she'd be talking to one of the organizers and he told her about the killer hill on the course--"what!?!"

The cycling club in La Roda is called "La Vinkecuesta" which, roughly translated means, "Damn!WhatAHill". Apparently, the bike route included their namesake. It was quite a hill, let me tell you. After a long gradual upgrade the course just shot upwards. Those of you who came to my wedding can think of the walk up to the ermita; Portolans, think behind the high school; and the rest of you just think STEEP! If I remember right, they told me that the steepest part was one kilometer... it felt like at least two, to me! I rode a little ways up, but when I saw how long it was and saw that everyone was walking their bikes up it I decided to get off and walk, too.

Luckily, the hill was shaded because it was in the 90's yesterday! (...does October mean anything to anyone???) It was brutally hot when we started the race at 11am and only got hotter as the day went on. I thought Fall was here...looks like we'll have to wait a bit more for real autumn weather.

...But back to the race: I ran the first 5k in 22:55...not bad since I really wasn't going all out considering what I had still ahead of me. Then it was off on the bike. I had ridden most of the course before on my explorations through the olive groves, but I'd never been up that crazy hill, which turned out to be beautiful. Undoubtedly, I could have enjoyed the scenery much more if my tongue hadn't been dragging on the ground, but all the same the little pine forest was a welcome break from the sea of olives that surround us.

The best part of the race was getting to the top of the hill, by far--what goes up... It was all downhill to La Roda. I sped back to town, dropped my bike and realized that my legs were much more tired than I thought they were! Those last 2.5k were killer. I think I was jogging, but it was all I could do not to fall on my face my legs were so wobbly! I guess after about 500 meters or so I looked more like an athlete and less like a drunkard stumbling along, and actually I passed three people running (two in the home stretch). So I must have been doing something right.

It felt great to cross the finish line, let me tell you! A woman from out of town who had come with her husband's cycling club saw me finish and couldn't help saying, "Great race! I admire you for what you've just done." That felt pretty good. And the truth is it's pretty fun to participate in these races at home--now when I run people know why. I'm not just the crazy American; I'm the crazy, fast American! ;)

It certainly was an experience...and perhaps I'll sign up for more duathlons once we figure out how to put the bike rack on the car.

Family Bar-B-Q

Welcome Fall!

Today was a perfect day; weather-wise and otherwise. ;) The morning chill wore off quickly and it was a beautifully sunny afternoon. Today we had the whole family over for a barbecue. The food was delicious and we spent a great time all together--there's never a dull moment at family gatherings. There were half moons being shown, water fights and a whole lot of teasing. If we were ever able to get the whole Wilbanks family together with these guys it would be a blast ...and maybe just a little dangerous! ;)

Antonia and Alejandro working the grill. We had chorizo, panceta, loin fillets and beef steak. Yum! Along with grilled eggplant, zuchinni and goat cheese.

I must say, the patio looked pretty cool all set up for the BBQ. Don't you think? You can't really get the full effect here, but it was perfect. I do love entertaining at this house!

We had a silly photo shoot on the patio swing... that thing's a lot sturdier than it looks!

All the nephews and niece with Uncle Ale. :)

This one came out really nice: Angelita with the four kids... All four of them are still just big kids, let me assure you. ;)

"We are Siamese..."

I used this in one of my classes today... It turns out Disney songs are great fun in the classroom! :) For old times' sake I wanted to share it with all of you.

Enjoy!

1ª Ruta de "Los Tragamillas"!

For a year and a half we've been talking about doing a hike in the nearby town of Archidona. Today we finally did it! My friends Nuria, Jesuli and Chichi did the Camino de Santiago last year and came home with the hiking bug; nonetheless, it wasn't until today that we finally got our acts together and our schedules aligned to actually do a hike around here! So it was the three of them, another girl who has done El Camino, Sara (our new renter) and I out on the trail.

The route was a semi-circle of 14km. Luckily we had two cars, otherwise we would have ended up walking the last stretch along the road (not fun!). The first part of the hike was beautiful, winding along a little creek and through canyons of pine and holm oak; but the last few kilometers were kind of boring landscape (more developed/agricultural) and on dirt roads as opposed to trails...not as fun or interesting. It wasn't too bad in terms of difficulty, a really steep ascent in the beginning and a long down hill--killer for my knees--at the end. We took our time and had to ask for directions more than once seeing as how the signage was a little patchy at best, but all-in-all it was a great morning/afternoon out in the sun and fresh air.

Of course nothing in Spain is complete without a cervecita and so when we finished the hike we headed into town for a beer and some food. Archidona has a beautiful central plaza, la Plaza Ochoavades (1804), which is octagonal and the only one of its shape in Spain (if I'm not mistaken). It definitely felt good to sit down, and the cold tinto and a plate of porra were just what I needed to start feeling myself again. ;) Somehow walking tires me out much more than running!

Over beers, Nuria suggested we give our little group a name since we hope to plan more hikes in the future. The only one we came up with was "Los Tragamillas"--the "Miles Swallowers". I pointed out that they don't measure distance in miles here...but somehow "tragakilometros" is just too much of a tongue twister to be a good name! Besides, Jesuli assured me that the name is partially to honor our American participation--Ha! ;)

After our light lunch we moved on in search of coffee and pastries. We were informed that there was no pastelería in Archidona, but after our coffees, on the way back to the cars we walked by a monastery where the nuns bake and sell all kinds of delicious treats. I've been told of this before: you order the sweet you want from one side of a lazy susan and put down your money, then the nun spins it around to deliver the pastry. You don't actually ever see the nuns. Anyway, it was quite an interesting experience and the pastries were DELICIOUS!

Ordering pastries!

This is the little display case showing all the goodies you can buy from the nuns--edible and otherwise.

So we're back in La Roda after a great day of exploration and adventure... As it turns out, the "Tragamillas" gulped down quite a bit more than just miles!! But it was wonderful, and anyway what's the point of burning calories if you can't re-stock?! I look forward to our next hike!